Panera Bread — Restaurant in Winter Park

Whenever you order food, there are a dozen things that may not go right, but from my perspective, it's how issues get resolved that counts most.

I placed an order in the drive-through and was told to pull around.

After waiting about 10 minutes or so, I walked in to find out what was up with my order since they were about to close.

After finding out my order had been sitting and no one brought it out, the staff informed the manager who then came over to me apologized profusely, and had the staff remake my order, upgraded the entire thing at no charge, then refunded me for the wait..none of which I asked for or requested her to do. In fact, she was surprised I was so calm and jovial about the whole thing when I remarked "I see how it is. .you guys have no love for me. You forgot all about me." :-)

She said that I was "the most amazing and friendly customer they'd had all day", and the girl who prepared my food said I was like "a breath of fresh air compared to most customers".

I've had similar mishaps occur at other food places and hadn't ever had a resolution like that.

It goes to show you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar as they say. .people are still people in the end, whether they are out somewhere talking to you about the weather, or preparing food that you ordered.

People screw up. .it's human nature.

Try being nice when they do, and you might be surprised at the result you get in the end.

Negative, angry people tend to get negative angry results....

Review for Panera Bread

I visited this Panera Bread location to use my Unlimited Sip Club membership. When I walked in and asked for a drink, I was assisted by someone wearing a “Team Lead” tag—though no name was displayed. I gave her my phone number multiple times, clearly and slowly, but she insisted it wasn’t showing up in the system.

She then called over another associate named Sophia, who entered my number once and had it working immediately. Instead of acknowledging the mistake, the team lead told me I must have given the wrong number and swapped digits, which I knew was untrue. I’ve had the same number for 15 years and repeated it multiple times. At that point, I chose not to respond further, because any reply would’ve felt disrespectful, and I try to avoid escalating situations.

What made the experience even more disappointing was her attitude—no smile, no friendly tone, no kindness. It was clear she didn’t want to be there, and unfortunately, that energy was affecting the entire team. While waiting, I noticed the back-of-house team seemed tense and stressed, which says a lot about how a leader’s mood can impact the whole environment.

I fully understand that team leads have many responsibilities—but taking on that role also means choosing to treat guests with care, respect, and a positive attitude. I hope leadership at this location takes this to heart and supports both the staff and the guest experience...

This location is a joke but only when the manager's name is Tori. She apparently doesn't care about customer service. First of all, the app and all mypanera functions were down completely. I understand this can be stressful but there is NO EXCUSE for calling the customer a liar. On top of it all I was served a sandwich with a sauce that I am allergic to. When I ordered I specifically said and I quote "I only want turkey, bacon and and cheese. NO Sauce bcuz I will put mayo on it at home and I have allergies". When I called to complain she gave me attitude from the start. She said she took the order and she's the liar bcuz some other young man did not her. All she had to say was "I'm sorry that happened and we'll remake your sandwiches for you". I have to wonder why that was so difficult and if she had the whole situation would have been rectified very amicably. She only offered to remake them AFTER arguing with me and then she hung up. Is there such a thing as customer service anymore? NOT AT THIS LOCATION. Obviously Panera Bread won't miss our business and won't be going under anytime soon so I guess customer service really truly is dead or doesn't exist anymore. Thanks Tori and the manager's lack of leadership for nothing. I truly hope you have a nice life but I will be praying that you get demoted or assigned somewhere else until you reflect on how to treat ALL paying customers...