Note I did not buy any food for myself.

To head off questions:

  1. No, I couldn’t cook for her. I’m suffering from a long-term illness where I can’t eat solid foods and am extremely smell sensitive. My wife is at a funeral, so I had to order food.

  2. She’s extremely picky and refused to let me order anything but pizza.

  3. We live outside of town, in a not very big town, with very few pizza delivery options, and they’re all at least this expensive.

  4. No, I didn’t also have to buy her the cheesy bread or the second topping or the sauces, but it’s nice to get my daughter a treat and that is no excuse for the order being that expensive.

  5. We’re in Indiana, so this should be ludicrous in terms of pricing. This used to be the pricing I would expect when we lived in L.A. and ordered from a good local place rather than a chain.

Edit: Turns out what I should have been infuriated about is people repeatedly telling me to get takeout and having to repeatedly explain why that wasn’t an option, having people not believe I’m sick, and being repeatedly berated for not magically knowing food coupons exist on the internet when I never order food on the internet. Oh right, and also being a bad parent for not forcing food my daughter doesn’t like down her throat or starving her if she won’t eat it.

By the way, I have another thing to be infuriated about. A huge storm came in and this happened to our trees. I assume I will start being berated for not cutting them down before that happened, but because I have no power or internet at home and have to go to the library to post, your further posts telling me what an idiot I am and how I’m an awful parent and how I’m not really sick will take me a while to read. Sorry to ruin your day. Maybe you’ll find someone else to treat like shit.

Anyway, have fun telling me I’m the worst person on Lemmy, just don’t expect a quick reply.

Oh, and do tell me how stupid I am for not knowing that people who clear up and fix such damage have coupons on their website.

  • Boozilla
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    5 months ago

    I felt bad reading this. Fast food is way too expensive here in 2024. And then you had to write an essay justifying yourself because of all the pedantic jerks who love to pounce on the smallest of things.

    • Flying SquidOP
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      895 months ago

      And someone already didn’t apparently read it since they told me I should have picked it up myself.

      • Boozilla
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        235 months ago

        LOL! Of course!

      • walden
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        -465 months ago

        You seem to think you mentioned that not being an option, but you didn’t mention anything about that.

        • Flying SquidOP
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          5 months ago

          I didn’t think it was necessary to mention that I can’t drive it home in my car what with the “extremely smell sensitive” part.

          A pizza inside a car tends to have an odor in my experience. As does all other hot food. It’s generally one of the reasons people like hot food.

          • walden
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            -575 months ago

            “Extremely smell sensitive” just tells me you have a keen sense of smell. Sorry bro, just saying not everyone can read your mind.

            • @neatchee
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              5 months ago

              TBH that’s a logic fail on your part.

              In bullet point (1) we have two important statements

              Statement A: “I can’t make the food”

              Followed immediately by the explanation…

              Statement B: “I am dealing with an illness that makes me unable to eat solid foods and extremely sensitive to smells”

              The only way Statements A and B can be related is via the smell. Being unable to EAT solid foods wouldn’t prevent OP from MAKING the food. The only possible explanation is that the sensitivity to smell is what makes them unable.

              That’s, like, really basic reading comprehension skills. 🤷

              • walden
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                -325 months ago

                Maybe you’re making an assumption. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to cook?

                • @neatchee
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                  5 months ago

                  If that were the case then the other statements within bullet 1 are completely irrelevant, and the relevant information has been omitted. That would be a far greater assumption than taking the statements at face value and connecting the information we have into coherent logic

                • @[email protected]
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                  55 months ago

                  Maybe you can’t/won’t read an entire prompt before ejaculating your emotional retort?

            • @[email protected]
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              125 months ago

              You’re retro-justifying your mistake, dude; when ‘sorry’ is just faster.

              It’s like when you’ve lost the argument and you’re still piping up with “and another thing”.

              Exactly like that, actually.

