SUBWAY Franchise Complaints
Subway franchise owners are invited to share their complaints and frustrations, as well as advice for prospective Subway franchise owners, below.
Anonymous comments are encouraged, and all email addresses and other information is treated with strict confidentiality.
Around the Internet, complaints have arisen from many Subway franchise owners who feel that they are being victimized by their franchisor, and by founder Fred DeLuca in particular.
Ex-Subway franchisee Jim Eddie claims “whole subway system is a scam,” and called his time as a Subway franchise owner “the worse year of our life.”
Another Subway franchise owner writes “Subway use to be a great opportunity for all but now it’s like doing time each and every time I walk through my doors…”
Subway franchisee Debra claims “subway ownership is hell on earth.”
Here are some comments posted on the Complaints Board website:
doingtime wrote:
… I was told by my business consultant that all of the “twenty year” people should very worried about our stores. That Fred Deluca and his cronies want us out so they can turn the stores over to make money on the start up costs. He suggested that I start keeping a journal about my inspection experiences, which by the way have gotten horrible. They are so bad that I have started to video tape my stores after each inspection to protect myself.
I have a couple of stores that do way, way over the territory average in sales. Fred makes a lot of money off of me in royalities every year. So instead of giving me a pat on the back and a “good job” I get this… You have syrup on your trash can, the handle to your toaster oven has sauce on it, the pvc pipes under your three bain sink has dust on it, your microwave is dirty your bathroom smells, there are straw wrappers on your floors, etc… all of this during a lunch time where the customers are line up into our parking lot!!!
…It is not enough that I work all day everyday, that I have higher sales than most others in my territory, that my customers go up to this twit as he sits in my handicapp seating typing crap that he is making up half the time, telling him that my stores are the best that they have ever been to (by the way he doesn’t mention that in his report). What he does mention is that my places are dirty and marks me out of compliance. I then get a letter from the legal department threating to take my stores. I for one am sick and tired of it. I’m stressed all the time.
Way back when Subway use to be a great opportunity for all but now it’s like doing time each and every time I walk through my doors…
debra wrote:
Owning a subway. They don’t even use the Vaseline when they screw you. They do want to ditch u at 20 years. They are killing me literally health wise. U can never keep them (subway world headquarters) happy… Subway world headquarters in Milford conneticut owned by Fred Deluca, makes it impossible for Subway owners to even break even with THE $5 ft. Sub, let alone certificates & coupons added on it.
…owners work 7 days a week, r exhausted n r constantly harassed by Subway, they r punished to the point where we either die of subway-itis or they take everything we worked for away.
… So if u now made the mistake of buying into ” the #1 Franchise” I also advice, get a good attorney on retainer to read the phone books of information u r required to read. Get a good doctor, because they run u to the ground until u r dead or take that store away, n give u nothing for it while they resell it for $250, 000.00 Minimum. You DAI & Fred Deluca r the ones making money.
I wish I never got into Subway, I hate this company, I don’t have long to live according to my Doctors, thanks directly to the stress subway world headquarters, their arbitrators, their inspectors n their little spools that come in at busy lunch time with their laptops, praise u verbally, but are required to write you out of compliance. That is a fact… They r trained to do that…set u up. Just ask any ex-inspector.
…They have ruined my family life my health and are destroying, annihilating my stores knowing im to weak to fight back, so, here it is. No retirement, no health insurance because we are self employed & due to the stress from Subway the doctors concur i have less then 1 year to life.
So hey Fred, see u in hell, u cant n wont take it with you, you lousy ba$tard. Your no italian, your a pig! Keep having your little spies do their thing, your gonna rit in he’ll for what you have done to franchisees and the deception to the customers. Hey, why don’t you shove one of those $5.00 subs up your arse.
Also those defending Subway. They are liars. They are totally lying. In the name of God & all that is Holy, they are lying. subway ownership is hell on earth. No wonder we look like nazi concentration camp survivors, Mussolini is back & his name is Fred Deluca.
Dr. Gus wrote
Our DA Office has clearly demonstrated unethical behavior for years.
What has been demonstrated so far to our local area franchisees, is that the DA Office and Subway Corporate are the “same entitiy”.
Some franchisees value integrity and honesty far above money. Those few will not stay once they experience the unethical behavior.
The rest who compromise their values for the money, will stay, and will stay quiet about it.
This is just a microcosm of what America at large has come to recently exceedingly suffer from. Excessive greed, above all else.
