I Am a (former) Domino’s pizza worker (UK). From how the pizza tracker works to the most unhygienic practices, I’ve seen it all- AMA.

When I used to work for a pizza place, we had a blacklist of customers we wouldn't deliver to. One description for a customer was: "Answered the door naked with an erection, tried to invite driver in. Do NOT DELIVER".

What's the best reason your Domino's has blacklisted anyone?

Nothing as exciting as that- just people (trying) to scam us out of pizza by complaining every week. And some guy who threatened to come down to the shop and fight me outside I told him he was more than welcome to come down - and surprise surprise, he never showed.

What topping would you recommend never getting on a pizza?

Tuna 🤮 that shit reaks. Once we touch it, our fingers would stink for days no matter what you did

I used to live in a house that was on the very edge of the delivery range, but was clearly in it. When a driver sees this are they inclined to be annoyed at the distance?

Yup. Many drivers would complain and wouldn’t be too happy 🤐

Do you guys remember repeat customers? Do you do anything extra for them if you do?

With repeat online customers, not so much. However, customers that order over the phone every week/ other week are definitely remembered. We had a sweet lady who would always order a ham and pineapple with fresh tomatoes every Saturday- like clockwork. We’d give her 30% off. Some customers are remembered for the wrong reasons though. Our store was close to a traveller farm and no joke every week, without fail, they would phone up and demand a refund. In the end we banned them from ordering.

Last time I ordered Domino's, the pizza tracker said it was being "inspected for quality" for an hour and a half. Led to lots of jokes with my boyfriend about how deeply the pizza was being inspected, but what was happening?

Was the pizza just waiting for someone to be able to deliver it during that time, and the tracker calls that "inspection"?

I think I would have been a lot less frustrated if it was honest about that, haha

It was just waiting for a driver to collect it

What made you move on from Domino's?

Shit pay, shit management, shit co workers

Did employees ever break the law on food hygiene practices?

My manager once picked a pizza off the floor and sent it to a customer without batting an eyelid…

I read somewhere that the pizza tracker doesn't actually match anything from the store side, it's just a UI with a timer and most of the time it's correct because it pads enough time to allow for the delivery. Is that right?

No, so in the uk, we clock off the items when we put them in the oven, this will show up on the tracker- it should be accurate but often we were instructed to clock off entire orders even if they’re not done to boost our stats…

Does it matter if I call early on a busy day to preorder?

Not really. When we put it through the system, we put it in as a timed order. This means that the order will pop up on the make line 30 mins before it’s due (delivery) or 15 mins (collection). So if it’s busy, it’ll just pop up with the other orders. It doesn’t make a difference:/

What size weight are the dough balls for a large pizza?

About 500g

What did you do with pizzas that can't be delivered? Were there any problem customers and how did you deal with that?

Nom nom nom. Staff would eat it (if it was edible ) As for problem customers- we were told to try and avoid giving refunds. To do anything other than give full refunds- coupon? Yes remake? Yes half refund? (Try to avoid) but full refunds? Manager would probably have a heart attack if she found out I gave out a refund!

What’s the best thing to order?

The fact this is unanswered makes me think your question has been answered

^

Do you still eat pizza? If so, what's your favorite pizza?

Pepperoni passion 😆 I’m a simple man

A few months ago I ordered dominos for the first time in many years.

When I picked up my order, it was not only wrong, but cooked to absolute fuck and burnt. I tried calling the store back for a full 30 minutes to get a refund, but nobody answered the damn phone.

Had you been instructed recently to not answer the phone? I had to tweet at dominos to get any sort of help, and even then I only got store credit, which I’ll never use.

When a store is piss busy with bare minimum staff yeah we’re told to ignore the phone.

I read the story about you dropping a pizza on the floor but was this usual or unusual practice? Is most of the food dirty?

Mostly, the food is fine… but that was one of the worst things I’ve seen

mostly

🤔

…

Unhygienic!, how bad are we talking?

I once dropped a cooked pizza on the floor after it came out the oven. As I went to throw it away the assistant manager grabbed it from me, cut it, boxed it and sent it on its way…

‘No sir that’s not black pepper, it’s dirt from the floor’ 😬😬

Have you seen the dough being made? Does it really have a secret ingredient or did they just make that shit up to attract more people?

No- it’s made in a factory in Milton Keynes (🤮 ) and transported to the stores in blue trays.

Lol is the emoji for factory-made dough or for Milton-Keynes?

