[Elladorine]

I used to absolutely love Subway and I just started eating there again. Back in the day I totally loved it when they could put spinach on my sandwich in addition to all the other veggies I wanted. I definitely prefer it over lettuce, but not all of the restaurants carried it, and a handful of times I'd be told they were for salads only, not sandwiches (even when I offered to pay extra for it).

Anyway, I've hit a few Subways in the past few weeks and have discovered one close to my house that has a spinach bin right next to the lettuce on the make table! I was enthralled, lol, and have picked up my lunch there a handful of times in the last week. It sounded especially good last night so I decided to grab the sub of the day special for a quick dinner on my way home from shopping.

So I start my order and the lady is putting my sandwich together. And when we get to the veggies, I asked for spinach first.

She looked at me and said no.

I did a double take. What, were they out? I looked at the bin and saw the spinach sitting right there. It was a little low, but still plenty for one sandwich. Irritated, I explained that I'd gotten spinach on my sandwiches there before.

She told me no once again.

So now I point to the bin and ask her why I can't have any. She reached into the bin, pulled some spinach out as if she were carefully studying it, then dropped it back in the bin.

She shook her head and simply said no once again. No explanation or anything.

Er, what the heck? I was tempted to just walk out of the place but I was hungry, so I listed off all the other veggies I wanted. I glared as I paid and walked out. And as I sat back in the car, I realized I was overcharged! The sandwich of the day has a sale price and I wasn't given it. I probably should have walked back in, but I tend to cry when I'm angry and really didn't feel like dealing with that. So instead I drove my sandwich back home and added my own spinach before eating it.

So I'm just wondering . . . has anyone here ever wanted spinach on their Subway sandwich but got refused for some mysterious reason? Is it against their policy/too expensive or something to use on their most basic product? And is it just me or was the lady completely rude about how she handled my order? If it's against policy, fine, I understand. But to keep giving me a sound "no" without explanation . . . I mean, what the heck? Needless to say I'm not exactly eager to return to that same location.

[Trazey34]

Wow, I so wish I'd been there with you LOL Very politely, I'd say "Clearly you don't understand me, so can I speak to someone else please" and get the explanation. If it costs more, fine I'll pay the extra for something I want. But don't tell me "no" for no apparent reason, idiots LOL

I love my subway guy, he starts hollowing out the bun as soon as he sees me hahahah

[rachael]

I would have asked for the manager for both reasons. That is ridiculous. You should call today and talk to the manager and ask for what the spinach policy is and ask why a restaurant that has a food that is meant to be served would deny it to customers. And if they say it is for salads, I would say it is foolish for them to be unwilling to take EXTRA MONEY for it. That is stupid.

[nationalparker]

I'd follow up with the manager today - and fill him/her in on the service and check on the spinach issue. but that service was unacceptable.

[rachael]

http://www.subway.com/Applications/C...erService.aspx

[Wildflower]

Hi, I'm not part of the 100 lb club but wanted to chime in...

I've eaten at Subways literally all over the US - I'm vegetarian and it's the only fast food type place I eat at. I ALWAYS ask for, "no lettuce, spinach" and except for the places that didn't have spinach have never been rejected. I even ask for shredded carrots be added too, when I see them out.

How very, very odd. I've literally ordered this way and probably 50 or more different subways in multiple states and have been doing it this way for at least 6 or 7 years. I eat a ton of subway and have never had a problem.

If they said no to me, I'd probably say, "Why can't I have spinach?" I'd be confused.

Perhaps she didn't speak English well and they were just out or what was there looked bad and she didn't understand what you were requesting? That's my only explanation...

[fattymcfatty]

I do remember when there was the E-Coli outbreak with Spinach here on the West Coast a few years ago Subway got rid of spinach. My hubby eats there now and he gets spinach.

[konfyoozed]

i just had a sandwich from subway a couple days ago and they had no problem putting spinach on there... that's odd...