Jim Eddie wrote:
My wife and I owned a Subway in 1993. Once a week we still talk about the misery we suffered. It sounds like things got even worse since then. I always had a feeling the success of the company was on the back of the hard work of store owners. We only owned the store for less than a year and it was the worse year of our life. I do feel the whole subway system is a scam and if you already own one, it’s too late but if you are thinking of buying one speak to current owners. If they are honest, they will talk you out of it.
What do you think? Are the accolades of Subway as a top franchise deserved?
Does Subway franchise provide the training, support, marketing and systems it promises?
Are Subway and founder Fred DeLuca genuinely dedicated to the success of their franchise owners?
Please share a comment, opinion or insight below.
Also read: SUBWAY: What Do Franchisees Make on $5 Footlongs?
Are SUBWAY Franchise Owners Happy?
SUBWAY: Send Jared to Gitmo! Parody Press Release
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBWAY FRANCHISE? WHAT COMPLAINTS DO SUBWAY FRANCHISEES HAVE? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
To contact the site admin, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
My wife and I owned two stores for about 8 years. We were there for the Jared craze and the start of the 5 dollar footlong thing. We were the perfect operators and had the cleanest most productive stores around. They changed our field person about every 6 months and the last one we had broke the camels back. We had enough of the Subway system and sending us their newest “young Gun” who wanted to make a name for himself. I had a heart to heart with him and told him I didnt like his delivery system and we had been doing ok prior to his arrival. I reminded him we started with Dr and ASSociates back when he probably got his first zit back in high school. We had enough of his “crap” and put our two stores up for sale. We had never been found out of compliance in 8 years and once we found an approved buyer there was an untimely monthly check from our “young gun” field guy. He found a kid that evidently didnt wash his hands after handling money and gloving up. I couldnt find it on our security system so I took his word for it. At this point I could have cared less because we were about 4 weeks out from selling our stores according to Dr and ASSociates people. One week prior to close and another inspection????? Guess what the guy finds us out of compliance on the same situtation. Really a kid didnt wash hands after handling money???? OK. A Fedex letter two days later advised us our sale had been placed on hold pending a payment of fine or I could go to arbitration in Connecticut. WOW! I was floored! They had placed us on probation due to this supposedly happening although I had video footage to prove otherwise. Now the remedy according to the legal department was to simply pay a $5000 penalty and they would reinstate the closing and it would go off without a hitch. Otherwise I would have to get an attorney and bring my video to Connecticut in a month or further and state my case in arbitration. I had a 6 week vacation already paid for on the week to follow our closing so Ill let you guess what I did. I paid the Dr and ASSociates the $5000 by Overnight Official Bank Check and closed on who I consider probably the worst organization you could ever want to do business with. If this is the same that happened to any owner out there lets start something and file a class action on these people because if they did it to me I am sure they are doing it to others. I have yet to eat at a Subway since due to knowing that DeLuca gets 12.5 pennies of every dollar I spend there and I cant stand the man or the organization. I hope he reads this but doubt he will be touched by my experience. Way to screw people Dr. and ASSociates. Love ya!
Was being a Subway owner very profitable for you, or do you wish you had invested your money in something else?
My local Subway owner has relative that puts on his gloves and then takes one off to collect the money. Puts money in his one gloved hand. When finished he puts a glove on his other hand and goes back to making sandwiches.
I don’t go to that store anymore after seeing him do this at least twice. All I can think about is how many people he can give the runs or worse just to save one glove..
I went to the Subway due diligence meeting but my calculations led me to think I would clear less than $25,000, if lucky. Not enough for the hours opened.
I think you can see with my entry above that I am not a happy camper when it comes to Doctor and ASSociates. I feel it was very unfair what they did to us and although we did learn the food business a little better I also learned how NOT to treat people. It is an organization out of touch with its franchisees out to make more and more money. They dont care how saturated they become they keep adding in new stores to infiltrate what customer base you have built for them in a certain area. They are very uncaring and you will see once you become part of their organization. If you are not a multi unit owner then you are not treated as well either. Pick another franchise or go it on your own. We may have cleared 8 percent if we were lucky on a 500K store.
Thanks. I will do something else. With all of the saturation, I don’t see how multple stores are possible now. Theft would really worry me if I tried to operate multiple stores. Lots of cash involved.
This is a good website. I tried in many different ways to get a better idea on Subway .
I will also say that 8 percent on 500K probably means I was right on the possible stores in my area. Talked to owner about one in the $300K range and owner and husband worked night and day, so they had 2 people working (them) and not 3 .
They sold it and moved out of state. New owner took over and was closed in less than 6 months. New owner told me he was’nt making any money. I tried to get in on that location but the area developer/manager did’nt call me back. My blessing! Found out he either quit or was fired.
