Mildly Infuriating

I felt bad reading this. Fast food is way too expensive here in 2024. And then you had to write an essay justifying yourself because of all the pedantic jerks who love to pounce on the smallest of things.

Yea, pizza places have gotten out of hand in recent years.

Adding a delivery fee (which doesn't go to the driver) from locations that only do delivery.

How about fuck you and your delivery fee. Which is why I refuse to have pizza delivered any more. Plus they invariably get lost, though we're a few hundred yards from their store.

Little Seizures sells the same pizza for half the price, or less, than Papa John's, before those fees are tacked on.

Why would you need to defend yourself for ordering a pizza and being shocked by the high price? Sometimes I think I've gotten too old for the internet. People should be allowed to order a pizza every once in a while and not have to formulate a 5 point list of the reasons why it's okay for them to order pizza.

If you want to get a fair price at Dominos, you have to play their game. At least look through the website for special offers on pizza, because the "menu prices" are 2.5x higher than the average price a person pays. After that, if you still want a lower price, search the Internet for coupons (although that doesn't work as well nowadays since they use account-locked rewards systems instead of coupons).

Even if you play the game, it will still be more expensive than you remember, due to massive inflation.

I don't go to Dominos any more due to repeated bad customer service, their website malfunctioning in a lot of ways, and the last time I visited the store it smelled strongly like ammonia.

What's mildly infuriating here is OP... People are trying to explain how you could have saved almost 1/3 of your purchase price and you just argue with them and keep shouting from your soapbox.

Unfortunately, price shopping is a part of every transaction if you are trying to get the best deal. If you aren't invested enough to read the largest banner on the shop website to save almost 1/3 of your total, then getting the best price was clearly not a concern when you ordered. Yes, you are expected to do that yourself, just like buying anything else in the commerce system we have been using for decades. It's real boomer/privileged energy expecting that to just be done for you.

Never order dominos without coupons. It’s exponentially more expensive than anything you can get with a coupon.

Dominos largest profit margins are on orders exactly like this. It’s often more economical to order more food at a cheaper price.

You fucked up by not using the coupons

Edit: sorry not trying to blame you, you wouldn't know they do it this way, but they have extra high prices with really good coupons that are always active and can be used over and over. The best is the mix and match for $6.99.

You're using Domino's wrong. You have to use the 2+ two topping medium pizza coupon for $6.99 each. They have it plastered on the website and the app.

Kinda shitty that Dominos has it set up so that tip is calculated on top of the delivery and service fees. Tipping on the value of food, I understand. Tipping on the cost of those other fees is double dipping and bad faith in my opinion.

Seriously, "y'all charged me a service fee to deliver my food? Cool! Let me tip you for that!"

Having done time in the service industry, I have no problem tipping where it's warranted, but you're tipping the Dominos corporation for their fuckery at that point, not the driver

Reading the comments about Domino's coupon obsession, I feel like giving an economics story about when JC Penney said nuts to sales and coupons and nearly went bankrupt.

Corpos in food and retail found that overpricing things then hitting you with deals and coupons caused American audiences to feel like they were getting a good deal. 15 buck pizza for only 6 dollars? Sounds like a deal until you realize that it's really cheap to make thanks to suppliers and premade frozen pizzas. But if they always price it at 6 bucks, you're gonna raise an eyebrow.

What if you don't do that? JC Penney had that idea a few years ago, since their industry basically priced jeans for 100 bucks and then said they were 70% off almost every day. So they tried everyday low prices and... they nearly bankrupted themselves. Lots of factors, but their main factor was their usual clientele thought they weren't getting a deal even though the prices were cheaper than competitors (while not really attracting a new audience savvy enough to know sales are a scam).

Point is, Domino's is in a cycle of coupons or bust. It's a shame you don't have good pizza options at reasonable prices nearby, though, and a shame the good old days of free delivery seem behind us.

