Why Reddit Can't Stop Talking About A Pizzeria's Blacklist
If you've ever dreamed of seeing your name in print, you may want to be careful what you wish for. Walking into a nearby business and finding your name emblazoned on its blacklist is likely not what you had in mind. The practice of flagging certain customers is becoming more common, however, as companies struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain shortages and more and more consumers conduct their business online.
The Daily Mail explains that $260 billion in purchases are returned annually in the U.S., resulting in the blacklisting of those that chronically return unwanted products. Struggling restaurants are being forced to blacklist customers costing them money by not showing up for reservations, too. Plus, eateries that deliver have had to resort to banning certain addresses and individuals from receiving their services.
One such blacklist from a pizzeria has garnered a great deal of chatter online with Redditors sharing their opinions — and their conversation has proven to be both enlightening and a tad disturbing.
A customer was banned for threatening to burn down the pizzeria
The Reddit post revolves around a list of addresses that have been blacklisted and the reasons why they are being denied service. While the addresses have been kept confidential for good reason, participants have been busily discussing the assorted reasons listed for the bans. While many are self-explanatory, like "does not want to pay," or the disturbing "threatened to burn the pizzeria," others are more cryptic.
"Stiff at the door" caused a very lively debate including one user wondering if it involved a "Weekend at Bernie's" scene. It was explained by the individual who posted the list, u/Andrewo25, as meaning that the person refused to pay for delivery. "Steak hoagie, large pizza" confused many, too. It turns out this moniker refers to a regular customer. The post originator explained that a man who ordered this combo every Sunday placed an order on Super Bowl Sunday and that the soonest they could fill the order was in about two hours. After all, you may not believe how much pizza gets eaten during the Super Bowl.
He became enraged and unreasonable and they hung up on him. He then went to the location, ranting and raving, attempting to jump over the counter, all before kicking the restaurant's soda fridge. The owner said he was going to call the cops, and the man left. He was consequently entered on the list as "Steak Hoagie and Large Pizza" so that all of the store's employees would know who it was.
Blacklists are more common than you think
While referring to a customer by their usual order is confusing to those outside the business, one Redditor shared an even stranger blacklist entry. U/Theonlykd explained that a Chinese restaurant that they'd worked at had one customer listed as "beard goes all the way around his head." Does anyone even know what that means?
Several Reddit users like u/NowImAllSet said that their addresses had been banned at several pizza places due to the actions of a former tenant, while u/KiNGJ1020 mused about the time a similar misunderstanding led to him "answering the door to find a SWAT team expecting to find a suspect." One user explained that the Domino's that he worked at also had a blacklist that included the address of a man who always answered the door naked. Meanwhile, another wondered if the McCallister residence from "Home Alone" was blacklisted.
One thing is clear: Be nice to your favorite pizza establishment. They are, after all, the ones who can label your house a no-go zone and render your family pizza-free. So, tip the drivers, use respectful language, and never threaten to burn the restaurant down.