Pizza Mindgames
Last night we were nearly broke, but we managed to scrounge up enough money (mostly spare changes) to be able to afford Hungry Howie™'s $5 Value Menu.
(For five bucks plus tax, you could either get ten buffalo wings, a medium one-topping pizza [which is what we wanted], or a sub sandwich. And some other things that I can't remember right now.)
I wasn't sure if they still had the deal going, though, so I called them, waited through their mandatory advertisement recording (they never answer until the recorded ad has played at least once), and then they asked if I could hold, which meant a couple minutes of listening to nothing.
When I finally was able to talk to a human, she asked, "Will this be for pickup or delivery?"
I said, "Pickup, but I have a question first: I was wondering, do you still have the $5 value menu?"
She responded, "What we have for this month is the Three Cheeser Pepperoni Pleaser for only $6.99."
"Oh," I said, crestfallen. "Okay then. Thanks for your help."
"No problem," she said, and hung up.
So, based on that little conversation, wouldn't you assume that her (admittedly unspoken) answer to my yes/no question, was "no"?
Well. Today we got a flyer in the mail from Hungry Howie's. And guess what was on it? That's right, an ad for their $5 Value Menu, which was still going on. (There was also a coupon/ad for that pepperoni pleaser deal.)
So I was ticked. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind eating mac & tuna instead (which was fairly tasty), but it just made me mad that she side-stepped my question, basically lying by omission. (Because if I were to complain, she could say, "I never said we didn't still have it.")
I understand that she's obligated to plug their new special. But I don't think that supercedes answering a potential customer's question. Because not only did they not make a sale on a medium pizza that night, they've temporarily lost our future business as well.
We normally give them business two or three times a month, but I think in October we'll just go Howie-less (or until I get over it, whichever comes first.)
In the meantime, Pizza Hut™ has declared October "National Pizza Month". (Okay, whatever.)
Have a good weekend, and thanks for listening to me rant. ':)
(For five bucks plus tax, you could either get ten buffalo wings, a medium one-topping pizza [which is what we wanted], or a sub sandwich. And some other things that I can't remember right now.)
I wasn't sure if they still had the deal going, though, so I called them, waited through their mandatory advertisement recording (they never answer until the recorded ad has played at least once), and then they asked if I could hold, which meant a couple minutes of listening to nothing.
When I finally was able to talk to a human, she asked, "Will this be for pickup or delivery?"
I said, "Pickup, but I have a question first: I was wondering, do you still have the $5 value menu?"
She responded, "What we have for this month is the Three Cheeser Pepperoni Pleaser for only $6.99."
"Oh," I said, crestfallen. "Okay then. Thanks for your help."
"No problem," she said, and hung up.
So, based on that little conversation, wouldn't you assume that her (admittedly unspoken) answer to my yes/no question, was "no"?
Well. Today we got a flyer in the mail from Hungry Howie's. And guess what was on it? That's right, an ad for their $5 Value Menu, which was still going on. (There was also a coupon/ad for that pepperoni pleaser deal.)
So I was ticked. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind eating mac & tuna instead (which was fairly tasty), but it just made me mad that she side-stepped my question, basically lying by omission. (Because if I were to complain, she could say, "I never said we didn't still have it.")
I understand that she's obligated to plug their new special. But I don't think that supercedes answering a potential customer's question. Because not only did they not make a sale on a medium pizza that night, they've temporarily lost our future business as well.
We normally give them business two or three times a month, but I think in October we'll just go Howie-less (or until I get over it, whichever comes first.)
In the meantime, Pizza Hut™ has declared October "National Pizza Month". (Okay, whatever.)
Have a good weekend, and thanks for listening to me rant. ':)