Maplewood Pizza locking doors during business hours
That pizza looks really yummy!
Why would a business located across the street from our high school lock their door? I imagine that students are a large part of their customer base. I can understand why the 7/11 across the street might limit student access during certain hours, but I don’t understand why a pizzeria business would lock the door to customers.
and they didn't realize you weren't a HS student, especially since they knew someone was coming to pick up around that time? I wonder if the fire department would have an issue with this especially if there are customers inside...sure usually you just turn the lock, but if there were a major fire and panic, and it got smokey quick, even that could trap people.
One time several years ago I was walking in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens right near a high school and I noticed a Subway with a sign that said they closed for a small time window every weekday afternoon. I forget what it was exactly, maybe 2:30-2:45 or the like, but it was clearly to coincide with dismissal time.
I guess some places would just get overwhelmed when 100s of students pass by at the same time.
I lived for many years in Brooklyn. The businesses around John Jay High School would also close their doors around dismissal time.
Perhaps they've had issues with crowds and/or discipline at certain times of the day such as school dismissal. But it certainly doesn't explain why an adult standing at the door would be ignored, particularly if they're aware that someone has called in for a pick up.
If you like their food and it's generally convenient for you, I wouldn't write them off. Sometimes when a place has a young and/or new staff they can make some wrong decisions.
jmitw said:
and they didn't realize you weren't a HS student, especially since they knew someone was coming to pick up around that time?
On the bright side, perhaps the OP has retained a youthful appearance post-kids?
gimme some of that basil! Do you deliver?
Too bad about the pizza place...is their pizza that good that they can behave this way? I work in SoHo and there are indeed some places that can behave this way because their food really is....that good.
If its that good that movie stars wait in line and the food makes everyone salivate with the mention of it......, you'll probably need to suck it up High school students are usually very discerning with pizza so I'm guessing that its one of the best...can't wait to try and find out what makes their pizza so special that they can lock the doors.
You can become a really good pizza maker (so many products to do that at Trader Joes), or go to Trattoria, Roman or Arturos. Fiamma in Millburn is good....and even delivers!
There are choices! They can lock you out....you'll find another solution and they will lose your business. Such a bummer as I always wanted to try that pizza place.
I’m not sure the issue. If they lock the doors at dismissal because of the chaos/overcrowding/bad experiences, that’s their right. I believe it was a miscommunication that made them fail to open the door for you. I always thought their take out pies were the best, closest to true NY pizza.
was the back door locked? I always park around back and use that door. I don't understand why they would not tell you that on the phone, though.
I know one high school senior that says Sabatino's right down the block from Maplewood Pizza is much better. I don't know if that's because she gets locked out of Maplewood Pizza.
Maplewood pizza is mobbed by students at lunch. That won't change. But they really screwed up with the OP. They would lose me as a customer for that as well.
If they have the capacity for, maybe 150 slices at one time and 200 kids are crowding the place -- and the place has a fire capacity of 50 --- well, they have a problem.
Yeah I dont see anything wrong with this -- a store's business hours are what they want them to be.
A problem would arise only if the policy is selectively enforced.
Smedley said:
Yeah I dont see anything wrong with this -- a store's business hours are what they want them to be.
A problem would arise only if the policy is selectively enforced.
Well, if they take an order for pickup then they need to tell the customer on the phone how to pick it up if this is the case.
sac said:
Smedley said:Well, if they take an order for pickup then they need to tell the customer on the phone how to pick it up if this is the case.
Yeah I dont see anything wrong with this -- a store's business hours are what they want them to be.
A problem would arise only if the policy is selectively enforced.
Absolutely. “Store closed from 2.30- 3:15 M-F. If you have a pick up order come around the back”. Unless they want to impose arbitrary closings without making it official. They would’ve lost my business too after such an incident. It’s all about communication.
