Panera Bread — Restaurant in Parsippany-Troy Hills

"A cafe refuses to cut a bagel in half for a customer"

This Parsippany Panera cafe has issues,

The manager will argue with you, "we do not cut bagels for customers; it's Panera store-wide policy", and we are trained with this policy. While we asked if there was a written policy (document or poster anywhere in the store), they failed to provide one for us. She asked us to call Panera or Manger; they will tell you the same thing. She added, "We are in business for bakery, we are not cutting bagel for customers, sometimes, we are busy, we do not do that"

On weekdays, we always have coffee there, and we decided to grab a bagel for breakfast and drive to work. a half-sized bagel will be easier for us to have while we are in the car.

We were ordering online and filled the "special instruction" field with "Please cut the bagel in half and with a plastic knife" They not only refused the cutting but also gave us a spoon instead of the knife (to spread the butter we ordered", Just like other customer states in the reviews, this cafe does not willing to address customer's reasonable requests, instead, use 'policy' to fighting with clients.

We then called Panera customer service; the customer service Rep said they were sorry about what happened in Parsippany and offered us 4 bagels for compensation (which does not address the issue), and the customer service did mention there is no such "no cutting bagel in half policy".

I visit this cafe a lot (almost every day), and there are times need to remind them the coffee is out. The manager's focus is not taking their service to meet their brand standard. Instead, they spend time fighting with customers like you.

We tried another cafe nearby(Handover), same online instruction; they did help us to cut the bagels. And we asked if this type of service is a one-time courtesy thing. The staff says, "it's a normal request. You are welcome to be here.

In the end, I lived in Parsippany; I wanted proper service in my town; I did not have any store owner/manager come out and fight with customers for "cutting a (one) bagel for customers"

Do you think I am...

Three months between mistakes. I’m ok with that. Tonight 5/17/2021, my order as well as others I observed while waiting were not correct. I didn’t know mine was a problem until I got home. If it weren’t for what I heard and saw during my visit, I would have let it go until morning. But my entree was also wrong so I brought both items back and spoke with the manager. He was very helpful, I was kind and understanding. Mistakes do happen, dinner rush issues plus computer issues make the rush worse. They do work hard. I wasn’t out for money or credits, simply what I ordered and to understand what happened in both mistakes given what I observed and heard while my meal was prepped. An inconvenience to get home, go back, wait, then home again, type this, then eat. But I’ll keep going back. They may make a mistake, but they get it right in the end.

Feb 2021: Update 3: David made good on his offer. Thank you

Update 2: took away a star. Will give it back if David’s offer stands.

Update: Second call back, 2 minutes in to ringing, David answered and offered me a free sandwich next time in to make up for it. Thank you David. Side note: the broccoli mac & cheese is terrible. Overcooked pasta, way too much cheese sauce. Guess it’s what I get for a late dinner near closing time. I’ll never order it again. The regular Mac I have had, and it is much better.

Placed an in store pickup order for a full sandwich and full broccoli mac & cheese. Checked the bag, saw a sandwich, correct sides, and the bowl of Mac. Got home, it’s only half a sandwich folded thick with paper. Called the store, 3 minutes of ringing and no answer then their phone system disconnected the call. Order 513465901. I’m 25 mins away and they close in 30. Grr. Likely confused for a “pick two” but clearly not and for nearly $20 for half a meal, I’m frustrated,...

Went to the Panera Drive Thru on Rt. 46 in Parsippany this afternoon. After waiting an absurd amount of time (the woman in the car in front of us was waiting about 10 minutes before she actually knocked on the drive thru window because it was taking so long) my mother and I took home our food. My mother ordered a Green Goddess Salad which is not supposed to have any tortillas strips in it. Unfortunately after she began eating it she saw that the store had accidentally put the tortillas in it. Now this is an issue because my mother has a gluten allergy. The tortilla strips caused her to have a reaction. When my sister called the store on behalf of my mother and was discussing the situation with the manager she was asked if we did drive thru or in store (she was not present). When she advised the manager she did not know she could hear an employee in the background being extremely rude saying something along the lines of “it’s not that hard just ask”. When my sister advised the manager that she could hear the rude employee in the background there was no sort of acknowledgment of the behavior besides saying “oh he’s just rough around the edges”. After they were able to pull up the transaction they advised my sister that since we were not in person they could not offer any sort of compensation as “we may be scamming them”. Needless to say I’m insanely disappointed in all of this. I have been coming to this location for years and never had such a horrible experience. They did not even offer any sort of empathy that they caused an allergic reaction due to their negligence. I will be reaching out to corporate to discuss this further as this situation should have not gotten...