Pizza Hut Fails to deliver to kid’s

Yes, the Book it Program is a great program, although as in any program, success is ultimately determined by the it's implementation and follow through. You can have a great recipe but if you don't follow the cooking instructions, it's just not palatable- as you will see, this was the case, in the following story of a visit to the Pizza Hut Store located in Ashland City, Tennessee by two little boys and their mom.

“Customer Mania” gone Mad at Local Pizza Hut

After getting off the school bus, two excited little boys came flying up the driveway waving a piece of paper in each of their hands chanting "Pizza, Pizza" at the top of their lungs and in the back of my mind I knew that we would somehow be eating Pizza for dinner that night.

I settled the boys down long enough to grab up their pieces of paper and then read aloud "Pizza Award Certificate, What's this?" I asked, already knowing exactly what it was, a "Book It" Award.They answered one at a time explaining what they had achieved, then asked "Can we go get our awards, now?" I answered back "Of course".

Both boys insisted on going in and getting their "Book It" Pizza Awards alone so I accommodated them and stood lurking just outside the Pizza Hut doorway, then I saw a shrug from the teenager behind the counter and knew something was wrong.

I entered the store only to find out that they were out of the Pizza Awards, a personal pan pizza with one topping. So I inquired about what could be done. Could we order something else and pay the difference? Justin, the teenager at the counter said he would ask the manager, who was sitting at a computer desk a few feet away.

After they exchanged a few words, Justin came back and said "No, that couldn't be done". About this time the youngest little boy broke into tears and we left the store.

I tried to explain to both of them that we could go back and try again some other time….Hmmm try again some other time…it makes me wonder if I would one day be hearing the same defeated words coming from them "Mom, I'll just try again some other time".

Mad, Angry, and Disappointed is the way one of the little boy's described his first encounter at this Pizza Hut Store. He was proud that he had read all of his books and was very sad that he wasn't able to get his reward. The other little boy was so upset that he just broke down in tears and cried again.

After calming the younger child down, the older child wanted to go back and tell the manager how disappointed he was so I accommodated him and we returned to the store to make a second plea directly to the manager. This produced the same disappointing results again…

As a consumer I can't see this happening at restaurant chain as huge as Pizza Hut's, the creators of the Book It Program, it is just not acceptable. Pizza Hut claims to not only value their customers but actually gives the following statement on their website:

Integrity is our core value.
At Pizza Hut, our culture reflects our values. This includes a shared vision of who we are and where we're headed. And it encompasses everything from the way we treat our customers to how we deal with our competitors.

One of the most important values within the Pizza Hut culture is integrity. Our people are committed to providing uncompromising quality and to providing service that is personal. In fact, our people strive each day to provide what we call "customer mania." We want to give the kind of service that will make our customers tell stories to their family and friends about Pizza Hut.

Our commitment to integrity extends to the role we play in the communities we serve. Wanting to instill a life-long love of reading in children, we created the BOOK IT! National Reading Incentive Program in 1984.

Sorry, Pizza Hut but your Ashland City Store Manager, Jeff Spencer, must've skipped class on this concept.