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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

10:31am - Panera's Out of Eggs

It appears Panera only has a limited number of eggs available for their new breakfast sandwich.

When I started the Breakfast Bake Off this week, I was most excited about trying Panera's new "Grilled Breakfast Sandwiches" simply because the billboards and advertisements make it look so soul satisfying and tasty.

As you all may already know, I am not a huge advocate for Panera (although their food tastes good) because they run out of soup every night.

This morning I woke up and it was a beautiful day. We moved slowly getting out of bed, and pulled into our local Panera Bread at 10:30am. As I approached the store my little heart skipped a beat in anticipation of possibly tasting the best breakfast sandwich on earth. I walked up to the counter, greeted the employee and asked if the breakfasat sandwiches are any good. The employee responded: "They're very good but you're just a few minutes late. We stop serving them at 10:30am because we crack our eggs fresh every day and we just ran out."

My heart sank and then realized that it was 10:31am. I looked at her and said, "Are you serious? You're not going to serve me breakfast?" she replied, "You just missed it, we don't serve them after 10:30am." I then told her bluntly, "That sucks" and turned to my wife and said, "let's go, we're not eating here." The employee then shouted as I was walking away, "It's not my problem!" I was too enraged to respond so I just kept walking.

What?

It's not your problem? I forgot, it must be my problem that I got ready too slow this morning. Silly me, I'll try not to do that any more. I didn't realize that eating breakfast at Panera was such a privilege.

The reality is: It's HER problem. Not mine. She barely offered an apology, didn't offer an alternative and lost her restaurant money. The decision had been made, my wallet was in my hand, I was ready to give my money and she didn't let me.

What is the point of Panera spending millions on launching a new product, and telling the world about it if when customers go in the restaurant they can't get it?!

Don't even get me started on the fact that they "crack their eggs fresh" and magically run out at 10:30am. We all know there is no way this is possibly true. The truth is that they wanted to be done with breakfast and get ready for lunch so made a management decision to "run out of eggs" when it was convenient for them.

I have sent this blog and an angry email to Panera customer service. It should be interesting to see if they respond. In the meantime, I'm boycotting Panera. Not just because of this particular situation but because every time I walk in - they're out of something.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you if Panera's breakfast is any good - although it looks amazing. What I can tell you is that if you do decide to go to Panera, be sure to get there early, it appears that all of their eggs disappear abruptly at 10:30am.

Posted by Dan Holm at 4:01 PM
Labels: , , ,

40 comments:

  1. That DOES suck. I'm glad they're out of the contest.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Rac told me this story today at dance.
    I was appalled.
    My sympathies.

    Oh PS- back to the subject of Subway, there $5 foot long thing is a big fat lie. It's only $5 for the 5 most disgusting sandwiches on the menu: Ham, Meatball Marinara, Cold Cut Trio, Veggie Delite, and another gross one. And of course this is the most finest print imaginable on their signs.

    I am an italian BMT person and I was so sad...
    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow....Panera is good on the customer service though...you will more then likely get Free Panera for the rest of you life. One time my friend Adam and I were treated with some disrespect and got two coupons for free Panera...it was great.

    Because of this I will more then likely not go to a Panera for breakfast....I don't want to get all the way there and they decide that their eggs are "all out"...LAME
    ReplyDelete
  4. Damn... that sucks!! it seems like every time i go there, they are either out of something or i called to see if they had something so then i drive there only to discover that they ran out in the 4 minutes it took me to get there. i totally feel your pain. BOO Panera!!!!

