Been working for almost 3 years, started as a driver and now I mostly just manage. I have worked in almost all areas so hopefully, I can answer some questions. Ask away!
[AMA] I'm an Assistant Manager/Driver at Domino's - Ask Me Anything!
L[Deactivated] on 28/04/2019 - 17:44
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What to you may be undercooked may be perfect for others, I actually prefer mine a little less done.
Yes you are right, the cooking process is all automatic. How well it's cooked depends on the temp the ovens are set in and the speed of the conveyor belt but we don't touch these most of the times. We get instructions to cook pizzas longer all the time, all we do is just push the pizza's back halfway. Try leaving a comment in the delivery instruction next time you order or call the store and tell them you want it cooked longer, they usually listen :)
my pizza always slightly undercooked
Agreed…. needs more cooking!!
if I'm picking up I tell them to push the pizza back a bit before they box it
I like my pizza crispy tooBecause your store is sliding them in or pulling them out of the oven. Pizzas are meant to be placed at the end of the conveyor belt and slide off the other end onto a table.
The oven can also have hot spots that cook better than other areas.
I see workers reach pretty deep into the oven conveyor belt to pull pizzas out early. This might explain it.
Why have Dominos pizzas become so shit? 3 or 4 years ago they were acceptable, now they are avoid at all costs.
I feel like they focus on volume too much rather than quality, but they are definitely trying to improve quality (e.g. We are getting an AI camera that can analyse the spread, topping, border etc. of the pizza and give it a score, if the score is too low the pizza has to be remade)
I am extremely critiquing when it comes to pizzas and I have to completely disagree with the previous commenter - I find Dominos pizzas are, more often than not, passable; if not passable, they're actually pretty good.
I'd somewhat agree with ThithLord. Dominos are passable but at a much better price than most local places. I'm of the view that there's no such thing as a good pizza that hasn't been woodfired, Dominos is as good as any other place that doesn't use one. My only gripe is that the sizes reduced a while back so I pick-up Dominos a lot less frequently than I used to. A pizza used to be two meals for me, they aren't quite big enough for two meals any more.
@conan2000: Agree generally, domino's just as good as non-woodfired places. I think the quantity is quite reasonable given the price (and inflation) - it's still like $6 a pizza, do you really need that to stretch to two meals?
Domino's is my favourite chain pizza shop. Love it. Feel like I'm the only one though.
In the future, will the AI Pizza Camera become self aware and retaliate against us humans ?
Must be your local store. My local one is pretty good.
I’ve eaten from multiple stores. Same disgusting shit.
I'm an Assistant Manager/Driver at Domino's - Ask Me Anything!
I don't eat Dominos Pizzas. They are crap
Try another store maybe?
Nah they are all horrible.
OK then why are you posting here?
I guess Im just a hateful / negative person who wanted to complain to a stranger on the internet that I don't like something that I used to like. Anyway Im just gonna head off and try to enjoy my horrible horrible life!
I think it varies by store, and time of order.
When my work wants to put on a lunch they'll often order 10 or so pizzas from dominos and they're normally pretty good. When I feel like a pizza and I order one from my local store at dinner time, I get a crappy, sparsely topped, dry pizza.
What's your weirdest delivery story?
Red or Blue?
Do they have standard measures of toppings or is it just eyeballed?
If someone orders a customised traditional with eg triple pepperoni, is it likely you will actually put 3x the pepperoni of the $5 standard pepperoni pizza?
We have 'make charts' that shows us the weight and toppings of each pizza, we have to follow this chart and weigh each of the toppings but during rush where we usually have to make around 100-200 pizzas every half hour, it can be very difficult to keep up using scales so to fix this we put experienced makers and get them to make it without scales, most of them have a good idea and generally someone who has been making for 2+ years can be accurate to +-2 grams. So really, it depends on on who is making the pizza and what time/day you order.
I call BS on +-2 grams. Maybe on herbs as they are low weight to volume but 2g is not possible when the variation of weight on something like salami may be more than 2g.
From when I was working there, it was standard measures. The thing that threw off most people is that triple pepperoni at the time just meant we put on 24 slices. Triple pepperoni on a pepperoni pizza means you got an extra 16 slices, not 3x 48 slices. This was over 8 years ago though so a lot has probably changed since then.
What do you eat from there if anything?
Has your weight increased in the past 3 months or does working hard counteract that?
I don't eat much from there, if I do I make my own pizza or have some sides. I am actually trying to gain weight so maybe I should do it more frequently? ;)
Domino’s – no stranger to high tech fast-food solutions – has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure that there is the right amount of each topping on your pizza, and that it is evenly spread out. The system will also check that it’s hot enough and that it “looks exactly how it’s supposed to look.” For now, Domino’s is confining this pizza-perfectionist AI to a single store, road-testing the technology before a more widespread 2018 rollout.
When is the above technology being rolled out to Aus Stores?
