Rhode Island man claims pizza chain refused delivery to neighborhood over safety concerns

Publish date: 2024-08-26

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A New England man is claiming that his local Domino's pizza refused to deliver to him because of his address.

Christian Miller claimed an employee at one of the pizza franchise's Providence, Rhode Island locations told him they would not deliver his order to a home less than a mile away.

"She said it was because it was unsafe and referenced an incident that occurred with a driver," said Miller.

WJAR attempted to talk with the location's manager over the phone about the claim, but he ended the call.

Miller called the store at about 10 p.m. Monday, the same time as he did Sunday, and confirmed that the restaurant wouldn't deliver food to his address.

I think living in that mindset and allowing it to dictate how we see people, how we see them in their communities, how we define them, is unfair," Miller said. "It's demoralizing and it's not justifiable.

Other customers understood the restaurant's concerns.

"I don't think it's discrimination, I think it's probably safety for your company," said Providence resident Kenneth Weinreich. "I think it also opens up opportunities for people that aren't a big corporate pizza place."

WJAR talked with the owner of Pizzeria Gusto to see how they operate. The owner said as a safety precaution, their drivers don't wear uniforms or have signage on their vehicles that would make them an easy target.

We don't have a delivery sign on my car to target, like, 'Oh, this is the delivery guy,'" said the owner.

He also said they do not feel the need to avoid serving certain neighborhoods.

"I think they should deliver, if not they can call Pizzeria Gusto," said the owner.

Miller said he'd consider ordering from a local pizzeria next time.

When we allow multi-billion dollar companies to do this, we are allowing them to set a precedence," he said. "This is prevention for race-baiting.

Miller said he reached out to Domino's to explain the situation but hadn't gotten in contact with anyone yet.

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