    you should have gone to steak-n-shake like i told you to. maybe next time you'll listen.....and you call yourself a food whisperer....shame on you!!!
    ReplyDelete
  5. Out of eggs? I'm used to by now the we are out of x right before close when my wife and I normally get there. I won't lie when I used Manage at Chick-Fil-A I told someone our ice cream machine had "thrown an actuating rod" at 9:50 cause we started cleaning it, but out of eggs? Your a bakery eggs are kind of an important ingredient in most breads. Seems like a dumb time to make that lie during a marketing push. I've been a part of marketing pushes like this before and you better believe we kept everything in stock and as long as we could cause the higher ups were basing decisions around it.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Out of eggs? I'm used to by now the we are out of x right before close when my wife and I normally get there. I won't lie when I used Manage at Chick-Fil-A I told someone our ice cream machine had "thrown an actuating rod" at 9:50 cause we started cleaning it, but out of eggs? Your a bakery eggs are kind of an important ingredient in most breads. Seems like a dumb time to make that lie during a marketing push. I've been a part of marketing pushes like this before and you better believe we kept everything in stock and as long as we could cause the higher ups were basing decisions around it.
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  7. I had the same experience. I went to Panera Bread the other day to buy a breakfast sandwich, only to find that they do not sell breakfast sandwiches after 10:30 A.M. I walked away somewhat frustrated.

    That completely baffles my human mind. Dunkin' Donuts has no trouble selling breakfast sandwiches after 10:30 A.M. Common sense tells me that Panera Bread should do the same thing.

    Why they would only sell breakfast food before 10:30 A.M. (unlike Dunkin' Donuts) is beyond me.
    ReplyDelete
  8. I had the same experience yesterday at Panera bread. I had to take my girlfriend to the airport and on the way back I thought, "man one of those new Panera breakfast sandwiches would hit the spot". I got there at about 10:40 and was told that they didn't sell them after 10:30.

    I got a bagel and ate it but it really bothered me. Why couldn't I get what I want. It isn't like they are McDonalds and need the limited grill space to make hamburgers all day...

    As I ponder this while eating my bagel, I realized that they bagel wasn't even that good, the drink machine smelled like fish, the manager was a fat slop and unkempt, and I don't really want to ever go back.
    ReplyDelete
  9. You got there late and then gave someone making $5 an hour a hard time about something they have no control about.I dont think they will be broken up if you dont came back. They have to stop at a certain time because then they have to get ready for lunch. I have never had a bad experience at a panera.
    ReplyDelete
  10. Sorry...but you're just the type of person who gets their food spat on in the kitchen
    ReplyDelete
  11. This would piss me off so much!! I hate when I look forward to something like that and when you know they can get it for you but some stupid fat asswipe makes some 10:30 rule. I would go postal on that place and bitchslap that girl who said its not my problem. I would give her a problem she would never forget.
    ReplyDelete
  12. I used to manage for Panera, and I'll tell you the "running out of stuff" constantly was a BIG problem. The way the restaurant is run, they won't let you order/prepare plenty of stuff so you won't run out, they want you to have barely enough (to manage costs) but you are expected to magically know what the right number of each of the hundreds of items on the menu are...The most aggravating place I've ever worked.
    ReplyDelete
  13. I work at Panera and am sorry you had that experience. I wish the cashier had thought to ask the people on the line if we have any breakfast sandwiches still available. Even if it is after 10:30 if we have the necessary ingredients the people at my store would be glad to make your sandwich. Shame on that cashier. I will tell you we do have to stop breakfast after 10:30 for practical reasons. We are trying to set up the line and it would be impossible to get the area ready for lunch. We do start offering breakfast at 6:30 a.m.
    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi,
    I'm an employee at panera. Let's get a few things straight. As with the person above (which because it's written so sympathetically, i'm assuming it's a corporate person writing it) we don't offer breakfast sandwiches after 10:30 for practical reasons.

    Although I don't expect you to understand as most panera guests have short tempers and quickly get angry over a small error or if something as minor as this happens, just bear with me and read through this as if you were an employee there.

    We offer breakfast from 6:30 to 10:30 for a reason. That reason being that if we were to offer it any later, it would become near impossible to set up the line for the lunch rush.

    We do make our own eggs. And here's what happened with your order. The employees probably did as they were supposed to do and made about 10 eggs around 15-20 minutes before 10:30 and turned off the egg machine and cleaned it. When the clock hit 10:30, the employees knew that they needed to get their asses in gear to help cater for lunch. So when 10:30 hit, they threw out the remainder of the eggs so they were able to put the soups in their proper spot in the soup well.