After a long time ( about 4 months) store was resold to a multi unit owner.
My hopes is to find other ex Subway owners that have had the same experience as we did with having to pay a $5000 fee rather than go to arbitration just short of the sale date. They know that people are planning a vacation or whatever to celebrate their freedom of Doctors and ASSociates so they do it that way. What are you going to do? Pay the $5000 or cancel your sale, trip, vacation and fight them in arbitration in Connecticut? Thats why I paid their ransom and were done with them. We were very very good operators with awards for sales , etc. Too bad they are only in it for the money and oversaturating the market with Subways. They will come to the same demise as Curves, Quiznos and others. Good luck in whatever you choose to do. I don’t mean to come off as a pushy Christian but when one door closes another will open and you will be led the right direction if you just pray about it with your spouse. I did and I am much happier for it.
I went into Subway @12044 Plank Rd.Baton Rouge,La. at 1:00pm and ordered a steak and cheese sat down and started eatting and bit into a bone about the width of a grain of corn but about an 1/8 of an inch thick. I called for the Manager who’s name was Meco,and showed her she took the sandwich and paper wrap in which the bone was on turned her back towards me and raked the bone off the sandwich wrapper and turned back around to me and pointed to a piece of lettuce and asked me if that was what I was talking about cause she didnt see anything.
I looked around the wrap and it was clearly gone,I then told her I wasnt sure what she did with it but it was a bone on the wrapper when I reached it to her,and to look at the video tape because I was sitting under the camera while eatting. She took my name and number down and said someone would call me. I left out the door and came back in and told her I wanted my money back for the sandwich, she said she wasnt allowed to do that and reached me a napkin with the complaint hotline’s number on it.
I went outside and called the number and told them where I was and what had happen. One hour later the same manager “Meco” called me and told me she had spoken to subway and they had told her to invite me in for another sandwich. I told her this was bigger then a sandwich and that was an insult for her to get rid of the bone and that I felt like a cover-up had taken place, and she could have looked at the camera and seen the object since she was trying to make out like it wasnt there. She told me she didnt want this to get ugly so she was getting off the phone and someone else would have to deal with me.
I called the complaint hotline back and told them what I was told and she said that they cant tell the stores how to run their business and no one had contacted them and she would email the store again and the owner would contact me in 3-5 days I told her the same manager that the complaint was against had received the first email and that she would also be getting the second one and she told me it would be sent to three different places and she was sure the owner would be getting it. I also informed her that I was thinking about seeking legal action and contacting the media and she said to please give the manager 3-5 days, I also told her That even though each franchise is independently owned this was still bad business for Subway.
I’m going to the dentist next week because my tooth is still sore from bitting into the bone that was in the sandwich. I’m calling the local media and thinking of going hold a few signs in front of the store because this was wrong. My name is Fred Schiele [redacted]. Please help me!
my daughter works for a subway and a customer chewed my daughter out and pointed his finger in her face after taking directions from her supervisor angie smith.when i called angie smith she said i don’t know why you think this is any of your business this is o what a combo business it is not your business .I told her my daughter was my business -again she told me it was not my business.that she was handling it –the customer was upset because he said there was a roach crawling out of his sandwich my daughter told him it was highly unlikely that that could happen,but that if he brought the roach and the sandwich back that she would be happy to refund his money. she then called the supervisor and told her what happend and angie told her he was lying not to refund the money.-my daughter had to take abuse from this customer and angie smith says my daughter is none of my business.
“the customer was upset because he said there was a roach crawling out of his sandwich my daughter told him it was highly unlikely that that could happen,but that if he brought the roach and the sandwich back that she would be happy to refund his money.”
Ugh! A customer finds a roach in his sandwich and your daughter tells him he’s a liar? She and the supervisor should be fired. I hope the customer reported this to the local health department and Subway corporate.
The supervisor is right about one thing: unless there’s some kind of abuse, a parent has no business butting into an employer/employee relationship. Last thing a manager needs is to deal with employee parents managing from the sidelines. It’s a job, not a soccer game.
If you buy a Subway franchise, be aware that you’ll have to deal with people like this.
I feel so so sorry for all of the owners and some of the Owner’s are just not fair at all my daughter that is only 20 years old is working ,going to College just to become something in her beautiful life and I will a sure you it Will Not be owning st SUBWAY FOR DAM SURE I can’t stand what’s going on now when she just works there LEAVING HER ALL ALONE FOR MORE THEN 10 to 15 HOURS and Never ever pay my daughter over TIME now that’s just Crazy , So for that to go on I could just imagine for my daughter to I own 1 No Way. I told my daughter to WALK OUT and forget it my daughter is so sincere that she felt like she should give her notice and she’s a 101% right but when thing are happening to her in there that’s so wrong I can’t see her staying there no in there. The way she’s being treated from that owner is just nuts and if that what she’s looking to get into not happening in this time of my life and this place is in Somerville, Mass. So I want to Thank all of you for being all real on here and my daughter WILL DO HER RESEARCH and that’s Mine …. God Bless you all and I’m so Sorry .
