Panera Employee Can’t use a MicrowaveUn empleado de Panera que no sabe usar el horno de microondas
By: Keith
Update: Panera corporate finally responded by sending me a 20 dollar gift card and a canned e-mail. I have had a number of awesome replies on this blog from managers of other Panera restaurants from around the country, and I’m impressed with their professionalism. It seems everybody read this article except the people who really should have read it, the people from the 28th street location here in Boulder. In no way do I blame Panera, the corporation, for this customer service failure. It is an isolated incident by a single employee, at a single location (I can’t speak to corporate culture or anything bigger than my one time experience). I appreciate the 20 dollars, but I don’t really care about 20 dollars. One positive comment from the Boulder manager would have been enough. The lesson here is about social media. A simple, timely response is sometimes all it takes to avoid over 100 comments (in this case) and thousands,upon thousands, of page views. Some companies don’t realize how quickly something so seemingly silly can blow up on them if left neglected.
This might be a dumb story, but it’s worth mentioning for its absurdity. We went to Panera Bread a coupledays ago, and I ordered soup. The soup came, and it was cold (actually it was a little warm, perhaps 115 degrees, but barely). I don’t know what you do when you get cold soup. I, for one, heat up cold soup becausecold soup is gross. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a microwave on me to do the heating myself so I went to talk to the peoplebehind the counter to see about getting them to heat it up for me. The girl’s response to my request was a little surprising. I told her my soup was cold and said “Could you please heat it up?” She said “The soup is maintained at 170 degrees. If you want it hotter, you’ll have to use the microwave next to the coffee pots.” And she pointed to the coffee pots next to where I had been sitting. Well, I’ll be damned! I guess there was a microwave I could have used. But, her inability to wonder why the soup was cold in the first place bugged me. The soup was very clearly not at 170 degrees (I’m a tea snob — I know what 170 degree liquid feels like). I said, “You might want to check that pot becauseyour soup is barely warm let alone 170 degrees.” Obviously not interested in me and witha sneer, she said “Yeah, I’ll do that.” I was displeased at her attitude, but I wasn’t willing to start a fight about it. I did think, though, that if I had been her, the employee, I would have heated up the customer’s soup and checked the temperature of the pots (isn’t that a food safety isue?). But, I’m not the employee. I’m just a dumb customer who didn’t know there was a public use microwave. I went grumpily back to my seat and bitched for a few minutes at my dining companions about the bad service. I never did heat up my soup — just left it there. I’m writing a note about the incident just to put it on record that Panera Bread in Boulder Colorado has failed, in at least one recorded instance, at customer service.
Actualización: La corporación de Panera finalmente me respondió enviándome un certificado de regalo de 20 dólares y un e-mail cajón. He tenido un enorme número de respuestas en este blog por parte de gerentes de otras sucursales de Panera de todas partes del país, y estoy impresionado con su profesionalismo. Parece ser que todo el mundo leyó este artículo excepto las personas que deberían haberlo leído, las personas que manejan la localidad de la Avenida 28 aquí en Boulder. De ninguna manera culpo a Panera, la corporación, por esta falla en servicio al cliente. Es un incidente aislado cometido por un solo empleado, en una sola localidad (no puedo hablar de la cultura de la corporación o de nada más allá de mi propia y única experiencia personal). Aprecio los 20 dólares, pero no me importan. Un comentario positivo por parte del gerente de la localidad aquí en Boulder hubiera sido suficiente. La lección aquí es acerca del medio social. Una simple, y atinada respuesta es, en ocasiones, lo único que se necesita para evitar más de 100 comentarios (en este caso) y montones de millares de visitas a la página. Algunas compañías no se dan cuenta de qué tan rápido algo que parece absurdo puede convertirse en una bomba si se le descuida.
Puede que esto parezca una historia boba, pero vale la pena mencionar por su absurdidad. Hace un par de días fuimos a comer a Panera read, y yo pedí sopa. Me sirvieron la sopa y estaba fría (bueno estaba un poco tibia, tal vez a unos 45 grados, pero casi ni eso). Yo no sé qué es lo que tú haces cuando tu sopa está fría. Yo, soy del tipo que calienta la sopa porque la sopa fría sabe asquerosa. Desafortunadamente, yo no cargaba con mi horno de microondas para calentar la sopa yo mismo así que me fui a hablar con las personas detrás del mostrador para ver si ellas podían calentarme la sopa. La respuesta de la muchacha a mi petición fue un tanto sorprendente. Yo le dije que mi sopa estaba fría y le pregunté que si por favor podría calentármela. Ella dijo “La sopa se mantiene a 77 grados. Si usted quiere su sopa más caliente, va a tener que utilizar el horno de microondas que se encuentra junto a las cafeteras.” Y me señaló hacia donde se encontraban las cafeteras junto a donde yo estaba sentado. Bueno, ¡qué rayos! Adivino que sí había un horno de microondas que yo hubiera podido haber utilizado. Pero, su incapacidad para preguntarse por qué fue que la sopa estaba fría me molestó. La sopa claramente no se encontraba a 77 grados (soy un esnob del té – yo sé a qué se siente un líquido calentado a 77 grados). Le dije, “tal vez quieras checar tu olla porque tu sopa apenas y está tibia, ni alcanza los 77 grados.” Obviamente sin estar interesada en mí y con cara de burla me dijo “si, seguro.” A mí me ofendió su actitud, pero no estaba dispuesto a comenzar un argumento por eso. Pero sí pensé que, si yo hubiera sido ella, la empleada, yo hubiera calentado la sopa del cliente y hubiera checado la temperatura de las ollas (¿es eso cuestión de seguridad alimenticia?). Pero, yo no soy el empleado. Solamente soy un cliente bobo quien no sabía que había un horno de microondas para uso del público. Todo molesto me regresé a mi asiento y me quejé por unos minutos con mis compañeros de cena acerca del mal servicio. Nunca fui a calentar mi sopa – simplemente la dejé ahí en la mesa. Estoy escribiendo esta nota acerca del incidente simplemente para crear un récord de que el restaurante Panera Bread en Boulder ha fracasado, en al enos un caso grabado, en proveer buen servicio al cliente.
I think it’s funny that the Google ad I see above here is one for Panera. Reminds me of the ad on Amazon.com for Planet of the Apes– it was showing next to a biography of Martin Luther King.
In seriousness, I hope that Panera takes care of this. It’s not just rudeness, but a serious health hazard and violation. Let us all know if and when they respond and what steps, if any, they take to make it right.
Panera pisses me off. They used to be really good back when they were smaller, but now that they’ve blown up and expanded every where their service and products have suffered. My wife still likes to go there from time to time, so one time just after our son was born I indulged her need for a salad. She was avoiding milk because of a milk protein allergy he developed, so we asked them not to put the cheese on the salad.
Long story short, she started eating only to realize that they didn’t listen to our request which I made sure was on the receipt before I even picked up the order. I charged up to the counter to voice my displeasure and the people at the counter couldn’t have cared less.
Fuming I went back to pack us up when the manager sheepishly came over to apologize. Get this, he didn’t even offer to do anything – make a new salad, refund my money since she couldn’t eat it, nothing. As I was walking out the door he came back over and asked me if there was anything he could do. I told him that it wasn’t my place to tell him how to do his job.
Wow. Recently I have started working at Panera Bread and I really must say, of all places I’ve worked so far, Panera cares more about their customers than most. Years ago I had similar issues with the chain which kept me from eating at their stores but when I needed a job and I found a decent Panera within walking distance I decided to give it a try.
