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Monday, November 14, 2005

Dominos Is Sneaky


This weekend I received a postcard from Domino's Pizza in my mailbox. It said, "Sorry We Were Late."

Thinking for a few seconds, I could not recall an order in which Domino's was late on delivery. Hmmm.

Thinking about this some more, Domino's does not even promise a explicit delivery time anymore. They tell me that my order will be delivered in "about 35 minutes."

Investigating further, I took a look at the address. It is addressed to "Domino's Pizza Lover." It was probably sent to my whole zip code area.

This is sneaky. This is clever. So what if they weren't late on my order? Does it offend me that they sent the postcard? Nah - not really. If I redeem the postcard, there is a very good chance that Domino's gets an "upsell" order ... breadsticks, a beverage or something that I would not have otherwise ordered.

What do you think about Domino's sending a direct-mail apology postcard en masse to many people who do not literally deserve an apology?

3 Comments:

Blogger Jen said...

My answer is a double response. First, I would probably use the coupon because we order from Domino's frequently. Hey, if they are going to spend the money to send it out and it is something that I can use to save money, I'll use it.

However, it bugs me a little about their sly approach. Maybe saying something like, "We'd like for you to stop by for a treat on us." Something that is blanketed to people who are return customers or first time customers. I dislike this mailing almost as much as the mailings from Cingular/AT&T for "you are a valued customer so here's a free offer for a phone, etc." when we are currently fighting with Cingular over the last contract that I ended with them. We are fighting over more than $1,000 of "charges" and they have just now put in on my credit report. And we are still fighting with them...ARGHH.

Besides the fact that I can't stand Cingular....someone who doesn't cross reference their mailing lists to send mailings to appropriate customers is not paying attention to their customers. This translates into no business from me...and many other consumers.

Domino's mailing was lazy. Rather than sending out targeted mailings to their customers or a blanketed mailing to all area residents, they sent out a sneaky mailing to the blanketed area.

3:28 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

True -- sneaky, lazy, impersonal. Are those traits that endear a company to you? Dominos may gain in the short-term, but at a cost to its brand image.

4:52 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sneaky and dishonest. The only other word that comes to mind is SCAM. Don't treat me like a "Valued Customer" when odds are I was never one to begin with.

5:00 PM

 

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