I've found Maplewood Pizza to offer indifferent to negative service all the time. I love their Sicilian pie, so I give the a new opportunity about once a year. In ten years, they haven't earned my regular business.
sac said:
Smedley said:Well, if they take an order for pickup then they need to tell the customer on the phone how to pick it up if this is the case.
Yeah I dont see anything wrong with this -- a store's business hours are what they want them to be.
A problem would arise only if the policy is selectively enforced.
I’m guessing this is where the new employees/ communication issue came into play. That’s why I’d give them another chance
Pizza is only on the horizon if I get home too late to cook dinner, so that means 2-3 times a year; and usually after 8 PM.
On those rare occasions, Maplewood Pizza is our go to place.
This is Maplewood Pizza responding to bjackson5's experience. Employees who work an open to close shift get a lunch break around 3PM. A sign is placed on the front door informing the public of the break period. Employees (high school students) who start at 3PM for the afternoon shift are informed that the rear entrance is unlocked and are told to inform customers who call for an order to use the parking lot and entrance at the rear of the pizzeria. We have never had a problem before this day. The young girl who was at the counter on the phone, should have put the customer on hold and informed another coworker of the woman at the door. Maplewood Pizza would like to apologize to bjackson5 for feeling ignored and for the untimely response of the young high school student, who is still learning to respond to and work with customers everyday here at her first job.
I experience these kind of issues with experienced even older employees ..even claiming to be managers. Education stresses memorizing of skills that most people will never use and will forget, but students (and adults) need to be taught critical thinking skills. I liked the learning and the knowledge when I had it, but most of what I learned in high school is useless to me. Sure it needs to be available and all students exposed to all subjects so everyone has the option to use those skills, but it can't be at the expense of basic life skills. Recess is one area where kids learn to think and work things out. Also, free interactive play after school...so many kids are over scheduled. They are constantly told what to do, how to do it, when to do it. They never learn to think for themselves..and things like this happen. I have never worked in customer service positions, but customer service seems to be common sense to me. I have had to often instruct an employee how to do their job. One guy didn't know that you have to scan the product before the coupon and just stood there frozen when the register wouldn't take the coupon. He couldn't even think of what he could do to troubleshoot the issue (ask a co worker for example). I have called customer service while standing in a check out line after a cashier couldn't so her job and just stood there when I suggested she call a manager. It was a problem that wasn't her fault, the register just wasn't programmed to accept a coupon I had and she needed to to an over ride (It was target, I have seen cashiers do it themselves, but in some stores a manager has to do it). I am having an issue with Verizon...have not been able to have an intelligent conversation with anyone there is 21 years. I often get a response not even related to the issue.
I still find it a bit unsettling that the "lunch break" coincides with the dismissal time at the high school.
jmitw, employers offering entry level work don't want people who are able to think. Many years ago I worked at Grunings (not under the actual Grunings family, my mom worked for them and said they were actually good employers) and one day a man came in with his elderly father. His father wanted a banana split to go, but the son was worried that the father would spill it in the car and ruin his upholstery. The older man had some medical issue where he did have some muscle tremors, so I could see what the son was worried about as the regular banana split to go dish was low and wide. Trying to think of a solution I instead made an upright banana split in a quart "to go" container. Same amount of ice cream, same ingredients. The son was satisfied that this would lessen the likelihood of a spill, and father's face lit up when he received his banana split. I was reamed out by the manager since the quart container costs more than the banana split container, and the costs were already factored into the cost of the product. I said it was a one time solution to deal with a specific request by a customer, and the manager's reply was that he didn't care if Ronald Reagan walked through that door and asked for it, I was to make banana splits in banana split boats, no exceptions.