    Then you came in at 10:31 when the eggs were thrown away and bitched about how we have no more eggs. Sure, we could have made you an egg but here's the thing. If we did, you'd be writing this article not on how you didn't get your fat ass up in time for breakfast but because you didn't get the food in a timely order. See, if we were to go through the trouble of doing that (and if you asked, you probably could get it done being that we are the customer's bitch) it would take around 10+ minutes to make your sandwich.

    Listen, we don't get paid a lot and i'm sure if you were to work for one god damn day at the place you certainly wouldn't last one day. I'm glad you're a rich snob who can complain about stuff like this and I too aspire to be just like you and complain about crumbs on a fast food table but please, don't write about this saying that this is OUR fault when it is clearly your's.

    We stop serving breakfast at 10:30 period. Stop being an asshole and blaming it on the employees who get minimum wage and are forced to work their asses off to cater to you.

    PS.
    As for the employee who yelled "it's not my problem", yeah you have a little right to be slightly angry over that but not excessive. The employee probably blurted that in confusion and frustration. You know, like all people do. Say things accidentally when you meant it in a different way?
    ReplyDelete
  15. Yeah! I totally agree with the last post! They call it a breakfast sandwich for a reason--because the average person eats it at the average breakfast time. And that's why some restaurants have a lunch menu that you can order off of from, say, 11-3pm because it's LUNCH TIME. Get it? Cab you order pancakes form McDonald's at 10:31? No because they have the same policy.
    And you wonder why you got a shitty attitude?!? The whole operation is supposed to shutdown because you're slow-moving-ass was too lazy to get a breakfast sandwich at breakfast time. Too bad that the world can't cater to your sandwich contest.
    Ever wonder why these restaurants can't find good, friendly, reliable help? It's because of crappy hours, shitty hours, low pay and having to deal with schmucks like some of these posters. That worker that you had the run in with was probably there at 5am to open the store by the way.
    Don't take this personally, but you are the one who comes off like a complete asshole.
    ReplyDelete
  16. Actually, you can get pancakes at Mcdonald's at 10:31....they make extras and do buy one get one until they run out of stuff. And, getting there at 5 am is HER JOB. Nobody cares about her or how she is feeling because the customer is the one who gets the attention...retard.
    ReplyDelete
  17. You are a fucking prick. So much entitlement. Just because your lazy fat ass wanted a sandwich you want a bunch of poorly paid employees to change a policy they didn't create.

    I would have made the sandwich for you after wiping my ass with the egg.

    You suck.
    ReplyDelete
  18. One poster said:
    "Actually, you can get pancakes at McDonalds at 10:31" Kind of. They didn't intentionally make extras at the McD's I worked at in Florida. We may have had some left over in the bin but at 10:30 A.M. the manager would tell everyone to switch over to lunch and we were never to told to make extras as we were always watching waste costs. So consider yourself "lucky" to be able to order the leftover cakes at 10:31 or whatever.
    "Nobody cares about her or how she is feeling..." Nice. This is how you view the people around you? And then you attack the poster by calling them a "retard"? Do you call mentally-retarded people "retards" to their face as well? You only prove the blog's author wrong by defending him with that kind of inane post.
    ReplyDelete
  19. For all you flaming the poster, it's not just her that they're pulling this sh*t on. I went in at 10:20 on a Saturday (where they serve breakfast until 11:30 or 12), and they told me they stopped servng breakfast. Once I corrected him that it was A: neither 10:30, nor B: 11:30/12, and they have no reason to not be selling breakfast, he continued to argue with me that they stopped breakfast at 10:30 sharp (which it was not yet). Finally he gave in and said "we ran out of breakfast OK?". How hard was it to say that the first time instead of trying to convince me they stopped serving already. I grabbed the card for his manager and left that place. Never giving them my business again!
    ReplyDelete
  20. damn, if they stope serving at 10:30 and you show up after that order lunch! Your late, breakfast is over. Things dont revolve around you, prick
    ReplyDelete
  21. I can't stand people who come into restaraunts and treat the people working their like crap. Most of the time the employees are just doing what they are supposed to be doing. Sometimes things happen when you go somewhere to eat. I wish all of you that go into restaraunts and expect absolutly perfect service would have to try serving for a week and see how you like it. I worked as a server for a year and hated it becuase of people like you. I HATE people who think it is ok to treat the servers like they are unimportant! Most of the employees are trying to make some money so that they can pay their bills, go to school, take care of their kids, etc...