Milton Keynes

Have you guys changed suppliers recently for your cheese? I've been getting Dominos for years but the last few times I've ordered it has tasted different. Also, when I order extra cheese it never looks like I get it 😂

I only left a month ago and it was the same then, so there is a possibility they changed it since...

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and no, you won't get extra cheese. if you're lucky you might get a few extra shavings.

What is the full list of toppings you have available? Just curious because I'm from the US and im wondering if they put anything out of the ordinary on their pizza in the UK.

Strangest things would be; Tuna, pickles, pesto and turkey stuffing (at one point)

How much does it cost Dominos to make a pizza? Profit margins must be insane.

I had a friend who used to work for them and he told me they make a pizza for £1. Buying from here is never worth it unless using a voucher..

Yeah, so it’d be about £1.50 -£2 and we’d charge upwards of £19.99 for it

The pizza tracker is just a gimmick right?

Nope, we clock off items at each stage, however sometimes it’s falsified by management to make the store look better

Two questions:

1) When I fancy the good ol' fresh morning pizza, does it make a difference/is it better to: pre-order for the earliest slot (11:30 iirc) and just wait, or to order for ASAP the second I can put it through?

2) This may be regional, but before Covid stuff, you used to be able to get a garlic butter topping. There were disclaimers posted over the website that the changes were temporary but it never came back and the disclaimers vanished. Will I ever be able to get that buttery garlic goodness from them again?

Edit: Also, fuck those guys for adding a delivery fee. Dominos in the UK is the second most expensive in the world, why squeeze more out of people? Very rarely go there since learning this.

1) order for it ASAP 2) we had it in my store when I left last month so might just be a franchise thing

The delivery fee actually goes to the driver. They don’t get paid very much so I think that the delivery fee is a good thing

Is the tracker linked to some sort of internal performance metric? I regularly get the “your pizza has been delivered!” notification 10-20 minutes before the pizza actually arrives and it drives me crazy. I assume it’s someone trying to game an internal metric, is that what’s happening?

Yes- it’s usually falsified to boost the stores stats

Do delivery guys get the tip from Uber Eats or even the Domino's App or is it better to just give the tip in cash?

Who don’t do Uber in the uk but they would get every penny of the online tips

When I order online and set it to arrive at a certain time, what happens when it shows up notably later or earlier than I’d asked?

Sometimes it’s just a nuisance or minor inconvenience, but other times it’s disruptive. I’ve scheduled pizza to arrive at the end of a Yom Kippur fast, and it winds up arriving half an hour before I can eat.

when you set it to arrive at a time, it will show up on the make like 30 mins (delivery, its 15 mins for collection) before the time you want it delivered. No say you order when it's really quiet you will find that your order will be delivered sooner than you hoped this is because the manager wants to improve the store statistics and so gets orders sent out as fast as possible. however, imagine you order in the middle of the rush when it's very busy then your order may become late due to the fact that your order has been submerged in all other orders that have come through within the past half an hour it makes it very hard for the staff to prioritise orders as timed orders used to go up to the top of the make line so we can see that we need to make them but they don't anymore the blend in with all the other orders. Although we do try to get timed orders out at the time they want to be delivered sometimes they will be early and sometimes they'll be late. I was also writing in the delivery instructions not to deliver the order before that time or phoning up the store telling them not to deliver it before the time you have specified. hope this helps :)

Most egregious hygiene infraction?

I once dropped a cooked pizza on the floor after it came out the oven. As I went to throw it away the assistant manager grabbed it from me, cut it, boxed it and sent it on its way…

‘No sir that’s not black pepper, it’s dirt from the floor’ 😬😬

This^

Who has the dough repair kit?

The fuck is a dough repair kit

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I’ve answered this, that’s why I’ve copied and pasted :)

I once dropped a cooked pizza on the floor after it came out the oven. As I went to throw it away the assistant manager grabbed it from me, cut it, boxed it and sent it on its way…

‘No sir that’s not black pepper, it’s dirt from the floor’ 😬😬

Thoughts on pickup customers not tipping?

I got maybe 2 tips from collections- it really makes the csr’s day :)

Do you know where I can get the sauce used in the double decadence base? I need it but they never put enough in so it’s always dry instead of gooey

You can’t- it’s specially made for dominos :/

How long did you work there? If 3-5 years, what’s changed the most in the pizza delivery world since Covid?

Just a year… a very long year