I believe these bad situations are results of poor hiring choices being made at isolated locations. My store, for instance, has an amazing group of employees, all of which go out of their way to help the customer including, making new dishes, refunding, and/or offering any solution possible to whatever problem has occurred. Not to mention… health hazards are certainly not taken lightly. My suggestion, contact corporate with your claims so that these stores which violate Panera’s rules and regulations may be identified so future situations may be avoided.
I began working at a Panera Bread in Arlington, MA, about a year ago. I had just moved to the Boston area and originally applied because I remembered working next door to a Panera in St. Louis, but that was in 2003, before the company jumped on the bandwagon to be everything for all people. I do agree that the company has stretched too far in certain respects, upsetting customers and placing unnecessary stress on employees to meet standards.
It seems as though the girl who took your complaint did not understand that you had received it cold; she probably presumed you had been sitting with it for some time, not that that is an excuse for her surly attitude. The soup is kept hot enough precisely so that it CAN sit for a while without getting “gross”. It is company policy not to take food back over the counter, and she immediately should have offered you another bowl, as the first option among a few more. It is odd that she did not check the soup temperature, or consult a manager; our cafe keeps thermometers in at least two places on line that I can think of, plus more in the back where soups and other items are stored in a thermalizer. Temperature control is a huge issue that the company normally does take seriously, and it sounds as though you have indeed encountered a poorly-managed cafe. The same applies for the person who made the second comment, about the milk allergy; when we read a ticket that notes a food allergy, we immediately must change our gloves before proceeding to make it accordingly as directed; as a cashier, I leave the register, no matter how long the line is, to make certain the person(s) responsible know exactly what is called for. No one working takes it as any personal affront, and if, perchance, the person on line simply didn’t read or understand the ticket properly, and prepared the order incorrectly, we without question offer compensation immediately- a whole new salad, a refund, a box of cookies with a bow on top and a huge smile, whatever it takes.
The least obtrusive way to leave feedback is to fill in the comment form under “Contact Us” at the Panera website: http://www.panera.com. Management checks them several times daily, and negative comments or e-mails are forwarded, printed out, addressed by multiple people at multiple levels, etc. I can attest that your comment will be heard: I recently had a customer who left a comment that he had come in four Saturday mornings in a row, to find that there were no souffles. He left a comment, stating that at the fourth instance, he told the girl behind the counter (i.e. me) about the issue and demanded an explanation, to which “she responded with awkward silence”. That’s because I didn’t have time, nor would it have been appropriate, to explain to him the plethora of reasons that there might not be souffles ready at any given minute between six a.m. and noon, or that, as in that instance, I knew that there weren’t souffles ready because the night baker hadn’t prepared any, because HIS boss had made some mistake on the order; that I was not responsible for bringing out souffles; that I was tired from limping around with a foot injury that wouldn’t heal; that every morning customers complain to me about issues that cannot be resolved merely by handing them a cookie and a warm smile, as was the case here; that I have two BAs and a year-and-a-half of grad work, but had to drop out of school because life has not been handed to me and I do not have the money to continue taking classes, and am admittedly bitter about the situation because I have to work somewhere that is mostly unrewarding, unstimulating, and has little to do with the direction in which I want to go in life; that there weren’t enough cashiers scheduled, ergo I had been hopping along trying to address in a timely manner customers forming lines at two counters on opposite ends of the cafe; that I had been having trouble breathing for some time, because I have multiple blood clots in my legs and on my lungs that at any moment could release, land on my heart or brain, and instantaneously kill me, and I therefore cannot help but view customer complaints sometimes as being petty in the grand scheme of things about which we could all be worrying ourselves; that I nevertheless commisserated with him, if only because I look forward to leftover souffles as being my lunch when I go on break, since I took a food service job because I cannot afford to eat where I work (at full price). I chose to sum up my frustration with, “Uh…”.
Where was I? Oh, yes, so e-mailing might be a better way than addressing the issue in person. It allows time for thorough research and a more diplomatic response.
As a manager of Panera of over 5 years the cashier is correct regarding the soup temperature (although it is not her place to educate you). If the soup contains a protein such as chicken or beef it should be heated to a bare minimum of 140 but 160 per health departments (170 is Panera Spec). Per the health department (I am not in CO so I do not know if it differs), the cashier was right not to take the soup back over the counter because once it is touched by a customer it is not allowed to come back where fresh food is.
She should have offered to either A. heat the soup herself in the microwave by the coffees (after checking the temperature of the soup on the line to make sure it was not a food safety issue) or B. offered to replace your soup with another soup/item at no cost (this all she can do without a manager) and/or offered you an additional treat for brining it to our attention.
If it still remained an issue the manager could have refunded your meal (although I’m not sure how much direct contact or if a manager was made aware of your issue). If the manager was made aware and came over to apologize he/she should have asked if they could do anything for you.
If you were still unsatisfied I would have asked for a District Managers name/number and/or filled out the survey at the bottom of your receipt. Either are additional ways of getting compensated for your negative experience (although managers at the store level have the power to comp meals).
I won’t defend either’s actions or lack of actions, just giving you facts that may aid in situations.
PJ in your response I would mention the allergy to the cashier (not that you should have to) or have brought this error to a manager in case medical emergency happened.
Not the way business should have been done in either instance, but it is the service industry and neither position require a degree nor pay 6 figures so you can expect the world and only be delivered a small farm.
I understand how irritated you are about the lack of customer service you received. I assure you it is not representitve of every Panera. I’m a shift manager at a franchise Panera and had you been in our store you would have received a new soup, and probably anything else you might have wanted such as a free drink or pastry. We aren’t allowed to microwave the soup for you because if it goes over a certain temperature we face legal liabilties. But yes, you’re right. The soup should never be held under 165 degrees. The girl you spoke to should have offered her apologies, offered to check the temperature of the soups, and notified her manager, and if the soup well WAS at the correct temperature, offered you a new bowl of soup. All customer complaints are supposed to go straight to management anyway…and we certainly don’t tolerate our associates being rude to customers. It’s one of the first things they drill into our head…”Rule #1: The customer is always right” and “We are an everyday oasis for our customers” (seriously, you can’t make these things up)
As far as the guy that had the issue with the salad – you’re right, the manager should have offered to make a new salad, give a refund, or give you a free meal in the future.
All Paneras have a high health and safety standard. Again, it’s not every Panera that has issues like this. We have procedures that we have to follow to make sure food is maintained at the correct temperature. And if it’s not at the correct temperature, there’s yet another set of procedures.
I don’t know about the store you went to, but I know that in my franchise we are told to do whatever we can to make the customer happy. Each store is even graded on different aspects of your service such as order accuracy, friendliness, speed of service, and food quality.
Anyway, there’s not much I can do from where I stand, but I am sorry you received such poor service.
In your reply you say, “We aren’t allowed to microwave the soup for you because if it goes over a certain temperature we face legal liabilties.” My comment is not a slam against the company, but a slam about society in general…… Due to many being so prone to sue companies for every little thing (hot chocolate from the McDonald’s drive thru ring a bell for anyone?) Personally I would be thrilled to have a microwave to heat up my soup or coffee because I had lingered there chatting with my friends for too long, so appreciate it is available, but it’s just a sad statement that an employee cannot assist due to fear of the company being sued.
That’s great to see such some folks who love Panera respond. I, too, have generally, had a good experience. But all it takes is one mess up. Imagine you had a pilot who landed 99 times safely, but crashed just once.
