Domino’s Pizza Forced To Pay $1,200 For 18-Month Late Pizza

Domino’s Pizza in Australia has been successfully sued for an undelivered order by a New South Wales lawyer. According to a report from The Guardian, Tim Driscoll, 30, a lawyer from Corrimal, New South Wales, ordered a pizza from Domino’s for himself and his friends for Anzac Day in April, 2015.

According to Yahoo News Australia, the pizza hadn’t arrived an hour later, and Driscoll called his local Domino’s location. The manager apologized profusely and explained that they had been inundated with orders for the holiday. He promised to refund Driscoll’s money.

In spite of Driscoll’s frequent reminders, the refund also never arrived. Driscoll, a shareholder in Domino’s Pizza, attempted repeatedly to contact the corporate board — he was determined to at least get his refund. Those attempts also failed. Finally, on the one-year anniversary of the failed pizza delivery, Driscoll decided that he’d had enough and it was time he had “better go and initiate proceedings.”

“They kept saying they were looking into it but after 12 months of fobbing me off with ‘we’ll get back to you’, I thought I had to bring it to a head.”

“I took the extreme step of going to court.”

Driscoll also requested that a competition watchdog go after Domino’s.

Driscoll’s order of three pizzas, two garlic breads, and two 1.25L bottles of Coke ran to $37.35, including a public holiday surcharge. According to a spokesperson for Domino’s, he was provided with a voucher for a free pizza at the time, which just added insult to injury.

Driscoll specializes in personal injury and worker’s compensation claims, and he filed suit against Domino’s Pizza for breach of contract. He said it was a matter of principal.

“I don’t like to be taken lightly, I suppose, in any of these kinds of matters… It was a bit embarrassing having my friends there and no food to give them, so it was a bit of a personal insult. I just kept fighting. I’ve always been a battler.”

When the case went to court, Domino’s refused to either acknowledge or attend the proceedings on Wednesday. In their absence, Driscoll won the case by default, and Domino’s Pizza was ordered to refund the amount of his order, along with $1203.27 to cover his legal costs — about 240 pizzas worth.

The court-ordered payment hasn’t shown up either, in spite of his having “sent the order to them a couple of times,” which is rather ironic in context — Domino’s seems to have a bit of trouble fulfilling Driscoll’s orders. And according to Driscoll, the company claims to have had no knowledge of the proceedings whatsoever — a statement he doesn’t buy. “I mean, I’ve kept them apprised at every step.”

A spokesperson for Domino’s said that the company was “disappointed and embarrassed to hear that we have let down a pizza-loving customer,” and while he was quick to point out that Driscoll had been given the free voucher at the time, “we clearly could have and should have done more.”

And that’s a bit odd, considering that Domino’s has, allegedly, since the case was decided, accused Driscoll of wasting the court’s time and stated that they intend to appeal to overturn the judgment.

It is perhaps worth noting at this time that Domino’s Pizza posted a net revenue of $2.22 billion last year.

But the spokesperson said that Domino’s had “let him down” and was “working to make it up to him… and to ensure he is not out of pocket for any expenses incurred.”

Meanwhile, Driscoll is still a shareholder in Domino’s — “at the moment.”

[Featured photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]