Usually, we do our shopping on Fridays and and before going home ,we purchase
two footlong sanwitches to take home for our dinner. I have been retired 22 years with no increase in my pension and things are getting more difficult each year. We
purchased our footlongs (spicy Italion) which we were willing to pay the extra $.50
because we enjoy them so. Yesterday, we purchasd them omly to find that the
cost for them increased by another 25 crnts ( $5.75).I supose that we will just have to curb our appotite to stop buying them anymore..
Joseph Abrams
We were approached to lease our facility to Subway, if ……..
1) -do unnecessary electrical upgrade as well as possible plumbing upgrades
2) -guarantee any government requirements
3) -pay nearly $20,000 for construction for tenant improvement
4) – allow signage banner for prospective Franchisee owner
5) – allow the lease to become void if a new franchisee was not found in 60 days
We later learned from a ex District Manager that it was standard procedure and that the site would have been nearly completely destroyed upon their vacating
We also listen to other horror stories so that I surmised that Subway does not sell sandwiches, but only sells franchises and will do as much as possible to disqualify every franchisee only to acquire another victim
Alright if Subway is THAT bad, can someone tell how how on earth are they getting ranked as the Top franchises every year? And also how on earth do they have one of the LOWERST failure rates for SBA approved loans? I am not saying anyone here is posting wrong information AT ALL – in fact this is highly appreciated. I was just interested of knowing more about them as I am in the process of doing my due diligence with them.
The subway at:
12117 Apple Valley Rd, Apple Valley, CA
I applied for a job at this Subway. I got a call from one of the managers and he told me to come in for an interview the next day. When I came in he said they were busy and to call back the next day and ask to talk to Fe’ar. When I called Fe’ar was not in yet so I was told to keep calling until he got in.I called about 4 times until I actually got to talk to him. He said that the interviews would be held anytime that week that he would call me back and for me not to call him that he would call me (being very rude while telling me this.)
At the end of that week I did not get any calls so I called in just to make sure that I didn’t miss his call. When I talked to him he had started yelling at me saying “I TOLD YOU I WOULD CALL YOU DON’T CALL ME AGAIN!” And I tried to explain that I only called to make sure I didn’t miss his call and he hung up on me.
–2 months later–
I got a call today on my house phone from subway saying they wanted to give me an interview and to call them back(I wasn’t home to receive the message, so my Aunt told me to call the subway in Apple Valley, CA. She didn’t tell me the number she just said that it was the same SubWay I was supposed to have the interview to begin with.. So I called their office number not being able to find the actual number to their building. and Fe’ar called me back on my cousins cell number. He asked who I was and why I called. (Very rude) And I said my name is Summer and I called about the interview. He then started yelling, asking how I got the number and why I am calling him and who asked me to call. And I told him (very calmly) That I am not sure, I was just told to call that subway and I didn’t get a number so I Googled it. He then started yelling at me again being very rude so I hung up on him.. He then -TEXTed me saying that I was harassing him, and that I had called everyone in the store when I couldn’t even find their store number only the office number. He continued to say he was calling the cops to tell them that I was harassing him.
He was the most disrespectful man I even talked to.. Very rude and always yelling.
How about subway being sued for false advertising?
I have been a franchisee for last 20+ years in la area. Being harrased by the DA. Taken to arbitration. Would like to talk to any of the xfranchisee.
My email is [redacted].
Wow!! I was very interested in owning a Subway up until now. I’m glad I found this site before I committed!! Subway used to be my favorite cold cuts shop until I discovered this site. Thanks for all of your stories and sorry for your losses. God Bless
First of all why do cops get free food,there just like us we have to pay for our food why dont they,and second,if you buy something there you dhould be able to set there to eat or drink,even if you are homeless still should be able to set there
I just had some very unpleasant experience with the local development office in North Carolina. I was thinking about buying a franchise since last September. Of course, before I commit the rest of my life with all I have, I wanted to be sure this is the right option for me. So I slowed down the process in order to find if the local development manager considers on behalf of franchisees at all. Unfortunately, the answer is NO-NO!!! They don’t want to consider anything on your behalf!!! NOT A TINY LITTLE BIT!!! I have to say that I did not rush to pay the franchising fee and buy store. How about if the local development manager simply ceases your store and cancel your contract. I would think that every potential franchisee is committed if they want to sign a 20 years contract and put together all they have. BUT, YOU JUST NEVER WANT TO RUSH TO IT WITHOUT KNOWING IF THE OTHER SIDE TREAT YOU EQUALLY!!!