I’m surprised that nobody officially from Panera has said anything either here, on Facebook, or personally to Keith. To ignore customers or to not even be aware that your customers are talking is bad practice in social media.
i am an employee at Panera a corp store out of Charlotte, NC and that was definetly not they way to have handled that situation. I am an associate trainer and me personally i would have gotten your money back and given you and associate meal for another visit at our location and i would have returned with a soup at the correct temp. I personally apologize for this horrible customer service received at this panera. This would have never happened at my store. my deepest regrets is you did not come to my town at my location because this is not tolerated by any of our staff as well as management!!! Please do not hold all Paneras responsible for this incident…. We always go beyond the call of duty. I apologize for this myself. it has been a pleasure working here and please come back. tammy Johnson Charlotte NC
I work at Panera and I noticed your blog on my facebook page. What she did is wrong. If your soup isn’t warm enough she should pour you a whole new bowl of it AND she should check the temperatures to make sure they are indeed 170, because more than 5 degrees in any direction is a public safety hazard (I am also pursuing my maters in Public Health). If I had been caught doing what she did, I would have gotten in HUGE trouble not to mentions its huge safety problems.
Panera as a whole though has some poor customer service.
I used to think eating at panera was nice and enjoyed the meals. That’s not the case anymore. I order my food, cashier is not friendly at, seems to rush and not explain anything on the menu. Manager gives us funny looks, giving us the impression not to stand where we waited. I was disgusted to see panera did not employ not even one minority on this shift. I have told my husband that I will no longer purchase from panera, they suck, portions are too small. And half the staff don’t greet the customers.goodbye looking for other restaurant reviews
I am a line, and cashier at Panera bread company, and would like to inform you that we keep out soups in a heated area that maintains it at 170 degrees. I don’t know if you did, but you should have informed the cashier that it was cold because we do get customers who would like it hotter then 170 degrees. If you did I would say she just didn’t her job. Next time I would skip the cashier, and bring it to the line which is where you got your food. If it was cold then you should have been handed a new bowl of soup which you would’ve had to come down to the line to get anyways as cashiers don’t handle our food. It also would have informed us that the soup was not up to temp, and not handed the soup to more customers. Someone more then likely grabbed a new bag out of the thermalizer(what we use to bring soups up to temp), and didn’t check to make sure it was hot enough, and just thought it was because it was fully liquified, and the hot water had the bag warm. I’m sorry to hear about this, and next time get a manager, and they’ll make sure it’s handled properly.
I currently started to work for Panera bread and the way that young girl handled the situation was horrible! I’m extremely sorry i was trained that if the soup was cold and the customer was unhappy we get them another soup and in case that one was the same then i would have refunded your money and offered a pastry or another sort of item. I’m sorry that happened to you and i hope you do continue to visit panera, your not a dumb customer what so ever you were right to ask her and you should have NEVER been told that YOU have to microwave your own soup that came up cold! she should have just went and checked the temp. and tried to get you another warmer bowl. I;m sorry yet again and i hope you have a better experience!
Ive worked at panera bread for a year and a half, that said, it sucks. The management only cares about getting the job at hand done. they would even prefer for you to come in sick than to call out because that means the manager on duty has to make some phone calls or actually do some work for once! I enjoy some of the food there but the quality in service actually sucks. as for the cold soup, it could be because it was sitting on top of the counter too long waiting for you to pick it up, or it could also be that they didnt take the temp of the soup before they took it out of the thermalizer for serving. because the soup has to be atleast 170 degrees berfore we can serve it.
I am a trainer at Panera New Hartford and i personally take offense at the way this customer was treated. I cannot believe an apology And a new, fresh, HOT soup was not offered immediately. This is NOT typical of how Panera as whole treats customers. Granted, there are always a few bad eggs who take advantage of our policies, but that does not seem to be the case here. I’m always surprised to hear Panera spoken of negatively as we strive to make every customer satisfied and happy. Even the ones who rutinely complain just to get free stuff…as maddening as that is…but that’s another story for another day.
Im a baker at 2 paneras in AL, and worked a year as an associate before that working the line.
This is how soups work (dont tell anyone, cause its kindof a secret cause we like the illusion that everything is made fresh at panera) They come in as ice cubes. Big frozen blocks of soup in a bag. About four bags per box stored in the freezer. Every morning the manager pulls soups from either the freezer or bags thawned from the day before from the cooler and sticks them in a soup well. Its basically a big boiling pot that we stick the frozen bags of soup in to thaw them to temp. The soup well heats up all day and thaws the soup bags from around 5 (6am on sundays) in the morning till 11am when we generaly start serving soup. Occasionaly the soup well itself does not get to the right temp. Things do brake. I remember at least 7 times in the year i worked the line that the soup well broke and wasnt heating our soups to the right temp. I’ve caught other employees serving soup without checking its temp, to later find out the well was only at 90 degrees. that employee was fired. I’ve worked with alot of food places in my life and Panera by far takes health and temp and experation dates far more seriously than other places. They have the strictist health rules i’ve seen for handling food. If the soup well is down, there is an emergency plan to heat the soups in the rack oven, that must be followed if the well is down, or if soup is needed right away without being able to give it time to thaw. I forget how long it takes for a soup to normaly reach temp in the well but it was like and hour or more. which brings me to what most likly happened. Its hard when you have alot of orders on the screen for French onion soup, and you just ran out of soup on the line to wait for the bag of french onion in the back to reach temp. So . . . although rare and greatly discouraged, in a rush, some employees will make the great mistake of rushing back to the back and pulling the bag of french onion eventhough its not temp and then serving it to the customers to finish the rush. The woman you talked to more than likly knew this. I’ve had customers come to me with the same concern, and i immediatly check the temp of the soup and give them a new bowl of soup (im not sure my manager would have liked my giving new bowls of soup out but that how i handled it).
Another possibility, when reading an order, soup is usualy the first thing made for a ticket. At my store, we had one person making salads, one making sandwitches, one pouring soups, and one putting the whole order together. soups are the quickest to make and i would make the soups for 6 different orders at once, but we wouldnt page that last order until everything for that order was made. So your soup could have been sitting out cooling down while it was waiting on the rest of your order to be made. You wouldnt be paged until the whole order was ready, and if there were people in front of you, your soup would have all the more time to cool down while they worked their way to your order.
And panera makes people feel like idiots when they want to use the microwave. most stores hide their microwaves. My store’s microwave has a sticker on it that says “if it seems like we’re hiding our microwave, its cause we are. We prefer everything be the right temp right from the start, and are against reheating. But if you must, here you go” or something just as sarcastic as that. One of the most common questions i got was “Where is your microwave”, so their is no excuse for her being rude, its a VERY common question.
But like others have already suggested, go to the website and submit your panera experience. Managers check them daily and post them on the employee “Kneed to know” board. Managers will take care of the problem cause customer rating are very important at panera. In fact, my market just had Hank (number 2 guy in the company) visit some stores in Birmingham cause their customer ratings were low and he wanted to know why and he wanted it fixed! spent the whole week. Stores are scored on MANY thing! and customer ratings are one of the big ones, General managers who have great audit scores, and good steritech scores and great health inspections are still at risk of loosing their jobs if their customer rating scores are low. And feel free to use names of employees in your complaint if you know the name, it helps the manager zero in on the problem and it publically shames them when the complaint is stuck on the employee board with their name on it, its a good motivator.
Sorry you had a sucky trip to panera, Our soups realy are the best though and you’re generaly in very good hands. I hope you’ll continue to come and get some our great soup and enjoy the bread us bakers spend all night baking just right for you to enjoy!
