Ordering pizzas is not rocket science.
You make a phone call or go online and then the pizzas show up at your door.
Unless, you are dealing with Wildfire Pizza.
The non-existent pizzeria – there isn’t a brick and mortar eatery, it seems – claims to have an Italian-trained chef. Its pizzas are made in a handful of central kitchens.
Relying heavily on social media marketing (paid “influencers” or bloggers and parasitic freeloaders who eat free, get it?) it sells “handcrafted Italian pizzas” on pizzadelivery.com.sg
I made an order on September 26th. It was my first time dealing with Wildfire Pizza and it would be my last time.
Wildfire’s site says it delivers within an hour and the current promotion is “BUY 1 FREE 1.”
Wanting to give them enough notice, my order for one large and one medium pizza was placed in the late morning.
I then sent an email to confirm that it would be a “BUY 1 FREE 1” deal since the final receipt did not reflect that.
Note: “one for one” is de rigeur for most pizza delivery in Singapore.
No reply was received.
I then went to Wildfire’s online chat platform – which was very laggy – and their online chat rep confirmed that it would be a one for one deal. “It was automatically applied upon check out,” I was assured.
The order was for the pizzas to be delivered between 6.45pm to 7.45pm.
At about 7.50pm, still no sign of any pizza, so I went to their online chat platform again. They responded only at 8.01pm. I asked if the pizzas are on the way (yes, they are – but they would be delivered by 8.15pm); I double-checked if it’s one for one, meaning I will get four pizzas in total. It was only at that point in time that I was told, no, “BUY 1 FREE 1” means I get each pizza for “half price” and since I ordered two, only two pizzas will be delivered.
A S$10/- “voucher” useable for my next order, was emailed to me from someone’s personal Gmail with a message saying: “Please accept our sincerest apologies for the late delivery today, please know that we take customer satisfaction seriously.”
Thanks, but no thanks!
Bad service, deceptive/misleading/confusing advertising, etc – do such businesses deserve to exist?
Aren’t the retards in F&B aware of the fact that, this year, at least 1,000 restaurants in Singapore, including Michelin-starred ones, have gone bust?
This is hardly the time for shoddy behavior in business.
I sent them an email.
Finally, received an email apology yesterday with a S$35/- voucher.
I have no intention whatsoever to use the voucher.
Who needs another unpleasant experience?
The pizza business is not rocket science, that is, if everyone is serious about doing their job right.
The damage is already done, so throwing me vouchers is pointless.
To think that I can be placated with a voucher is insulting!
I have done consulting work with many F&B clients before. The profit margins from selling pizzas are obscenely high; this causes many pizza companies to be complacent, thinking they can be tardy and/or they can jerk customers around.
Well, no sir, you ain’t gonna jerk this customer around!