Issues at Subway

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Super S
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Issues at Subway

Post by Super S »

I have been noticing a huge variation in Subway locations lately. Everything from cleanliness of the restaurants, pricing, and menu choices. It almost looks like the corporate people either do not pay visits to the individual franchised locations, or are simply losing control of the chain. I used to eat there somewhat regularly, but noticed as prices crept up cleanliness started slipping. There is one local location I will still go to, but am leery of the chain now when I travel elsewhere because I don't know what to expect.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by pseudo3d »

Super S wrote:I have been noticing a huge variation in Subway locations lately. Everything from cleanliness of the restaurants, pricing, and menu choices. It almost looks like the corporate people either do not pay visits to the individual franchised locations, or are simply losing control of the chain. I used to eat there somewhat regularly, but noticed as prices crept up cleanliness started slipping. There is one local location I will still go to, but am leery of the chain now when I travel elsewhere because I don't know what to expect.
Subway's business model is selling franchises, there are no corporate stores. This is why things were already slowing down even before the Jared Fogle debacle, because the salad sandwich days of 2005-2010 when the chain was growing like crazy is over. It operates on pretty thin margins, and even within the same franchise, there's a pretty big difference between stores in terms of management. I don't want to clutter up the thread with some of my experiences, but feel free to PM me if you want to know more. :roll:
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by storewanderer »

I've had some really bad experiences with Subway. It is not a place I have consumed a sandwich from in at least a decade. I'd rather wait 10 minutes for a sandwich at just about any grocery store service deli (which is almost always better meat/cheese and usually fresher vegetables). Subway does have excellent cookies... it was great 5 years ago when they decided to start selling brewed iced tea in-store though, but unfortunately many locations either do not know that when you brew two urns of tea, you actually have to put new tea into the brewing filter after the first urn is done, do not know how/when to clean the tea brewing equipment, forget to make it all together, etc.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by Alpha8472 »

I used to go to Subway back when they had $5 footings. Now it is over 9 dollars for some sandwiches.

Subway once proclaimed how healthy they were. Their food is far from healthy with all the salt and toppings. The food is so bland and boring now.

I personally have had some awful experiences recently including expired bottled milk, expired apple juice, stale cookies, and no apple slices. These are kids meals options and the restaurant was a busy mall location. No one bothered to check expiration dates or even rotated stock.

This chain is doing very little to improve itself. Perhaps they think that a big German company will come along and buy them. Why bother trying? Just give up.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:I've had some really bad experiences with Subway. It is not a place I have consumed a sandwich from in at least a decade. I'd rather wait 10 minutes for a sandwich at just about any grocery store service deli (which is almost always better meat/cheese and usually fresher vegetables). Subway does have excellent cookies... it was great 5 years ago when they decided to start selling brewed iced tea in-store though, but unfortunately many locations either do not know that when you brew two urns of tea, you actually have to put new tea into the brewing filter after the first urn is done, do not know how/when to clean the tea brewing equipment, forget to make it all together, etc.
I worked in a not-so-great Safeway-owned store at one time where we rarely had the bread that we needed (not that volume was that great), but what I did notice was far more consistency--the tomatoes were in a plastic container that had been pre-sliced with a sealed top and was delivered fresh enough. Conversely, the tomatoes at Subway were of varying quality and came in a box (with tomatoes that weren't always washed, and my store was one of the cleaner ones). Because of the varying tomato quality and bad equipment, tomato seeds would go everywhere. The other ingredients weren't great, either...I would often find suspect pieces of chicken meat that had mold or something on them (I would throw them out, but many stores didn't...), whichever company packed the spinach has terrible QA (there was a well-publicized incident where the bag of spinach had a dead mouse in it), etc. Obviously a lot of restaurants have a lot of issues with cleanliness, but the ingredients at Subway just weren't very good.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by Super S »

Some of the more notable things I have experienced:

I have been to three Subway locations in the Portland area which were completely out of bread. I'm not kidding. I don't know how a sandwich shop can operate if they can't keep bread on hand.

I have been to one, also in the Portland area, where I was yelled at for getting a drink refill, saying refills were 50 cents (although it wasn't posted) I dumped my entire pop out in the drain of the machine and walked out.

Only a handful of locations offer Swiss cheese. I have never been able to figure this one out. Most sandwich shops offer Swiss as it's a popular choice.

I have been to one in the Tacoma area where not a single employee was using gloves. When I saw that I decided not to order anything.

