Panera Bread — Restaurant in Virginia

Don't bother coming later in the evening and expecting anything. Their hours say they close at 9pm, but what that means is that they soft-close at 8:30 and treat you like garbage if you expect anything past that.

I work late nights, like a lot of people do. I like having a place to go where I can unwind and relax, or do private work with free wifi. I'm not at Panera every day, like some regulars seem to be, but I visit it around twice a week, sometimes more.

And every single time, for well over a year, they've treated me very poorly once closing time approaches. It's late, I get that, and you want to leave, I get that too. I'm not unreasonable. I'm not complaining about customer service, or being waited on. I'm complaining about buying a drink from them, being handed a cup after being rung up, and then finding out that I can't fill it with anything but tap water from the bathroom sink, because they've already disassembled the drink machine.

They shouldn't sell customers something if they're not able to fulfill the sale. I'm not buying a plastic cup, I'm buying a drink, and until 9pm, I have every right to expect to be able to get that drink. It shouldn't matter if it's 8, 8:30, 8:45, or even 8:59.

I have no way of knowing what they're being asked to do on the back end. Maybe it's not their fault. I like most of the employees there, they seem like good people. But you will consistently get treated like a vagrant if you're there past a certain point. They act like they close at 8:30, and you're now lingering around and asking for things after closing time. That's a managerial problem. That's the fault of the managers. Whoever is in charge of handling the closing, that's their issue.

And it's not a Panera Bread problem, either, because other Paneras don't do this. I've been to others out of state, and they respect the 9pm closing time. The Panera Bread on Jefferson also doesn't start closing until their actual closing time at 9. It's just the CNU Panera that does this.

As someone who worked in retail a long time ago, it feels like someone is trying to cut corners. Like they're trying to leave the registers open, but they close off the kitchen, the drink machines, and everything else, so they can leave early. And while I can't prove that's happening, that is what it looks like. And that's dishonest. It's bad customer service. They shouldn't be taking carry-out orders, selling drinks and pastries, and then refusing to fulfill their end of the deal just because their shift is almost over.

tl;dr, if you work late shift or are just getting off of work at 7:30 or 8, don't bother with the CNU Panera. If you must have Panera food or atmosphere, go to the one on Jefferson instead. They actually stay open until 9, and don't treat you like a second-class citizen for ordering something at 8:35.

To the CNU Panera: Don't treat paying customers like this. If I walk into the door at 8:50, you're still open, and I should still be able to order a sandwich to go. I should still be able to use the drink machine if I buy a drink. It isn't unreasonable to expect a restaurant to serve me if they're still open, and it also isn't unreasonable to expect to be treated like a human being either. If you refuse to change your ways, then at least change your listed hours to say you close at 8:30, so that way you're honest about what people should expect if they...

Please read all of it to understand. I am not sure what prevents this store from winning. Their design for comfortability is not lacking. They have plenty of places for set up for laptop use and can seat a lot of customers. Sadly their bathroom is consistently out of toilet paper, their bathrooms are always somehow in ruin. I noticed they were doing the very best they could here. Even a cook said, 'I think we are doing a great job today guys'. Yes I believe that. This isn't about the kitchen. The kitchen carry top staff and rarely get an order wrong. I've been here a few times and I ordered through out the day each time coming in as early at 10 am and leaving at 830pm. The food is always right and hot and fresh. NOW the issue is the dining areas. They stay unattended and very unclean. I noticed many customers walking around with their meals looking for clean tables. I took it upon myself to wipe off several tables for the new customers to sit. I felt for the staff. Its weird. Its like there is no hustle for the front of house of this location. I let the front staff know the amount of dust that accumulated on the area where the sit in mugs were and she was at attention, when I stated I was okay with mine but others might not be she relaxed. It didn't get wiped down at all but I noticed ppl pick the mugs up through the day and put them back down in disgust. This isn't the type of thing that should be seen at any store. The coffee area often stays dirty as well. For example, the sugar pack cups will go empty until someone asks about it through the day. Start to end, the location has no sense of cleaning the area for their customers...

Consistently screwed up to-go online/ app orders. Two out of four of my last orders were wrong or incomplete. Yet, on their little “double check list” every item is checked off.

First wrong order. Missing bagels. Noticed the bag felt light so I broke the seal and opened it. No bagels. However, there were checkmarks on the receipt for bagels, sliced, and toasted. None of that happened. Had to get someone to get them to complete my order.

Second screwed up order was a sandwich and an iced latte coffee. The sandwich was there. The iced latte coffee was not. Instead there was an empty cup next to my bag. Again, everything checked off.

Just remembered, on the two times they got the order correct, I received cream cheese with a bagel instead of the requested butter. Yep. It was checked off that it was butter. Nope.

I tipped online for each transaction hopefully that I would get what I paid for and not a wrong order, I was wrong.

Contacted store and corporate. Was offered a credit for next order. Declined it. I don’t mind paying for food I order, but get it right. Was told they would fix the store and employees and get it right. Nope.

About $13 for an iced latte and a breakfast sandwich. Nah.

I started at Dunkin’ instead. $6 deal and they haven’t screwed up...