Panera Bread
Reviews and Complaints

Emma, Heather, Rachel Lilek, & Lisa are all scandalous [censor] employees. They closer than they should be. Emma fires people for no reason based off of he said|she said. She needs to be replaced immediately! Rachel micro manages and makes Panera in a unhealthy drama filled store. She comes in on her day off and makes it hard on other workers. If something doesn't happen. I will build a case against them soon with past employees and present ones to back me up.

I was passing through Chester VA on 7/7/17. Megan took my order, a spinach bacon soufflé. I've bought these and plenty of bagels to know that employees use a paper wrap to handle food, especially after they just finished ringing up an order using their hands on the register.

I was in a rush so instead of asking for a manager, I threw my food away and left to get to my destination on time.

If someone could retrain Megan on handling food, it would be a blessing to keep unwanted germs from her hands from being transmitted to customers!

Check #507929
8:17 am

A group of us (6) walked into Panera West Bloomfield around 2:30pm on Friday July 7th. There was one cashier and one customer at the counter. The cashier was taking a long order from the one customer.
The cashier Karin I think, acknowledged us and said she'd be with us shortly.
In the meantime, another guest asked for coffee. Karen excused herself and asked for help from the back. No help came came and Karen finished another order from the same customer. She excused herself again to ask for help and a manager came out. She yelled at Karin that it was her fault that she let the line get long even though Karin explained we (our group) all came in together. I had to back the cashier on her claim because the manager acted like her employee was lying. I'm not sure how the cashier kept her composure and waited on a line, did coffee and joked with the customers. Andrea was pleasant helping us with the Kiosk, but the way she treated the line cashier was unacceptable. I might go back but only if I have to deal with cashiers like Karin not that management.

I ordered food online through my Panera account on Tuesday July 4th. When searching for early close times, knowing it was a holiday and many places close early, I found something at the bottom of the website stating the Panera I was ordering from (501 E Hamilton Ave. in Campbell, California) would be closing early and I saw that the online pickup times had been adjusted for the occasion; this location closes at 9 and the last pickup time was set for 6:55 pm. I ordered my food around 6:30 pm giving me plenty of time to get to the store early and wait for my food. Since the last pickup time was clearly adjusted for the 4th of July and set at 6:55 pm it was easily assumable the store didn't close until 7:00 pm at the earliest. I arrived at the location at 6:45 pm, tried to open the doors, and the doors were locked; there was a typed-up piece of paper on the door that said the store was open from 6:00 am to 6:30 pm. Not only was this disappointing but I believe the manager in charge at the time closed early to accommodate those working for the day, not thinking about the actual time the store was supposed to close for the holiday. I had already ordered and paid online and as a broke college student this really wasn't okay for me to be out $18.66 for a couple of days (total of my order; my order number is [protected]).
I contacted customer support and the lady said my money wouldn't be refunded for 2-3 business days. Later in the day I got an email that said "based on your financial institution, the refund process will take up to 7-10 business days, " not the 2-3 I was originally told. I still have not gotten my money back in my account and I feel like I should get some additional type of accommodation (meaning in addition to the refund) for the store closing early. I was in a rush to take care of a family issue and it was a waste of gas, money, and time and had every right to get my food at the time the website stated yet the store closed too early.

I am a long-time customer of Panera and have been quite generally satisfied in the food quality. However, the clam and corn chowders do nit meet the standards of the other Panera products.

Both chowders are thin and watery. The clam chowder is an embarrassment with almost no minced clams and potatoes.

The corn chowder is a brown gruel with a few kernels of corn and few tiny bits of diced peppers.

Management's response to my complaint was to tell me that the reason for the poor quality was due to Panera's commitment to using only natural ingredients.

I was in your restaurant MAY 19 ended up paying for 2 dinners on my de it cardshould have only 1 and I'm having the hardest time getting it back! The first guy told me 10 to 12 days. Ow it's going 30. I'm on disibility and need every dime! All I wawant is my money back! I don't know how these guys work but it seems awful slow to me! All I want is my money! Thank you Laura Wanat e-mail is wanat.[protected]@yahoo.com
Thanks again

I was driving in the parking lot on my way to my local Panera to get lunch around 12:00 today (July 4th). After almost being hit by a driver backing out of their space, I had to swerve to avoid being hit. Immedately afterward, a Panera delivery driver came barreling around the corner and almost slammed into the front of my car. I was shocked to hear him yell out the window at me (pardon my language), "Stay in your lane, [censor]ing [censor]." And after almost being hit twice within a ten second radius, you can probably see why I'm upset about this. I love Panera, and it's my favorite restaurant, so I was very upset to expirience this kind of behavior from one of your employees.

Panera bread, northpoint mall I am with my sister at perimeter mall. I went to carlos bakery for a few desserts for my sister's birthday. Got thirsty and wanted a cup of water. Not complaining about no one being at the desk. When an older black lady, name tage read mary asks "can I help you"? Which I am in service industry, and this is already a red flag on service. I asked if I can get a cup of water. She turns around... Doesn't say a word. Then grabs the water. Comes back, I said "thank you" she says "mhmm, hmmm" you should def get better employees. Sincerely a disrespected customer.