            • Prison Mike
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              55 months ago

              Have you never smelled your car after picking up food? Hell I rarely drive but I’ve done short trips where all I’m doing is picking up food and having it in my car 20 minutes max; even the next evening the smell lingers in my car.

              In fact my wife had to put carbon-based air fresheners in her car because she’d reheat steamed vegetable then eat them in the car during her lunches at work.

              How is this hard to figure out?

              • walden
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                5 months ago

                I know all about his Mayo Clinic saga and his rare condition. It’s important for someone like him to be clear about what’s going on, or accept the fact that people are going to suggest things that he can’t do. If he’s not absolutely clear about it, people aren’t going to automatically assume “oh yeah, he must have that rare condition where smelling food makes him feel sick because he said he can’t cook and has sensitive smell. It’s obvious to me after reading that that there’s no way he can go pick up a pizza and not pay $8.60 for delivery.”

                Most people in this thread, myself included, already know about his thing, but if someone doesn’t know about it ahead of time, I’m just trying to make the point that hey, this needs to be spelled out. If it’s not spelled out, then don’t get defensive when someone responds with an otherwise reasonable comment.

            • @[email protected]
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              -15 months ago

              You’re lucky squiddy here isn’t a mod on this sub or you’d probably already be banned for “trolling” lol

              • walden
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                -65 months ago

                I guess so. Honestly, though, if you have a rare condition and don’t want people suggesting things that you can’t do, it helps to be clear in your communication.

                If you go to a restaurant and tell the server “I can’t cook and I’m smell sensitive”, they’re going to say “Ok, you’ve come to the right place”. Instead, tell them “Unfortunately, if I catch a whiff of food I’ll feel sick.” Then the restaurant can see if there’s anything they can do for you.

                I just think most people, if they weren’t already aware of his Mayo Clinic saga and his rare condition, wouldn’t guess “oh this guy must have that thing where smelling food makes him feel sick” based on what he wrote. Something that rare and, let’s be honest, strange, needs to be stated clearly if he really wants people to know about it.

                I mentioned the fact that he paid $8+ for someone to deliver food, and his response rubbed me as overly defensive – “Some people just don’t bother reading the original list of 5 items, comprehending each one before commenting on my precious post.”

                • @[email protected]
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                  45 months ago

                  I see this guy around all over the place and he’s always getting into slap fights with people over the dumbest shit lol

                • @[email protected]
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                  15 months ago

                  The dude mentioned a medical disability, stated he couldn’t eat solid food or cook and you assume he can drive and then criticize him for delivery? He didn’t spell out that he couldn’t drive but it was pretty obvious if you read the post… Say sorry and move on buddy. You’re in the wrong and look like an incel loser when you continue to double down.

    • @BananaTrifleViolin
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      285 months ago

      The thing about inflation is the food is not expensive, its the value of money that’s gone down. Its salaries that are way too low to afford the new prices. The food isn’t too expensive - employees are being underpaid.

      • @0110010001100010
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        5 months ago

        It can be both at the same time which is why the problem is so exacerbated right now.

      • @Cryophilia
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        25 months ago

        Yeah but that’s an academic, maybe even a pedantic, difference.

    • @_number8_
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      205 months ago

      people love acting like they’re perfect and always make perfect decisions in these posts. like, you can easily advise the OP and sympathize but people love to be smug instead

      • Boozilla
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        25 months ago

        Ain’t that the truth.

  • @[email protected]
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    925 months ago

    Yea, pizza places have gotten out of hand in recent years.

    Adding a delivery fee (which doesn’t go to the driver) from locations that only do delivery.

    How about fuck you and your delivery fee. Which is why I refuse to have pizza delivered any more. Plus they invariably get lost, though we’re a few hundred yards from their store.

    Little Seizures sells the same pizza for half the price, or less, than Papa John’s, before those fees are tacked on.

    • @chagall
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      515 months ago

      Little Seizures is my second favorite pizza place after Delicious Aneurysm.

    • Flying SquidOP
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      105 months ago

      The only LC here is inside a gas station, but I used to love their crazy bread years ago.