I work at a franchised panera in Central FL and i understand the frustration. But its actually against the corporate law for our stores to take anything back over the counter once it has come in contact with the customer and so on.. of course all due to cross contamination.. we cant even wrap your extra food up for you, we have to give you the plastic container and wraps/ bags for you to do it yourself. I would have atleast issued you a new soup but the instruction to where the microwave is, is what we are trained to do at “baguette university”..the panera training program
dont get me wrong though.. i hate panera.. i was a restaurant GM back north and moved to FL for grad school and started at panera for extra cash and i still make mininum wage with having ownership experience while the social-misfits are making a dollar more than me because they had more availability with being highschool drop outs.
my rants over though
I, too, work at a Panera and although I do not condone the attitude that the associate gave you, I can empathise with her frustration. When customers do say the soups are too hot it’s usually because they have left them sit too long. And if it is our fault and the soups are not temped correctly, there is no way we can immediately correct it other than to offer you another flavor of soup. We don’t have microwaves back behind the counter so her reply to direct you to the microwave is standard.
Oops, I meant to say *when customers say the soups are too cold.”
all i have to say is wow what a fucking complainer and no sir if you did work at panera and had to deal with rude and stupid people you wouldnt be in the greatest of moods. you probably have a great career while the rest of us have to put up with your snobbish attitudes so if your soups is cold plz eat somewhere else thats one less person we have to deal with thanks.
Taye: And that’s why you have the job you have.
Keith not everyone in the food service industry have a bad attitude and treat people with disrespect, some of us actually like our jobs and like the way it makes us feel when we have new customers (or even our regulars) come up to us after they have finished with their meal and tell us they had a great meal with great service! Most of Panera’s cafes are ran by very warm and polite people, Please don’t let this one person having a bad day keep you from returning to Panera as a whole, and Please if you ever have a problem with your order and the employee you talk to doesnt seem to care… get the manager, I can pretty much guarentee that the manager didnt know anything was wrong!
do you work for Panera? If you do then you are a “major disgrace” to the company! I am a certified trainer at the Eastgate Panera in Ohio and if you were working at our store you would have immediately lost your job if their was a customer that you treated extremely rude like that. We do not tolerate rudeness, that is our number 1 cultural value—- NO JERKS!
Wow.
I am completely and utterly shocked. Do you seriously work at Panera? If so, I hope your managers have seen this and have fired you. That is very upsetting. I work for Panera, and while we all get in bad moods sometimes, it is NEVER acceptable to say the things that you said. If anyone in my cafe had written this and our managers found out we would have been fired immediately.
I apologize to everyone, don’t let this one bitter employee speak for all of us.
Everyone at my cafe and all the cafes I have been to are very warm and pleasant.
Actually, I think you don’t understand their method of preparing soup. Heat it up if it’s not hot enough for your picky ass. I eat hamburgers, that doesn’t make me an expert on the temperature of sandwiches(tea snob, sheesh)….Yes her attitude sounds very poor for quick service food, and there is no call for that. But seriously, have you nothing better to do than write this looooong article bitching??? We’ve all had shady service from time to time, get over it.
mamoo: It took me 10 minutes to write this post. You call this post long?
I am an associate of Panera Bread in Cincinnati. When a customer comes up and tells us a soup is not hot, we usually will replace it, or offer a refund. We would also ask if they would like something from the bakery. This girl should have showed more concern. If I were you I would have asked to speak to a manager. Yes there is a microwave under the coffee’s. however at our panera we are told to NOT let a customer use it for a soup. Our soup should be hot enough to make it home and still be hot. I know in Cincinnati it is. Also, on your receipt there is a survey that you can complement or complain about the service. Panera is getting big, but if a manager lacks in choosing a good associate, the store can go down hill. I know I would not have let you walk away unhappy.
Panera Bread sucks and the poeple who run Panera are low life junkies at least the one in memphis tn on ridgeway and 240 and i know this for a fact!!! I was hired at Panera Bread in the begining of March I was interviewed by two managers named Tim and Jeremy anyways i was assured that i would get 40 hours a week and thats the oonly reason i took the job because i was in desperate need of a job! I am a single mother of a 8 year old daughter who goes to private school and is also a cheerleader and on top of that i have bills, anyways to get to the point training was awsome i got 90 hours in 2 weeks but when we opened Panera because it was a new cafe in memphis my first week i got 24 hours and without notice the next week i was only on the schedule for 2 days 4 hours a day lol!!! so anyways i was stuck in a tough spot not able to pay bills or school tuition and on top of that the 16 year old kids that were working for spending money had 30-40 hours!! Come to find out after i quit 25 other employees were let go without notice because Panera’s Dumb Ass Employees Hired way to many people!! O to mention why i called them junkies they all snort cocaine and smoke weed!! I busted them out to their face but they do nothing but deny but thats ok because i saw u and my eyes dont lie!!!! xoxo Amanda
I work at Panera Bread in Colorado Springs (North Academy) we NEVER treat our customers like that. You have to make sure the soup is up to temperature to serve to the customers…which is really hot…..if it tastes luke warm then it is definitely not up to temperature. The microwave shouldn’t be used to heat up cold soups lol it is there to heat up pastries and other things like that.
Now it’s just a matter of time before the Boulder Panera folks or Panera corporate folks respond either here, on their Facebook page (where Keith left several comments) via phone, or via email.
I’ll start out by saying I work for Panera in Columbus, OH. First of all, if your soup was that cold they shouldn’t have told you to reheat it….they should have taken it from you and gotten you new, fresh soup that was hot. So yeah, fail there, big time. Then they should have checked the steamer where the soups sit. Because if your soup was that cool, then it couldn’t have been the only one. It would have been all or most of them, because that’s how the steam table works. Yes soup is supposed to be cooked to, then maintained at 170 degrees, but her blowing you off like that was beyond wrong. Doesn’t matter what store; I hate employees that treat you like you’re bothering them when you have a legit complaint.
However, if, and I mean “if” she misunderstood you and thought you really did want your soup hotter than normal, then telling you to microwave it was all she could have done. Panera doesn’t have microwaves for their food. The only one is up front, for the customers to use, just like she pointed out to you. I’ve pointed it out to people who want their bear claws or cinnamon rolls heated and they use it. I have a regular customer that extra heats her coffee that way every single day.
You shouldn’t have just left your soup there. You should have asked to speak to a manager, both about the cool soup and the cashier’s attitude. That’s not acceptable. I’m sorry that Panera was represented by such a twit.
If you look on your receipt there’s a website and phone number for a survey. I encourage you to fill it out and be honest. The store manager gets the report, and it goes up to the general manager and even higher if need be.
I am truly sorry about what happened in your experience with Panera. I have been with the company for 7 months and am an associate trainer, this is NOT how we teach our associates to handle these situations! You should have gotten a new HOT bowl of soup, perhaps a refund, and anything you would have liked from our bakery… that is the first thing we go to whenever we are handed a complaint of any kind. Basically at my cafe, if we mess up your order, our first response is “what can I do to fix this for you?” On behalf of the company I do apologize and hope that you do not hold this against all of our cafes. We strive to make our cafes and everyday oasis for our customers with an atmosphere that makes you feel like family. You are our first priority because without you we wouldn’t have jobs… so my sincerest apologies!
