And yet there was a thread recently where numerous commenters rolled their eyes at the need for accessibility for the blind on the web, because “Can’t you just call?”

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21188594

For even more irony, Pizza Hut’s and Domino’s pages from the mid-90s are more blind-accessible than the meth-addled versions of today. We’ve somehow regressed.

>Pizza Hut’s and Domino’s pages from the mid-90s are more blind-accessible than the meth-addled versions of today. We’ve somehow regressed.

Google wasn't dictating how websites are developed/optimized back then.

Sure, blame Google instead of lazy developers who can't be bothered to give a damn about anyone's time but their own.

Its funny when I type "Pizza" into Google, the first organic result is Pizzahut.com, not bad for a bunch of lazy developers who don't take Google SEO into account.

Except that Google now likes simplistic 1995-style websites. They're fast to load and don't obscure the relevant information.

Ordering pizza might be one of the few things that is better to do over the phone than online. It's far quicker to say "Pickup, a large pizza, half pepperoni, well done", than to fight through the combobox salad of seemingly every pizzeria online ordering system.

I disagree, but only because that order will get turned into a large pizza with all pepperoni pretty regularly. Modifiers get lost on phone orders very regularly.

Modifiers get lost on online orders very regularly, too, as I've learned from the sheer number of Uber Eats orders I've placed where my request for "no bun" or "no bread" gets ignored.

"Can you read my order back to me?"

Not that hard.

Or I could just order online and make sure it is right the first time?

Also, there is no way I'd just call in and say "Pickup, a large pizza, half pepperoni, well done" because that just seems incredibly rude so calling would take even more time. Much easier to load the website/app and enter your pizza

Aren't all of you glad that you can order on the web or by phone, as you prefer?

Aren't all of you glad that you can use Vim or Emacs, as you prefer?

Aren't you all glad that you can shave your yak in a bike shed painted exactly the way you prefer?

Yes but this conversation was about how preferences have changed or not changed

Every pizza joint around me has better deals when calling in.

I can't imagine you've ever called a pizza place. It's a business transaction, there's no pleasantries on either side. It's not rude. They want to move on with the business as quick as you want to hang up.

Maybe it's just a North East thing but my calls for pizza are about 10 seconds long and I've never thought "Gino is being rude, he didn't ask me how I was doing"

Pizza orders can be even faster than that. For me it's often: "Hey dude, same thing?" "Yep." "Cash?" "Yep."

Literally two words from me. A perk of being a regular customer perhaps, but honestly I order pizza maybe two times a month, not that much imho.

"Hello, Pizza Hut, can you hold? <music begins playing>"

I'm not at all sure my local pizza place even has online ordering. But it's literally a matter of maybe 30 seconds to place an order on the phone.

I suppose there are some advantages to having all your account info already stored if you're getting a delivery but that's not an option for me.

Eh, at least the 2 local pizzerias that I order from can both locate my account from a phone number, so if I call & say I've ordered before they just need to confirm the address. One of them does have online-ordering; and while the page is decent I still find it faster to call.

Haven't ordered from Pizza-Hut online, but ordering online from Dominos was absolute hell. There is no way to view your total without clicking through to checkout, and prices aren't listed. So the only way to find out what a specialty pizza costs is to add it to the cart, dismiss all the upsell popups about adding dessert and a soda, then view the cart.

Plus, even on a desktop computer with a decent connection it loads so much crap. The page ends up being heavier than Youtube, and I fail to see why I need to load as much resources to order a pizza vs. watch streaming video. Not worth it, especially as their pizza is neither particularly good or particularly cheap.

well, it seems like if the system is tracking you, then it should only be hard the first time. then it should default to your known preferences. unless you order a different pizza every time...

Preferences aside, a phone call is much more practical.

Via web..

* Ordering could easily fuck up somehow. Eg. Send multiple identical pizzas cus you pressed the button multiple times, cus the 1st time u pressed it nothing happened. I read about this actually happening recently.

* You dont get confirmation from a human.

* You cant ask questions and get answers from a human.

* You could only order what the app allows and nothing else.

* You'll probably need to register / login, forget your password, reset it, etc. etc. It will take a lot longer.

The big problem with customer service nowadays is thats it's impossible to get hold of a human you can tell your problem to, and who will hopefully deal with it (eg. google)

I used to work for Domino's. I also often order pizza.

In both roles, online ordering was worlds better than a phone call.

As a Domino's employee, it was a lot easier and faster to get an order from the online system. It was often more accurate too. We didn't have to ask the drunk customer to repeat their order multiple times, then have them rage at us when we delivered what they ordered, only to find out it was not what they thought they were ordering.

As a customer, it's faster and more efficient to order online. I can save a custom order and have my really weird Frankenstein pizza ordered at the click of a button. Also, payment online is far easier and more reassuring than handing over credit card details on the phone (and don't get me started on cash).

> * Ordering could easily fuck up somehow. Eg. Send multiple identical pizzas cus you pressed the button multiple times, cus the 1st time u pressed it nothing happened. I read about this actually happening recently.

I don't think I've ever had an online order experience any of those problems. On the other hand, I've had countless phone/human interactions that have led to order screwups, usually misspellings of my name/email/phone number despite my spelling it out for the person.

Otoh spelling out my name and address and phone number and card details over the phone and making sure there's no mistakes takes minutes whereas I can type it all in and make sure it's correct in 30 seconds

Or save your card information. Or your past orders!

Ordering pizza online takes me less than a minute. If I called I'd still be on hold