and Pret A Mice.
Two new businesses JAB Holdings via Pret A Manger adds to their empire after the Veggie Pret take over of EAT.
Day 5 of >>> Away in Pret A Manger Ad-VENT Calendar
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Haha! 😀
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So, the recent Rat sighting on 6th September 2019 in a Soho Pret Branch has everyone on their chairs, not realizing this is just a visual of a bigger problem.
UPDATE Nov. 2020
Rat dropping baked into a Pret baguette:
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As well as a fly baked into a Pret cookie:
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These are just videos and photos some people took and posted. The problem is much bigger!
I worked in mice infested Pret shops and asked to be transferred to a clean shop, as Pret didn’t tackle the problem UNTIL an EHO closed down a shop due to pest infestation.
Pret only reacts when their pockets are squeezed.
This picture is from a shop I worked at where a mouse built their house inside a Bloomer bread loaf. In one shop where Pret kept ignoring our plea to close down to clean up the place, the mice were so bold, they didn’t just come out at night when it’s dark and quiet, no, they strolled along under the coffee counter even during the busy and noisy coffee rush! It was ridiculous and like a Tom & Jerry clip how blunt the mice were. They were taking the Micky Mouse! I asked for a transfer.
I learned a lot about mice then. Their favourite Pret products are: seeded bloomer bread (above picture) which Pret uses for Toasties, but they settle for the Granary bread as well.
Seeded High Fiber muffin, but they don’t touch the Blueberry muffin, so, dear customer you can still enjoy.
Popcorn. Oh, do mice love popcorn!!! The amount of opened, nibbled on popcorn bags we had to waste I can’t count! Some customers even put a popcorn bag on the counter saying “Oh, this is already open!” And we staff blushed and apologized for this mishap, knowing exactly “who” was responsible for opening it! I wanted to SCREAM to the customer:
“WE HAVE MICE BUT PRET ISN’T DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!!”
So, as usual, it took an Environmental Health Officer from the Government to do a routine check, and close down a shop having found mice droppings all over the place.
If you ever pass by a Pret shop and they are closed in the middle of the morning or day with a sign saying something like, “For technical/internal reasons/issues…closed…” Then take a good look inside, and if you see the team frantically cleaning and moving furniture around, you may have gotten yourself a little pest issue in there.
And since the EHO closed a shop in 2011/12, Pret then FINALLY got an outside Pest Control company to do checks once there is a sighting of droppings or pests. But it took a shop closure. Before, I had more mice as colleagues than humans in two shops!
A Manager review from London in 2014 about mice droppings (poo) and advising people not to eat at Pret. This is AFTER an EHO closed down a Pret shop 2+ years before. Pret is never on top of their game, they always just play catch-up when it’s too late. The manager here points out the SPEED that is always at the center of work.
A review from January 2019: “dirty place”
Another one from the U.S.
And a very recent review on poor hygiene due to time pressure:
I’ve put a video slide together on YouTube about the speed and time pressure staff are subjected to for £8.25 an hour. The weekly Mystery Shopper is tasked to probe staff on speed, smiles, eye contact, chit chat. Staff have to serve within 1 minute to get as much customer flow = £££ through the shops. If even just ONE staff member fails on any of the tasks they’re tested on they risk losing bonus for the WHOLE team and then get fear managed. I explain on YouTube WHY this is a problem, especially for health and safety of staff’s mental health and customers lives.
Smile for the “Misery” Shopper:
UPDATE: November 2019 – SEVEN mice where counted running around:
Photo via The Mirror / video by David Nassim on Mirror.co.uk
This video where the mice run around openly because the shop is closed, but the shop where the mice strolled along under the coffee counter during busy coffee rush, it looked like this, just that the mice where more walking along the wall, not through the middle of the shop between customers:
(Forgive the language in the video…no I don’t mean the F & Sh word, I mean how he pronounces “Pret A Manger”! 😀 )
Here’s a rat in a Soho branch recently again, after another customer already posted a video of a mouse in a Soho branch in August 2019.
A video Tweet of a RAT via the Daily Mail in September 2019
Video Tweet ALSO of a Soho branch of a MOUSE in August 2019
Video of a MOUSE in Veggie Pret London
2 videos of a MICE infested Pret shop in New York. I love the commentator: “Pret A Manger, Good, Natural Mice”!
St. Pancras station, a customer sighted a MOUSE.
2016 Tweet of little Jerry chillin’
UPDATE 19. September 2019
Link to Tweet St. Martin’s Lane, off Leicester Square area 18. Sep. 2019
And many other Tweets but without videos/photos. Of course the problem is much bigger.
Pret didn’t do ANYTHING even after TWO customers died until it became public! You are kidding yourselves if you think they really proactively tackle pest issues, even now. The CEO Clive Schlee sneaks out the back door but remains as a non-executive director in the background! Getting away with customer deaths, injuries, ignored warnings, staff suicides not investigated yet……
Glassdoor
UPDATE:
New York review about senior management
London HQ review about senior management
The reality of the happy factory behind the shiny PR[et] facade. The cats that made Pret wealthy, but are stepped upon like worms. The reason why staff, who get exploited for £8.25 an hour, are unable to tackle the pest problems as well as labelling, cross contamination and allergen issues…
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The above slideshow & YouTube is just a selection, the list goes on in → Pret Staff Complaints
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather starve and speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review: 1. “Late Night Girl’s” Story with Pret and 2. Pushing Back Against Pret.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
Yikes, so off-putting, but to think it’s been going on and on.
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They did change after an EHO closed down a shop having found mice droppings everywhere. Pret then finally employed an outside PROFESSIONAL pest control compny to do proper checks & tackle the issue. Yet, even a professional pest control company doesn’t help if Pret continues to stubbornly understaff shops to maximize profit.
Staff get overworked and stop caring. Plus, there is no real training and staff are confused on what procedure is.
When a shop got closed by the Government, Pret went into typical panic mode after having ignored the problem for so long, and blamed dowbward. I saw & heard about many Managers getting fired or disciplinaries,while in reality Managers weren’t trained properly. It’s the typical downward blaming.
But on another issue Pret has to face the music today in court for the death of the second customer.
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I hate downward blaming, and I hate smug management. Yes, a constant problem across the West is penny pinching, disastrous.
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Yes, and by the end of the day it’s the legacy they leave behind. They may have a large retirement package, but with what legacy do they leave.
I sleep well at nights.
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I’m glad you do, but yes, what legacy.
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