Yeah, I don’t get why all that was in the thread.
Is this part of the famous anti-social strain of the Doper? I’m a shy person but I find statements like this baffling.
And yes, a standard sandwich, even if there’s only one, reduces Subway’s efficiency. It’s more efficient to make every sandwich the same way—by asking each customer to say what he or she wants.
(And this thread has officially turned me off the word “build” as noun)
I realize it’s not what the OP is asking for. And I realize there is no Subway style. That’s why I would like if they invented one. That, indeed, is the whole point.
Well I take it we have now adequately established for you that it would (1) be less efficient and (2) violate Subway’s conceptual premise to do that? It’s just down to your deepest desires now?
We have established that I would prefer if Subway added a Subway style. Which was my initial point and continues to be my only point. But hold on a sec, I’ll check.
checking
Yep, that’s my point! That’s for helping me refine it from a desire to a desire. Very helpful!
If that’s all you wanted to say, you need not have responded to any of my posts. And I really don’t understand why you felt the need to turn up the hostility.
If you say you want X then it seems to me perfectly reasonable to respond with reasons it doesn’t make sense for them to do X.
I have had the same point throughout, and you quoted my post and asked me questions. That appeared to be an invitation to respond. The longer I’m on the internet, the more I learn!
FWIW, as I mentioned up thread, the Subways I’ve been to have a sign on the glass listing the ingredients you get if you ask for “the works” (or something like that). Its a set group of veggies and condiments. I don’t think its a local thing- might be worth seeing if your subway has that.
No, it’s fine to be build-your-own as long as that’s reasonably obvious in your come-on to prospective customers.
If they don’t SAY somewhere in their ad that the advertised special ISN’T really the sandwich in the picture, then the prospective customer has every right to assume the pic IS an accurate depiction of the advertised special.
I’m kinda stunned that there’s any disagreement on this point.
Now whether advertising a sandwich that they know they won’t make for you (unless you had the foresight to give the pic a close look before coming in, and suss out the ingredients shown so you could ask for them individually) is a bait-and-switch under the law, I’ll let the lawyers wrestle with that one. But in layman’s terms, it’s dishonest and deceptive.
No, it’s more like one of those conversations like, “Mcdonalds should serve fillets,” or “Applebee’s should have a wine cellar.” They could, but it’s not what their customers want.
It would slow things down, as people get used to making that build, and you have to remind them that you don’t want tomatoes on it. Mcdonalds works because 90% of the people that come through want the same thing on their big mac, they don’t want or ask for any customizations. Fast food moved towards allowing customization specifically because of competition with places like subway where you can get it the way you want it, not just the way it comes, even though that made them less efficient than a “everyone gets the same build, everytime” model.
I actually stopped by my local Subway on the way home. I didn’t go in, as I am not a big fan, too much bread for my tastes. But I did look at the picture in the window, and it did say “picture for illustration purposes only.” at the bottom, just like all the coupons and internet advertisements I’ve seen.
In any case, as it is a multi billion dollar company with more locations than any other restaurant, while I don’t really think that they have 3 star chefs creating precise flavor profiles, I am sure they have a pretty good team of lawyers that will advise them in such a way that they do not run afoul of bait-n-switch laws with their national advertising campaigns.
If the advertised special is a Meatball Marinara Sub, and the picture shows a sandwich with meatballs with marina sauce, then do you think it’s deceptive if the pic also shows cheese, lettuce, and onion? These are toppings that the customer can opt for, but they are not essential ingredients for it to be a Meatball Marinara. The name of the sandwich itself tells you what the basic model consists of: meatballs, marina, and subway bread. The pic of the sandwich may include more of that, but that’s because no one just orders meat and bread sandwiches! They are only trying to be realistic in their marketing images.
If someone orders a Meatball Marinara Sub and is asked what they want on it, is it really that crazy to expect the customer to say cheese, lettuce, and onion if that’s what they want? I mean, if you see all those things in the pic and they look delicious to you, then all you gotta do is say the words. Why is it necessary for Subway to know these are things you want, when other customers may not want any of that stuff on theirs?