    When I go out to eat and I see that I am late for breakfast or lunch, I don't order off of that menu.
    ReplyDelete
  22. "I'm not a huge advocate for Panera... because they run out of soup at night."

    Hate to break it to you, but this is a standard practice across the industry. It helps keep costs, and therefore wastes, low. You may be the only person out of thirty customers that wants the soup of the day. That's one sale, and about thirty other servings wasted.

    Are you sure you pulled in at 10:30? A lot of restaurants run by one clock (Generally on the registers) and that is the official time for everything. I know our clock runs about two minutes fast.

    And yes, you hit on the truth of the matter. Most places get ready for lunch around 10:30. It sounds like an awful time to start lunch, but the businessmen with busy schedules and the high schoolers with early lunches are all thankful for lunch ready at 10:45, unlike you, who admittedly wasted time before leaving for breakfast.

    Granted, as a manager, I would have stepped in almost immediately and tried to help (Or at least watched from the sidelines.) Really, it isn't that girl's fault, because she had no say in the policy, nor is she fully equipt to handle customer complaints. However, I'm glad I don't work there, and I'm glad I don't work in Clearwater, because we remember people who throw hissyfits, even if they avoid coming in for several months.
    ReplyDelete
  23. While I sympathize with your plight, reading this made me irate enough to even bother posting. For the establishment, it is often a lose-lose situation. You as the customer want your breakfast after the breakfast window, but employees only have a limited set of options to cater to you.

    I had to sit through two hours of boring orientation when I was first hired, but the videos we watched gave me more respect for the company; Panera prides itself in freshness and quality.

    Perhaps a Panera will be able to make another breakfast sandwich for you, but what then? If the store is truely "out" of breakfast items, making it fresh will take time, time which you probably either don't have, or will whine about how you have to wait. And what of the other customers that see you having a breakfast sandwich made, where is the line drawn?

    Panera is a bakery-café. It is not IHOP, it is not Subway, and it certainly is not McDonalds; if it were I never would have even considered a job at Panera.

    Do not think for a moment that employees do not get frustrated when breads, soups, or anything run out either. We eat there too, and I am beyond aggravated when there is no broccoli cheddar soup or fresh baguette on break. Not only that, but we have to apologize to every single customer that wants something we are out of (and there a lot of you), then offer options as to what you can have instead.

    If you want breakfast that badly, either go somewhere else or better yet, make it yourself! But then again that takes time, which you most likely do not have any of, since it is past the early hour of 10:30.

    What you probably do not know, and would do you well to remember next time you consider Panera, other than the Signature Paninis, Panera is willing to make anything for you, however you like it, to the best of its ability with whatever materials they have.

