FAILURE TO DELIVER: Shock as Warwick Pizza Hut closes doors

Customers say they have been given the cold shoulder by Pizza Hut head office after dishing out money to the closed store.

Pizza Hut

WARWICK'S Pizza Hut has dished up a slice of drama with a sudden and unexpected closure, leaving employees out of work and customers out of pocket.

Over the past several days, hungry residents have taken to social media to report that despite still being able to place and pay for their orders online or through the app, they never actually received their deliveries.

If customers instead opted for a pick-up order, they arrived to find a dark and deserted shopfront waiting for them instead of their delicious meatlovers pizza.

However, for most of these customers, their pizza isn't the only thing they will be missing out on.

When Warwick local Sarena Nicholls asked for her money back, she said Pizza Hut representatives simply said no.

On Monday evening, Ms Nicholls placed an online order but after more than an hour wait for delivery, she called the store.

Multiple calls rang out, and the pizza never arrived.

When she tried to make a complaint to Pizza Hut's head office, she said she was met with further difficulty.

"(Pizza Hut's Customer Service Centre) just told me that because (the Warwick store) was a franchise, the best I could do was make a complaint, and there's no way I can get a refund," Ms Nicholls said.

"So, what you're saying is that if a family spent their last 50 dollars, there wouldn't be anything that (Pizza Hut) could do?

"To not be able to do a refund just isn't good enough."

According to Ms Nicholls, the Warwick store has previously shut for brief periods and seemed to be following more stringent procedures.

"One other time we called, and they were actually closed, and they said that no orders were able to be placed at that time. So, they definitely can close the lines down, and they have to … so this time, they've left it open on purpose."

Staff from surrounding stores said they hadn't seen anyone in the Pizza Hut building since at least Sunday, but couldn't say for sure when the shop was last open.

The Daily News understands both the Warwick and Stanthorpe stores are owned by the same franchisee, who was contacted but declined to comment.

The Stanthorpe franchise has been advertised for sale on Gumtree since February 14.

Several past and present employees from both stores have taken to social media to attest that their workplaces had been closed without warning, leaving them without a pay cheque instantly and indefinitely.

When the Daily News contacted Pizza Hut's media department for comment, the company was unable to provide any further information, and seemed entirely unaware of the situation.

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