ThinkingSkull.com

We have a local coupon magazine in Jacksonville, Florida called Mint Magazine. It comes through the mail once a month chock full of local deals and such. Every local and franchise pizza place is listed, from Domino’s to Pizza Hut. The one I was most interested in, however, was a specialty pizza only available at Papa John’s and for a discounted price.

After logging onto their website, I attempted to place my order to get the deal, but unlike Pizza Hut or Domino’s, no online coupons reflecting their printed counterparts could be found. I checked again to see if their were any “promo codes” that I had simply missed. Nope, no codes, no anything, just nothing there.

I called the local restaurant that would be fulfilling the order and asked how to get the deal through the online ordering, but I was referred to their corporate web site’s help desk number (at the bottom of the screen). After a prompt answer, I was told that they had “problems with Mint Magazine before” and that these local deals were never submitted to the site, or else they’d be included in one of the “deal blocks” at the top and bottom of the ordering page. Sadly, I had to call back the restaurant to place my order over the phone (with my credit card) to get it for the prices advertised.

I’m a consumer. Ordering online lets me use a credit card without reading out the numbers over the phone while ensuring that the order placed is the total I expect. The salesperson at the restaurant threw the blame at the website, and the website threw the blame at the advertiser, and I’ll bet whomever the local owner of the restaurants are is the same person who sold the ad to Mint for inclusion. Judging from the reactions from all involved, no one felt the need to do anything (although to be fair, the website rep said they would tell their supervisor about the issue, but only when I’d asked them to).

Here’s what should happen:

1. The owner should ensure that the ad has website promo codes and that the website can accept them. If they are getting sales from the website, this is a must.
2. The company should put pressure on their franchises to ensure print ads contain the updated info. If it isn’t easy for a local franchise to add these (even themselves if they have to), something is very wrong.

Am I over reacting? Maybe, but I set up stores like this for a living professionally. Of course, I can just order from Pizza Hut and not worry about it, right?