John:
Ellen:
Ellen:
Price: $$$
I recently received a coupon in the mail offering a free
pizza from Ferrari’s on Atlantic City Blvd
(Rt. 9) in Beachwood. The coupon said “Restrictions
Apply” so I called to see what the restrictions were. I told the woman on the phone that I had a
coupon for a free pizza which I wanted to order and asked what exactly I had to
do to get one. I was told I had to
“Like” them on Facebook, give them my email address, pick it up, and bring
ID. Bring ID? Seemed like a bit much for a pizza, but I agreed
and I “Liked” them on Facebook while I was on the phone with her. I told her I had done what I was supposed to
and wanted to order my free pie (I ordered a large plain, assuming there would be
a charge for toppings). I also ordered a
grilled chicken wrap and a large cold antipasto since I didn’t want to just
take a free pizza and run. Sounds good
right? Boy was I wrong.
I got there after waiting the 20 minutes that they
suggested. They didn’t start my wrap
until after I got there because it turns out there is more than one type of
grilled chicken wrap so they didn’t know which one I wanted. I told them I wanted the wrap that came with grilled
chicken, roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinegar. Not too terribly long afterward, my sandwich,
antipasto and free pizza arrived at the counter. What?
It’s not free? Here we go……
I “liked” them on facebook like I was told, I wrote my email
address on the side of the coupon, I brought ID and I picked it up instead of
having it delivered. I satisfied all
four of their ridiculous requirements.
What did I miss? Excuse me? I ordered a large pie and only the medium pie
is free? Where does it say that? When giving me the rundown of all the restrictions,
rules and regulations, never once did she mention that. And when I ordered the large pie, after
telling her that I was using the coupon, she never corrected me. Wouldn’t that have been a good time to
mention the fifth regulation? What’s
that you say? You’ll give me a break and
sell me the pizza at the “coupon price” for a large pie? The coupon price, is FREE! He wouldn’t budge. Then he had the NERVE to say to me as I was
leaving (in all seriousness), “Keep the free coupon, it’s good all month, come
back again.”
So, if that were the end of the story, and my meal was at
least tasty, my review might not be as bad based on just that one example of
poor customer service. But it doesn’t
end there.
The antipasto was advertised as containing, among other
things, fresh mozzarella, oil and vinegar.
No fresh mozzarella and bone dry.
No dressing at all. No oil, no
vinegar, nothing. Dry.
The wrap that was supposed to be chicken, roasted red
peppers and fresh mozzarella. This time
the mozzarella was there, but it was so paper thin I could see through it. It may as well have been left off.
Also, I had been asked if I wanted garlic bread or garlic
knots with my antipasto. I chose garlic
knots. Yeah, you guessed it, I got garlic
bread. You see where this is going?
Did I mention? Take a
look at the photo of one of their pizza slices in the photo above. The whole pie
was like that. That huge bubble, where
the sauce and the cheese slid off, leaving behind a dry tasteless black hole on
the pizza, those bubbles happen all the time in pizzerias. However in quality pizzerias, where they
actually care about putting out a good product, they either “dock” the crust
before putting it in the oven (rolling over it with a roller containing needles
to prevent the onset of bubbles) or someone is tending to the pizza and popping
those bubbles as they develop. Here they
just let them run, wild causing dry bald spots all over the pizza. They just don’t care.
The pie, aside from the bald spots, was very plain. Just like every other pizza from every other
pizzeria that doesn’t care enough to stand out and make an above average pie.
A little further down the road, on the other side of the
street (312 Atlantic City Blvd )
is Vinny’s Pizza. Now HE cares.
Next time I’ll drive the extra few blocks and get an above average,
delicious pizza from a man who not only knows how to make a quality pie, but
also how treat customers in such a way that they actually want to come back.
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