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I ordered my daughter a pizza, something I don't usually do. I got Domino's smallest size with two toppings. I got her cheese sticks and two sauces and tipped the driver 20%. $31.07.

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.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/27d3d56f-3566-424d-9c3d-47d6aff0179b.png

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/961dbf84-9e86-4144-b919-9e6649de1243.png

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.

taiyang ,

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.

RvTV95XBeo ,

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....

Brunbrun6766 ,
@Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world avatar

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 ,

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.

stevestevesteve ,

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.

taiyang ,

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.

Cryophilia ,

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.

IMongoose ,

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.

CyberTaco ,

My family have explicitly stopped ordering from Dominoes because of how insane their pricing has gotten. We have lots of significantly cheaper pizza options in my area that that are as good or are better.

Cryophilia ,

Use coupons. Dominos is the cheapest around. And they don't force you to download a privacy invading app to get the coupons either.

Lost_My_Mind ,

Forget everything you said. Forget the prices. Forget the experience you had.

My first question is......why would you willingly order Dominoes? This is ghe same chain that just 2 years ago had a series of commercials where the core theme of the commetcials was "Hey, we know our pizzas taste like cardboard and are universally hated buuuuuuut, maybe buy a pizza? We're self aware of our awfulness, and we'll try to do better maybe!"

TheRealKuni ,

Dominos turned their shit around like, I dunno, 15 years ago or so. When they started making oven baked sandwiches.

I honestly really like some of their pizzas. It’s not bad. They just know that it used to be, many years ago.

It’s like when Buick made those commercials about how their new cars actually look good so people don’t realize they’re Buicks. When you have a reputation, sometimes it’s a good idea to acknowledge it.

Cryophilia ,

Yeah the sandos and pasta are actually decent and with the coupons it's a pretty good value.

I'm not saying it's good food, I'm saying it's decent food and good value.

TheRealKuni ,

I'm not saying it's good food, I'm saying it's decent food and good value.

I, personally, would call their Philly Cheesesteak pizza “good” food. Not, like, local restaurant level good. But early days of COVID that was my little bit of sanity. Order a couple pizzas from Dominos delivery on Sunday, eat a slice of each for lunch every day.

Cryophilia ,

I have literally eaten Philly cheesesteaks that taste roughly the same despite costing 3x as much from local restaurants. Dominos Philly cheesesteak is legit, at least for an area like the west coast that is devoid of truly good philly cheesesteak.

southsamurai ,
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works avatar

Eh, they don't suck as much now.

They're on par with any of the shitty chains tbh. Crust is okay, but not much more than that even with the various options for it. Sauce is acceptable, cheese is good, some of the toppings even can be called good to great for a chain pizza. Still not my top pick of the chains, but not as bad as Caesar's at all lol. Better than freezer pizzas at least, though digiorno does a good enough stuffed crust if that's your bag.

There was a time dominoes was worse than Caesar's. By a big margin, depending on the store.

Lemming6969 ,

At over something like 2200 calories, that is 4 meals though, so like $7 per meal. Still horribly expensive for pizza though.

Lost_My_Mind ,

Pizza is overpriced for pizza though. I ordered from my non-chain local place. Everybody loves them. 2 pizzas, $90 before tip.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

The were hand made right? Right?

roguetrick ,

For $90 I sure as fuck hope they have the owner strapped to a goddamn milking machine to make the cheese. That or the landlord.

Restaurant landlords are a special kind of scum. They let restaurants revolve in and out until someone finally makes a splash. Then they raise the rents for the next lease. Every fucking time.

taiyang ,

I can't wrap my mind over that price, our most overpriced place are $30 a pizza and those are humongous. Did you include overpriced sides? I find $15 for 6 wings a bit much and that'd usually do it.

Lost_My_Mind ,

No sides. I don't know how much 6 wings are, but I know the 18 pack was $40. I didn't get it.

Cryophilia ,

VHCOL area here, the god tier pizzas are about $50 each for a large pizza. Dominos is still Dominos pricing.

I'm not counting the super mega fancy sit down places that have Michelin starred chefs making pizza either.

TheRealKuni ,

Whoa. Was it like, Pequod’s or something?