    If the soup is too hot, you can get new soup. If your sandwich has tomatoes which you absolutely despise, you can get a new sandwich without tomatoes. It is a pain in the ass for us, but you are the customer after all, and we do our best to keep you satisfied.
    ReplyDelete
  24. I think most of the posters are missing the point. WHO THE HELL EATS LUNCH AT 10:30AM???? Why can't the transition occur at 11:30am instead? Same goes for McDonald's and every other place that stops serving breakfast at 10:30am!!
    ReplyDelete
  25. As a person who works in the customer service industry and who can see both sides of the story... there have been many times when I have gone into places for breakfast past the time when they serve it, and they were out. I just ask what they have left, and if it's nothing, then it's my fault for coming in too late. I guess you could ask them to make you something, and if they cared enough, they would try to be accomodating or apologetic. But being an ass to a person behind the counter and storming off only makes you look ridiculous. Next time try getting there when they are actually supposed to serve breakfast, or otherwise be nice and understand the limitations of their job.
    ReplyDelete
  26. dude there are a lot of ppl who eat lunch at 10:30 am. i used to work at a restaurant that opened at 10 and only served burgers, no breakfast sandwiches and we got customers during that hour. by the way you ppl are just jackass' to think that its not only inconvenient to you but inconvenient to us the service providers. do u think we like it when the customers complain and bitch? that we dont feel bad enough already that we have to tell you we are out of something but for you to make it worse?? im sorry fella, but breakfast to me is in the early morning of about 8. if you have breakfast at 10:30 than do u have a late lunch?? not to mention why the hell do you care so much about a breakfast sandwiche u havnt tasted? it just makes you so much bitchier about things as ridiculous as this where the service provider has no control over the situation but you decide its their fault anyways that you got up late enough to consider 10:30 breakfast time.
    ReplyDelete
  27. Well as seeing that i work at Panera, being a college student who has worked there for 5 years (and hates it) i feel as i have to defend it a little bit. The reason we stop serving breakfast sandwhiches at 10:30 is because this is when our lunch rush comes in. Although it doesn't seem important we make a hell of a lot more money off of lunch then breakfast prob 5 times as much. Once the lunch rush starts people don't order the breakfast sandwhich therefore making it a waste and having to throw them out. The eggs are quite expensive because Panera buy expensive special eggs which is retarted, making it expensive and a big waste on food cost. Let me tell you we get yelled at a lot because of food cost. A lot of things no one would really think of were getting bitched at because of it. The only thing i can say about Panera being out of stuff is that we make all the bread and bakery goods in the morning, getting our dough trunk in the night before.

    There is no real way to predict what you will sell. We go off based weekly reports but one week you are insanely busy selling everything and the next you don't sell shit. So they have to compromise because of again the food cost waste. People who work at panera are also frustrated with things running out because you would not believe how much we get yelled at by customers about being out of stuff when it's simply not our fault. We cannot control the amounts of people who come in on any one day. We are simply there to do a job as all of you are and we get bitched at and well it sucks.

    With the girl, well she was being bitchy, and rude. She should not have said that to you and should have apologized for not having the eggs but also explained a bit. Although it was not specifically her fault because well she doesn't make the rules and she isn't the one who made the eggs specifically. Panera is very good with customer service. Anything you don't like you can bring up and we will gladly replace it for you.
    ReplyDelete
  28. I do not got to Panera any more. I sure got excited about the place but your right. Not only are they always running out of things, but my daughter's half a grilled cheese on rye sandwich is not even enough to feed her. I either have to buy her two kid's meals grilled cheese sandwiches and when they cut their wifi time, that was the last straw! Too much bread which leaves the body having a hard time digesting it. While it looks good, it sure does not feel good leaving the place. Not only do I not go anymore but I am sick of these corporate places not promoting the same energy throughout all their stores. I went back to my local diner where there is a love and family feel with free wifi and GOOD SERVICE! Do your self a favor and quite Panera's because they SUCK!
    ReplyDelete
  29. shit, i rarely wake up early enough to get breakfast before 10:30am and even though i'd love to have a breakfast sandwich i don't bitch about it. i'm completely aware it's my fault for not waking up earlier not some poor employee who probably hates their job because of you. so they lost one customer... big deal... i'm sure your business has been replaced by plenty of other customers by now. i'm sure you've experienced having someone mad at you over something you couldn't control at one point in your life, you'd think you'd be capable of being just a bit sympathetic..but obviously not.
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  30. I know this post is like 2 years old, but you clearly have no idea the way corporate America works. Although I'm sure she would have loved to serve you a breakfast sandwich you so desperately wanted, she isn't allowed... if you can have it at 10:31, they would serve til 10:31, but then the people at 10:32 would complain. If they can have it at 10:32 the people at 10:33 would complain and so on. She probably deals with insignificant peons like you everyday. She may have lost the company 5 dollars, but if you're not an avid fan who cares. She didn't lose any money, and she decreased her work load in the process. Props to her, shame on you.
    ReplyDelete
  31. WOW! I'm amazed at how rude you are. You said you went in and as soon as you found out you couldnt get breakfast you turned to your wife and said "we are not eating here" then you have the audacity to go on and say panera lost your business, when you never intended to spend it there anyway. what did you expect the employee to do? you wanted breakfast, they couldnt get it for you.
    It is YOUR fault, i cant believe you could actually blame anyone else? pathetic.
    ReplyDelete
  32. I used to get upset about this kind of thing, too. . .when I was eighteen and thought that he world revolved around me. If breakfast stops at 10:30 AM, then it stops at 10:30 AM. Anything else that's extended is a courtesy to the consumer that is not required, and that may or may not be feasible given the restaurant's setup.