I am disappointed with this particular development manager in North Carolina. But, considering the fact that this is the very person who could shut my store down 2 or 3 years down the road for whatever reason he thinks, I have to feel lucky for not going further with Subway!!!
We don’t have a manger at the porter, Texas location subway. A lady who hired me by the name of Christina oversaw the restaurant. She seemed nice at first but quickly turned out to be two faces. I’ve worked there 3 weeks but been hired for a month, in other words it took her a week to get m a shift. She even started me off at another location. The porter location is dirty and unorganized. It just got it’s manager today, which leads me to the story. She scheduled a meeting last minute for 7 am on August 2,, which I told her I could not attend because of a college meeting and she flat out said “I knew school would be an issue when I hired you” as if my education did not matter. Well she made the meeting mandatory and anyone go didn’t attend would be fired. At the meeting she proceeded to call me out by name in front of everyone who works there about how I was responsible for a previous night where the restaurant was left dirty. I was not schedule to work that day but decided to go in to help my coworker out of sympathy because he was left alone due to the fact that she did not even bother to try to get anyone else to go in an help him. I was not required to close. The reason things were left only half wiped was because we ran out of the cleaning cloths needed o wipe down tables and Other things. (Things are always running out) and I let her know. I had to attempt to clean with napkins. She proceeded to scold me in front of all the personnel and humiliate me and only me (which I have witnesses) and I was pretty much forced to show up to the meeting just to be humiliated in front of everyone. It was unprofessional of her to do that in front of everyone rather then pull me to the side after the meeting and do it face to face. I just had to sit there being humiliated and stay quiet while everyone else listened to her insult me and my work ethic. I was not working alone that night but I was the only one who got called out.
Another reminder I would like to give to those who are thinking about buying Subways franchise. THIS IS NOT A BUSINESS YOU OWN OR RUN THE WAY YOU LIKE!
Read the disclosure carefully and talk to a lawyer before you sign a franchising agreement. The Subway disclosure only is written on their behalf. There is no consideration, nor protection for franchisees at all ! If you are not careful, your life could be ruined by signing such a franchising agreement. We do not know if Subway has disclosed all of the legal disputes or only a small portion required by the regulation. When I finally found how the North Carolina development officer could potentially treat me, I came to realize that there could be disputes just as bad as in any other states. when you read the disclosure, however, you probably think they did perfectly well in North Carolina and there were only 1 or 2 minor disputes.
From now on, I do not want to eat at Subway any more, certainly not to think about owning a Subway franchise.
Is this one of those “Damned if I do and Damned if I don’t” scenarios that every Subway owner goes through but don’t say anything in order not to devaluate their investment? I see Subways almost everywhere and was thinking of owning one but reading the posts in this page complexly changed my mind, I’m almost thinking of not to eat at Subway anymore, either every Subway franchisee goes through these/similar complaints but they keep the lips sealed since bringing out will devaluate their investment or these are just a rare coincidences that almost every business / franchisee goes through.
if you want a great and fast growing franchise that has taken 65% of the market then look at Americanos Hot dogs
Fred:
What market are you referring to? Your website claims Americanos is “the world’s best-selling hot dogs.”
How many cart locations do you have and how many hot dogs do you sell systemwide?
Americanos seems like a well-kept secret!
;)
Oh, my God!!! I’m gonna be screwed for 20yrs!!
I’ve just signed a Subway franchise agreement.
I got in.., I can’t get out, now!
Thanks to everyone for shedding light on this.
I better go stock up on plenty of vaseline.
Franchise is good . Its the people ” Da” that are in charge of the teritory are nothing but crooks. Especially los angeles county ! They have their kiss “A” people , that can get away with things. Be careful in opening a store in LA county, also Orange county. Own by same crooks ! Bunch of north indians inchrge !
My comments are not published as i have said. Why are you deleting things from it ?
Leave it the way it is . Apprently all the important information is being deleted.
Lyra: You are mistaken. Nothing has been deleted from your comments. ADMIN
I like Subway the stores need more hire help 3 to a shift or a shift leader / Manager.
Also long sleeves on the USO Subway shirts They look good .
100.00 gift cards and also to continue to do Surveys for Subway .If you have any concerns please contact me. And thank you for your time.