Never buy chain pizza at menu price. They all run specials all the time, that are around half off. They keep menu prices high so that they can constantly run buy one get one promos and specials to make you think you're getting a deal. They also happen to gouge people who won't bother checking the deals section

I used to work at a Dominos, and their side items have been ludicrously priced for a good while. There's usually a "coupon" in their app with a substantial discount on pizza, it's the only way I'd order from them.

The only way to order from Dominos is to use coupons, and even them I feel like I always spent more than I intend to. I remember a handful of years ago they were putting flyers on the pizza box saying that the delivery few doesn't count as a tip. Then what's the delivery fee for???

I went online to place an order for pizza recently. Jets pizza. Everything was super overpriced and so one small pizza and 6 piece wings was $50 after tax and fees, not including tip which I usually do $10. So $60 for one person. I scoffed at the price then hit ‘submit’.

I was then hit with the ‘order does not meet minimum for delivery’. They had a $40 minimum which does not include delivery fee, tax, and tip - I was at $38 something.

I almost added some dipping sauce and sent it through but I felt so violated by the $40 minimum which was actually a $60 minimum that I just gave up.

Not particularly helpful for you, but this seemed like the thread to chime in that in general with pizza, it's always MUCH better to go big. Pi*r^2^, folks. A single 14" Dominos is already pretty much identical to two 10" mediums, and that's only if you like to eat the crust. Always do your math by dollars per area, not diameter.

i had a kid workin at dominoes fairly recently. the margin is insane, and they were always understaffed. in our area they also pay the least of any restuarant. kids make more working at walmart.

the franchise owner was just a douchebag who didnt care because he knew people would keep ordering.

I live in one of Germany's largest cities, and while this is high, it's not outrageously high.

I guess to me what sticks out the most is the expected 20% surcharge for "tips" (that get collected by the bosses indirectly anyways as they just underpay their slaves enough to make up for the tips they're getting). That's not normal here. You tip for good service, if you pay in cash you also tip to round usually, and you tip if there's some other outstandingly positive thing about it. I really hate how in the US it's become so expected to tip, while also having fuck all protection for the delivery drivers, who ought to get a wage where tips are a bonus, not an expectation. It's just a delivery fee at this point, let's be honest.

Although I will also say that since I live basically next door to a Dominos, I always pick up, which is ~25%-30% cheaper than delivery. Plus no delivery charge, but that's based on distance I imagine.

Skill issue.

Check the deals tab on the website, you could have gotten a medium and cheesy bread for at least $10 less that what you paid for this.

Don't blame the restaurant when you won't even try to save money.

Also in Indiana. Pre-pandemic you could get two pizzas, bread sticks and a 2-liter of soda for that price.

i always start ordering something for delivery and then get to the checkout screen and see the price and am like LOL NOPE CANNED BEANS AGAIN

You tipped 20%? If that's the case they're calculating the tip on the taxes and delivery charge as well

A. Should have done the 6.99/7.99 buy two or more deals off the app. B. That cheesy bread got yo ass play. Next time use the app though, that's where all the coupons from the advertisements went. Fr fr bussin 128/10.

National

We order dominos kinda regularly. Check their coupons next time. I can tell you that I'll get a large 5 topping, stuffed cheesy bread and wings for that price or cheaper. And I'm your friendly neighbor to the west, not in a major or midsized area.

I think it's interesting to see the US cost of living catching up to that of my country (Norway). I've always looked at US prices and envied them, but now I'm just like "Whey! That's a normal price!". Based on what I'm reading I'm guessing wages aren't keeping up in the same manner though...

When I tip the driver in a delivery I literally just give them cash when they deliver (and only if they actually arrive with some promptness, not if they come half an hour late with a cold pizza).

It's a habit I got into when living in the UK because there, like in the US, lots of companies just take the "tip" money and keep it if you tip whilst paying with card.

Granted, I like to pay stuff with cash, both for privacy reasons and because it has actually been shown that people in average spend less if they pay in cash (something to do with the feeling of giving something physical away), so I almost always have some cash to pay and tip.

The issue isn't the prices. It's that the prices go up but income doesn't. Get out the pitchforks, but let's go after the real villains.