    And, honestly? She didn't offer you an alternative? Really? She's a cashier, not the head waiter at Chez Paul. You had three menu boards of alternatives staring down at you. Look up, read, and pick one like a grown-up.
    ReplyDelete
  33. I've gone to panera plenty of times and they've been out of multiple things, which i LOVE (four cheese soufle, egg and cheese panini, BAGELS for goodness sake) but it's not that big of a deal, i just order something else... it takes a couple minutes but you can never pick something bad off the panera menu :)

    And why did you leave after they didn't have what YOU wanted? You're clearly a husband/father. shouldn't you care about your wife and childrens' needs before your own? I know I'm only 18 but that seems pretty effed up that you stormed out because panera didn't have the ONE thing that **you** wanted, and your family didn't even get to say anything about what they wanted. if i was your wife in this situation i'd be hella mad, but thank goodness i'm not. lol

    Saying "are you serious? you're not going to serve me breakfast?" is also kind of douche-bag-y. The girl kept her cool with that shit. I bet your tone was all sorts of asshole, too.

    Also, to the poster who said the thing about too much bread: take off the top half of the sandwich. it tastes just as yummy and you dont have as many carbs... and its called panera BREAD, what did you expect? fish??? about your daughter. in the words of my dad: "i give you some of what you want, and all of what you need." I'm pretty sure she does not NEED those two sandwiches. even if they are kiddie sized. you could easily get her one of those huge salads and you'd be cutting her calorie intake.Two kids grilled cheese = 600 calories. And all you're eating with that is WHITE (not even whole wheat!) bread and cheese. Whereas an ENTIRE caesar salad is just 390 calories and you're eating from the veggie, grain, dairy and i guess the oil group. She'd be feeling more full on less calories, and it'd be much healthier. And I'm not sure about the pricing, so i wont say anything about that. but one salad has to be less than two sandwiches... even if they are kiddie.

    BUT ANYWAYS. enough with my rant. I searched panera and this bullshit came up and it made me mad that people actually thought the guy who wrote this blog was right about what he was writing about...

    anywho.
    toodles!
    ~E
    ReplyDelete
  34. OH. i forgot to mention

    The breakfast sandwiches are DELICIOUS. :)

    ~E
    ReplyDelete
  35. Man, grow up. I work at Panera, and YEAH, we do crack our eggs fresh every morning to make breakfast sandwiches. But our lunch rush starts at 10:30 and we can't afford to run breakfast AND full-on lunch at the same time. I'm sorry, our production line would be stretched too thin and it's just not possible to ensure quality and speed of service while operating both stations.

    So fuck you if you don't like how we run it. Don't eat there, then. It's not like we make shit up about when we serve breakfast -- WE STOP MAKING EGGS AT 10:30. Everyday! I'm so damn sorry if that doesn't suit your needs; go home and make your own breakfast sandwich.

    All you seem to do on this blog is complain about businesses that you don't have a real understanding of. Get informed, and then you can bitch like a twelve year old girl.
    ReplyDelete
  36. And this is exactly why customers are such a pain to deal with..
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  37. This happened to me today. Honestly, I wasn't mad because I couldn't have what I wanted. I was angry because I was told they were "out of eggs." Yes, it's technically true, but it sounds like an excuse. If you stop serving breakfast at 10:30, say you stop serving breakfast at 10:30.

