If I could give this place ZERO stars I would! I am so shocked and very disappointed at the quality of food and service I received today. Here's why:
Today during lunch hour I went to this Panera location with my mom. We were both hungry and excited to finally sit down inside a restaurant to eat (which we hadn't done in a while for obvious reasons).
***For starters, we don't eat at Panera in general that often because it has a reputation for being overpriced (and today's experience only exacerbated this claim).
SO. We order 2 sandwiches and a side of Mac n cheese. The total comes to ~$34. A bit crazy but whatever. We wait for the buzzer..I bring the food to the table and was immediately turned off because my side order couldn't have even made a child satisfied. The cheese looked pasty, the (small) bowl wasn't filled and my (whole) sandwich was about the side of my hand.
The primary issue began here: when we realized the quantity of our food did not add up to the price. No one forced us to select this place, HOWEVER, $34 worth of food should not look like a TV dinner.
W/o touching anything we bring the trays up to the front (as a refund for the order seemed the only fixable solution). The manager (Devon) comes by and we explain to her our dissatisfaction. But instead of pulling us to the side or being pleasantly discreet about the issue, the manager attempts to fix our problem by issuing the refund we requested while loudly making comments like, "Too bad this food will be wasted," and "I'm sorry you weren't satisfied," pretty sarcastically.
This is where issue #2 began: Devon (the manager) is speaking so loudly that anyone behind us can hear. Now, explaining to the manager our dissatisfaction is no secret matter, but it is not a discussion that warrants the attention of everyone. The conversation should have been done so privately and without the eyes and ears of other customers. On top of that, her tone was entirely condescending and rude. I felt embarrassed in front of the people standing by. She made the impression that WE should feel sorry about our OWN experience, not the other way around.
We get the refund and bounce, except while sitting in the car something didn't feel right with me. So we go back to speak to her again and explain how she made us feel.
My mom explained to her that she was speaking loudly and that her tone was not right. Devon responded by saying, "I just talk loud," and shrugged her shoulders. We then explained to her that her comment about wasted food was inappropriate because it implies that we are wasteful or that we should feel sorry that the food had to be thrown away. Well here's the thing: It doesn't matter how much food you order anywhere, as a customer you should never feel as though you MUST accept food that is not up to par. Devon shouldn't have made us feel victimized for not wanting the food.
During this encounter her tone was STILL rude and sarcastic, she made entitled comments that also implied we should have been grateful to have got the refund. This tells me she's missing the entire point. The issue was no longer about the food, or requesting a refund, but about her service as a MANAGER. She gets paid to support customers. She did not support us. Instead she belittled our subpar experience by trying to make us feel bad - like WE did something wrong.
She gave us her name and the number to corporate (after we asked) whom we plan to contact shortly.
To have properly made sure we would come back in the future, Devon should have pulled us aside, listened politely to our issue, administered the refund (w/o sarcasm!) and said "thank you, we hope you come again." Instead, Devon made it clear that the way the food was presented to us, was more our fault than it was of the person who prepared it. We would have never had an issue in the first place had our food lived up the price point. But, unfortunately we left feeling entirely misunderstood and ultimately humiliated for the confrontation. read more