Pizza hut asked to leave then invited back

I went to pizza hut near Sunset Station to order some pizzas for next day delivery to Crown forklifts. We use their forklifts all the time so in return we feed them every few months or so. As soon as I walk in the door a lady who stated she was the manager told me firearms were not allowed. I asked her if it was corporate policy to not follow state gun laws. She restated that it was in fact corporate policy. Now the fact that some business's do not want guns in their stores does not bother me. What does bother me is when people basically talk out of their a$$. Living in Vegas I am a betting man and I would bet she does not have corporate policy memorized. I told her I would contact corporate and see for myself. I got her name and went outside.

I got a phone call as I was about to leave and decided to take it there in the parking lot instead of while driving.About 5 minutes later the manager came outside and asked to talk to me. She said she made some phone calls and that I was absolutely within my rights to open carry in Pizza Hut. I was floored. Here we have a person who went just off of instincts of being anti-gun to a calm and rational person. She said sorry a few times and asked me if I would reconsider ordering from her store. I walked in and completed my order then we spoke for a little bit. She said she had just transferred from Texas and knew OC to be illegal in that state and admitted she did not know Nevada gun laws which is why she called corporate to double check. I wish more people would do their own research.

well you don't see this happen too often! glad it worked out for you.

did the manager seem "in your face" anti when you first went in? Or was she very cool and calm when she told you to leave?

I hope you pointed out to her the amount of your bill and that you regularly place that sort of order.

It's nice to see that she did her homework (albeit after the fact) and wanted to save a customer. It's also good that she is the sort of person who will admit when they make a mistake and try to correct it.

Now, how about setting up an OC meet-and-eat at her place? A great way to thank her at the same time that you show her and the rest of the staff what wonderful people OCers are.

stay safe.

skidmark said:

I hope you pointed out to her the amount of your bill and that you regularly place that sort of order.

It's nice to see that she did her homework (albeit after the fact) and wanted to save a customer. It's also good that she is the sort of person who will admit when they make a mistake and try to correct it.

Now, how about setting up an OC meet-and-eat at her place? A great way to thank her at the same time that you show her and the rest of the staff what wonderful people OCers are.

stay safe.

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You are awesome, SM... but I knew that already!
Steve

skidmark said:

I hope you pointed out to her the amount of your bill and that you regularly place that sort of order.

It's nice to see that she did her homework (albeit after the fact) and wanted to save a customer. It's also good that she is the sort of person who will admit when they make a mistake and try to correct it.

Now, how about setting up an OC meet-and-eat at her place? A great way to thank her at the same time that you show her and the rest of the staff what wonderful people OCers are.

stay safe.

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If only their pizza tasted like human food and not oil-soaked cardboard

She probably thought you were on the phone to her chain of command, as well. I'm still impressed with her. She made a standard knee-jerk reaction that has been bred into her entire life from TV and Texas. Yeah, points down for that. But to actually verify her information and seek you out to apologize and welcome you back is practically unheard of! Kudos!

Good stuff!!! I second Skid's suggestion to perhaps have an OC lunch there.

Pizza manager

I think you should still contact management/corporate...and commend the manager for being
so hospitable and friendly.

odesskiy said:

If only their pizza tasted like human food and not oil-soaked cardboard

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Did you eat the box AGAIN?

ak56 said:

Did you eat the box AGAIN?

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I thought it was just their new Extra Fiber square pizza.

I concur with the suggestion for an OC lunch there.

If the same manager is on duty, she should be given some kind of polite recognition for her initiative and for her biting the bullet and ADMITTING her error.

I have thought about this for the last few days off and on...was telling my wife about it last night...and I can't help but think that there must have been something that triggered her retraction. From your description she seemed quite content and sure of herself when she threw you out.

My thoughts are that she probably went into the kitchen to tell somebody her story of how a guy just walked in with a gun and somebody else on the staff that is familiar with our laws did the, "So what...", reaction. That probably planted the doubt in her mind and she either believed that person or made a quick call to a district manager or more likely another store in the valley.

Good that she had the guts to come out and apologize for her error, which does show a little bit of managment ability, but at the same token I doubt she came to it on her own.

