Pizza Hut has announced it will no longer charge a delivery fee for online orders, which can save customers up to $8. The company is boasting that it’s the first of the “Big Three” pizza chains to offer no-cost delivery. However, there’s a slightly sneaky disclaimer that customers need to be aware of.
Pizza picture from Shutterstock
Pizza Hut’s decision to abolish home delivery fees seems commendable on the surface, but there’s a significant catch: the offer is only available for orders of $25 or over.
While this is great for parties and families, it makes ordering somewhat difficult if you happen to live alone and practically forces gluttony. Allow us to explain.
Domino’s Pizza factors the delivery cost into its online menu, which translates to a costlier total. For example, a pepperoni pizza, two cans of soft drink and a garlic bread will set you back $25.90 at Domino’s, whereas the same items from Pizza Hut costs $18.90 — a saving of $7.
However, because this falls below the minimum order policy, Pizza Hut wont actually deliver the food to you. Domino’s minimum delivery order is $24, which covers the above order.
In other words, you’re forced to order additional items from Pizza Hut’s menu to reach the $25 price point, which means you’re likely to exceed what you originally planned on spending (adding an additional pizza brings the total to $28.90, for example.)
While the Pizza Hut deal does get you more food for a similar price, we’re not sure this is particularly advisable when you consider the high fat content of pizza. We suppose you could freeze the unwanted food for later, but this still translates to another unhealthy meal in your near future.
In other words, the “free” delivery option only works if you buy more pizzas; which comes at the expense of your waistline. Food for thought!
Comments
45 responses to “Pizza Hut Offers ‘Free’ Delivery (But There’s A Catch)”
I thought other pizza chains did free delivery as well, but again with a minimum order?? Was it Crust or Dominoes or someone? I can’t remember…
Crust do free delivery for $20 or above (as long as you’re a VIP – ie: registered on their website).
Most medium pizza’s come in at $17 or so so you either need to order a large or grab a soft-drink (1.25L is $4) or desert to get the free delivery (or any delivery at all for that matter).
I like it, but you’re right, it’s very sneaky having a $25 minimum.
From my pizza delivery days, the most popular deal for delivery was 2 PIzza’s, Garlic Bread and 1.25L Drink, costing $32.95, that’s including the old $8 delivery fee, making it a $24.95 deal without the fee.
That’s the deal I always get when I feel like eating until I hate myself.
I’ve always found a coupon off the internet for it to be $26.
So you don’t really have to pay the delivery fee if you’re willing to take 5 mins to find the coupon.
Crust are dodgy with delivery. We live directly between 2 stores and have gotten both of them to deliver to us, but only if the right person answers the phone, usually they both refuse. They have no consistant idea of what their delivery boundaries are. I love crust, but the delivery problems are a headache and they cost too much considering they are “less filling”.
We’ve settled on Louie and Franko’s in Melbourne. Best balance of cost and “fillingness”.
I can’t confidently speak for interstate, but in Victoria the minimum delivery order from a Domino’s store is currently $22, not $24 as listed. Store managers may choose to waive this requirement at their discretion, so it may be worth at least asking if you want a smaller order and are very close by. An order comprised solely of side items (i.e. no pizzas) will also have no delivery fee if ordered online, and usually won’t over the phone either.
Remember that unlike many independent stores or smaller chains the bigger chains pay their staff properly, including superannuation, benefits, etc. rather than cash-in-hand, so they do need to cover those costs (as well as the costs of the food itself) and still have some profit left over when taking delivery orders. Despite the higher prices, the profit margins for these stores is often much lower than many people might expect.
That is the same as what many local Chinese or Thai joints do so no big deal..
Who are the “Big Three” pizza chains he refers to?Pizza hut and Domino’s?Who’s the third?
My guess would be Eagle Boys.
I would assume Eagle Boys, who don’t really have a presence in Victoria but are pretty huge in some other states.
Eagle Boys
Probably Eagle Boys, though it could be Crust as well.
Probably Pizza Capers. Eagle Boys were number 3, but they’ve been overtaken by Pizza Capers recently (at least in QLD) .
Hells piza I guess
Does she come with the pizza?
Oh you!
He he he ho!
I don’t see the problem. Can’t see how they are being sneaky about it or there’s a catch. To deliver 1 pizza to you free of charge wouldn’t be worth it, make no money from that. Clearly says $25.00 minimum which is great for parties. If don’t like the $8.00 charge, could always drive down.
Or, and stay with me here, you could pay the delivery fee
Except the delivery fee has been abolished. This means you can’t actually complete the order online. You just get a “you have not met the minimum order requirement” message.
Probably should have stated that in the article then.
“because this falls below the minimum order policy, Pizza Hut wont actually deliver the food to you. “
Pizza Hut, Dominoes, they’ve nothing compared to Pizza Capers.
over priced pizza you mean…
I just had a $6 chef choice(?) dominoes pizza for lunch (thanks ozbargain)
It was really good, it compared in quality of the ingredients to Crust or Pizza Capers easily!
