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Phone is still the best way to order pizza

dan.bulwinkle.net

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Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#191

Post by insaneirish »

iwanttocomment wrote: post #53

Who on earth has ever ordered just a "large pizza for pickup"? Without specifying ingredients, type of crust, anything. This is like ordering a chair by phone from a furniture store by dialing the number, saying "Armchair for pickup" and heading on over to the store. Why reserve books online from the library? Just call them and say "10 books for pickup" and then hang up.

> Who on earth has ever ordered just a "large pizza for pickup"? Without specifying ingredients, type of crust, anything.

LOL. All the time.

Me: "One large pie." Them: "Anything else?" Me: "Nope." Them: "15 minutes."

In NY/NJ, pizza is a language unto itself.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#192

Post by cammikebrown »

oxplot wrote: post #177
jimmyswimmy wrote: post #23

Most of the comments here are focused on the question of why you would prefer an app to calling. The author's point is a great one though, and something I've wondered a lot. Why should I create an account to order a pizza? The app should reduce friction even from the very first order. Instead it adds, and adds for every order... Got to go look up coupon codes! On the phone I just ask the guy what their best deal is i…

I use Uber Eats for ordering food exclusively exactly because when there is a screw up and I receive the wrong item or none at all, I get refunded immediately by Uber with a few taps.

We are just getting lazier and lazier. Any restaurant that isn’t terrible would reimburse you as well.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#193

Post by mastazi »

I don't understand one point: how can you order a pizza without giving your address (which is apparently what the article is describing)?

Is this something specific to the USA? Perhaps in the US there is a way for the pizza shop to retrieve an address from a phone number?

Also, the pizza shop is probably using a landline phone, how are they going to know the caller's number? I know that some landline phones are supposed to show the caller's number on a display, but in my experience (Italy, Australia) that feature doesn't work half of the times. Do you folks in the US have a more reliable system?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#194

Post by steelframe »

One of my local pizza chains has a system where they give you an order number and an ETA, and they text you when it's ready. Sometimes on super-busy nights I show up at the ETA time to find a full parking lot. I know I'll need to park down the street and keep listening to my audiobook until the text comes, usually 7 or 8 minutes later. I can then walk in, give them a 3-digit order number, and depart with my pizzas.

Of course they could always collect the info they need over the phone and provide you with an order number once they enter it into their system. But then it really isn't any faster than me just ordering through their web site.

While we're on the subject of shaving seconds off how long it takes for us to order pizzas, I've noticed that this thread currently has about 10,000 words of user-generated content. At an average of 50 words per minute, it represents about 200 minutes of effort so far. (Back-of-the-envelope, suspicious method of word counting, but it's in the neighborhood.)

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#195

Post by bschwindHN »

mastazi wrote: post #193

I don't understand one point: how can you order a pizza without giving your address (which is apparently what the article is describing)? Is this something specific to the USA? Perhaps in the US there is a way for the pizza shop to retrieve an address from a phone number? Also, the pizza shop is probably using a landline phone, how are they going to know the caller's number? I know that some landline phones are suppo…

From the article:

On average, it takes no more than 20 seconds:

Dial number Say: “Large Pizza for Pickup” Hear: “OK. 15-20 minutes.”

Pickup is the keyword here, they'll be driving over to get it instead of delivery.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#196

Post by reidjs »

throwawayboise wrote: post #143
post_break wrote: post #9

I'm sorry but I don't agree. Dominos pizza has coupons, deals, etc. Trying to get those deals over the phone is a chore. Ordering specific toppings can be a chore since it's a relay back and forth vs a button. Multiple pizzas with multiple toppings? The delay just compounds. If you live alone and order one pizza or one style of specific themed pizzas then sure, it might be faster, if that's the metric of "best" but i…

Domino's was best when they sold only pizza and Coca-Cola. Just Coca-Cola. No diet, no Sprite, no other choices. No choice of crust. No choice of sauce. That's what they built their empire on. I'd go further, actually, and offer only one size; cheese, pepperoni, or sausage. No half this or that -- if you want two different toppings, buy two pizzas. The apps suck (and ordering on the phone can suck also) because there…

