As the Ghislaine Maxwell trial started today and the UK media remains silent after I sent the below to the press, and Maxwell’s camp tried hard to keep evidence out of court, I re-post this again and again!
UPDATE August 2022
My brief “case study” on Julian Metcalfe, it’s not indepth as I want to highlight something specific: Julian Metcalfe’s Family Line.
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So here I am, minding my own business when I receive an email from an anonymous person with a link to page 38 for a “black book” of none other then convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who some believe may have been “suicided”. As I am contacted by former and current Pret staff, as well as now itsu issues that I pass on to the press, and at times it gets reported on, I get info as my blog is the main link between behind the scenes of Pret/itsu and the public/press.
So, the black address book of Epstein, what names do I see?
Pret A Manger co-“re”-founder and itsu founder, net-worth £215 million, Julian Metcalfe and his former wife Melanie with two addresses and phone numbers.
Of course it’s not a crime to be in a convicted pedophile & sex trafficker’s address book. And to be fair, Metcalfe was married to Melanie between 1992 and 2005. The first allegation on Epstein to police came in 2005, so technically people didn’t/couldn’t know about Epstein’s crimes. But still! Itsu staff have reviewed Metcalfe as sexist, racist, aggressive etc. (see YouTube below). Metcalfe comes from a long line of elite British folk and grew up wealthy and privileged. And in an interview with the Telegraph in July 2021 Metcalfe’s words are headlined with “Only the fittest will survive high street cull”.
This is very much in line with Metcalfe’s words to the Daily Mail last year regarding lock-down and being happy to sacrifice a few thousand very old and vulnerable people for the hospitality industry (again, please see YouTube below).
So, only Metcalfe knows why he is in Epstein’s infamous “black book” that has Ghislane Maxwell shake in her boots! And it doesn’t need to mean anything. But I find it noteworthy to mention after Metcalfe’s own aggressive words to the press (and other words that he deleted after I confronted him on Twitter), and what others say about him.
Quote from the Western Journal: »Epstein employee Alfredo Rodriguez called the list the “Holy Grail” or “Golden Nugget” that would map out the billionaire’s alleged underage sex network. Rodriguez first tried to sell it to journalists; instead, authorities seized it as evidence.«
I was sent this because I chased Metcalfe off Twitter last year and put it on a YouTube slide where I explained why Pret can’t be distanced to Metcalfe, after Pret made a statement of distancing themselves when Metcalfe made his appalling “eugenicist” lock-down comments to none other than the Daily Mail tabloid of all papers! Dumb move! After I chased him off Twitter, he’s become a little more media savvy now!
On his 2 day Twitter stint, I posted itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe where he is alleged to be sexist, racist, aggressive etc. Metcalfe continued his dumbness by RT’ing my Tweets to him! I suppose someone from Pret then must have warned him of who I am, as he then deleted his Twitter account the next day after only 2 days there, not knowing I already made screenshots!
I even tweeted at him saying, “will see how long you can hold on Twitter”, never thinking he lasted only 2 days, as other Pret execs ran off Twitter since I exposed Pret there.
His deletedTweets:
I use YouTube as my blog url is blocked completely on Facebook/Instagram even in private messages! But they can’t block YouTube!
Please note, I changed my Twitter handle “LateNightGirlMe to @expretDOTorg, as “late night girl” doesn’t make any sense for new readers. I explain how I came to my former handle in below audio player interview.
Most of his deleted Tweets where he retweeted my Tweets here on YouTibe:
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Little side note: Former Pret CEO Clive Schlee is very close friends and business partner with Julian Metcalfe. And Schlee is on the board of directors and owns half of itsu. But no, Schlee isn’t in Epstein’s address book, I’ve already checked! 😉
And a little piece about one of the phone books, as there is more than 1 it seems:
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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 (a close friend & business partner of Julian Metcalfe who also owns half of Metcalfe’s company itsu). 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.
This link My Pret A Manger Ordeal is a simple and easier overview to link straight to some of the most important blog entries, summarizing my trauma with Pret A Manger. There is much more writing on my website / blog, but the links on the map are the main articles to narrow down, pointing to the main issues of my trauma with Pret.
On the “map”:
click on the – minus bottom right to decrease and get an overview of the whole map
click on the dots to expand or close menu.
click on the -> arrow on a particular title to link straight to the article
hold the mouse clicked, “grabbing” it to move map around as you would with Google map
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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.
This is the REALITY of Pret A Manger behind the facade WORLDWIDE. The clean facade of freebies, the forced smiles (tested by Mystery Shoppers), the “ethical” front of Pret that got away with 2 customer deaths, a third allergy reaction nearly fatal (new court-case in November 2020), several injured, multiple warnings ignored etc. Seeking independent investigation into a staff suicide.
UPDATE:LAWSUIT filed against Pret in NYC for racism and discrimination (bottom of page).
Link (More reviews further below in this blog post)
A rare complaint from Hong Kong where most people put their heads down and continue under hard conditions:
Link to Tweet. An online conversion from HKD 45 to British Pound is roughly £4.65 an hour! And Pret didn’t even respond to the Tweet.
UPDATE: August 2021:
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A VERY common bullying incident from a Manager towards a Team Member. But this time it didn’t happen behind the facade in the kitchen, office or staff room, hidden away from customers, this time it happened in front of customers. The “ethical profile” of Pret is a facade the public still believes, because the bullying is usually happening behind the scenes, away from customers’ eyes. And then, when the Manager or Leader has finished bullying the staff member, the intimidated and humiliated Team Member then is send out to the shop floor, and expected to smile for Mystery Shopper bonus and fool customers with a fake happiness. And as many are from other countries, young, have children to feed or Uni tuition to pay, they feel stuck, too exhausted to find a new job and not knowing where to turn to.
And when the bullying is happening on the shop floor, shops are so noisy with loud music, shouting of staff to make and get coffee orders, talking, busyness. Customers are occupied on their phones or laptops, distracted with talking, eating etc. So, when it happens in the shop, people don’t even notice.
Even when I was bullied during bereavement under the watchful eye of HR, I NEVER told a customer or colleague. I was complimented by customers and received rewards from Mystery Shoppers for my service, smile, giving freebies etc. And after my shift at times I headed for the bridge and still don’t know how I survived. But none of my colleagues and customers knew my inner state and turmoil. I explain in detail at the very bottom YouTube slide about what weekly Mystery Shoppers test staff on, or via this link: “Smile for the Misery Shopper“.
This creates a host of mental health issues under Emotional Labour, that staff are forced to perform. What @Katecordon witnessed here and confronted Pret in below Tweet, is so familiar to me, and this would be a situation where I as a Team Leader then had to console the Team Member crying in the staff room and at times speak to the Manager. Only ONE time when I spoke to the Manager why they shouted at the TM, this Manager apologized to the TM. But this was only one Manager out of many who did not apologize and rather bullied me then as well for speaking out. But I didn’t care!
The Team Member in below customer Tweet made a very simple, innocent, normal mistake. No big deal. And by the way, the TM made that mistake because she was most likely NOT trained in the first place! The Manager must have stood nearby witnessing this mistake. To correct the mistake the TM then did give the 10% discount, but explained at the same time that she made a mistake and gave the 10% as a one-off. PERFECT customer service!!! In fact, a Mystery Shopper would have probably given the TM an “outstanding card”, meaning the extra £100 reward, or even £200 if the overall scores were perfect. Mystery Shoppers many times gave the reward, even when a mistake happened, but they rewarded the staff member due to how they handled the mistake.
The same is by law, when a price tag gives an old cheaper price even though the price has increased, the business is obligated to charge that old cheaper price, even if the till system is updated with the new expensive price. But this TM probably doesn’t know the law on this and did instinctively the right thing because she cares! The TM here did a perfect, correct and kind customer service, but was bullied by the Manager for making a simple mistake and then giving the 10% discount as a good will gesture, which is commendable! And this Manager is particularly offensive by talking down on the customer as well: “It’s company policy, love“. Very, very, very, very common bullying incident in Pret! Bullying and fear management by the book.
The reason this Manager makes a huge issue out of the 10% discount wrongly given as a student discount, is that Pret only does regular discounts in some places like malls or train stations (but not all malls or stations), where the other companies and train station staff within that station or mall get a 10% discount showing their staff badge. So, this Manager would have to do half a minute of paper work to explain for the financial file why the 10% was given in this Manchester airport, that doesn’t give student discounts. Managers hate to do little paper work issues like this as they want their financial records to look perfect. I got in trouble many times for doing it the proper way in recording mistakes, because Managers didn’t like mistakes in their financial files and rather stress staff to not make these mistakes. And at one time I’ve had enough and told one Manager that if a financial file is perfect without any mistakes, this would ring alarm bells with me if I was a financial auditor. But that’s another story. And honest mistakes that are effectively recorded can be traced back in the system and explained. Again, no big deal.
And also by the way, this Manager most likely continued the bullying later in the office, as bullying Pret managers and leaders can’t let go and continue later on, especially when caught out by customers and they “lost face” in front of the TM they just bullied. So, they try to “establish” authority and continue behind closed doors. I hope that young lady finds quick support! And if this Manager is disciplined by Pret, then only because he got caught by a customer who called him out publicly, like he did with his Team Member. If the TM alone would have complained to HR, nothing would have happened.
This shows as well in the very first review from the new LAX Pret shop that was opened in the summer 2019. I could not have put it into better words how this bullying environment thrives in Pret worldwide. I love American reviews, because they find amazing words!:
A little reality check and crash course of Pret’s “ethical” profile. What staff dare to say in anonymity, away from the fear management. Clive Schlee “retired” with quite a legacy!
Glassdoor scores on Pret and its leadership. I wrote a new blog post as well on >>> Pret’s new CEO Pano Christou, and Clive Schlee remaining in the background as a non-executive Director, while on his Twitter account he still presents himself as the CEO of Pret! (UPDATE: July 2020, Schlee’s Twitter account has also been deleted in July 2020). I explain in above blog why Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account. Clive Schlee let Pano Christou take over on Glassdoor already in July 2019, even though Schlee’s retirement was set for September 2019. This typical passing the buck downwards is to avoid further negative scoring. And yet, still not taking responsibility.
NOTE: Pret settled TWO lawsuits in NY having had to pay 4000 workers back after illegally having “shaved off” (rounded down) their pay. But in the UK no-one goes to court, even though the same problem of unpaid hours is systemic throughout the company, as I have experienced countless times myself. One review below shows the hopelessness on the feeling that staff can’t do anything about this.
And only after getting caught and a public outcry and boycotts for not wanting to pay 500 (!) young summer recruits. Do the math on how much money that is. And getting young folk in, who don’t know their rights and are brainwashed easier. Pret always tries and changes direction when caught and boycotted.
Link to FULL review WORTH READING! One quote from above review on the hopelessness, compared to U.S. staff who filed class-action suit against Pret twice: “Sometimes it can be challenging maintaining a natural smile on my face for 8 hours straight. … Pret will do anything not to pay you. They will bend the law and the contract in any way they can,and there is nothing you can do about it (unless smile).”
Because the legal system is different here…no pro-bono lawyer likes to take this on as I’ve experienced, because when you win, the payout is so low, lawyers don’t want to pick this up for their 33% peanuts from a low reward in the UK legal system. Too much work for little reward.
Several reviews on Pret’s shiny London Head Office from current and former employees at the time of reviewing on Indeed and Glassdoor. Again, these are reviews on Pret’s HEAD OFFICE in Victoria, London where the CEO and other Senior Leadership also have their desks in the open plan offices where I saw them many times working on laptops etc.
Also, some reviews from office / corporates in New York.
Link“People don’t seem to get promoted unless you are a bully or belittle your team members. The place is toxic.“
Another one from January 2019
Link“… working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever”.
2017 review on HQ from an IT Analyst on Glassdoor:
Link“Manipulative and exploitative approach to employees as owners and senior management concerned about profit margin only. People are taken into account only if it makes a good PR. Genuinely fake and dishonest company.”
UPDATE 05. January 2020 NEW HQ review(customer service team) on homophobia, manipulative HR dealings etc.
Link“Pret has brought over many managers and leaders from the UK and ‘beheaded’ many of the US employees who built the brand…”
This is really upsetting, because I remember when I asked my managers over the years where such-an-such an OPs Manager or General Manager is, I often heard that they where sent to New York, as the American Managers can’t handle the work / can’t manage properly. I remember being confused about this, because I lived in Florida for almost 6 years and traveled to different cities over the years, visiting friends. I stayed 3 months on the West Coast, visited North Dakota, the East Coast, the deep South, often for several months. I have many American friends. Americans are one of THE hardest working people. They are inventive, passionate, disciplined, fun, helpful etc. I was confused, but then thought that I know how complex and micromanaging Pret is, so I didn’t think any more of it. But now I realize, reading all the American reviews that what I was told was bullcrap!
Reading the above review and all the other reviews from the U.S., the main thing the American reviews have in common is: favoritism and racism. And it’s really upsetting, because I know the American mentality vs. the British.
UPDATE: Feb. 2020 from Washington DC – Fired due to pregnancy!
Probational period is 3 months, so they quickly fired her and she can’t take it up in court.
Link I can verify that. I worked in over a dozen Pret shops over the years, and EVERY manager seems to take it personal when you move on. I only moved shop due to management. The reason was always management. They don’t look at you anymore, seem offended when you move on, and yet, they can’t give you a positive word while you work there and then wonder why you leave! And the language barrier is big. You do feel left out very quick when the majority are from a certain country, and you work with them for 8+ hours without understanding a word all day. You feel left out, not understanding their language. And this is not meant racist at all. It’s just a courtesy and inclusiveness to speak English.
Bullying from the top down: A review by a Team Leader who runs the kitchen and the shop! OPs (area manager) bullying the manager who cries in the office. This OPs sounds particularly nasty, and reminds me of an OPs that I had before my brother died and I was still strong holding out under this kind of “leadership”! It’s also a recent review from 03. October 2019 (this is Chicago, but this happens in other countries/cities as well):
Link“My typical work day consist of Ops Manager yelling and cursing at my manager. … Managers cry in their offices because of how stressed they are. … Managers are secretly looking for new jobs right now to get out of Pret.“
Link“This job should be reported to the department of labor”. Pret settled 2 lawsuits in New York, re-paying 4000 workers. In the UK hardly anyone sues because the legal system is different, low rewards that no lawyer wants to pick up. In the U.S. one reviewer on Indeed recently wrote that Pret is always getting sued.
Link“This company is everything that is wrong with the world. … Corporate hell on earth.”
Former General Manager 4 years after Bridgepoint purchased Pret:
Link Review from NY 2011, but this is throughout the company and still today, quote: “Management is very incompetent. It is clear they have little to know training and have absolutely no training or experience in employee relations or even customer relations for that matter. Every manager I have worked with – I have worked with 6 – will immediately try to belittle you. Not sure exactly why this is such a common practice among managers but it is an intrinsic behavior within the company itself. … Even though Pret A Manger emphasizes that they are a “people first” type of company, the reality of it is is that they are solely concerned with sales and view their employees as faceless and a dime a dozen. You’re not God. Take a continuing ed course in management, employee relations, and labor rights. This should be a requirement before even obtaining the position.“
I can only underline above (and ALL) reviews, and yet know that Pret does NOT care about labour rights etc.
Link“A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period”
23. Oct. 2019 “I have work in different shops and they are all very similar, it is a toxic environment, Never in my life I have seen so many different coworkers cry in the job. Give more training to your managers, and hire better people, don’t allow them to abuse the staff, it is appalling.”
The next review from recently is a very typical scenario of abusive fear-management by Managers. Scaring low-wage workers that they’re “playing with lives” while the top Senior Leadership got away with TWO customer deaths, Clive Schlee sneaking out quietly, remaining in the background as a non-executive Director, while having ignored customer warnings (link to article), not acting until the deaths became public:
»This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.
You will lose everything that makes you human.«
Link“I spend 6 months racing all day and barely spoke 3-5 words a day on my shifts if I’m not on till where you are required to have the widest fake smile on earth…”
UPDATE:31.10.2019
A brand new review by a current General Manager that absolutely breaks my heart! One of many along the lines of no work-life balance, due to under-staffed shops and not paid for overtime.
Link“I am about to lose my family as I am never there. I leave to work at 4 am and get home 7 at night. My children looking at me like a I am a stranger. It’s not a life. … Bullying, long hours, shortage of staff, – it’s a proper Modern day slavery”
I think this is the most heart-breaking review I’ve ever seen by any staff member, let alone a Manager. I hope they find a way! I actually cried when I read this.
Another recent Manager review from Chicago tells a similar story, quote: “With the wrong management, the shops begin to break down and brings inner conflict. Pay could be better, especially for seasoned employees. Management gets overworked to save on labor costs. Don’t expect to see much of home as a manager.” Link
Another GM from London in August 2019:
Link A little side note, GMs go to quarterly meetings where the CEO and top leadership are present as well, so GMs know Senior Leaders more than the regular staff. Some GMs disapprove of the CEO – at the time it still was Clive Schlee. But I find it interesting that this GM has NO opinion of the CEO, as if this GM doesn’t care to even mention their like/dislike.
And another GM on Indeed from Glasgow, Scotland: “Amazing in the beginning – showered with benefits and entitlements and opportunities to advance. Terrible once you see how horribly mismanaged and micromanaged the company is. Zero care for human beings and nothing but boosting sales and company growth.“
A little reminder again that Clive Schlee pocketed £30 Million on bonus alone when JAB Holdings bought Pret!Link to article.
UPDATE: 10. November 2019 Brand new Manager review on Indeed worth reading!
Link Quote: “Managers are forced to cheat on results and break standards just so that the area manager looks good on paper, though he stays at home most of the days whilst the shops collapse.“ Yes, but this has always been like this. OPs Managers sit in the pub at lunch time when shops are horrendously busy. OPs Managers fly out to Dubai, Paris or in the U.S. to Vegas, Orlando etc. as mentioned above, to party and blow the hard earned money the shops bring in. Many times I didn’t see my OPs Manager for at least THREE MONTHS at a time, and when they came in, they bossed us around and played scary fear management for a few minutes, before disappearing again for months! The only thing I saw regularly was EMAILS and pressuring us on numbers and Mystery Shopper results!
Quote: “Since 2018 there is so much pressure in getting the standards right however I’ve seen kitchens running on two people on night shifts and even one on day shift (where four people are required per shift) as area management does want figures to be right on paper- this could cause enormous issues if something went wrong i.e. allergens.”
Quote: “People are over stretched and tired since the pressure to achieve selection in stores is high but not enough labour in.“
Quote: “We as managers aim to make our teams happy and safe however the over stretching on labour just made us cover the gaps over and over not realising the biggest gap was within us unable to have a normal life or humanity due to the amount of hours being psychologically forced into work.”