@taye: if you don’t like the customers that come into your cafe and you find that all they do is ruin YOUR day… perhaps you should find other employment… I work in a cafe that is surrounded by customers that complain and are always in a hurry… but as an associate it comes with the territory and the only way you can let it bother you is if you take it personally. There is a reason that you work where you do, put some effort in and perhaps you won’t have to work for Panera for the rest of your life.
i have worked for panera for almost 11 years. what difference does having or not having a degree make? because i didn’t go to college im not as good as you because i work at a restaurant? a job is a job and regardless of what job it is. you are being paid for that job and should be doing everything in your power to do the best job you can do. it’s sad that some ignorant people have to give the employees that do the right thing a bad rap. my panera have the best staff i’ve ever seen in my career there and we do more for out customers in the the way of safety and satisfaction than i’ve seen anywhere else. we are endless informed of food safety standards and held accountable to keep them high.
i have worked at panera brd for 6 years..since i was 16. its a fucked up place to work. the managers dont care about you if your not in their “clique” and they will fire you in a heartbeat if u mess something up. they dont train. they put u on elearning for a day and then throw u out in dining room by yourself during lunch rush and expect u to be able to do it. bullshit. if ur a size 2, and are a fake ass bitch u should apply, because those are the only kind of people they keep and promote. a girl left for 4 months, came back pregnant, applied again, and was not only hired, but promoted to shift leader. your shittin me right?? they put unnecessary stress on their employees by trying to keep to unrealistic standards…tell me, how is it that you can wash your hands, put gloves on, make a tuna sandwich, then take your gloves back off, wash your hands, put gloves back on, and keep to their ticket time of 3 minutes from when the customer walks through the door, till the time they get their food. and what they pay their employees is shit. pure shit….oh panera is such a great place…they truly love their employees….bunch of cock in the mouth is what that is. im done now.
It depends on what panera you go to. i work at the one in saugus, ma and we strive to make customers happy. if you have an issue with an employee PLEASE go to the panera website and write a complaint. try and get the servers name. they WILL be dealt with by their district manager and or higher up in the company. make sure where it says i want to talk about youchoose “my experience at panera bread”
i too work for a Panera and i have a similar situation with my manager i have worked there for a little over a year and i can say i have had some experiences… however our job is to help the customer i myself am a cashier and if someone comes up to me with an issue about food i do my best and if i can’t then i direct them to the line. you must take into consideration that cashiers although take your orders may not be trained on the line especially when they are rather new employees. and maybe you caught her on a bad day, i know its hard to believe with the peppy greeting you should normally get from a Panera employee but we have bad days too, i have had customers yell and curse me out over not having a piece of bread that they want when that isn’t my fault at all…. food service is hard and most of the kids working there are students. her attitude was poor yes but i think it is important to take into consideration other situations as well….
HI. I am sorry for your trouble. This is not how Panera is ran where I live. I live in Wichita, Kansas.
I do not, however, think you should be posting this for the whole world to see. That isn’t fair to all of the other good Panera employees out there.
I have been working for Panera for a year and a half… If we receive a negative comment like this, we DO get in trouble. I know this for a fact. Again, I am sorry for what happened. The employee should have offered you a hotter soup to replace the old, but yes, it is true that we cannot take back food a customer has touched, but that does not give us the right to make you reheat the soup yourself. That was wrong for her to do, and I do hope she gets written up when managment finds out- if not fired. Hope you continue to visit Panera. We would love to have you at our store, and we would treat you right!
I am a certified chef and baker I work for Panera in Colorado. I have read all of the complements and I have to agree with a lot of what is said on both sides. Yes the associate should of checked the temp and replaced it since Panera by far does have the highest safety standards of any place that I have ever worked at.In regard to he customer with the salad I m sorry that happened and I could try and make excusse but I wont chances are this is what happened every day they make the same food say at least 50 times and become a custom to making it in order almost like a robot. None the less it shouldn’t of happened I to have a food allergy so when I order my food I make sure that it is made right and I suggest next time polite double checking with the person making the food made it right.Panera is one of the full few place where you can stand an watch them make your food as well as having worker in front of you, they do this for many reason and although you should not have to I would next time just double check with them. I have found that some customers that come into panera are some what on the snob side of things we are not a full service restaurant however I see many customers treating it as so ie leaving you trays on tables for someone else to clean up, bitching about not being “waited on” or having to get off your own ass to get a refill. Panera trains there employee longer then any other place I have worked at as well. Even bakers go through 3 months of training. where most place give you 2 to 3 weeks. At no point are employees allowed to take a cup with your straw in it back over the counter, heat up your food or drinks its a safety issue, in case one of the customers is just dirty or has something that can be caught and transferred to other customers. Along with the fact of if an associate were to heat something up for you and heated it to hot lord knows that person I am sure would turn around and sue Panera. As far as the comment about souffles yes sometimes orders are not done right sometimes the cafe does more business one week and we run out of product or even mangers cut back on your baker order as to save on food cost, but not once have a ever heard of a baker manger not getting pastry blanks to a cafe. Bakers work 4 ten hour shifts and we most of the time have big bakes to accommodate the cafes so if souffles are not out right at 6 am so sorry but we do bust our ass all night long to ensure that its done by 6 am. Any other time of the day its up to the cafe to ensure there getting baked and to know they take at least 20 mins to bake so if the cafe is busy or doesn’t time things right then you may not have them as well as they can only be held for an hour an a half. I have found that customers these days my self included go out to eat because they are in a hurry and either don’t want to cook are be lazy or just don’t have the time. Consumers want things done yesterday and perfect but if you stop and look at yourself when was the last time you did your Job perfect to a T? So things may not always be perfect the way consumers want but panera does take every step to ensure that they come as close as they can to make it that way.
“I was hired at Panera Bread in the begining of March I was interviewed by two managers named Tim and Jeremy anyways i was assured that i would get 40 hours a week and thats the oonly reason i took the job because i was in desperate need of a job! I am a single mother of a 8 year old daughter who goes to private school and is also a cheerleader and on top of that i have bills, ”
GET OVER YOURSELF!!!! You wanna bitch and have a bad attitude and think that Panera should bend over for you so your kid can go to PRIVATE SCHOOL wtf ever. I am a mom of 2 and When anyone is hired at Panera you have 90 probation period and it was a new store and they were not sure of the volume so yes they over staffed but I am willing to bet it was your whinny cry baby ass that got your hours reduced just because you need 40 hours doesn’t mean you dont have to earn it. You not the only single parent out there.
“so anyways i was stuck in a tough spot not able to pay bills or school tuition and on top of that the 16 year old kids that were working for spending money had 30-40 hours!! ”
AGAIN GET OVER IT your not miss high and mighty nor does the age of any person have to do with the hours they work I have a feeling they earned those hours by doing a good job not Bitching about how they think there shit doesn’t
stink like you seem to think yours doesn’t! So you make YOUR OWN 16 year old get off there spoon feed ass and get a job Pull them out of PRIVATE school and go to public school your a single fucking mom get a damn student loan and shut your pie whole and stop bitching about how you cant pay your bills welcome to the real world a lot of people cant pay there bills.
I totally agree that it is a hiring issue. I work at a Panera Bread in Florida and for the most part our employees have fantastic customer service. The employees that have bad service skills usually don’t stick around long.
On the other hand, customers can be incredibly rude and when I have been cussed out over a bowl of soup for the hundredth time it takes a lot of self-control not to show some displeasure. I wish people would remember that employees have feelings too and try to treat us a little better.
I really was very polite to the girl behind the counter. Not at all pushy. I’ve worked service jobs before so I know how that goes.
I am an employee at Panera in Winchester Virginia. I do not find your article to be snobbish or out of line in any way….the way you were treated was not right at all. This girl obviously couldn’t care less for customer service. I have worked in 2 different Panera’s and I will tell you this…if you or any customer were to ever complain because of cold soup, or a salad not made correctly….you would have not only received an apology, but fresh HOT soup, a pastry of your choice and a drink. We would definitely go out of our way to make sure you were satisfied and that the problem had been resolved with the soup. Sounds like there must have been a problem with their soup wells.
I apologize to you for their lack of service. I can’t stand to see customers walk away unhappy with the service and food they received. People pay good money for the food and they deserve to get the very best every time.
