Deceptive Sales practices by Papa Johns - charging $16 for their "$12 Pizza"

Right now PJ has an "Any Pizza with up to 5 Toppings for $12.99."............. Advertises just like that on TV and they have posters in the window touting the same thing............BUT often times as not, as least in MY neck of the woods if you call up and order just such a pizza there is a good chance (it does not happen every time) they will charge you a higher fee on the pizza UNLESS you point out that they are on sale.............and then they quickly adjust the price down. I don't even know if this is legal - to advertise a lower price and then see how many "rubes" or "those not in the know" will pay the higher price. PRETTY ROTTEN, UNETHICAL AND MAYBE ILLEGAL. SHAME ON YOU PAPA JOHNS!!!! This is likely to happen on a phone order-- not online.

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@catlassy wrote:

Right now PJ has an "Any Pizza with up to 5 Toppings for $12.99."............. Advertises just like that on TV and they have posters in the window touting the same thing............BUT often times as not, as least in MY neck of the woods if you call up and order just such a pizza there is a good chance (it does not happen every time) they will charge you a higher fee on the pizza UNLESS you point out that they are on sale.............and then they quickly adjust the price down. I don't even know if this is legal - to advertise a lower price and then see how many "rubes" or "those not in the know" will pay the higher price. PRETTY ROTTEN, UNETHICAL AND MAYBE ILLEGAL. SHAME ON YOU PAPA JOHNS!!!! This is likely to happen on a phone order-- not online.

It's possible the employee is just clueless too.

I haven't seen that TV ad yet, but I know I've called before for a phone-in, carryout order and they have charged me that $16-ish amount. Then, I say to them that I've gotten it for cheaper in the past when I called in (in those cases, the person on the phone just gave me the cheaper price without me asking) and asked if there wasn't a cheaper deal. The crew member told me it was for online orders only. I asked if I could just get the same deal for a phone-in, carryout order and he did some checking and told me okay.

Sometimes it's a clueless worker or a policy that's for online only.

But, in your case, if it's a TV ad, then that should seem to apply to all participating shops. It's possible you do have to mention the ad, though. I've heard of fast food places where they won't give you the ongoing deal unless you mention the ongoing deal/ad. I don't know if that's legal or not and if it's company policy, but that's what the worker did from what I read online.

Regardless, I personally ask for that cheaper price, despite knowing I'd get a full reimbursement, b/c I don't like being out those dollars for two or more months. I need the extra cash to do other shops.

Never had this problem at my location. Maybe this isn't a PJ problem but a particular location issue? Perhaps you should call the manager and let them know? That would make me mad, too.

Regardless, I personally ask for that cheaper price, despite knowing I'd get a full reimbursement, b/c I don't like being out those dollars for two or more months. I need the extra cash to do other shops.[/quote]

I get paid in 30 days like clockwork. I usually get my payment on the day I am doing the next months shop. Funny how it works out that way each month. And now they use paypal no more paper checks!

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

I get paid in 30 days like clockwork. I usually get my payment on the day I am doing the next months shop. Funny how it works out that way each month. And now they use paypal no more paper checks!

Possibly a diff. company, LK. I know my last payment took close to three months using PayPal.

I probably won't be doing these shops for a while now anyways, because I'm kind of sick of eating so much PJ's .

I actually paid and bought Pizza Hut for a non-shop this week and it felt so much better. LOL. I could order what I wanted!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2017 07:30AM by shoptastic.

I do ff shops with varying reimbursements. I did one last week, reimbursement $7.80. The order NEVER goes over $7.80 (plus I tip $1 out of my own pocket), but this time, it was $8.83 At risk of violating guidelines, I took my receipt inside and asked why it was so high. They had charged every item separately, not as a "meal".

According to a survey I read about, like in Business Week or something, even with all the tech cashiers have, cashiers at grocery stores make an error once every 10 items. That means if you have 20 items in your grocery cart, there's a really good chance 2 of them will ring up incorrectly.

People make mistakes.

I don't (ever) do PJ, however from time to time they advertise for $10.99 at the one near me.....Seems like a ripoff, just saying.

Live consciously....

The real ripoff is them charging 17.95 (in my area ) for that medium 14" pizza that they call large. I have been to many places where you need to know about and ask for a discount to get it so I do not find this unusual especially at PJ where they have sometimes 10-12 overlapping deals going on. I did one of these the other day and for online they had several deals that were similar...you could get 2 toppings or 5 toppings or 3 toppings on some sort of sale and with sides, or breadsticks or sodas etc all for different prices. Then for call in there were several other sales. I have no idea how these cashiers keep it all straight esp since the sale I was planning to use the next day on my shop was no longer there and replaced with yet another sale choice.
The other thing that I truly find deceptive is that you do not know the price until you order it...in order to have the $$ come up you need to click and order each thing and then delete it if you find you do not like the price. some prices show by hovering but not all of them.

I totally agree about the pizza size being so small. Look at the slice of pizza next time, an individual slice. If you put it on a plate by itself, it does not look like it came from a large pizza, rather some slices are crazy tiny. I know the pizza itself is the same size no matter how they cut the slices. The pizza just doesn't look like a "large" at all. When I think large, I think of the Costco size pizza which actually tastes better than PJ.

Back on topic- I've ordered the pizza where they offer you up to 3 or 5 toppings. Since I order just one, I ask if it's the same price and they usually adjust it down. I feel weird turning down free extra toppings but I do what I'm supposed to do and order what I'm willing to peel off since I prefer cheese anyway!

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

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Deceptive Sales practices by Papa Johns - charging $16 for their "$12 Pizza"

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