Panera Bread — Restaurant in Florida

Dear Panera Bread Customer Service,

I am writing to express my frustration with a recent experience I had at your location on November 25, 2024. I ordered a Take 2 meal online through my Panera Bread account, with the target ready time set for 2:22 PM EDT. I made sure to give myself a few extra minutes for arrival, and arrived at 2:17 PM to pick up my order.

Upon arrival, I noticed another customer (who I believe was a DoorDash delivery driver) waiting for his order as well. We both patiently waited while the cashier, who I later learned was the manager, struggled to process a single customer at the register. After about 15 minutes, we both raised our hands and politely indicated that we were next in line.

However, the manager responded by saying she would prioritize the paying customers first, and proceeded to take another order from a group that had just walked in, even though our food had been sitting on the prep counter in the back the entire time, rapidly cooling down. Despite our repeated attempts to get her attention, she refused to assist us.

This lack of attention and poor customer service is a clear example of inadequate training and a disregard for the customers waiting for their orders. After a long wait, I was about to grab the food myself when another associate came over and handed us our cold meal. We arrived at 2:17 PM, and didn’t leave until after 2:45 PM, spending nearly half an hour just waiting for someone to give us the food that had been sitting out in the back.

This experience was deeply disappointing, and I believe the manager in question should either be retrained or reassigned to a position more suited to their skills. I expect a prompt resolution to this issue, and I hope Panera Bread takes steps to ensure that this kind of poor service does not happen again.

Thank you for your attention to...

WOW I thought I would be the only one writing a bad review on this place until I read all the other ones...typical of a corp restaurant...all they care about is profits and not customers....ESPECIALLY DANIELLE! (if that's really your name shift manager) She is the worst manager I haver ever seen running a business, or pretending too! I stood in line 10 minutes while a new (1 ) month cashier struggled to take orders while she chatted with an old college friend at another register, all the time ignoring the back up of customers. once I got waited on there was an issue with my order and when the new staff person asked for help she basically blew her off and it was clearly a place for training not arrogance. I didn't get the matter resolved so I asked her to help out and she basically told me its this way (Panera's) or no way..with a huge attitude!! when I asked for the corp contact info she made me chase after her to get it so I could contact them, and then she made me chase after her again to get her name as she tried to duck out into the back area. she has such a BAD attitude towards customers and resolving issues..later while we ate the store's employees and her all stood around chatting loudly (4 of them) while a few others actually did work. The place needed cleaning, stocking and table service all the while she chatted it up with friends, oops I mean staff.... seemed like all of them were friends as I could listen to all of the conversations. what a POOR experience for me and my 8 year old to encounter for dinner. As I see so many bad posts here,...its clear corp doesn't care at all about the operations of this store or the customers who keep them employed...can anyone say toys-r-us...bad management equals closed stores!!! I will never go back here or let anyone I know frequent...

The restaurant manager needs to read this.

When you enter the front door, there are two signs that get your attention. The first says that they do not open until 8:00 am. Seems like a huge problem for a place specializing in bagels and breakfast sandwiches. All the other service businesses that I frequent have solved this labor shortage problem by now (March, 2022). The second sign says that customers must have exact change because of a coin shortage. Another problem that others don't seem to have. So I order a breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese. No sausage. I switch to bacon. I order the sandwich with the eggs scrambled. When the cashier reads the order back to me she doesn't say that the eggs are scrambled, so I ask for clarification and she says yes they will be scrambled. Eggs are served sunny side up. They give me my receipt and tell me that my name will be called when the order is ready. I ask why they are no longer using the pagers (that are right there next to the registers). She replies that it is easier for the food preparers. So now I have to hang out within earshot in order to hear my order called. This means that I can't go out to the outside tables or to the further corners of the restaurant where I wouldn't be able to hear the order called.

I guess I'll have to find a new...