Quote: “I have met great people and higher management in this company but there is an unacceptable level of fear cultureup here in Edinburgh, where people believe they won’t actually be okay if they quit their job if unhappy. It’s 2019 and if your employer raises you to be scared to develop elsewhere then it’s not a good employer.”
Nothing more to add!
And the gift that keeps on giving, a NEW MANAGER review on Glassdoor 16. Nov. 2019
Link“Those willing to step on others make it to the top. Talk the talk but actually don’t live by the values they preach.”
This review is one of my absolute favourites, and brings some humour into all this!
Also, pay attention to the YES vs NO votes on all these reviews.
I could go on and on and on, and add countless more along those lines of above reviews, but my posts tend to get too long. I just post one more which is the shortest review I have come across. It doesn’t take many words to describe Pret A Manger. This is even from a Team Leader. Well, it’s simply Pret:
Above comments and articles are only a fraction of a long list of staff reviews and complaints. For an extensive, yet not exhaustive list please visit: Pret Staff Complaints (list needs to be updated, I stopped in August 2019) with a few collected in below slideshow.
Finally, some very wise words I came across once on Twitter, but I know Pret will not heed (they read my blog) because they are stuck in this profit-driven business and always find ways to sweet-talk their way out of responsibility:
»It’s amazing to me how many business leaders separate their employees from their customers/patrons. Your employees are your core target audience to put word-of-mouth out about your organization.« — @minmilyjung on Twitter
Any employee reading this, especially in Pret and the service industry:
Join a Union and leave reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed and other platforms.
The following Unions cover the food industry:
The BFAWU are the best informed about Pret and have helped Pret staff already. The BFAWU have been instrumental on the first ever McDonald’s strikes in the UK. Also another vital and very active Union that specialize in helping foreign workers is IWGB.
The BFAWU and IWGB are very active with McDonald’s strikes and are the best informed about Pret A Manger.
May not work on mobile devices without Wifi.
Slideshow can be paused
The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in → Pret Staff Complaints. And extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
Staff review: “Bad managemet, always being ‘hounded’.”
Staff review: “Worked into the ground without empathy.”
Smile for the Mystery Shopper. I renamed: “Misery Shopper”!
NOTE:When on Glassdoor, one has to register and be signed in to read reviews. Glassdoor has changed its selection of reviews. On Pret A Manger reviews, Glassdoor is now sieving out Managers and Leaders reviews on the front page. To see ALL the recent reviews on Glassdoor, click where it says “Popular” and select “Most recent” or “Lowest Rating” AND Clear All “Full-time, Part-time”. Also, Glassdoor demands logins now, where you can only see ONE review without being registered and logged in. The reason why the amount of reviews change from 683 to 697 may be that Glassdoor withholds some reviews. But I’m not sure how that works. On Indeed at the Location feature, scroll up to select “All” and it will automatically list all cities/countries in chronological order starting with the newest.
Indeed now even started handpicking reviews as “the most useful review selected by Indeed”, which shows that these review sites are not neutral, as they only select the positive ones, no matter how “rotten” the company may be or how many experienced staff have voted their agreement with the (negative) review:
DEFAULT view:
Click on Sort: “Most recent” and “Clear All”
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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 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.
… from a former Pret employee having survived systemic workplace bullying and gaslighting under Pret’s HR, CEO Clive Schlee and a Development Manager from HQ, who’s also an NLP Practitioner and Hypnotherapist under the National Hypnotherapy Society. On a side note, many Pret leaders from HQ and Operation Managers are NLP practitioners. It seems Pret encourages them to the NLP course, and if one researches on Neuro-linguistic Programming, it is or can be a tool to manipulate people.
As my website has become quite large with various writings from behind the scenes, I decided to create an Index to the most important issues regarding Pret A Manger, that portray themself as this ethical and caring company.
I am still in disbelief myself on what I went through, and writing about it helped me survive and come back to my senses, and expose Pret A Manger! I declined 4 settlement offers from Pret if I am silent about my ordeal and never go to court. I explain in full in my interview at the bottom of most pages here or as the first feature of the below index.
The very fact that Pret did NOTHING after TWO customer deaths, a third nearly fatal, several hospitalized, and numerous warnings ignored, should ring massive alarm bells! But the public remains lulled in, especially in the UK whereas in the U.S. it would hail a storm of lawsuits! The German Reimann family behind JAB, the new owners of Pret, work very hard to divert issues opening in various countries in a whirlwind, more charity work etc.
I write so boldly and loud because I almost lost my life, having been targeted and bullied during already traumatic bereavement. I had several close calls at the bridge and am very proud that I made it through to expose this company!
If this is the only thing I do, having survived this toxic company that hides behind the shiny PR[et] facade and fake smiles, I will do it as thoroughly and detailed as I did when I worked for Pret! I wasted 10 years of my life in this company and explain in my interview how I went through this. This is not about a dis-grunted former employee, this is more. This is about a company that portrays itself to the public as this ethical company and lures in customers as well as employees, exploiting staff for profit. This is just a usual business out for profit as any company is, but the public has been lulled in for years about Pret A Manger and it is human nature to want to believe a fairy-tale…
I confront Pret on a suicide of an assistant manager in 2017 of whom I learned prior to her death. I almost went over the edge, Pret hid TWO customer deaths until it became public, how many suicides of current or former staff happened no-one knows about. I was recently leaked an email that Director of HR Andrea Wareham sent to all Pret shops informing them that two Pret staff have died in two different UK shops. One of them I was told was a suicide, the other person’s death is unclear to the persons who leaked the email. The press is informed and in my 10 years in Pret having had access to Pret emails as I was a team leader, I have never seen an email regarding staff deaths.
Pret must have learned from the customer deaths they never even told us about and also my situation that the truth will always come out.
It is my biggest regret having wasted my time, skill, effort and care for Pret A Manger.
If people don’t believe my story, I have evidence and confront Pret openly on Twitter, Facebook etc. Again, I explain in my interview why Pret is not responding. All I can say to everyone regarding the nice facade of Pret or any company is:
If something looks too good to be true, take a closer look!
The below Index takes openness to read, as many people want to believe the fairy-tale that is Pret A Manger. Only the Unions, Activists and some from the Press know better and look closer.
I start the index with my own story in an interview and continue with general issues, categorizing as best as I can. Any reader and writer, please be aware of the work I’ve put into this website before you just cope & paste and mind the copyright. I have other websites as back-ups. I am open for any interview and article feature, as well as questions.
Any new writings in the future that I may add, I will indicate as UPDATE or NEW.
Index:
Links open in a new window / tab
INTERVIEW
For the first time I share my story with Pret verbally in an interview on a podcast based in California. Interview with The Adam Paradox: (The interview can be played while scrolling through this page and is featured on my website at the bottom of most pages)
> My call-in to BBC radio show of Dotun Adebayo early morning on Christmas Day 2019. The subject of the show was »What does “Christmas spirit” mean to you?«. One of the questions was, if more people are alone at Christmas than it used to be, and what people’s experience is with Christmas in general. As I was up, I just called in. I didn’t speak about Pret, as death and grief is already “heavy” as it is on Christmas Day and I don’t think a BBC radio program would be ready to hear about Pret! I kept it “light” I hope.
(My losses happened in a span of 3 years, not 5 years, I just spoke from looking back on 5 years.)
PRESS
Journalist Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror went undercover into Pret after reading my blog, and having suggested to her to go undercover. I added my thoughts to her report in “Undercover Under Pressure”
I was leaked an email that HR Director Andrea Wareham sent to all Pret shops mid/end of May that TWO Pret staff have died within a month. One staff I was told was a suicide, the other TM the “leakers” don’t have the info. It’s not the first suicide in Pret!
On the below slideshow I added just a selection of staff reviews and comments to save long blog entries. These are from review websites like Glassdoor and Indeed, but also from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other websites where people commented on the work environment in Pret.
Just some examples, before the Slideshow, from former Pret employees in NYC, London etc.:
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in —> Pret Staff Complaints
NEW
I’m branching out to YouTube, as not everyone likes to read long blog posts. I cover mainly staff issues currently:
CEO CLIVE SCHLEE RETIREMENT
NEW CEO PANO CHRISTOU
NEW 01. July 2019: Announcement of early “retirement” of Clive Schlee supposedly in September, but new CEO Pano Christou is already featured on Glassdoor, probably to avoid further negative voting for Schlee.
Pret Staff work in overheated shops. Customer complaints on behalf of employees regarding excruciating work conditions in 35-40ºC+ heat for prolonged time, weeks and months.
FORCED SMILES & HAPPINESS
for Mystery Shopper bonus, extra cash and fear management
Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat Lawsuits vs. Pret on the “Natural” Food claim while Glyphosate was found in food. Change of signage, packaging and Website.
USA: 2016 “sesame reaction” Lawsuit and Pret doing ZERO
At the bottom of the page: A New York customer suffered an anaphylactic shock from unlabelled sesame in a Pret Wrap. He lost the case, yet Pret still did nothing to label food even after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from the same unlabelled allergen in the same year of 2016.
USA March 2019 Court PDF Document of new lawsuit regarding Pret’s “Natural” claim. List of chemicals from page 10 onward.
A customer’s comment in Chicago regarding a deceased Pret employee and Pret in general.
Lastly, THE Best description of SYSTEMIC Workplace Bullying and what I have gone through under Pret’s senior leadership and HR, is summed up in this text I found on Twitter.
I have spent over a year writing my hands into a carpal tunnel (not really, just using a metaphor!) on what I’ve been through in Pret A Manger. I described how systemic and toxic Pret’s bullying is behind the smiley facade!
I can wrap up my whole experience and website in this one text:
Further Staff Reviews, one which states that they felt always being “hounded”. I based more reviews in a YouTube slide on this statement:
“Worked into the ground without empathy”
Smile for the Mystery Shopper – Forced to do emotional labour for cash incentives and fear management (I re-named as the “Misery” Shopper for a reason!)
I worked at Pret A Manger for almost 10 years 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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror contacted me on Facebook after I declined another Mirror Journalist’s request for an interview.
I declined her request as well, as I wasn’t ready for the press, and as I am still paranoid to be tricked and trapped like Pret did with the Development Manager I write extensively about in “The Perversion of a Toxic HR Department“. My experience in Pret is very complex and sounds like straight from a twisted Hollywood script, but I have it all in writing and confront Pret openly on Twitter, which in turn have them report me to get shadow-banned (secretly censored on Twitter & Co. which then hides my posts and accounts from public search). But I urged her to go undercover to see for herself and not just take my word for it, just like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. And she did.
My Facebook message after Amy contacted me:
What I meant by Pret “infiltrating” the mental health club I was a member of, Pret knew about this club as I mentioned it in my last hearing. I write about Pret “infiltrating” the club in my open “letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust which is just a smokescreen to pretend charity to the public.
As I commented on Sathnam Sanghera’s Times article, I’d like to give my two cents also to Amy Sharpe’s undercover article. Both articles from very different perspectives as one from a customer and business point of view, the other from behind the scenes for a few days. But both are equally important and revealing how business works with the main goal of profit in mind.
I have to say that when I saw the undercover reporting yesterday morning (28.11.2018) linked on Twitter, after Amy has been very silent about going “under”, and rightly so, I teared up. I cried when I read her name on the report because not just did she follow my suggestion taking my ordeal serious, but someone from the outside saw what I and many others experience(d), but the public doesn’t want to know about unless it is the press poking into an organization.
It sadly takes deaths becoming public to show how negligent a company, in this case Pret, really is. I’ve been writing openly about my experience with Pret since May 2018 after my father died in March and I started to come to terms again of another loss… still recuperating from my Pret trauma that has “postponed” my grief for my brother. Regular readers know the story.
Some people criticize The Sunday Mirror’s report as being part of a witch hunt, but I don’t think that. The public is so used to be lulled in by a nice and shiny facade, free coffees and cookies.
Customers are so used to the smiles of staff, but no-one knows what really is behind it. The fear management via the Mystery Shopper, rewarded extra £100 if specially nice or told off by the boss in the office and threatened with job security if they didn’t smile non-stop in the highly stressful work environment. I mentioned this in a Tweet response to a customer who without any thought or empathy complained to Pret about a barista, even naming him, for not smiling and rushing the service:
Amy Sharpe’s undercover article to me is like someone understanding this and finally confirming my and the team’s ordeal. Some points I want to highlight as I don’t use the full article, just what I want to confirm and expand upon a little from what this journalist has experienced and witnessed. The article will be in black and my comments in grey. I added the bold to the text to highlight some issues.
Article: A manager reacts in horror as I point out the mistake (of an Almond Croissant with a Jam Croissant label). “Oh my god!” he cries as he switches labels on two trays of croissants – one containing jam, the other almonds.
This is the typical PANIC reaction of a manager who either didn’t take the time or is too disorganized to do the MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) to check that everything is in its proper place, health & safety checks and so on. This could easily be improved by investing to have plenty of staff, instead of cutting staff to save money, so that the Manager On Duty (MOD) can concentrate on checking everything daily as well as throughout the day. It’s a very simple organizational issue. Very, very simple.
Article: In the wake of two allergy deaths, he adds: “It’s really dangerous, especially with everything that’s been going on.”
And yet, no-one steps on the brakes to put immediate, and what CEO Clive Schlee calls, “meaningful” changes in place. The problem with the word “meaningful” to me here is, it sounds too wishy-washy, “poetically” correct but shows no urgency, even though “it’s really dangerous”. The appropriate word should have been to implement “immediate” changes! As Natasha’s parents are in shock over Pret’s procrastination, ITV’s November report:
Article: I am standing behind the counter in Pret a Manger … The pace is so relentless, the demands so constant – customers want serving super-quick – that I find myself under constant pressure. I sense that other staff feel the strain too.
Ms. Sharpe does not give the time of day she was behind the counter, but mentioned having to dash to the toastie machine, so this may have been lunch time. But the strain can especially be felt when a Team Member does the morning shift from 5 or 6am till 2 or 3pm going through two intense rushes: breakfast and lunch. When I worked in Pret I made a decision to not meet with a friend or have an appointment straight after my morning shift having come out of lunch time. I was always like having come out of a tumbler, being shaken for hours and still on electricity. My friends commented on this, so I tried to get home first to clean up and rest and calm down before joining any events.
Many kitchens I have seen with very small working areas for the Hot Chef in particular. Someone leaked a photo to Twitter.
Customer areas are increased to get as many customers / money in as possible; staff areas are decreased. This then creates multiple problems, not only on the mental strain of staff but customers lives as mistakes happen quickly as with labelling I collected in another post “Vegetarians Get Meat Products“:
Or a shop where I worked where there was only ONE multitask room: office, staff changing room with lockers, fridges, freezers, stock room, hot chef soup prep area, chemical room for cleaning materials etc and to top it all, illegally the rubbish room next to the food prep area! This shop was the worst shop I’ve worked in. This photo is from 2015 and after years like this, Pret was forced to expand the work space to separate the rubbish for health and safety reasons. This room was medium size and approx. 15 square meters max. A total nightmare.
Article: I am at a central London branch, where 10 staff vie for space, muttering apologies as we collide and stretch across one another to grab pastries and bags. I shout orders to a barista while dashing to a beeping toastie machine to retrieve a baguette. I make green teas and filter coffees while my other drinks orders are prepared. It’s stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so. All the while, staff must be alert to the issue of allergens.
Yep. And as one customer on Twitter pointed out the chaos and stress on the staff and customers alike. I had to console Team Members many times over the years who held their tears back or just cried in the staff room after being shouted at by the manager. Another review: “Better salary than McDonalds or Costa as long as you keep your fake smile up. Staff with more experience cuts corners on Sanitary rules because otherwise it is impossible to finish your batch on time. – The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period.”
I also shed many tears on my way home in the bus, especially during grief of course, but after a terribly depressing shift this was a common thing to let the tears finally flow.
I found a photo of the coffee area and it shows how cramped and small the work area is. And the barista/coffee makers are required to get PERFECT coffees out within 1 minute that the Mystery Shopper times to the second! It doesn’t get any more dehumanizing and mentally straining than this. I don’t know how I managed, but we worked a lot in mental and physical pain. Under the coffee machine where the silver jugs are, this working area is so small baristas switch on autopilot and just keep going. Hence, lots of stress, shouting and customers going to Twitter with complaints of half cups of coffees that are made so fast to satisfy the Mystery Shopper, the manager and the long queue.
It is rare that a customer speaks out like this and it’s sad that most customers don’t care how stressful it is behind the counter. They see it, at times even commented about it to me, but they just want their coffees fast. Pret has spoiled them where they would be perfectly happy to wait 5-10 minutes in Starbucks, Pret made the service so fast to get the money circulation into the shops fast. Pret staff are expected to whip out PERFECT coffees within ONE minute and are timed to the SECOND by Mystery Shoppers, while customers think that staff is just happy working under intense pressure. They don’t realize what’s behind that happy facade!
Excerpt:
1 minute aim to serve and another 1 minute to have a perfect hot drink ready, checked by the MS to the second:
“I was served very quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
“I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.”
And then customers run to Twitter with pictures of half full cappuccinos, missing cream, lukewarm coffees…! There’s nothing more dehumanizing at a workplace that I have experienced. And should anyone suffer from boredom, do an experiment and just read through some Pret Tweets a few minutes each day for a week, with the same sweet-talk response from Pret veering customers away from public Tweets to private DM.
Some complaints are legitimate when a customer already spoke to the manager, and yet Pret has a DM button, but customers feel the public needs to be aware of their dilemma in Pret shops. I know, I know I respond a lot to some Tweets, and maybe it is because for 10 years I had to bite my tongue towards rude customers, I take the opportunity now to give my opinion. And Pret doesn’t block me as they collect my Tweets in case for court and certainly to learn some tips, as I have showered them with suggestions for improvement while I worked there. Be my guest, Pret.
Article: Staff now repeat orders to customers to avoid any mistakes. Allergen enquiries are referred to the duty manager, who will show a list of ingredients.
Which is good to repeat, but the pace is still kept high with all sorts of demands, especially for the “Misery” Shopper: always smile, eye contact, make some small-talk, serve within 1 minute, stand on your head, dance on one feet, bend your back, twist your brain, know all the answers, kiss their butts … and all this with a big fake Pret A Smile to keep a low-paid job! In other words you either develop superhuman abilities or mental illness. The pace is the same, the demand is higher, and life is still at risk including the lives of staff who suffer depression, mental ill health and at times become suicidal. But the public “just” wakes up once customer lives are affected. Forget the “slaves“.
A positive Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“The staff member who served me made good eye contact and greeted me with a friendly smile. While remaining focused and efficient, she also took time to engage in a few words of conversation, which added a personal element to the exchange – enhancing the welcoming atmosphere of this store.”
A negative Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engage(d) and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
— or —
“Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful to smile that day.”
I wish I could have told this MS that staff are not paid sick leave for the first 2 and 3 days depending on age. So one had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager like I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS.