    • @[email protected]
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      65 months ago

      I’ve always been too much of a cheapskate curmudgeon to pay for food delivery and I’ve been increasingly baffled by people who pay hundreds of dollars a month to have cold, soggy fast food delivered at an eye watering premium.

      I get laziness, I really do. For me, personally, going to pick up food is the lazy option.

      • Prison Mike
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        35 months ago

        Completely agree here. If I do order delivery and it’s a third party delivering I always tip a fortune because I know otherwise they won’t care — and yet it still comes back nasty and cold.

    • Prison Mike
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      5 months ago

      I’m kind of the opposite. The only places that tend to have their own delivery drivers now are pizza joints.

      I cannot stand DoorDash, the delivery always sucks but I really don’t blame the drivers. The restaurants that say “we deliver” but then offload that shit to DoorDash, take 50% of the tip piss me off the most. And now the food is nasty because some dude in his car is working up a sweat trying to deliver 16,000 other orders at the same time.

    • @iopq
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      -75 months ago

      The driver still gets an hourly wage, so they still need to pay them for delivering. I don’t understand how you expect delivery to be the same price as pick up.

      • @[email protected]
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        55 months ago

        Now compare in-house and delivery. What’s a delivery guy but a waiter who won’t come back and refill my root beer? Worst waiter ever.

        • @samus12345
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          15 months ago

          Well, a waiter that brought your food a really long way. Kinda makes up the difference.

        • @iopq
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          05 months ago

          Domino’s where I am just drop your order at the counter. Does yours have waiters?

        • @iopq
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          -25 months ago

          Domino’s where I am just drop your order at the counter. Does yours have waiters?

      • @_number8_
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        25 months ago

        they get paid like $2/hr when actually out on a delivery, it’s pathetic and is absolutely no reason to justify the fee

        • @iopq
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          -35 months ago

          The people who order delivery must be subsidized by the pick up customers now?

          Because if you pay those wages from the price of the pizza, then everyone is paying for deliveries even if they don’t get pizza delivered.

          Notice nobody said the charge is too much, they immediately didn’t want to pay anything

          • @Cryophilia
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            15 months ago

            Notice you said something factually wrong, got called out on it, and pivoted to a different argument.

            • @iopq
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              05 months ago

              What? It costs money for the delivery. That’s a fact

              • @Cryophilia
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                25 months ago

                They don’t get paid minimum wage.

                • @iopq
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                  05 months ago

                  They do, except they have a $5.12 tip allowance

                  If they don’t make $7.25 an hour the employer must pay the difference

  • @Hobo
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    825 months ago

    Why would you need to defend yourself for ordering a pizza and being shocked by the high price? Sometimes I think I’ve gotten too old for the internet. People should be allowed to order a pizza every once in a while and not have to formulate a 5 point list of the reasons why it’s okay for them to order pizza.

  • @Limonene
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    785 months ago

    If you want to get a fair price at Dominos, you have to play their game. At least look through the website for special offers on pizza, because the “menu prices” are 2.5x higher than the average price a person pays. After that, if you still want a lower price, search the Internet for coupons (although that doesn’t work as well nowadays since they use account-locked rewards systems instead of coupons).

    Even if you play the game, it will still be more expensive than you remember, due to massive inflation.

    I don’t go to Dominos any more due to repeated bad customer service, their website malfunctioning in a lot of ways, and the last time I visited the store it smelled strongly like ammonia.

    • Flying SquidOP
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      345 months ago

      Wow. That’s some bullshit, but I’ll remember that if I have to do this again.

      • IHeartBadCode
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        175 months ago

        Usually, there’s a coupon that lets you get a medium 1 topping pizza and a stuffed cheese bread (+1 free dip), for $7 each item. That said, I absolutely recommend making your own pizza dough if you have the time for it. Way better tasting pizza.

        • Flying SquidOP
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          45 months ago

          I wouldn’t even be able to get near pizza dough. I can imagine the smell in my head right now and that’s enough of the thought of a food smell to disgust me.

