I was tweeting and suddenly saw Domino's India twitter handle @dominos_india on Twitter's 'Who To Follow' recommendations. It impulsively made me skip the 'choosing' part between Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut and I followed Dominos on Twitter and clicked http://www.dominos.co.in/ on their timeline to explore. I was impressed with their new interface and spotted a cute Dominicon on their homepage. It was some good fun checking them out. I proceeded to 'Order Online' and chose my Pizzas after some reading.I ended up choosing:
- Veg Doubles (1)
- Peppy Paneer (1)
- Coke Mobility (1)
- Butterscotch Mousse (2) (really love this!)
The bill jacked beyond Rs. 500 but that was okay considering the weekend moment at home. Sometimes, you overlook the amount to witness that priceless moment of happiness. I remember a couple of days back one Twitter friend - Ankit Khandelwal (Follow him @ankitkhandelwal) in Pune ordered a Domino's Pizza for her Mother living in Guwahati. He told me how happy she was and immediately called Ankit to share the excitement like a little kid, obviously unaware of the fact that it was her own son who ordered the pizza to surprise her! I really loved this gesture and congratulated Ankit for doing something that's beyond many show-offs in life. It was real, it was from the heart, it was his true exhibitions of love for her Mom. 10/10 for this Ankit! ;)
I hit 'Confirm Order' and opted for payment through 'Sodexo/Cash on delivery'. Dominos immediately sent me a 'Order placed' email at 9:03pm to confirm the order, address and total price. I was like 'Wow, so prompt!' and was just 30 minutes away from having that perfect Sunday closure dinner!
It was 9:33pm (30 minutes from ordering time) and still the guy did not come but I was okay with this as I was just waiting for those moment of happiness. Dominos India also has it's tagline in Hindi 'Khushiyon Ki Home Delivery (English: Happiness home delivered) and I was just enjoying TV without bothering much. I heard Tringgg at 9:52pm and opened the door to see a Dominos Pizza delivery guy already in the process of taking out the Pizzas, Coke and the Butterscotch Mousse. "Rs.536 Sir." I smiled and took out Sodexo coupons worth Rs.535 along with a Rs.10 note as I did not have any change. All of a sudden, the delivery guy's tone changed. He asked 'Please give me Re.1 change'. Initially I thought he's joking but later it went ugly and it just spoiled my entire mood for a perfect dinner then and there. I quickly looked at his badge to note his number but there was no number, only his name - Umesh. Here's a transcript of the actual conversation (Note: actual conversation was in Hindi, translated below in English):
Umesh: One Veg Doubles, one Peppy Paneer, one Coke Mobility and two Butterscotch mousse.
Me: Yes, that's it. How much?
Umesh: Rs.536 Sir!
Me: (taking our Sodexo food coupons) Here, I have Sodexo coupons worth Rs.535 and Rs.10 note. Sorry, I don't have change.
Umesh: (counts the coupons and then looks up) Sir, Re.1 more.
Me: Yeah, I know but I told you na, I don't have change at all so you can take this Rs.10 can give me change.
Umesh: But, I don't have change too!
Me: That's alright, You can go down and get change and again come back, I'll be here only.
Umesh: How can you not have Re.1? Does it ever happen this way?
Me: What do you mean?
Umesh: Why don't you have Re.1? Then you give me Sodexo coupon!
Me: What? Sodexo lowest denomination comes in Rs.10, how will that help?
Umesh: Seems like you don't know! Sodexo comes in Rs.5 too. Should I show you? (in a little foul way)
Me: It may be but my company gives Sodexos in various denominations and the lowest is Rs.10 as you can see here (shows the coupons to him)
Umesh: What do I do? Give me Rs.5 coupon.
Me: Excuse me? How are you talking to me? I told you na I don't have a Rs.5 coupon. You please go down and get change and then come back in case you want the complete amount. I'm not running anywhere.
Umesh: You go and get change.
Me: (shocked) WHAT? Hello! What do you mean by that?
Umesh: How can it be that you don't have change right now? If you go somewhere and something costs Rs. 10 and you have only Rs.100 will you not give change?
Me: If that is the situations, I will not buy that product. Will wait till I get change on way back home either through cab/auto, whatever.
Umesh: Then you give me Rs.10
Now, here the issue was not merely about Re.1, Rs.10 or Rs.100 - as a Marketer I know he was simply going wrong in forging a bad customer experience. I could have given him Rs.10 and whisked him off but I thought that will not bring any improvement and he will again repeat the same arrogant attitude to another customer, perhaps me again. I wasn't ready for that to happen as in Marketing we learn the field guys are the face of the company and if something is going wrong, fix it then and there. I was simply living by that code.