I wonder if Amy Sharpe served the Mystery Shopper and how she would have felt reading a negative comment on her service while feeling the experience of the “overstretched staff” and it being “stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.”
I even wished sometimes customers would just join us for a few hours, especially those who quickly complain about everything.
Just few of the countless Tweets, just from this week:
This customer had good service for THREE years, then one negative experience and the world has come to an end. I linked her to Amy Sharpe’s report to bring some perspective for her feeling so unwanted. But I deleted the Tweet again as I write too many Tweets and always like to de-clutter my Twitter feeds:
So, companies like Pret have created a “nation” of complainers where the British were usually patient and polite, they now cry like babies whose bottoms haven’t been wiped in a while! And the money keeps coming in while Pret responds with “Oh no…” and “Oh gosh, are you okay?…” sweet-talk to keep the babies happy and the money rolling!
I responded, but since deleted as well to this baby who had no issues to call hard working people the “C” word because he was in the “teething” period having his day ruined by a hard avocado. Pret’s typical cut’n’paste response, apologizing while he is offensive, and as if they really contact each shop all day long for repeated hard avocados:
Article: The mantra, I am told repeatedly, is “NEVER guess”. But from what I witness, the speed at which staff often have to work could put these commendable new standards at risk. On my second shift I find an orange juice two weeks out of date on the shelves. The shocked team leader tells me: “You don’t need to tell anyone, otherwise we’re f****d. It is really bad… I’ll throw it away.” One barista tells me the cramped service area is a “nightmare”. He says: “If I’m next to you, you have to shout. If you don’t shout I can make a mistake. A person can grab the wrong coffee. Make mistakes and the customer gets mad. You’ve got to focus, stay calm.” With soybeans and dairy prominent on the menu – and among the 14 allergens kitchens must legally declare – this admission is worrying. On my last shift, stickers are introduced to distinguish between soya, coconut and regular milks. But one barista serves a coffee without a sticker – and a manager barks: “Where is the sticker?” The £8.25-an-hour shifts are tough and I collapse into bed exhausted after eight hours on my feet, lifting boxes, mopping and dragging tables around.
Article: Some staff do 12-hour shifts or work at other branches to earn more. To add to the intensity, employees are battling the cold due to its station location. I wear extra layers to stay warm – there are only two Pret fleeces to go round, so we share.
Nothing more to add except that some staff even do 60-70 hour weeks assigned by the manager! I had to speak out about this as Team Members were exhausted, at times became sick from the amount of work, but were too scared to speak with the GM. Again, I did not make friends with my bosses. But neither did I care!
Article: When the bustle dies down I clean the shop but a colleague urges me to skip certain tasks. “You’re supposed to sweep and mop every day but don’t do that or you’ll never leave on time,” he says.
This unfortunately is common in most shops that staff are so swamped with work they are not able to finish in time and are NOT paid for overtime. I fought for this with my managers in every shop. I would say to my teams who did their best and me as the Team Leader helping them, that if they can’t finish I will mark this on the cleaning rota with an explanation, instead of just ticking off the jobs as done like most do to keep the appearance that jobs were completed. I’d then take responsibility when the boss summons me in the office the next day. I let the team go on the dot when our shift finished at 9 or 10pm or whatever closing and cleaning time the branch had.
Most Team Members have families with kids at home, not seeing their children all day as they are in school, and later the parent is working when they go to bed. So I made it a point to let them go when the shift finished. I was very organized and made sure that the important jobs, health & safety was taken care of and prioritized these. I structured my teams in this way and left the unimportant jobs unfinished if we didn’t have time or enough staff.
In the early times in Pret I would work and work, finish in time and also worked overtime unpaid. But then the time came where I drew a line. It is okay here and there to finish a little late, but it was the norm in Pret and it seemed a very calculated one as Teams worked extra for no pay every day. I struggled with my managers and communicated that if we have to stay longer to finish the job, I will pay them the extra time through the system as was part of my job. If my bosses didn’t want that, then I told my team to finish on the dot and we go home. Full stop.
This of course didn’t make me friends with my bosses, but neither did I care! My friends are not these kind of people who exploit workers for their own bonuses. One Pret staff reviews this as a common practice for managers to give them a job to do 15 minutes before the Team Member would have finished the shift. But the job would take 30 – 60 minutes to complete. I experienced this many times as well and was made to feel bad if I needed or wanted to leave. It took me some time to stand up against this. Pret staff in the UK should do what their colleagues in the U.S. did, a class action suit for not being paid overtime.
I have to be honest that I wished Amy Sharpe would have worked longer, a month or so like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. It would have been good for Ms Sharpe to cover the early shifts and weekends as well, including working in the kitchen, as each time and job has its own challenges. But I’m not complaining. She covered 1 or 2 weeks (?) really really well, while I have 10 years of “material” to share that almost literally killed me having survived bullying during bereavement.
So, I have to be patient and acknowledge the brilliant work by this journalist having been willing to do this, as well as Sathnam Sanghera’s article. And many more people will tell their story in time away from the typical PR that Pret does so well. I keep confronting Pret on a staff suicide in 2017 and who knows how many more are under the carpet when they could hide two customer deaths for two years and the other for 10 months! I know my approach and direct confrontation is full on, but I almost lost my life after having worked with integrity, honesty, very hard and with passion for my teams. I cannot be silent after having wasted 10 years of my life in Pret with the knowledge that staff continue to suffer behind the facade. And if any reader wonders if I went to court, I explain here.
Thank you for your time in reading this. And thank you to anyone in the press to have taken a closer look. Thank you to Amy Sharpe. Ironic and delighted to be calling a reporter a now former colleague of mine! Well done Amy!
Life is short, please be kind to yourselves and others.
expret.org
UPDATE: 14.12.2018 A rare observation from a customer regarding forced friendliness.
UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Interview:
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
We spoke about gaslighting, “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general. I further talked about the significant timing of Pret CEO’s announcement of the £1000 Tweet for all staff. I also talked about a regular day in Pret and how staff have to cut corners, in order to fulfill the immense workload under constant pressure.
It is hard to squeeze my traumatic experience into a podcast segment, but we covered enough to get a good picture of today’s systemic stress environment for profit driven global companies.
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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
And how Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe threw Pret CEO Pano Christou under the bus! 🤣
UPDATE 26.04.2024 at the very bottom how Pret “bribes” the Telegraph with sandwiches.
I try not to write a long post here (yeah right!), and just put screenshots of recent Telegraph articles by about 4 – 5 different journalists who seem to be on a Pret crusade, some because they are coffee subscription customers and p!ssed off with Pret.
I will just post a few quotes from each article, and the reader can google the articles themself.
Even though Pret’s subscription was a “rip-off” from the start with many issues, the recent press reports all started when Pret changed their app from QR code-sharing ability to login-function only. But that wasn’t even the problem, the issue was that many customers couldn’t log into the app, or where prompted again to submit a new phone number or bank details. An absolute mess. I said it before, that HOW COME a multi-billion pound company like Pret have SO MANY technical issues and get awarded “digital technology leaders awards” for the mess. Unless, it’s by design!
What most haven’t realised is that Pret have BROKEN their terms and conditions, having given customers 5 days notice instead of the 40 days in their T&Cs, which is typical Pret. I write about this in How Pret make profit from their Subscription.
And for the first time since I write about Pret from 2018 on, consumer rights people are advising customers to contact them and already give some basic legal advise, like pointing to the “Consumer Rights Act 2015” which includes digital products.
Don’t forget the 5000 complaints in 2021 which got the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) involved after Pret refused to do the expensive frappes and smoothies on the subscription under various excuses. I worked with the BBC on this. “Pret customers complain over drink subscription deal“.
But here to the recent Telegraph crusade against Pret with just a few quotes from the articles:
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09. May 2023 – Tom Haynes is especially on a mission a year later …
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»Well, I’m done. No one needs five Americanos a day, much less a £2.34 croissant. As I type this I am cancelling my Pret subscription and, once I’m done, I’m washing that thermos flask.« – Tom Haynes
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13. March 2024 – So far so good …
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»News of the impending change sparked a backlash among customers on social media who argued using the subscription would be less convenient.« – Daniel Woolfson
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10. April 2024 – Ooops … Here comes trouble!
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»Another [customer] wrote “Pret subscription absolute joke. Broken app leaves me paying for something I can’t use plus really rude (although I’m sure equally frustrated) workers.”
Some customers also reported being unable to login to the app after they were told the SIM card in their phone did not match the phone number linked to their account.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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11. April 2024
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»Experts have also said that customers who have been unable to use their subscriptions are entitled to a refund under consumer rights law.
“If Pret subscribers cannot access their QR this is in effect a suspension of their Pret subscription and on that basis this should result in a refund for the period of suspension,” Gary Rycroft, a partner at Joseph A. Jones & Co, told The Telegraph.
“Even if this was not explicit in the T&Cs this is the correct outcome under principles of contract law,” Mr Rycroft, who is also a resident legal expert on the BBC1 Consumer Affairs programme Rip Off Britain, added.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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12. April 2024 – Pret’s TYPICAL “technical” issues!
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»Pret subscribers claim to have found a new glitch with the coffee company’s app which sees reward vouchers disappear before they can be redeemed.
The loyalty scheme sees customers earn “stars” every time they spend money in a store. When they reach 10 stars, they receive a “Pret Perk”, which ranges from bakery treats to popcorn and crisps.
One customer told The Telegraph that her perk, a free muffin, disappeared from her app before she had a chance to use it.
She said that she had been able to claim her drinks, but that the reward had “just vanished”.« – Madeleine Ross
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ALSO 12. April 2024
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»Pret A Manger customers say they have abandoned their subscriptions as the offer cannot be used in service stations or abroad and is “no longer worth it”.
Others have complained about being unable to get the drinks they want, such as iced coffees and frappes, with some stores implementing a “hot drinks only” policy.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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ALSO12. April 2024 – Pret’s “ex-lover” is back! DON’T MESS with a customer who happens to be a journalist! 😀
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»Oh, how delicious it is to be proven right.
A little under a year ago, I cancelled my Pret subscription after I was struck with the lightning bolt realisation that the chain was using my own caffeine addiction to rip me off. I haven’t had a coffee from Pret ever since.« – Tom Haynes
And speaking about being proven right dear Tom Haynes, I’ve been exposing Pret’s dodgy dealings publicly since May 2018, even before the customer deaths became public, with me also not knowing about it. Yet, unlike what I do with journalists’ writings, crediting to it, I am NOT credited for all the work I do (except by Mike Powell for the BBC). But there you go. Mainstream media for you.
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15, April 2024 – Reminder of the BBC article I and journalist Mike Powell worked on that got the ball rolling on Pret’s subscription, which is often referenced in the Telegraph articles without crediting.
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»It was plagued with rumours that the popular smoothies and iced drinks would be scrapped – as they eventually were, last year. Customers complained that they couldn’t always get the drinks they wanted, when they wanted them, owing to various issues such as a lack of ice or other ingredients.
Excluded stores, which include 40 in the UK, mainly service stations with the addition of Exeter University, mean that subscribers were denied their drinks when they most wanted them.« – Madeleine Ross
ALSO 15. April 2024 – Here’s where it get’s interesting!
Julian Metcalfe who RE-founded Pret in 1986 is throwing Pret CEO Pano Christou under the bus!
Also, former CEO Clive Schlee who is or was Christou’s mentor for years owns half of Metcalfe’s company itsu. Schlee must be p!ssed off as well.
BUT as I always say, Clive Schlee ran Pret into an iceberg, and Pano Christou is sinking it!
Christou having been with Pret BEFORE and LONGER than Clive Schlee (started as assistant MANAGER in shops) has NO excuse for mismanaging Pret like he does. Apart from what staff including shop managers say about Pret and their leadership including Pano, 74% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined as of mid April 2024) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again. (Now, watch the reviews turn more positive once Pret and die-hard Pret fans become aware of it 😉 ).
Pano has his head in the sand, and is only interested in building his name and legacy to have expanded Pret worldwide under instructions by owners in Germany/Luxembourg. Aggressive expansion to the detriment of food, drink and service quality (see Trustpilot again).
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»The founder of Pret a Manger says its customers have been “let down” by the fiasco over its loyalty programme, amid claims of “chaotic” management at the sandwich chain.« – Gordon Reyner
YET, Metcalfe isn’t better. I also saw complaints from itsu customers regarding itsu’s app not working, foul smelling salmon sushi, mislabeling etc. I wrote a small exposé on Metcalfe after I chased him off Twitter (now X). His connection to the Royal Family since childhood, why some Asian people don’t like him, the 2 “Jeffreys” he doesn’t seem to want to be associated with, what his staff say etc.: Julian Metcalfe Family Line.
And I can’t help thinking that Metcalfe throwing Christou under the bus might be a retaliation for Pret having distanced themselves from Metcalfe after he made the “eugenics” lockdown comments to the Daily Mail. So, Metcalfe now slaps Pano Christou via the press! 😀
And to me it seems like Metcalfe’s way to distance himself from Pret after Pret did that to him when he fncked up!
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Little fun side note: When Metcalfe made his comments and Pret distanced themselves from him, Metcalfe came on Twitter to do damage control but kept ranting. I then tweeted itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe, and him lacking media savvy, he kept retweeting my posts. He then deleted most of his Tweets and deleted his account entirely after just 2 days on Twitter, but not before I screenshot most of his Tweets: 😉
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And while Metcalfe throws Pret under the bus, co-RE-founder Sinclair Beecham comes to Pret’s rescue (again!) after he invested in Pret already during the pandemic. News article say Beecham will steer the expansion as Pret are tasked to double iin size worldwide by 2026, BUT knowing Pret’s lies and how customer complaints are through the roof, with many having turned their backs on Pret, it seems more like Beecham returns to Pret (after he invested already during the pandemic) to steer Pret ITSELF!
Customer complaints, high staff turnover, ongoing bad press (please see link at the very bottom) and other issues. Pano Christou doesn’t seem to cope running Pret.
Pano is flying around the world expanding Pret, that seems to be successful. Meanwhile Pret at home is in shambles. And I believe that’s either the real reason Beecham is back, or Pano is instructed to stop flying around the world, stay at head quarters in London and sort out the mess, letting Beecham seal deals globally.
Pret also seem to be in financial trouble as they let another longtime head office staff go recently. I smell a rat! Something’s burning in their kitchen!
Bloomberg 24. April 2024
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»Pret A Manger is shaking up its board and bringing back its co-founder to help guide the UK coffee-and-sandwich chain through a rapid overseas expansion.«
Yep, CEO Pano Christou doesn’t cope. It’s like Prime Minister Rishi Sunak bringing back former PM David Cameron. Pret really need a COMPLETE shake-up as in, fire all the old top execs who are stuck in Pret’s old “love-bombing” way where they pride themselves to be hiring according to “personality” rather than skill! Replace the whole of HQ with innovative AND courageous leaders.
16. April 2024 – Another side note: Some news outlets are still using the old Pret logo and haven’t realised yet that Pret was already banned by ASA in 2018 from claiming their food is “natural”. Pret then changed their marketing to “freshly made” food, but that’s also a lie as I know how it works behind the scenes and customers posting pictures of mouldy food to social media.
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»Tech experts have suggested the main reason Pret has cracked down on account sharing is to harvest personal data about its customers, which it can then sell to advertisers.
Jake Moore, cybersecurity advisor at internet security firm ESET, said Pret will “have already planned to write off five coffees per customer”, knowing the cost will effectively be offset by data harvested through the app.« – Tom Haynes
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The following is one of several articles around mid April 2024 that puts Julian Metcalfe in a positive light since the Pret app debacle. Here it seems the Telegraph is “siding” with Metcalfe while throwing Pret under the bus! Not sure if Metcalfe has connections to the Telegraph as he seems to be put to the forefront, while Pret are send to the naughty corner.
Yet, the Telegraph and the press in general don’t bother to look deeper into Metcalfe’s issues.
22. April 2024
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»There have been tales of staff switching off machines for making iced coffee – and telling customers they are broken – because they simply can’t make the drinks fast enough to meet demand. Some customers complain that their favourite drinks are never available.
“It has put the members of staff under almost unbelievable pressure,” one former Pret employee says. “They suddenly threw thousands of extra people at the staff without the right equipment to cope with the demand.« – Gordon Reyner
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I will update if the Telegraph crusade continues.
Here’s one, as I mentioned above that journalists mainly report when THEIR OWN pocket is affected, an insider allegedly shared that Pret send thousands of pounds worth of sandwiches to the Telegraph to appease the series of anti-Pret reports.
Vie Twitter/X:
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For more recent press articles on Pret’s dodgy dealings, please see: Bad Press for Bad Pret.
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My blog is not monetized and I choose not to use ads.
If you would like to donate, it would be appreciated. Thank you! I first put a minimum of £1 to select but find that people just donate £1 to see my PayPal details.
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Upfront: To the WordPress staff member who is paid to check every new blog post and report anything to Pret (incl. Clive Schlee), here’s a new one for you:
… “did that at an absolute pace” … Pace as in 60 seconds?
Maybe years ago, Pano Christou, it felt or was like you went on social media at an absolute pace. But your social media accounts either retired like your mentor did, or they quit like so many of your staff?
Pret’s X/Twitter handle @Pret hasn’t posted ANY original post since 2023. And as a side note, Pano Christou blocked me back in 2018 and deleted his Twitter account precisely on 01.07.2019 when Clive’s “retirement” was announced and I tagged the press in regarding Pano’s Twitter account.
Scroll down to the screenshots of where Pano Christou blocked me in 2018. THAT was the BEST thing he did on Twitter!
Pret’s Facebook handle is scarce of engagement compared to 5+ years ago.
Instagram is doing so-so, except for the pro-Hamas boycott comments and subscription-paid “influencers”.
Pret’s Tik-Tok went to sleep …
And do I have to mention Threads.net? Where are you there Panocchio?
But I understand that you/Pret get current and former HQ staff to comment on social media as “customers”, I know them! 😀
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Any other lies you want to get off your chest while speaking to non-challenging “journalists” who sit crouched down in front of you while you feel like a trail-blazing “giant”, Panocchio?
There’s a man sitting bend down in front of you saying “wow” in false intimidation, barely looking up to you because you are so self-assured, while your staff show you the finger. Your managers say of you that you have too much of an ego. That’s THE picture of a delusional Pret A Manger and their CEO(s).
Video: (Any chance you don’t have a monologue where you love hearing yourself talk? And any chance you have the courage to speak to a journalist who asks tough questions and doesn’t swallow your bullsh!t?)
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Transman and activist Scott Newgent has put out an invitation or challenge, however people want to call it, to debate transwoman India Willoughby on live TV after the huge online debacle on X/Twitter, in particular Willoughby’s obsessive aggression towards JK Rowling. I won’t link to anything as this can be easily found, also via The Telegraph and other news outlets from yesterday (02.04.2024).