    What if I hadn't looked this up and I had gone in the next week, to be told again they were out of eggs? I'd rather be told that if I don't get there by 10:30, I don't get eggs. It's that simple.
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  38. I work at Panera as well. You don't understand that we open very early. Our bakers work at night, so we only have what they make because everything is made fresh daily. We serve lunch starting at 11:00, so it makes sense to stop serving breakfast at 10:30. McDonalds does the same thing and I don't see you people weeping about that, haha. We offer other breakfast items such as bagels, and pastries that you can get all day long. Panera is a lot of hard work, it's not just a lot of standing around and taking orders... So think twice the next time you treat one of their employees badly. If you want breakfast, wake up early. Same as McDonalds and any other resturaunt that serves breakfast in the early morning. I'm not sure why you have other standard for a resturaunt like Panera, but lunch is extremely busy and at times we have lines that go out the door on to the sidewalk. Panera also does so much for so many communities, such as soup kitchens and donating all of their goods at the end of the night and even fundrasiers to donate. Open up your eyes a little for what they do, I'm sure with all the donations they do you can go without your little breakfast cravings for one day and wake up a little earlier than you usually would to treat yourself to breakfast. Mornings can be really beautiful if you take the time to wake up early.
    ReplyDelete
  39. Yeah, I'm gonna agree with the last few posters and say that you're an asshole. I don't work at panera, but I do work in customer service, and I have worked in food service in the past. Clearly, you haven't.

    First of all, if breakfast is served until 10:30 am, then it is no longer served at 10:31 am. There are reasons that the management and employees do this. For one thing, Panera probably makes more money serving lunch than breakfast, so they need to be fully prepared for the lunch rush (which, I would imagine, picks up at around 11) so that they can keep ahead on the line.

    Second of all, you're a dick. Like I said, I have worked in food service and customer service, and I have had customers like you a million times. You think that YOU should be the exception to the rule. "I know you stop at 10:30, but please, please, please... it's only 10:31!" These rules are made for a reason, and Panera is not obligated to cater to your every whim just so that they can add your 15$ contribution to their cash drawers. Also, what customers at any restaurant tend to not understand is that one exception to the rule leads to another exception. What if someone walked up behind you while you were ordering breakfast? Then they wanted breakfast. Then the girl behind the counter is stuck telling them no, when you just told you yes? Or she's stuck serving everyone breakfast until noon, and the lunch prep is screwed.

    Thirdly, you have no perspective. The girl behind the counter at Panera was likely not a manager, and thus had no control over the fact that they were not going to serve you your egg sandwich. And, even if she was a manager, it's still not really in her control because it's either: a) store policy, or b) the most efficient way to keep customers happy and coming back, considering the pending lunch rush, or c) (and this is what I'm betting on) a combination of the two.

    FInally, you didn't prove any point to Panera. I would hate to think that for the couple of years since you blogged this, that you've been sitting, smug and satisfied, thinking, "I sure showed Panera and that stupid little girl behind the counter!" That girl probably didn't care at all. When I'm at work and I get horribly unruly or unreasonable customers (yeah, like you) I get happy for two reasons: 1. It gives me a fun story to tell my boyfriend when he asks me how my day was, and 2. The customer is always FAR more upset than I am, because I don't care... about them, or about my place of business. This leads me to my next point: Panera Bread is a successful restaurant chain/corporation, not some mom and pop coffee shop. In the grand scheme of things--no matter what their ads say or their website says--the people behind their counters don't care about YOU. They care about remaining in business, sure, but do you honestly think that your 15$ that you so nobly withheld was really gonna make or break them? No. Get off your high horse. You don't matter to them. That girl doesn't care if you leave and don't give her your money. YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. It's a tough realization to come to, I know, but look on the bright side: you seem to be coming to it well beyond the usual age, and if 17 year olds around the world can learn that lesson and move on, then so can you.

    I realize this comment is more of a rant, and it's littered with what I'm sure are unfair personal attacks, but so was your behavior in Panera. Grow up and, like another commenter said, if you want a breakfast sandwich at 10:31, then go buy a bagel and a carton of eggs and make one.
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  40. you sound like a fucking loser i wouldnt have given you shit either
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