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'App Truthers' Question the Accuracy of the Domino's Pizza Tracker (foxnews.com)

Despite the fact that 60% of its pizza orders arrive digitally, "A growing number of Domino's delivery customers are casting a critical eye at the company's online pizza-tracking app," reports the lifestyle editor at Fox News. "More specifically, they think it's a bunch of crap." Fault-finding app users -- or "app truthers," as The Wall Street Journal calls them -- are subscribing to the notion that the Domino's pizza tracker is nothing but a bunch of smoke and mirrors. One user who spoke with the Journal claims his app told him that "Melinda" would be arriving shortly with his order, but when he opened the door, a delivery man he already knew handed him the pizza. "Ever since then, I knew everything they said, I felt, was made up," he said.

Another man claims the tracker told him his pizza was en route, even though he could see the Domino's restaurant from his house, and there was no sign of the pizza being out for delivery. Others claim the pizza app told them their food had been delivered when it hadn't, or that there were huge discrepancies between when their pies were supposed to be delivered and when they actually arrived. A whole thread on Reddit suggests that the app is just an automated timer disguised to look like a real-time tracker.

In a statement Domino's blamed the problem on employees not entering correct data, while also insisting that "the vast majority of the time Pizza Tracker works as designed."

According to the article, "A person who claimed to be a Domino's employee also said nearly as much in a 2015 Reddit thread. He/she added that the name of the person preparing the pizza -- as far as the app is concerned -- is usually the manager.

27 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Someone who could see the restaurant ordered DELIVERY?!?

    WALK OVER AND GET IT!!!!

    1. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Some places do delivery only late at night

    2. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      sometimes they close the lobby but still deliver.

    3. Re: Really? by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Informative

      97th and Lyndale Avenue South. Just last week I ordered a pizza for Carryout at 10:58PM. When I got to the store, the "open" light was off, and the waiting area was dark. The door was unlocked, so I went in. The Manager there said that they close for carryout orders at 11:00PM, but still make deliveries. This is done to prevent robberies late at night at the store.

    4. Re:Really? by mikael · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maybe they are disabled or some other medical injury (sprained angle, leg in cast). Hobbling down a flight of stairs and across several corridors isn't going to be practical.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  2. First World Problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    For sure.

    1. Re:First World Problems by belthize · · Score: 2

      This is like zero'th world problems.

      You have to be pretty tightly wound to be spun up when your phone gets the delivery person's name wrong.

  3. Re:Duh by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    Couldn't the app use the deliverator's phone GPS to determine distance to target automagically without the deliverator entering data into a server directly?

  4. Holy fucking 0.0001%'er problems! by Chas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Good fucking god!

    As ANYONE who's EVER dealt with a computerized event completion timer knows it's just an ESTIMATE.

    Trying to demand exactitude once you get HUMANS into the mix?

    Seriously, when was the last time you nodded acquaintances with reality?

    Some people just need to get a fucking job. They have too much time on their hands and have to invent stupid shit to bitch about.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  5. Re:Duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here in NZ and AU, yes, absolutely - more precisely, the GPS is on the magnetic 'domino pizza delivery thing' they stick on the car with magnets.

    (In reality, I'm pretty sure the GPS data is delayed - the driver will arrive just as the tracker says they're coming down the street -- and I have a feeling the drivers give themselves a head start and the in-store tracking is... well, often lied to by staff claiming they're further along than they really are.)

  6. Also, the Noid is not an actual employee by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    He's an IMPOSTER I tell you!

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  7. Re:More specifically, they think it's a bunch of c by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's why in my town all the Dominos are right next to the University, where they have lots of people from random places that don't know any better.

    Locals buy Little Caesar's when they want "cheese" on soggy white bread. Why? They at least dump a bunch of oregano in the sauce to make it taste like it includes at least one human food.

  8. In Japan by theNetImp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The pizza tracker on their website in Japan is fairly accurate. On busy nights it sits at the first stage until they actually work on it. When it's delivered we have a GPS option to watch the driver. The driver always arrives when they the map shows them in front of the house. I wouldn't be surprised if the US version is faked a bit. The Japanese wouldn't stand for that.

    1. Re:In Japan by Kohath · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think the app just relays entered information. The Japanese pizza guys probably aren't entering fake info to make it appear like they are working hard and following procedure.

    2. Re:In Japan by larryjoe · · Score: 2

      I think the app just relays entered information. The Japanese pizza guys probably aren't entering fake info to make it appear like they are working hard and following procedure.

      I have heard stories of technicians and IT folks in Japan being extremely meticulous in following all steps of a prescribed methodology. In contrast, Americans will skip or modify steps based on personal evaluations of a specific step's significance. Sometimes that's the end result of creativity and independent thinking.

  9. I delivered for Dominos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The sign on the roof of the delivery car has a GPS and a modem.

    There is a delay as the messages propagate through their system before they end up on the web. The delivery driver can also change literally on their way out the door. So, shit happens. It's not malicious.

    1. Re:I delivered for Dominos by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 2

      The delivery driver can also change literally on their way out the door.

