Charged extra for olives at Subway

To anyone posting in this discussion saying that Subway should not
have to do it or that you should have to pay extra I can tell you
beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is NOT Subway's policy to charge
extra for any vegetable and you can keep asking for as much as you
want (within reason) and they are suppose to put it on the sandwich.

This information came to me directly from Corporate because of an
incident I ran into at 3 different local Subway stores regarding extra
black olives. I was charged for extra bacon at one, extra cheese at
the other and just flat out berated in front of other customers at the
third for insisting on more olives which prompted my contact with
corporate. They said that it is absolutely not their policy to charge
for extra vegetables and that while they do have a prescribed amount
of each vegetable that the employees are trained to start with the
customer is allowed to ask for extra vegetables of any type available.


I believe I have found one of the primary problems with this whole
issue based on what I have been told by employees. They are
reprimanded by their management and owners for using to much product
which I believe is why they have taken to arguing with customers and
attempting to discourage customers asking for "more" by threatening
and going through with charging them. This is a problem that Subway
needs to fix internally and stop the lies and abuse their customers
are facing from misinformed and mistreated employees.

I just left subway in uptown New Orleans and was told Spinach on my
sandwich is an extra dollar charge..I was shocked. I ask when did this
start and he said last week. I am NOT going to Sub way anymore Quiznos
is going to be my sandwich shop from this point on. We as consumers
need to stand up to these places and show them who keeps them in
business.

I had the exact same experience, and continue to, at a subway in
Pomona CA. I am a fairly nice guy and usually people respond well to
me, but for some reason this lady doesn't like me. Ha. It is pretty
funny. I went in the first time and asked for extra olives and she
put maybe the 7 she was supposed to, but I asked for more and she only
put about 4 more on. I asked again. SHe said, "there are limits."
Here is the thing. I don't get cheese on my sandwiches so technically
subway is saving money on me. So if I want a lot of olives I should
get a lot of olives...oh yeah and I worked hard for the money that I
am spending to support Subway's business.
Here is the deal. I am the customer, and I want some freakin olives.
It isn't that hard, I too shop at the grocery store and I could buy a
whole can of olives for a dollar twenty-five, instead of the extra 40
cents for the pieces of olive that amount to about 1 whole olive I get
when I ask for more.
Oh yes, and now it happens every time I go there, I'm sticking with
Quizno's from here on.

I worked at a Subway for three years, and yes we are supposed to only
put 3 olives on a six inch and 6 on a footlong, however if a costumer
asked for more olives it was perfectly okay to add more at no extra
charge as long as it was within reason. Usually most of us would add a
few more as long as we weren't being monitored. There was no reason
for this employee to be so rude and I would call and speak with a
manager, or else go directly to the franchise.

The $5 dollar footlong sub should be called, "The Starvation Sub". It
doesn't matter what you order, you get a paper thin slice of meat with
a paper thin layer of veggies on a very bland piece of bread. At least
that is what my last several visits to the Subway in Meridian, Idaho
were like. When I ate the sandwich all I could taste was the bland
bread...Yuck! The guy behind the counter literally put a thinner layer
of lettuce on the sandwich then there was meat. I requested more
lettuce so now he double sprinkled a paper thin layer of lettuce and
no more. This guy made me feel like I was begging him to put even a
barely acceptable amount of lettuce on my sandwich. The routine was
the same with the rest of the veggies.

What I find even more interesting is when I went to a local Quiznos,
Domino's, Blimpie's, and Port of Subs, I actually was given both a
decent amount of meat and veggies right off the get go. There was no
need to ask for additional veggies as plenty were provided on their
regular sandwiches. Gee whiz, and I wasn't made to feel like I should
have to grovel for them. Plus their sandwiches were tasty. Yum, yum!

Concerned with my recent visits at Subway Store 29220, I filled out
the Subway on line "Customer Service Form" describing my experience.
After being a loyal customer for 20 years purchasing thousands of
subs from Subway surely they would care!? But considering I have
never heard back from Subway, it is a good indication they no longer
value my business. So long Subway, I am so done with you guys...

I was a Store Manager for a small franchise company d/b/a Subway for 2
years. Subway, like most chain restaurants, has an operations manual
that must be followed in order for any franchise to continue selling
the Subway brand. If not followed the owner/store could suffer
through Subway corporate, and less likely lose their franchise. The
manual that I had, which was updated yearly, listed SPECIFIC amounts
of EACH vegetable to put on each 6 inch and each footlong. The amount
of olives we were allowed to put were 3 for a 6 inch and 6 for a
footlong. We very rarely did this though, but if we knew that someone
was watching we did. It is very likely that the sandwich artist was
being watched without your knowledge. The owner of the particular
franchise that I worked at said that if the customer wanted "extra"
vegetable toppings that we could double it at no charge.

