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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Was the Subway Sandwich Artist being unreasonable?

119 replies

SandwichArtist · 02/10/2024 16:14

Okay yes i’m an over thinker and do have the time to spend mulling this over as kids are at a club and I’ve got another 30mins to kill - before anyone makes fun of me for making a pointless thread.

Anyway I Think I’ve just been gaslighted by the Subway sandwich artist guy so thought i’d check here who was being unreasonable.

Name changed in case his wife or other relative is on here and he goes home and moans about me!

Ordered on the app three sandwich meals for a 3.30 pick up. Arrived and there was a queue of about 7 people. Two staff, one looked to be new and being fed instructions by the stressed looking other member.

Caught the stressed out one in a free moment while he was waiting for the toaster to go. Said i’d ordered on the app and was just here for a collection when he had a moment. He then said okay i’ll make that for you in a minute. I said Oh i was expecting it to be made already as i’d ordered online. He didn’t answer so I returned to my spot in the queue thinking he was just super stressed and must have got caught up in an unexpected rush so hadn’t had chance to make my order yet. A little annoying but no harm done.

The trainee then tries to make my order from the receipt and seemed to be getting stressed out as well. I said to him not to worry and i’d just tell him the order if it was easier. So basically i ended up having to order everything in person anyway.

Got all my sandwiches sorted then arrived at the till. Second staff member starts to ring it through so I stopped him and said I’ve ordered and paid for it all online. He then bagged up the sandwiches and says thank you then moved on to the next customer. I said it was meals i ordered and could i have three cookies and bottles. Again not a word to me. He just silently puts them into the bag.

By now i’m getting annoyed at his poor customer service skills so i ask him (exact words): Can i just check - is the app working or is it just that you were really busy that my order wasn’t ready for click and collect? He then says we don’t make the order until the customer arrives so it doesn’t go soggy waiting for them. I said the last three times i’ve ordered (same shop, different staff) it was ready to collect right away from the till. He said well they’ve been doing it wrong. So then i asked him what is the point of ordering on the app then if I still have to queue and order as I normally would had i just came in and ordered in person. He said he wasn’t sure but some people prefer ordering that way???

I said look i hope this doesn’t sound rude but I can see you’ve been really busy, so if that’s actually the reason the order wasn’t ready for immediate collection then that’s fine and understandable. He then insisted that it was procedure not to begin making the sandwich until the customer had notified them on arrival that they’d ordered online.

I again said this hadn’t been the case the last few times so if that’s the new procedure, they need to make that clearer on the app. At the most this was a 30 second exchange, if that. He then looks even more stressed and says Can i get you anything else as i’ve got a customer waiting.

So i left. Pissed off that i think he’s lied to me (but why would he do that??) and also annoyed at his shocking customer service. Subway was my first job as a 16yo and I was far nicer to my customers than he was today.

OP posts:
Ivyn · 02/10/2024 16:18

Oh ffs.

BarbaraHoward · 02/10/2024 16:21

Ordinarily I'd expect a meal to be ready if I'd ordered it, but Subway doesn't really keep so I can understand it's their policy to make it fresh.

MoneyAndPercentages · 02/10/2024 16:22

It's minimum wage, often (always?) franchises without decent HR and at least around here the staff are treated like shit by customers and management alike. So no, you're not being unreasonable, but also I feel sorry for the poor people working there.

I've heard a customer effing and blinding about their app order being cold and pre-prepared before so it makes sense if they changed as/when they prepare the sandwiches.

YouveGotAFastCar · 02/10/2024 16:24

It is Subway policy to make it fresh when you check-in. It's the same at McDonalds, and Starbucks, and loads of other places - otherwise they field endless complaints that the food is cold/wet/stale/etc.

The point of ordering on the app is that you can just walk in and reference the app, and they'll make your food then. You don't have to stand and say it all again - and you do reference that they were going to do this, but you said you'd just repeat the orders if it was easier.

It doesn't sound like the most outstanding customer experience ever, but it was a busy Subway and you were a bit of a pain of a customer.

JustTalkToThem · 02/10/2024 16:25
  1. thats not fucking gaslighting
  2. ”I don’t mean to be rude but…” usually is a precursor to being rude
  3. you escalated the situation when you knew the result wouldn’t be ideal due to busyness and stress. If you actually cared, instead of just making a point, you could have called at a quieter time.

yes you were being unreasonable.