I usually don’t write anything outside of my Pret A Manger “activism”, but occasionally cover some issues non-Pret related that I find important. To avoid long Twitter posts, I want to put some info here for Scott Newgent who deserves space on my blog.
Scott’s X/Twitter handle is @NotScottNewgent (ignore the “Not”, it IS his handle and had me confused at first if it was a parody account).
He is one of the most important voices against child sex transitioning and has featured on Matt Walsh’s documentary “What is a Woman“.
I will from now on refer to India Willoughby simply as W. as I don’t want to give more full mention to this person on my blog.
Scott is American and doesn’t know much about W. When debating, KNOW your opponent/debating partner, like studying the opponent of a sports team.
I never knew who W. was until this whole aggression, and especially when I researched Kellie-Jay Keen aka The Posie Parker who is on the receiving end of male aggression, even physical attacks for simply speaking out for women’s rights and children’s safety.
I want to put a few short clips on Interviews/appearances of W. and the tactic W. uses.
From what I observed, W.’s tactic is playing victim and then going on the attack, and never let the opponent speak. Piers Morgan in my opinion would not be a good host/moderator, because the whole program would just turn into a shouting contest.
Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) of Talk TV will be a better choice in my opinion as she doesn’t take nonsense or shouting contests. But I understand that Piers Morgan has an international reach and huge platform while Julia HB. has a smaller and mainly UK platform, I get that. But a “proper” debate is difficult with Piers Morgan.
W. doesn’t like to debate women live, and that includes transmen. W. only likes to BLOCK everyone and go for high profile people like JKR with the support of W.’s minions.
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The following is for Scott Newgent
… for research to show some important clips among the sea of videos to see the pattern in W.’s “debating” style. I copy YouTube spots STRAIGHT TO the parts to not waste time and you can decide if to watch the whole interview. And should W. or the minions read my blog post here and decide to shut me down, be my guest, I don’t give a sh!t on attacks and aggressive scare tactics. I care about women’s rights and children’s safety, and FACTS, and TRUTH! And I know my rights and am NOT scared on police knocking at my door! I KNOW what police can and cannot do.
W. was an unknown (to me) news anchor/TV moderator before identifying as a woman.
A few weeks ago there were still VIDEOS of W. (formerly Jonathan Willoughby) reading news and field reporting on YouTube as a man before transitioning. W. must have RECENTLY requested for all videos to be deleted as I can’t find ANY, since X blew up with his aggressive posts towards JKR.
Here just one picture from Pinterest/ITV/Daily Mail:
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But from what I saw in the videos, W. was a regular and to me mediocre, normal TV person reporting on local issues, nothing special, no major or outstanding journalistic feature.
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Some important clips:
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DRAMA on MISGENDERING
W. in the Celeb. Big Brother house having regular meltdowns because WOMEN don’t cater to W.’s male tantrums. W. is working hard to take over the whole house/thoughts/speech/spotlight and many of women walk on egg shells. Just click play blow, all videos I posted start at the exact spots I mention.
Another clip from BB House where W. cannot stop being a drama queen and no amount of apologiing for misgendering will do. I’m actually sick to my stomach how most women feel intimidated and on egg shells, catering to this narcissist.
In other words Scott, there is NO AMOUNT of EVIDENCE that you can bring to convince W. It is NOT about truth or justice or rights for W. It is about NARCISSISM and attention for W.
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CONFLICTING MESSAGES however it suits W.
W. has changed the stance over the years where W. emphasised to be “trans”, but now demands to be seen as a biological woman. Short clip with Julia Hartley-Brewer:
That’s why in my opinion Julia Hartley-Brewer is a better choice to Piers Morgan, because she is assertive and doesn’t budge.
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PLAYING MEEK and UNABLE TO DEBATE A STRONG WOMAN
Here, years ago W., is playing the meek little victim and is behaving nicely, next to mighty woman KJK (The Posie Parker from #LetWomenSpeak) who’s constantly challenged by the TV hosts (who now left this mainstream morning show). I just skip to the last bit where KJK stands her ground and shuts W. down with statistics. Look at the body language of W. after KJK comes back with statistics and KNOWS that KJK has a point:
Rachel Johnson (former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s sister) saying how W. sucked the air out of the house. And that’s W.’s MAIN tactic, TO WEAR YOU OUT!!!
I won’t link to the many TV appearances, especially years ago, but W. wants nothing more than to appear on NATIONAL television. That’s why Megyn Kelly might NOT be a good idea to host a debate between Scott and W. as it would give W. a massive U.S. platform. I do hope that Megyn interviews Scott on his own.
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WITHHOLDING INFO FROM POTENTIAL SEXUAL PARTNERS
(An absolute no-go in my opinion!!!)
Here in an interview with transwoman Kellie Maloney (boxing manager) where Kellie finds it vital to TELL a potential sexual partner that she is trans, while W. doesn’t find it important to reveal being trans to a potential sexual partner, something Blaire White also finds important to tell immediately and not hide that fact, as hiding it can also be dangerous. This also shows in my opinion further how nasty W. is.
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W. claims to not be “brave enough to take that TACTIC …” Why mentioning “tactic” here? It’s NOT a tactic to speak truth when you care about someone! TACTIC is to NOT tell people!!!
And many other clips, but the above I find the most telling and I didn’t bother to look further after these, as I find that life is too short to give too much time to an entitled, attention seeking misogynist like this. JKR was RIGHT when she listed all the men who bulldoze over women’s rights to finish her list mentioning W. as “last but least”!
And as a little side note / ending, the term “misgender” isn’t even in the dictionary despite the trans cult claiming trans issues are very old. I take notes when I watch especially Helen Joyce, and my spell check doesn’t recognise “misgender”.
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I want to end with a funny video I found on X by a gay man who posted it with the text along the lines of, “Me, a gay man trying to have a debate with someone from the trans cult”. I can’t find the X account who posted it, but will update when/if I find it. But I laughed tears watching this. Spot on! (The langage people said is Portuguese?)
But THIS is what having a “debate” with W. especially on Piers Morgan would be like.
Thank you for all you do Scott, but please don’t waste your time too much on W. You need all the oxygen for your projects and for people who are WILLING to SEE reality and rights for ALL people.
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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Important UPDATE April 2024 at the bottom of this post, PLEASE READ!!!! The Samaritans are SCUMBAGS and I am BEYOND tired of “charities”!!!
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Poor quality Audio Version via “AI” conversion. Apologies for the lack of crisp quality. This is for people with visual impairment where “AI” programs can’t read screenshots. I briefly explain via audio what the videos and photos show.
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The Samaritans together with Network Rail and Transport Police have brought out an ad campaign to prevent suicide. The way they’re doing this had me shocked and many women and some men outraged on Twitter/X.
Four such ads appear in a row within days. The slogan is “Small-talk saves lives” under the hashtag #SmallTalkSavesLives.
There are SO MANY issues with this ad.
They want the PUBLIC who are NOT trained in mental health and even in such serious mental health condition of suicidal ideation to take it amongst themselves to “save a life”.
They ONLY use women to initiate “small talk” with complete strangers on railway or underground platforms.
They want people to ASSUME that someone is suicidal who might look sad or just look however.
They are guilt-tripping, in this case especially women, into feeling bad if someone might be suicidal and the woman didn’t initiate “small talk”.
All my red flags went up when I first saw the ad on X. And as someone on the other side of this, struggling with suicidal thoughts at times, I am appalled!
In the UK, especially in London, attacks and sexual assaults have increased, EVEN in broad daylight on trains and stations etc. And yet, Samaritans, Police and Rail company want WOMEN to approach complete strangers to start a conversation.
One, you can tell that MEN must have been behind that ad. EVERY woman has at one point or another been sexually assaulted, often since childhood and repeatedly. And they know that!
Two, these men who run the ad campaign want women again to do the heavy lifting and emotional labour.
Three, and even worse, they want UNTRAINED people to deal with extreme mental health crisis of strangers.
And four, to do this with “small talk”!
I struggle with suicidal thoughts. It has become much less, but it is always at the back of my mind! Small-talk is THE LAST thing I want. I never liked small-talk to begin with! And I certainly won’t want a stranger, especially a man to approach me doing small-talk during a mental health crisis! Let alone a woman approach a man!
Also, many people just look tired or sad, after all we live in a busy city. But for the Samaritans to want people to assume someone is suicidal and strike up a conversation is horrendous. I often look sad, even before my brother died I had a serious look on my face because I’m a thinker! People often commented on my serious looking face. I’d be so offended if I was NOT suicidal and someone assumes this and then starts a chitter-chatter!
This ad campaign feels like a lazy cop-out by mental health services as the NHS is overstretched, to “employ” free mental health workers who are NOT qualified, and then to approach strangers. And they appeal mainly to women to do the work!
I am absolutely appalled. And since the comments on X went through the roof, Samaritans have added a post 4 days later adding that people should call 999 if they’re not comfortable. Well, dah!
I and many others have appealed to Samaritans to drop the ad, or at least use MEN to talk to MEN!!!
“Small talk can take lives”!
Here are the examples, with the last video being THE WORST ad I’ve ever seen on any subject!
The first one is, again, women pampering men in the name of free treatment to “save a life”! My stomach’s turning! And please know this is not an anti-men blog post! I’m neither gay nor anti-men, and I know there are more good men in the world than the creeps who fill the news! I love men, I appreciate men, I feel good around great men! This is about the coercion of females and their empathy again.
“Something didn’t feel right. … Just that one little bit of positive small talk and it can go so far.” Yep, it can go so far! It can get you raped or killed! Women are told to FEEL something and make assumptions to approach men to chat!
And the absolute worst and DANGEROUS ad, telling women to “trust your instincts” while in reality gaslighting them to OVER-RIDE / IGNORE / QUESTION their instincts! Link to the video below as well.
In case Samaritans delete the video, here’s another LINK.
I say it again, women are being told to “trust their instincts” while in reality being coerced to IGNORE / OVER-RIDE their instincts and approach complete strangers on a train platform for small talk!
One guy on X tried to guilt-trip me, and make me responsible if a man dies by suicide. I responded that I’d rather hurt his (the X poster’s) feelings than endanger my life. I made it very clear that if I think he or someone is about to end their life, I WILL call for help! I will NOT, as a lone woman on a platform close to the edge start “small talk” with a man who looks sad or tired or whatever! I will look for staff, call mental health service or even police depending on the situation! But I will NOT approach a stranger to start a conversation! It is NOT my job to be the saviour of strangers and make assumptions about someone’s mental health state.
What’s also so appalling in the ad is that behind the “assumed” suicidal man is a MALE staff member with orange vest! But it’s the woman who is implored to talk to the man!
I raised this with Network Rail saying that this is clever to manipulate people to think you’re not alone and there’s staff close by! I NEVER see ANY staff on platforms anymore!!! And then, why is the trained staff member not implored to speak to the man?!
It’s clear why! Women are being lured into danger at worst, or to do the heavy lifting in emotional labour at best.
I say it loud and unashamed, do NOT approach a stranger on a platform, but call for help! End of!
I speak openly about my struggles to take the sting out and release the “mystery” of such horrible thoughts to lighten the pain.
I wrote a blog post years ago briefly linking to helplines that have helped me personally:
One tweet gave the CORRECT approach and it’s appalling that Samaritans want women to approach strangers assuming severe mental health issues. Help someone as a group.
And Samaritans are hiding comments.
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Three things:
This is a man dealing with a young lad.
He worked in a team.
With a signaller, everyone looking out for each other including for the young lad.
THAT’S how you do it!!! No “small-talk”, no woman approaching a guy ALONE! Shame on Samaritans and Network Rail, and I’m not even surprised that Transport Police endorse this. I don’t expect anything from police!
Now, we mature women see this bullsh!t ad for what it is, aiming to appeal at female empathy, but imagine a teenage girl or even a woman in her 20s seeing such an ad! She takes this on and assumes she can or HAS TO save a man! FFS!
Here just a few of the many horror news on women being pushed unto traintracks or women being raped, sexually assaulted on trains, platforms in broad daylight. I only link to the news without showing pictures. Yes, this is done to men as well, but we all know the statistics of more violence against women by men than vice versa.
It’s the same with vans, I stay away from vans with open door. If I’m called over and asked to help someone get something in or out of a van or car, I decline and respond to ask a shop or men or whatever. Again, I’d rather hurt someone’s feelings than endanger myself.
Not to mention that a predator can pretend to be mentally distressed to lure women in. We already fight against men suddenly identifying as women to get into women’s prisons, women’s sports, women’s toilets, locker rooms, hospital wards etc. etc. And Samaritans want to lure women and girls to save a man via small-talk! Absolute irresponsible sh!t show!
It just seems that the war on women is in full swing. Women have become too independent, strong, self-sufficient, have opinions, leadership etc. they want to rein women in again! We need to fight over and over not just for new rights, but to not lose the hard-fought rights women and men achieved years ago.
And we women know that when we just even smile at a stranger, some men take this as a hint. Let alone strike up a conversation!
The following is only in the UK, I can’t be bothered to include other countries:
December 2023 during the MORNING commute: “A woman was raped on the London Underground in front of other passengers. Why did no one intervene?” (Maybe because too many men are addicted to porn and see assaults like this as normal? Every onlooker’s hard-drive should be checked as well as judges who give lenient sentences to rapists and paedophiles!)
And yes, crimes happen to men too, and women too commit crimes, but we all know that violent and sexual crimes are predominantly committed by men against women and children. And the appalling way judges, the media etc. cater to violent rapists who quickly identify as women to get lenient sentencing and go to women’s prisons, these rapist are called “she/her” in court to put crimes on women! Absolutely fed up with this!
And before anyone says I’m transphobic, fnck right off! I love and support transman Buck Angel, transwoman Blaire White and many others, both who get a lot of backlash, even death threats for speaking sense into this madness! So, try your BS somewhere else!
Some of the many comments, these are just some of my favourites, hitting the nail on the head:
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THIS is my favourite comment, SPOT ON observation!
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And many, many, many more. You can look those up on Twitter/X. I cannot keep doing such long blog posts. I think people get the message. Speak to your friends, colleagues, especially female, to truly trust their instincts and NOT over-ride them!
The outcry by mainly women but also several men has led Samaritans to update with the following:
But the outcry remains, and people continue to raise their voice for Samaritans to drop the ad or use men to talk to men, in groups!
Do NOT approach a stranger to strike up a conversation / small talk, especially not as women towards men! ALWAYS call for help if you think something’s wrong! And leave the mental health heavy lifting to the professionals.
If you have suicidal friends/family member, and I have burdened many friends, especially in a drunken state, you did the right thing to continue giving mental health links. Don’t abandon the friendship if you can, but you did and do the right thing to call for or point to professionals.
Thank you.
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UPDATE April 2024
As I still inform people, especially women on social media on the horrible “Smalltalk” ads, I was linked to an excellent exposé by a blogger who did amazing research into the founder of the Samaritans. PLEASE READ!
Please also consider donating to my work. I’m not a fan of asking for money, subscriptions, likes etc. But I have been working for 6 years STRAIGHT on my blog, mainly on Pret issues, worked with the press without ANY credit or funding (except credited by Mike Powell for the BBC after I requested it!).
You can donate via PayPal or Stripe (buy me a coffee).
I set the PayPal donation to £10 after initially setting it to £1 but found that people donate £1 to see my PayPal data (email etc.) and PayPal takes a percentage leaving me with around 60p.
My blog is not monetized and I choose not to use ads
If you would like to donate, it would be appreciated. Thank you! I first put a minimum of £1 to select but find that people just donate £1 to see my PayPal details.
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Some bad press on Pret recently which has increased since 2018, partly due to my blog and communicating with journalists, and also the customer deaths and injuries which has shook the public as everyone fell for Pret’s “ethical” facade.
Upfront, someone from WordPress is checking every post I put out as Pret must have complained about me. So, someone is always checking what I put out. As WordPress claim they honour free speech and free press, they found a compromise for Pret, and moved my blog into the “adult” section where they host porn sites. This means that every WordPress user who is logged in and does a search within the “reader” section on anything regarding Pret, can NOT find my blog.
Of course I raised this with WP but they only come with bogus reasons. I am still looking into moving my blog completely to a new host as I pay for my blog and have my free speech restricted within WordPress.
I want to post one article here from 2013 that I wish I read when I worked in Pret then. It remains my absolute favourite press article about Pret for several reason. One, it’s so bloody well researched and written. But mainly because it was written in 2013 when NO journalist dared to look deeper into, let alone write critically about Pret. It was a time of Pret’s high life and extreme favour with the public AND the press. Them days are over now! 6 years ago when I started to write publicly about Pret, hardly anyone believed me. Now it’s much more common knowledge and it’s time that the Pret facade is cracked substantially.
Timothy Noah remains hands-down my favourite journalist in regards to Pret.
I list a few more great articles about the psychological “abuse” as I call it with other journalists articles in The Dangers of Emotional Labour and how it affects not only the mental health of workers, but morale, addiction, how it hurts even physically and financially.
Some bad press that are worth mentioning. There is more, but I keep it with the recent ones and try to keep it as short as possible (yeah, right!). Not sure if I’ll update, depending on the severity of a scandal Pret manage to create.
A recent article in the iPaper which I really recommend about the “master cup”. I’ve seen this during very busy coffee rushes even before the coffee subscription. The journalist is throwing a little word-play in there which you normally see with Daily Mail, Metro etc.:
Pret are forced to refund “some genuine” customers after the new app keeps failing customers their drinks. BUT I explain how Pret WILL trick customers.
“Pret refunds subscribers after crackdown on free coffee backfires”
Link (Sidenote: Some news outlets STILL use the old image with “natural” food despite Pret being banned in 2018 from using this on their marketing).
If you’re affected you need to demand a FULL refund and AFTER the refund demand for your data to be deleted if you do not wish to have the subscription and/or app.
Pret will try EVERYTHING to NOT refund and keep customers bound to the subscription. Do NOT trust Pret!!!
And, it’s funny how journalists feel “vindicated” to have known all along how Pret’s subscription is a rip off, ignoring that I’ve been writing this since Pret started the subin September 2020 😉
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»Oh, how delicious it is to be proven right. A little under a year ago, I cancelled my Pret subscription after I was struck with the lightning bolt realisation that the chain was using my own caffeine addiction to rip me off. I haven’t had a coffee from Pret ever since.«
How delicious it is to be proven right? Tell me that since May 2018 😉
My “Pret’s Continued Coffee Subscription Rip-Off” post from January 2021 is still one of THE MOST read articles on my blog, especially by journalists. It emboldened journalists to more freely criticise Pret now compared to years ago where they were kissing up to Pret non-stop (except Timothy Noah).
And as usual, journalists MAINLY write a critical article about Pret when THEY themselves are affected as customers. Hardly independent journalism there. No care whatsoever what current and former staff say. Who cares about low-wage workers who are VITAL in customer servoce and the food and drnk these journalists put in their stomachs which these burnt-out, often depressed, some alcoholic workers TOUCH.
