Food at work

[Overwhelmed24t]

Where I work there is a cafe in the same building I get an hour for lunch so I often order my lunch 5-10 mins before my lunch break so it’s almost ready when I start. We do get a small discount so like 2 pounds off the meal but I always have just bread and one filling no side salad no crisp on the side nothing in the sandwich just spread. when ever there busy they always put staff meals to the back of the cue which means I can be 20 minutes into my lunch before I get my sandwich we aren’t I don’t work for them but in the same building aibu to expect my lunch at the same time as customers

Maybe bring a packed lunch to work? Or order 15 minutes before?

If we haven't brought food in ourselves, we have to queue up with students (uni) or go out - but at least we get the food in turn.

I can’t really bring a packed lunch I do occasionally but sometimes in winter I like a hot option and it’s convenient to have something at work the issue I have is some days I can order and it will be instantly ready and then cold if I order it to early which is why I normally order a sandwich. It just grumbles me that I eat there many times a week have cake drinks etc from there sometimes breakfast too and I get put behind customers I’ve once waited an hour for a sandwich

The discount means they can do this. I once worked somewhere without external customers where we got free Costa Coffee - they always prioritised execs. So you could wait 30mins and then the barista would just disappear to fulfil an order that just came in via phone. It was so annoying. You should just do what I did and take your custom elsewhere.

Pay full price and you’d get it at the same time as outside customers maybe?

Have you complained to them? There's obviously an arrangement between your employer and the cafe with the discount, to encourage people from your work to eat there, maybe someone from your company could talk to them on behalf of everyone as waiting an hour for a basic sandwich is no good.

I think I'd avoid eating there to be honest, they obviously don't appreciate your custom. Buying food is supposed to be quicker and easier than making it yourself, otherwise why would you bother?

I’d speak to them. Do you have the same thing every time?

@Overwhelmed24t

I can’t really bring a packed lunch I do occasionally but sometimes in winter I like a hot option and it’s convenient to have something at work the issue I have is some days I can order and it will be instantly ready and then cold if I order it to early which is why I normally order a sandwich. It just grumbles me that I eat there many times a week have cake drinks etc from there sometimes breakfast too and I get put behind customers I’ve once waited an hour for a sandwich

Eh? In the first post you said you only ever have sandwiches. Now you say you have hot foid there. Are the sandwiches worth waiting that long for? If not, don’t order them and bring your own from home. It’s not hard to make a sandwich. If they are that good, then keep waiting. Problem solved.

How much does the sandwich cost? I wouldn’t see £2 as a “small discount”- say the sandwich costs £4 that’s 50% off! Even if it’s £6, which is quite a lot for a sandwich, then that’s still a 30% discount. £2 would be a small discount off something that cost £50 or £100.

Id sggest you go to the nearest supermarket and get a Meal Deal. Or a Pot Noodle/ping dinner when you want something hot

If that's all you have everyday,why on earth do you pay for it,?

Pay full price and get it quicker?
If you're getting a discount (and £2 on just a sandwich us quite a big discount) then they'll squeeze your order in between paying customers, because they're doing you a favour.
If you only have a sandwich with one filling, why not just bring it from home?

As others have said, just bring your sandwich with you

I'm a slow eater and got 30 minutes lunchbreak, I stopped with the canteen and brought my own because I couldn't afford to wait 10-15 minutes. I know it can be annoying but I think you have to suck it up.

I don't understand why you would put up with and go through all that palavar all for the simplest of lunches to make yourself

I'd be bringing my own or going elsewhere.

You said you only get sandwiches but you can’t bring a packed lunch because you like a hot food option. That makes no sense

Just bring a packed lunch! Or pay full price and you won’t be pushed to the back of the queue.

Pretty normal I’m afraid!
I keep a stash of things in my desk drawer that I can just add water to - flavoured couscous, noodle pots, that kind of thing. I’m useless at making myself something in the morning so that’s my back up! Is that an option for you?

I have no idea what your meal really consists of, but it sounds like you just eat bread and butter. 'nothing in the sandwich just spread'.

Just take your own from home.

@torquewench

Id sggest you go to the nearest supermarket and get a Meal Deal. Or a Pot Noodle/ping dinner when you want something hot

Pot Noodle is not food

Not unreasonable to want your sandwich served in a decent amount of time. I’ve never heard of employees being treated this way.

OP isnt an employee. They merely work in the same building.

Vote with your feet and go somewhere else

@SticksAndStoned

I have no idea what your meal really consists of, but it sounds like you just eat bread and butter. 'nothing in the sandwich just spread'.

Just take your own from home.

If that's all you're eating you could also keep spread at work and take a loaf of bread in on Monday morning.

Then you're set for a week with no hassle of dealing with the useless cafe and probably massively cheaper too.

We don’t have anywhere to eat our lunches unless we go and sit in the park by work or use the admin office if empty I much prefer to sit in the cafe also can’t bring much to work as no fridge and no where to heat up food

@Overwhelmed24t

We don’t have anywhere to eat our lunches unless we go and sit in the park by work or use the admin office if empty I much prefer to sit in the cafe also can’t bring much to work as no fridge and no where to heat up food

Most people eat at their desk, or staff room, or in a park, so you're not unusual in that. You could use a cool bag for sandwiches

But, that's not really the point. I would complain about your order being delayed. It doesn't appear the cafe value your custom. Maybe they take you for granted

Also, I make no claim to a Pot Noodle being food, merely "something hot".

There was a cafe on the ground floor of the building that I work in. I got a 10% discount. Service was so slow/poor that, for example, rather than wait 15 minutes to pay £5 (£4.50 with discount) for a coffee and breakfast pastry, people went to Greggs down the street, where its £2.30 for the same thing.

Ive used the past tense as the cafe shut last March and hasnt yet reopened.