As for the employee that complained about the company they worked for….every job you have is going to give you reason to complain. Keep in mind that not all Panera’s are alike in how they treat their employees and that the ones I have worked treat their employees like family…sometimes better. They strive to make sure we all get the hours we need, the days off we need, and have a zero tolerance policy towards drugs. I hope that you were able to find a position somewhere that better suits your needs and that of your family.
i work at panera. i agree she shouldnt say it is that temps, for all we know it may have been a new batch that was finishing thawing?
i know once food is taken by the customer we are not allowed to bring it back to us, where the food station is. and if the soup doesnt taste right you may get another.
send the letter to the general manager there. they will most likely bring it up at work meetings we have every couple months. usually they get VERY upset at their workers when they get a letter. for good reason. i hope you enjoy any other times you may go.
I think it’s pretty telling how many Panera folk are responding. Sounds like one poor employee – at least I hope that’s true. Nice to see folks taking pride.
I, for one, don’t work at Panera. I probably would have done the same thing you did, Keith. Depends on the kind of soup, I suppose. Creamy soups are totally inedible at low temp, but I’ve been known to shrug and say “whatever” at a noodle soup. Which is, admittedly, gross.
I have work for Panera Bread for two years now. I can tell that if it have been me listening about your cold soup, I would of first check the temperature of my soup, then offer you a new cup of soup and then point out that we did have a microwave by the coffee pots. You see there is no microwave in the kitchen so if a costumer does what their soup above 170 then they do have to do it themselves. The employee could do it, but we are under the clock to get the food done in a small amount of time so for every minute we are not preparing the next customer food is a minute closer for a second customer to come an complain about their food taking to long. Keep in mind that Panera still is a fast food restaurant and has a limited amount of people working at the time. Sadly, we also work for long hours without breaks making minimum wages college students that deal with peoples complains all day.
ya, i’m a panera employee too.
we don’t have a microwave behind the counter. i don’t think any panera does.
it seems to be a corporate policy to do that. they’d rather the customer warms it up to their liking rather than us make it too hot and make someone madder.
i don’t know the logic behind it, and i certainly don’t understand it, but i can only assume some higher up thinks he has a good reason for it.
if you send a letter to the email address on the bottom of your receipt, they’ll hear it from the upper management. if you request a new bowl of soup they may even honor it. (maybe not this time though, as i have no idea how long ago your incident happened). and i can’t promise that anything will happen, but i can almost certainly guarantee that someone will get their butt handed to them if you complain to the local district office. (that would be the email address i mentioned earlier)
sorry man
I also work at Panera, and I think I am the only one so far to say that what the girl did was understandable. Maybe not correct or polite, but understandable. Many customers tend to think that they are unique and their situation is of utmost importance. However, they fail to understand that the hundreds of customers we deal with on a daily basis complain about conflicting issues. Customer service has become so ridiculous that simple human error is no longer allowed to exist. Have you ever had a bad day at work? Snapped at someone who didn’t deserve it? Made a mistake at your job? The answer is most certainly YES for every person.
The conflicting problems that I refer to are, from my own personal experience, the following:
Someone orders three pastry items but they are alone at the register. So, you assume that they want everything on one tray and don’t have the time during a 7:30 AM rush to ask EVERY customer their presentation preference. She looks at the plate and says, quite nastily, “I’m going to need more plates than that.” “Oh I’m sorry!” I reply. I thought they were for just you.” After a disgusted sigh she points to the others sitting at a table, whom I was supposedly suppose to somehow know were the other people she was ordering for. I get the extra plate which she rips out of my hand and walks away with.
The next scenario, someone orders two pastries and I put them on separate trays. The man looks at me and says, “Do you see anyone else standing here. I only need one plate.”
Next example. Our toaster sucks. To truly lightly brown toast the bagel, you need to keep the conveyor belt at a low speed and the temp high. However the first customer complains that the item is too dark and wants another one. The next person says we wants his bagel run through twice to get it darker, and it burns and he wants another one. The third person asks for it run through twice, so you think you have finally learned and speed up the conveyor belt the second time through. He rips his bagel out of the bag and says, “Um, this isn’t even toasted. You speeded up the conveyor the second time. Don’t do that.” You never win.
One person comments on how much they love our breakfast sandwich portion…. its just enough for breakfast. The next person comes up complaining that “this is way too small, and I didn’t know.” My manager kindly says, “Oh I’m sorry, that is just how we make our sandwiches. I can give you your money back, or get you something else larger if you prefer.” The customer responds with, “*sigh* no, but you should inform people when they order one how small they are.” Really? Take up more time, that will likely result in everyone else getting mad that service is slow, to explain the size and composition of every item. And for the ones that eat at panera regularly, they are simply annoyed that you waste their time telling them what they already know.
Although I could write a NOVEL on experiences like this, I will end with my all time favorite. The first customer of the morning comes in and says she wants to get a lot of items. I smile and say, “sure you can go ahead and pick them out.” Standing at the register waiting to ring in her choices she just looks at me and says, “Aren’t you going to come get them?” I say, “Oh, we have to ring in every item for inventory purposes. And if I put them all in boxes right now I’ll have to remember every thing you got to ring it in. This way I’ll just print the receipt and use it to box everything up.” She ignores me. My manager then walks up, so I put on gloves to box her choices as my manager rings. While ordering bagels, she is one short of a pack that is cheaper than buying the current amount individually. My manager says, “We need one more bagel to make a pack. Is that what you wanted, or are you okay with the amount you have.” The woman replies with, “You know, I don’t know why you are doing that (ringing her order), I’m getting a lot of stuff.”
Hmmmm. I just told her why. And, a manager came over so we could kill two birds with one stone to give efficient service. Customer service has literally gotten to the point that you can bend over backwards for somebody trying to cater to them and they are still not happy.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of nice customers too. There are people who come in on a regular basis, and we have their order ready when they walk in. They tell us what a great team we are and we know each other by name. And then you have people who hate you because you gave them two trays and they only needed one. An easy fix, attitude not necessary.
So, I guess what this rant is trying to say is that the majority of people I have seen working in the service industry are not rude or uncaring. You will always find people like that however. And, people are going to have bad days. Maybe her grandfather just passed away, and she had a final that the professor refused to let her take early, and the rent was due, and the car needed new tires; basically, the stresses of life that make us all have bad days now and then. Simply ask for things nicely. Don’t place blame on someone who may have nothing to do with the soup and has no control over it. And if that doesn’t help, ask for a manager. Explain the situation, and tell them what they can do to fix it. I’ve seen my manager accommodate every customer request no matter how rude or ridiculous it is. So a legitimate request like hot soup would be a shining moment in their day most likely!
Sorry for the long comment. Just think, be kind first to avoid a bad reply, and understand that nobody is perfect. A simple, “No it’s fine, I understand. Thank you for fixing this for me.” goes a long way. You would be surprised how many people out there think that they are entitled to be treated like kings and queens.
Lastly, remember that Panera is fast food. I know, I know, it doesn’t seem like it, because they do it well! But it is still fast food. Compare that service to McDonalds. BIG difference from my experience.
