A Pizza Hut customer was angry that the store closed a minute before its official closing time, leaving him out in the cold, so to speak, and unable to pick up the food he ordered.
TikToker Michael Touchard (@officialmichaeltouchard) posted about the incident and put the location on blast in a video that received over 33,000 views. In the short clip, Michael sat in his car, which was idling outside a Pizza Hut that appeared to be closed.
@officialmichaeltouchard ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger
A lone employee could be seen working inside, while a text overlay in the 5-second clip read, “They closed when I was on my way to pickup my order and said they didn’t have an order … What’s that?!” The camera zoomed in on a screen that had one order listed, although the writing was illegible, and it’s unclear whether that order was indeed Michael’s.
Pizza Hut’s official TikTok account responded to the video about the store being closed, writing, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Mind sending us a DM on IG or Twitter with your contact information and the address of the store?”
In Michael’s response to the Pizza Hut account, he provided the address of the restaurant, located on E Flamingo Road in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But while Pizza Hut’s corporate account seemed to take Michael’s gripe seriously, there were a number of users on the platform who criticized the customer for going to pick up his pizza so late in the evening. Many remarked that he should have been more considerate of the employee’s time since placing an order so late would almost ensure that staff members would be forced to stay past closing.
Someone wrote, “Move a little faster next time. People aren’t here to wait for you”
Another agreed, saying, “Yeah don’t order food last second. Problem solved”
“It’s your fault for getting [there] late it’s people like you that feel [they’re] entitled to everything,” one TikToker quipped.
Michael defended himself, claiming that he arrived at the Pizza Hut at least 60 seconds before it officially closed. “I was there to pickup at 11:59. They closed at 12. Any other thoughts?”
But users disagreed. One wrote, “You’re a male Karen. Tell me you don’t respect service workers and have never had a service job without telling me right or not you’re shitty.”
Another commenter shared how they used to deal with customers who picked up their food late at their food service job. “At Marcos pizza we left your food outside with your name on it should have come when we were open not about to close lol”
This issue is not unique to Pizza Hut. It’s not uncommon for food service industry workers to have to stay at work past official closing times. Recently, a server posted about customers who stayed in the restaurant she worked at 45 minutes past closing, forcing her to stay on the premises until they left.
Times Union suggests that if one is planning to sit down at a restaurant to eat, it’s a good rule of thumb to arrive an hour before closing, so staff members can have adequate time to prepare customers’ meals and close out the restaurant in a timely fashion.
And according to one Reddit poll, placing a takeout order 30 minutes before the restaurant closes is okay, but judging from Michael’s experience, one may want to budget more than a minute of leeway time for the pickup.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Touchard via TikTok comment and Pizza Hut via email for further information.