The field consultants are useless.they look around for 5 minutes and sit down for 3 hours and type a report that is also useless. Everyone laughs at them. Franchisees cannot make any money and work 7 days a week. Subway micro manages everything.
the da office is laughable and the fees are ridiculous. The ads are rehashed over and over again and money is wasted. Phone calls to HQ are never responded to. everyone from the franchisee to the top guy at HQ should be fired.
I laugh at the people waiting to dive head first into the business. If they only realize the long hours and little reward.
Also, the company’s promotions are geared towards increasing sales and not profitability. Why? Because the company makes money off your sales. The agent makes money off your sales as well. Selling sandwiches is now purely a volume game.
And the folks at HQ are slow at approving local marketing activities, and have no legit business experience to even discuss what sort of promotions a franchisee should run.
Class action law suit against subway corp. anyone interested ? All you complainer out there do something about it. Do not let the Ba*****rd get away with what he is doing to the franchisees !
I live in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Within blocks of my house there’s a Subway, but they barely fill up your sub sandwich, I’m forced to drive 8 mles to a Subway in Delvan, Wisconsin where I get a beauty of a sandwich, includeing spinach that is not available in Elkhorn. I figure that all Subway’s are the same, apparently not, goes by who owns them, but I learn my lesson by having to drive further for a decent sub.
Any advise how to get out of this subway prison and how to protect myself before the worse things are happening ? I just bought a subway store and I’m very disappointed with all the creepy people at DA office.
Thanks
I’m currently researching various franchises and Subway is one of my top 5. There are a lot of them for sale in the Atlanta area which made me wonder….most owners wouldn’t sell their store if it was profitable right? I’m curious to find out if the above comments are a problem in select areas or if its a problem nation-wide. I can definitely say that Subway is no longer on my top 5 list. And, as another poster stated, if these complaints are true, a class action lawsuit should be started.
I’ve worked at the same store for almost 8 years now. (Anniversary is in October.) For some reason despite my years of experience with the store the owner, and manager always treat me as if I don’t know anything. For instance, our toaster oven started to overheat on the 4th of July. I told my co-worker to turn the oven off and called to report it to my manager who was off for the Holiday weekend. She acted as if she couldn’t care less. She told me to turn the oven back on and use it anyway even though I told her that is not a good idea. The body of the oven was overheating, just touching the top or sides would burned your hand. It was scary to grab the handle of the oven to open it thinking you are going to burn your whole palm every time you make a sandwich. 4 days later a repairman came to fix the oven and told us “Why on earth were you using this? I’m amazed it didn’t start an electrical fire!” Turns out when the oven first broke it was only 1 part that needed replacing, but because we sat there and used it for 4 days while it was overheating it was causing ALL the inner parts to slowly burn out. What would have been an easy repair ended up being a complete redo of the inside costing her $1,300 in all. Then the repairman put the icing on the cake by telling me he fixed it as best he could but the oven is still in very poor shape and he advised the owner to buy a new one but she wouldn’t listen.
I didn’t even have a “I told you so” attitude in fact it just made me even more sick of this job. I do manager work without the manager title or pay. I train all the people, I do inventory, I do the computer work for new hires giving them their ID profiles on the computer. (If I don’t they have to write their hours down and leave it on the bulletin board.) I’ve been there longer than anyone, even the owner herself. (She purchased the store 2 years after I started working here.) She treats all her employees like s**t except for 2 she likes. And because those 2 employees know they have the owner’s protection they can get away with anything.
Some days when those 2 girls work, including yesterday when I closed we ran out of white bread, cookies, most meat prep, and sauces because day crew was so slow they felt they didn’t have to make or do anything. They didn’t think even think for a second the night crew would be busy so left us with nothing. We actually were so busy we had no time to make anything they failed to prepare for us. Whenever we get a day like that you tell the owner she just laughs, rolls her eyes, and says “Oh, well.” But if my crew dares to forget anything at night she personally calls our cellphones to chew us out.
I had enough of this place. I’m going to start applying for other stores as a manager because I know I’m more than capable for the rank. And for other Subway owners, or manager who read this I leave you with this, please treat your employees with respect, and actually try to listen to them. Just because we are your average employee doesn’t mean we know nothing.
