2-4-1 Pizza Woes
I have been experiencing an ongoing customer service battle
with the 2-4-1 Pizza chain in Toronto that has gone from
inconvenient to amusing to frustrating to incredulous and back to
amusing again.
I've always liked their product. As chain pizza goes it is
consistently fresh and cooked exactly how I like it (thin crust and
well done). Above all it is tasty which is more than I can say for
that cardboard crap that Pizza Pizza pedals. Ordering delivery was
always an easy experience because they had my previous order
online. I could ask them to either re-enter that or tailor a new
order to my pleasing.
However, that all changed about a year ago when I was at my
local
pub with some friends and we decided to order a pizza.
McCarthy's is an awesome place and they don't mind if your
order food in but be sure to offer a slice to whomever is behind
the bar. As always I provided my mobile number to the 2-4-1
order representative and told her that the address was different
than what was on file since I was not at home. She noted the
one-time delivery address, hung up, and a delicious pizza arrived
40 minutes later.
Well, ever since then every time I call 2-4-1 I give them my
phone number and verify my home address and the first question is:
"Have you moved recently?"
I've probably ordered 20+ pizzas over the past year and I go
through the same thing every time. I explain to the person on the
other end of the line that the address on file is incorrect. When
they offer to change it for me I mention that every order taker
I've spoken to so far has asked the same thing and entered the new
information. Yet the next time I place an order the change does
not appear on screen.
Once I was put through to a customer service representative. I
explained the situation to her, gave her my phone number and guess
what? The correct address came up. But the very next pizza order
I placed with them had the incorrect pub address again.
Since I am in Information Technology I find this an intriguing
conundrum. I don't doubt for an instant that each person has
updated my record. But for some reason it's not persisting in
their system. I have asked several times for a phone number or
email address so that I can contact their I.T. department directly
to discuss this but they are not willing to divulge that
information.
For now I will continue to order from 2-4-1 because the product
outweighs the inconvenience. I just wonder how many other people
are experiencing the same bizarre situation.
For what its worth one of my favourite orders consists of two
pizzas with one having sun dried tomatoes, hot peppers and
pineapple and the other having green olives, feta cheese and sliced
tomatoes. Both thin crust and well done. MMmmmm.
2008/01/18: update
Tonight I ordered my usual from 2-4-1 Pizza and as is the custom
now I went through the convoluted process of describing to the
order taker why the address she had on file was not the correct
one. In typical fashion she said she would update my record so
that I wouldn't have to deal with this hassle again and I of course
told her that was a waste of her time.
After she had finished taking my delivery address and order she
said she'd entered the new info in the database anyway so it would
be fine for next time. So I asked her if she would indulge me for
a minute or two and log out and back into her system. Then enter
my number as if she was taking a new order from me. She said sure
and I heard the tapping of keys for a few seconds followed by
oh, Oh, OH My, well that is strange now isn't it?
So at least I feel better now knowing that they have seen first
hand what I"ve been complaining about all this time. She said she
would certainly escalate the matter with her helpdesk. So stay
tuned for the next update...
Family Guy does Star Wars... WTF?
[21:30] At least that's what I thought when I happened to be
subjected to a trailer for this abomination. I've caught some bits
and pieces of Family Guy over the past couple of years and I have
been quite unimpressed. The writing is juvenile yet unfunny
(contrast with the Simpsons where the humour is juvenile and adult
simultaneously and reliably funny).
Well, that impression has changed somewhat. It's 9:30pm and
during a commercial break as I write this. The Family Guy's
treatment of the first, um fourth, er first Star Wars film has been
pretty impressive so far. The attention to detail is impeccable.
Simple things like the vertical blind cut that leaves us with a
scene of the Jawa Sand Crawler, the subtle yaw as the Millennium
Falcon departs the Tatooine Space Port show a huge attention to
detail in preparing this obvious tribute to the original movie.
[21:37] Yeah, the over the top humour still bothers me but the
fact it's 9:37pm and Peter Griffin just broke into the prisoner
block and recited Han Solo's lines verbatim blows me away. How
have they managed to capture the entire story up to this point, add
a lot of additional material, insert those damn commercials and
still be ahead of the original movie timeline by twenty
minutes?
[21:43] Hmm... They avoided a great scene in the garbage pit.
The scene where the snake like creature brushes up against one of
the characters and then snatches Luke under water has been replaced
by them carrying out a dirty old couch. I wonder if that was
written in just so they could drop "Fabreze" as a product-placement
audio snippet???
Ok, they just took off out of the Death Star and I am sure it
was exactly the same scene. Did they work out something with
George Lucas to gain access to the original footage? I'm beginning
to think they've been using rotoscoping to get the realism.
[21:47] Obi Wan Kenobi is dead and its about time for Luke and
Han to battle the Tie fighters. Perfect, they've even preserved
the 1977 pre-CGA graphics of the targeting system. And, this is
awesome, they've edited in the explosions from the original movie
into the animation.
[21:49] We can do without the Magic Johnson bit.
[21:51] "Oh look, a light saber cheese knife" - Peter Griffin as
Han Solo. That would be a cool addition to any kitchen.
[21:52] They're flying into the trench on the Death Star. I'm
convinced this has to be rotoscoped.
[21:54] Star Wars over and back to the Griffin family living
room and a Robot Chicken reference. Maybe I'll start watching the
Family Guy.
CityNews: Plane Carrying Donor Organ Crashes, Killing Team Of Surgeons
This is a truly sad moment and I am sure the indirect losses
will be far greater than the tragic deaths of the surgical team.
As the article points out the intended recipient may well be the
next to succumb. However, the death of the surgical team means
less skilled doctors to carry out transplants and increased waiting
time for OR resources.
This is terrible news at time when organ donation awareness is
on an upsurge. I hope it does not discourage those of you
that have not yet have signed your organ donor card.
CityNews:
Plane Carrying Donor Organ Crashes, Killing Team Of
Surgeons