Seven Things Customers Do that Annoy Subway Restaurant Employees

I spent about 6 months working at Subway last year and while there were many annoying things about the job in general, these are some pet peeves that all Subway employees can agree on about the customers they serve.

1. Using the bathroom
There is nothing worse than seeing a customer approaching your store, hurrying to get your hands washed and getting those annoying gloves on just to find out that the customer only needed to run in and use the bathroom. When you walk in, let the employees know that you are just going to use the bathroom! Otherwise employees are stuck having to wait for you to come out thinking that you are going to order a sandwich. This is especially annoying for an employee who has a lot of other work that needs to be done during slow business times.

2. Get your nasty hands off the glass
When selecting what type of sandwich you want or what veggies you want to put on it - keep your hands off the glass! That glass separating you from the food is called a sneeze guard. When everybody puts their dirty, greasy fingers all over it to constantly point out what they are talking about it gets blurry looking, dirty and needs to be cleaned constantly. If you know what you want then there is no need to point and touch the glass with your fingers. Say you want lettuce if you want lettuce and I guarantee you will get it. Subway employees are familiar with lettuce and will know that those little green leaves you are pointing at are indeed the lettuce you speak of! Also, tapping on the glass with your fingernails scratches the glass up and is just plain annoying! So just say what you want, there is no need for spreading your germs all over and dirtying up the store.

3. Waiting until the last minute to let us know you need another sandwich
Sometimes customers come in and order more than one sandwich. There is nothing wrong with that unless you only order one sandwich and then once its finished decide to tell us that you need three more. Subway is set up so that your sandwich goes down a line for a reason. It is a royal pain to make someone's sandwich, take off your gloves to ring them up only to hear that they need you to make them more. Making multiple sandwiches and going down the line with them is easier than making one whole sandwich at a time. It also holds up other customers because it takes so long. So if you need more than one sandwich, let us know ASAP.

4. Getting angry when necessary questions are asked
If you want to order a sandwich you are going to be asked a lot of questions. We need to know what type of bread, whether you want a footlong sub or a six inch sub, what kind of sandwich, what kind of cheese, what kind of veggies, if you want it toasted, etc. Those are all standard at Subway because there are so many different choices and ways to make sandwiches. So if you are going to get angry because a Subway employee asks you what you want then you probably should eat somewhere else. Subway employees can't read your mind. We are trained to ask you how you would like your sandwich to better serve you! Don't catch an attitude with us just because we want you to enjoy the food that you order!

5. Coming in right before close
No restaurant likes it when you come in right before the store is supposed to close. Subway employees hate it when customers come in at the last minute not knowing what they want, taking their sweet time and ordering a lot of food. So if you want great food service, don't come in as the store is closing (that goes for most food chains)!

6. Get off your cell phone!!
First of all, if you are going to order food for other people, know what they want before you come in the store. It is so aggravating to have a customer come in on their cell phone standing there, holding up the line trying to find out what their brother, mother, cousin, uncle, and kids want. It is especially annoying when the people back home don't know what kind of bread Subway has, what type of cheese, or what kind of sandwich they want. Besides that, being on a cell phone is flat out rude if you are ordering food. It is so frustrating to try and ask a customer on a cell phone what they want. The Subway employee is made to feel like they are interrupting you and that's not the way it works, folks! If you come into the store you should have a little respect for the person having to make your food and for the people waiting in line behind you. Show some courtesy, please!

7. It's not fresh, sheesh!
Despite what you might hear in the slogans and commercials, the food you are eating is not as fresh as you think it is. It is so annoying when customers come in talking about the Subway Eat Fresh junk. That's advertising for you! As a matter of fact, all of the meat is frozen when it arrives at the store and sits out to thaw. We do not cook our own chicken, fry our own bacon, grill our own steak, etc. And those vegetables you love so much? They are cut up and put into bins. From there they get put on your sandwich. When Subway employees prepare the food they do a bunch of it at a time that way if they run out they can always go grab some from the fridge in the back. So the tomatoes you are getting have been cut up and have sat out being refrigerated for a while (no longer than 48 hours though). Nobody is in the back cutting up fresh vegetables just for you. Our pickles, sweet peppers, olives, lettuce, and some others are delivered to the store in bags already cut up and ready to use. Our bread is baked daily every morning/early afternoon. So if you are coming to the store later at night you are not going to get fresh baked bread that just came out of the oven. Don't bother demanding it either. If you want real fresh food you are better off cooking dinner at home.