Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230198
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I support what corporate has done," said Tom Wallace of Roanoke. "In the past we've had a lot of negative press [because of the guarantee]; and I'm glad to see them pull the guarantee."
Wallace said his Domino's franchises will continue to offer the same service and products.
Domino's Pizza of Ann Arbor, Mich., said Tuesday it had scrapped the delivery guarantee in the wake of a $79 million jury award last week to a St. Louis woman. She suffered serious injuries after a delivery driver ran a red light and hit her car broadside.
Domino's said it plans to appeal the verdict. But Thomas Monaghan, the chain's president, acknowledged the lawsuit was a factor in the decision to drop the guarantee.
Domino's originally promised free pizza if deliveries exceeded 30 minutes. In recent years, it modified the guarantee to offer a $3 rebate on late pizzas.
Wallace owns 12 Domino's pizza locations: seven in Roanoke, four in Lynchburg and one in Lexington.
Lifting the guarantee actually will be good for his business, Wallace said. In the past, some people may not have bought Domino's because of the perception that the company's drivers had to speed.
Wallace said he was notified Tuesday that the guarantee was being eliminated. He had already voided the guarantee, though, because of bad weather.
Wallace said 98 percent of his pizzas are delivered within 25 minutes.
But the speed is in the kitchen, not on the highway, he said.
by CNB