Thursday, July 9, 2009

Where do they find these people??

Subway has the worst customer service EVER. Have you ever noticed this? I'm convinced that they scour the community for the high school kids with the sourest attitudes and the worst social skills. I think McDonald's actually gets more animated workers than Subway does. And that's pretty sad - I mean, have you ever seen an animated McDonald's employee? Yeah - that's my point. I'm just gonna say it: Subway customer service sucks.

So why do I keep going? It's simple . . . I love the sandwich that I get there: 6 inch turkey and swiss on wheat, extra swiss, extra bacon, lettuce, regular mustard, salt and pepper, extra pepper. YUM!!! I really think it's the bacon that makes it. You should try it sometime. It's good stuff . . .

But good sandwich or not, they STINK when it comes to training their employees in the art of customer service. I went to a Subway close to my house a while back and when I walked in I noticed that the girl working there was on the phone. She stood up and shuffled toward the bread end of the line, still talking, and put her phone between her cheek and her shoulder. Without stopping her conversation, she looked at me as if to say "Well. Whadya want?" Suddenly, I found myself whispering my order . . . like I was the one being rude! And the girl made my sandwich and took my money without ever putting the phone down or interrupting her conversation. And I never raised my voice above a whisper. I had to laugh, then, when I saw this sign:
At the Subway in Huntsville, the customer service isn't much better. The sandwich makers are rude and hurried and rarely have a smile or a courteous word for you. Plus, they do the most annoying thing . . . they yell your extras down to the cashier. So there's no ordering extras anonymously. For some reason, they don't trust you to report your order honestly when you get down to the cashier. I haven't seen anything like that in any other Subway - it's no doubt the idea of a very unhappy person working at the Huntsville Subway. This is how it goes for me every time I'm at the Subway:

Sandwich maker: What type of Bread?
me: Hi! How are ya?
Sandwich maker: [staring at me blankly]
me: Ummmm . . . wheat, please - 6 inch.
SM: [hacking at bread] Meat?
me: Turkey, please.
SM: cheese?
me: Swiss. And can I get extra swiss, please?
SM: [yelling down to the cashier] SARAH! HEY! SARAH! THIS ONE HAS EXTRA SWISS ON IT.
me: [hiding my face and sucking my stomach in case people are judging me for the extra swiss]
SM: [slaps the extra swiss on and starts to slide my sandwich down to the next person]
me: oh, can I get some bacon on there, too?
SM: SARAH! HEY - SARAH! THIS ONE HAS DOUBLE CHEESE AND ADD BACON! [pulls out two pieces of bacon]
me: [putting my sunglasses on to conceal my identity] Actually, can I get extra bacon?
SM: SARAH! THIS ONE IS DOUBLE CHEESE, DOUBLE BACON!
Sarah: OK! WHICH ONE?
SM: THIS ONE RIGHT HERE. THE LADY IN THE RED SHIRT!
me: [doing a quick ring-check scan around the place to ensure that I'm not scaring off any single would-be suitors with my love of bacon] Ummmm . . . lettuce. Extra mustard. Salt and pepper. Extra pepper.
SM: [passes my sandwich to cashier and goes back to make more sandwiches]
Sarah: [picking up my sandwich] BLAKE! IS THIS THE ONE WITH THE EXTRA CHEESE AND EXTRA BACON.
Blake: YEP! THAT'S THE ONE!
me: [loudly, so everyone can here . . .] Do you all have BAKED Cheetos?

So mortifying.

But one bite of my sandwich and I forgive the poor customer service. And before I know it, I'm returning to the Subway in a day or two to repeat the whole embarrassing process. But it's all worth it.

Man, I really do love bacon . . .

4 comments:

Emma said...

That's hysterical AND dead on!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate their customer service but love the sandwiches......and I can't think of any Subway I have ever been to that has nice workers

Phyllis Eddings said...

I've never been impressed with Subway. Their service or their food.

Anne Andis said...

I had a Subway worker refuse to give me a 5.00 bill when my bill was 5.01 and I gave her 10.01. She couldn't understand it because the register said my change was 4.99. She got upset when I tried to explain how it worked to her - said she was up late and just couldn't think!

Amazing! This is why we homeschool!

Anne Andis

jessica wilson said...

catherine- have you seen the skit from Mad Tv about Bon Qui Qui? You would love it! You can find it on YouTube if you look up Bon Qui Qui King Burger!