Warning : Amato Pizza Refuses Groupons

I’m so sick of Amato Pizza here at 429A Yonge St.

I really like their pizza but I hate the customer service and the old man here. Like hate with a passion.

I’m also really sick of GroupOn.

Here’s the story:

• The first time I came here to use the GroupOn, they refused to look at the coupon code or the GroupOn on the app. What is the point of the app, if I have to print paper to validate a code. The old man here refused to accept the code, even though he can validate it. I walked 20 minutes to get here from work and they would not honor the code. I paid full price for the pizza, feeling fully ripped off by the process.
  • BTW the pizza quality was excellent as usual – which is why I came.
• The second time, I duly printed the coupons. I walked my 20 minutes again, assuming that I’ve read all the terms and conditions on the GroupOn.  Here’s the fine print
  • Limit 3 per person, may buy 3 additional as gifts.
  • Limit 1 per table.
  • Limit 3 per visit.
  • Dine-in or takeout only.
  • Printed vouchers only
  • Not valid for delivery.
• So following this, I’m doing takeout – did I mention that they will not take a phone order for a GroupOn. You have to come here and wait for the pizza to be made. This compounds the problem. If they would answer questions on the phone about the GroupOn, this would also help alleviate the rampant frustration.
• GroupOn’s customer service is also almost powerless to do anything about this. All they can do is offer a refund. The two times now that I’ve wasted my time and had all the frustration is just part of the process.

Here’s the transcript of the customer service resolution:

[Rishi Sankar] Amato’s pizza refuses to honor the Groupon

[Jonah Micah V]

Thank you for contacting Groupon. My name is Jonah Micah V.

[Jonah Micah V] Sorry for the trouble, Rishi. To pull up your account, may I have your name and email address?

[Jonah Micah V] It’s been a little while since you’ve replied, so I wanted to see if there’s anything else I can do to assist you further.

[Rishi Sankar] Rishi Sankar

[Rishi Sankar] XXXXXXX

[Jonah Micah V] Thanks! Please give me just a moment while I pull up your account.

[Rishi Sankar] I’m writing two blogs about my experience with Amato

[Jonah Micah V] Okay, Rishi.

[Rishi Sankar] this is the second vendor that won’t accept a GroupOn

[Rishi Sankar] I tried calling customer service – but there was a 45 min hold time

[Jonah Micah V]

I’m very sorry about this. Of course, this is not the experience we want you to have when redeeming a Groupon.

We’d really like to reach out to the business on your behalf—I want to make sure we’ve done everything we can to help you redeem your Groupon as you originally planned.

It will help us find a speedy resolution if you can provide us with the information requested below. Of course, we realize you may not have all this information, but that’s okay! Just provide as much as you’re able to and we’ll take it from there.

• The address of the location you visited or contacted
  • The date and approximate time you visited or contacted this location
  • The names of anyone at the business you may have spoken with
  • Any other information you may have that can help us resolve this

[Rishi Sankar] I’m here right now

[Rishi Sankar] 429 Yonge St

[Rishi Sankar] The owner here is completely unreasonable

[Rishi Sankar] I came here for two pizzas

[Rishi Sankar] I have two groupons

[Rishi Sankar] and yet I can only use one

[Rishi Sankar] so I have to pay for the next pizza

[Rishi Sankar] based on an expectation that they would honor the terms

[Jonah Micah V] It’ll take me just a minute or so to look further into this. Thanks for your patience—I’ll be right back!

[Jonah Micah V] Did you print out the 2 vouchers or only one?

[Rishi Sankar] I printed out two vouchers

[Rishi Sankar] I still have one in hand

[Rishi Sankar] because I can’t use the second one

[Jonah Micah V] With different Redemption Codes on it?

[Rishi Sankar] yes

[Rishi Sankar] you see the two vouchers on my Groupon

[Rishi Sankar] i printed each one separately

[Jonah Micah V] I’m really sorry for this inconvenience, Rishi. Would you prefer to be refunded for the other Groupon?

[Rishi Sankar] no

[Rishi Sankar] I wanted to use my group

[Rishi Sankar] groupon

[Rishi Sankar] this is just a waste of my time

[Rishi Sankar] and I just had to pay 25.40$ for another pizza

[Jonah Micah V] The Fine Print for this deal says:Limit 1 per table.

[Rishi Sankar] this is take out

[Rishi Sankar] and limit 3 per visit

[Jonah Micah V]

I’m really sorry for the trouble you’ve experienced with your Groupon. Our Resolutions Team is here to help with these situations, so I’m letting them know what’s up. After they’ve looked into this, one of us will get back to you.

Thanks for your patience. We’ll be sure to let you know when we’ve got an update.

[Rishi Sankar] So what exactly is the issue resolution process?

[Rishi Sankar] in the end, I’ve wasted my time here

As a customer, all I can do is illuminate how horrible Amato’s customer service is … in spite of how excellent their pizza is. I’ve ordered from them for work functions and for other people … but they clearly don’t deserve my business. GroupOn also was next to useless in the entire mediation process. Here’s the deal … but I would love to know how many of the 1000 people who bought the deal actually used the full deal.