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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:
Cheesetoastiees · 04/10/2024 03:02

He just sounded stressed. If he already looked stressed/clearly new and you had your food, why would you not just leave rather than making things harder for him. 🤷🏼‍♀️

DragonGypsyDoris · 04/10/2024 07:03

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.

This is batshit crazy on so many levels. The worst bit for me is calling someone who sells sweaty gloopy crap a Subway Sandwich Artist with the all-important capital letters. Then whinging at a trainee on minimum wage isn't much better. And, to cap it off, name changing in case you're outed in a country of millions upon millions of people. It doesn't get more Mumsnet than this.

DoreenonTill8 · 04/10/2024 07:17

DragonGypsyDoris · 04/10/2024 07:03

This is batshit crazy on so many levels. The worst bit for me is calling someone who sells sweaty gloopy crap a Subway Sandwich Artist with the all-important capital letters. Then whinging at a trainee on minimum wage isn't much better. And, to cap it off, name changing in case you're outed in a country of millions upon millions of people. It doesn't get more Mumsnet than this.

The worst bit for me is stating this young 'Sandwich Artist' GASLIGHT op....
Over a bloody app order not being ready on arrival!
No wonder MN gets slated for batshit, overly dramatical posters!

AyrshireTryer · 04/10/2024 07:36

Someone in head office spends millions an app.
Person in shop etc does not have control of the app, did not invent the app..

StrawberrySquash · 04/10/2024 08:19

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.

  1. Agree 100%
  1. I disagree. It's an upfront apology, an acknowledgement that you feel awkward about making a fuss, but the service is pretty underwhelming. People are allowed to complain.
AgileGreenSeal · 04/10/2024 08:23

I feel sorry for the subway guy.

housemaus · 04/10/2024 08:28

YABU to have been hassling someone trying to serve lots of people about the intricacies of their sandwich making system for app orders, yeah. Why did you keep labouring the point!? Absolutely baffling behaviour.

ladyamy · 27/11/2024 05:10

Gaslighting?

Justleaveitblankthen · 27/11/2024 06:49

takealettermsjones · 02/10/2024 16:39

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

I hear you.
I blame Hitchcock 😏

NineDaysQueen · 27/11/2024 07:22

Subway Sandwich Artist
Dripping with sarcasm. Nasty

HeadacheEarthquake · 27/11/2024 07:41

OP are you always this entitled? You sound like a bit of a bully to be honest.

All over some sandwiches.

Desert76 · 27/11/2024 07:59

Subway are franchised, so perhaps individual places decide how to manage app orders.

Personally I think the whole point of pre-ordering on an app is so you can state your collection time and pick it up then.
That’s how it works at our local chippie, but I’ve never ordered online from a big brand like Subway or McDonalds.

I probably wouldn’t challenge the person behind the counter - when has that ever resulted in better customer service?

I would just vote with my feet next time, if you don’t like that branch of Subway, just go to a different one next time. Or find somewhere else that offers proper click and collect.

I used to buy food from McDonalds or Burger King occasionally, but I don’t bother any more now they make up your food while you wait, and wait, and wait while they fulfil all the delivery orders. I didn’t realise they didn’t even start making the delivery orders up until the delivery guy arrives - no wonder you wait so long!

mamajong · 27/11/2024 08:05

Yabu because you asked a question, didn't like the answer so kept asking it even though you could see they were clearly busy/stressed. Imo sounds like your got the customer service you deserved

CarolinaWren · 08/01/2025 20:28

takealettermsjones · 02/10/2024 16:39

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

It's actually from a movie, not a psychology textbook.

takealettermsjones · 08/01/2025 21:32

CarolinaWren · 08/01/2025 20:28

It's actually from a movie, not a psychology textbook.

Yes, and it went from the movie to the textbooks and then into the public sphere, but thank you very much for reviving this zombie thread to tell me that.

CarolinaWren · 09/01/2025 00:09

takealettermsjones · 08/01/2025 21:32

Yes, and it went from the movie to the textbooks and then into the public sphere, but thank you very much for reviving this zombie thread to tell me that.

LOL, yes, I ran out of interesting new active threads today. 🤪

Guineapiggiesmalls · 09/01/2025 00:12

Was the Subway Sandwich Artist being unreasonable?’

my favourite mumsnet thread title ever 👌

HotCrossBunplease · 09/01/2025 00:37

takealettermsjones · 02/10/2024 16:39

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

It’s from a play not a psychology textbook.

PopeJoan2 · 22/03/2025 04:05

You are being unreasonable I think, but don’t worry we all have our moments. I have done this sort of thing many a time. And I am also an overthinker.

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