Domino's on Mirabel Street is one of the many branches of the large delivery chain in the UK, for purposes of distinguishing between the city centre branches the chain has, it is known as the Manchester Arena location and it is very central.
While staying at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate, being quite late in the evening with very few takeaways open, even fewer of which could cater for my gluten-free diet, I opted for Domino's, despite having mixed experiences at my local store in Middleton, with them currently offering 50% off orders over £30 which is a decent offer for Domino's standards, and one of the few offers which doesn't include medium or large pizzas (hence excluding ones which are gluten-free)
The store from the outside does look quite nice, it looks considerably nicer and more modern than other Domino's stores, I have seen around the country - which is a good start but sadly this good start is perhaps the only compliment I am going to pay Domino's in this review, which was an awful and bizarre experience on this January evening.
I attempted to order via the standard Domino's website, but the gluten-free option did not appear as it usually does on my pizza, I later went on to try the app and had the same issue of the base not appearing, therefore I had no choice but to phone Domino's as I attempted to place my order over the phone, not knowing if the online delivery offers would still be appropriate for my order, and with Domino's in the UK probably being the most expensive for the pizza chain I've seen, especially compared to the Netherlands and the USA, this is a discount I needed.
The phone call went about as well as Rotherham's performance against my Manchester City team earlier that day, and City won 7-0 - perhaps even that would be an insult to Rotherham.
The person I spoke to over the phone told me they can't accept gluten-free options over the phone or over the counter and the only way I could order was online, I explained the option was not coming up online or via the app and they seemed unwilling to help me, It was like the episode of South Park where Eric Cartman bought an amusement park and advertised "there's a new park but you can't come", substituting the park for the pizza . She went on to place me on hold "to check if they could do anything", but I can't help but think she just wanted a break herself as it seemed the conversation started again as it had never happened.
The service at this branch of Domino's is abysmal, firstly not letting me order anything gluten-free over the phone or in store, which is a policy I can't understand for one. Secondly, the way I was treated, I was made to feel discriminated again and like they didn't care about me, nor appreciate my business.
The website issue does appear to be with Domino's themselves changing the system, where gluten-free pizzas now only appear right at the bottom of the screen (well-hidden), which also means unlike most rival pizza places including Pizza Hut and Pizza Express, Domino's now charge more for gluten-free pizzas due to the fact you have to pay per topping, and can't select a pizza name such as Pepperoni Passion or Meteor. The fact the store couldn't make me aware of this and had no interest in taking my order or helping me really shows the lowest of the low in terms of standards of customer service, and this store, of course, deserves a single one-star rating.
To quote David Walliams' and Matt Lucas' Come Fly with Me sitcom "We've got the pizza We've got the cheese We've got the boxes We've got the pepperoni but we've got no interest in taking orders." read more