To Whom May It Concern:

For a very unprofessional manager Isaac you hire for Norridge, IL. My daughter had at job interview at 7 o'clock in morning for 7/1/2017. Supposedly the staff have a nerve to tell my daughter the manager was not in until 10 am. I took the day off from my job so that my daughter go to her job interview. There's was no confusion with the time, so Mr. Isaac schedule interview for 7 o'clock in morning for 7/1/2017. I hope incidents like this never happen again in the future. For any questions or concerns please email me at [protected]@hotmail.com

Thank you for your consideration.
Ms. Jaffry

First of all, the employee taking our order did not get the order correct. And we had no way of knowing it was incorrect because she did not repeat it back to us. So, when our order did not come out correctly, I went up the counter to ask for what I ordered. And the lady refused because "I was not charged for it". I ordered it, but the employee had messed up the order. So, my dad proceeded to go up to the counter and ask, but again she refused and began to get very angry. Eventually, she handed us what we ordered, but then proceeded to start yelling that my dad had "cussed her out", which is a lie. He was simply asking for what we had ordered. She repeated herself, so much so that other customers were staring at our family. I work in the restaurant business, and if I had done something so unprofessional like that I would've been fired. I am in shock that as paying customers we would be treated like this.

On 29 June 2017, between the hours of 0700 and 0730, after spending 15 minutes in the drive-thru, and paying for the food that I selected, I was informed that the item had already been sold. There was no offer to refund the money for the item (Ham and Cheese Soufflé) that I paid for and only received half of the products that I paid for (Superfruit Smoothie). I frequent this location and typically do not receive the highest level or speedy service typically waiting 10-15 minutes in the drive thru even if no one else is in line. This is very disappointing, as this is the only location in my area and I have really considered not returning.

Saint Robert, Missouri Location

Dear Panera Customer Service,

On the 20th of June (2017) my daughter purchased a "tulip cookie" from your restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey.
She found a penny inside of the cookie when she ate it the next day (pictured in the image below) she found a penny in the cookie. She thankfully did not eat it, as she broke the cookie and spotted it before she could, but if she hadn't spotted the penny, what if she ate it and choked on it? This penny was very filthy and could have caused damaging health conditions if ingested.

This could have been severely harmful. People come to your restaurants expecting quality food, not dirty pennies. Note that my daughter and I have been to your restaurant a good many times before this, and have previously enjoyed your service and food. We’re still very mad and cannot believe this.

How are the conditions and the environment in your kitchens for a coin to be baked within a cookie? A large chain such as yourself should pay more attention to the way food is made. This is a shock; that something like a coin could be found within food.

Today I visited the Panera Store #0687, Glen Allen, VA. 23060. The time was 3:03pm. There was one (1) customer at the register, I was the other customer. I waited for 10 minutes to have my order taken. After finally getting to order, I stated to the cashier that I would like to have the half Chicken Caesar Salad, she repeated back to me some off the wall item I cannot remember what but not what I said so I again repeated myself. She said Oh, not a word of apology for misunderstanding me just Oh. Now, that did not get on my nerves as much as the order that I received which was a Caesar Salad (note the omission of the CHICKEN, that I paid for). This is not the first time that I have had this issue, it has happened to me at least 4 times. You would think that after this happening to me so many times that I would check the order before I leave, shame on me. I only do that at McDonald's. Shame on me. So when I got back to work expecting to have a delicious CHICKEN Caesar salad I was again disappointed. So I called the manager "Mike" and his response to me was "What did I want him to do about it?" So I in turn asked him "What do you think you should do about it?" His response was we can give you another salad. Nothing extra for my troubles like "Hey let me throw in a pastry for your inconvenience. Not management material. What about my gas, inconvenience of paying premium prices for your food and not getting what I ordered? Or much less what was on the ticket, clearly it states CHICKEN Caesar salad. Can you please tell me what is wrong with your food preparers that they cannot read the tickets correctly? After I go back and get my correct order, I swear this will be my final entry through your doors. Your employees incompetence is out of control. At least at McDonald's I normally get the right order. Disgusted in Virginia. Your employees are downright nasty and most of them would not be tolerated at any other establishment.

