Domino’s has been forced to pull out of a T-Mobile’s promotion offering its customers free pizza via its new customer rewards app, after the pizza firm couldn’t cope with the increase in order volume.
The T-Mobile Tuesdays app, which launched earlier this month, crashed on its first day after a huge influx in customers. It has been created to offer loyal customers rewards, with new giveaways and deals every week.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere posted on Twitter that some Domino’s franchises received three to four times the number of orders compared to a regular day.
3/ OMG @TMobile customers slammed @dominos stores!! They saw 3x & 4x in a typical day and can’t handle the volume. pic.twitter.com/jVvDGAqduS
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 15, 2016
The deal gave a medium pizza for each T-Mobile line, which meant a family of four under the same plan qualified for four separate pies.
In retrospect, Domino’s and T-Mobile are probably thinking they should have limited the promotion on a per-account basis.
“The demand was significantly above what we agreed to in advance, which resulted in an understandably disappointing customer experience for some. As a result, we are re-examining the future of this promotion. We thank everyone who participated in the promotion and thank those individuals working in the stores who went above and beyond in trying to keep up with the overwhelming demand,” a Domino’s spokesperson told TechCrunch.
While plenty of customers were left disappointed, the customer appreciation initiative seems to have been well received overall.
Legere says the T-Mobile Tuesdays app has already been download more than 2 million times. Next Tuesday, in lieu of free pizza, customers can get one free $15 Lyft ride, a $20 coupon at MLB.com, among other free perks.
The U-turn of the free pizza offer comes as Domino’s faced backlash for limiting the number of free pizzas per store to cope with a sudden influx in orders, leaving many T-Mobile customers empty handed.
In a statement, Domino’s told TechCrunch the T-Mobile promotion generated “an overwhelming response” but said the demand was “significantly above what we agreed to in advance”, resulting in an “understandably disappointing customer experience” for some.
The Domino’s promotion has since been replaced by a promotion by Lyft, which is offering free rides (a $15 value).