Panera Bread — Restaurant in Madison

Can tell its a new place. Im very confused by what is expected in the drive thru quick pickup for pre placed orders.

My first time they said there is no bell for that lane, so to call and let them know if no one is coming. Second time today, and there were two of us quick pre order pickups behind someone waiting for their food to be cooked in the drive thru. So I called to let them know like I was told. This time I was told we are not allowed to cut in line its first come first served (but, arent us pre orders first?) plus every single drive through has someone pull ahead to wait if orders are ready foe those behind them. My phone hung up when i went back to drive as the line started to move. When i got to the window, the person asked if it was me who called, yes. They said it was rude to hang up on them and we are not allowed to cut in line.

Which is it? Let then know we are there waiting for over 5 minutes while our order is already ready, or what?!

Also this whole lecture being told im rude for asking to cut and hanging up on them is…really?! they wouldnt hand me my food until they finished lecturing so I couldn’t just take food and leave nbd, they had to make it a huge deal.

Please. Just tell me what you want. Do you want me to call and tell you im here or not? I got two different stories both times. Im here for food not lectures. Im sorry my phone auto hangs up like most cars do when you put them back into drive. They wouldn’t even accept this explanation so leaving this apology here too cause i can see how that would seem rude.

I wouldn’t be leaving this review except for getting a lecture leaving me practically in tears. Its also weird the seal sticker was unstuck so my bag was opened. :/

Eta; i see another bad review from just 2 hours ago today. Maybe somethings up today, they had similar but different customer service issues. Hopefully they see this and fix it. We all can have bad days, but taking it out on other...

The employees need to be trained on customer service. I was there yesterday and I had to wait about 5 minutes just for someone to acknowledge that I was there. There were 4 employees and not one of them was paying attention to the counter. One of them walked up towards the counter and looked at me, but didn’t say anything and didn’t tell anyone else I was there. I tried to get someone’s attention twice and I was still ignored. This was the second time that I have had an issue with being waited on and having a friendly encounter. After the first ordeal, the assistant manager reached out and wanted to make it right, which I appreciate, but reading the reviews, I’m not the only person that had an issue with friendly employees and being helped in a timely manner. I understand if they were busy, but there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant. You gotta do better Panera, both times that I have been in there, there are a lot of employees standing around and playing in their phones. Customer service should be top priority when they are at work, you have no idea who is going to walk...

This is the first time I have ever ordered from them. I placed a pickup order. I went inside to pick up my order, and a girl came up to the register playing on her phone. I just stood there, and when she finally looked up at me, I asked about my order. She laughed and said it’s over there on the shelf. I had looked over at the pickup shelves, and I did not see it. They had placed it on the very back of the shelf. My order was the only order on any of the shelves. Also, there was a male employee playing on his phone when I walked in. Furthermore, someone had an medical emergency, and there was an EMS ambulance out in the front of the building. The rest of the employees were glued to the front window watching what was going on. Learn how to train your employees, and have a manager on duty to insure your employees are doing their jobs. Your no Chick-fil-A. Maybe you should follow their business model. I drive by your restaurant every day, and I’ll never give you my...