[opheliaphoenix]

Originally Posted by Wildflower

Perhaps she didn't speak English well and they were just out or what was there looked bad and she didn't understand what you were requesting? That's my only explanation...

This was pretty much what I was going to say. It's the only thing I can think of that wouldn't be the rudest, most unprofessional thing I've encountered at Subway or similar places. There must have been some kind of comprehension barrier for her to have not given an explanation...that, or what they had left of the spinach looked like it was starting to go bad, so she wouldn't serve it and wasn't sure if she was allowed to admit that they had bad ingredients that day?

I don't know, these are both likely to be long shots, and I would still suggest contacting a manager or even the company itself. In any possible case, it should have been handled with more tact.

[beerab]

The subway by my work charges to TOAST your sandwich- I think that's outrageous!

I'm sorry you had a bad experience

[Silverdrmr]

Actually, something like this happened to me once, some time last year I think.
I was at a Subway that I had never been to before (and never will again) and I ordered my usual (at the time) tuna sub. I never get lettuce if I could help it because I love adding raw spinach to everything.
Anyway, we are at the veggie section and I ask for spinach. The guy shakes his head and starts to put lettuce on my sandwich.
Me: "No, wait, I said spinach" and pointed to the spinach.
The guy shakes his head, "Extra, extra"
Me: "Why is it extra? It's never extra."
Guy: "Lettuce free, spinach extra"
Me: "I won't pay extra for spinach"

Now, I'm all about seeing the other person's point of view, but I have to say, it was about to get heated. But before it got to that point, the manager, or at least the guy's boss, came up to see what was the problem, because apparently i was holding up the line.
I told him that I wanted spinach on my sub and that I've NEVER been charged extra.
The guy said something in his language to the manager who just shook his head and said something back but said to me that it was no problem, no charge.
I said okay and finished completing my order (watching like a hawk that he didn't spit in my food or something).
At the register, after making sure that I didn't get charged extra, I asked the manager why it was not included. He just said "it just is". Unacceptable. Never went back.

[OhMyDogs]

I worked at Subway for years, call the manager, demand an explaination. If you're not satisfied with how the manager handles it, call the head office. Subway restaurants are franchises, but they have a certain code which they have to adhere to, and it's pretty stringent (seriously, down to the order in which the chips are displayed, and the drinks are lined up).

[Elladorine]

Thank you for all the replies! I've filled out the online feedback form, which is supposed to be forwarded to the owner of the store (I still have the receipt so I was able to give out detailed information). If I don't get a satisfying reply I'll be contacting the store directly.

If this spinach issue is relatively common (judging from some of your comments and my previous experiences), they're really making themselves look bad. I used to manage a Pizza Hut and I can't imagine handling these kinds of situations with customers in such a way.

Sigh . . . I seem to have bad luck with restaurants. A few months back we got absolutely horrible service at an Olive Garden. My husband and I each like to order the soup (I get the minestrone) and he also orders one of those small pizzas, of which he shares a slice or two with me. It's cheap (for Olive Garden anyway!), yummy, and suits my calorie budget. But like I said, this time the service was absolutely horrible so my husband gave a medium tip on his credit card. He was checking his statements a few days later and noticed the total was higher than he had signed on. We called the restaurant and it seems our waiter decided to reward himself with a much more generous tip than he'd been given! Some people . . .

[Fit4Lyfe]

Yea, I would call back and ask to speak with the manager even if there is a language barrier there should have been some sort of indicator to OP, but it seems like there wasn't. I would have made a scene, but it's good you got a chance to cool down and think about it.

[Brooklynn]

I used to work at subway and you would be amazed at actually how strict they are supposed to be. You can only have a certain amount of meat and cheese and they are actually supposed to count the veggies they put on. If memory serves me its something like 6 black olives or some craziness. Anyway yeah spinach is supposed to be for salads and if the employee is really power hungry or just a jerk or the manager is there they probably wont give it to you. But most the time they will. All I can say is never tell some one like that you have gotten it that way before they will ruin it with everyone else too.