I'm assuming it hasn't yet, or at least to all stores because last time I went to Domino's, they went stingy with the toppings
Roll out has already begun, I'd say around 30% of the store already have them. I believe there is a certain deadline it needs to be installed by.
So it just looks at it… does this mean pizzas will get rejected and remade?
Perhaps it just looks at it and says "mmm pizza" and moves on.
How profitable is the franchise you work at?
Would you buy it if you had the money? How much would you pay? Give indication of profitability or otherwise.
In terms of the profitability, I'm not too sure as my franchisee is not very open with the finances but he seems to be doing pretty good.
Would I buy it? Maybe, how much I pay would depend on the state of the store, location, sales etc. etc. Haven't thought too much about this so can't give you a straight answer sorry
I bet he keeps telling you to work harder and that maybe one day a few years from now if you bust your ass for the store he'll let you buy in. But if the store is making good profits then why would he ever sell any share of it for less than it's really worth? Promises on the other hand are free to give away. That's the impression I get speaking to Dominos and ex-Dominos managers.
What makes you say he is "doing pretty good"? Is he driving an Audi or wearing a Rolex? Or what are you benchmarking against?
Give indication of profitability or otherwise.
Top manners there mate.
How is it that Domino's is so successful when there are so many independent pizza shops around that make a far better pizza at much the same price?
u have independant pizza shop that sells 5 dollar pizzas? pleas tell me where! or even 7.95 pizzas
non coupon price yes but coupon price no
Depends which area you live
Northbridge Brewing Co in Perth. $4 full size pizza with any drink purchase. Not incredible pizza, but better than dominoes. The drink can be anything just not soda water or water. Got 2 ginger beers and 2 pizzas for $15. I was stoked.
It's all relative. Domino's "Large" pizzas are so pathetically tiny, they are the same size as a small kids pizza for $6 from any of the high quality Italian pizza places within reasonable distance of me. Two large pizzas from any of the independents or good quality Italian joints near me is going to be the same if not more pizza than 3 large's from Domino's & it's going to cost me less.
Mainly the brand, super cheap pizzas and lots of ads, most independent shops sell their pizzas for $20+ at least where I live
My local for Large is $14, but they aren't shy with the toppings and is far better than either franchise
I have never seen an independant selling pizzas below $10, which automatically redirects me to Pizza Hut or Domino's everytime.
From my standpoint I rarely bother to pick up so I compare delivery prices, and these days it is cheaper to order from independent pizza shops, which end up working cheaper, larger and tastier than dominos when ordering in lower quantities. Especially now with the proliferation of menulog, ubereats, deliveroo etc..There is much more local choice when it comes to delivery.
The single reason why I would have gotten Dominos delivered in the past was because of the tracked delivery..but I stopped ordering from them once the competitors came available with it. Obviously also depends on the quality of the local pizza shops in your area.
Pickup is a different story though and possibly if ordering in larger quantities… But I find they taste bland.
I guess most ozbargainers probably pick up..but I value my time more. Personally trying to dig for coupons every single time when ordering at dominos is also super annoying.
What has been your biggest surprise working at Dominos?
There was an AI delivery robot that had been advertised, then vanished… do you klnow what happened to that? Also, are you guys hearing any news about drone deliveries?
It was a publicity stunt. Something like that might work in NYC or HK, but can you imagine the little robot making the 7km trip through the suburbs to deliver your pizza?
Automated pizza delivery to low and medium density residential will come about shortly after fully automated cars go on the market.
How many prawns should there be on a pizza? And would it be the same with one on the make chart and one where you are prawns added or replacing a topping?
Never seems like many to me.
How do you treat the freeand half price pizza promotion pizza?
How many free pizza you have give to the same guy back then and you are still hornering?
I hate when people honer my pizzas.
Why so many indian working at Domino….
Why is that racist? He didn't say anything bad about a race, just asked why the high proportion? Would you have considered it racist if they'd said why so many swedish work at dominos?
People love to jump on the racism bandwagon these days and not interested in context. No wonder dicks like trump are winning."Would you have considered it racist if they'd said why so many swedish work at dominos?"
Yep
Because Dominos (like all junk food business) pay pittance, there are only 3 types of people who would work for such wages, kids and foreigners from third world countries.
Are you the third? Because you said 3 and only listed 2.
Typo, I'm a waiter and bar men :).
Why so many white work in top jobs? Why they don’t allow other nationalities to come forward?
Why do Dominos pizzas taste disgusting?
Hi
Every time I order vegetarian I always find meat. What should I do when I order so that it never happen?
Also do you think I ask them not to cut as they use same knife ?
Recently they have added vegan options too but there is no point on giving more money if it is still not vegan without any dead bodies.
Any recommendations are appreciated.
Thanks
A vegan friend of mine orders the pizzas uncut because he's put off by the idea the same knife that cuts cow's milk cheese may be used on his pizza.