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Further regarding the coffee subscription, which is now Pret’s MAIN product and staff are penalised if they don’t push/mention it to customers:
I wrote a brief post about HOW Pret make profit via the subscription and the countless complaints from the early days of the subscription launch in September 2020:
In the next article, it’s always interesting when journalists say Pret is “becoming” a scandal when it comes to prices and their pockets. More and more customers stopped going to Pret due to the prices, yet, these same customers don’t give a toss that Pret IGNORED two customer deaths and multiple injuries UNTIL this became public. It’s always when it comes to money that people, even journalists are outraged.
An EXCELLENT article in the Financial Times which kickstarted the press writing more about Pret’s prices and quality. But this FT article really takes a good look at Pret’s claim on inflation etc.
The Spectator: “How Pret ate itself”, which is only one part in the article of a series of businesses in trouble, but Pret as usual serve as clickbait.
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Some snippets of the Spectator article:
»But the success story has gradually soured, one bad piece of PR following another.«
And mid to end of April 2024 The Telegraph whipped out a series of anti-Pret articles, leading Pret to send them thousands of pounds worth of food to appease the Telegraph’s “wrath”. JAB Holdings who own Pret also reshuffled and brought back RE-co-founder Sinclaire Beecham, who invested into Pret already during the pandemic to keep them afloat. Beecham is brought back supposedly to help expand Pret, although I have the suspicion that the REAL reason is because CEO Pano Christou simply doesn’t cope as he is already busy flying around the world expanding while UK shops are in shambles.
And Beecham’s return to Pret is like Rishi Sunak bringing back former PM David Cameron. And in typical Pret fashion, they say they bring Beecham back to expand Pret, while in reality Pret are in £700 million debt and Beecham has to save the day.
Please note that the legal system in the USA is different to that in the UK. More staff sue Pret in the USA than the UK as the court system is more balanced and looks after the small guy more than the UK. And the payouts when staff win is bigger in the USA than the UK, therefore the lawyers take on cases more in the USA than UK. I speak form own experience when I went to Tribunal against Pret, but I withdrew when my dad died. I had no legal help as no-one was interested to take it on, due to the small payouts if I’d won.
And the recent scandal of a staff trapped in a walk-in freezer, leading to a £800,000 fine down from £1.6 million as Pret pled guilty early on. There’s a separate civil claim, but knowing Pret, they probably already settled out of court and had the staff sign a NDA as we don’t hear anything anymore.
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I was contacted as I often am by Pret staff who leak issues to me that I leak to the press. One such contact was after Pret for the 2. time in 2022 delayed paying staff under dodgy reasons. I completely forgot at the time that Pret did that before, in around 2012 when I worked at Pret. I even went around to my colleagues offering to lend them money as some became panicked to not be able to pay bills. I was a team leader on a bit higher pay and had saving. LITTLE did I know that this was NOT a payroll mistake, but can see now that this is a pattern.
And this was under former CEO Clive Schlee, the “Ronald McDonald” clown of Pret who’s job it was to fool everyone with a big friendly smiley facade. Almost ALL journalists were in Pret’s pocket believing Pret to be such an ethical company, including the Guardian’s Sarah Butler, who has now woken up since I tag her in or email her with Pret issues.
But Clive Schlee used to follow her on Twitter and she was fooled by him like everybody. I guess he thought that if he as the big cheese of Pret follows certain journalists, he’d flatter them with his following.
And then, little me came along and told a different story of the real Pret.
I WISH I kept the email from 2012 that the payroll staff sent to all shops apologizing and even saying something like “I never felt so sick to my stomach” close to vomiting to have forgotten or made a mistake to pay THOUSANDS of already low-wage workers!
And this reflects on shop managers who always cheat towards the end of a quarter to get more bonus. They cheat especially with staff hours. EVERY week I had to check my pay if I was paid the correct hours worked. I had to constantly go to my managers shop after shop that they forgot an hour here or two hours there. This is NOT a mistake! Do this every week to several staff and you see how it adds up. It’s another form of wage theft hard to prove as they claim to have “forgotte” to pay the hour here and there.
I had a spreadsheet at home and noted down how long I worked to the 15 minutes! Many don’t do that and don’t realise how they are cheated out of days, even weeks of the amount hours over years. Pret also like to keep the first week wages worked when people leave. When you start at Pret, your first pay comes after week two. They did that to me keeping a week’s pay, but I noticed only a year later.
Pret keep staff so busy and burnt-out that staff have no nerve or strength to 1. check their hours and 2. chase after it. Again, scumbags of a company!
To my knowledge from own experience in 2012-ish and then via the contact of TWO pay delays within a few months, this is now the THIRD time Pret “borrow” money from staff! This happens close to the end of the quarter where the higher up execs get their brownie points which later translates into millions in bonus. The more money they save towards the quarter, the more bonus they get. These scumbags!
I vividly remember the panic of some team members who lived from pay ceck to pay check hving bills tp pay and/or kids to feed, and me going around to offer money. I was so naive thinking it was a one-off genuine mistake! Absolute scumbags Pret are! And I say it bluntly, Pano Christou is mis-managing Pret big time. He has NO excuse to mishandle so many issues as he’s been with Pret over 20 years. But to me it’s just evidence how bad they really are and it now shows what I’ve been writing since 2018. Pressure, scandals (customer deaths & injuries) and crisis (pandemic, cost of living) always reveals how incapable, even careless and arrogant Pret are.
They got away with customer deaths, they feel invincible now. But price hikes are never forgiven by people. When it comes to money, everybody screams!
Part of the DM I received and emailed CEO Pano Christou with angry words, openly copying journalists in including Sarah Butler from the Guardian who then reported on it:
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Sarah Butler then investigated further and wrote the following article:
I’m not kidding, but i literally teared up when I saw Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha give Pret a stern rebuke on her Instagram account. And she has half-a-million followers on Instagram, and more followers on Twitter/X than Pret UK and Pret USA combined have. She has a voice!
She ranted about how it is unacceptable for Pret to cut wages during the pandemic of already low wage staff during “war” time (pandemic). She made a mistake though saying that staff who get £8.91 an hour (in 2021) and Pret wanting to cut more. What happened was that as Pret always pay about 50p above the minimum wage to appear generous in the public, staff earned more than minimum wage but the pay was then cut down TO £8.91 national minimum wage (2021). She just mis-spoke there. But the point stands. And her question if the big guns of Pret also take a cut, I knew they wouldn’t take a cut, but it has been answered a year later by above Sarah Butler’s article.
I gave it its own YouTube slide and watch it sometimes when I despair at “famous” or influential people being silent on how Pret behave, especially when it comes to staff.
She was the only celebrity who spoke out! I watched this again today and still keep tearing up *sniff sniff*! I’m not a hugger by nature but could give her a big hug through the screen! Such mic-drop rebuke! To have such a prominent voice on the side of low-wage staff is nothing short of powerful and kind! 💪 💚
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And of course now in 2024 CEO bonus is £5 million and upwards, plus year on year pay-rise. CEO Pano Christou who’s with Pret over 20 years and was Clive Schlee’s right-hand man, has as his MAIN priority to double Pret in size by 2026 as instructed by the owners, the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns under JAB Holdings in tax-haven Luxembourg.
But get ready, in April 2024 the government will raise minimum wage again and Pret will again make a big PR move to claim to be so generous to raise wages again. They never mention that they have no choice but ti raise the pay as they’d be breaking the law paying under minimum wage. Give it until March before you see a massive PR stint again.
Christou wants to build his name and legacy as having expanded Pret worldwide while having his head in the sand that Pret’s gone downhill so much so more negative press reports. Also 74% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again.
Last but not least, and even though it’s an older article, but I’m proud to have worked with Mike Powell on two of his BBC reports. He is the only journalist for a major news putlet who mentioned my blog.
Also, see my recentOpen Letter to Tristan Tate, former Pret Barista and Brother of Andrew Tate after he private messaged me.
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review and was mentioned by the BBC.
An AI audio conversion of the text for people with visual impairment or who don’t want to read long text. Please ignore the pronounciation of “manger”. Also, the last few seconds are cut off for some reason. Apologies for the quality.
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Dear mental health team,
my drunken email was my typical way to self-sabotage.
I want for the last explain some things again, even though over explaining doesn’t help.
What I wrote regarding the death cafe last year, I went to 15 – 20 death cafes over the years. Every DC is very different, some small, some big, all incredibly valuable. My first DC back in 2016 when I was in the deepest darkness after my brother died, and in my full ordeal in Pret with the bullying. The DC was with only 2 of us, held by the theatre actress Bella Heesom, who did a one-woman show “My World has Exploded a Little Bit” about the death of her parents, specifically her dad.
After the play she announced the death cafe which sounded weird at first, but at the time I was watching films, theatre plays, listened to music all to do with death, dying and loss. She told me that about 5 people signed up, but only I turned up. Other death cafes were run in a park, in a cafe, in an elderly nursing home, and the biggest one was run in your organisation.
My frustration was when I sat opposite a lady who kept talking and talking and talking, and even telling me that what I was sharing about funerals (from my culture) is “irrelevant” (from the perspective of her culture. I didn’t say anything because people in the group cut in to say that nothing anyone says is “irrelevant”.
But I remember looking over to the blonde staff member L. who sat with the mental health staff R. eating salad and I must have looked visibly annoyed because L. grinned at me as if she realised I was annoyed.
I then asked myself why 2 of the staff who put on the death cafe didn’t partake in the conversation and let a new staff member P. partake, because he’s new?
In all the 15-20 death cafes I visited, every person(s) who put on the death cafe partook in the conversation. I felt it was hypocritical to organise an event to talk about the taboo subject “death” but then not partake in it. Yes, you could say you were gate-keeping for new people who might join, but isn’t there a reception that was manned outside to give instruction in how to join?
Also, for the Christmas lunch there was no-one sitting at the entrance to gate keep, and the lunch was PACKED to its beams.
And speaking of the Christmas lunch, I was informed about it and asked R. twice what time it would be and twice never received a response. I then just turned up before noon. I’m sure it has to do with my email then.
I had an initial membership chat with R. and the intern where I filled in a form with R. I then had 2 – 3 or more brief interactions via email with R. as well as brief talks about organising the tables for the Christmas lunch with R. Roughly about 5 interactions where in emails I was addressed by my name.
In January after the Christmas break I started to go to the mental health service and the first thing R. says to me is “I can’t remember your name”. I remember clearly that I said “bullsh!t” in my head. After several interactions addressing me by my name, sorry, I don’t buy it. Not sure if this was insecurity on her part or wanting to belittle me. The next time when I visited, she said “hi (my name), this time I remember your name” … Again, not sure what all this is about.
And then the incident I explained to A., P., and R. regarding the “controlling” thing just because I was concerned about a member’s heating issues after she told me twice she either doesn’t have heating or she couldn’t sleep because it was so cold.
R. said she couldn’t remember if she said this to P. where I heard it as I left the kitchen, but didn’t deny it either! I accept the apology and the offer for P. to meet me once a week. But for P. who heard what R. said, not making any comments, makes me hesitant to trust anyone.
If a mental health facility doesn’t have a strong policy and zero tolerance on speaking behind people, especially when it comes from staff towards people with mental health problems, and then even knowing what I’ve been through, there is no hope.
I would never be able to feel safe if R. won’t say any subtle things because I raised the issue with the “controlling” situation. I know from experience, especially with Pret, but also a psychiatrist who abused his position and I raised a formal complaint, that when one raises issues, from then on one isn’t safe anymore. Even if that’s just my traumatised “imprisoned” brain thinking. I survived too much to trust again.
I understand I’m full on. The Pret situation might shock, even confuse you. But I put my cards on the table, am transparent so people know why I am so all over the place mentally. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d ever PUBLICLY call out a multi-billion dollar company, let alone so substantially. I do this to distract myself from the losses and trauma, and to raise awareness of unsafe practices AND because I lmost took my life in Pret.
Recently when we spoke about the cost of living and going on the computer to look up support, R. joined me, even though it’s very clear that I know how to use the computer and do searches.
But R. mentioned her mum who is in high age living with R. at home. Again, I felt that’s a good way to rub it in that my mum died and I couldn’t bury her during 2. lockdown. I also told R. together with A. and P. that my mum had a carer and I had to fly home when her neighbours informed me that the carer wasn’t helping.
Maybe R. tried to make me feel bad that I couldn’t care for my mum at home? If that was the case, I don’t feel bad, because I cared for my mum since I’m 8 years old, and was even in the process to move back to Germany to live with my mum, but we got a carer for the interim time where I sort things out in the UK.
It triggered the whole Lila Warren situation, the development manager who was tasked by Pret to gaslight me so they could fire me after I declined Pret’s money for signing an NDA. Lila was tasked to give me a disciplinary for emailing. But she then entered into emailing and text messaging for which she gave me a disciplinary in the first place.
She lied to me that she also had a brother who died alone in his apartment and wasn’t found for days, just like my brother. All me stupid for believing her, but I was severely traumatized. You could have told me that an elephant barks like a dog, and I would have believed you. I was on autopilot working, but severely traumatized and under shock.
Needless to say, I got fired. Lila Warren still has her job because she and the Pret executive are thick as thieves. She is an NLP practitioner, a Hypnotherapist and at the time she interacted with me studied to become a psychotherapist.
As she was studying one day she sent me a Whatsapp message with a photo of a page she was reading for her psychology studies. On that page (see below) she highlighted in yellow a few things she was reading regarding people with trauma etc.
Part of it in a lesson called “script” what patients predict from past experiences, it says, quote: “The ending of my story will be to die sad and alone”. She sent me this photo of the page via Whatsapp with the words, “I’m just reading this and it made me think of you”.
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It was a big, massive swing at my trauma with how my brother died alone in his apartment. In hindsight I know she sent this to throw me off course so that I drink and write horrible emails again, and therefore get fired, like it was the plan of Pret. And she succeeded. But, after I raised a complaint with the National Hypnotherapy Society for her abusive way to misuse her psychology studies, since then I can’t find her entry anymore at the site anymore. I have a screenshot of Lila’s National Hypnotherapy Society profile on my blog post “Questions to Lila Tighilt Warren”after I researched her name. I don’t know if they kicked her out after interacted with their “Public Protection Officer” as she’s not on there anymore. And maybe also due to all the complaints staff and customers raise about Pret. And the fact Pret neither sue me nor respond to my writings as it would open a can of worms for Pret with the press and the public, might hint to the society that I didn’t make it all up. Apart from that, I still have all the Whatsapp texts and emails from her which I passed on to the society.
But when R. mentioned her mum, that she is in high age living with her, I can’t help but think it was a swing at my situation having lost my mum and maybe trying to make me feel bad that I couldn’t live with my mum.
I don’t feel bad at all. I have done everything in my power to let my mum have the best latter time in life, and the pandemic and lockdowns crossed that out! My mum deteriorated very fast, partly my brother’s death still heavy on her and past issues as a child coming back strong in memories. Every 3 months when I flew over, she seemed a different person. The carer later mentioned how quickly she deteriorated within a year.
I sent to you all the ITV series “Sticks and Stones” to explain how systematic workplace bullying works in all its subtle forms. I never felt in any way weird with A. or P. or any of the members. But I read gaslighting very well now.
And I cannot be in a mental health facility that does not understand trauma or where a staff member feels too insecure to deal with strong personalities. I don’t know. Sure, you are no psychologists, you could give that excuse, but you work with people with mental health issues.
I explained what happened to me so you can understand why I am so whacked and how I am recovering. And surely I over-explained. But I will always over-explain. This helps to show people who really care or who are annoyed EARLY on.
But I lost all my trust in health facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, mental health clubs etc. Anything in an organisation that is supposed to help any type of health aspect. I have no confidence in anymore.
If the aim was to make me insecure, that didn’t work. But it DID work for me to stop coming as I won’t be able to trust. For P. to see me every week would also trigger the Lila Warren issue as she spied on me for Pret to find the right time to get me fired. I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone to not backstab me again, or to say subtle things to hurt me.
I’m unable to work and even volunteer because any issue to do with backbiting, talking bad or even lies about others triggers a tsunami of Pret issues. Where I used to have things roll off my back like a ducks back or was long suffering, I don’t even have thin skin anymore, I lost my skin completely and am bare bone.
The “Sticks and Stones” series shows so realistically how gaslighting works, how the person being targeted cannot put his finger on the issue until he got the evidence,and similar with my issue with Pret. Or after I was contacted by Tristan Tate, the brother of Andrew Tate who both have to defend the claims now of sex human trafficking. When I researched that issue further, I saw an interview where Tristan Tate was asked by Piers Morgan if it’s true that their father told them when they were boys that men need to hit women in such a way that no bruises show.
Open violence, or subtle workplace bullying where “bruises” don’t show, or where the victim doesn’t have evidence to point to a specific action/word until they’re so broken down and confused, they give up. I outed Tristan’s DM to me (NOT showing his text, but just paraphrasing his arrogant words) in an “open letter” to him as he and his brother have their millions of minions to do their dirty work on social media. And I outed him in solidarity with women who fell victim to them, especially Andrew. I use sharp words for a reason for these scum-bags!
Be glad that you have your mum at home R. And I always say to people to do everything you can to have your elderly or even disabled loved one at home, unless there is absolutely no other way. But to “rub it in” shows a bitter side of you. And I lost a lot of trust in people. I guess I’m doomed to die sad and alone, and I don’t mind. I even seek it now to be in a remote place to live the rest of my life and die alone. There are only very few people I trust or have an ounce of hope in. I used be different, but I have no trust in organisations, systems, police, medical services etc. anymore. But I am ok with that.
On the positive note, I meant it when I said that you as a mental health facility do a lot right. You should be proud of that and I saw so many precious members there, each with their own unique personality. One guy remembered my name even though he just spoke with me a few minutes ONCE! Never underestimate people with mental health issues. And never judge a book by its cover, I might look ok, but I have to make daily decisions how my life will “continue”.
Apologies for all the long texts. But I am how I am now. But the only thing I aim to change is to stop drinking altogether. For anything else, I have nothing to feel bad about. And I rather take myself out from a place then to be a nuisance or to feel unsafe.
Please never forget or get into a routine that you work with people with mental health issues. We come in all forms and severity. I am coming to the conclusion that mental health facilities,medical places are NOT the places to recover. I can’t. And I take responsibility.
Thank you for reading. I’m sorry. All the best.
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Ok, I should have waited before posting the below long post!!! I could have just linked to that ONE Facebook post by Pret and pointed to the comment section!
The comment secition is GOLD! Exposing Pret’s ongoing lies again.
Please be aware that Pret haven’t posted any news on Twitter/X since November 2023 because there are too many journalists on X versus Facebook. Pret’s @veggiepret Twitter handle has been silent with any news since 2021.
