I ordered a takeaway pizza from my local Pizza Hut and the website crashed just as I was entering my payment details. I went through the procedure again and called the branch to check the payment had only been taken once. I later discovered my account had, in fact, been debited twice. Pizza Hut said they’d sort it. In the meantime, I enjoyed my (incredibly expensive) pizza.
Eight weeks on I have still not been refunded. I complained through the company dashboard, tweeted, phoned and emailed the UK CEO. At the end of week seven I was finally told the money would be refunded within four days. It wasn’t. TE, Saltney, Flintshire
In one respect, you are lucky. At least you got your pizza even if you did pay double. Others have shelled out for thin air. Something has been going wrong with the chain whose “speed guarantee” promises delivery within 30 minutes.
SJ of Birmingham was left supperless after ordering via the app. “I got a call to say they couldn’t deliver as the manager had sent the drivers home and I would have to phone head office for a refund,” he writes. “I did so, and, after an interrogation, was told to expect an emailed form within 24 hours which I was to fill out to get my money back within five days. I’ve heard nothing.”
KP of London reports that her student daughter is also waiting for a refund for an order which Pizza Hut cancelled due to adverse weather. “Despite numerous telephone calls, lots of Facebook and Twitter posts, there has been no refund,” she says. “It appears they want to make it so difficult you give up and let them keep your money.”
Eight other readers have reported double charging, non-delivery or pizzas arriving hours after they’d given up and cancelled their order.
As is so often the case when corporate standards drop, the cause appears to be an attempt at self-improvement. “We recently upgraded the process used by our customer services team and this, coupled with some technological difficulties which we have since resolved, resulted in some delays in processing refunds,” it says.
“We apologise to all customers who have been affected and are working through any outstanding refunds to ensure customers receive payment as quickly as possible.”
TE, SJ and KP have now been refunded. The company says it has introduced measures to improve deliveries.
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