Shakey's 45 min or it's free - a fluke!

Yesterday I ordered pizza for my team in the office as a simple appreciation of their hard work. I ordered at Shakey's and used the PLDT Home Rewards card. If you order a Manager's Choice pizza with your PLDT card, you can get a free Hawaiian pizza of the same size.

I used their 77777 number to order. And after my order, the Shakey's person told me the time (2:58pm) and informed me to sync my watch, and after 45 minutes, if the pizza is not there yet, it's free.

And so I monitored the time, after 45 mins, the pizza still hasn't arrived, I decided to extend the wait by 5 mins. And so after 50 mins, I decided to call the 77777 number again to inform them that the pizza hasn't arrived yet, and asked them if that meant the pizza would be free. They said they would call the branch (to whom the order was placed, which I think it's the Rada branch) and the branch will call me for feedback. Unfortunately, I didn't get the call.

And so after a few minutes, the delivery guy arrived with the pizza and I told him that the pizza is late and asked if that meant the pizza is free. He gave me a couple of excuses, yari-yara, and bottomline, I told him it's past 45 mins and that should only mean the pizza is free. He still won't agree with me and told him maybe we can call his branch and talk to his manager about it. Unfortunately (not sure if it is intentionally), the line is busy. We can't connect after a few tries.

And then we discussed again, and he gave me the reason that the order came to them 3:23 (or something like that) and he said he was surprised when I told him that he's late. I asked him if they don't sync their time with their call center (the 77777 number) because the 77777 center clearly gave me their time and specifically told me to sync it.

Anywho, to cut the now-getting-long argument with him, I told him that he should let his manager know about it and maybe discuss it with their call center. He agreed and even told me that I would get a call from them when he gets back to the branch. Unfortunately again, I didn't get that call.

I'm not sure if it's only in the Philippines, or only in Shakey's, wherein they give this 45 minute or it's free slogan, and yet they don't follow it. In the US, when they say if it's late it's free, they really give it for free, no questions asked, and no excuses. It's unfortunate that they use this slogan as well, knowing they don't easily give it. Maybe if I tried really hard, or maybe if I spent a lot of time arguing, I might have gotten the pizza for free. But then again, the stress it would cause will not be worth it.