Airing of Grievances: Jamba Juice & Sophie’s Cuban
I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to complain. Here’s a new space dedicated to anything you’d like to vent about. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)
First up is Jamba Juice, who was giving away free food this past Monday until 10am (or so they claimed). This was posted in the comments:
I showed up at Jamba Juice at 9:55am (Times Sq. location). The manager there was such a prick. He told me free breakfast was over. I mentioned to him it wasn’t even 10:00am yet, and he got in my face and yelled “FREE BREAKFAST IS OVER” and walked away. Asshole. I’ll never go to Jamba again.
Apparently this soup nazi treatment wasn’t limited to just one customer. Brownie from the website Blondie & Brownie had the same experience at the location on 47th & Broadway:
I had the exact same experience at the exact same Jamba (47th and B’way, yes?) I got there at 9:58 by my cell. Apparently in the land of Jamba it was already 10:03. The place wasn’t even overwhelmed with people. I’ve worked in food service and um, this was not good service. Oh well, saved me 200 mostly empty calories.
When will companies learn that you can’t fuck around when comes to free food. We are a cheap and vengeful group and being denied makes us very very angry…
Moving right along… my favorite kind of complaints are the ones that come from people thinking they are contacting the restaurant directly. I guess people find a Midtown Lunch write up, and think they are on the restaurant website? Either way I always find them hilarious, and while I shouldn’t be giving coverage to stupid people who can’t tell the difference between a blog and a restaurant website- I just can’t resist.
A pretty angry (and misdirected) Sophie’s Cuban email that hit the ML inbox, after the jump…
I have been a customer of Sophie’s and many times have brought home take outs in the afternoon. Ever since the prices has risen, not only have the quantity of the food lessened, but also the quality and service. The portions are so much more smaller and some of your women workers seems to favor certain people when portioning orders. The person before me ordered almost the same as I did and was given so much more in quantity than my order. The portion of the rice I got were so small and the grilled chicken were one larger piece and the rest scraps. I told the girl I did not want the small pieces as it looked as if it were leftovers from someone’s plate. Anyway, all in all, I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUR ESTABLISHMENT AND WILL NOT GO THERE ANYMORE AS WELL AS TELL MY COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS NOT TO AS WELL. YOU SHOULD GET A NEW SET OF WORKERS WHO SERVE THE CUSTOMERS FAIRLY AND NOT ELLECT FAVORITISM.
It started off normal enough, and I for sure relate to wanting as large a portion of food as possible, but when the email gets all BOLD, it becomes pretty clear she has no idea who she’s emailing. Good times!
Have your own grievances to air? Email them to zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted by Zach Brooks at 12:00 pm, April 11th, 2008 under Airing of Grievances.
16 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
16 Comments
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Hahaha! I love it.
I got some attitude from the girl at starbucks during the the free coffee giveaway. A whole team of coworkers were just getting the free cups and she asked us “what else would you like?” and when we said “that’s all” she gave us the evil eye. -
Daniel – you are my new favotire Krieger!
I’ll just reiterate that my experience with the Bryant Park Jamba Juice was excellent. They did a good job managing the crowd and getting people the freebies quickly.
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Isn’t Jamba Juice a franchise operation? I’m guessing the breakfast giveaway was mandated by corporate and all the costs were incurred by the individual store owners. In midtown Manhattan, where stores see a wee bit more foot traffic than a Jamba Juice in a suburban strip mall, I’ll bet this was a much costlier promotion than it was at a typical location.
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I was at 47th and Broadway before 10am as well and got turned away….
Hello xxx,
Thank you so much for taking the time to contact Jamba Juice to let us know about
your recent visit to our 47th & Broadway/ Time Square location. On behalf of all of
here at Jamba Juice, I would like to offer you our sincerest apologies for ending
our Free Smoothie Morning earlier than posted. We were to serve customers five
minutes after ten to ensure we don’t turn anyone away because of our clocks being
different.From the experience you have described, we definitely have some additional coaching
to provide to this team. I will share your comments with the field management team
of this location for review and follow up. We certainly appreciate you allowing us
the opportunity to address this situation and make things right.Have a great day!
Sincerely,
MacKenzie S
Consumer Response Representative
Jamba Juice Company
6475 Christie Ave
Emeryville, CA 94608
800.545.9972“We aspire to deliver the perfect Jamba Experience to each and every Customer,
each and every time!” -
When do the Feats of Strength start?
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You mean the buffets?
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I don’t think that a buffet service is part of the traditional Festivus celebration
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You mean the Sophies corporate email address isn’t zach@midtownlunch.com? I’m also trying to figure out what “ELLECT FAVORITISM” means.
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My Jamba Juice experience was good (6th and 56th). It was PACKED with people because they were giving out free 16 oz. regular smoothies and 12 oz. breakfasts. The line moved smoothly and the workers were friendly yet pleasant.
Meanwhile, my sample cup of Pike’s roast was a disappointment and the Barista gave us the death stare as well after we we told all we wanted was the coffee. Wasn’t it supposed to be a regular cup?
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Jackson, have you not heard of the gastronomic legend that is Zack? All You Can Buffet restaurants are utterly devastated in his wake!
Like locusts pillaging the farm fields, Zack has been know to wreak havoc upon unsuspecting buffet tables! If this is not a feat of strength, then nothing is!
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I went to Starbucks on 45th and Park (in front of Metlife building). I was there at 11:58: like a good Midtown Luncher. The lady’s behind the counter gave me an evil glare (2 of them!), I was cut in line by two middle aged female queue jumpers, and likewise, when I said all I wanted was the free sample, I got a glare and a turn.
Sup with that starbucks?
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Indeed, after Zach’s birthday chinese blow out the said buffet operator needed UN Aid to continue in business.
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Never to fear, soon Starbucks will be bankrupt, and the laughs will be ours.
As for the 47th & Bway Jamba Juice, fire up the ol’ boycott machine. Let’s remind these fuckers where their paychecks come from. Maybe the new manager will properly honor their promotions…
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Wait a second, Brownie’s supposed to be working at 9:58 anyways. I’m telling her boss.
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had an annoying experience with 40th st sophie’s free food & will not be returning:
i asked for the roast pork and the woman said no. so i said you mean theres no more and she said no. i ask for the oxtail and she said no. i ask whats left – chicken. so i figured i’d take that but i ask for a leg & she says no. at this moment later they dump in a whole new tray of pork right in front of me. they could’ve said it was coming in one second! when i tell her she just told me there was no more they actually say sorry, too late! i know i shouldn’t complain about free food but the people were just rude. the promotion was almost over as it was 2 pm and the line wasn’t long anymore.
You should have written them back and made up a fake $100 gift certificate with the Sophie’s logo on it, make it look real authentic….imagine how enraged they’d be when trying to redeem it… Ha! It’s probably not too late, you should try it.