First off, I would like to introduce myself. I am a 3rd Year Architecture Student, studying across the road from your store. With Subway being so close, I have often found myself heading over there for a bite to eat, however I wouldn't consider myself a regular. I would purchase from the premises an average of once a month, and have been doing so for the past 2 years. I have over 3 years' experience working in hospitality, including working the Christmas-New Year period at the busiest Burger King in New Zealand, located in Whangarei. I have experience working with both the customers and the preparation of food.
Now, during my 2 years in Wellington I would like to inform you that I cannot remember one good experience from your store. The problem is not with the store itself, it seems to be reasonably well kept, clean and tidy. Many of the problematic experiences that I've encountered are caused by the staff, and the way in which the customer is treated by the staff. This includes and is not limited to, the way in which the customer is greeted, interactions with the customer throughout the transaction, the way in which the food is presented, both while being made and as part of the final transaction, and the way in which the staff presents themselves on a personal level. Basically, many of the experiences I've had at the store were bad from start to finish.
For example, when a customer enters the premises, it is to be expected that they are greeted with a smiley and cheerful manor. If it is busy, this greeting can be done at the meet-and-greet end of the unit, however I have found, often it never happens at all. If it was to happen on my next visit to the store, I would be surprised. I am used to encountering a lazy question of "what would you like," from an unimpressed worker, which is normally mumbled as to exert the least amount of energy possible. Now this may be the standard at this store, I am unsure, however from the customers POV, it seems slightly off.
Another area that I have encountered to be commonly bad is the way in which the food is presented, and the way in which it is assembled. Because, let's be honest, I don't enjoy my sub when it's lopsided due to lazy placement of meats, covered in sauce at one end and significantly dryer at the other, and generally falling apart. Under the expectation that the paper wrapping will be used to tie it all together, this at least be done properly. I have often found that the application of meat, vegetables, sauce, salt and pepper and wrapping are all wrong, leading to a disappointing snack. It is to be expected that the food I am paying for is of good quality, seeing as I am paying for it.
This brings me to my final point, about the customer transactions throughout the process. Like the greeting, many of the questions are mumbled. The question "would you like any cheeses with that?" is often replaced for the shorter question of "cheese?" to which I can only reply with "yes." "Which one?" I get in reply. I understand that doing the same thing day in and day out can get tiring, I've done it, but that doesn't mean that workers are allowed to get slack. For all they know, I could be someone who has never had Subway before, and I would have absolutely no idea how the system works. Staff should be friendly and helpful, instead of dull and demanding.
Now I understand that sometimes things go wrong, that someone might be having a bad day, or that someone could be going through one of the thousands of reasons that affect people's mindset, and that is the reason that I have ignored these transactions until now. Unfortunately, it seems to be that this is the way of doing things in your store, instead of a one-off situation that creates a bad experience.
From here, I would personally like to see a change in the mindset of the worker on the premises, however I understand that this can be hard to do without both manager and crew cooperation. I know from working in Fast-Food that sometimes feedback can go straight through management, without anyone batting an eye, however I hope that this is not the case.
This is simply my view, from the customer side of the transaction. I hope that this feedback helps you to create a store in which the customer leaves feeling satisfied, instead of feeling like they should have just walked to Burger Fuel and gotten a burger. read more