          • @[email protected]
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            35 months ago

            Honest question, not a real suggestion, would the smell get through one of those double filter strap face masks for painting? I just don’t know about your situation.

            • Flying SquidOP
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              35 months ago

              I haven’t tried it, but I also don’t really want to take the chance.

      • nocturne
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        85 months ago

        I replicated the order using their coupons. It saved $2, almost $3. But it’s for a medium pizza.

        • Flying SquidOP
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          35 months ago

          That’s definitely better, but still significantly more expensive than it was 5 years ago. Do websites have coupons you can just use before you order? I didn’t bother to look. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

          • kismattic
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            95 months ago

            Yeah, as a person who’s ordered dominoes more than I like you have to start a coupon before you order and it makes it significantly cheaper (specifically the $7 per item coupon previously mentioned).

            Also, I highly recommend switching the pizza crust from hand tossed to pan. It’s always been a free change when I’ve done it and the pizza always comes out significantly better. If you’re optimizing it’s also more calories/dollar.

            • Flying SquidOP
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              15 months ago

              This place doesn’t offer pan. Just regular and thin crust.

          • Zelda Goats
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            85 months ago

            Large one-topping pizzas are only $7.99 if you order on the Domino’s website with their coupon, which is usually located on the home page. Make sure you click “see all coupons” if prompted, because they bury some of them.

            I once had a problem picking up an order I’d made online that never went through. They tried to resubmit the order themselves in-store so they could make the pizza on the spot, but the total was almost twice as much without the online coupons. I had to place my online order in the store since they couldn’t access those deals themselves.

            Bonus, though, is that you can get the extra large “Brooklyn style” for only $10 (instead of $15+ regular price) by up-sizing that $7.99 large pizza for $2 more when you check out.

            Source: am kinda poor in a rural area where Domino’s is about the best you can get, and buying in bulk is the cheapest way to go.

            • @Cryophilia
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              45 months ago

              Speaking of buying in bulk, Dominos pasta is pretty good and filling and refrigerates/reheats much better than the pizza. If you’re ever doing dominos, add a pasta on for tomorrow’s lunch.

          • nocturne
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            5 months ago

            Their “deal” pizza went from $5.99 in ~2010 to $6.99 and now $7.99. I do not remember when the changes happened exactly, but I do remember back around 2010 ordering the pizza at that price when our friend group would get together to watch Doctor Who.

            The $6.99 to $7.99 increase happened in the last yearish (I checked an order email from May 2023 and it was $6.99). I only get delivery when I am at work and my wife is unable to bring dinner, but I know the delivery fee has been increasing too.

            ETA: went and looked back further at order emails, in June 2022 it was $5.99. My earliest order email is from 2012, and they were $5.99 then as well. So at least 10 years at $5.99.

            Edit2: the $7.99 is because of the extra toppings. Medium pizzas are still $6.99 with coupon. I was up way past my bedtime last night, thus the mistake.

            • @Cryophilia
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              45 months ago

              Tangent, but please stop using ETA. That acronym is already taken by something important, and saving one character over “edit” doesn’t help anything.

    • subignition
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      95 months ago

      Yeah Domino’s is one of those places that the price with a coupon, is the regular price. And the food’s not terribly worth it even then IMO.

    • @Mango
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      15 months ago

      Yeah, Domino’s is only worth it if you do the coupon shit right. I got me and my roomie a pizza each, Parmesan bites, and cinnamon twists the other day for $20 + a fiver for the driver.

  • @[email protected]
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    575 months ago

    What’s mildly infuriating here is OP… People are trying to explain how you could have saved almost 1/3 of your purchase price and you just argue with them and keep shouting from your soapbox.

    Unfortunately, price shopping is a part of every transaction if you are trying to get the best deal. If you aren’t invested enough to read the largest banner on the shop website to save almost 1/3 of your total, then getting the best price was clearly not a concern when you ordered. Yes, you are expected to do that yourself, just like buying anything else in the commerce system we have been using for decades. It’s real boomer/privileged energy expecting that to just be done for you.

