Panera Bread — Restaurant in Charlotte

I would give negative stars to this staff if I could. Honestly I never give bad reviews, but this experience was beyond terrible.

I ordered a wrap from the tablets they have available and waited for my name to appear on their order tracking board… it never did. I went back, assuming user error, and put the same order through again… same problem, my name never appeared on the board.

I entered the regular line to ask if my order came through and was told that wraps are “grab and go” - meaning if you order from the tablet you just come and grab it from the fridge. I own this misunderstanding entirely, though there’s no real indication that selecting a wrap from the tablet menu means you head straight to the fridge and just take it. What’s more, their fridge had neither wraps nor chips, both of which I paid for - twice.

I asked if someone could refund one of the orders I put through, since nothing was made and none of what I had ordered was available. I was met immediately met with attitude and irritation. It was honest mistake that cost them nothing, so why was a refund for one of the orders such a burden?

One of the women in the back finally agreed and said it would take 3-5 days. Not a problem. The wrap I asked for was the only one I am able to eat, and they didn’t have any available. When I suggested they change the tablet to show that that one was “sold out” I was told “that’s not my job.” …Okay? Again, I’m not being aggressive here I am just trying to avoid the same thing that happened to me happening to someone else - why the attitude?

I was offered a salad instead of a wrap and accepted. I was told “they’re going to make it now and print your receipt for the refund.”

So I waited. And waited. And again, nothing happened and no one called me and finally I got back in line to ask again about if I could please just have whatever food they could give me at this point and some kind of receipt for the refund. This is when a woman in the kitchen starts literally yelling at me — telling me to calm down (?!) and telling me they don’t print receipts for refunds.

I was treated like a problematic person for literally asking about the very thing I was told to wait for??? Make it make sense.

I’ve worked in the customer service industry for years. I get that airports are a stressful place to a work and guests are often rushed and rude. But that’s not what happened here. I made a mistake by placing two “grab and go” orders for food that didn’t exist and was met with aggravated attitudes, yelling, gaslighting, and apathy.

Save yourself the time and heartache and take your business LITERALLY...

So here is my story. I'm a (black) male airport employee there and I'm somewhat of a regular at this particula panera. I waited on line while there was a flightp]]ndent waiting in front of me and about 2 other people in the back of me. The cashier's were all doing other things and nobody was taking care of any of the customers so the flight attendant that was in front of me proceeded to go to the self order screens. During this time a (white) woman and a younger male she was with proceeded to cut in front of the line and asked me was I on line and I responded "yes I'm on line and the line starts here (pointing to the back of me) so the white lady stated well I'm going to go up here (towards the cash register) and check out the menu.. Soon as she did that the (White) female manager said "I can help the next person" and y'all know what happened next right.....yep.... you guessed it! The lady went right up and tried to place an order so that's when I came in and said very politely " excuse me but I was here waiting first" and instead of the manager observing who was on the line waiting, she automatically assumed I just cut in front. The white manager looked at me like I did something wrong and she took my order, but not in the manner she usually does with me being a regular. During that time not once did the lady say oh no im sorry he was first or anything of that nature she was silent. So after I place my order, the lady then proceeds to walk right on up and place an order skipping the other customers who were waiting right along with me. As the manager was taking the lady order she emphatically stated "thank you for your patience and for allowing that gentleman to "cut" in front of you a will give tou 12%" I will definitely NOT be going back ro that panera for I felt racially profiled.. I want that supervisor FIRED and the...

This Panera closes at 5 pm. The workers start to turn off the lights and close off the entrance for new orders at 4:40 pm- they kept saying that they want to go home. Not exactly professional but I understood.

Drinks I ordered (not recommended): a frozen caramel cold brew (they only filled it half way and topped the rest of the drink off with whipped cream) - I do not recommend this drink. a hot caramel latte for my partner - they also do not recommend this drink.

Food ordered (recommended!): -you pick 2: half a tuna sandwich & half a Greek salad- they loaded them up and were great. full size roasted turkey & avocado BLT- this was for my partner and they thought it was delicious.

I also ordered a candy cookie which they forgot to include. Luckily I wasn’t far away when I noticed and even though they had already closed one of the workers gave me my cookie.

Other peculiar things about my visit- it wasn’t very easy to get a straw for my drink. One of the workers seemed over it and just wanted to go home instead of restocking the straws and had me ‘double check’ that there weren’t any.

A lady asked me to buy her some bananas even though they were closed (I already had my order but was trying to get a straw at this point). We were able to get her bananas but it was uncomfortable because the workers kept saying that they just...