And at a liquor store I used to be a cashier at a few years later I noticed a way that cashiers might be able to steal from the store, involving deleted transactions. I approached the owner of the store and pointed out the issue so that he could take steps to prevent it. He got very angry at me and asked why I was trying to think up of ways to steal from him when he had been so generous and was paying me over minimum wage (minimum was $5.05, this dude was paying me a whopping $5.50 an hour). I tried to explain again that I wasn't trying to steal, I was showing him a vulnerability so that he could fix it. He kept yelling at me for wanting to steal from him. I stopped in to visit one of the managers who was nice a couple of years later, and he told me how they caught a cashier who had stolen a couple of hundred dollars, and she did it exactly the way I had warned them about.
they are not trying to keep HS students out. Columbia is this place’s bread and butter.
spontaneous said:
jmitw, employers offering entry level work don't want people who are able to think. Many years ago I worked at Grunings (not under the actual Grunings family, my mom worked for them and said they were actually good employers) and one day a man came in with his elderly father. His father wanted a banana split to go, but the son was worried that the father would spill it in the car and ruin his upholstery. The older man had some medical issue where he did have some muscle tremors, so I could see what the son was worried about as the regular banana split to go dish was low and wide. Trying to think of a solution I instead made an upright banana split in a quart "to go" container. Same amount of ice cream, same ingredients. The son was satisfied that this would lessen the likelihood of a spill, and father's face lit up when he received his banana split. I was reamed out by the manager since the quart container costs more than the banana split container, and the costs were already factored into the cost of the product. I said it was a one time solution to deal with a specific request by a customer, and the manager's reply was that he didn't care if Ronald Reagan walked through that door and asked for it, I was to make banana splits in banana split boats, no exceptions.
And at a liquor store I used to be a cashier at a few years later I noticed a way that cashiers might be able to steal from the store, involving deleted transactions. I approached the owner of the store and pointed out the issue so that he could take steps to prevent it. He got very angry at me and asked why I was trying to think up of ways to steal from him when he had been so generous and was paying me over minimum wage (minimum was $5.05, this dude was paying me a whopping $5.50 an hour). I tried to explain again that I wasn't trying to steal, I was showing him a vulnerability so that he could fix it. He kept yelling at me for wanting to steal from him. I stopped in to visit one of the managers who was nice a couple of years later, and he told me how they caught a cashier who had stolen a couple of hundred dollars, and she did it exactly the way I had warned them about.
It sounds like the owner was cooking the books somehow and he didn't want people looking into his system.
Go to Sabatino's pizzeria on Valley. He is a CHS alum and loves serving the students at Columbia. His food is amazing. Today I drove past there during the student lunch hour and there was a line out the door.
redrobin said:
Go to Sabatino's pizzeria on Valley. He is a CHS alum and loves serving the students at Columbia. His food is amazing. Today I drove past there during the student lunch hour and there was a line out the door.
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I thought I would pick up a pizza at Maplewood Pizzeria across from the high school as I picked up my son this afternoon. So I ordered it before leaving work and was told it would be about 15-20 minutes...perfect.
That gave me enough time to pick him up, grab the pie and get him to his program in Newark by 3:30.
I pull up to Maplewood pizza 18 minutes later and I pull to open the door but it was locked. Initially I thought I called the wrong place so I checked my phone to be sure. I look inside and see the lights are on and there’s about 4 people in there doing various tasks. I catch the eye of one young lady and began knocking on the door. I motion to her as if talking on the phone and she looked away.
I knock again and everyone in the store just ignored me. I get in my car and call the store to ask if they’re open and was told, “yes”. I asked them why didn’t you open the door when I was standing there less than a minute ago? She responded, “you were standing there?”
I asked to speak to the manager and he got on the phone with some lame excuse about miscommunication. My question is , if you’re supposed to be open between certain hours why is the door locked?
As I pulled away my son told me that they lock the door to keep students out during certain hours.
Can someone please enlighten me on why one would open a pizzeria across the street from a high school if they don’t want to serve students?
I usually get a pizza from there at least once a week. I’m done trying to force myself on businesses who clearly do not want to do business with me or my family.
I’m home now making my own pizza. Can’t wait for it to get done!