Further complaints on the lack of vegan and veg options in regular shops via Instagram and Twitter here below in my original post before I saw the comment section on Facebook.
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I now sarcastically say on social media that vegans and vegetarians at least can eat meat again in Pret. My post about mislabelling of food which continues, despite customer deaths and injuries: Vegan and Vegetarians Eat Meat at Pret.
When I worked in Pret between 2008 and almost 2018, where Pret opened their first Veggie Pret in Broadwick Street in 2016, which was my first regular shop when I started in Pret, vegan and vegetarian products have never been a good seller. It sold alright, but especially towards the latter 2010s, we had so much waste on vegan items, which are more expensive, that we stopped making so many.
Cmpared to let’s say chikcen Super Club which is a “must sell” item in Pret, meaning we HAD TO have at least 2 sanwiches on the shelves all day as it is ine of Pret’s best sellers, in one shop the first bathc was 40 Super Clubs. And thats just the first batch in the mornings.
Vegan and vegetarian sandwiches were then only made around 10 – 20, or even less depending on the time of day. And because we made less vegan items, we of course ran out and then Pret just say to customers that we “sold out” because it was so popular.
Reality is, it never sold so well that we never made many in the first place and then pretended it’s such a good seller! The same with the vegan porridge. Was never a good seller. Especially on the weekends,we only put out the regular dairy porridge. The reason is, the dairy porridge sold wellcompared to the vegan porridge.
Porridge, as well as soups etc. are cooked in factories, delivered to shops in plastic bags and then just re-heated in water baths or microwave.
Here, a former Panera Bread employee (Panera is also owned by Jab Holdings) spilled the beans on how they do the macaroni and cheese. She was fired after posting the video online.
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But that’s the same way Pret do their soups and porridge. One bag of dairy porridge contains 6 cups. One bag of vegan porridge contains 4 cups because it doesn;t sell well. But even with 4 cups, on weekends we often only sold one or even none. Evern Saturday and Sunday I ended up with having to waste 3-4 vegan porridges, so we stopped doing them on weekends completely and just re-heated the dairy porridge. And since a while Pret completely stopped it.
And in typical Pret fashion, they use reversed psychology for the reasons Veggie Prets are converted back to regular shops. Pret tell the press that rhwy close veggie only shops as vegetarian options “thrive” across all stores! 😀 Hahahahahaha!!!!
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Pret really hold customers for idiots! Pret opened the first Veggie Pret in 2016 as veg items sold well then, and now they say they close Veggie Prets because veg items sell well! LOL! .
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Here’s only few of many many many customer complaints on the LACK of especially vegan options. And I didn’t bother to go beack before 2022 or sieve through reddit, facebook etc.
I keep it as short as possible. I start with a claim Pret made in July 2023 that they cut back on vegan options due to “most not being as meat-free as they claim to be”. Another bullsh!t reason, but at least admitting they cut back.
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I love this Instagram post. Leon checking Pret’s feed and trying to snatch a customer away from Pret! 😀
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Update 17.02.2024 from Facebook:
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New Belfast opening already off to a bad start:
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And many, many more …
Good luck to all vegans and vegetarians with the labelling!
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
First post to Tristan Tate “Dear former Pret barista“, I left it as is without naming him. But after I watched the “I am Andrew Tate” documentary, I name him now and don’t ever want to interact with this POS again.
An AI audio version for people with visual impairment or those who don’t like to read long text. Please ignore the pronunciation of “manger” and some glitches in the audio.
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Tristan Tate: Occupation: Brother Of Future Dream: Wannabe-gangster
Dear Tristan,
again thank you for inquiring about what I do regarding my Pret writings. But your unsolicited advise was uncalled for.
I knew who you are and your brother Andrew who dragged you with him. I don’t want contact with narcissistic psychopaths who hurt women.
But when I looked up some clips to understand why the Bucharest arrests happened, and then found the “I am Andrew Tate” documentary, I felt disgusted, disrespected and my DM invaded by you.
And NO! It’s no me who missed an “opportunity” with you. You thought you could impress me by DM’ing me, like pimps do! Nopes. I’m never impressed with cowards.
After I looked at everything again, and of course “innocent until proven guilty”, I feel offended that you even think to contact me in private, having no courage to respond in public in your Pret feed. And THEN boasting about your millions of followers versus my 350 followers.
And yet you, million-flollowers-man, have the balls to slide into my 350-follower-account by DM and give me unsolicited advise. And you expect me to melt down to your “advise” like all the girls you fooled? You have the balls to DM me?!
No woman is your saviour. You either stand up to your brother on your own, or you don’t. But you do NOT use women to babysit you away from your big baby brother. I have no respect for you Tates.
You and Andrew, noisy boys with millions of minions following you, and you dare to slide into my DM just like your brother Andrew is alleged to have “slid” into women choking their throats according to the Channel 4 documentary “I am Andrew Tate”.
Really?
You thought I’d be impressed? You did not do your homework on me, did you? You haven’t lost a brother yet, Tristan. You don’t know what that means. Because you suck at Andrew’s tits to survive and get/be rich.
Everyone who knows me, knows that I respond to anything Pret related. I respond to people with zero followers and to people with millions of followers. It makes no difference to me! And you are not different to me than anyone with zero followers.
I saw a clip somewhere, where you boast that you give money to charity. How impressive. Giving money to charity (by the way, something Jimmy Savile, the Mafia etc. were/are good at) is, 1. for a cover up, and 2. to have enough people on your funeral. Right?
No amount of charity can cover up your rotten cowardliness, you POS.
You boasted that you gave to the “Make a Wish Foundation”. Could I please have a list of the “charities” that compromise their values for dirty money that you give to, so I can avoid them?
I have an idea Tristan! How about you donate some millions to the Pret Foundation?! They’d be happy to take your money. The other boy, Pano Christou is busy building his legacy to double in size by 2026 as instructed by his bosses in Germany. All to the detriment of food, drink and service quality. Never mind saving a life, hey.
I tweeted a reply to someone who feels proud to have any of you on their side, and I meant it when I said that I’d rather die in the gutter alone than have anyone of you Tristan and/or Andrew on my side.
In the documentary, you look annoyed many times, silent, irritated … a classic follower of a wannabe strong-man, who abuses vulnerable people and now looks like he injects oil into his muscles. And you go along with everything Andrew things is ok. I tweeted that you and Andrew are sluts. And I mean that as well. I am disgusted when I see/hear you speak. You vomit your toxic nonsense across the Internet and you despise the people who “follow” you, you call them sheep.
You are a sheep Tristan. Your occupation is “the brother of”.
You and Andrew are wanna-be gangsters. You won’t be taken down by the Mafia or drug lords, and certainly not by the police, they all have no interest in you. They laugh about you, because you keep them safe by doing the bling-bling work and being loud and obnoxious to throw people off.
You will be taken down by women. And you know why? Not because of #metoo or the Romanian arrests etc., but I will not tell you why women will take you down. I already gave you a hint 😉
Don’t ever have the audacity to slide into my DMs again!
You are not welcome in my space Tristan Tate.
First post to Tristan Tate “Dear former Pret barista“, I left it as is without naming him. But after I watched the documentary, I name him now and don’t ever want to interact with this POS again.
You hurt ONE woman and/or you hurt ONE child, and you hurt us all.
Piers Morgan sucks up to and your brother. Millions are your minions. It will be the “few” who take you down.
You DM’d the wrong person Tristan.
expret.org
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I updated with a Vimeo slide:
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Upfront to any former Pret barista, here’s one of my infamous “open letters” to or regarding Pret again. But please know this is NOT for you if you’ve been a barista in Pret. This is for someone who contacted me, who is in the public. They know who they are, but I don’t want to out the person as they contacted me in private, and I respect privacy, no matter if I agree with the person(s) or not, unless a crime or injustice is being committed against me.
If the person would have commented in public, I’d respond in public. But I want to write this on my blog because it will be long and I don’t want to write any more via private messages to make the person obligated to read. Plus, I am addicted to writing, it keeps me sane, it helps me to recover and work through the traumas and anger I’ve been through since my brother died.
(UPDATE 12.02.2024 – I DID call out the person’s name on a social media platform while I fell into drinking again, but I leave it. The more I thought about his “advise” and arrogance, the angrier I got. I will leave him here un-named, unless I change my mind. This person deserves to be called out, and I told him publicly to never private message me again!).
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Dear Former Pret Barista,
again, thank you for enquiring what the heck I’m doing with my blog and socials regarding Pret. I will be blunt and straight forward with you, but you’re a big boy and can handle it.
Upfront also, you don’t need to read this long waffle, and no need to respond. In fact, please don’t respond. There’s nothing I need to hear from you as in “advise” or anything else. This is just to get some thoughts off my chest on what you wrote in response to what I do. And also upfront, my mother-tongue is not English, so I use very simple words and my grammar isn’t always there. I write my blog to cope, not to aim for a Nobel Prize in Literature. That info was for the spelling police!
You gave a few good thoughts which I appreciate. I will paraphrase some of the things you said. You feel like my blog should be done better, more slick I guess, and I agree! My blog looks sh!t, cluttered, unprofessional! But I fund my blog fully by myself on no budget. I wrote every single dot and comma myself. No help, no “AI” or whatever trendy stuff is out there now. And I am still too traumatised to trust anyone with my blog.
But for one, I have no strength in “how” I do things, because I still suffer trauma and have to almost daily make the decision if to go on. This might come across weak to you, but I don’t care.
When I started to write my blog, a few months after my dad died, my plan was to write down my story regarding Pret and then end my life.
I started my blog in 2017, actually on the day of the Grenfell Tower fire. For about a year I only wrote about my brother with poems, songs, memories etc. I mentioned my work issues with Pret but without naming Pret. And then in May 2018 after I “licked my wounds” Pret having fired me days after my dad came out of a three-week coma in December 2017, I started to NAME Pret publicly. I was scared they’d sue me even after I declined their “hush money” for silence. But I didn’t care because I had the plan already to end my life.
I speed-wrote my story down and wanted to die. I cannot explain the traumatic state I was in. Looking back, I don’t know how I even got up every day. I always had my Mum in the back of my mind, that I can’t do this to her, but I was at my end. And then also support started to come in from Union leaders, journalists etc. But I found soon that they just wanted THEIR names out, and didn’t really give a toss about my experience.
I kept writing and writing and writing and writing …
Writing my blog and all I “achieved” against Pret (press reports etc.) doesn’t mean anything to you, but it is my way to sow more seeds in my inner “solitary confinement” of my traumas. Like “The Man Who Planted Trees”, I plant words, tweets, blog posts and distract myself from all the losses and bullsh!t surrounding it all. You don’t understand this because you think that only a “big”, famous person can achieve something. I disagree. Every little voice can resonate even, or especially into the far future.
The Light UNDER The Rock
My writings are public, but mainstream media only cares about fame, just like you meant what you wrote, and I get it. But again, I don’t care. Trauma, bereavement, anger is not welcome, especially not from a woman.
That’s why I will always mention freelance journalist Mike Powell who had the courage to mention my blog with his BBC report.
I am not a poet, even though I published a book of German poems before the publisher went bust, but I often think of the likes of Emily Dickinson, who in her lifetime anonymously published only about 4 poems in magazines. She hid her 1800+ poems under her bed, and instructed her sister to burn them once she’s dead.
Her sister didn’t even know the sheer volume of Emily’s poems, and she went against Emily’s wishes (which regardless of Emily’s later fame, I disagree with! HONOUR the person’s wishes!), and got them published a few years later.
But today Emily Dickinson is called the Mother of American Poetry. And all that from her poems under her bed. And during her lifetime, she never saw the fruit of her labour.
No, that’s not my aim to become some big-shot writer posthumously, but I know in my heart of hearts that the work I’ve put in, which wasn’t work at all because it was a lot of anger pouring down on paper, will bear fruit one day. It will bear fruit in that, any company, no matter how small or big should NOT treat their staff like sh!t for profit to the point the staff want to kill themselves. It’s too simple, I know. But again, I don’t care.
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Who Do I Pick Fights With?
You might ask why I didn’t go to Tribunal. I did, and had already 5 court dates including 1 day preliminary hearing. But then I withdrew because my dad died at the time of preparing for the case. And I had no support. I was like you were, in your council home, working from 6am to 2pm or later as a barista in Pret. And then losing my shitty job. I went from Citizen Advise Bureau to free legal advise to online searches on legal issues … while my dad was in intensive care and then rehab. I flew back and forth again like I did after my brother’s death. And then my dad died.
My friends abandoned me early on, my Mum also started to deteriorate, we all still coming to terms of my brother’s death and the weird stuff surrounding it.
I think I did pretty well without going on a shooting spree!
You, dear former barista, you think you have support, because the person you are loyal to is all you need, you think. Because that’s all you know. But life changes at any turn, and in the darkest times, we KNOW who those are who are loyal to us (or not).
“Weakness” is not a bad thing in times of recovery. Vulnerability is ok, weakness is ok, and everyone has their own way to recover. And don’t be so arrogant to tell people you don’t know how to fight their causes.
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Strong Against Strong – vs – Weak Against Strong
You wrote to me that if Pret would have wronged you as you were the teenager at the time you worked at Pret, and with the position of “fame” you have now, years later, you could really do some damage to Pret. Yes, of course you could, but the way I do it, I can’t really do anything else, BUT I do what I do with WHAT I have, not with what I wished I would have.
And what you’re really saying is, the sheer arrogance you portray that only if one is big and famous, they can make a difference. How immature and ignorant you are! Have you never learnt, or have you forgotten that it is often the “small” people who START a revolution? Oh no, I won’t start a revolution, but I am in for the long-haul and that subtle but defining difference my little contribution does and did to this world.
You were a kid when you worked in a shop that opened up new. New Shop Openings that are fresh and shiny are easier than established old, dirty shops, because Pret give more staff, no targets for about a year before they start squeezing. And the higher you move up the ladder, the more issues you encounter. Like they always say, it’s “lonely” at the top, right? Or, the higher the levels, the higher the devils. Old sayings.
I was a shop team leader, and as you should know, unless it was different in your days, team leaders are the real managers. They run the shops, while the job of managers is to scrutinize where to save money and blame the team leader.
You even advised me to stop doing what I do. I had a laugh-out-loud moment there. If what I do has no impact, why even “advising” me to stop? 😉
It is EASY to do something once you’re “big”. It’s a completely different thing to do what I do when I’m “small”. And THAT takes courage, determination and hope. And all that WITHOUT having anyone at my side helping me! Try that for once my dear former colleague!
And as a side note, I worked 7 years in Pret when my brother died, long-term staff and team leader. And even though I AND an OPs manager asked Pret in WRITING for me to be put under the Pret Foundation, like they do with the “rising stars” (patronizing way to call former homeless people), Pret never responded.
Why do you think Pret 1. don’t sue me for writing publicly and 2. don’t respond? You do know it would open a can of worms for them, and they already have enough bad press as it is. But they will soon have good press again, because the media is in Pret’s pocket and the general public accepts bullying of low-wage staff.
And your mentioning of my 350 followers, sure, these days it’s all about building numbers, quantity over quality.
Several things, I don’t care about numbers. Also, my own fault, at one point I kicked all my followers off while drunk. Other times I asked people to unfollow and/or block me as I kept writing drunken posts. Another reason is that my account is heavily censored, often shadow-banned where people can’t find me. And I neither believe in nor would compare myself to Jesus, but I too CHOOSE my followers. Evertime someone follows me that I don’t recognise having anything to do with Pret or anything I post about, I discreetly click the “unfollow” button, as well as block any advertiser or spammer who only follow small accounts to fish for followers. Again, that’s “weak” to you, and again, I don’t care.
I don’t owe you this explanation, but it’s my way to “teach” you for a change that sure, when you have a lot of followers, you can reach more people fast. But not everyone is or has to be like everyone else who is just out for a name and numbers. That’s why I don’t have my name and face public, because I suffer anxiety from everything including what Pret did.
I stand by my weirdness and the trauma with it. My trauma and anger that pushes even good people away, a form of sabotage I feel for letting my brother down. And yet, I’m on my way to become better, but I like my solitary and silent place after all the stress.
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Fighter Or Coward?
Imagine you are a boxer in a ring, and you fight an equal opponent with the same weight and roughly the same strength. That’s courageous and fair.
But then imagine you are a boxer and you beat up a woman who has no physical strength. OR you witness another boxer beat a woman, and you don’t step in. That’s cowardly, and there is NO honour or respect in that.
If Pret would have hurt you when you were the teenage barista that you were, and you were to speak out against Pret NOW when you’re big, sure, that’s easy! Super easy! Nothing admirable there.
But if you speak out against Pret when you have NOTHING, when you’re a small nobody, oh AND a woman mind you, that’s courageous. No? Tell me!
I pick fights with the big guns. I picked a fight with 5 TALL German police men while drunk (ok WHILE drunk!) in my anger for how German police dealt with my brother’s death. I woke up in a jail cell and later when at home saw the black and blue marks all over my legs. And cutting marks from the hand-cuffs on my wrists that I had to hide from my Mum who started to deteriorate with a combined form of Alzheimer and dementia.
I pick fights with anyone equal or stronger than me! I don’t beat down on vulnerable people. That would be the EPITOME of cowardliness and TRUE weakness.
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“Innocent” Days of Work
You were a Pret barista when you were a teenager for 4 years at a time just when Pret sold out to private equity firm Bridgepoint. But that was after McDonald’s already had a 33% stake in Pret and resold it after Pret got their foot into the USA market. You just left on time, just before they really put on the squeeze on the operations and on us staff.
I started in 2008 and don’t know Pret in any other way than the extreme micromanagement. But I worked with people who know Pret from before Bridgepoint took over. They said it was always tough and micromanaging, but since 2008 it became worse. And needless to say, now since 2018 with JAB Holdings / Reimann family having taken over, it’s another level of worse and staff turnover is high as well as customer satisfaction down the drains. But before long, Pret will bullsh!t everyone again and the reviews turn positive, as well as Pret (allegedly) employing people to write positive reviews.
Let’s ignore what shop managers, even area manager and HQ staff say? But I guess you’d tell them to toughen up, hey?
And I’m sure you’ll say that they shouldn’t complain, but just take their destiny into their own hands. Well, I wouldn’t take that advise from you, because you never took your destiny into your own hands. You were taken along on the ride by an alpha person who needs you to cover him, no matter if you go down as well.
Of course, if you would have been in my shoes in what Pret did to me, you could for sure do some damage with all the “fame” and followers you have now. BUT many of your demographics and followers follow a macho pretence and a lie that hurts another demographic of people, those who are vulnerable. And you KNOW that very well!
If you were to tweet right now that Pret are a horrible company, MANY of your followers wouldn’t even care, because they don’t hang out at Pret. They hang on the computer, in schools, in clubs, many wouldn’t even know who Pret are. And I say “are”, because I know the executive team behind Pret, a group of the core team of Pret who don’t care about anyone but themselves. But you know how that is.