As has been stated several times, your soup should have been replaced, the associate should have apologized, and the temperatures of the soups should have been checked immediately. Yes, we hear a lot of complaints, and encounter many rude customers, and the job can be very stressful at times, but that is no excuse for the way your situation was handled. One of our main rules, is that we will break any and all rules to make the customer happy. I have seen managers bend over backwards to please a customer who was clearly in the wrong, or even obviously lying to them. We have a temperature log that has to be completed three times a day, to make sure our equipment is keeping everything at the appropriate temperatures. If something isn’t up to temp, corrective actions have to be taken and recorded in the log. Most likely, a soup was brought up to the cafe line in a hurry, without being temped first, and it was not ready for serving. This should never happen. “No Shortcuts”, is another of our main rules to be followed. No matter how rushed we may be, we are taught not to cut corners. Unfortunately, not every associate at every location follows these rules all of the time. Unfortunately, the manager can’t monitor all areas of the store at all times, to make sure the associates are following the rules. In every workplace, there are always going to be workers who are less than perfect, and who don’t carry their weight (especially when the manager is not around). I am very sorry that you had to encounter one of these people. I am even more sorry that they have painted a negative picture of our company for you. We really do put a very strong focus on quality, food safety and customer service. I only wish that I could have been there to serve you, and make things right. I’m sure not all of our locations and employees are perfect all of the time, but I hope that you will not assume that all of our locations and employees are on the same level as the poor service that you received. Calling the number at the bottom of your receipt is great advice to follow. We use a service called Mindshare, which sends your survey results, and any comments you make, directly to the store that you visited, as well as to the district manager. It sends these results instantly. We check on these results throughout the day, and they help us address any problems our store is having in the way of pleasing our customers. Never be afraid to ask to speak to a manager. It’s their job to listen to your complaints, and try their best to make things right for you. Again, I am very sorry that this happened and offer my apologies on behalf of all the dedicated employees who care about you, our customers. Without you, we wouldn’t have our jobs. It’s just a shame that not every employee is smart enough to realize that.
Maybe you should have brought your complaint to the attention of the cafe manager. Sometimes businesses make poor hiring decisions. The cashier you encountered could have been easily corrected. There are many companies with associates with poor behaviors however, if we fail to report complaints to someone whom can really make a difference, we’re asking for our problem to remain an issue. If you’re not going to complain to someone that can further and/or better assist you, why complain. As a Manager, I would have apologized for the inconvience immediately, and offered to get you a fresh bowl of soup instead of offering to re-heat the old bowl of soup. While retrieving a fresh bowl of soup for you, I would have checked the temp of all the soups being served to ensure the company was in compliance with food safety concerns. That’s what Panera teaches it employees to do without the assistance of a manager. Just because someone needs a job, doesen’t mean that they’re cut out for the restaurant industry. If you don’t report issues, sometimes you assist with allowing the problem to grow.
I currently work for Panera Bread, and I have to say that while I totally see your side of it, the fact is that we dont have microwaves behind the counter to heat it it up for you. Thats why they are out there in the dining room. The soup is maintained at 170 degrees, and yes it may fall under that and we may not realize it, especially if it hasnt been temped in a while. But one thing customers dont understand is that Panera Bread is not a full service restaurant. We dont bus tables like a regular restaurant. Also,theres a station for dishes, and a garbage can. Theres a microwave for your heating pleasure. And for god sakes people, put the damn pager we give you INTO the basket on the counter when you pick up your meal! Theres a sign that says “Please Put Pager In Basket’ not a sign that says “Leave It On The Counter Or Anywhere Else Where Employees Have To Take Off Their Gloves Just To Touch It”. K Thankyou!
i am an employee @ Panera Bread, just a peon though… If this customer would have come up to me, i would not have directedthem to the microwave, i would have gotten the manager so we could get the customer a fresh bowl of soup after checking the temp to make sure it’s where it should be…
However, some need to realize that Panera does put some very strict regulations on us as employees yet only wanna pay us a mere $7.75/hour (some less, i had to fight to be started out at this rate, and have been fightin for 4 months for a mere $0.25 raise) and expect a great deal out of us… I have high standards as a customer so I try very hard to carry my high standards over as an employee… It is very discouraging to do so when the company yoou work doesn’t care about you…
I have worked for a franchise of Panera Bread for 4 years. This is not how we operate. I believe that you had an experience with bad customer service. The local operator should be the one to address your issue and concerns. Panera bread corporate can not do/say anything about your experience-on this post of on facebook. You can take your receipt and write a customer comment. ALL owners/operators see the comment and then can respond accordingly. I believe CO is a franchise and you could even call the local office to speak to someone.
We pride ourselves on having an excellent product, but more importantly, on excellent customer service.
Can you not take a look to see if cheese on on the plate, gezzzzzz
for real?? are you in that bad of shape? Poor you… hey, at least you have a J O B..right?? short story…go to any company website and send your comments.
there…very simple….very easy
You can never please everyone all the time. Customers could educate themselves. Go on line and read up on “Servesafe” Then go to McDonalds, Wendy’s or BK and check to see if the servers have ServeSafe certifcates.
Panera has next to no qualifications for managers. One bitch couldn’t even spell correctly, or manage employees.
that’s what you get when you pay people minimum wage. no matter how hard you try to train them, they don’t really care in the end. they arn’t working for tips like waitresses. and since most resturaunts hire their front end people on appearance, you probably are not going to have the brightest bunch.. also because the brightest bunch is not going to work hard for 7.25 an hour… your meal probably costed more than that. funny thing is, the general public will buy more product from someone who looks nice than someone with a brain. that’s a proven fact. and if you bought your food at night… your cashier is the same 16 year old child you have to remind to pick their clothes up off the floor.. but you’re trusting them to make your food to perfection. haha. so glad I’m not in that industry anymore.
From my own personal experience working as a shift manager at a burger place I all ways made sure that the people under me knew what was expected of them. Unlike some of the other shift manager and upper management I tried to run my shift as stress free for everyone as possible. Some of the other shift mangers I worked with were so up tight and treated people on their shift badly. I don’t know how the Panera bread at the location you visited treated their crew member’s but some times it is a stressful job. I am not condoning the crew member’s action’s. I had another job as a crew member and worked under the golden arches for 2 years and hated every minute. I had customers pitch a fit and management. The bad thing was is that I was the fastest front counter crew member. I was very acccurate with order’s and remembered the regular customers orders (yes we had people come in every morning and ordered the same thing every day). I knew how to do just about every thing. At the time I was only making a little over 6.75 an hour and that wasn’t enough for what I had to put up with. Some times if customer’s treat the crew members a little nicer (not saying you treated the crew person badly) may be service might be a little better. I’m just saying that if everyone would treat others better may be things might change and also take a stand for better treatment of people taking orders by management and customers alike.
I too work at Panera (and I’m sure I even know Baker Seb as I’m in AL as well!) and while you should have gotten a fresh bowl of soup (and a cookie – that would depend on the cashier and if they felt you were being mean), please realize that Panera no longer allows us to have microwaves in back of house. Also, MGRs don’t allow cashiers to take your soup to the microwave and do it for you because they want them on register at all times. Also, telling a a person your soup is cold doesn’t automatically make them think something is wrong with their soup well. I have a customer who, tho he thinks I’m the best thing since toast, is difficult. Soup I find scorching he finds cold! Temp is subjective. (For example, I get 125-degree lattes at SBX because their CHILD’S temp of 130 is too hot.) I’m not saying you were in the wrong – not at all – but when it comes to Panera, they want you to be as specific as possible. They expect us – the employees – to make you spell out EVERYTHING. Going up to someone who may (or may not, IDK) be busy and telling them your soup is cold or you need a microwave enters our Panera-oriented brains and we only think to show you the microwave. (And honestly, most of my customers are just simple enough to be 100% fine with that type of handling.) If you seem angry, you get a new soup.
As for the customer with the cheese problem, you really must realize that people leave cheese off of an order for reasons other than allergies. I’m the first person, being allergic to gluten and someone who keeps kosher, to make sure my customers with special food needs are taken care of. (I’ve snapped on many-a line cook for simply removing the bacon from a pre-made chipotle chicken!) Telling a cashier, “No cheese” doesn’t equal “I want no cheese because I can’t eat dairy/I have a dairy allergy.” And I hate to tell you but people also have no idea what the hell a special dietary need really means. My store is lucky that I know the menu and can help in that way but most people don’t know about casein, gluten, kosher, halal, or any of that. It sucks and the manager should have given you anything you wanted (as is our store’s way) but you can’t expect magic. People aren’t always that bright.