SpeedLimit55 ,

Dominoes has a choose any 2 or more for $6.99 each which includes medium 2 topping pizza, bread, chicken etc…. Check the coupons page next time https://www.dominos.com/en/pages/order/coupon

Neato ,
@Neato@ttrpg.network avatar

Checked my local good pizza place. Made same pizza, the one you did but med instead. Local place was only $2 more: $17.50 vs $16.

It's pretty much the same to order delivery from local or nicer places these days rather than the big chains.

Cryophilia ,

Yeah, fast food decided to go for good restaurant prices. Fuck you McDonald's, if I wanted to pay $25 for a burger and fries there are awesome local joints I can go to that make much better burgers

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

people who pay full price for corporate pizzas and complain about it are hilarious.

you obviously have internet access. there is no excuse to pay so much. Use their website. Install their app. Even in the 90s pre-internet there were an endless supply of flyer-coupons/discounts.

Full price is a tax on stupid, gullible or the lazy. You paid the lazy tax. 🤷‍♂️

That all said: yes, the lazy tax / full price prices are insane. I have no idea why anyone would pay them, especially with the difference coupons makes.

also: 1) tipping is a good thing to do 2) if you can't afford to tip, don't tip. If you can, do. I don't factor BS into prices and complaints.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Apologies for being stupid, gullible and lazy for something I almost never do and haven't done in years. Clearly I should keep abreast with the latest pizza ordering trends.

Also, I used the internet to order the pizza, but I sure as hell am not installing their app.

And I did tip them and I can afford it and I wasn't complaining about the tip. Why would I have tipped 20% if I had a problem with tipping?

It's like you didn't read anything I wrote. I'm surprised you didn't tell me I should have gotten carry out.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

I said "or", not "and", but if you want to claim all 3, that's up to you.

I didn't suggest you had a problem with tipping. You suggested you had a problem with paying too much overall, and included the tip as part of your rant.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

but seriously - given you basically live on the internet these days, what was your excuse for not spending 30 seconds to get a coupon code to put into the website?

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

My lack of knowledge that they exist?

I ordered my daughter a pizza, something I don't usually do.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

youre trying to tell us that you didn't know coupons exist? Come on.

this is on you.

yes, full price is insanely expensive, but the fact that anyone would ever pay it - and be in a situation where paying it is worthy of a complaint - is insane.

You were lazy and you paid the lazy tax. You want to call yourself "and" stupid, sure, whatever. But call a spade a spade. Own your mistake and don't blame Domino's.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Internet coupons? No, I have never heard of such a thing. Amazon sure doesn't offer them. NewEgg doesn't offer them. eBay doesn't offer them. Threadless doesn't offer them. I don't buy from anyone else.

I know that you all think I'm supposed to know how to order food from the Internet properly with no one telling me about it. I just want to know how you all think I was supposed to know without anyone telling me.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

Now I'm confused if you're being sarcastic or not. Do you think those sites don't offer coupons? (because they do)

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t know how many times I have to say I never order food on the Internet, but I still never order food on the Internet Internet. Somehow, I was supposed to find out how to order food on the Internet cheaper by osmosis. That’s what you all seem to be telling me. The weird thing is, none of you seem to be saying that Domino’s is charging too much and then charging people less if they use a coupon, when they could just charge everyone less to begin with.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

That's just the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Domino's has had coupons since before the internet existed. You have no excuse. You've never seen the coupons at the end of shopping receipts? Stuffed in your mailbox? You know they exist.

And all those other sites still have discount codes all the time. There's entire websites dedicated to sharing coupon codes for every online shop.

The weird thing is, everyone - me included in this thread - has said Domino's charges too much. As to why they don't just lower prices? Because then they wouldn't make as much money off of stupid and lazy people.

Why don't businesses include tax with the sticker price? why do they put it as $7.99 instead of $8? because it looks smaller to your reptile brains and encourages overspending. They do it because it makes more money.

SHOULD they? meh. it would be nice. But also, our smooth brains like finding prizes (discounts) which encourages spending that we might not otherwise do. So they get more money both ways. Basic marketing 101.

Honestly, as someone with your hospital expenses, I'm not sure why finding ways to spend less money isn't higher on your things-to-do list, as opposed to moderating Lemmy. I'm not telling you how to spend your time, but you did write a few posts about spending too much money.