It was also 1/3 of the cost!
Pizza Capers used to be awesome, best pizza I ever had, but they went massively downhill to the point where the extra cost wasn’t justified.
It could just be my local one but. The staff do make all the difference between good food and bad food. The problem is once I feel a place had gone down hill I stop eating there so I never find out if they recover.
It went downhill when Pizza Capers were sold to the Retail Food Group. That’s when they introduced their new menu. Still better than Pizza Hut, but not the same difference it once was.
We don’t often order pizza but when we do, we order it as a pickup and then walk to collect it. The round-trip walk is around 2.5 kilometers 🙂
Doesn’t that mean you’re eating cold pizza? Or do you walk-and-munch?
Apart form the tragic flaw of “too cheap, wont deliver”.
A minimum order for free delivery is standard in many or most take away places – local pizza shops, Chinese, Thai etc.
Otherwise it is increase the price of the actual item to cover the cost of delivery ($2 dearer pizza cost), if there is not flat minimum order of $3 delivery fee
wish the pictured girl would deliver my pizza…he he he
I’m not sure I’d like the delivery person eating the toppings off my pizza though 😐
If the Pizza delivery person was her, she can do what she wants.
Twist: Camera angle has provided nice photo. She’s a pizza addict and really weighs 150kgs.
Would getting one of the special crusts take you over that limit and make it worth it?
No the actual catch is. That you have to eat shit frikking Pizza! how can they even make pizza for 4.99 anyway! that has to be the cheapest ingredients in the world. we could solve world hunger!
Buying in bulk — remember that these arelarge chains of high-volume pizza stores — actually allows these chains to source good quality ingredients reasonably cheaply, and remember that it’s only a small selection available for $4.95, most pizzas cost more precisely because you can’t get the ingredients that cheaply.
Obviously they’re not to everyone’s taste — and you get that no matter how good the ingredients — but Domino’s at least certainly doesn’t use the crap ingredients they used to use 5+ years ago. You still may not like their pizzas, but they are made with good ingredients now; if only they could sort out the much worse problem of staff at many stores not making things correctly (under-proofed dough and under-topped pizzas are unfortunately the norm in some stores) they would be decent pizzas everywhere and not just from the good stores!
I’d rather order crust, it always has free delivery and their pizza’s aren’t shit.
I was a driver and shift runner at Pizza Hut for 18 months, in that time I could count on one hand the number of orders less that the $25 minimum. The only change I see here is that Pizza Hut now simply refuse a home delivery order less than $25, something very few people actually do. Most people are smart enough to figure if they are going to have to pay $8 for delivery, they may as we’ll add an extra pizza to the order for only a couple of dollars more to make the minimum and avoid the deliver charge.
Perhaps the way they have promoted it is dodgy, but the practical reality is business as usual, for 99.9% of orders.
Most, if not all of that $8 only covers the cost of employing the delivery driver anyway, it’s not really a profit for them. They actually make most of their money on garlic bread and drinks.
Didnt even know Pizza Hut was still a thing, WHERE ARE YOU PIZZZA HUUT
Remember when you could get 2 pizzas, garlic bread and 1.25l bottle for $19.90 delivered. Those were the days.
Did they get that picture out of a porno and then photoshop a slice of pizza over the nsfw bit? Because seriously, they girl looks a little too happy to be nibbling on some pizza….
I’ve just rung Pizza Hut and they are no longer doing the free delivery. It was a limited promotion
You can usually find pretty good Dominos Coupons at BigCoupons. Nothing about Free Delivery at the moment though.
just ordered a delivery of 2 LG 2 topping pizza’sfor 18.99 and a 2 liter for 2.99 and the delivery total came to 29.84. Do I still tip the driver?
I have a question for all pizza delivery lovers…. How much would it cost you to drive down to you fav pizza place and drive back? Hmmm (ave.gal gas $2.25=20 mpg- city -say 5 miles RT = $.57. Not much singularly right?) From an independant owners standpoint- trying to make a living for his family (like yourselves) … think about making 50 deliveries a day – Gas (+$28.5/50=$.57), Insurance-($4.15 per day/50=$0.09) Maintenance ($1.39 day/50=$.02) Please let’s not forget Labor yes? (8hrs@$10 per(not including corp tax)=$80/50 = $1.6). Total rough average=approx.$2.28. +$$$ Bottom line, it’s expensive guys. Please keep in mind this is just one expense of many. Please, You really like Pizza? Delivered to your door? I want to supply this service to you gladly. This is my life. I love making pizza and making my customers happy+with added convenience. (BTW- “Mfshaun”…tips belong to drivers who are usually struggling students + most part-timer, @ minimum wage…wouldn’t you want a tip?)