Panera Bread

I have definitely started eating more Panera since I’ve downloaded this app about a year ago. I use the rapid pick up often. It is nice to walk into the Panera that has a long line of people waiting to order, and I walk right by all of them to pick up my order that’s already been freshly prepared. And then I walk right by all of them again with my bag in hand, their faces showing confusion and jealousy. The app works for me most of the time, however, there have been some times where it acts clunky and malfunctions, such as giving me an error when I want to sign up for text updates on my delivery. And it is very frustrating when I want to order some food through the app, but it is not working and not available to use. Sometimes, if I kill the app and restart it, that alleviates the problem. Sometimes the app has been taken down for updates. They do provide a notification when they anticipate it will be ready to use again, which is nice. I love that the app is synced with Apple Pay. I also like that when I want to add a card payment, it can photograph the credit card so I don’t have to type in the numbers. I also like that all my Panera rewards are available to see during checkout. I can apply one to my order if I like or save for later. Overall, this app gets five stars from me. I really like using the Panera app on a regular basis. But I probably eat too much Panera, lol!

I love their menu choices and the quality of their food. GREAT pastries, salads and sandwiches. Now if the management (not the store manager-the company management) would just get their act together and revise their application, interview, and hiring process, I bet they’d have MUCH better service. Most of the front workers don’t listen and are slow to help. My daughter, who is what I call smarter than the average bear, efficient and had food service experience, tried to apply for a job here right before she moved home from college. By the time the company got back to her two weeks had gone by. Then the interview was a week later. The second interview was two weeks after that. By that time she was five weeks into her summer and had another job! No wonder the company cannot good workers. They all get other jobs before the second interview and go elsewhere! Modernize and speed up the hiring process and hire service people who can serve your customers well. If it weren’t for your food and location I wouldn’t come back. If it weren’t for your poor service, I’d come back more often.

response required

There’s a major disconnect between the experience in store and online with panera. In store you can customize your food however you want and you can use multiple rewards at the same time. Neither of these is a feature in the app or on the website. Want steak on the bbq flatbread instead of chicken? Can’t do it on the app, only roasted turkey is available to substitute. Want bacon on your Baja Mac and cheese? Can’t do it... they don’t have any customizable options for the Mac and cheeses... Have a dollar off a pick two and a dollar off a sandwich and a dollar off a soup you want to use? Sorry, can only do the dollar off the pick two. They won’t even let you use the dollar off a sandwich unless it’s not on a pick two! All of these things I can do in the store. There is no excuse for not being able to do these on the app or website. If they want to take away these options in store, ok I’ll accept that, as long as their customer experience is consistent between the store and online. Panera, aka Saint Louis Bread Co (as they should be calling themselves), is better than this and I’m extremely shocked at just how different these experiences are. I don’t know a single other restaurant or store that is so different like this.

I absolutely love the Rapid Order pickup option. As someone with a short lunch break, I have little time for standing in line then waiting for my order. As someone who hates making phone calls to place orders, the no-human-contact aspect is wonderful! However, I've had several issues with inaccuracies in my orders, and I wish there was a way to send an email about them as well. It seems counterintuitive to create an app for people who obviously dislike placing order phone calls but to require a call to fix issues. To date I've paid for several items I didn't receive, and frankly I'll give up on going to Panera before I start making complaint calls every other order. Later update: I really wish they’d update the app to display the *closest* locations rather than the most frequent. Lunch is a busy time, and sending an order to a restaurant 50 miles away by accident is an expensive mistake I’ve made twice now. My fault, yes, but both times it was because I was in a hurry and the app defaulted to my last order location and I didn’t notice.

response required

I’d been using this app for a while, loving the rewards and simplicity of the rapid pickup. However, today the order was not there when I got there. It was busy, so okay. I waited a half hour, periodically checking on my poor dog who was stuck out in the car. Finally I went to talk with someone at the register, and they didn’t show any record of my order. The lady told me to keep waiting (for an order they didn’t have?!) and acted like I was just being impatient. No one would look at the order confirmation I had, there was no offer to remake it, not even an apology for the trouble. The staff completely blew me off, and I had to just leave. This is inexcusable customer service. Update - I contacted Panera customer service and they did eventually refund, so I’ll add a star for that. The process to get that done was still a bit of a pain, though, and I’m reluctant to go back after such a terrible experience. My suggestion - the cafe needs visibility to track the app orders, and if the cafe is busy, there needs to be a way for that to be factored into the pickup time. The app isn’t worth anything if you don’t get what was ordered!