MidnightPatrol · 02/10/2024 16:25

While I would also expect the order to be ready upon arrival…

… it sounds like they were busy, they only had a trainee for help, and they did get it sorted for you.

YABU to keep having a go at them when they’d resolved the issue - you’re buying a sandwich off him, not a car.

Delphinium20 · 02/10/2024 16:28

I don't think she was a pain at all! She had to tell the employees how to make their order and the order from the app clearly isn't working...there's a major breakdown in service from Subway and while the employee is clearly stuck in the middle, it's Subway who needs to fix this.

Arlanymor · 02/10/2024 16:30

Website suggest you are right: https://www.subway.com/en-LB/MenuNutrition/Nutrition/DownloadTheApp#:~:text=Place%20an%20order%20and%20it,in%20a%20SUBWAY©%20restaurant.

But it sounds like a stressful situation all around and probably best left tackled for another day when there isn't a trainee working given that you got everything you paid for, albeit with a slight wait.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 02/10/2024 16:30

I want a subway now! That's annoying - like you I like to know one way or another how things work. There might have been a change of management?

Deadringer · 02/10/2024 16:33

They were busy and hassled, it probably wasn't the time to be quizzing them on their policies which wouldn't be within their control anyway. I would be a bit miffed about waiting after ordering in advance but I would have been over it by the time I left the building.

Deadringer · 02/10/2024 16:34

Are they actually called sandwich artists? How wanky.

rainbowunicorn · 02/10/2024 16:36

To be honest it almost sounds like a load of drama about not very much. You could see he was stressed, had a new staff member to try and show what to do and was busy yet you kept on at him. Probably stressed him even more. You got your food, there was a small delay but you really are making a mountain out of a molehill.

ButterAsADip · 02/10/2024 16:37

Next time you have time to kill, just scroll or do your grocery order or something rather than holding up this already stressed poor sandwich artist 😁

takealettermsjones · 02/10/2024 16:39

I wish the word "gaslighting" had never made it out of psychology textbooks and into the public sphere.

HausofHolbein · 02/10/2024 16:40

If you work at McDonalds, are you a Burger Artist?

...Papa Johns - a Pizza artist?

ConcernedOfClapham · 02/10/2024 16:42

Pain le quotidien - a pain in the artist?

WelshPool · 02/10/2024 16:43

HausofHolbein · 02/10/2024 16:40

If you work at McDonalds, are you a Burger Artist?

...Papa Johns - a Pizza artist?

Edited

Thats just what Subway call them

I went in last week and they didn't have cheese slices! I was waiting for the nice, artistic tessellation and he brought out a bag of grated cheese.
HEATHEN!

Viviennemary · 02/10/2024 16:45

BarbaraHoward · 02/10/2024 16:21

Ordinarily I'd expect a meal to be ready if I'd ordered it, but Subway doesn't really keep so I can understand it's their policy to make it fresh.

I agree. Horribly soggy if they are left. Subway artists??? Well that is beyond nuts.

QuestionableMouse · 02/10/2024 16:45

Anything to do with food, customer service and apps is fucking miserable. I used to dread making orders when I worked for McDonald's.

I think you're being a bit unreasonable - sounds like they were doing the best they could in a shitty situation and you did leave with your full order.

doodleschnoodle · 02/10/2024 16:46

I imagine it's the same as McDonalds etc, where they don't start making your order till you physically arrive. The benefit is I suppose that you can take your time to order online and pay and in theory should just arrive and say it's app order and then they just make the sandwiches and you leave, so you skip the ordering and paying part.

Putonyourredshoesanddancetheblues · 02/10/2024 16:47

I am disappointed that the story featured no art and no paintings of Girl with a BLT.

Zup · 02/10/2024 16:48

It’s not great, did it actually say it was ready on the app? But you were a bit unreasonable to keep going on about it, if it’s busy it’s obvious why it wasn’t ready.

Theunamedcat · 02/10/2024 16:49

HausofHolbein · 02/10/2024 16:40

If you work at McDonalds, are you a Burger Artist?

...Papa Johns - a Pizza artist?

Edited

What do they call cleaners then?

ReadWithScepticism · 02/10/2024 16:49

Sandwich artist?

Have I missed something? I thought this was going to be about someone who made art (sandwich art?) on the London Underground.

CitrusPocket · 02/10/2024 16:49

Not really the point, but what’s the benefit of ordering ahead if it’s not going to be already made when you collect? I get why it wouldn’t be, but why offer it in the first place?