Dominos was the worst fast food pizza up until about 2008 when they changed their recipe, offered a 555 deal, and added online orders.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#197

Post by mastazi »

bschwindHN wrote: post #195
mastazi wrote: post #193

I don't understand one point: how can you order a pizza without giving your address (which is apparently what the article is describing)? Is this something specific to the USA? Perhaps in the US there is a way for the pizza shop to retrieve an address from a phone number? Also, the pizza shop is probably using a landline phone, how are they going to know the caller's number? I know that some landline phones are suppo…

From the article: On average, it takes no more than 20 seconds: Dial number Say: “Large Pizza for Pickup” Hear: “OK. 15-20 minutes.” Pickup is the keyword here, they'll be driving over to get it instead of delivery.

oh, pickup, yeah I missed that, thank you. It all makes sense now.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#198

Post by [deleted] »

reidjs wrote: post #196
throwawayboise wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Domino's was best when they sold only pizza and Coca-Cola. Just Coca-Cola. No diet, no Sprite, no other choices. No choice of crust. No choice of sauce. That's what they built their empire on. I'd go further, actually, and offer only one size; cheese, pepperoni, or sausage. No half this or that -- if you want two different toppings, buy two pizzas. The apps suck (and ordering on the phone can suck also) because there…

Dominos was the worst fast food pizza up until about 2008 when they changed their recipe, offered a 555 deal, and added online orders.

[deleted]

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#199

Post by Turing_Machine »

Spooky23 wrote: post #10
MattGaiser wrote: post #3

That is the happy path. It has a lot more possible sources of error/time consumption than the app and there are many benefits to the app. 1. The line is busy. The app is next to never busy. 2. The line has static and you are not heard correctly. Especially problematic for delivery or complicated orders. Or they may get your name wrong. My first name is common and my last isn't great over the telephone. 3. You have to…

Weird. Literally the opposite of my experience. I don’t do delivery except pizza because I don’t want to pay a premium for cold food. Websites always have built in timers that take longer. Usually 45m. Meanwhile I can call a pizza place, have pizza and wings ready in 15m, pay cash or whatever and have hot food. Order online, chances are it’s sitting there for 10m to avoid getting penalized on the SLA for online order…

> Plus, shitty middlemen like DoorDash are gross

Hmm... do you feel the same way about the middlemen who make it possible for you to buy bread without ordering the wheat direct from a farmer in 5,000 bushel lots, storing it, grinding it into flour, and then making it into bread?

Everyone hates "middlemen", but if they're really not adding value they tend to get disintermediated fairly quickly.

I remember the bad old days before Amazon where if I wanted some weird bit of kit I'd have to go to the library, blow a few hours doing research to figure out what companies might make the thing (not always successfully!), then blow more hours making long-distance phone calls (very expensive back then) to try to find a company that a) had what I needed and b) would sell it in quantity one. It sucked. Massively.

> Why would I want to have someone take a vig off my business and have a worse experience by any measurement?

Because then you don't have to hire your own drivers and maintain your own online ordering system. Not all restaurants participate in DoorDash, by any means. Presumably the ones that do find that it adds value.

Also, I disagree that the DoorDash experience is worse. Strongly. To name just one advantage over the old ways, there was no GPS app that showed me when the driver was nearby so I could be prepared.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#200

Post by Turing_Machine »

tomjakubowski wrote: post #83
duxup wrote: post #20

I strongly disagree. I find people’s ability to converse / comprehension very poor. I worked a pizza job answering the phone in a busy shop and getting verbal instructions while some people change their mind is terrible. A good app / website takes me under a minute to order a pizza, and it is consistently reliable. Logging in gives me my order history, address, and preferences. Usually I have to login maybe every cou…

> I find people’s ability to converse / comprehension very poor. I worked a pizza job answering the phone in a busy shop and getting verbal instructions while some people change their mind is terrible. That's the perspective from the business end. Maybe taking orders over the phone is worse for the shop and its workers, because of difficult calls like that. It's not a problem for the common case of a decisive caller…

> It's not a problem for the common case of a decisive caller whose speaking voice is understandable over the phone.

Have you ever worked taking orders of any kind over the phone? I suspect not. The "common case" isn't nearly as common as you seem to think it is.

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