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On 2/12/10 @ approx. 10:45 PM, I walked into a Pizza Hut to place an order for pizza and was refused service, because I was required to give my phone number in order to purchase a pizza. When I explained that I was a 'walk-in' customer, and that any of my personal information should not be required, I was still refused service. When I asked to speak to the manager, she identified herself as the manager. When I asked for her name, she rudely rattled off her name and refused to repeat it. I was never more offended in my life being treated like this. I left...hungry and feeling quite discriminated against. It is ridiculous to require ANY personal information on a 'walk'-in' order.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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Phone numbers are rquired to get into the order taking system. Without it, it would be impossible to isolate your order a week later if there was a problem with it.
Ok, when restaurants such as Pizza Hut that have more than 1 method of order placement such as dine-in, carry-out, delivery and sometimes even online ordering and faxing it isn't uncommon for 2 or more customers to have the same first and last name, so the phone number does insure that you get the correct order if it came down to you and another customer having the same name. The phone number would be able to solve the confusion and each customer would get the correct order because the tickets on both of the orders would have a 10-digit number as well as a name to tell both customers apart and John Smith 1 isn't driving away with John Smith 2's food which could happen even though Pizza Hut is required to show carry-out customers their pizza/order and repeat the order back to them before they pay and walk out the door but sometimes things happen and people make mistakes and communication between employees gets interrupted or confused especially when trying to multitask, satisfy and prioritize 15+ customers at once.
Phone numbers aren't really considered "personal information", they were not asking for your social security number. I mean it seems you'd accept giving a complete stranger your credit card to put into their system when you pay for your food, I'm sure you could argue that and say that you paid with cash, but you get the idea. Maybe you have a business card with your phone number or your phone number is posted on your website, if that scenario applies then how is posting your phone number for the public any different than giving it to someone who is only trying to ensure that you get your correct order and not charge you or hand you another customers order that might cause you to pay more for another customers order in case that problem may arise.
Instead of being grateful that the Pizza Hut employee taking your order was thoughtful enough to ask for your phone number and following proper procedure to insure you got the correct order before you left you get angry and defensive? I mean am I right? Come on how many people in the world do you give your phone number to in one year, probably a lot if you do any kind of online shopping, job searching, use a bank or your children go to school or if you have a business card, I could go on and on but I hope you get the picture.
It's hostile customers like this that cause employees of restaurants to bend the rules to satisfy the customer which cause order confusion, transaction confusion and job loss of a "bullied employee" who follows the ridiculous "the customer is always right" rule, it's that rule that customers take advantage of to rob companies. I myself am a customer too and I even see that going on everyday in almost every business establishment that I go to. Use your common sense and think about how something so petty like this could cause superfluous chaos.
There is one more very important point that I would like to make about asking a customer for a telephone number on walk-in orders. Sure you walked in to place your order and you had every intention of waiting around for the 20 or so minuets and possible 35 minuets if you've decided to come in during a busy time which is perfectly fine and common. What were to happen if you suddenly had to leave due to an emergency and would be back within 20 minuets and pizza hut had to contact you for a question that might arise concerning your order, maybe there was a communication error between the cook and the order taker or the computer the order was taken on was off-set (seeing nowadays most business has touch screens and calibration can become a problem), the order taker remembers the customer asking for a large meat lovers pizza with extra Italian sausage but light pepperoni and because of a glitch in the calibration of the computer the ticket prints out that the order was for light Italian sausage and light pepperoni and the order taker remembers that the customer asked for extra Italian sausage based on what they remember hearing as they were taking the order, so the order taker notifies the cook that there could be a problem and the only way to solve the confusion is to call the customer and ask them quickly so that the order can be made and ready to go instead of waiting until they come back and asking them and then they have to wait around for another 25 minuets all because the customer felt offended that the order taker asked for their telephone number and did not give it them, so now a whole new set of complaints to post to complaints board is being organized in the customers head as he or she sits around for 25 minuets fuming over something that could have been solved by something so simple. Don't forget that Pizza Hut employees are handling more than one customer and more than one order at all times, the waitstaff also handles call-in and carry-out orders so it's not uncommon for this mistake to happen that the order-take may remember something a few minuets after an order has been placed, maybe a set of specific instructions that could only be settled by asking the customer, customer service and good service not only means the employee participation but also the customer participation as well.
I was a Pizza Hut employee for 3 years and everything that I've mentioned is based on what has happened and are situations that my co-workers and I have been through, so the scenarios above are real stories. Restaurants are ran by humans not robots, so mistakes do happen and "customer mind-reading" is not a skill that I have seen often on applications or resumes, so remember to use manners and common sense when a problem may arise, employees generally get flustered and may show signs of rudeness when they feel threatened by the customer, so if both the customer as well as the employee keep their cool and follow the rules problems such as these could be resolved in a matter of seconds.
I also believe it is an invasion of privacy to require a phone number. I know of no other carryout place that requires this. Requiring a phone number from everyone is akin to assuming the restaurant is going to make a mistake.