Ventura Pizza Hut Review - Epic Tale of Errors

Pizza Hut Coupon

Sometimes you just have to wonder how a business stays in business. Pizza Hut, and specifically the location near Ralston and Victoria in Ventura, California, are a case in point. Here is what happened. My companion and I had one of those Pizza Hut coupons and we planned to use it on our way home from a brief grocery shop.

She is the restaurant coupons guru, not me. Really. No, really. Tonight's mission (cue the music): A few essentials are purchased from Trader Joe's, after ordering a pizza on the way in those welcoming sliding glass doors, so it will be ready for a hot and tasty pick-up on the way home. Conceptually, this was going to be an even sweeter experience because we expected to save a cool $3.00 on our large pizza with the Pizza Hut coupon she found.

You win a ribbon if you've already guessed it did not go down that away.

Order placed? Check.
Trader Joe's shopped? Check
She enters Pizza Hut while I wait in the car. Moments later she emerges and tells me that they won't honor the coupon. The staff claims it does not apply to special priced pizza. They claim that the only price available on the signs in and around the store for a large three topping pizza is not a regular price, but a special price. No big deal she says and pays full price. She waits a moment in the car before heading back in because they also tell her that her pizza, ordered by phone, is not done yet.

Pizza Hut Prices In Store

Do you see anything on those signs about the price being special? Or does it appear to be the regular, everyday great price? Yah.

Back inside, she waits. And waits. And waits some more. Finally, she hears one of the staff say "oh" as they discover her pizza, ready all along, was sitting atop the delivery orders.

They call her over and slide the now-cold-pie in her direction without so much as a "sorry." She comes out to the car and tells me what transpired and back inside we go with her Pissed Off food blogger companion in tow this time. Me.

As an aside, while I'd been waiting for her, other employees - drivers (I saw them pull up with empty delivery bags) and inside staff hung out and horsed around in front of the doors to the store. Real professional. Not.

Once inside I ask to speak to the manager on duty. I go over the coupon issue and the frigid pizza. The manager incorrectly repeats the bogus information about the coupon not being valid as the current standard price for the three topping large pizza was somehow special. Yah, short yellow bus special.

As to the cold pizza and rude delivery, all the manager would offer was a credit for the price of the order, not back to the form of payment, but as an in-store-only (and that location-only) credit for a future purchase within 30 days. Thanks for nothing Pizza Hut.

We leave with that and a firm commitment to contact corporate. During that call they had a General Manager call us back. After some brief phone tag we reached someone who was seemingly: professional, courteous, helpful, and apparently genuinely sorry for our experience. We explained that we really did not want a credit at that location because we had no desire to go back in there and deal with those employees. He seemed to understand this and offered a refund and a future credit. Details were exchanged. He even provided some additional ways to contact him when we were ready to place a future order from another local Pizza Hut store so he could be sure to have the staff take good care of us. Frankly, I'm a little nervous about ordering with that much attention as the means, secretions and methods to "get back at us" on Pizza prepared out of sight are long and unpleasant to contemplate.

Unfortunately, he later called back (out of my earshot) and said that it would take a very long time for the credit to appear and would we accept another type of credit. My companion agreed. Only time will tell if the General Manager actually does make this whole mess right but from our contact with him it appears that at least they train their management well as he said the right thing the right way from the very start.

Think I'm just being a nit picky jerk? Go to Google maps and search for Pizza Hut Ventura. Then look at the ratings and reviews. The one I'm writing about here seems to have upset more folks than just me.

Don't let these first reviews and their thumbs down results let you think I'm just a complainer. I really look forward to bringing you tales of delicious food and wonderful staff illustrated by nice food pictures. And I will.