Pret A Manger — Restaurant in London

Unacceptably Rude Service at Tower of London Pret a Manger

As a frequent Pret a Manger customer, I’ve come to expect a welcoming and friendly environment across locations. Unfortunately, my recent experience at the Tower of London branch was so disappointing and frustrating that I feel it deserves to be shared.

During my visit, I ordered a cappuccino and, shortly after, politely asked for a babyccino as an additional drink for my young child. An employee named Abid, who clearly saw me place my initial order moments before, reacted with surprising rudeness. Without looking me in the eye, he immediately asked, “Can’t you see there’s a queue?” I explained I had already ordered and was simply requesting a babyccino—a small, simple drink meant for children. He insisted that I would have to go back and order it formally, showing no understanding or empathy despite me mentioning it was for a thirsty baby.

Reluctantly, I joined the queue again, having no other option. When I reached the counter to reorder, I decided to pick up a few extra items. However, Abid hadn’t activated the payment system properly, forcing me to repeat the transaction multiple times. This delay felt intentional and added unnecessary frustration, especially as I saw other customers, who ordered after me, quickly receiving their items.

After waiting in line and watching others be served, I finally received the babyccino, but it was not placed at the counter for me to easily retrieve. Instead, it was left off to the side, beside the coffee machine, out of customer reach. A kind young woman, the only staff member with any sense of courtesy, finally brought it over to me. I was grateful for her gesture, but the entire experience left me deeply disappointed.

The treatment I encountered was shockingly rude and far below Pret’s usual standard of customer service. Considering this location is at a prominent tourist site, the indifference and impatience displayed by two male staff members were particularly jarring. It was clear they had no interest in creating a positive experience, treating customers with visible frustration rather than professionalism.

As a local resident, I am disheartened by this incident and hope Pret a Manger takes action to address the customer service at this location. This level of rudeness is unacceptable, and it’s an unfortunate reflection on an otherwise...

Really rude staff! I went in to get coffee and croissant. I was patiently waiting in the queue when an customer walked in and started shouting how the queue wasn’t straight and was trying to break in the queue. She was using really rude and abusive language when my turn came to place order she literally pushed over and the staff didn’t say anything. While she stood next to me passing racist comments and being abusive the staff didn’t say anything still. She further blocked me when moving aside and when I got finally frustrated and replied back, the staff really shouted at me. So, a white girl breaks the line, continues using abusive language and she gets served nicely while someone who was standing in the queue and patiently listening to her gets shouted and humiliated by the staff and asked multiple times if I paid. I’m new to this country but really expected better from the people here. PS: In other parts of the world, people don’t encourage cutting queues based on ethnicity. So, this is...

I had an absolutely shocking experience at this outlet of Pret A Manger. While waiting for the washroom, a male staff member rudely tried to enter before me. Moments later, a female staff member in a burqa joined him, and they stayed inside chatting casually.

When I knocked, the male staff member came out and started shouting at me, lecturing me about “etiquette” - despite having just used a customer washroom for a personal conversation. Things escalated, and he even began abusing me verbally. I was stunned.

This was some of the most unprofessional, rude, and arrogant behavior I’ve ever encountered. It's outrageous that Pret employs staff who take out their personal frustrations on customers.

Pret needs to seriously re-evaluate who they’re hiring. This kind of conduct is unacceptable and...