  • @BURN
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    495 months ago

    Never order dominos without coupons. It’s exponentially more expensive than anything you can get with a coupon.

    Dominos largest profit margins are on orders exactly like this. It’s often more economical to order more food at a cheaper price.

  • @YarHarSuperstar
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    5 months ago

    You fucked up by not using the coupons

    Edit: sorry not trying to blame you, you wouldn’t know they do it this way, but they have extra high prices with really good coupons that are always active and can be used over and over. The best is the mix and match for $6.99.

    • @[email protected]
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      165 months ago

      I’m not downloading an app just to buy a pizza. I have 10 local pizza joints in my town of 17,000 people. Stop buying from national chains.

      • @YarHarSuperstar
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        5 months ago

        Well duh. But if you only have a certain amount of money the big chain can be your only option, and in that case the coupons are essential.

        Edit: also, there’s no reason to download the app besides slightly better tracking of the delivery. Website is still fully functional.

        • @[email protected]
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          25 months ago

          It was $15 for a large (16 inch) pepperoni from a local shop last week here. The shop next door to my apartment has an $18 “King” sized that is 20inches. $21 for a 26x18 field. $6 for cheesy garlic breadNo coupons needed. Extra sauces are $1 instead of 75¢, but they are made in house so i can accept that.

          Both are admittedly more expensive than the Marcos 2 doors down from me, and i am not factoring in delivery charges, but not by much and certainly cheaper than what the OP posted here. I might also be lucky because my small college town has a piza shop for nearly ever 1000 residents, so they have to really compete with each other which keeps prices down, and the national chains really struggle against the better local options.

      • @Cryophilia
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        65 months ago

        You don’t need the app, you can use the coupon via the web site.

  • @[email protected]
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    445 months ago

    You’re using Domino’s wrong. You have to use the 2+ two topping medium pizza coupon for $6.99 each. They have it plastered on the website and the app.

  • @negativeyoda
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    395 months ago

    Kinda shitty that Dominos has it set up so that tip is calculated on top of the delivery and service fees. Tipping on the value of food, I understand. Tipping on the cost of those other fees is double dipping and bad faith in my opinion.

    Seriously, “y’all charged me a service fee to deliver my food? Cool! Let me tip you for that!”

    Having done time in the service industry, I have no problem tipping where it’s warranted, but you’re tipping the Dominos corporation for their fuckery at that point, not the driver

  • @taiyang
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    355 months ago

    Reading the comments about Domino’s coupon obsession, I feel like giving an economics story about when JC Penney said nuts to sales and coupons and nearly went bankrupt.

    Corpos in food and retail found that overpricing things then hitting you with deals and coupons caused American audiences to feel like they were getting a good deal. 15 buck pizza for only 6 dollars? Sounds like a deal until you realize that it’s really cheap to make thanks to suppliers and premade frozen pizzas. But if they always price it at 6 bucks, you’re gonna raise an eyebrow.

    What if you don’t do that? JC Penney had that idea a few years ago, since their industry basically priced jeans for 100 bucks and then said they were 70% off almost every day. So they tried everyday low prices and… they nearly bankrupted themselves. Lots of factors, but their main factor was their usual clientele thought they weren’t getting a deal even though the prices were cheaper than competitors (while not really attracting a new audience savvy enough to know sales are a scam).

    Point is, Domino’s is in a cycle of coupons or bust. It’s a shame you don’t have good pizza options at reasonable prices nearby, though, and a shame the good old days of free delivery seem behind us.

    • @stevestevesteve
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      5 months ago

      I hate how people mix up correlation and causation with JC Penney and it’s couponless trial. The company was ALREADY very much on a fast track to bankruptcy when it decided to try removing coupons - that’s why they tried it. It didn’t make enough of a difference to pull them out of the nosedive they were in.

      It’s not that not doing coupons doesn’t work, it just didn’t save a failing business.

