Panera Bread — Restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens

I am not one to leave poor reviews however, I feel it necessary in this instance.

I ordered a delivery order through the Panera app. Shortly after, I received a phone call from a Door Dash driver informing me that my order was by the door. The order was in a bag sealed with a sticker from Panera. It had not been tampered. On the bag was a ticket with the items that I ordered listed. There was a space for “checked by” but it was blank.

Inside the bag, I discovered that my meal was missing. The side item and the bread for my order were in the bag, but the main meal was not in the bag.

I called Panera and spoke with Dell. She informed me that my options were as follows:

1. She could give me store credit for the price of the meal (no compensation for delivery fee, convenience fee, or tip)
2. She could refund me the price of the meal (no compensation for delivery fee, convenience fee, or tip)
3. I could contact Door Dash and resolve it with them.

I thanked her and immediately called the Dasher that delivered my food. He informed me that he brought the only bag that was marked for my delivery and was already in Jupiter doing other deliveries. I understand he is trying to do his job and it was not his fault that my meal wasn’t in the bag.

Then I called DoorDash customer service. I spoke with a representative and she informed me that she would have to transfer me to another department since I didn’t not order through DoorDash. I was put on hold. After 10 minutes, I drove to Panera.

I was still on hold and went to get my food and asked for a refund of the delivery fee, convenience fee, and tip (I would have been satisfied with the percentage of the tip for the missing item itself.)

Dell informed me again that my only options are to take the food that I have now paid for to be delivered and had to drive to get or get a refund for the food and still have no dinner. She kept insisting that I should contact DoorDash (I was still on hold with them - that call finally disconnected after 25 minutes on hold). She also made a comment about how it was my decision to tip - as if it was an error in my judgement to tip the driver bringing me food. Ultimately, DoorDash is in no way responsible for the problem. The employee at Panera that failed to include my entire order in the bag was at fault. She either couldn’t comprehend or refused to acknowledge the fact that Panera was at fault for the problem and should issue the compensation. She also told me that I’m never allowed to order from her store again.

I get that people make mistakes. However, to refer me to DoorDash that was in no way at fault and to refuse to even acknowledge that the mistake came from her staff was extremely rude and unprofessional. When we choose the convenience of delivery, we pay a premium for that convenience. But when we end up having to watch others eat and drive to the establishment to get the food that we paid to have delivered, that establishment should be responsible for the compensation.

Dell was rude, argumentative, and unprofessional from the start. She stated that she gave me all of the options that she is authorized to give - but even if that is the case, she did it with hostility and no understanding whatsoever.

If she were professional, she could have acknowledged that none of the options were reasonable, apologized for the error, and at least provided contact information for another department or supervisor to address the issue.

When I came here to leave a review, I saw that so many other patrons have had terrible customer service experiences as well. Dell may have “banned” me from ordering from that location “ever again,” but I have no desire to ever visit that location again.

It seems like management needs to get a handle on their employees. They need some kind of customer service training. They could learn a lot from the folks over at...