This is what I don’t get. Why do you need to look at a pic to figure out what you want on a sandwich? An experienced eater should already have an idea when they walk into the store what ingredients do it for them; you either like tomatoes in your shit or you don’t. What the hell is a picture going to tell you when can’t taste a picture? Are you really going to look at a poster and say “gee, those peppers on that sub look yummy…let me get a sandwich with those even I actually kind of hate peppers.” No one that I know does this.
I prefer pretty “standard” sandwiches myself. That’s why the ingredients I ask for are always the same. Lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo, and a little mustard. This list is very simple to relay over the counter, so I can’t really relate to the OP’s plight. Like at all.
I’m with you on this. Ordering at Subway is annoying, and I usually avoid Subway if I can.
Coincidentally, I just received an email that Subway is now on Grubhub.
this makes many of the posts on this thread completely null and void!
I said earlier in the thread “I give up,” and I’m kicking myself for jumping back into the fray. But I swear, I think some of my posts are only visible to me, because folks are routinely ignoring them.
For the third (or fourth, or whatever) time, here is the description of the Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich, from Subway’s own website:
“Saddle up & try the fresh toasted SUBWAY® Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich. Stuffed with melted Monterey cheddar cheese, tender all-white meat chicken with seasoning and marinade, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions and green peppers.”
Nowhere on the page that contains that information can I find anything saying “Ingredient description for illustrative purposes only” or “Tailor this sandwich to your liking.” Now, the descriptions for OTHER sandwiches DO say things like “topped with your choice of crisp vegetables” or “piled high with your favorite toppings like green peppers and cucumbers.”
In other words, Subway has created a specific sandwich, and unlike most of the other sandwiches on their menu, they’ve created a specific list of ingredients that go in that sandwich.
I understand I can tailor the sandwich to my liking. I could, if I so chose, say “I want the Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich, but all I want is bread and cheese, nothing else – not even the chicken or bacon.”
That does not change the fact that Subway has determined exactly what a Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich is, and what is on it. Which means I should be able to order a Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich, with no other instructions whatsoever, and receive a sandwich that contains “melted Monterey cheddar cheese, tender all-white meat chicken with seasoning and marinade, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions and green peppers.”
In fact, note that the Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich doesn’t contain ranch dressing, as the name would naturally indicate. The marketing jargon anticipates that, though, because it starts “Saddle up & try …” It’s telling you this is a rootin-tootin’ western-style sandwich from the ranch, NOT that it contains ranch dressing.
I don’t care that it’s somehow too onerous for a multi-billion-dollar company to print sticky labels for their stores to indicate what goes on the small number of sandwiches they specifically named and promoted with a set list of ingredients. I don’t care that I’m somehow suggesting it’s less efficient for Subway employees to actually be able to produce such a sandwich with no instructions.
I’m just asking folks to recognize the logical fallacy they’re promoting by saying “That’s not Subway’s business model” or “They always say ‘this is just an example.’” Obviously, with a small number of sandwiches, *Subway itself *has chosen to break its business model, and they do not always say “Tailor this sandwich however you want.”
Thanks for flagging that. I missed it the first time (apologies to whomever pointed it out first that I overlooked). I’ll check it out!
If you and I are looking at the same page — the one that says that some items may not be available in all markets, and that participation may vary, and that folks should see a store for details? — then it sure looks to me like that’s a picture of a sandwich that has black olives on it; would you agree?
I’m a veggie.
I go into Subway and ask for a veggie sub with all the trimmings, in the UK they just give me the sub with Everything!
In the US, they’ll always ask if I’d japenos and I say yes double please. I love subway and Quiznos 
Do you recognize that a Subway store manager—indeed perhaps ALL Subway store managers—might decide to ignore all of that for entirely practical reasons?