I'm the "teenager" who couldn't stand that pizza, (rest of the review my mom began)
I asked him, again, still nice and polite, brushing off his rudeness and his curtness, if there was a better time I could call back to talk to him. I explained that he seemed busy, and that I wanted to talk to him when he had more time to do so. When I asked if there was a better time, I got no response. He literally ignored me, stating, "Tell me your name" and I did, and he knew RIGHT AWAY WHY I WAS CALLING. (Mind you, this was about two weeks ago when the pizza incident happened.)
Defensively, he began to sternly, as if I was his child who had gotten into trouble and he was scolding me, while he explained to me why it was that he shorted me on the refund he had originally promised me would be a full refund.
I was taken aback. This was not the same person I spoke to, surely this has to be my imagination. He gets even louder proclaiming that we brought back a full pizza, so we got back the price for a full one, and he over-exaggerated by saying that we ate "half of one of the pizza's" and immediately followed by stating, "We have you on camera." At that point, I almost felt threatened.
But, again, keeping my cool and calm, I remember the restaurant industry can be a busy, frustrating place. Perhaps he was having a bad day. That did not make it right for how he treated me, but I did not want to return the negativity and rudeness he was projecting onto me. I kindly replied, "Perfect. I would love it if you could please go back and look at that video surveillance, just in case you forgot what the pizza looked like, and---" Robert cut me off and insisted, "You ate HALF a pizza" insisting that was why he refunded me for the one we didn't touch. We technically ate less than 25% of the pizza, I could barely explain what I wanted to say, because he began yelling at me, cutting me off and telling me I needed to let him finish what he was saying. (Uhhh...Robert, I never even got to explain to you why I was calling, and you jumped all over me verbally... on the defense right away, and if you ask me, that was because you KNEW WHAT YOU DID WAS WRONG.) When I realized that I was never going to get anywhere with the pitiful excuse for a restaurant owner, I told him he did not have to say anything else. I hung up so I did not have to be subjected to more of his ridiculousness.
First of all, we did NOT eat half your lousy pizza. I couldn't even stomach it, and two people who will eat almost anything, did not even want more than their tiny slice. (My BF told me that before we were together, sometimes he would be hungry and didn't feel like cooking, so he would just eat "No-Bake Cheesecake" in its powdered form. Jello, cake mix, brownie mix, all in powdered form, were also fair game. That is how un-picky he is! So if he said it was bad, wouldn't eat it, and was on board with me to return it, then you know that is saying something HUGE.) But even if we HAD eaten HALF your pizza, and given you one and a half pizzas back, your logic is completely off. You basically kept the pizza you charged us for, and had you said that before we left your store, we probably wouldn't have left as happy as we did, or at the very least, we would have taken that partially eaten pizza and given it to someone homeless, I know they just threw it out anyways. I mean, we were paying for it after all according to your logic, right? That is because you promised to fully refund us, but you lied to my BF and my faces, and when we weren't there, you only gave back half
Secondly, are you as a "successful restaurant owner" that hard up for the other pizza's value you promised to refund to us, but then re-negged on providing us? Because if you're "that successful" and that "popular in Burbank" then surely you have the wherewithal to know, if you treat people this way, you will lose business faster than Covid spread. Not only would this have been a positive review, with lots of thanks and praise for owning up to the responsibility a true restaurant owner would and should, but it would have brought you even more future customers. Now, with the way you have treated us, the whole county will find out just how you really treat your customers who don't share your idea of "great pizza". You lied. You bullied me today over the phone when I was more than polite, and you already knew what you did was wrong. That shows you have zero class. You are dishonest. Maybe you really DID need that money after all, and maybe your pizza is great in your head. The way you treated me today will never be forgotten, and I can never recommend this establishment to anyone while it is under your reign. If you really DO own this place, I feel terrible for the people who work there.
If you haven't eaten here, and you are contemplating on ordering from this place, I highly do not recommend it to anyone. It is an acquired taste, if anything. If you prefer flavor in your pizza, you won't find it here. read more