I’ve been in the system for the longest. Dishonesty, looting, scams, and bribery is what describes this subway system specially in Chicagoland area. They play you, and your mind out. DA in Chicago at first sweet talks and, by far no professionalism, he starts acting up on you if you don’t listen to his house rules. House rules being, lower menu prices, have to have subway radio, bull $h!ts you with other franchisees lame stories, have to advertise locally, do more frequent remodels, compares his brand new store vs your old stores, and wants you to over staff. If you don’t do this YOU ARE NOT APPROVED FOR NEW STORE. He does all this so sales goes up so does his commission. He doesn’t care about your shrinking profit. . He thinks he’s the king of all Franchisees and that He can rule them. He thinks he can run over any hard working franchisee. Come on now you are in f***** 21st century. He finds ridiculous $h!t to screw you up. You don’t do what you are told specifically BY HIM AND THE Office you are f*****. DA here thinks money is everything and he can play anyone in anyways. He opens all these stores so close that makes it harder for evEry franchisee to make $. He has is own price structure to fight competition. Wait are we talking about competition ? Now it’s more like subway to subway competition that other food businesses. You should hear what DA has to say when he is drunk. Yes I SAID DRUNK. Money is everything and he doesn’t give a damn about anyone. He will f**** you up to make his living. KARMA IS A BITCH Mr. DA.
Do your homework before signing the lease. Try dealing with LL(landlord) directly instead of having the DAs office deal with LL. They make commission on just about every thing- even the air you breath inside your subway store.
Finally, I thank god I’m out of the system.
I went to Subway today at 819 NE Hogan Rd in Gresham today and got home ate half of my sandwich and then found this tooth flosser wrapped up with it! It appears to be used and I felt disgusted! I called the store and told the employee what had happened and she inspected the work area and found that another employee had stored their flossers for personal use right next to the food prep area! I’m disgusted! This is NOT OK! Not only is this unsanitary it is a choking hazard. They made me another sandwich but as you can imagine my appetite is gone and I will not be eating at this establishment anymore. I called public health and filed a report with them as well as subway headquarters. I’m still waiting to be contacted. I feel that getting another sandwich made doesn’t do this situation justice, this is not ok. I’d like my money back. I think this story should be at the very least
Erica ,
Glad you decided not to buy the subway.
Sanjaya, where is your store located ? Put it up for sale and get out.
There are other better sandwich chains are coming up. Subways days are numbered.
Soon all subway owners wiill be working to make money for Mr Deluca so that he can design better franchisee agreement so that he can screw his franchisees even more !
Whew!
And to think I was going to take my life savings, a personal loan and 2nd mortgage out to buy a franchise! Thank God you all stopped me in my tracks. I think I will abort my decision to invest in Subway. So sorry for all your losses. My heart breaks for all who are not happy. I’ve just come it of one bad investment after 10 years and don’t need another. Thanks for your input.
Carmela,
You are so blessed that this type of detailed information is available these days. When we opened, there were none and the bank officer teamed up with the franchise to lie about the income potential. The existing franchisees were struggling but did not give any hint, because that would have brought bad reputation to the franchise name and they would have difficult time to get out. There may be good and sincere businesses available, but the one we happened to have interacted with, Discovery Point, is one of the biggest fraudulent players in this franchise world. It is run by Cliff Clark and it seems he will not stop harming anyone for his own personal gain. Note that his wife passed out mysteriously and was buried in a hurry. There were no one else in the house besides him and his wife when this happened. Franchisees noted she as well as him looked under the influence before this suspicious event. Surprisingly he looks more cheerful and not under influence after she passed away. Some believe she was pushed over the cliff and he benefited from the life insurance.
Arbitration in Republican Atlanta is a joke. Avoid Richard M. Asbill as arbitrator. He feeds on the franchise system and will help them as much as he can.
I would like to speak to any owner and former owners who work at the store over 40 hours per week. Please call my office at [redacted]. Harvey Cohen
Mr Harvey Cohen, u cannot put your phone number but u can post the city and state. Your occupation, people can look you up.
Regarding Subway store ownership….some of the above comments are perfectly valid, but when you consider how many stores there are, the complaints are actually miniscule as a percentage. If you get in with a time frame in mind for potential exit, then you will not experience some of the coercion. I know many who have been in over 20 years and they carry on; perhaps they are used to tough standards and double talk and just get numb to it. I have been helping Buyers and Sellers for over 20 years and I have been part of the system for quite a while. That is why I personally hear so many stories of frustration upon exit. You do need some extra tolerance, and many of these issues stem from personality clashes. But ask yourself, how would you control, assist and motivate over 300 owners in your area without some strict rules, enforcement and inevitable favoritism?
If you were a DA and stores came up for sale would you be tempted to buy them especially if you could dictate your price? There is not one sentence in the DA agreement or the Franchise agreement that refers to checking one’s conscience……….So your behavior is left to your human nature and your upbringing and that is why you have such varied patterns of abuse, albeit in a minority of areas
The Subway store I work for has received a non-compliance/ termination letter for Riverside, CA. area.
