Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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:
doublec · 02/10/2024 17:18

Oh ffs. To have problems like this 🙄

Wynturphelle · 02/10/2024 17:19

My youngest (then aged 16) worked at a Subway (paid £5.73 per hour) alongside a second artiste (same age, same pay). They were having to run the bloody place (the two of them alone), for what amounted to just over the minimum wage for one person. Some shifts were super stressful. YABU to eat at Subway.

OldTinHat · 02/10/2024 17:21

My only Subway experience is via the Too Good To Go app. It's supposed to save food from being wasted so BBD and the like are sold cheaply. I'm sure you already know.

I was on holiday, looked at the app, Subway came up so I thought I'd have a go, not familiar with Subway, so, what the heck.

Arrived, showed them my order info on the app. They then proceeded to ask me what I would like to order.

It turns out that I'd paid a normal price for a meal deal. Not a saving-food-from-waste deal. I complained to TGTG as that is not what the app is for and absolutely will never have a Subway again. Shameless marketing.

Yerdawasasausagemaker · 02/10/2024 17:22

I had the misfortune to only have a subway as a lunch option the other week. First time since forever. I can’t remember the year they first came to the UK but they were okay back then.

They’re vile now. Disgusting and expensive. Never again. I’d rather starve.

I think YABU OP. Those poor sandwich artists (wtaf?!)

latestnews · 02/10/2024 17:26

Make loaf not war 🕊️

readingismycardio · 02/10/2024 17:26

See, OP, I get it. There's always an excuse for customer service that just gets worse and worse by the day. Min wage, they're busy, they're tired, I get it. BUT he didn't even apologise for not making it a meal. What if you didn't check?!

BananaSplitSandwich · 02/10/2024 17:29

They’re called sandwich artists??

MarmaladeJars · 02/10/2024 17:34

No wonder it’s impossible to find staff for customer facing roles with people like you around!

Hwory · 02/10/2024 17:36

I've ordered a few times and every time they've not made it until I've asked about the order (even when it's empty). I did think the first time that it would be ready when I got there but I would never treat the staff the way you did.

Mansionscoldandgrey · 02/10/2024 17:37

BananaSplitSandwich · 02/10/2024 17:29

They’re called sandwich artists??

Yes, and the OP is known as Moaner Lisa

1offnamechange · 02/10/2024 17:37

The one time I've ordered ahead at subway they didn't make it until I arrived, however another time I was waiting in person and they finished making an advance order (could tell because they were working from the print off) before serving me. Both times the shop was empty other than me so it seems like their process changes from order to order/they make it up as they go along!

it's a weird one because yes, technically it is completely pointless to order ahead if it then takes exactly as long to make when you arrive. At least in places like mcdonalds or wherever you don't have to queue or use the machine again, or can 'check in' from your car. But at the same time I can see why they don't make it too far in advance, as particularly the hot sandwiches will go cold in minutes.

The staff at my local subway (other than 1 server who is polite and chatty) have absolutely shocking customer service skills too. Yes minimum wage blah blah blah but minimum wage now is £11.44. When I was working those customer service jobs I got paid £3 an hour and I managed to paste on a smile (even if it was fake) and make eye contact.

In fact I've just checked - a first year doctor's starting salary would have been £20741 in 2006 and is £32,397 now.
So a 'professional' salary has increased by just over 50% in a similar time period whereas minimum wage has gone up 400%.

latestnews · 02/10/2024 17:40

I wouldn’t want a cold and old samdwich if I ordered on the app. I’d prefer them making it fresh, and I would also prefer to order on the app especially if there were a few of us or I didn’t really know what I wanted.

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 02/10/2024 17:40

OP can you shoehorn an incorrect use of 'GDPR' along with gaslighting so I can complete my MN bingo card for today?

latestnews · 02/10/2024 17:40

Mansionscoldandgrey · 02/10/2024 17:37

Yes, and the OP is known as Moaner Lisa

😂😂

latestnews · 02/10/2024 17:41

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 02/10/2024 17:40

OP can you shoehorn an incorrect use of 'GDPR' along with gaslighting so I can complete my MN bingo card for today?

Don’t forget abusive.

latestnews · 02/10/2024 17:42

BananaSplitSandwich · 02/10/2024 17:29

They’re called sandwich artists??

You could change your name to BananaSplitSandwichArtist.

Just a suggestion.

DecafGreen · 02/10/2024 17:44

I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. They sound useless.

Freysimo · 02/10/2024 17:48

Buy some baguettes and fillings and make a meal at home. I can understand people using Subway if out and about, but just to take home and eat?

Russiandollsaresofullofthemselves · 02/10/2024 17:50

ffs. it’s really not that deep. he couldn’t be arsed making you sandwich so delayed doing so and gave you an excuse. but why does it matter you got what you paid for. and some poor sod can continue being miserable in his minimum wage job.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 02/10/2024 17:51

HausofHolbein · 02/10/2024 16:40

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

...Papa Johns - a Pizza artist?

Edited

A cartographer - a chartist?
A toilet cleaner - a piss artist?

FuckMiniBabybells · 02/10/2024 18:00

Ginmonkeyagain · 02/10/2024 16:59

No I just don't want to eat sandwiches that smell of bins. A perfectly reasonable aim in life.

Shit must smell like roses to you.

Anyway op, I think you gave him a hard time. He was clearly flustered and was just saying anything so you'd leave him alone. I find customer service is practically non-existent these days so try not to get too bothered about things like this.

Side note, I never order subway online because then I can't get extra southwest sauce 😁

YellowAsteroid · 02/10/2024 18:04

You were being pretty rude to someone on minimum wage. Unreasonable. And yes, you're overthinking it.

WillowTit · 02/10/2024 18:11

TerfTalking · 02/10/2024 17:15

Yup! It gets thrown into every conversation when someone has a beef about anyone.

was it beef ?
i like tuna subway

IceTippedMountains · 02/10/2024 18:37

neonbluedog · 02/10/2024 16:52

I think to me the isssue is that customers are far ruder and more awful now than they've ever been (I've been working in customer facing roles for the last 30 years) and people are working these crap minimum wage jobs for 40-50 hours a week to feed their families. Yeah the customer service wasn't great but I don't know if it's worth complaining to these poor stressed people. I'm not saying you were rude or awful but the constant crap you get from the public just wears you down and you find eventually you just don't care anymore.

As someone whose worked in customer facing role for years I agree that there is more difficult / rude customers than there has ever been in my working life. Maybe the cost of living crisis has made people more irritable but its no excuse. The abuse I have recieved has taken a toll on my mental health.

Maybe a little more kindness and understanding OP.

Avocadono · 02/10/2024 18:44

He was a bit rubbish regarding the meal deal thing and his communication whilst sorting it but all your questions were ridiculous so on the whole were far more unreasonable.

You clearly weren't interested in the answer and kept going on and on. Why would you expect a minimum wage employee to explain an app he has had no more involvement in designing than you? He probably thinks it's pointless too but can't say so. If you'd asked him to pass on your feedback, or even better spoken to head office, that would have been more understandable but all you did was hold up the queue to moan.