☆This is a recent review, my review from 8 months ago (4 star) is below. I made a trip out of the way to Panera for breakfast. I called in my order, 2 breakfast croissants, 1 with egg and cheese and sausage and the other egg, cheese and bacon. I got there, kept my car on with AC for my dog, went in and expected to be just a few min. There was a frenzy, people are waiting around for their order that was made improperly or not made at all. I was concerned ofc, but remained positive. Mornings can be crazy. When I paid for my food, I waited more than a few minutes. My food should have been ready. I walked out to my car & checked on my dog & checked my food. No meat on my croissants. There was barely any egg on them either. And yellow American cheese?? Really? Anyway, so I go back in, and 5-8 min later I get the meats on the same ones. The bacon one is okay.. sandwich cold by now, but the sausage is cold on the other! I mean cold- cold, like straight from the fridge. I was pretty pissed. I go back in AGAIN, I kept my composure.. I told the cashier the sausage was COLD. She apologized over and over, she was so stressed with all of the many grievances from customers. Poor girl, I truly felt bad for her. She called for a manager, she came. She was not pleasant but I imagine she was stressed too but it really come through. She took my sandwiches again, the cook came a few min later and said he would make the sausage one fresh again. I asked the cashier if I could at least get a free coffee for my trouble, I had been there about 45 min for a phone in order, I was fully awake by now anyways. She said sure, and offered me a free pastry. I appreciated that. So I went to my car, starving at this point, ate half of the bacon one. Went back in, got my sausage one and went to my car. The sausage was hot. The sandwich was hot. The only thing now?? What the hell is in their sausage patties? YUCK! I love breakfast sausage. Panera has the worst breakfast sausage... it has no GOOD flavor. I can't figure out what exactly it was I was tasting but I spit it out and took it off my sandwich. I wasted all that time for hot mystery meat on my breakfast sandwich. I won't be back for breakfast, maybe not for anything.. ever again until I see positive reviews or some serious changes on the reviews. I am totally turned off! I truly hope this location gets the intervention it needs.. and for the love of God... use good quality sausage and add a reasonable amount of egg to the breakfast sandwich. White American cheese also seperates good quality from fast food. Also, the smooshing of the croissants is unnecessary.. You can toast them yanno! Just some great points for better service and better food! Hope this helps!

Review from 8 months ago (4 star) : Helpful & friendly staff, the "pick 2" option is a perfect amount of food usually.. some of the sandwich halfs can be a bit larger but the flavors are good and I love their broccoli cheese soup and the seasonal squash soup. Their creamy tomato was good but its not like tomato bisque it's like thick tomato soup with some tomato pieces but no cream . I asked for a little fresh basil and shredded white cheese and added pepper and it was quite good. Maybe I could have added a tablespoon of cream,...

I give the following review both as someone who prefers not to make waves and also as someone who has NEVER had a bad experience at a Panera before. When I first came in, one of the guys on the floor immediately greeted me in a friendly manner. Great start. But then the cash registers were initially unmanned. Eventually a young man came over and started wiping up one of the registers without saying anything. I waited for him to be ready. He called me over. I started to give my order; but he continued to wipe the register without looking at me. I stopped. He finally entered part of my order and asked me to repeat the first part. Asked if it was all for here or to go while I was still ordering. By then a young woman has come over and is standing at the next register just staring at him in a bored and hostile manner. He asks her to get my baked good and she does, come back, thrusts it aggressively in my direction without looking at me. As soon as he hands me my receipt, I thank him and he takes off without a word or a look. I hadn't gotten a buzzer or a cup for my hot tea. I think, maybe they do it differently here? So I ask her about it. She glances at me in irritation, asks what I ordered. She looks away and thrusts a cup at me in the same aggressive manner, no eye contact. No word on the buzzer. While I wait I look at the floor. Covered in crumbs. It is only noon; I doubt they sweep at night. When I hear my name called out and go to the counter for my food, the girl here actually smiles, makes eye contact, says you're welcome. I'm thankful for the common decency. I get back to the table and find my sandwich has been slopped together. Half a cup of mayo on it and pouring off both sides. The turkey is in a ball and really does look like someone may have pre-chewed it. It falls apart a bit more each time I pick it up. I eat a decent amount of it with my soup spoon. Soup is really good at least. At one point I see a woman go to the pass-through about a mistake with her order. 3 people behind the bar stop what they are doing to stare hard at her until she is helped. All of the staring here really makes me feel like there is some sort of pod-people situation going on. While I am eating, I see the same guy on the floor. Really hustling to clean tables, smile, check on people, and perform small acts of extra kindness like clearing the dishes for the young woman who has finished eating but is still engrossed in her medical text. This man, the girl at the pass-through, the tea selection, and the soup are the only reasons this place gets a...