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And it's all my fault.
I work as a contract EMT/Security Officer at a Louth Louisiana steel mill. Pretty big place. At night, when the administrative office are closed, the switchboard is transfered to the guard shack. We get all the good phone calls.
The loacl Dominos Pizza has a policy. It won't deliver to an address if an order is placed via cellphone. They have to have a landline. With seven different departments scattered about the site and more than a hundred employees at any moment we are bound to have a few who want to order dinner.
The problem is, anytime you pick up a phone in any department and dial 9 to get an outside line you are going through the main computerized company switchboard. The minimum wage pizza employees get the call at their business and look at the caller ID which displays the 7 digit number to the main plant switchboard. They enter the number into their computer and the name of the last person who called in an order from that number is put on the order. About half the time they ask the caller for his name and change that bit of info. They don't ask for a extension number or which department the person is working in.
One of 2 things happens.
1-I'm sitting up at the main gate in the guard shack picking my nose and minding my own business when a Dominos Pizza delivery person drives up, parks in a no parking area such as in front of the truck scales. They get out and walk up with the order to my window, put the pizzas on the ledge there and say something like "That'll be twenty-two dollars". When I tell them I don't have 22 dollars and I didn't make an order with them I'm argued with "It says Guard Shack". Tough but nobody in the guard shack placed an order. Sometimes there will be a name. "The name is Christina". Turns out Christena was the guard who worked the night before and made an order when she worked. When someone called in an order from our plant the next evening the order taker just put her name on the label again based on the caller ID number. Or the delivery person says, "The order is for John." John who? What department. There are almost 200 people including contract workers in the plant and I don't know who John is or what department he's in. At this point the driver takes the pizza back to the car, waits about 15 minutes then drives off in a huff. About 10 minutes after the delivery guy leaves a plant employee on a forklift drives up to the guard shack. It's John wondering where the Dominos guy is.
or
2-Dominos driver calls the switchboard number, my phone on the desk rings, I answer "Switchboard." them-"This is Dominos and we have an order for Bob." Me-"Bob who?" Them-"It just says Bob." Me again-"Tell me what Department Bob is in and I'll be happy to transfer your call to that extension." them-"I don't have an extension." Me-"Ok have a good night." Them-"can you call around for Bob? I can't drive out until we get ahold of him." Me-"Sorry but I have trucks on 2 scales to deal with and my other phone line is ringing. Have a good night." I hang up.
Last time I hung up with a delivery person his manager called back. Manager- "How come you can't call around and find the guy who ordered this pizza so we can deliver it?" Me-"sorry sir but I'm too busy to stop what I'm doing to correct a mistake your ordertaker made by not getting the correct information from the caller." Manager- "well you are just a little Smart Ass." I hang up and go back to dealing with paperwork for truck drivers coming into the plant.
Other plant employees trying to call in pizza orders were told that their orders weren't going to be delivered until the person who made the first order was found. So an employee calls me over my security radio channel. "Hey, how come you won't find that guy so the rest of us can get pizza?" Me- "Not my job before and after being cursed at by their manager I'm banning all of their drivers from the property. Anyone getting something delivered will have to walk across the highway." The manager hears this from the employees radio and gets madder, tells the employee to transfer the call to my guard shack extension. I answer the phone, hear the manager yelling about no pizzas being delivered until I apoligise and I hang up again without saying a word.
The next morning I have a written Incident Report for my Supervisor explaining what happened and why, in the future, plant employees should call Papa Johns for delivery.
Later I learned that on other shifts, guards like Christina, will perform value added services like call around to each department or call over each of the 9 radio channels the plant uses until finding the person who made the pizza order. I have plenty enough going on in the beginning of my shift to be doing extras like searching for someone who can't give the pizza guy the correct information.
Since this happened I've had Papa John's pizza guys pull up several times. Never had a problem with them trying to find anyone and never got a call from them.. Seems they don't mind taking orders from cell phones and getting teh name and number of the person making the order.
Life is good in a Dominos free zone.