About the charge you mentioned, Subway does NOT allow franchises to
charge for extra VEGETABLE toppings last I heard. You should go to
Subway's website and let them know about your visit. The owner of the
franchise that you visited will receive a copy of the conversation
that you have with Subway corporate.

I think that maybe you should go in again. It's possible though
unlikely that she was mistaken in how much of an item to put on a
sandwich. Whether you get one ingredient or 20 you only get a certain
quantity and the rest is extra.

Why should the store have to eat the cost of extra ingredients just to
please you?

Olives are possible expensive, however, I doubt they are costing
Subway SOOOO MUCH.

But you do need to realize that Subway gives their workers specific
guidelines for how much of each item goes on a sub. If company policy
states 8 olives, then they are going to give you 8 olives. Anything
more is an EXTRA topping and you get charged for it.

Once in a while an employee might be feeling nice and sprinkle a bit
extra on your sandwich, this doesn't mean that that is the 'norm' or
the 'standard' it just means you got lucky and WEEEE MORE TOPPINGS!

Not a whole lot you can do about that aspect. But if the girl was, in
fact, rude and not just 'rude' because she told you you had to pay
extra, then she does need to be talked to about customer service
skills.

Subway is one of the cheapest companies, the one by me actually
rations the napkins. Unless you ask for one you won't get any and if
you ask they give you one. They are kept behind the registers so
people don;t have access to them, I stopped going...if they are that
cheap on paper products I have to doubt the quality of their food.
You received poor service and your request should be taken seriously!

Commone sense would dictate that in this case, policy regarding
charging extra or not, it woul dhave cost Subway nothing to accomodate
this customer. She could have included every veggie they offer, but
didn't. Even if they normally charge for extra olives, they come out
ahead in this case, even without that charge.

This is what happens when employees are either not allowed or simply
just don't have the ability to think outside the box. At the very
least she should have asked her supervisor if she could sub a handful
of olives for all of the other vegetables that the customer could have
ordered.

Perhaps the other employees that have been giving you plenty of olives
were disobeying the franchise policy and this employee was doing her
job and following it? When I worked at a cafe, we were instructed to
charge extra for anything more than what the item was supposed to have
in it. Fast food places often have a picture menu for the employees to
follow which shows how much of each item to put on the sandwich.

I always order sandwiches without vegetables since I don't like them.
I don't get a discount because of it. The restaurant is saving money
on my order (making more profit) since I am not ordering vegetables.
In my opinion, if you want extra of something on your sandwich, then
you should pay for it.

http://www.subway.com/Applications/CustService/frmCustomerService.aspx


this is a link to the customer service form at subways web site

1996 to be exact, I worked as a "sandwich artist" at Subway, and there
was a specific formula that was used to make a sandwich. Know how many
olives you are supposed to get on a footlong? FOUR. Four olives
slices. So really, what she gave you originally is MORE than she was
supposed to.

I completely understand. It didn't cost the store 78 cents to add a
few more olives. That is an excessive charge. I can get a can of
black olives for less than that. You should have not been charged
that much.

no there should have been no charge...I go to subway every other day,
and never get charged for extra vegetables

So you were OK with the charge but now you are not? I am confused
here. All locations are independently owned and operated so possibly
the franchisees have the ability to charge for extra condiments. I
know the ones in my area do not, but if it is a high volume area such
as a city center or mall, they may need to make all the money they
can. With the $5 footlong promotion, they are making less money and
rent/utilities can add up in the places I mentioned.

that they charged for olives - I always thought all veggies were
unlimited. Perhaps it is a result of them having to drop the
footlongs to $5 to bring in sales.

But nonetheless, I don't really sense that this was an attitude thing
as much as it was the employee trying to follow her directive.

And, like others, I'm confused why you would say you didn't mind the
charge and then turn around and put them on blast for it.

Me too. I always thought the only things they charged extra for were
for extra bacon and cheese.

I, like the OP, got a footlong turkey with bacon (sans olives though).
The guy behind me got a 6 inch turkey with bacon. The gal attempted
to explain to him that he could get a footlong for roughly the same
price as the 6 inch. He elected not to... so we paid almost the same
- except I got twice as much food as he did.

So there are at least some people out there not buying the $5
footlong!

You told the employee that you didn't mind paying extra for more
olives and now you are upset that you had to pay extra for more
olives?

I don't get it.

There are probably new guidlines in place for the $5 footlong
promotion that you aren't used to.

But to say you are ok with paying extra then writing a letter saying
the employee was rude because she charged you extra?

Ya, I still don't get it.

it's not rude to tell a customer "no" actually.
you did get the extra olives but had to pay for them.

"retraining" might not change this if the policy states how many
olives they are allowed to use.

yes others might have given more, but there could have been a policy
change since then.



however that doesn't mean she was actually "rude" or that she "doesn't
want to work"

I hear they make very little on their 5 dollar foot longs special they
have now.

Perhps they are restricting the amount of toppings on them.

Since you state they are not expensive, consider buying them and
placing them on your sandwich at home.



Good Day