Kiwis are devastated after Hell Pizza increased its prices for its famous Friday the 13th special.
The special has been going for 12 years and used to cost just $13 for a double pizza on Friday the 13th. But this year, as inflation and increasing food costs bite, Hell has bumped the price up to $16.66.
An email detailing the price increase, which was shared on social media site Reddit, was met with chagrin from customers.
"I've been looking forward to this all year lol. Quite devastated to say the least," one user commented.
"Boooooo where'd the $13 pizzas go!!" another said.
"Maybe they should change it to Friday the 16th because the promotion kinda makes no sense for Friday the 13th if they are $16," someone else commented.
In the email, Hell Pizza said they had to increase the price to continue the tradition.
"To continue celebrating this 12-year-old tradition, we've had to bump up the price a little. This is still a ridiculously good deal that you can revel in on the hottest day in HELL."
And not all Kiwis were annoyed, with one saying it was still a great deal either way.
"It's a $3.66 increase, calm down. Still a loss-leader and still gonna cause sheer f***ing chaos at every hell store," another said.
"It's still a decent discount, I'm only sad as I forgot this discount was coming and ordered Hell last night at full price," another joked.
In a statement to Newshub, Hell Pizza CEO Ben Cumming said the bump in price was the first in 12 years.
"It's the first time in 12 years that we've increased the price for Black Friday. Over that time, we've improved our product quality by going 100 percent free range, focussing on supporting New Zealand food producers, and carefully catering to all dietary and nutritional requirements. It's great to see so many of our customers accept and support the change, agreeing that $16.66 for one of our double pizzas is a great deal, given it's around 25 percent cheaper than normal," Cumming said.
"Black Friday is always our busiest night of the year by far - the small increase will help our stores meet demand and look after staff welfare, and deliver our customers a great experience."
