Panera Bread — Restaurant in Naperville

Greetings, I ordered online at 8:20am/8:30am yesterday morning 12/19/2023, I placed the order online to be pick up at 2:45pm, I arrived at this location early and I was on time at 2:32pm. I pull up in the drive-thru, I specifically ask this lying special young lady about my order, I repeated my name twice, the special young lady tells me that my order is correct and ready. So, I had to wait for an order that was previously called in the morning. I finally got my order? I headed home, just to pull up in my driveway, put my car in park to look in the bag to see if my order was wrong. I'm beyond frustrated 😠 so I tried calling three times, and no one answered my calls. So I go in to change my clothes, I come back out and drive back to the same location. As I walk in, I see a young lady, she looks at me and she keeps walking to the back, with another young kid, she begins to dance. Something I noticed with business and other businesses, all I see is babies/ kids working, I think that's part of the problem. The younger generation is out of control. Moving forward, I get there, I greet a young lady, and I ask to speak with a manager. He (assistant manager) walks up to the register/counter, rude, he didn't greet me. I spoke to him to him anyway, then I describe to him in detail why I ask to speak to a manager. The assistant manager nonchalantly dismissively rudely interrupted me while I'm talking, he ask me for my name and then he comes back with this stone cold zombie look on his face and says I will give you a refund, he shows me no concerns. At this time my forehead is sweating, I'm getting more annoyed, and I say to the assistant manager is that it, then I say to him, do you not understand how much valuable time I've wasted, I then say, I worked fourteen hours today, I just want my refund and go home. The manager looks me in my eyes and tells me you are getting a refund, what do you want! He then says, "Do you want a reward?" I asked him if he was serious! I then asked him, has he taken a customer service course. I tell him it's not about the refund. It's the principle. I tell him, it's not what he did. It's how he went about doing it. I tell the manager to lead by example. I asked him for my refund and I left out. The young lady who was in the drive-thru is a rude, unprofessional liar, The assistant manager was rude, nonchalant, unprofessional, and he has no people skills, no mannerisms, no understanding, and he is beyond ignorant. General manager Mr. Jordan, definitely not a good look. My question is, do you care about your customers? I'm reading the reviews, I'm not the first person to experience receiving the wrong order. From my experience, your assistance manager needs coaching, and your special lying young lady employee needs to take a customer service course. The worst experiences that I've experienced at a panera bread business. I'm definitely not coming...

The rating is so high, due to my OVERALL experience with this location over 1+ year.

Today, I ordered my usual egg and cheese on ciabatta, and a cafe late with almond milk. Long story short, there was hair in my food, which I found towards the end of the sandwich. This is disgusting, and should never happen.

I was about 10 minutes away when I called back to speak with the manager, Kim. I told her about the hair. I also explained that I didn’t know what to do at this point, as I’ve been visiting that establishment everyday for over a year.

I told her that my order had been getting messed up recently, so I “took a break” from the location, for about 2 weeks. Today was my first day back.

She said, “I’m sorry about that?, but I don’t know how that happened because everyone in the drive thru has a hairnet on.”

I asked, “so, people in the drive thru line make the sandwiches?” she said “yes.”

I said “well, I can bring you the hair, so you can see it for yourself! It’s a blondish piece of hair, about an inch and some change. It’s not my hair, or of my “culture”. “

She said, “I’m not saying there’s not hair, but everyone has hairnets on, so I don’t know how that happened. I can refund you for the sandwich or remake it.” I said I would be back shortly for a refund...

I was highly disappointed in the response because it was more defensive, than solution and empathy based. I felt as if she doubted what I said, AND was defending her doubts.

If I said that SHE, or someone in particular, PUT the hair in my food, then I could understand the defensiveness. This did NOT happen; I merely told her there was hair in my food.

A more professional response would / could have been:

“oh no! Omg, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Our sandwich pros all wear hairnets, but I understand things happen. I’ll make sure to remind my team to be more aware of the things they touch in between making sandwiches, and change their gloves more often, to help avoid this moving forward. This shouldn’t happen. I’m not sure how it happened, but I apologize about that, again. Swing by and we’ll remake your entire order, and give you a pastry, or coffee, for the inconvenience.”

No defensiveness, no back and forth. Nothing but solutions that please everybody, and KEEP the loyal customer.

I’ve worked in customer service for over 20 years, and that “example” would’ve accomplished many things, including the “defensiveness,” but most importantly, it would’ve assured the unhappy customer that their concern was valid, I / we care, their problem WILL be solved, and we appreciate their business and hope they return!

I’ve come to this Panera, every day, for over 1 year, unless I’m out of town for work. I spend at least $11.07 each visit, which is $4,040.55 for 365 days. Sometimes I come...

Panera Bread is everything! All of the food here is really great and mouth-watering. You will absolutely love every single bite you have here. All of their food is phenomenal. Everything on the menu is really worth trying and can really satisfy your cravings. Their pricing is also great, affordable, fair, and reasonable. You can save a lot of money here compared to other stores around the area. They have sandwiches, salad, bread, pasta, desserts, soups, and beverages. Everything is made to perfection. You can really tell that all of their food is freshly cooked and homemade. They will serve it to you while it is hot. Their menu is really mind-blowing and awesome! Panera Bread is exceptional! Their place is huge, clean, neat, nice, decent, bright, and organized. It has a good ambiance inside, the tables and chairs are perfectly aligned, and they also have interesting decors and designs. The whole place is very welcoming. The only problem I’ve seen the time I visited this place is the service of some of their staff, some of them are not paying attention to some of their customers, and also they are not that good. But still, this place is really great. They can still satisfy the customers and give the customers an amazing experience. This place is really a gem! They are one of the most visited spots here in Naperville. If you are nearby this area you must visit this place. You will absolutely love everything they have here. This place never disappoints. Panera Bread is highly recommended! I will definitely go back and visit this place again. Thank you for your awesome service! Kudos...