In the Panera Bread Location in Evans, there is a lane that runs around the building (with other shops) and exits (only exit) along side the Panera Bread Store. The lane is not designed to handle two vehicles wide. The lane is the sole exit from the drive thru from the Starbucks located at the other end of the building. The tractor trailer pulls up alongside just past an side entrance, and unloads (a relatively small amount of stock) into the store. When he parks the tractor trailer, the lane is too narrow for normal passage; and the truck tractor is far enough forward that it limits the ability of exiting vehicles to turn properly. I made it through carefully, I had to pull out into the main road to clear the truck (slight right), then back into the lane (back left in reverse) in front of the store in order to make a complete right turn into the main traffic lane. After I did this, the truck driver came out to get another 'dolly" load, I called to him and told him he needed to find another place to park when unloading that did not block the exit when he made deliveries. He told me to have a "nice day" and continued muttering something. I called the store manager and explained what happened at that her driver should not be parking there. She explained that he only had a few things to deliver. I explained that regardless of the quantity delivered, the driver should not block the sole exit lane from other businesses - ever. I suspect that you need to positively reinforce this - delivery drivers can not block a normal traffic lane for deliveries no matter the size of delivery. Please do so.

I had a terrible experience with my take out order today. I entered a nearly empty (Of customers) store... Placed my order at the kiosk.. And went to find a seat/wait.. I could hear lots of laughing, joking, etc on the other side of the counter... 15 minutes pass.. Still nothing.. Like I said.. There were very few customers in the restaurant... There's no way it would take this long to slice 13 bagels... I went to the counter, and asked about my order.. The whole time there is a ridiculous about of goofing off going on.. Then I was told by a young man that "the order came in wrong." "working on it now" with a deep eye roll, and obvious "I don't really care" attitude. My order number was [protected]. It took a total of 23 minutes for my order to finally come out... He had the bagels bagged up.. Which it great.. However.. He had plan bagels bagged with everything bagels... Cinnamon with cheese... You get the idea... There were no napkins... No knives... It was clear the reason it took so long was not bc of his diligent work... He was busy having a good time.. But, when a pretty girl walked in the door... He was all ears..

Things like this prevent me from going to your restaurant.

Panera located at 21 Airport Square, North Wales, PA 19454. Date 6/25/17 at 5:23:28 Cafe Order 451874

If this was the first time, I would not write this complaint, but our order isn't correct 80% of the time.
Today we picked up our order to have a picnic at the park. We ordered a You Pick 2: black bean soup, chips and a strawberry poppyseed chicken salad; a cup of summer corn chowder, chips, and roast turkey sandwich with chips.
When we got to our location, we had no chips (which we should have had 3 bags, ) no napkins and NO SILVERWARE. Needless to say, our picnic was cut short, as the only thing we could eat was the sandwich.
At the bottom of our receipt, it says our order should be correct every time. I can understand, to a degree, when it is busy things can get out of hand, but there was only one person along with us getting food. I can also understand an issue 10% of the time, but 80%?
I don't have this problem with any other food service, so I am not sure why Panera has such issues. My husband reminds me each time our order isn't correct, why he doesn't want to go there anymore. Not sure if we will be going back.
Denise Sieger
PO Box 102
Colmar, PA 18915

Hello,

My husband and I both just ordered a pick 2 for each of us and a mac and cheese for our child. It was $29. When we got our bill we realized that our pick 2 items were not any kind of deal at all. They were just 2 separate items charged seperately. There was no "deal" per say by ordering these 2 items together. The advertisement was misleading. I think this is just s ploy for your company to make more money by making people think they should order 2 items as some kind of package deal. When in fact there is no deal at all. I find this type of marketing to be decepitful and will no longer give my business to an organization with such values. I'm trying to teach my children honestly, not scams.

so i go to Panera-get coffee-how complicated is that? and the lip indentation on the coffee lid is so shallow u practically have to press your face into the lid to get a sip w/o spilling it all over you-have u tried using this coffee lid? i dare you! seriously, go get a medium coffee and try to casually sip it as if u wanted to calmly and patiently enjoy your morning-cant be done.
this is basic stuff Panera-its enough that a have to wait slightly longer for my admittedly higher-quality fast-casual breakfast sandwich(which was delicious, ill admit) but in the meantime, dont blow my sunday morning vibe with this bogus coffee lid. i even scrounged around in the back seat for a old Dunkin lid to transfer-but no go!
badly designed basic items fascinate me-its like, how could this turkey have gone to print? go have a sip and admit-"wow! we really blew it on this one..."
pls find attached a photo of the offending lid-pls bring it to the guys in your r&d department and come up with something that works-ok? cheers!

ps-so u realize spell check doesn't recognize the word Panera? lol!

Hello

Currently, your cream based soups are thickened with flour. This could easily be changed to corn starch to help people with gluten allergies be able to enjoy your delicious soups. Ever since I discovered my gluten allergy 3 years ago, I have really missed your broccoli cheddar soup in particular. I know there are lots of cross contamination issues, so this wouldn't help people with celiacs disease, but it would really help lots of other people with gluten allergies.

Thanks for your time

Lauren Kommer

Went and purchased this salad. Come home to find no dressing! Disappointed! No other salad dressings taste as good as poppyseed with this salad. I wasn't going to drive back, it's clear across town! It would be a huge inconvenience! I come to Panera a lot and enjoy the food and meeting my friends and family there or ordering to go. Panera has always stated if they have made a mistake, they would accommodate you. I am very disappointed!