FlyingSquid OP , (edited )
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

The weird thing is, everyone - me included in this thread - has said Domino’s charges too much.

That is just a lie. Not only had many people not said that and just berated me for not using a coupon, I have asked multiple times now why Domino’s can’t just charge less and not make people use coupons, and no one answers that question they just say use a coupon. but I guess I can’t be as smart as everybody here. Obviously it’s my fault for being stupid. Companies that take advantage of stupid people are right to do so because stupid people are bad people at least that’s what I’m hearing here.

Also- help this stupid idiot out and explain to me exactly what I should have fed my daughter for dinner since I can’t cook or smell most food. (I don't expect you to answer this, I just expect a bunch of downvotes and insults).

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

where did I at any point offer any culinary advice or criticism?

Are you drunk on pain meds, or confusing me with another poster?

as for being stupid: yeah, probably your fault. I mean, if you are being wilfully ignorant, that's pretty stupid.

≥company's that take advantage...

how do you suggest they take advantage of lazy people without taking advantage of stupid people?

why do you suggest they don't also take advantage of "smart" people (which is, as I clearly said, what they are also doing)?

A continuing factor here, from the start, is you not reading the comments, and instead arguing disingenuously. This seems oddly out of character for you. Just kind of picturing you like Brendan Fraser in The Whale, only with anger and rage of Cartman.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I have asked multiple times now why Domino’s can’t just charge less and not make people use coupons, and no one answers that question they just say use a coupon.

Still no answer. From you or anyone else.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices ,

and to bring up another reading failure on your part (geezus, squid), I didn't say "use the internet" I said "website". website or app, two different options. I didn't you should order both from the website (internet?) AND the app (there's those faulty logic operators again). Either option - one of which you used - would have had vouchers/coupons on banner ads around the page. Bundles listed in with the normal menu. And so on.

But mostly I'm facepalming for you having misread almost every single line in my comment - and then whining about ME not reading. 🤦‍♂️ ffs, squid.

YarHarSuperstar ,
@YarHarSuperstar@lemmy.world avatar

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.

BakerBagel ,

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 ,
@YarHarSuperstar@lemmy.world avatar

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.

BakerBagel ,

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 ,

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

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I expect that kind of price from a real pizza place; not from Dominos, Pizza Hut or Little Caesars. None of those pizzas are worth even half this ridiculous price. They're good (not great, but pretty decent) for $5-6. They're awful for anything more.

Ejh3k ,

We order dominos kinda regularly. Check their coupons next time. I can tell you that I'll get a large 5 topping, stuffed cheesy bread and wings for that price or cheaper. And I'm your friendly neighbor to the west, not in a major or midsized area.

0110010001100010 ,
@0110010001100010@lemmy.world avatar

This is pretty much true of any of the large pizza chains. Watch the specials, use coupons, take advantage of discounts for things like ordering through the app or texting (because reasons). It's dumb, but you have to play their game to get a decent price.

That said, I can't fault OP at all. Trying to grab a quick meal for a kid means you can't spend the time to piss around and try to get a better deal.

LostWanderer ,

Damn, that’s lame! Domino’s used to be cheaper than Pizza Hut and decent pizza. I’d be annoyed too. If not for the sensitivity to food smells, you’d have saved money!

wjrii , (edited )

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*r^2^, 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 ,

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.

fitgse ,

Food is crazy. My wife went to jersey mikes and got a sandwich for herself. It came out to $17.50!

sunzu ,

Fastfood lost their fucking minds lol

astrsk ,
@astrsk@kbin.run avatar

This is why I always get a Costco 18" pizza for $10 every time I'm at the store. Yes, the pizza quality is not great, but neither are any of these other chains that charge 3x (or more) for less pizza of similar quality.

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

WinCo actually has good pizza for not only hella cheap, they will accept food stamps for them by selling you an uncooked pie and then offering to cook it for free after you pay.

Cryophilia ,

That's devious and I like it

TrippyFocus ,

Dominos is really only worth it if you’re doing the 2 for $5.99 each deal. Although I think that’s even up to $6.99 now lol

sunzu ,

799 large one topping gang!

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