The customer service at the Gainesville Panera just got so much better! MEREDITH IS HERE! (Okay, it got better 2 years ago, when she came to this store, but I had not encountered her here in Gainesville until this morning.)
Meredith is a customer service *powerhouse* that my wife and I encountered at the Centreville Panera years ago. She was our absolute favorite! We ordered for pick up all the time, and Meredith was so responsive. The one time we had the tiniest issue, she was so quick to fix it --sometimes I made mistakes on my order, and she helped with that, quickly, and with a reassuring smile. She is so kind all the time, it feels like she is our close friend.
While my wife was pregnant with our 2nd kiddo, we were going out of town for a trip very early in the morning (technically before the Centreville Panera opened). My wife had a huge craving for Panera breakfast that morning. Meredith took our order and had it ready the moment the store opened--i know, because I was there right at that moment.
Over and over again, our to-go or eat-in orders were ready in record time (honestly, like, ridiculously fast) and she always (always always always) had a kind word or a smile. When Meredith was pregnant, she and my wife swapped pregnancy stories --but we knew she was going to be home for a while with her baby, and we would no longer have access to her amazing kindness. We were SO sad.
And now she's HERE, in Gainesville! The sun is shining, the day is brighter, and the only thing that could make this day better is if gold bars or corvettes fell out of the sky in front of me :-)
One thing I notice about Meredith is that she seems to always be the one to bring the food to your table with a smile. And she is the manager! I always felt like she must have so many more important things to do, but she always always makes time for her customers. It feels like she genuinely wants to be the one to make you smile. If there is an issue, she seems to rush to make it right. I've never heard her get onto a fellow employee when something wasnt perfect- she just fixed it quickly with a smile and an apology, as though she made the mistake herself and took full responsibility for it.
You can't buy this kind of service. Meredith has a passion for her customers, she is kind, she takes responsibility, she goes over and above, she appears to take on even the tiniest jobs that other employees may not want to do, she makes her customers smile every single day.
Come to the Gainesville Panera and experience the legend that is the manager named Meredith-- she will really Wow you! read more