I work as a contract EMT/Security Officer at a Louth Louisiana steel mill. Pretty big place. At night, when the administrative office are closed, the switchboard is transfered to the guard shack. We get all the good phone calls.
The loacl Dominos Pizza has a policy. It won't deliver to an address if an order is placed via cellphone. They have to have a landline. With seven different departments scattered about the site and more than a hundred employees at any moment we are bound to have a few who want to order dinner.
The problem is, anytime you pick up a phone in any department and dial 9 to get an outside line you are going through the main computerized company switchboard. The minimum wage pizza employees get the call at their business and look at the caller ID which displays the 7 digit number to the main plant switchboard. They enter the number into their computer and the name of the last person who called in an order from that number is put on the order. About half the time they ask the caller for his name and change that bit of info. They don't ask for a extension number or which department the person is working in.
One of 2 things happens.
1-I'm sitting up at the main gate in the guard shack picking my nose and minding my own business when a Dominos Pizza delivery person drives up, parks in a no parking area such as in front of the truck scales. They get out and walk up with the order to my window, put the pizzas on the ledge there and say something like "That'll be twenty-two dollars". When I tell them I don't have 22 dollars and I didn't make an order with them I'm argued with "It says Guard Shack". Tough but nobody in the guard shack placed an order. Sometimes there will be a name. "The name is Christina". Turns out Christena was the guard who worked the night before and made an order when she worked. When someone called in an order from our plant the next evening the order taker just put her name on the label again based on the caller ID number. Or the delivery person says, "The order is for John." John who? What department. There are almost 200 people including contract workers in the plant and I don't know who John is or what department he's in. At this point the driver takes the pizza back to the car, waits about 15 minutes then drives off in a huff. About 10 minutes after the delivery guy leaves a plant employee on a forklift drives up to the guard shack. It's John wondering where the Dominos guy is.
or
2-Dominos driver calls the switchboard number, my phone on the desk rings, I answer "Switchboard." them-"This is Dominos and we have an order for Bob." Me-"Bob who?" Them-"It just says Bob." Me again-"Tell me what Department Bob is in and I'll be happy to transfer your call to that extension." them-"I don't have an extension." Me-"Ok have a good night." Them-"can you call around for Bob? I can't drive out until we get ahold of him." Me-"Sorry but I have trucks on 2 scales to deal with and my other phone line is ringing. Have a good night." I hang up.
Last time I hung up with a delivery person his manager called back. Manager- "How come you can't call around and find the guy who ordered this pizza so we can deliver it?" Me-"sorry sir but I'm too busy to stop what I'm doing to correct a mistake your ordertaker made by not getting the correct information from the caller." Manager- "well you are just a little Smart Ass." I hang up and go back to dealing with paperwork for truck drivers coming into the plant.
Other plant employees trying to call in pizza orders were told that their orders weren't going to be delivered until the person who made the first order was found. So an employee calls me over my security radio channel. "Hey, how come you won't find that guy so the rest of us can get pizza?" Me- "Not my job before and after being cursed at by their manager I'm banning all of their drivers from the property. Anyone getting something delivered will have to walk across the highway." The manager hears this from the employees radio and gets madder, tells the employee to transfer the call to my guard shack extension. I answer the phone, hear the manager yelling about no pizzas being delivered until I apoligise and I hang up again without saying a word.
The next morning I have a written Incident Report for my Supervisor explaining what happened and why, in the future, plant employees should call Papa Johns for delivery.
Later I learned that on other shifts, guards like Christina, will perform value added services like call around to each department or call over each of the 9 radio channels the plant uses until finding the person who made the pizza order. I have plenty enough going on in the beginning of my shift to be doing extras like searching for someone who can't give the pizza guy the correct information.
Since this happened I've had Papa John's pizza guys pull up several times. Never had a problem with them trying to find anyone and never got a call from them.. Seems they don't mind taking orders from cell phones and getting teh name and number of the person making the order.
Life is good in a Dominos free zone.
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