Bizarre warning over ordering pizza to your hotel room
Topics: Social Media, US Food
Ella Scott
Featured Image Credit: Nitas/Getty Images
Topics: Social Media, US Food
Holidaymakers are trading anecdotes on why you should always be cautious about ordering takeaway pizza to your hotel room - and their reasons may surprise you.
There is a sordid history of food-based scams, with fake employees using AI to steal customers’ money being the latest.
Other ‘popular’ tricks thieves have employed recently include: hiring a van to nab $400,000 worth of lobsters and forging business invoices.
If a thread on the popular ‘Signs With A Story’ Reddit thread is anything to go by, then people checking into hotels are also susceptible to being swindled.
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Earlier this year, a user explained that he was once staying near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
He remarked on how the anonymous establishment had a pretty strict rule in place.
“No Pizza allowed - this was at our hotel lobby near Myrtle Beach in 2022,” said the original poster.
They included an image of a notice, which read: “Do not order from unknown pizza places ask at the front desk for recommendations.”
Redditors have flocked to the post in droves, speculating that perhaps the sign was put up because of a popular ‘pizza scam’.
And honestly? These so-called stories are nothing but eye-opening, even if we can’t verify if they are true or not.
For example, one typed: “There’s a credit card scam that can happen at hotels where they slide a menu under the door but if you try to order a pizza they just steal your card number and you don’t get pizza.”
Another alleged: “Most likely if a pizza place near Myrtle Beach is unknown, it’s not an actual 'pizza place'. Most likely its just a drug delivery type situation.
“So they probably put this out there to discourage people from attempting it. Might also give them reason to deny them coming onto the premises etc. I am not sure exactly how far such a thing would really help. But it’s at least something.”
According to the post, ordering from non-reputable eateries is risky beyond just South Carolina.
“I've seen this in hotels in the Miami area too,” someone else claimed.
“People come around to the hotel rooms with bogus flyers for pizza and other take out food and shove them under the door. People probably call or go to the website on the flyer to place their order and get scammed. Best to always stick to known locations or chains.”
It turns out these so-called scams have been going on in holiday resorts for more than a decade.
Speaking to Good Morning America Investigates in 2014, Consumer Reports’ Anthony Giorgianni warned that even if you think the restaurant adverting flier is legitimate, you still shouldn’t ‘pay in advance’.
However, some believe the original sign doesn’t relate to these so-called scams at all.
One claimed that perhaps the employees working behind the desk know the area well, and that they want to point you in the right direction.
“Always ask the front desk, they order pizza and know which ones are good, plus some even get free pizza for suggesting place,” they claimed.
“So, it helps out the front desk and you dont get ripped off. It’s a win win for the clerk and the customer.”
A second echoed: “Maybe the pizza place gives them a little finder's fee if they send guests their way?”
A hospitality worker with 15 years experience added that perhaps the hotel just didn’t want pizzas delivered to the lobby.
If you’re worried about falling victim to one of these anecdotal scams, then Fraud.org has some tips to help customers.
The first is that if a product price seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
“There’s a reason that particular brand costs less than all the others, and there’s a chance that reason is adulteration,” the expert site reasoned.
They also recommend buying raw ingredients over processed ones where possible, and to pick brands that have a ‘vested interest in keeping you as a consumer’.