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I wrote already about the YourPretBarista subscription rip-off Pret started in 2020 and the many customer complaints on the excuses why most shops don’t do the free and “endless” (for Pret expensive) frappes and smoothies. Common excuses are: they run out of ice, ice machine broken, smoothie machine broken, no apple juice, the shop doesn’t know it’s included in the subscription etc. etc.
Blog post: Smoothie Operator – The Pret A Manger Lie
UPDATE June 2021: Pret now presents also technical issues when people try to subscribe. But knowing Pret and their tricks, they may have created that problem in case they get slapped by a consumer watchdog about the cancellation and other rip-offs Pret does, so Pret can say “Well, we have technical issues even when customers try to subscribe!” These “new” issues started after many customers complained about the lack of iced drinks or not being able to cancel, not getting their QR code, QR code not being read in stores etc. etc., forcing them to pay for their coffee while having the subscription!
A company the size of Pret should NOT have THAT MANY “technical” issues and for SO LONG (since the subscription started)!!!
The coffee subscription issues continue with daily Tweets and Insta/FB posts on customers either not able to cancel before the new month starts, wrong expiration dates which forces customers to another month of subscription, or even worse they DID cancel in time and they even received a confirmation email that they’ve successfully cancelled, but Pret keeps withdrawing money from people’s bank accounts the following months. Pret doesn’t respond to emails or customers suddenly get cut off when they DO manage to get through on the phone etc. etc. etc. So, people flock to public feeds on social media and only THEN does Pret respond luring them into DM … A news article covered this after I kept RT’ing and posting about the rip-off (below YouTube slide).
Most customers assume this is a one-off glitch only they experience. But few are taking the complaint further, yet no-one seems to contact a consumer watchdog to look into this further. I mainly post Twitter comments as I am heavily censored on Instagram & Facebook which are now under FB. But there are complaints on there as well as on Twitter.
One customer posted a visual of the loop where Pret sends people around in circles and the customer for once is not willing to keep being lured into DM by Pret social media staff.
Quote from the Tweets:
»It’s just a feedback loop! You log in, hit ‘cancel’ then it asks for your email again and then emails you a ‘one time password’. You enter the number, navigate to ‘cancel my subscription’ and it starts all over again«
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UPDATE June 2022
A customer cancelled her subscription in August 2021 and realized now that Pret continued to charge her, altogether £210. From all the complaints I’ve seen on social media, there have been several who were charged 3, 6+ months after cancellation, but this is the longest, almost 9 months. And not all customers complain publicly, only Pret know how many complain via email/DM or even try to get through via phone where Pret seldom pick up.
If people have enough or a lot of money in their bank account, it will take a long time to notice that the odd £20 goes missing every month, except if they check their accounts regularly like I do, as I have been overcharged on several occasions. Clever thieves who steal credit card details often don’t wipe the bank account out of all its funds, but they withdraw or make purchases of small amounts over a long period of time until the account holder realizes.
Same with Pret. Take a little here and there from MANY customers over a long period of time, that’s how they make profit. Pret should seriously get investigated by financial standard and trading standard bodies.
Just a few of the MANY complaints on Twitter, I didn’t even bother to screenshot Facebook and Instagram posts on this:
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Even a BBC journalist had to tweet at Pret twice (February and April 2021) after MONTHS of Pret withdrawing money. The Tweets have since been deleted:
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Facebook:
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Recent complaint on FB again:
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One recent DM exchange between the Pret social media staff and a customer has me speechless. Pret offers “endless” coffees, even though the limit is 5 per day in 30 minute intervals. There’s already false advertisement. And here Pret is accusing a customer of fraud and after promising “endless” coffee, making an extremely rude statement that crosses boundaries: “double endless coffee isn’t a good idea for anyone”:
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UPDATE July 2021 Pret STILL makes it hard to cancel and continues to take money! No company can have THAT MANY issues for SO LONG! Just a few only from Twitter, I didn’t bother to screenshot any more from Instagram and Facebook:
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… etc. etc. etc. etc. … and many, many, many more with new complaints of being sent in a loop for the One Time Code etc. Some more in below YouTube slide since the subscription started last year.
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News article: Pret a Manger coffee subscription customers hit with £20 fee despite trying to cancel during free trial
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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 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.
An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret.
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.
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Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – Present: expret.org
Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 