      Bloody hell, they hire werewolves?!?

      [Makes note not to order pizza on the full moon]

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  10. Shorter version by Kohath · · Score: 2

    That reasonably priced 6.8/10 pizza you can get delivered to your house in 30 minutes is complete crap because a more expensive 8.5/10 pizza exists somewhere within a 60 minute drive of your house. You should all be shamed mercilessly for even thinking about eating food the cool kids would never even look at!

    (Ok, not really shorter.)

    1. Re:Shorter version by Kohath · · Score: 2

      So what? Someone else has an even better pizza even closer. You're a relative caveman next to him. You should whimper in shame thinking about his pizza glory, whoever he is. Your 9/10 pizza is skunk vomit next to his pizza.

  11. Have other "trackers" been compared? by King_TJ · · Score: 2

    I know Papa John's pizza has an app with a tracker. Pretty sure Pizza Hut does too. Seems to be a pretty standard feature for chain pizza delivery places at this point.

    I get the idea that all of them are just based on timers, plus some kind of data input in the computer at the pizza place? EG. Tracker starts counting down time pizza is supposedly baking in the oven based on when the sale is processed, and delivery time based on entering some other data that says a driver picked it up and went out the door with it.

    Having it give an incorrect name of the driver supposedly arriving with your order? That sounds like an error made by whoever was keying the info in for it. That kind of thing is gonna happen and doesn't prove the app is "fake".

    But unless each pizza has an embedded RFID chip or something crazy like that, I don't know how you can expect it'll be perfectly accurate all the time? UPS and FedEx have similar "fakery" in use with package tracking. (The package only gets scanned once in a while while in route to you. On stretches between scans, they just estimate delivery times based on when the trucks SHOULD get it from one point to the next in the middle of the route. When packages get lost, the trackers get "brain dead" and often indicate a box was last seen on a truck that it was never even loaded onto. When you call in about such instances, the dispatch people on the phone seem to have a second system where they can pinpoint things better than the user-facing web site data does.)

    1. Re:Have other "trackers" been compared? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

      Funny thing is I know a business in the UK. They wanted a realtime map on their webpage that shows how far away their nearest delivery van is. The conversation with the website developers went like this

      Business Owner : Just say the van is fifteen minutes away from wherever they are. That way people are more likely to order.
      Developers : But how can that work? That means we need to fake a location and also that two users using the site in different places will see different locations for the van
      Business Owner : Just say the van is fifteen minutes away from wherever they are. That way people are more likely to order.
      Developers : How about we put a GPS in the van and show that?
      Business Owner : Just say the van is fifteen minutes away from wherever they are. That way people are more likely to order.
      Developers : How about we put a fake van at the midpoint of the locations of all the users currently asking. That way it will be consistent if multiple users in different locations compared notes.
      Business Owner : Just say the van is fifteen minutes away from wherever they are. That way people are more likely to order.
      Developers : How about we have multiple fake vans patrolling so that any one user is guaranteed to have one within fifteen minutes of their location. About fifteen should do it for the size of area you cover.
      Business Owner : Just say the van is fifteen minutes away from wherever they are. That way people are more likely to order.

      And it went on in that general vein ad infinitum. I don't think the 'where's the nearest van?' realtime feature ever actually got implemented.

      Some people are both simultaneously too stupid and too smart for this world.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  12. Re: More specifically, they think it's a bunch of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The tracker has jack shit to do with the food.

    Here I'll break it down for you.
    When you place an order it starts a timer.
    When it's being made it starts a timer.
    When it goes in the oven, new timer!

    The employees don't get any trouble for being slow, they get in trouble for the time on the computer looking bad.
    They are trained to keep those timers under a certain time wether they got to that step or not.

    When all the timers are done they assign it to a driver who's probably still on some other delivery just keep the timer number looking good.
    Then it gets reassigned to the first driver to show up.

    This is called micromanaging and it's retarded in a restaurant,

  13. Re:Duh by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your employer can require you to have a smart phone, at your own expense, in every state but California.

    On the bright side, an employer requirement makes your phone and cellular service a tax deductible expense.

  14. It's based on averages.. by sizzlinkitty · · Score: 2

    I had an issue last year when my Pizza showed delivered for almost 30 minutes and then I called to find it it hadn't even left the store yet. The manager told me the app works on the average time it takes to make and deliver a pizza. It is not a accurate representation of the Pizza's location. I don't bother letting them deliver it anymore, I'll drive up to the store and wait.

  15. Re:"Pizza" tracker? by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

    Want pizza? I can raise you many local places that sell the real stuff.

    Only if you live in a pretty decent city. In a lot of places, Domino's is the best available.

  16. Re:Found the LUDDITES! by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

    Electric ovens can't melt cheese beams! Wake up sheeple!

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  17. Re:More specifically, they think it's a bunch of c by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Real pizza doesn't come from a chain

    Elitist nonsense. Shitty pizza is real pizza too. It's just really shitty pizza. I'd rather have Papa Murphy's than Domino's.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"