Judging from the response you get regarding Pret in your feed with all the followers you have, no-one even gives a toss about Pret or your experience with Pret.
And then you wished me luck on my “crusade”. Yep, I have had this patronizing advise many times. Nothing new under that sun.
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Unsolicited Advise
You gave me unsolicited advise, now here’s my unsolicited advise to you, and I will be straight out. Especially after the stuff you and especially the person you are loyal to and are a shadow of “hand out” to vulnerable people (allegedly 😉 ).
Since you contacted me, I knew who you are and who the person is you are loyal to. But I didn’t do any more research, because I couldn’t be bothered with what you deal with. I watched a few of your interviews, some clips with the person you “hang out” with etc. When I saw the few clips of you people, I saw boys, not men. I did get a little cross with how the heck someone like you dares to give me advise.
I mean, you must feel so secure in yourself OR delusional to give me advise even before you researched what I went through. That takes balls my friend!
The person you hang out with because of your “bond” and the loyalty you feel obligated to, is not what I would call courageous. But you are just known for being the “person of” the other person. It’s like when my brother was popular in the school yard when we were kids, I was known for being “the sister of my brother”. I always hated that! And when my brother fncked up, I wasn’t popular anymore either. I wanted to be myself. And yet, even though my brother always protected me in school, like big brothers do, I let him down when we were adults. I lived too far away for years and never knew if he had any troubles, because he kept it away from me.
My brother rather suffered himself than to drag me down! I didn’t know a lot of the things he struggled with until after he died. And now, I don’t forgive him for that!!! But equally I protect his dignity, his privacy, his struggles, even after death BECAUSE he wanted to protect me, even though I wish he reached out and I won’t forgive myself for not having seen the signs.
If your person goes down, you go down with them, because they involve you. And maybe that’s your appeal, to be an infamous “couple of people” like Bonnie & Clyde or the Kray brothers etc. that went down in history and filled books and movies. Yes, you will fill some books and films. But no, there are too many 5-minute famous people these days who will also have hammered their legacy into stone to compete in death to live on.
Your bond makes sense, and putting myself into your shoes, I’d probably run with it as well, I don’t know. But knowing myself, I can strongly relate to Aimee Osbourne, the other daugther of Ozzy Osbourne who didn’t want to partake in the reality show and carved out her own path. Or Peter Green who founded Fleetwood Mac and named the band after the rhythm section and then withdrew because he didn’t care about all the fame and pitfalls. That would be me. I used these examples because music is everything.
But I certainly know for sure, I’d not be partaking in any illegal or violent enterprise for the sake of money and fame. That’s lame and weak. And maybe one day you’ll wake up and have an epiphany that life is short, and how much loyalty is healthy for you and them.
Don’t be known for a legacy of being the “sister of …”
That’s my unsolicited advise to you. Life is short.
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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
I have been in communication with wordpress’ “happiness” engineer, another brainwashing emotional labour term by yet another big company.
wordpress moved my blog expret.org to the mature/adult section where they host porn sites after Pret A Manger raised complaints to get me shut down.
wordpress claim to not censor, so they did a compromise to move my blog into the adult section, meaning wordpress users within the reader section can’t find my blog.
The following are parts of my interaction with the “happiness” engineers (emotional labour terms of big companies) where wordpress co-founder Matt Mullenweg is copied in.
I also wrote to wordpress co-founder Mike Little on another platform.
These guys of course don’t give a toss.
wordpress staff are instructed to tell me that my blog is in the mature / adult section due to having used the F-word, yet I posted to them several curretn and past websites that use worse words.
But nevertheless, I am being censored and discriminated against.
I now have contacted the press and will continue to do so.
I also know that a wordpress “spy” is monitoring and copying y blog.
wordpress work for and cater to Pret A Manger, and this needs to be called out.
If my blog gets shut down, you will know why. I called Matt Mullenweg and Mike Oittle out now.
Partsof my emails with wordpress “happiness” engineer, please press “ctrl & +” to increase size or download the screenshots:
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NOTE:
I asked in the email where wordpress Co-founder Matt Mullenweg is copied in, quote:
“please explain the reason for censorship and moving my blog to the “mature” section”
The reply from the NAMELESS (they never sign their emails) “happiness” … repeat “HAPPINESS” engineer, quote:
“We have reviewed your site and can confirm that the Mature designation will not be lifted as a result. We do not provide detailed site reviews for site owners”
Again, “we” as in Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of wordpress and the nameless wordpress staff censor my blog under the excuse I used the F-word, fuck a few times, despite countles sites using “cunt, fuck, pieces of shit” etc.
WordPress censor free speech and free press for Pret A Manger.
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wordpress take my money but censor my free speech and free press on behalf of Pret A Manger, a little company that pretend to be big.
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Dear reader, the following is my email to Pret executives and journalists today (28.12.2023). Even though I’m inadvertently doing advertising for Pret, this needs to be written about.
Journalists I openly copied in for Pret to see include Sarah Butler (Guardian), Vivienne Nunis (BBC), Mike Powell (BBC, Times, freelance etc.), Janet Eastham (Telegraph), Amy Sharpe (Mirror etc.) …. and many others.
I copy my mail verbatim and haven’t changed a word here except corrected spelling mistakes. I only squeezed in the word “being” in brackets below.
Please also note that current CEO Pano Christou was UK Managing Director under former CEO Clive Schlee who patronised me and had a LAUGH about the state of my mental health (calling me his “late night girl”). Pano Christou was Schlee’s #2 right-hand man when customers died and when I was targeted at Pret under HR and management. He can’t wriggle himself out by saying he wasn’t CEO then. He was the #2 guy in Pret.
My email:
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To Pret A Manger executives, HR, journalists and others,
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and will have peaceful New Years celebrations and healthy new year.
I am openly copying (CC) journalists and others in, including Dr. Shani Dhanda, whose emails are in the public domain (Twitter, Linkedin etc.). I am blind carbon copying (BCC) others in who reached out to me and/or their emails are private.
Anyone who doesn’t want to receive my mail, please block me. I write so SUBSTANTIALLY for journalists to know NOW and have a reference as I still don’t know how long I can survive.
Upfront to anyone who doesn’t know me, I write so BLUNT after what I survived in Pret during bereavement with many managers shouting at me, gaslighting me/us, pretending our work is not good while we work(ed) our butts off. And behind all this is Pret A Manger’s CORE team in head office. Make my day and sue me Pret! You don’t because it would open a can of worms for you, and you have already bad press as it is.
I write to you Pret regarding your latest PR stunt which you ONLY post on Linkedin because on X/FB/IG you would get backlash from current and former Pret employees, especially frontline shop staff.
Scrolling up in the following X feed that was posted today (28.12.2023) where a former Pret staff is appalled about Pret’s PR stunt on Linkedin. I don’t know him, but have read his previous call-outs on Pret.
Please scroll up in the following X feed where a former staff with mental health problems calls you out after Dr. Dhanda spoke in your company. Quote by Juan Aquiles Gomez: “How can you have the audacity to publish something like that, when I am a victim of dismissal for reasons motivated by my mental health in pret? It seems very miserable to me.”
the very right of @GrowingwithBohn's header profile picture. Mental health my arse @Pret (who after 3 years also blocked me Pret learn from my blog & then copy ideas to look ethicalhttps://t.co/isZ6TjPF13<
It's time to rally friends to KINDLY respond on Linkedin
— Exposing PretAManger since May2018 expret.org 🇺🇦 (@expretDOTorg) December 28, 2023
I don’t know him, but I believe him after what I and many others suffered in Pret.
PHYSOLOGICAL “ABUSE” VIA STRICT WEEKLY MYSTERY SHOPPER VISITS:
I could post countless blog posts I wrote with screenshots I took to show how Pret is NOT disability-friendly. Pret might be accommodating disabilities in head office where staff are not required to be super fast under extreme stressful conditions in shops, but even if Pret really wanted to have a disability inclusive work environment in SHOPS, they simply can NOT achieve this BECAUSE the objective of Pret has always been, remains and will always be: LOW wage workers working under fast and stressful conditions, having to smile and love-bomb customers or they don’t get bonus and then get penalised.
Please google Timothy Noah’s “The Enforced Happiness of Pret A Manger” and see examples of Pret’s shopper scheme on my blog. I stopped updating any new reports as the core effort remains the same: low-wage shop staff HAVE TO smile, up-sell, and bend in all directions to get a few pennies more bonus, and even then it’s not given or withheld:
I was reprimanded by management after the mystery shopper commented that I didn’t smile, despite also commenting that my service was polite. This was days after I buried my brother. The mystery shopper did not know I was traumatically bereaved and had no choice but to work and STILL even helped shop after shop after shop to succeed, incl. becoming #1 and the top 10 in the premier league DURING traumatic grief!
NEW PR STUNT USING DISABILITY-FRIENDLY SPEAKERS: (But ONLY on Linkedin 😉 )
Pret, you purposely don’t post Dr. Dhanda’s talk in your company on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X because you know very well that Pret staff would raise their voices again and you have a hard time trying to hide their comments, like you did a while ago when PR-stunting again looking for staff. And you know how I call you out on the BS you post on social media. But you feel safe on Linkedin because business people who are mostly working in PR and marketing, which involves putting out a fake image to the public, they love you and tell you all day what an awesome company you are! You have always surrounded yourself with “yes-men/women” and avoided platforms where people with inside knowledge and common sense call out your bullsh!t, pardon my French, but “foreign branding” works both ways.
And YES, it would be helpful to have a more inclusive work environment for staff with any disabilities, but to Dr. Dhanda, please know that this is yet another of Pret’s PR stunts to appear ethical and caring in the public. Reality is VERY different and I keep imploring journalists to go into Pret for longer than a week, which Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror did. She only worked a week in the late shift. But it needs a journalist to work for at least 1 MONTH in both shop and kitchen in the morning to SEE the systemic issues and dodgy things staff are forced to do to achieve targets!
I KNOW Pret having worked there 10 years in over 30 shops, and survived their antics DURING traumatic bereavement. Please see my post about Lila Warren. I declined Pret’s “hush money” and never signed an NDA.
To Pret, I did screenshots of what staff said before you hid/deleted some comments by staff and then disabled the comment section for further comments by staff.
So, Pret you only use Linkedin where mostly business and marketing people frequent and most low-wage staff and customers don’t hang out or if they do, they are still brainwashed by your lies, yes LIES! But even if I speak out on Linkedin, you’ll get my Linkedin account reported and disabled again as usual. Make my day!
You used NHS workers for PR when you made the announcement on 18. March 2020 just before first lockdown announcing free coffees and 50% rebates for NHS workers. And the very next morning 19. March 2020 Pano Christou sent a mass email to all shops to announce cuts to staff (beginning with hour cuts on their contracts to save money and later cutting wages as well while Pano got a juicy payrise and millions in bonus).
Low-wage Pret workers PAID for your NHS freebie PR stunt.
I was contacted again as usual by staff with your full CEO email, but this SLIPPED by journalists as everyone was DISTRACTED by this PR stunt: https://expret.org/2020/03/26/to-nhs-employees
You made Pret workers pay for this PR stunt. Are you not ashamed?! Do you have NO shame?!
You read my blog and copy ideas as you usually do because I keep pointing out how badly you treat staff with mental health problems. I even wrote an open note to the Pret Foundation after you did NOT take on a man with mental health problems, even though he did excellent, but he was too slow! You didn’t even take him on in the shop like I often fought for when my manager wanted to fire a staff in the kitchen and I pleaded to put them in the shop where they’d thrive!
Your newest PR stunt, that you only post on Linkedin is to pretend to be disability-friendly while your workers suffer mentally as well as physically and financially. And no, your pay-rise PR stunt came because the government raised the minimum wage and will raise the min, wage again in April 2024. You had and have no choice to raise pay a few pennies above min. wage when the govt raises the pay again, and you will PR your way through the media again in 2024 proclaiming to be so generous.
The Guardian’s Sarah Butler’s article again from 2021, and I have already seen that CEO’s bonus has reached over £5 million now.
“Pret CEO handed near-£4m bonus in year staff pay was cut.
Pano Christou also given 27% salary rise in 2021 as chain took more than £50m in government support” LINK to article.
DISHONESTY, LACK OF INTEGRITY, DISCRIMNATION, CARELESSNESS … WILL ALWAYS BE EXPOSED:
I will stop here as I tend to write long emails and blog posts, but I will never stop speaking out against Pret’s fake facade, hypocrisy, discrimination towards staff with mental and physical disabilities and how you targeted me under the watchful eye and involvement of your corrupt HR department, David Carter, Lila Warren (development manager), Sarah Bohn who also held a grievance and blocked me on Twitter/X already https://twitter.com/expretDOTorg/status/1740372499571826815 a while ago after I posted to her about Lila Warren, her direct colleague’s conduct under Pret’s leadership:
And then I was fired days after my dad came out of a three-week coma which you knew about after what Lila has done which confused me further!
I will never be silent Pret, Clive Schlee, Pano Christou, even Julian Metcalfe whom I chased off Twitter, but screenshot his appalling tweets before he deleted his account after 2 days on Twitter:
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And now you jump on the Disabiliy-inclusiveness bandwagon to appear great again!
I am sickened by your ongoing disregard for human beings, customers and employees alike. I am still appalled that you didn’t tell us, didn’t do ANYTHING when 2 customers died and 20+ got injured.
73% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again
Go on, send some people to post FAKE reviews like it is alleged that you tasked someone to post false info on Wikipedia until the person got banned! Because you don’t want the public to know that Jeffrey Hyman founded Pret before he went bust and sold the rights, incl. name and LOGO to Beecham and Metcalfe which you still use at HQ and some shops! A friend of Jeffrey Hyman spills the beans on this, and yes, I already screenshot in case it gets deleted/hidden:
I know. They even employed someone to repeatedly change the Wikipedia page that mentions how Jeffrey Hyman founded the first Pret-A-Manger. (A moderator banned the person when they said they were retained by Pret to do that.)
You will grow as you are tasked by JAB to speed-open worldwide. Pano Christou will set a legacy for himself to have grown Pret worldwide, but the truth about your work conditions and how horrifically bad you treat your employees will continue to be told, not just by me.
You can keep on trying to get me shut down everywhere, I will pop up again and again and again and again and again and will NEVER be silent about your appalling way you treat employees who helped you become so successful, as well as having carried you through the pandemic and as a thank you get their pay, benefits, paid breaks etc. cut.
I am proud to have put Pret on the map of reality where 5 years ago hardly anyone believed me how badly you treat your staff, and now it’s become more common knowledge and customers also call you out publicly. And I am extremely proud of having made the step to speak out publicly even while I was shaking in my boots. I don’t shake any-more. You have become the laughing-stock of many.
I have PTSD and am still only surviving and have written thousands of posts and emails in traumatic state and work on the drinking bit, I have written to GOOD people who deserve better in my traumatised state and had Pret managers and HQ staff LAUGH about me. I have many regrets with GOOD people, journalists, friends and strangers, but after what you Pret did via Lila Warren it has destroyed my trust in people. I hope you’re proud to have destroyed yet another staff member on top of customers’ lives, now continuing to sell Mislabeled and even MOULDY food due to the immense stress you put on understaffed workers.
To ALL journalists, friends, former and current Pret staff who reached out, my ongoing apologies to you for my mails! It’s NOT you, it’s me.
To Pret, I apologised enough to you and was gaslit by your disgusting conduct from the CORE of Pret employees incl. executives (Clive Schlee calling me his “late night girl” having a laugh about my mental state). I will NEVER ever regret having called you Pret out on their lies and appalling treatment of myself and many other staff. My www.LateNightGirl.org url remains as a reminder of your poor conduct with hard-working employees. Weeks after he called me that, he gave the green light to fire me, KNOWING my dad just came out of a coma. You have no scruple and will be called out until my last breath.
I continue to put in my late-night-girl shifts and will never be silent.
If anyone outside of Pret wonders WHY not more staff speak out, they are EXHAUSTED and disheartened! And many are “brainwashed” to function and believe Pret are good to them. They feel stuck without a choice of a better employment. Pret degrades hope and confidence in people. I was brainwashed for a while and then too exhausted to find another job. Staff, mostly from other countries, have been conditioned in fear management. I don’t fear Pret any-more. Not one bit!
Having survived and still surviving, I will never be silent! All I hope is for Labour to enter government and in time change the appalling work conditions in companies! Hope dies last.
For anyone OUTSIDE of this toxic Pret A Manger team, my apologies for this long mail. This is mainly for reference for journalists and friends and for Dr. Dhanda.
Kind regards,
expret.org aka former CEO Clive Schlee’s “late night girl”.
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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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Many of my favourite people are broken, those who lost a lot in life, “a lot” might be 1 person who meant a lot, or those who endured a lot in life, anyone who has their lot in life.
My favourite people are those who might have not experienced loss or hardship yet, who might have had a protected life – so far, but still have an instinct of compassion and love for broken people and their struggle to go on.
My favourite people are those broken and unbroken ones who just have the simple courage to find a way to learn how to love (and endure) broken people without judging, avoiding or mistreating them. Recovering from mistakes, and moving on, not away from them, but towards and together with them in their brokenness.
In time, we all will be broken, so broken we won’t survive. We have an unknown expiry date on our lives we don’t want to know and we don’t want to go to. And avoiding the thought of it won’t change this fact. Best Before is the best compromise we can handle right now.
Maybe in-between brokenness and wholeness, between facing the facts and denial, we can hand a cup of cold water to a burning soul or a tissue to hot and salty tears and lend a presence, even if in silence to a broken, paralysed life.
Not all of my broken people are favourites to their surroundings trying hard to be
They just survive, not knowing how to live.
All my favourite people are people human at least more than enough to hold on
All my favourite people are real in their fear and courage
All my favorite people are broken Believe me, my heart should know Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just want to hold you and let the rest go
All my friends are part saint and part sinner We lean on each other, try to rise above We are not afraid to admit we are all still beginners We are all late bloomers when it comes to love
All my favorite people are broken Believe me, my heart should know Awful believers, skeptical dreamers, step forward You can stay right here, you don’t have to go
Is each wound you’ve received just a burdensome gift It gets so hard to lift yourself up off the ground But the poet says we must praise a mutilated world We’re all working the graveyard shift You might as well sing along
Cause all my favorite people are broken Believe me, my heart should know As for your tender heart, this world’s going to rip it wide open, It ain’t gonna be pretty, but you’re not alone
All my favorite people are broken Believe me, my heart should know Awful believers, skeptical dreamers, you’re welcome Yeah, you’re safe right here, you don’t have to go
Cause all my favorite people are broken Believe me, I should know Some prayers are better left unspoken I just want to hold you and let the rest go
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Granted, sounds like a Daily Mail or Twitter/X sensational clickbait post, but having worked at Pret, I believe the story. I worked with colleagues who gave freebies for many months to the same customer while other customers went empty handed. I write about the discrimination of Pret’s freebie marketing here.
