ComplaintsforDonatos Pizza

• Initial Complaint

  05/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  To Customer Care and/or Whom It May Concern:  It is with great disappointment and even some sadness I type this letter as my family and I have been Donatos customers as long as I can remember having grown up @ 795 ******* Avenue in the South ­ end of Columbus, OH as I fear we will no longer be Donatos customers going forward.

  Now I live, work and worship in Dublin, OH and have over the last decade of my life. Regardless of my location, I've continued to be a faithful Donatos customer for 40 years and thankfully I have access to 3 Donatos locations within 15 minutes of my home and office.

  Not only am I loyal customer, my brother, *****, is a loyal Donatos employee for almost 30 years which has made typing this letter slightly more challenging as this should not be a reflection on my brother whatsoever, in fact, he encouraged me to  put it on paper because as he put  it,  "Corporate would want to know about this".

  So here goes, (my advanced apologies as I'm compelled to share more than just the poor experiences):
  

  About 3-4 years ago I moved to a gluten-friendlier menu. Initially, this move wasn ' t my own  doing, rather, my girlfriend discovered she is Allergic to Gluten, (thank the Lord the doctors figured it out when they did as she was very ill for a long while). In an effort to be supportive and after being educated on gluten, I adopted and have adapted to this way of eating healthier.

  Over these last couple of years we've learned not everyone makes a quality GF Pizza the way Donatos does. We've also learned to fine-tune our pizza in a way that we enjoy the most, (well done and cut in pie shapes). The well done part, we like it crispy and the cut in pie shapes seems to keep the pizza "cleaner" and easier to eat.

  Thankfully, we also discovered, these are options in the "special instructions"   portion of the Donatos app. Unfortunately no one seems to care about this part of our order as we've received multiple discounts on our orders through the years as a result. Which was ok for a while but recently, the lack of care has gotten much worse. Perimeter Loop location is the exception, they're not perfect but they're always professional. The same cannot be said about the other 2 local locations I referenced above.

  Four recent notable, unpleasant experiences were, Example #1: March 17, 2022 we ordered online through the Bethel Road location. Our pizza wasn't cut in pies. We requested the manager, ****, remedy the error. After giving me a hard time, **** finally agreed to reduce the price.

  Example #2: Two weeks later, we ordered again through Bethel Road and when given the pizza, I asked the cashier, "cut in pies"? - he replied "yeah" and started to walk away as did I. Luckily, I decided to double back to double check the order, once again, the pizza wasn't cut correctly. After confronting the store manager on duty, (again it was ****), he put great effort into trying to get me to agree to another discount, as he put it, a "win-win for everyone", but finally agreed to re-make the pizza after hassling me and arguing: "the cut of the pizza doesn't change the taste of the pizza" . That did it for the Bethel Road location for a while . We figured we'll just order through one of the other locations. The next closest Donatos in our routine of life is the High Street location in Dublin and it' s more centrally located between our homes anyway.

  Example #3: Our first order through High Street Dublin, (April 9, 2022), went equally poorly . Our pizza wasn't well done nor was it cut in pie shapes . After contacting the store manager, ********, he agreed to reduce the price of our next pizza but he informed us, we couldn't use the app to order it, rather, we would have to actually call and order from his location to get the discount . OK ********, we'll do that.

  Well on April 13, 2022 we contacted the High Street location in Dublin per ********s' instructions and now, Example #4: the worst experience we' ve ever had in any restaurant!

  The call and placing the order seem to go well. ***** answered, I asked for ******** but was informed he wasn't working. ***** placed the call on hold and when he came back to the line, he informed us Donatos would honor the discount ******** offered so we proceeded with the order.

  We ordered the same way we do on the Donatos app, {GF, left half pepperoni, ***ht half chicken & sausage, cut in pie shape, well done). Even repeated the order twice myself and had ***** read it back to me again.