Very cool experience! I'm a bit shocked she made the effort to come out to you, but I'm glad to hear she did! Thanks Pizza Hut!

Schlitz said:

well you don't see this happen too often! glad it worked out for you.

did the manager seem "in your face" anti when you first went in? Or was she very cool and calm when she told you to leave?

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She didn't seem all "in my face" really. She was more confident then anti-gun I suppose, she did not raise her voice and was calm. She did know open carry was illegal in Texas and just assumed it was the same here. During our conversation later she said she was raised around guns and had no issue with them. If anyone is interested in getting pizza hut (I'm not a fan but some people love it) I recommend going to this location at 1280 Warm Springs Rd. Henderson NV 89014 if you are in the area. It is behind Sunset Station.


jdholmes
"I have thought about this for the last few days off and on...was telling my wife about it last night...and I can't help but think that there must have been something that triggered her retraction. From your description she seemed quite content and sure of herself when she threw you out."

I cannot be certain what, if anything was said to her by people inside. It could very well be true that she took it upon herself as a ration person. I do know that once I came back in the guys in the back cooking the pizzas all stopped and looked through the cubby hole at me which leads me to believe they did have a store wide discussion. The next time I go there I will ask her for details.

That is a good manager.

odesskiy said:

If only their pizza tasted like human food and not oil-soaked cardboard

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Once I was talking about this at work, how it tastes like they SOAK the pizza in greasy oil crap. One of my comrades informed me that he used to work at a pizza hut and they did SOAK the bread in that crap... that's how they do it. I hate pizza hut. I get my fast food pizza fix at domino's.

ProTip: Confuse your friends and ask them if they want to get pizza from a fancy italian pizza joint called, "DOE - MEAN- O's"

While I like the story and the way that the manager "turned" I have a hard time sspporting Pizza Hut, as they have had a long standing policy of barring their drivers the right to self defense. I have written several letters and no responses. this turn of events makes me a little torn, as I see some sunlight however.

http://www.wreg.com/wreg-pizza-delivery-murder-story,0,5110902.story

http://www.katc.com/news/devout-catholic-pizza-hut-delivery-driver-killed/

http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/112249/Pizza-Hut-worker-killed-for-15

Heres one with the official statement:
He said Pizza Hut fired him for violating a company policy against carrying a gun, which he was licensed to carry.

A Pizza Hut spokeswoman, Patty Sullivan, confirmed that company policy includes a ban on carrying weapons.
http://www.wave3.com/story/1877208/...led-armed-robber?nav=0RZFNDof&redirected=true

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2007/jun/06/pizza_driver_killed_near_where_another_was_robbe/

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Job-...o-shot-robbers-still-not-clear-103977799.html

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Pizza-Hut-employee-shoots-kills-2-robbery-suspects-103917264.html

And a recent local one:

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/9729924/local-pizza-hut-delivery-driver-shot-and-killed

I just have a huge problem with their policy, It is one thing to not permit carrying in a factory, although not secure, you have a little control over who is in the building. with delivery drivers they have little or no say where they end up, and are vulnerable to robbers etc. I did not post all, I just took a sample.

greengum said:

She said she had just transferred from Texas and knew OC to be illegal in that state and admitted she did not know Nevada gun laws which is why she called corporate to double check.

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Bull. She fed you a line about "corporate policy." If she had actually thought you were doing something illegal, she would have called the police to check, not corporate.

Just another employee making up policy based on personal beliefs about the way things should be.

DON`T TREAD ON ME said:

While I like the story and the way that the manager "turned" I have a hard time sspporting Pizza Hut, as they have had a long standing policy of barring their drivers the right to self defense. I have written several letters and no responses. this turn of events makes me a little torn, as I see some sunlight however.

http://www.wreg.com/wreg-pizza-delivery-murder-story,0,5110902.story

http://www.katc.com/news/devout-catholic-pizza-hut-delivery-driver-killed/

http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/112249/Pizza-Hut-worker-killed-for-15

Heres one with the official statement:
He said Pizza Hut fired him for violating a company policy against carrying a gun, which he was licensed to carry.

