Subway Advertising

Subway promotes its subs (sandwiches) and other promotions as healthy and easy, and while we have no objection to Subways products, we do have a HUGE problem with their advertised specials. For the second time in not too many months we find that our local Subways don't honour the specials being advertised on TV.

At the moment Subway (owned by Doctors Associates Inc) are promoting on their TVC a 6 inch sub and a 600ml coke or water for $5.95. Go to your local subway though (Indooroopilly Shopping Town for example) and you might find that they don't honour that promotion.! Instead a 6 inch and a 600ml coke cost almost $9!

There is nothing in the store which suggests they will not be honouring the current advertised offer.

The poorly trained staff told us (rudely) that that they did not have to honour the advertised offer because they were a franchise, which of course is simply not true.  The store holds itself out as a Subway and therefore its reasonable to expect it will honour Subway offers (other franchised stores such as Maccas do).

The staff also claimed (after first denying that they were aware of the offer) that the Subway commercial says  the offer is not available in all stores. Again, this does not appear to be true.

(Subway - regardless of what you think about your TVCs, how about a bit of staff training in customer service?)

Subway does in some of thier TVCs a state in very small print  that says "prices and participation may vary".  (see this one for example  at 0:20 seconds). However even if the viewer read this, they have no idea really what it means, or if it means not all stores, he doesn't know which stores. Nor could we identify which stores are participating from the stores from the Subway website.  Does Subway management expect people to drive around from store to store looking for one that will honour the offer? And how many aren't honouring the offer - 10%, 30%, 50%?

While we do sometimes go to Subway, today we only went because we saw the promotion advertised. Management of Subway know that TV advertising drives visitors to stores (otherwise, why do it) and yet they make no attempt to ensure that stores honour the offer, or make it clear to the viewer which stores won't offer it. Very disappointing Subway!

Dad Rating

Stevo
Misleading if not dishonest

Simon
Not the way to win customers hearts and minds