      • @Cryophilia
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        85 months ago

        Doesn’t matter, actually. Now the idea is ingrained in the MBA equivalent of a brain, it will be a generation before anyone tries again.

      • @taiyang
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        35 months ago

        It certainly wasn’t a thriving business, but I don’t think it’s purely a correlation isn’t causation situation. The points about clientele not adapting are probably valid, given the evidence suggests that they lost those loyalists on top of their nose dive.

        And yes, it can work if you are consistent. Trader Joes is a good example, they are thriving and haven’t once did sales while virtually every other grocer does. Domino’s is set in their ways, though, although they’d probably survive if they blundered.

    • @[email protected]
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      75 months ago

      My God if I have to listen to my mother in law brag about how good of a “deal” her $10 (made up “retail”, $26) Tommy Bahama hand towels from TJ Max were one more time…

      • BigFig
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        95 months ago

        Well, TJMaxx and Marshalls is different. Those items are mostly close out, clearance, etc brought in from other retail chains. So on most things there yes it’s some expensive brand you’re getting for a fraction. Unfortunately both those stores (Same company) have also narrowed that margin as of the last few years.

        • @andros_rex
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          45 months ago

          Yeah - I’ve noticed Big Lots (similar kind of store) hasn’t been that much better than Walmart or whichever store the items first came from.

          Clearance sales also seem to getting worse across the board. My Walmart puts dented cans and packages with missing stuff out for maybe $1-2 off at most.

    • @IMongoose
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      25 months ago

      I feel like all food is moving to JC Penny sales tactics. In what world is a box of cereal $8 but you can get 4 of those same boxes for $9. Same with soda prices. Every other week they run these sales.

  • @rodneylives
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    5 months ago

    I used to work at a Dominos, and their side items have been ludicrously priced for a good while. There’s usually a “coupon” in their app with a substantial discount on pizza, it’s the only way I’d order from them.

  • @tehmics
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    335 months ago

    Never buy chain pizza at menu price. They all run specials all the time, that are around half off. They keep menu prices high so that they can constantly run buy one get one promos and specials to make you think you’re getting a deal. They also happen to gouge people who won’t bother checking the deals section

  • @UmeU
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    295 months ago

    I went online to place an order for pizza recently. Jets pizza. Everything was super overpriced and so one small pizza and 6 piece wings was $50 after tax and fees, not including tip which I usually do $10. So $60 for one person. I scoffed at the price then hit ‘submit’.

    I was then hit with the ‘order does not meet minimum for delivery’. They had a $40 minimum which does not include delivery fee, tax, and tip - I was at $38 something.

    I almost added some dipping sauce and sent it through but I felt so violated by the $40 minimum which was actually a $60 minimum that I just gave up.

    • @arin
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      125 months ago

      Their minimum saved you from giving their corporate executive a hard earned bonus for enacting that policy

    • @_tezz
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      15 months ago

      Do you live in an uber-HCOL area? I ordered Jets the other day and it was not nearly this expensive… I just priced out a delivery for your order and it came to $34.07 w/ taxes and fees, less tip. Even opted for the bone-in wings.

  • @[email protected]
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    295 months ago

    The only way to order from Dominos is to use coupons, and even them I feel like I always spent more than I intend to. I remember a handful of years ago they were putting flyers on the pizza box saying that the delivery few doesn’t count as a tip. Then what’s the delivery fee for???

  • @wjrii
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    5 months ago

    Not particularly helpful for you, but this seemed like the thread to chime in that in general with pizza, it’s always MUCH better to go big. Pi*r2, folks. A single 14" Dominos is already pretty much identical to two 10" mediums, and that’s only if you like to eat the crust. Always do your math by dollars per area, not diameter.

    • ASeriesOfPoorChoices
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      65 months ago

      absolutely. not only that, but it’s even worse once you factor in the crust::body& topping ratio.

      smaller pizzas have more crust area to topping area. So if you like dry bread, get smaller pizzas. If you like sauce and cheese, get a larger pizza.