No you cheap bastards, No! or Frustrating Footlong Fanaticism

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I work for the same company digitalpotato does and although I haven't been through quite the footlong hell he or she has I've encountered my share of problems with the promotion, most commonly in the form of the cheap ass SC.

Our shop has two different kinds of steak and cheese sandwiches. A regular sandwich and a supersize sandwich that comes with double meat and double cheese.

The supersize sandwich is NOT on the $5 menu, but this has aggravated the SCs who claim we are running a national TV ad that says it is.

So I did some research. I found the ad online and went to the corporate website to be thorough. Both clearly state any REGULAR footlong is $5. The supersize steak and cheese is NOT considered regular. The TV spot does mention the REGULAR steak & cheese sandwich.

So most customers have been a little flustered and a little upset but one in particular really got under my skin. Exchange went something like this:

SC: I want a supersize cheese steak for $5!
Me: The supersize isn't $5, only the regular
SC: WHAT!! I thought they were all $5!
Me: Most are, but that one since it's supersize.
SC: But that's bullshit! The ad on TV says they are all $5, even that one.
Me: I haven't seen such an ad (I hadn't looked into it at this point) but this location does not offer that sandwich for $5.
SC: That's such bullshit, you should honor what the ad says!
Me: I can only honor what the owner tells me I can.
SC: Your owner is an idiot, where's the next closest <sandwich shop> owned by someone else?
Me: It's over on X st.
SC: Fine, I'll go there. But you need to tell the Owner that his stupidity is costing him money!

Why this SC bothered me is that we actually SAVED money by NOT making him a sandwich. The supersize steak and cheese regularly goes for about $8.50 for a footlong. Giving it away for $5 would probably not even cover the ingredient cost.

People have no concept of how giving away the sandwiches for cheaper actually results in less money for the company. The idea is it will be made up by higher sales of drinks and sides, but a lot of SCs just want their $5 sandwich and that's it.

My one issue with the TV spot is that is repeats "any footlong $5" repeatedly and only ONCE mentions the "regular" part.

[Kogarashi]

I can almost feel for the customer here, though it's really the commercial's fault and not your store's. Don't those franchise ads usually say "participating locations" anyway?

The biggest reason I can sort-of sympathize is that back when I was cashiering at Walmart, the in-store radio had ads for the in-store sandwich shop (which judging from your comments is the same chain you work at) that were location-specific. The ads took over the PA system and were thus not cut off by employee pages, and were the loudest and clearest thing on the radio. They advertised getting 6-inch combo meals for a certain price, or getting a certain number of footlongs for a given price that was better than the norm. None of the signs in the store advertised these deals, but then none of the in-store radio ads advertised the deals on the signs either. And apparently the sandwich shop employees never heard the quite frequent radio ads, despite the radio being easiest to hear in the sandwich shop.

This frequently led to me attempting to get the combo deal on my lunch break only to have to repeatedly explain the ads to the people behind the counter, including the fact that no, it wasn't the radio in my car, it was the radio in the store, and no, I didn't mean the 6-inch sub-of-the-day sign in the store that would've still been more expensive than the deal on the radio. Only once did one of the employees actually know what I was talking about.

But then, my situation was dealing with ads for that location in particular. National ads that a given location doesn't honor? Fair enough, that happens, and the customer in the OP should've given it a rest and gone for the regular version.

Speaking of which, I love the $5 footlong deal. Yummy deliciousness for cheap? I'm sold!

[Sheldonrs]

Every ad on TV and print that I have seen specifies REGULAR sandwiches.
But SCs have their own view of the world and truth is not one of them if it doesn't get them what they want.

[MoonCat]

We all know they don't read. This is proof they don't listen well, either.

[Megg]

Every ad on TV and print that I have seen specifies REGULAR sandwiches.

Oh. My. God. They live in my head now! As soon as I read this sentence, I heard a whiny, entitled voice in my head saying, "But it IS a regular sub, I don't want a salad or a pita!" I even heard the eyeroll. I think I might go find a corner and .

5 years at the way of sub, myself. My bestest friend works there now, in fact. I totally sympathize!

[Raveni]

The difference is what, an extra tray of meat? Pretend you are eating healthy and just eat the regular steak and cheese.

[Food Lady]

I've seen the commercial. No, wait, I've heard it, 'cause I never stay in the same room. That must be why I missed the "regular" part. Or I'm an SC. Whatever; I don't eat there but rarely, and then I tend to think all the sandwhiches are 6". (If you say "footlong", that's what I picture.) I shouldn't be allowed in Subway. OK, what were we talking about?

[bainsidhe]

As someone else pointed out to me once, the commercial is something like ANY ANY ANY ANY ANY ANY ANY ANY regular FIVE DOLLAR FOOT LOOOOOONG. I'll be honest, I cringed as soon as I saw the add. The only reason I caught the "regular" is because I was intentionally listening for it, knowing there was a catch somewhere.