THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE OWNER, MIKE --
I grew up loving Napoli's in Vallejo and Benicia, so I was excited to finally try the Vacaville location for the first time. The pizzas looked great in the photos, and I had high hopes. I placed my order with a very sweet girl who took my call. She never quoted a wait time, but I stayed patient even as almost two hours went by -- all while my hungry kids kept asking when the pizza would arrive. I assumed it must just be really busy and maybe she forgot to mention the long wait.
Finally, after nearly two hours, our pizza arrived. It looked delicious -- but when my son brought it inside, it was completely cool to the touch. The bottom of the box was barely warm, and the pizza itself was room temperature. Clearly, something went wrong -- paying over $50 for a single XL pizza and having to reheat it just to eat is completely unacceptable. And to be clear: I didn't mind the long wait or the price. I happily paid expecting a fresh, hot pizza as advertised. But having to recook our food because it arrived cold is not fair to paying customers.
I called the store hoping it would be handled professionally. The same girl answered, but quickly put me on hold -- and suddenly a man picked up. Without introduction, he immediately told me the call had been "escalated" to him. I was confused but started calmly explaining the situation. From the second he got on the line, he was hostile. No apology. No acknowledgment. Instead, it was excuse after excuse -- insisting there was "no way" the pizza was cold. When I pointed out that it was absolutely cold and something had clearly gone wrong (either sitting too long or being mishandled during delivery), he accused me of lying, literally saying, "We don't know what you did with the pizza." Excuse me?! The driver had JUST left minutes before!
When he asked me what I suggested to fix it, I proposed a small discount or a future credit -- not a refund -- just something fair to make it right. Instead of offering anything, he cut me off, raised his voice, and snapped, "We don't do discounts!" I clarified that I was simply asking for a future credit (not another pizza that day), but he got even more hostile, yelling, "You're not getting another pizza when you already got one!" (For the record: I had only received the cold pizza I paid full price for.)
Finally, he begrudgingly offered to remake a smaller pizza -- not the XL I originally paid for -- but said it would take another two hours to receive it. I explained that I had small children over who couldn't wait that long again, and he basically told me to "go online and leave reviews" if I didn't like it. So I did exactly that..
While looking through other Google and Yelp reviews, I discovered he's not just the manager -- he's the OWNER. And after reading other customer experiences, it's clear this type of behavior is a pattern.
Still, out of fairness, I decided to give him and his business one more chance. I called back and agreed to accept the smaller replacement pizza without leaving reviews -- I just wanted to move on. Even then, he continued to accuse me of lying, claiming he called the driver who said the pizza was "warm," not cold. I again explained that it had been cold to the touch and that continuing to accuse a paying customer of lying was unacceptable.
He hesitantly agreed to resend the pizza -- the same smaller pizza he had already offered earlier -- but now demanded that I hand over the remaining slices of the cold XL pizza to the delivery driver for "inspection." What in the world?!
As a small business owner myself, I know how meaningful reviews and customer satisfaction are. Yet this OWNER thought it was better to fight and belittle a local customer rather than just do the right thing. When I calmly pointed out again how unreasonable and aggressive he was being, he had the audacity to ask me, "Is this about the pizza or the $50 you spent?" UM -- BOTH. I have no problem paying good money for good food. But if I'm paying $50+ for a pizza, I expect it to be hot and edible -- and I expect basic respect if there's an issue. I rarely leave negative reviews -- my Yelp is filled with positive feedback because I believe in supporting small businesses. I only post critiques when absolutely necessary to warn others. But Mike's behavior was truly outrageous. And based on his responses to other people's reviews, this is who he is -- hostile, combative, and unprofessional.
Important final note:
I never asked for my money back-- just a fair remake or a future credit. Instead, this owner chose to argue, accuse, and escalate the situation beyond belief.
Depending on how he responds here, he can either do the right thing and take responsibility for cold pizza, verbal hostility, and honor a fair credit for a properly delivered XL pizza of the same value --or I will simply file a chargeback with my bank -- which will not only recover my funds but also cost him a fee. read more