  We pick up the pizza as planned, it looks great and we start to eat our pizza in the parking lot of Donatos, High Street, Dublin. After a few bites, it occurs to us both, we're eating a pizza made on a crust with gluten. She starts spitting it out but it's too late for that, (luckily, she only had mild repercussions the following day as a result of this error but it could've been much worse had we continued to eat) .

  Upon re-entering the store, I ask my girlfriend to record our visit as we're greeted by ***** & expecting similar resistance we received from **** @ Bethel Rd. ***** immediately became defensive assuring us our pizza was well done & cut properly. I agreed with that part but as soon as I tell him our pizza isn't GF, his eyes got so wide. We knew at that moment the kid made a mistake that he couldn't undo. I asked him to bring the manager up to discuss the problem.

  While we're waiting several minutes for the manager, we can see ***** in the back discussing it with the individual we soon learn is the manager on duty, "***". *** seems to not care a whole bunch about the error and while we were reviewing these events with ***, we' re interrupted by another person claiming to be a manager, (female, white, long dark hair, tattoos), who was nasty to us immediately upon entering the conversation .

  Then, they teamed up on us. Turning the whole thing around on us, talking over me, telling us ***** is just a child, they're all doing the best they can, they can't be accountable for a mistake like this and that I was being unreasonable. *** even cursed during this interaction and the other manager yanked the pizza off the counter, pointed at me, told us to leave and that Donatos doesn't want our business anymore.

  I understand people having bad days and COVID has made life more difficult for everyone. I've also been understanding to all of the restaurants we frequent, most are slower than normal and make a mistake or 2 from time to time but thankfully the other restaurants haven't made a mistake like a food allergy mistake and when they do make a mistake, they don't keep making that same mistake over and over nor do our other restaurants EVER make us feel like our business doesn't matter to them...the way ****, *** and her counterpart have made us feel about the business we bring to Donatos.

  The problems are serious and need addressed, especially when multiple locations of the same restaurant we visit have gotten this careless, this classless, we felt, as did my brother, Donatos needs to know.
  

  

  Business response

  05/18/2022

  Hi *****,

  We are so sorry for the experiences you have had with 2 of our locations. This is unacceptable and I promise we will report this to the General Manager and People Services Manager.  It was so nice speaking with you today! You are family and we would never want to lose your business.

  THANK YOU!  ******

  Customer response

  05/19/2022

  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint. It is important to note, although we've agreed to close the complaint, Donatos Director of Customer Service could not assure me this sort of managerial behavior would not be a issue in the future. However, the Director of Customer Service was able to assure me, an investigation would be conducted, the managers referenced in this claim would get a good coaching and she further assured me, our business is important to Donatos, (and if we return to dinning with Donatos, it's this Director who saved our business).

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I ordered two pizzas from Donates Pizza located on 2922 Noe Bixby Road in Columbus Ohio at 7:25pm today 4/30. My order was delivered by **** - Door Dash rep phone number ###-###-####. He called and left a voice mail message half way to my house saying he was bumped and dropped one of my pizzas and it was destroyed so he was coming to bring only one pizza. I asked how was this going to be resolved and he said just call Door Dash and they will refund you. The order was placed through Donato's however. When he arrived he did not have my receipt and gave me my pizza and told me to call ###-###-####. He was rude and had no care for what he did. I called and was transferred to another line where NO ONE picked up to address my issue. I filed a complaint with Door Dash via BBB and was advised that Donatos was responsible for refunding me. I paid for a pizza and gave a tip and driver charge for only half an order. I am demanding a refund of my pizza $7.51, the Delivery Charge $4.49, and the Driver Tip $3.15. I also have a MP3 of the voice mail message where the driver admits to dropping half my order but this portal will not allow me to upload it here.

  

  Business response

  05/03/2022

  Hello *********!  We are so sorry! It is not your responsibility to call Door Dash when you ordered from us!  The Manager should have taken care of you that evening. I see you sent a note to the location and they did not reach out to you.  I am refunding the whole order for you for the inconvenience we caused you!  $27.32. It will take 3-5 business days for the charge to disappear from your account.  We use Door Dash because we have trouble hiring our own deliver drivers. Normally they do a good job but they really disappointed us and you this time.  Thank you for reporting the issue. I am sorry you had to go to the BBB to get a resolution. In the future, feel free to call our customer service team!  We would be happy to help you!

