Earlier this month, on National Sandwich Day, my wife visited Subway #51464-0. She ordered two 12 inch combos to go, was served, and left. I was the first to open the sandwiches after she got home. To my dismay, the bread was hard. In disbelief I checked the other half and then the other sandwich....all hard. Not rock hard but slightly stiff and definitely stale. Tapping the bread with my fingernail produced a "ticking" sound. The food was not fresh; it wasn't the soft texture I had come to recognize as being from Subway. I even go as far as NEVER requesting my bread toasted because that freshness and softness of the bread is desirable. I was immediately unsettled by this because I knew they could do better so my response was to take the food back and have it replaced.
I arrived at the store roughly and hour after the initial sale, there was no one in line, and there was one customer dining. I approached Cecilia at the counter and explained that my wife made the purchase earlier, the bread was stale, and I wanted them replaced. She seemed surprised yet confused. I explained that I didn't have a receipt and attempted to describe my wife who was there an hour ago with my twins. I thought the twins would jog her memory but it didn't seem to do so. She could only remark to me that their bread was fresh. Cecilia calls in another employee to whom I had to explain myself once more. The second employee remembered the purchase but then acted as if they had no authority or ability to assist with the matter. She also tells me their bread is fresh and calls in Yolanda. I explained myself to Yolanda a third time; she puts on a plastic glove, pokes the sandwich, said it was not hard, and attempts to dismiss the situation and walk away. I was floored. I was shocked that after touching it herself, the obvious didn't immediately grab her attention and prompt an apology. I pleaded by opening the sandwich and trying to reason with her. I explained that this compelled me to leave my house and return and that I wasn't asking for money, just a replacement of the food your coworker recalls being purchased there. Yolanda said 'no'. No explanation, just no and a statement about the bread being fresh. There appeared to be trepidation in acknowledging that my concern could be valid. They were unwilling to do anything and just stood there indignantly looking at me with nothing to offer. It came to a stalemate however; I wasn't leaving without a resolution. The three ladies began speaking among themselves in Spanish directly in front of me. It got to a point where I had to ask them to speak so that I could understand what was going on. Yolanda, obviously annoyed by me, walks away and returns a moment later and hands me someone's personal cell phone without explanation or knowledge of who was on the phone.
A man identifying himself only as the owner began berating me advising that his food was fresh. He opened the conversation by insulting me. I stopped him to explain that I knew the difference between fresh and not fresh and not to blindly indict me. He went on to talk about the volume they did saying the ingredients were fresh due to turnover. I speculate that they baked the bread in advance and held it in reserve anticipating high volume....thus allowing time for it to NOT be fresh.
The owner kept asking who bought it, how did I pay, how long ago, what did I order. I explained myself to him 4 or 5 times only to have him flat out refuse my request to replace the food. After a few minutes of back and forth, he finally agreed to a refund of the sandwich only but demanded the condition that I not tell anyone or write anywhere that his food was not fresh. I rejected this instantly explaining that I would write and say whatever I wanted to whomever and it was ridiculous for him to hold my refund hostage with such a silly demand...a remarkable over-step. I gave Yolanda back the cell phone while he was in mid-sentence saying that I want my refund. She remarked that she could do nothing without the receipt. I told her the time transaction time so she'd check the journal and asked her to check the trash because the receipt might be there (it never made it to my house). They found the original receipt and the journal transaction. Yolanda then asks for the Visa used which I didn't have it. I asked could she refund the account just using the receipt; she said no. I then asked if they could void the transaction considering it happened an hour ago, she said no. I feel I'm being lied to and I'm dealing with employees that are not empowered and may feel angst towards their boss which is causing them to mishandle me. I explained that I was going to get the card and I expected a streamlined refund upon return.
I got home and asked my wife to go back for the refund. She came back with a voided receipt. I asked if they took her card, she said no. They keyed the register and handed her a voided receipt. The void says that it was processed by Yolanda read more