Me: Ok, Mister ...Umesh (looked at his badge). Now let's clear this. If you want the money, go down and get it else come later. I'm sorry but I simply don't have change. And now please stop spoiling this moment by your arrogance.
Umesh: (quiet, but looks at me glaring in my eyes)
 |
| Domino's delivery guy |
Umesh: (looks left and right)
Me: Hello! I am talking to you Mr. Umesh. You don't realize, I will put this conversation to your Manager through email and he will take action.
Umesh: It's okay (crankily). I will pay Re.1 from my pocket, you enjoy!
Me: WHAT? Hello, that's not okay, OK? You take this order back, I don't want anything. Give me the complete refund NOW!
Umesh: I will pay Re.1, you can keep Pizza.
Me: Mr. Umesh, you are really disappointing me and have already screwed my mood. What happiness if left now? I will write to your Manager for sure.
Umesh: (looks up as if saying a damn to me and then hits the lift button)
Me: (I quickly take out my mobile phone and - 'CLICK' his front snap so that I have proof as otherwise Dominos may letter claim there's no Umesh with them.)
Umesh: (Finally zapped, but still no sign of lowering the arrogance).
Me: (I closed the door and went to the kitchen as the pizza were damn hot and my hands all this while were burning - double blow)
 |
| The Domino's order - happiness down the drain |
The conversation ended here and I immediately logged on to Twitter to leave a tweet to @dominos_india as I've seen them to be rather prompt in responding. I tweeted for 15 minutes but got no response. Clearly, they overlooked this customer's feedback as one fish in an ocean doesn't make a difference. What could I do? Nothing but blog about it so that some of you may learn from this experience. My aim is not to get the Rs.536 refunded or some extra complementary coupons or some free gifts. No! I am an honest Marketer and I know the importance of good customer relationship management and the saying 'customer is king'. I may not be from Domino's but it hurts when these basics are overstepped by these 'face of the company.'
 |
| Domino's Pizza tagline - Happiness home delivered |
Simply put, it was BAD customer service which otherwise could have been a memorable evening. And all this for what - Re.1?
Wah re Dominos! Khaak, khushiyon ki home delivery!
- Your customer who simply wanted some happiness.
PS - I left the Butterscotch Mousse outside for my society cat, hope she enjoys it.
------------------
UPDATED 11:45pm, Monday, October 3, 2011
As soon as this blog post went live last night, a couple of people read it and commented either below or to me directly through twitter. I got no response from @dominos_india twitter account and went to sleep at 2:00am.
I went to work, but still there no tweet-back from Domino's Pizza. Many people were tweeting, retweeting the blog post so is was impossible that Domino's did not even notice it. I was sure they did as they are regular in replying but today hardly tweeted any numbers. I cam back home at around 8:00pm and decided to write to them through their website contact mechanism. I filled up the form and dropped the link to this post with little hope that someone will bother to click it, open in a new window and read through.
At 21:51pm, I received an email from 'Customer Care Domino's Pizza India':
It is our endeavor to provide our customers with a great pizza experience. You are a valued customer and we appreciate the fact that you have taken out time to let us know that we can do things better. We have taken a note of your concern and you will hear from us in the next 48 business hours on your mentioned contact number. - Team Customer Care.At 10:48pm, I got a call from Domino's Pizza Hiranandani (closes to my house). On the line was Mr. Sanjeev, their Manager who looks after the branch. Some excerpts from the telephonic conversation:
Sanjeev: I am Sanjeev calling from Domino's Pizza. We received your complaint and are sorry for what happened with you.
Me: I'm happy that at least you called. Sanjeev, it was never about the money, it was about 'Domino's Pizza', the brand I trusted, your pizza, your service - I hope you understand that.
Sanjeev: Yes Sir. I understand.
Me: For us customer, Domino's means only two people - one, the Paresh Rawal whom we see in the TV ad and the other is your delivery guy who comes to our home to deliver. I understand that Paresh Rawal will never come to deliver a Pizza at my home but the delivery guy is the face of your company and for me - he is Domino's! You must have read my blog, right?
Sanjeev: Yes Sir, I completely understand. I did read and even I'm surprised that this issue happened for Re.1. The guy is not like that. I know his well. Can you tell a little about what happened?