  Customer response

  05/03/2022

  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint. Attached is the voice mail message left by the door dash driver as well.
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On Sunday January 9, 2022, I walked into Donatos in Canal Winchester at 6310 Prentiss School Drive and placed a carry out order at 5:55 pm for two subs and one pizza. I was told the order would be ready in 20 to 25 minutes. I went out to my car to wait. At 6:15 pm I drove around to the drive thru to pick up my order. A t 6:20 pm the cashier looked for my order and came back to me with just the pizza, no subs. She asked me to pull forward and wait because the subs were not ready. I questioned why the pizza was ready and not the subs but I pulled ahead anyway. I waited but no one brought out my order. At 6:30 pm I went back inside Donatos to see what was going on. I was the only customer in the store. Two employees approached the counter where I was standing, didn’t even look at me and left. Finally I yelled out “Hey!” Someone did come out to the counter and I said I needed my order. At this point I was getting mad. Another employee came out with my order apologizing saying “Sorry, this is all my fault.” I asked to see the manager and someone different came out and said the manager was busy and asked what I wanted. I told her this long saga and I said I wanted my money back. She proceeded to try and take my food I paid for and I said I wanted the food but I wanted the money back also. Things got heated and many employees are at the counter now. One young man tried to intercede and give me my money back but he was shut down by many female employees, he left. Finally the manager came out, a young skinny white female with tattoos on her left arm and she proceeded to get into it with me. After arguing for quite a while the manager said my order was only 4 minutes late (really 15 to 20 minutes), me standing with two cold subs and a very cold pizza. I left and said I would report them to the Better Business Bureau and she smirked at me and said “Have a nice day.” I feel I was mistreated at Donatos and I deserve a least my money back, $17.18.

  

  Business response

  01/14/2022

  Hello *******,

  We are so sorry for the altercation you encountered at our Canal Winchester location on 1/9 and we will refund the order for you today. It will take 3-5 business days for the charge to disappear from your account.  I want you to know that we reviewed the whole altercation from our security footage.  I see the order was placed at 5:57 p.m. The computer quoted a pick-up by 6:25 p.m.  I see you were at the window at 6:20 p.m.  Part of the order was still baking at that time. Then I see you entering the building at 6:30 p.m. Normally we do not refund if an order is 5-10 minutes late but because of the altercation, we want to make this right.  Thank you!

  Customer response

  01/19/2022

  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint. Thank you.
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Made an order on January 1st 2022. One large pepperoni pizza, an order of cheese bread, 2 orders of wings and a 2 liter of soda. Order was quoted 70 minutes, it took about 90 minutes. Although thats not really my complaint, its a busy day, I understand those kinds of problems. But after waiting 20 or more minutes after the quoted time, our delivery driver (apparently door dash) only delivered the 2 orders of wings and the 2 liter of soda. Said that was all the restaurant gave her. We tried calling the Main St Bexley donatos store multiple times over the span of about an hour. Never got anyone to pick up the phone. Ended up having to order food from a different restaurant, I really just want a refund for the order. Ive attached the email I received for confirmation, but there was no order number on it. And no way to find an order number in their website. Like I said, I understand things can go wrong sometimes. But it was a huge inconvenience as most places were busy on the 1st. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  

  Business response

  01/05/2022

  Hello ****,

  We are very sorry!  New Year's Eve and Day are our biggest days of the year. We have to use Door Dash to help us deliver our food because of the labor shortage. The Door Dash driver is supposed to check the order and grab all components of it before delivering it to you!  We will definitely refund your money for this!  I can report it to Door Dash so they can reimburse us.  It will take 3-5 business days for the charge to disappear from your account.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