Man tires of targeted pizza prank
Goodwill worker from Spruce Grove feels helpless after six months of false orders
Like many of us, Justin Rybicki loves a good pizza.
But with what he's been dealing with for the past six months, it would be understandable if he doesn't crave pizza for quite a while.
The Spruce Grove man has been the victim of a pizza prankster, who has ordered more than $1,000 worth of pizzas to his home and his workplace, and Rybicki has been forced to deal with the wrath of angry delivery drivers and pizza store employees when he tells them he's not the person ordering them.
“The first one started on Nov. 19. I was getting ready to sit down with my family and have soup for supper when the doorbell rang and it was a Pizza 73 delivery guy at the door with a bunch of pizzas,” said Rybicki.
“The pizza delivery guy got mad at me, and asked me what he was supposed to do with it, and I said, `I don't know, but I didn't order $100 worth of pizza, so I'm not paying for it.' ”
The pizza prankster didn't stop after just once. They were just getting started.
Rybicki said it happened three days in a row after that and that's when he filed his first police report.
And, when Rybicki called Pizza 73 and said to put them on their ban list and not accept any orders under his name, the prankster then switched it up and started ordering pizzas under Rybicki's name from Domino's Pizza.
“They took a month off, and then on Dec. 21, they started ordering from Domino's,” said Rybicki.
RCMP suggested he change his email and all his passwords, but somehow the prankster found his new email, and the pranks have continued.
Rybicki said pizzas have been getting delivered to his house and his workplace at the Goodwill store in Spruce Grove, over and over again.
“They've done this to me at least nine or 10 times so far, and they've wasted over $1,000 worth of pizza,” said Rybicki.
“I feel so bad for not just my situation, but it's wasting the time of the delivery drivers and the businesses. They're out of money and product.”
Rybicki said the last time the prankster struck was on March 26, when pizza from Domino's was delivered to his house and his mother told the delivery driver to put Rybicki's name on the company's ban list.
Rybicki says he has no idea who is doing this to him — whether it's a former friend, or a current or past co-worker — but this whole childish prank has gone too far. It's become harassment, he said.
“What annoys me the most is I can't do anything to stop it,” said Rybicki.
“In one of the instances, the delivery driver was trying to force me to pay for it, and after I explained the situation to him, he tried to tell me that I need to make it stop. If I could, I would. Nobody wants to be dealing with something like this all the time.”
Rybicki said he used to be a relatively trusting person, but this whole experience has changed his way of thinking now.
“Every day I check my bank account, and there is two-factor verification on all my accounts. I feel like, what are they going to try to do next?” said Rybicki.
RCMP weren't able to find out who has been making these pizza orders after the initial complaint was filed, but Rybicki plans to follow up with police to let them know this has been going on for nearly six months.
Police say instances like this case are rare, and it's not only Rybicki who is on the receiving end of this bad prank — the pizza delivery drivers and the businesses are affected, too.
“It's unfortunate because the pizza place is out of money in this case, and for the victim, he must feel like why is he being targeted like this. It would be concerning for him as well,” said RCMP Const. Gina Slaney.
Rybicki said his co-workers at Goodwill are understanding of his situation and he's never got into any kind of trouble when the orders of pizza have shown up at the door, though he's having to deal with this frustrating situation constantly.
“My co-workers are like my second family,” Rybicki said. “They all feel bad about it and understand what I'm dealing with.”
He says he hopes that whoever is behind this immature prank gets caught, and as for punishment, he has a few ideas of what he'd like to see handed out.
“I hope they get caught, and they have to pay back for all the pizza that's gone to waste,” said Rybicki.
“On top of that, I hope they have to pay the amount back in money they've wasted on pizza and get it delivered to the homeless ... that's what I'd like to see.”