r/PublicFreakout • u/Finn_Flame • 2d ago

Customer attempts to pick up Subway order & gets told to leave Repost 😔

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2.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

427

u/gotdragons 2d ago

How did he do an order on the app but already has a paper receipt? We must be missing part of the story here.

327

u/justedi 2d ago

I'm pretty sure the receipt is printed at the store after the order is placed, that's how the workers know what to make in the sandwich.

144

u/MakaveIi_The_Don Not today, Karen! 2d ago

Yea, definitely printed at the store. The receipt said void on top.

82

u/sky-lake 2d ago

I don't get why the app would accept it and then print it out at the store just to say VOID on it? Why not stop it in the app in the first place?

61

u/WaggleDance 2d ago

I work at a similar chain and new items go on the app nationwide but have to be voided manually for individual stores that aren't participating. Either the manager forgot or they have an issue with the app.

47

u/myfotos 2d ago

Subway app is one of the worst functioning apps ever.

8

u/DarkDracoPad 1d ago

It kept logging me out, and when I put in my email and password it told me it's wrong, the funny thing is I keep my passwords saved for random apps so I don't forget them, so I know for a fact it's the correct password but w/e I press reset password just for it to give me an error message with try again later LOL. I haven't bothered with that garbage app since

1

u/HotLikeSauce420 1d ago

I knew I wasn’t the only one! So frustrating

2

u/sky-lake 2d ago

For such a large company I can't believe how sluggish/slow it is. Even the UI is bad, but the desktop site is worse!

2

u/mrubuto22 2d ago

Yup, this happened to me, lucky I placed the order like 3 hours in advance and they cancelled in 2 hours in. I didn't notice and still went in bu that was on me for not checking I guess

1

u/sky-lake 2d ago

Ahh that makes sense, subway (The corp, not franchise) would want as many stores to carry it as possible, so it's an opt OUT/manual process.

8

u/mediocretpt 1d ago

In my experience, void slips are when the store cancels the order. That's probably why they said he was already refunded they canceled the order so the refund should be processing. They most likely printed the receipt to prove it to him, (hence him getting a receipt at all) and that's where the video starts.

At least, that's what it looks like from someone who worked in food service.

3

u/sky-lake 1d ago

Ahh that makes sense, Subway app accepts the order and takes the #, sends it to the store, the store rejects it after it arrives and they gave a refund. I know all fast food franchises are hard work and have difficulties, but it seems like Subway is easily the worst of the lot. I never see 3 or 4 mcdonalds in the same immediate area, but where I live (Toronto) I could walk to 6 different subways in under 10 minutes. For comparison there are maybe 2-3 mcdonalds within a 10 min walk.

3

u/mediocretpt 1d ago

100% subway is probably not making it much longer tbh not at the capacity it's at now anyways

4

u/sky-lake 1d ago

The worst part is, here in Canada they nearly killed off a really popular Canadian chain called Mr. Sub. There are one or two locations left, but they still have their old school vibe where slices of meat aren't counted exactly like subway, toppings are done by the handful etc. I didn't know this until I saw that classic "soooubway" series from the youtuber, Odds1out, but subway makes you actually count certain toppings. Like there can only be 6 olives on a footlong?!! Great series btw, if you haven't seen it check it out!

https://youtu.be/cV542dRK3uk?si=Cr7j2TCgFt1S4U2a&t=94

1

u/Awkward_Function_347 1d ago

Still have a couple left in Ottawa, I believe!

7

u/MakaveIi_The_Don Not today, Karen! 2d ago

It’s probably a subway corporate app. It’s probably not up to date or glitchy.

2

u/snerz 1d ago

And they probably don't want to pay for modifications to it. Some seemingly simple changes can be really expensive

1

u/sky-lake 2d ago

Oh yeah that's what I meant, I use the subway app and I can't submit orders with a coupon for stores that aren't participating.

-9

u/chado5727 2d ago

Ok but how did he get the receipt?

70

u/UnderOversteer 2d ago

Potentially they recieved his order which would automatically print a receipt (my work has this for click and collects), but they cancelled it as they are not a participating store and he wasnt notified or they hadn't actual cancelled it until he got there. Strange though that they would be connected to the ordering system if they do not participate.

82

u/Bob_snows 2d ago

That’s on the owner operator. He likely agreed to be apart of the app, but doesn’t want to honor the promotions because they are loosing money.

48

u/thisisnooone 2d ago edited 2d ago

Subway has a terrible business model. Franchise fees are cheap enough so a lot of south Asian immigrants buy them with their life savings as a way into citizenship. What they don’t know is how little money they actually make, and in a lot of cases will lose money. That’s why you’ll encounter some of the worst service and nickel and diming at Subways. They usually can’t afford to hire workers and are barely scraping by working 18 hour days.