After reading the above comments I realize that the store will no longer be the present owners frabchise very much longer.
****** I am trying to find out just how long arbitration will last…???
When and how will the District Office will take over…???
And, if I and the other employees and I will still have a job at this Subway after this process is complete….??? *****
Thank You
I went to the subway today for lunch on cherry hills blvd in menifee, CA and I have never had such rude customer service. The employees that work there don’t smile or talk to you at all. The owner yelled at my friend when he asked if they had got both sandwiches on the order. I will never visit this subway again and feel bad for the customers that come here and have to endure this. Is it that hard to smile?
I work at the Heritage location in Birmingham, Alabama under Sanjay Patel, and our shift is always short of money and I don’t know why…. so he took an advance out of my check for what because the drawer could’ve been short before I got there, what should I do…. because they are not being helpful
Laquita, go to this website right now:
http://www.alabama.gov/links/category/employment
click on the “Employee Rights Toolkit” and the links right under it, Mr. Patel can fire people for stealing but he can’t pull the crap on you he has, get that man & get a job somewhere else, but get him first!!
I read all of these comments and I have to say that not all DA’s are created equal. In the New England area, the business consultants and DA staff are very concerned with making sure that the stores run well and give many many warnings before going into arbitration. To Employee 1, there are many types of warning letters. At 100 points, you get a warning. At 400 points, you get the arbitration letter. Most compliance items are 25 or 50 points, unless it is a food safety item. If you can remain in compliance for 6 months, you are no longer in arbitration. I am sorry that so many people have had bad experiences, but it sounds like it all depends on who the DA is that determines how you are treated. I was a manager for many years and would not be able to do this job if I was just a pawn faking reports and stealing people’s stores. I would talk to owners in your area before deciding whether or not to own a store.
I have heard all these complaints in varying forms over the past 20 years! They (Subway)call themselves DOCTORS ASSOCIATES but I take care of an awful lot of Doctor’s Patients!
Folks, you are all getting mixed up between ” can I make money in the Subway franchise” and “can I get screwed in a personality/ego clash”.
Are there better models of behavior of a Development Agent crew towards a franchisee? Absolutely.
But the DA(Development Agent) is not Subway corporate, so stop blaming corporate. Its the way the system is set up where the local DA takes care of the franchisees and corporate just looks the other way as it is not their problem.
But don’t lose focus. You are in the system to make some money. And you can make a decent living usually, and a better living if you own more than one.
So make your money, pay off some debts, sell the store and cash in your equity.
You will actually learn a lot of new skills and take them with you, even though you can see how they treat you sometimes. You will most likely not treat others that way and that is a plus.
This is still a stable franchise in great demand. Recently, in 2014 and 2015, sales have taken a dip for various reasons we will not get into here; so what? the stock market goes up and down too. Call it a market correction. Owners are not all going broke!
When you get a second opinion on buying or selling, your path ahead will be smoother because you are being properly advised.
Fayaz Karim, mrfranchiseman.com
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Owned several subway stores since 1992, over 20 years, just sold the last 3 in January! All I can say is that many of these stories ring true. The “Subway” experience was nothing short of a nightmare with Fred DeLuca and Jared gaining all the glory. The DA’s are some what of an ongoing problem and tend to push towards the GIANTS (owners of 20+ stores) to grow while the “local ownership” dwindles away. It gets to the point where you are forced into opening so many stores in one town it isnt even profitable for the little guys. So when Subway says locally owned and operated this isn’t ringing true. Not to mention Jared now being in the news and very obviously has gained a lot of weight as the spokesperson! We sold our stores to a partnership that owns roughly 32 other stores. Subway is profitable business for them because they are able to gain so much of the market as well as favor with the DA (their corporate offices even sharing an address with the DA). So it is all about the BENJAMINS… who can bring in the most for themselves and Fred! Goodluck to anyone who thinks you can get into this Franchise and get out alive and well. It almost killed us, but we are 200% happier without that burdon anymore!
I recently went to Subway in Harrisburg,Pa in Strawberry Square and ordered two sandwiches one for my husband and myself there was a black female working there today and she was very nasty to me I had to tell her to stop talking to me.She kept on arguing and I stopped her in the middle of it and had to say stop with the arguing and it did not work.I am reporting her that is what the is about and no one that she works with is able to correct her and since she is negative and won,t listen I had to do it this way.Someone get that lady out of Subway and give that job to someone who knows how to treat customers who come there to buy food and not argue with them disrespectfully.