Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 13th, 2009
In case you cannot understand the audio above, here is the transcript:
A man calls ASDA customer service to complain that he got a pizza with no toppings only to realize that he had opened it upside down. This is one of the dumber pizza calls I have heard.
Operator: Please wait and we will connect you with the next available colleague who will be happy to help.
Customer Service: Good afternoon you’ve reached the ASDA service team how may I help?
Man: Yeah, I’m really not happy I’d like to make a complaint.
Customer Service: Okay sir, what’s he complaint about?
Man: Well listen I’ve just bought a pizza in ASDA and I have to admit there’s actually no topping on it. That’s my dinner for the night.
Customer Service: No topping on it what so ever?
Man: Nope, just bread.
Customer Service: Just bread, not a spot of sauce?
Man: No not even tomato sauce, just bread.
Customer Service: Okay, sorry about that first of all and thanks for letting us know about this information. So what I’m going to do now is I’m going to…and this is where we’re going to give you a letter of apology and as a gesture because of the inconvenience caused by our product and the package in details we’ll be able to launch an investigation on why this happened…
Man: What about my dinner now though am I going to go hungry?
Customer Service: If you go back they’ll be able to exchange it to you.
Man: I got to go all the way back just to take this bloody pizza back. Can I get a new one with toppings on?
Customer Service: Well sorry about that sir because all I can do is…
Man: Can you get one delivered?
Customer Service: Can I get one delivered?
Man: It’s just a long way for me. It’s a long way to go.
Customer Service: Unfortunately I can’t provide that service for you. Which area do you live in?
Man: I mean just look…oh wait I…sorry I’ve opened it upside down.
Customer Service: Are you being serious?
Man: Right, right that’s why there was no topping. It’s a nightmare all the toppings are falling off. I was…
Customer Service: I’m sorry for laughing.
Man: But it’s still not dinner for me I mean all the toppings are on the bottom, can I still take it back?
Customer Service: I think you can as long as you get a new one.
Man: I mean at the end of the day I mean this probably happens all the time. It doesn’t say on the box open this way up for your pizza.
Customer Service: You carry it home…
Man: I didn’t know…
Customer Service: You can still eat it…
Man: …all the stuff is falling off.
Customer Service: Send you this letter of apology…
Man: Do me a favor if it’s a letter of apology don’t mention that I open it upside down it makes me look like a fool. Come on it’s not that funny I bet everybody does it.
Customer Service: …
Man: …so what do I have to do just take it back as is?
Customer Service: After this claim you can just throw it away.
Man: Listen I’m too embarrassed to…I know you think it’s funny but I feel deeply ashamed of myself so…
Customer Service: Don’t worry about that sir.
Man: No don’t worry you obviously know how to…so I can imagine it’s my own fault I should have opened it by the picture like you said. Listen don’t worry, I’ll just scrape it together you know…
Customer Service: No sir, I’ll still get you the letter of apology…
Man: …
Customer Service: …
Man: …sort it out.
Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 12th, 2009
A discounted gift card to Renzo’s Pizza in Boca Raton. This could be a sign of things to come for the economy, or show us how ripped off we were getting previously paying full price, or even just show that Renzo’s pizza was really wholesale quality pizza in disguise?
This is an interesting trend, which I wonder if we will see more of. In my personal opinion, Renzo’s has managed to cheapen its brand by including themselves in a warehouse shopping club. When is the last time you have seen busy restaurants have to offer 20% off cards to get people to dine there? Besides putting themselves in a walmart type of setting, Renzo’s is opening a few places around town currently. Wonder if they didn’t do market research to see what happened to Boboli’s, Roboli’s, Carlucci’s, Sal’s, Rotelli’s, and many others who thought because one place was doing well, that they would saturate the market, and ultimately close down almost every store they opened outside of their original one.
So, one must question what the motivation is to offer 20% off cards at Costco Mr. Renzo? Your stores seem to be busy, and the food doesn’t suck. What would lead you to associate yourself with bulk cheapness? People are normally embarrassed to shop at discount stores, in fear of being seen their by neighbors. Do you want them to feel the same way when going to your dining establishments?
Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 11th, 2009
A new place opened up in the former space that used to house Bilotti’s Pizza, or maybe it was Boboli’s Pizza, or maybe even Sal’s. Who knows they all looked alike once inside, and pretty much all had the same crappy taste to them. Another mom and pop shop opened up soon after, but seemed to go out of business just as fast. Now it is Mediterranean Pizza’s turn to step up and try and make this hidden location work. Mediterranean Pizza is located on 8903 Glades Road, 561.488.8883 in the TJ Maxx shopping center. You cannot see it from the road, so don’t even try to look.
My wife needed to go and get something at TJ Maxx, and I noticed that there was a sign that said pizza outside the restaurant, soon after it opened. I ventured in and walked up to the counter to order a slice to go. The waitress, must have asked me no less then 10 times if I wanted to try the Turkish Pizza instead of a “cheese” slice. I said no politely the first 9 times, and by the tenth I just looked at her sternly and said, I ordered a plain slice and that is most likely EXACTLY what I want.
The pizza guy eventually got around to finding a slice of pizza, which seemed to be sitting out for a while, and then piled on some extra mozz cheese on top of it. Right off the bat I assumed that this pizza was stale, tasted terrible, and they were putting on the cheese to hide what was underneath it. Anyways, no other places does this so I thought it was somewhat unique. When the slice came out, it didn’t taste too bad. Since it was laying around for so long, the crust was extremely crisp and managed to have a quality taste to it.
The strange part about this slice was I couldn’t tell if they had any cheese on the slice in the first place, or just left a pie laying around with only sauce and dough? As an expert I should have easily been able to tell this, but once they put the new cheese on, it made it extremely hard to tell. All-in-all it was an ok experience and I figured I would go back and try again.
During my second visit to Mediterranean Pizza, I took my son to get some new taste buds in the mix. We ordered a small plain pie from the un-attentive waitress, and started to wait. Based upon the time I ordered the pizza to when it went into the oven was a long time. This was obviously due to our waitress being unorganized. When the pizza finally came out of the oven it looked really good. This time there was no extra cheese placed on top of it like my previous time. They should learn to be consistent and serve the slices and the pies the same way. I liked how little sauce was placed on the pie and soon took my first bite. My son took his first bit around the same time and we both gave each other a look of disappointment. The dough was well undercooked, and tasted pretty bland. The cheese even didn’t have a great taste to it, and I would comment on the sauce, but like I said earlier, there wasn’t really any. Based on my experience with our server (we were there for over an hour total, for a small pie) and the lack of effort placed into this pie, I will give Meditteranean Pizza 3 out of 8 slices. If they want to put a little more TLC into their pies, they can contact me and I will happily come in again to try it.
Posted By: martha on May 8th, 2009
Mmm, doesn’t that pizza look so fresh and tasty? Want to guess where it’s from? No. No. And no–I’ll pretend you didn’t read the headline. As much I love Leona’s, I never really associated its yum factor with their pizza. I finally tried it, and I was absolutely delighted.
Leona’s is always great to visit. The atmosphere is comfortable; the servers are attentive; and the food is always plentiful, delicious, and affordable. The wine list, although not extensive, is well-priced and perfectly savory. The pizza, as you can see, is packed with fresh toppings. The pizza seems to be cooked nearly until completion and then the vegetables are placed atop and cooked briefly last. It made for a very pleasant, satisfying surprise of crispy green peppers and mouth-watering mushrooms. In fact, I really enjoyed the overall “crunch” of the pizza; the crust was fantastically crispy. The layers of cheese, sauce, and toppings were well-balanced, and everything did taste incredibly fresh.
I was really happy I decided to try Leona’s pizza. Their 1950 Traditional pizza seen here cost around $13, and there was plenty for 2 people. Visit any of the 12 Leona’s locations in Chicagoland. Check out www.leonas.com to visit the one closest to you.
Leona’s Pizza gets 7 out of 8 slices