A Pizza Hut spokeswoman, Patty Sullivan, confirmed that company policy includes a ban on carrying weapons.
http://www.wave3.com/story/1877208/...led-armed-robber?nav=0RZFNDof&redirected=true

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2007/jun/06/pizza_driver_killed_near_where_another_was_robbe/

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Job-...o-shot-robbers-still-not-clear-103977799.html

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Pizza-Hut-employee-shoots-kills-2-robbery-suspects-103917264.html

And a recent local one:

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/9729924/local-pizza-hut-delivery-driver-shot-and-killed

I just have a huge problem with their policy, It is one thing to not permit carrying in a factory, although not secure, you have a little control over who is in the building. with delivery drivers they have little or no say where they end up, and are vulnerable to robbers etc. I did not post all, I just took a sample.

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http://www.wave3.com/story/1877208/...led-armed-robber?nav=0RZFNDof&redirected=true
I love the last 2 lines of that article.
Honeycutt said he had been delivering pizza for 20 years and always carried a gun. "It's a fair job, but I don't plan on dying for it," he said. Then in another article you posted about the Pizza guy who got killed next door to where another driver got robbed they decided to fix the problem by having a community meeting and protest robberies and drugs. Um, really? That's what they came up with!

I can understand a company or for that fact a corporation not wanting their employees armed. As a business owner myself I would not have a problem with it but if something did happen a ton of litigation would commence even with liability insurance. Then my rates would go up a lot. It is unfortunate we live in a litigation happy society. Another thing to consider just like the gentleman in that story is you can carry concealed and nobody would be the wiser unless you had to use it. He went 20 years until the shooting. Imagine if a pizza chain was known for their drivers carrying. Two things would happen for sure. They would not get robbed, and I would eat too much of their pizza no matter how it tasted! I am not trying to defend pizza hut's position on the carry matter, I'm just saying on a certain level I understand but that is corporate America for you. They would rather have a victim of robbery, carjacking, or murdered employee then a possible customer taken off the streets. These facts certainly throw a monkey wrench into supporting their company or not. On one hand we have the national view and policy and on the other we have locals who are employed there in this B.S. economic state we are currently in. I personally don't order for myself from them but the guys at crown forklift enjoy their pizza.

ManInBlack said:

Bull. She fed you a line about "corporate policy." If she had actually thought you were doing something illegal, she would have called the police to check, not corporate.

Just another employee making up policy based on personal beliefs about the way things should be.

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Not necessarily. She could choose to do that, but it isn't logical to assume that she would do that.

greengum said:

http://www.wave3.com/story/1877208/...led-armed-robber?nav=0RZFNDof&redirected=true
I love the last 2 lines of that article.
Honeycutt said he had been delivering pizza for 20 years and always carried a gun. "It's a fair job, but I don't plan on dying for it," he said. Then in another article you posted about the Pizza guy who got killed next door to where another driver got robbed they decided to fix the problem by having a community meeting and protest robberies and drugs. Um, really? That's what they came up with!

I can understand a company or for that fact a corporation not wanting their employees armed. As a business owner myself I would not have a problem with it but if something did happen a ton of litigation would commence even with liability insurance. Then my rates would go up a lot. It is unfortunate we live in a litigation happy society. Another thing to consider just like the gentleman in that story is you can carry concealed and nobody would be the wiser unless you had to use it. He went 20 years until the shooting. Imagine if a pizza chain was known for their drivers carrying. Two things would happen for sure. They would not get robbed, and I would eat too much of their pizza no matter how it tasted! I am not trying to defend pizza hut's position on the carry matter, I'm just saying on a certain level I understand but that is corporate America for you. They would rather have a victim of robbery, carjacking, or murdered employee then a possible customer taken off the streets. These facts certainly throw a monkey wrench into supporting their company or not. On one hand we have the national view and policy and on the other we have locals who are employed there in this B.S. economic state we are currently in. I personally don't order for myself from them but the guys at crown forklift enjoy their pizza.

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I personally do not think that is the driving force. I believe it is more a "risk assessment" thing. The risk of loss to lawsuit if they DO allow (or not prevent) drivers to carry may outweigh the risk of loss if they PREVENT drivers from carrying, in their corporate eyes. The bottom line is what matters to a business. Whether we like it or not, if the corporate entity sees less risk in the Pizza Hut policy, they will have that policy.