Personally, the aesthetics of a shared knife doesn't bother me too much and I'll get it cut. But that's just me and my own tolerance for such things.
Once we ordered and all the pizzas were cut. My friend wasn't happy. I spoke to the manager who assured me a separate knife was used on our vegan pizzas. My friend was not convinced and refused the pizzas; IMO this was an illogical move - if you can't trust the manager about the knife then how can you trust them about anything?
Cross contamination may have implications for allergies, religious requirements or personal aesthetics, but rest assured there will be no extra dead bodies with a shared knife or even with a stray sliver of flesh. As long as it's intentionally vegan and does not have a massive structural flaw (like incorrect toppings) it is for all practicable purposes vegan.
You do realise that your vegetarian food contains lots of animal matter, right? It's pretty much impossible to avoid it. For most people the point of vegetarianism is to avoid [or reduce] the unnecessary killing of animals, not to avoid anything which has touched an animal.
Are they still paying drivers $17 an hour with no penalty rates and $1.50 a delivery (if using your own car)? That's what I used to get on their awful 15 year old EBA. Probably worse at the ones who don't pay the EBA wage though.
Isn't the minimum wage like $20 an hr now…..? They're being under paid big time!
I think it's $22.50 for an adult.
Is there less toppings when a discount code is used?
On $5 pizza's, does Domino's make any profit at all?
It's like 30 cents of dough and $1 worth of toppings. With stores doing 100's of these an hour during just the rush times, they still make profit easily. That's not taking into account all the rando's and noobs who don't even use vouchers.
Hello, I have coeliacs disease (can't have any gluten) and have tried Domino's gluten free pizza before. Even though the guy who took my order told me there would be no cross contamination (e.g. getting gluten crumbs on my GF pizza) I saw him use the same cutter for my pizza as for regular ones.
How careful are you guys usually with cross contamination?Hahaaa classic
what meat is the pepperoni made from
If you have to ask you really don’t want to hear the answer.
Do stores cut back on toppings based on the price people pay for their pizza …. ie less toppings for those utilising promo codes?
And like the pizzas my most recent garlic bread seems to have also shrunk in size…can you confirm that's correct?
All this talk of pizza is making me feel like eating one (or many) now.
Why are the “large” pizzas so tiny?
/end rant nvm :p
——
Actually would really just like to know how much pressure is there to get the pizza made and out the door on time? I find the ETA is almost always wrong (pizza is late) and it bugs me a bit that they set the high expectation but almost always miss it with me.
Question: why all my drivers' favourite pizza is spicy veg trio?
Are the burgers actually better at Hungry Jacks?
How do you feel about your CEO frequently guesting on the Aunty Donna podcast since late 2017 and pronouncing his name correctly each time?
https://www.planetbroadcasting.com/our-shows/aunty-donna/epi… (start at timecode 7:00 if you don't care about just Andrew Gaze)
Do you ever pickup toppings from the floor and put it on the pizza?
I used to work as a driver, not at dominos or pizza hut, and have seen it happen.
O3 second rule.
But of course they scrape off the left overs and fall offs. Times are tuff. Want that extra cheap pizza for $3.95 or u gona pay the extra 20cents ?
Exactly
O3 second rule.
What is it? I am not aware of it.
It seams paying with vouchers you get even worse toppings. Is this true ?
Now honest answer not bs pc one.
seams
Seems.
What prank are you going to do to the store the day you finish up? ;)
Do you still eat pizza? If so, what's your favourite Dominos piza?
Dominos is average at best. Only got it when i was on holiday in Darwin coz food is so expensive there
Do you answer AMA questions?
Some
Are you allowed to make yourself a pizza during your break etc.?
You currently have any casual work available? Looking out for fellow ozbargainer "dsw460p"
I have stopped buying from Domino's since I found ham, twice in my vegetarian pizza.
Just a question - do you actually change gloves for vegetarian pizza or would I have to ask? Or would it get contaminated with meat anyway?
Why is your thickshake so damn expensive?
How are the delivery guys employed and how much are they paid?
Are they setup as independant contractors (to earn under minimum / award wage similar to Uber etc) or are they regular employees?
Thanks :)
Also - what is the safety record like for the guys on the electric bikes?
I mean, do you have any insight into how many crashes they have (often, rarely).
I think the OP did end up eating more pizza. And died. RIP. Rest in Pepperoni.
My family got horrendous food poisoning from dominos pizza once, wife had to go to hospital.
Cool story bro. Needs more dragons!
Are there many employees with second jobs? Would my local Dominos take me on for a secondary job after hours and on weekends? (e.g. if I work a day job Mon-Fri 8-5)
In Pokemon Silver, who do you choose as your starting Pokemon?
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Why is my pizza always slightly undercooked? I keep giving online feedback each time to cook the pizza for longer but nothing has ever changed so I assume it's a standard cook time set by domino's and because I'm always getting pizzas with maximum toppings.