Subway — Restaurant in Virginia

Earlier this month, on National Sandwich Day, my wife visited Subway #51464-0. She ordered two 12 inch combos to go, was served, and left. I was the first to open the sandwiches after she got home. To my dismay, the bread was hard. In disbelief I checked the other half and then the other sandwich….all hard. Not rock hard but slightly stiff and definitely stale. Tapping the bread with my fingernail produced a “ticking” sound. The food was not fresh; it wasn’t the soft texture I had come to recognize as being from Subway. I even go as far as NEVER requesting my bread toasted because that freshness and softness of the bread is desirable. I was immediately unsettled by this because I knew they could do better so my response was to take the food back and have it replaced.

I explained myself to multiple times that the bread was stale and I didn’t have a receipt. I was finally directed to Yolanda. She puts on a plastic glove, pokes the sandwich, says it was not hard, and attempts to dismiss the situation by saying ‘No.” The three ladies began speaking among themselves in Spanish directly in front of me. I had to ask them to speak in English so that I could understand. Yolanda annoyed by me, walks away and returns a moment later and hands me someone’s personal cell phone without explanation or knowledge of who was on the phone.

A man identifying himself only as the owner began berating me advising that his food was fresh. He opened the conversation by insulting me. I stopped him to explain that I knew the difference between fresh and not fresh and not to blindly indict me. He went on to talk about the volume they did saying the ingredients were fresh due to turnover. I speculate that they baked the bread in advance and held it in reserve anticipating high volume….thus allowing time for it to NOT be fresh.

The owner kept asking who bought it, how did I pay, how long ago, what did I order. I explained myself to him 4 or 5 times only to have him flat out refuse my request to replace the food. After a few minutes of back and forth, he finally agreed to a refund of the sandwich only but demanded the condition that I not tell anyone or write anywhere that his food was not fresh. I rejected this instantly and explained that I would write and say whatever I wanted to whomever and it was ridiculous for him to hold my refund hostage with such a foolish demand…a remarkable over-step. I gave Yolanda back the cell phone while he was in mid-sentence. I said to her that I want my refund. She remarked that she could do nothing without the receipt. I told her the time transaction time +/- 10 minutes so they could check the journal and asked her to check the trash because the receipt might be there (it never made it to my house). They found the original receipt and the journal transaction. Yolanda then asks for the Visa used. I said that I didn’t have it. I asked could she refund the account just using the receipt; she said no. I then asked if they could void the transaction considering it happened an hour ago, she said no. I know I’m being lied to and I’m dealing with employees that are not empowered and may feel angst towards their boss which is causing them to mishandle me. I explained that I was going to get the card and I expected a streamlined refund upon return.

I got home and asked my wife to get her Visa and go back for the refund. She came back with a voided receipt. I asked if they took her card, she said no. They keyed the register and handed her a voided receipt. The void says that it was processed by Yolanda.

In the end I was insulted, questioned, called a liar, possibly lied to, and denied a basic request all because I wanted what we paid for and what Subway...

Two times I have needed an exceptional courtesy and employees here have done so without hesitation.

First was around Christmas, possibly the 23rd or 24th, and I went in while on a work errand. I did not have my personal debit card so I planned to use my Apple Watch. Unfortunately, my watch wasn’t working with their system. I explained that I worked across the street and would go to get payment and be right back. Rather, the employee said to go ahead and take my food and just bring payment later 😲 I was very thankful! However, due to getting busy...I FORGOT 🤭 so, I went back the next open day after the holiday. They were understanding and I was so impressed that they provided the decency of letting me leave to eat my food fresh!

The next occurrence was today. I have recently had surgery and I cannot walk without the aid of a walker. I called to see if this location was offering curbside pickup as I would be next door picking up takeout for my son. The employee I spoke to said no but, understanding my situation, she would be willing to bring it out to me! When she came out, she had my bag on a tray that she placed through my window to maintain social distancing.

Neither time was there an expectation for these employees to go above and beyond, but they did and I am extremely grateful for their kindness. I wish I had caught their names - both had name tags I just didn’t think to register them - but, if either see this, please know that your kindness is very...

As a customer, I liked this Subway because it looks very clean. I always order the Steak & Cheese sandwich. However, because I am lactose intolerant, I always asked the person preparing my sub to substitute cheese for bacon. They would add an extra charge, but It's been fine by me. There have been different workers who have done that for me, including the manager. The client orders, the client pays. I have never had an issue with this order. It's my favorite one and also I do it this way because I cannot eat cheese without getting sick. That's the same reason I never add mayonnaise. HOWEVER, today (Sunday, July 9, 2023 @12:30 pm EST), this one coworker (who I wish she had her name tag on) told me that this request — my request was not possible. That, that's not something THEY do. I was in disbelief. I tried to explain to her that they've always done that for me and if I need to pay an extra fee, I do it. The lady insisted though that they never do that (my request). I have never seen her before, I could understand if she is new but the fact that she cannot accommodate for the customer is really troublesome and and annoying.

Unfortunately, it does look that the manager of this Subway never reads the reviews, so I am contributing to lower their reviews for others to check before they visit this store. Maybe next time they train their...