Will you let us know if you ever hear back from that Panera? I’m really curious to see what the management of that store thinks of all this.
The way you posted is a put down to all Panera Bread resturants. Having just been in the one in Sioux City, Iowa, where a mistake was made, I know that all of the resturants do not respond like the ONE you were at. My husband ordered a sandwich and a salad was brought out. When he said that wasn’t what he ordered to the server, the extra salad was left on our table and in a few minutes the server returned with the sandwich and a container for the extra salad. The server apologized for any inconvenience. The cashier came over an apologized because she rang it up incorrectly. They could not have been nicer. I hope that everyone who reads your post doesn’t hold all Panera resturants accountable for the poor service you recieved.
Okay so I am an employee of a Panera bread. And I can infact attest that the majority of the people I work with couldn’t care less about anyone but themselves and this includes the management. I try to take pride in my work and be as helpful and polite to the customers as i can be. The company is terrible to work for. I haven’t had a raise in over two years, and have only stayed with this company because finding a job is so damn hard.
The managers only care about their bonuses, and could care less about the customers or the employees.
9 times out of 10 when a customer is upset they have a legitimate reason to be pissed off, and I can totally jibe with that. And that’s the unfortunate thing here.
IF as a company they could take the time to get off this LETS MAKE ALL THE MONEY WE CAN thing and get back to giving a damn about the people they’d be back on track.
I agree Panrea kinda sux. after 4 1/2 years i been nothing but screwed over. i have a hearing disability and it was the only job that would hire me. at 17 i worked my ass off no matter what. they skipped 2 raises and discriminated against me. they never had “time” to train me so i was kept in dinning room closing every night with a bad back and i was in high school still and it was for SIX months straight!. It put a strain in my grades for high school but at least i graduated. i messed up a little in college because they would have me work so much i couldnt attend class. it took them 2 yrs to finally make me a trainer even tho i trained basically every person that got hired. only trainers are supposed to train new people, but i was so good and did everything by the book (portioned and used measuring scoops) they made me do it… i transferred out of my store after 4 yrs because my hypocrite GM was gona get his ass kicked if i didnt leave. he would say theres nothing he could do about the spiders that crawl all of the tables in the back of the house and they would be on my face and arms. it was devastating i finally asked a different manager and he did something about it. the bastard lies all the time and no1 believed me. i reported him twice but nothing happened. he would always lie and say i got the highest raise out of everyone but i got 10 fuckin cents and the bitch / home-wrecker with the bigger ass got 25 cents! (still the worst raises but its something), managers dont give a shit about their employees they care about customers ONLY. after 4 1/2 yrs i still dont make as much as other people did. i’ve always loved my job;; some co-workers make it worth it but im now at a location that is half an hr farther from my home because they fucked me over wen i wanted to leave the new store that had opened up because their management was terrible (they literally had me do paninis, open line, catering, and breakfast sandwiches every morning… thats 4 peoples jobs) wen i left there i wasnt going back to the store i orginially started at but a store that was only a little further up the road. the GM of that store told me IN PERSON that she had 40 hrs for me. i put my 2 weeks in the next day and then 2 days later theres ZERO Hrs. i was working at 2 cafes (the new 1 and the half an hr drive on weekends) so they told me they had nothing for me. and to call the farther located store. with the gas prices and the crappy pay it was basically costing me more $$ to work then making.. they claimed they would help me and give me a good raise.. when the raises came out EVERYONE got a raise EXCEPT ME! panera is nothing but stress and aggravation but even with all that disappointment and sadness they caused i NEVER EVER am that rude to a customer. I always smile and always tell them how sorry i was that their order was incorrect or not up to temp. It’s just unacceptable. I offer to immediately change their soup n ask if i can get them anything theyd like at no charge (id pay for it if the managers dont like that. but usually they dont care). after one person complaining about soups not up to temp i suggest to my team members to pour the soup last so that way it will be hot and ready for them since some people are not fast enough making the sandwich/salads or even putting the items on a tray. i dont believe a customer should ever have to use the microwave ever. i rather waste the soup that was cold and pour them new soup even tho the company probably wouldnt like it. they always have a food cost issue anyway. yes there are a lot of rude customers. i cant tell u how many times i have been yelled at RUDELY because i was unable to hear them the first time due to my disability or the fact they have an accent or they are talking with FOOD IN THEIR MOUTH… and how many times they asked me wats wrong with my voice sometimes i want to spend the time and just be like (doctors almost killed me wen i had an AV malformation in my lung n they sued it up wrong for infected and they had to put a breathing tube down my throat and scratched my vocals) just to make them feel like an asshole.. but sometimes i wana scare them and say “i was really born a man” .. ((im not im born a grl)) but some people dont realize how rude they are so depending on how mean they r i will be smiling and say “u dont have to be rude, but have a great day” if they arent that rude i explain to them nicely im not sick i was just born that way. simple and short n doesnt waste my time or theirs. but now ima finally leaving that hell hole and i can promise u this. i WONT miss it! =D
it’s funny and sad at the same time. the thing is i noticed this also when i’m going to eat\drink at the coffee house\restaurant – the service is very bad these days, the waiters dont care for the costumers – just doing their shift for the money – and that all!
Poor customer service is not a “Panera” issue. It’s an issue throughout society. Young people growing up have been taught by their parents that its perfectly normal to “look out for #1 ONLY” and screw everyone else! I’m in Canada, we don’t have the benefit of Panera. I have to drive 25 miles into the US (near Buffalo) to get to a Panera. Never had an issue, however, we have the same poor customer service all over.
Example: Tim Horton’s started in Canada, it’s the largest chain of coffee shops in the country and expanding throughout the USA. I’ve been a customer since the 1970′s when they first opened. In the past 5 years, customer service has become very poor and not just isolated to certain places. One of its chain wide consistencies is poor customer service and the employees’ lack of care. Most of the staff are college age and none of them “give a rip”. Proof – a friend is a retired cop and senior security agent at the large college in this area. He told me three weeks ago that this past year was the WORST in the history of the college for security issues involving students. They were calling police an average of 5 times per WEEK to have students arrested and escorted off campus permanently. The college is now losing funding because of it. The point? It’s an epedemic – young person’s have not learned the value of hard work and taking care of their neighbour. All they want to know is how much money they are making, when they are getting paid and when will they get a raise!
UNtil three years ago, I spent an average of $40/wk at Tim Horton’s. Now I spend less than $20 per MONTH. I can’t stand the place and I say again, it’s ALL of them – it’s a serious epidemic.
I see the same poor attitudes at many businesses that have young people. They don’t care.
Before everyone bitches about Panera, look deeper and see what the real issue is. Frankly, I like them, wish they were in Canada and wish I owned one so that I could prove to Tim Horton’s that excellent customer service can be delivered.
i work at panera
I work at the Panera over in Newport News, VA. Recently we have had some problems similar to yours. The people sneering and having attitudes when a customer comes up and asks for something politely. I know I’m only 18 and still learning about the world, but I don’t think that’s really nice to do when taking care of a problem. Lately I’ve actually searching for different jobs because they really don’t know how to stop hiring people and it’s affecting my hours. I work in the back and recently I’ve been officially certified in customer service, but due to them hiring so many people, I question if they’ll move me to the register or not. I do believe corporate should fix these problems and try a more stern policy when it comes toward attitudes to customers.