I have been to a relatively new location in the Portland area which had green mold growing in the restroom. Made me wonder where else mold was growing. I walked out. (I actually emailed Subway corporate over that and got a response that they were taking immediate action, but haven't been back to that one)

There are many I have been to where there is not a single clean table in the restaurant. No excuse when you have several employees standing around and no customers.

And I have been to many where there is only one employee in the whole restaurant working in the middle of the day. This is an issue if you walk in during a time when a large family is in front of you ordering multiple sandwiches. I am not willing to wait a half hour especially if I am on a lunch break.

Subway is far from the only franchised chain out there. Look at McDonald's and how big they are....yet they are one of the most consistent as far as how the locations operate.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by buckguy »

Subway requires far less upfront investment from franchisees than other chains. That might have been an asset when there weren't many chain sub shops. Now there's much more competition and some can deliver a lot more for only slightly more. Most likely the low investment winds up a harbinger of poor execution.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by storewanderer »

I think the low investment and general lack of control over the locations is a problem. Subways don't make a whole lot of money to begin with. I think they have a lot of owners who also have other interests/jobs and then there are people who are actually trying to make a living off of operating a Subway that realistically is going to have a hard time making much profit...
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by wnetmacman »

I worked at a Subway when I was in college, about 20+ years ago. This doesn't make me a current expert by any shape of things, but I can provide at least a little historical insight.

At that time, Subway had a small army of district managers who constantly inspected the stores. They were based regionally throughout the company.

Keep in mind, at that time, Subway was still healthily expanding throughout the country and world, and they didn't appear on every corner.

The DM would come in with a clipboard, inspecting every aspect of the store. (Think yellow masonite/subway wallpaper walls, and the like). If anything, and I mean ANYTHING didn't meet company standards, the DM had the authority to shut down the store and take it over until it did. You had to keep a supply of that masonite on hand to replace marked/scratched/damaged pieces. If the vegetables weren't sliced correctly, you got written up. If you weren't wearing approved clothing, you got written up. (my store got hit for me not wearing Subway branded pants) The bread had to fit a special measuring device they carried. On the other hand, if they liked you, you were *awarded* the title of Sandwich Artist. It was an honor to get it, not a perk of the job like now.

Much has changed at Subway. At that time, it cost $10K for the first franchise, and $2500 for subsequent ones. Now, it's $25K plus net worth and such. And the quality of the product has completely declined. The bread just doesn't taste right to me any more. Plus the way they cut it now....ugh. Most of them manhandle it and crush it.

I'm really waiting for a mass closure of stores, due to lack of income. The Jared scandal really hurt them, as the only real acknowledgement of it was to fire him. No apologies, nothing. I don't think they can afford to care any more.
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Re: Issues at Subway

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:I think the low investment and general lack of control over the locations is a problem. Subways don't make a whole lot of money to begin with. I think they have a lot of owners who also have other interests/jobs and then there are people who are actually trying to make a living off of operating a Subway that realistically is going to have a hard time making much profit...
The manager at the Subway where I worked a few years ago did seem to have management as the only job. Unfortunately, managers have to basically have only so many hours to give to employees or they don't get a certain bonus, thus it makes more sense economically for them to staff as thin as possible, with no more than 4 people working even on slammed days.
wnetmacman wrote: Much has changed at Subway. At that time, it cost $10K for the first franchise, and $2500 for subsequent ones. Now, it's $25K plus net worth and such. And the quality of the product has completely declined. The bread just doesn't taste right to me any more. Plus the way they cut it now....ugh. Most of them manhandle it and crush it.
The bread quality has decreased. My area had the first Subway stores in Texas, the bread was baked at a local restaurant/bakery and shipped there. The bread nowadays is shipped in as frozen sticks, and despite proofing and baking, does not come up right. The "fresh" bread is too squishy (probably needed to rest more), and by the time the crust is harder, the crumb is harder too.
I'm really waiting for a mass closure of stores, due to lack of income. The Jared scandal really hurt them, as the only real acknowledgement of it was to fire him. No apologies, nothing. I don't think they can afford to care any more.
I don't know, they reacted really quickly (from day one, they removed any mention of him, including ripping off the bottom parts of posters) and didn't try to apologize on his behalf. As for mass closures, I'm certainly thinking that it may come for my area--there's six stores within a two mile radius of where I live, and at least half are badly managed. Like I said, I have a lot of stories from Subway that caused me to quit and still piss me off even today. However, RetailWatchers is not for rants, and I'd be happy to divulge them via PM.
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