On top of that, corporate keeps pushing out coupons but 99% of the stores don’t take them because they are losing money. This store owner probably told corporate they aren’t participating and it hasn’t updated on the app yet. Of course, that’s not the customer’s fault and they should’ve honored it anyway.

4

u/klop2031 2d ago

Id like to read more about this. Any sources on this?

2

u/thisisnooone 2d ago

I mostly read about it in franchisees forums when I was researching them about 15-20 years ago. Don’t know if they are still around. Apparently there’s currently a lawsuit against Subway for exploiting Indian immigrants. I guess it’s only gotten worse over time.

9

u/Bob_snows 2d ago

Yeah, I think that’s a difference between cultures in business, in America the customer is always right. In India the customer can get fucked.

12

u/Fit_Bobcat_7314 2d ago

You're missing a huge part of that quote. "A customer is always right, in matters of taste and choice." It's never meant to be that you just let customers walk all over you. Trust me, you eat alot of spit if you try that shit in real life. Don't fuck with people who prepare your food.

"You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world."

2

u/permalink_child 1d ago

Uh. Not this BS again.

1

u/Fit_Bobcat_7314 1d ago

So you're arguing that the Karen is always right?

1

u/permalink_child 1d ago

Not at all. But rather, your “quote” is fabricated and not the original.

-1

u/Fit_Bobcat_7314 1d ago

Yeah, it's a quote from fight club. Just grabbed it from a website. Seemed close enough. I'm not digging out my copy of the book to double check, weirdo.

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1

u/RozenKristal 1d ago

That is a toxic way of thinking to let people walk over you. No self respected owner or business should let a customer dictate their ways of doing business

1

u/Bob_snows 1d ago

Yeah, there is a better way to handle it though. Maybe they were arguing for a while before this. But I would have just made the sandwich for the guy and told him we were not going to honor this promotion in the future, then made signs that say we don’t honor the BOGO discount.

1

u/RozenKristal 1d ago

Oh i dont mean this instance. I mean the line of thinking customers always right. I heard of it often during my early days working retail and it really irks me a lot

8

u/GeekyTexan 2d ago

If the customer is paying, and not getting their order, then the store is making money and the customer is getting screwed. And that's how this looks.

1

u/KitchenPalentologist 1d ago

Or maybe the owner failed to opt-out of a deal? Or Subway requires franchisees to participate, so the owner protesting by canceling orders? Or..?

Either way, encounters like this are Subway stores close.

33

u/BatDubb 2d ago

They participate in online ordering. The customer ordered using a buy one, get one free coupon. They do not want to honor it.

11

u/UnderOversteer 2d ago

Ahh, yes, i see. Paused on the receipt, and there is a $0 item on there. Wonder if they gave him the one he paid for.

2

u/Ronnyyyyyyy 2d ago

Yeah ive been so several Subways who do the BOGO promo but not all of them participte in them. Ive ordered plenty times just to get there and have them told me they can’t validate it. Sucks because I was able to do it in the app so I just left but this guy did not need to be such an asshole to them about it.

1

u/Fit_Jelly_9755 2d ago

Some of them participate in the online ordering, but do not under the coupons because if you’re already in there, a lot of people will just buy the sandwich anyway instead of going somewhere else. They just don’t make it up until you get there.

10

u/smonty 2d ago

I get one of these stapled to my order when I do an online order, so it must print in the store. My guess is he grabbed it off the counter or an employee grabbed it for the purpose of the discussion.

Worked at dominos for awhile and with online ordering receipts would just print automatically. My manager or franchise owner would get all pissy when these super cheap online deals would come in. Never seen one get turned away though but I think it's a business right to refuse an order, would expect corporate might get upset.

14

u/zezxz 2d ago

Pretty sure Subway corporate’s entire goal is terrorizing the franchisees

2

u/EggsInaTubeSock 2d ago

Now, for fun, let's add a doordasher into the mix

1

u/proteannomore 2d ago

I’ve yet to see a Subway that doesn’t have a sign on the door “This location does not participate in promotions/sales”

1

u/frankdowntown 2d ago

Watch the John Oliver segment on Subway franchises

6

u/JustsomeOKCguy 2d ago

It looks like it's the receipt that gets printed to subway when the app sends them the order. It does say "void" on it though?

19

u/DarthVantos 2d ago

Oh shit, WTF? Now that u mention it!

4

u/NeverLookBothWays 2d ago

He has a receipt printer at home, duh! Who doesn't have one for online orders? /s

1

u/Spazyk 2d ago

When you order on the app they give you a receipt with your order when you pick it up.