Me: I have nothing against the guy. Service is a part of the experience. It's not like someone comes, gives a Pizza, I eat it and finished. No! The way you come, give it, is inclusive of the experience. I was so excited and then this issue spoiled everything. Your guy questioned me about not having Re.1 change and even asked me to go down and get it. To top, in the end he tells me that he'll pay from his behalf and I can enjoy. Would I enjoy like this??
Sanjeev: No Sir. This was bad and I will surely look into it as to why it happened
Me: You taking action is fine. It's not the first time I ordered from you. The last time a guy came, he smiled and gave me the pizzas. I have even come to your outlet several times to collect pizza but this guy - Umesh was unique. The way he behaved gave me some doubt that whether he's an actual Domino's guy?!
Sanjeev: You mean body-language was bad.
Me: Yes, that's the word.
Sanjeev: Yes Sir. I absolutely understand and apologize for this incidence. We cannot bring that moment back but let me know if we can serve you.
Me: Sanjeev, my aim is not to get some gift or complementary voucher. I'm a Marketer and I know how difficult it is to build a brand name and on the other hand how easily can one single mistake bring down the very same brand.
Sanjeev: True. I myself am from the Service industry and know this. Mr. Arif, I would like to invite you to come as I would definitely like to meet you.
Me: Thanks Sanjeev. Well, the reason this post is so that you listen and ultimately improvise. You may invest more on your training modules on how to talk/present in front of a customer. That will really help. It's for you only. I have nothing to gain from this.
Sanjeev: Well surely Sir, I assure you we will be taking this feedback positively to improve our service for your, for all our customers. It would be great if you can take this post off.
Me: Well Sanjeev, I waited long and this was the last option. Don't worry, let that post stay here, you can respond to my tweet from your official twitter and then I'll add a note to this post so that readers who have been following this story get to know that Domino's Pizza has listened. Hope that's fine.
Sanjeev: No problem Sir, you are our customer and the final decision remains yours. Thank you very much Sir. I do hope you will continue to choose Domino's Pizza. Good bye.
Me: Thank you Sanjeev. Good bye.
After 30 minutes, Domino's Pizza tweeted:
So, brands do listen and respond to customers as 'Customer is King'. Of course, you should know how to voice your concern at the first place itself. And, be honest too! ;)
About the Author:
Arif Khan is a Digital Marketing pro who blends creativity, analytics and social media to create digital experiences and achieve marketing effectiveness. He blogs on everything digital, creativity, education and personal notes. In his spare time, he likes interacting with students and likes to cook. More →
You can connect with Arif on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+
Arif Khan is a Digital Marketing pro who blends creativity, analytics and social media to create digital experiences and achieve marketing effectiveness. He blogs on everything digital, creativity, education and personal notes. In his spare time, he likes interacting with students and likes to cook. More →
You can connect with Arif on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+
Views on this blog are his own and do not reflect those of his employer.
@arifkhan7 great job hope @dominos_india sees this! @arifkhan7 great job hope @dominos_india sees this!
ReplyDeleteThanks dude. Yeah, I too hope Domino's Pizza sees this - not to merely sack the guy but to put more emphasis on field force training and ultimately to improve their service.
ReplyDeleteThis is gross. The level of arrogance these guys have, it's total disrespect to the custome. I have also been the victim of their gross arrogance. Try contacting the on twitter and facebook for that matter but nothing happaned and Guess what Domino's don't have a customer care. The only no. they provide is the order placing lines. Thanks for writing your horrible experiance. I am with you.
ReplyDelete@Gaurav Thanks Gaurav. I have nothing to benefit from this and I just hope their management reads this post to know what their guys do in field so that they can work on it.
ReplyDeleteEvery alert Indian should read your blog. I have a few such similar experience,around 5 years back (In Noida) my elder brother emailed one complaint to ITC for their Ashirwad aata. It had all black colored dust at the bottom. Then their brand manager from Kolkatta office called and apologized and sent some gift packages. Later we complaint against Bharat Gas agency , the agency owner was always reluctant to do home delivery of gas cylinder. My brother emailed one complaint to Bharat Gas and Next day the Agency owner called and behaved like a very enthusiastic kid :)
ReplyDelete@Bhupendra Thanks! I agree with you that talking back to brands helps. Many will move on thinking 'it's okay' but there's no wrong stopping for a while and giving feedback. After all, it's your brand.
ReplyDeleteHere is one solution to the problem of sodexo coupons matching the bill amount! https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yuvera.couponcalculator
ReplyDelete