For new readers, I have been exposing Pret publicly since May 2018 (before the customer deaths and injuries became public, we staff weren’t even told!). Journalists have taken the info I passed to them, please see expret.org/media for press reports I passed on, but only journalist Mike Powell, freelance and for the BBC, mentioned my blog. Amd I will never stop mentioning him. So, please be aware, that most journalists just want a Pret story under their belt without crediting back to the source of my blog and work.
Back to the freebies:
If you have the Club Pret coffee subscription, best cancel it and with it the direct debit/bank payment as Pret have continued to withdraw money from bank accounts even after people cancelled the sub.
If you want free coffee for life, just say you were mis-gendered. The gender craze is putting so much fear into Pret staff who are drilled via strict weekly mystery shoppers, clever customers know how to utilize it to the max.
Someone on a social media platform said (December 2023) that they were mis-gendered one morning 18 months ago. Not only were the staff “extremely apologetic” but since 18 months and counting the customer now gets free coffees!
Quote, “In the Pret next to my office one of the team accidentally mis-gendered me one morning about 18 months ago. They were extremely apologetic …. and I have not paid for a coffee in there since.”
Why get the coffee subscription or be nice to staff when you can just say you were mis-gendered? Easy peasy! A better money-saver than what Money Saving Expert can advise. 😉
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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
…. a video and channel I can highly recommend by Dr. Ramani who covers a lot about narcissism.
I don’t want to get too much into detail about my own traumatic experiences with narcissists. But when my brother died and I became traumatically bereaved, I had a set of friends, especially one couple whose dog I dog-sitted for years when they went on holidays, even to the point when the dog was deadly sick after an annual vaccine backfired.
These people I knew for years only used me, but once I became unwell in bereavement (unwell is an understatement), not only did they drop me, but one of them even accused me of stupid non-important issues because he lost me as his FREE of charge dog sitter. He didn’t stop there, but that’s story for another time and spot I am in the process of publishing elsewhere.
I told these “friends” at the end, that I don’t regret having watched their dog for years, but I regret having done it for free!
Needless to say, with all my heart I am grateful these people are not in my life anymore!
If you always feel/felt off with some “friends” or a partner, even family, especially when you are in need for a change and find no help, watch some of the videos on narcissism and how to recognize it.
Narcissists are 100% about themselves. It took me loss and grief to realize I had the wrong friends for many years. They are ONLY nice to you when they need something, never forget that!!!
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
… than a bereaved person. But I’d rather live and die alone than have fake friends.
This post is short and sweet and is addressed to my former friends who can burn in hell for all I know.
This is to all my former friends whom I knew since 15, 20 and more years who lived close to me (minutes away) but turned their backs on me once my brother died, like they did with “Job” in the Bible. I am no comparison to Job in the Bible and this is not about the quantity of loss, but the “quality” of it. My former “friends” have been toxic, double-faced, jealous of my talents and never were worthy of the term “friend”.
And THANK GOD this “experience” has freed me from a belief in a god. And this releases me from the gaslighting bullsh!t of “praying” for those who accused me while I was in the gutter.
Job 42:10 “After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.”
Sounds like the ongoing disrespect for yourself. If you disregard yourself, even kill yourself for “the lord” you will go to heaven and meet 50 million virgins or whatever floats your boat!
It’s clear that the Bible was written by men who focussed on riches, double the amount etc. If you let us treat you like sh!t and then even pray for us (forgive us), then the “lord” will give you doouble the stuff you lost.
Nah, thanks. Done with that bullsh!t.
I’m beyond thankful that those super Christian “friends” are not in my life anymore.
If any of my former “friends” read this one day (or while they/you keep spying on my socials 😉 ) I regret ever having seen you as “friends”. But that’s MY fault not yours, because you’re too toxic to even understand. But you also never know how relieved I am that your toxic ass is not in my life anymore. You always stank of pretentiousness. It just took the death of my brother, the hellish grief and what Pret did to me to see that unfortunately.
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
I am giving a warning for sensitive readers, a warning I never got, but I nevertheless want to give this warning. If you’re eating, please put your food down.
I woke up on a January morning in 2015 and made the mistake to check my email before going to work for late shift. I wanted to start the day slow as work at Pret was always horrifically stressful.
Email from 12.01.2015, translated as best from German to English as possible, verbatim.
Mr. [Name of my Brother] was found dead in his apartment in [Name of City] on 15.12.2014
From the paperwork, no next of kin could be determined, therefore I was appointed to act as beneficiary of the estate of your brother.
The copy of the appointment is attached.
Your brother was cremated on orders by [Name of City], the burial is still open. You and your mother can decide where the urn will be buried.
Unfortunately I also have to inform you that the estate is over-indebted, therefore you have to cover the funeral expenses of the urn (the cremation etc.). Furthermore, it would be advised to reject the inheritance.
Please inform me of your and your mother’s address.
For contact in regards to the funeral, the details are [Name, address and email of the morgue].
[Name of Brutal, Ice-cold Messenger B*tch!]
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End of quote verbatim translation.
I cannot explain what went through me and will never find words of the sheer horror. Or was I dreaming? I read the email on the phone in my hand and just looked at the phone like it was playing a nasty joke on me.
Not only is my brother dead, he’s COMPLETELY GONE? And I had to learn this in a cold, robotic email as if I was reading a shopping list of errands I have to run?
The email read like a shopping list, rattling down instructions and upon investigating in the beginning, I haven’t read it for years anymore. I was instructed to reject the inheritance as otherwise I’d be left with thousands in debt. He was self-employed as a green energy advisor which he studied to become self-employed. He never told us how much he struggled.
I wrote him many emails since SHOUTING at him WHY he never told us how much he struggled!!! I wrote him emails until my emails started bouncing back after about a year as there was no activity/logins/outgoing email on his account, and his account just shut down.
After emailing the courthouse in his city for 2 years who gave the instruction to appoint a beneficiary of the estate, the president of the court replied (someone finally replied basically, and it was the highest person in the court), and she semi-apologised but went on with excuses. She said that bringing the news like this via email is “obscene”. But nothing more. I have no money or I would sue the sh!t out of everyone involved.
Everything turned against me either by longtime friends even early on disappearing or being targeted at work in Pret A Manger, which I write extensively here on my blog after having declined Pret’s “hush money” and NDAs.
And to add further to everything making it more traumatic, they sent my brother’s urn to my mum’ss village via POSTAL MAIL!!!! Everything we learnt was COMPLETELY disrespectful and careless!! I did some research and learnt that indeed they send urns in germany via the postal mail! I wrote about it here: In Germany They Send Urns Via Post
The last contact I had with my brother was 5 weeks before he died where he declined my invitation to a concert near his city where I flew over for in November 2014. He couldn’t make it and also said that the artist is not his cup of tea. I worked with the artist on a project and got free tickets and was always permitted to bring a +1. As I went to several of the artist concert in different German cities as she was on tour there, I always invited friends who live in or close to the city, and then also invited my brother to one of the gigs close to his town. I even went with my mum and a friend at one point in another tour of the artist.
I never replied to his email assuming I’ll see him anyway. But as usual he was busy, I was busy … And I had to admit to myself later that I was a little cross with him for not coming as I was working with the artist on a project, and I think I wanted him to be proud of me.
My brother had a cat that one day slipped out of the apartment and returned pregnant. He kept 2 of the kittens and gave 2 away. All 3 cats, grown up with its mother survived the approximately 6 days my brother lay dead in front of his apartment door.
The police told me that the cats ransacked the apartment, probably in distress or looking for food. Two of the cats they managed to catch, the third cat slipped through their legs and out the door. A neighbour told me that the cat doesn’t let anyone near it and they just feed it by putting food on the steps of the building in hopes it finds trust again and comes in. But I lost contact as I stopped contacting them. I assume the cat has passed now.
I came across a tweet once that was about cute cat videos that millions love to watch. For some reason in the comments someone mentioned that when the owner of a cat (or dog) dies, cats tend to start eating the corpse. And it put further trauma on me the thought of it.
I went on emailing-spree ever since, mostly drunk and very angry, of which I am just now slowly coming out of.
Many lost friends, lost job, lost opportunities later, I am left with a pile of losses and a decision if to go on or to quit. My parents have died now, I couldn’t bury my mum during 2. lock-down.
I sabotaged my life, relationships and everything else hoping it would help me end my life.
What is there now?
In memory of my big brother Thomas.
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
I found an amazing and simple explanation of some parts of PTSD in connection with adrenaline on reddit.
Brief explanation for new readers.
On January 2015 I learnt that my brother died 5 weeks prior in December 2014 AND was already cremated (5 days before I learnt of his death). To add to that, I was told this via EMAIL!
My story is spread out over my blog and on my podcast. I want to keep it brief here and concentrate on PTSD.
To add even more to that, I was targeted in Pret A Manger where I worked 7 years at the time my brother died. I was a team leader doing my job very very well. I say this, because Pret management and HR tried everything to try to get rid of me. They lied, gaslit me, used other staff to write lies about me to build a case against me.
I was in a mix of shock, trauma, twilight zone and somewhat completely oblivious on how vile and calculated Pret were. I was bullied from management, not from my teams. Some team members who were willing to please our bosses just allowed to be instrumentalised against me by lying about me.
I found that out after I applied for my file under the UK 1998 Data Protection Act (before GDPR came into place). I read the emails, the lies, the allegations and was able to raise grievances based on those lies. But that’s another story.
What I noticed and felt VERY early on is that I was EXTREMELY hyper, I felt adrenaline, later a lot of anger came to it. In hindsight I cannot understand how I even survived as my heart sometimes felt like exploding out of my chest! Later I started to have panic attacks, started drinking etc.
But I felt early on this intense feeling of being electrified every day, on adrenaline, even without drinking coffee.
My “new normal” was little sleep as I was investigating what happened to my brother. I couldn’t eat despite work in a food place. I lost 35kg within a year. Once when I walked through the Pret kitchen to get some blue paper for the shop, a kitchen staff was talking about weight and how she lost weight etc.
I mentioned to her that I was really overweight (after having lived 6 years in the USA with the sugar content and portion sizes) and that I lost at least 35kg within a year after my brother died. Having grown up with metrics and not gallons, ounces etc. the colleague asked me, “How much is that in stone”. But even now I never got my head disciplined to convert kilogram into stones and pounds.
As she was preparing baguettes with a 10 Liter (same as 10 kg) bucket of Mayonnaise on the bench, I pointed to the bucket and said “Three-and-a-half times of this bucket”, and she almost dropped the scoop out of her hand. Only then did I realise how much weight I had and then dropped with a simple visual of a mayonnaise bucket. I just couldn’t eat and forced myself to eat at least a banana a day or half a baguette. I just couldn’t swallow. I also walked for hours upon hours through London, plus all the walking and standing in Pret. I was on my feet 12-14 + hours every day for many months turning into years. So, the weight dropped rapitly within a year and with this caused some health problems later.
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10 Liter bucket, same as 10 KG. That’s why I can’t stop thinking in metrics, because it’s very simple.
I had to downsize my wardrobe 3-4 times over the year as everything became loose.
I woudn’t have been overweight, I’d look like a person with anorexia. I don’t want to show “before and after” photos of myself here, and just will mention a prominet German person and the impact grief and shock can have on the body.
The German TV presenter and Miss World winner, Petra Schürmann, who worked very close with her daughter Alexandra in TV, lost her daughter in an accident. She lost so much weight, and even couldn’t speak anymore and then died herself from the grief and shock a few years later. I remember the time when I visited Germany, seeing the news of her health condition.
With her daughter:
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After the death of her daughter, I can’t find the picture anymore, but I saw her on TV in Germany where she was extremely thin and aged rapidly within a few short years.
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I was lucky to have been overweight and “just” dropped down to “normal” weight like I always used to be before moving to the U.S. And the weight might have given me initial energy to keep going.
In Pret I was put on 5 months late shift so the manager doesn’t have to deal with a “sad” employee where Pret demand that we smile all day or get penalized via weekly mystery shoppers. Again, I write about this extensively all over my blog and on social media. I want to only concentrate on the PTSD and Adrenaline here.
But even with the early shifts, I would have to get up at 3:30am to start work at 5am with only 3 hours sleep as I couldn’t sleep. And later when I started to drink, going to work extremely hungover, I was still high functioning and in hindsight don’t know how I didn’t get a heart attack under the permanent mental, emotional and physical stress!
I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2020 after seeking therapy and an odyssey through the NHS mental health system. In my case the strongest symptom is hyper vigilance and constantly being on alert.
Working in Pret I don’t even know how I worked, I was on a constant “high”, being vigilant like I was in an emotional war-zone, especially from the targetting and bullying.
I had a high dose of adrenaline, but didn’t understand why, even though I could feel it. I did drink coffee in then morning, but the adrenaline was pumping me most of the day. This was one reason I started to drink necause I couldn’t sleep despite having been on my feet all day and walking through London day and night.
I started to drink to knock myself out. And it works in the beginning for a whole, but then, as we all know it turns into problems. That’s when my traumatic behaviour, emailing etc. started and went on a long time losing more people and things.
I was HIGH functioning, couldn’t calm down (except when drunk, knocking myself into bed).
And someone on reddit put into few words the issue with PTSD and Adrenaline and it all makes sense.
The part that made all sense I quote here in full verbatim:
“PTSD happens when you go through a traumatic event, and your brain decides that it never wants to be fucked up in that way ever again, so it will go to extreme measures to pump you full of adrenaline so you’re ready whenever the same traumatic event happens again. If it ever does. I used to go into fight or flight mode whenever someone did something like ripping a piece of paper out of their notebook. The tiniest sounds set me off, and it was all because my brain assumed that the sound was the source of my PTSD (it wasn’t) and decided to prepare appropriately for the situation.
So when you actually face the source of your stressor, the PTSD kicks in, not to render you useless and immobile, but to give you more adrenaline so you don’t have a repeat of whatever happened the first time.”
B-I-N-G-O-!!!
The part, “when you actually face the source of your stressor, the PTSD kicks in, not to render you useless and immobile, but to give you more adrenaline …”
I felt from the beginning but worded it as “I went into autopilot and functioned”, which I did. But I went into autopilot, so much so I couldn’t remember if I locked my door which of course I did as it was habit and I switched to autopilot. But I couldn’t come down from the intenseness as adrenaline was pumping constantly.
I can also relate to the sound issues. Pret especially is EXTREMELY loud everywhere and I was reprimanded for turning the music down, especially when customers also complained of the noise. But even slight noises in the library or supermarket set me off to want to run off or tell people to lower the “noise” that wasn’t even noise. Flying became extremely anxiety inducing and stressful now.
At one point on my many flights to Germany I sat with my hand holding the head part of the seat in front of me while on take-off and my knuckles were white as a sheet from grabbing the head piece. The two young women sitting in front of me at one point turned around and giggled looking at me. I felt that the blood of my face was gone as I sat in anxiety while the plane took off.
The girls probably thought it was my first flight or I am afraid of flying in general. They had no clue I flew countless times since I was a teenager and was just in a state of shock and trauma. Never assume by looking at people WHY they might be scared when they look terrified. I wasn’t scared of flying,I was scared of EVERY movement and anything that rendered me out of control.
And flying is NOT natural for us humans! We are not birds! I often thought when on a longhaul flight that we have NO BUSINESS in the air! What the fnck am I doing up here??!!! It’s not natural!
And now, having lost everything, I just sit in front of a pile of rubble and hope that those who did wrong while being strong when others were vulnerable, have their Karma poured out on them like I had adrenaline thrust me into extreme movement and a functioning zombie.
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Pret never allowed staff to receive tips and even stopped the tip devices in their USA shops where tipping is very common in America. Pret turned the tip boxes into “charity” boxes in the late 2000s. When I visited the States in 2008 they still took tips, but on my next visit in 2013, Pret already turned USA tip boxes into charity boxes.
And now, since the pandemic and all the money grabs, Pret has electronic tip devices claiming all the tips go to staff. I worked in a wine bar in the city years ago where we were allowed to keep all the cash tips. But the credit card tips, the company kept 15% of it. And knowing Pret and their lies, they will keep ALL of it!
I say boldy and loudly that I don’t believe that Pret pass foward ALL the tips to staff because Pret have been stealing from customers and staff since years and are chronic liars. I detail this below.
Pret don’t suddenly become generous by allowing tips. They will grab the tips like they grab everything else.
NEW: Tip devices
I went to pret the other day for a coffee and the staff were so rude lmao. They where cleaning down the cake display and ignored me for a good 2 mins before saying “yes?” When they finally acknowledged me lmao. https://t.co/K5zjSyMmjP
Donation Devices placed right NEXT to Payment Devices
Customers in the rush, noise and distraction accidently tap the donation device donating £5 instead of paying, and are then promted again by staff to pay. And Pret KNOW the psychology of how customers feel embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”.
Not only that, but a refund isn’t even issues by Pret, but from the company (GoodBox) who facilitate the donations for Pret. Customers have to find out via a long process HOW to get their money back, and therefore many just give up. Katchink! 🤑🤑🤑 Win-win for Pret. Tax breaks via “charity” and other ways how they grab money.
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What customers don’t understand is that staff who are equally appalled and EMBARRASSED at Pret’s conduct is they are NOT allowed to move the donation devices. I KNOW how Pret always instruct staff to do or don’t do certain things, no matter how much customers complain.
73% of customers on Trustpilot (1 and 2-star reviews combined) turn their backs on Pret. And Pret might say that these are “biased” or anonymous customer reviews (like Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe said to me about staff reviews on him and itsu). Nopes! Many write WITH their names and have multiple reviews on various companies with mixed (positive and negative) ratings.
And of course, Pret have a whopping 122% increase in donations but fail to mention HOW Pret grab the donations via the devices too close to the payment devices.
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My calling it out when my Twitter handle was still @LateNightGirlMe before I changed it to expretDOTorg:
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Last quote from above Tweet: “Agreed. Most people will be too embarrassed to demand a refund but I did. It was painful though. Had to call them.”
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Not to mention how customers complain they struggle to use their coffee subscription, apps, can’t log in etc. etc. etc.
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The pandemic emboldened Pret to steal in broad daylight and be unashamed about it.
Stealing Bonus / Cash Rewards by withholding “Outstanding Card” Rewards from Low-wage Staff
I received a contact with the following info that Pret steal mystery shopper “outstanding card” rewards.
Please note, an “outstanding card” is NOT a literal card, it’s just the name of the CASH reward for an INDIVIDUAL staff member. Weekly bonus is for all, but the outstanding card reward is for one person who love-bombs extra hard! I explain this in detail throughout my blog regarding Pret’s micromanaging mystery shopper scheme.
Quote of the person who contacted me who says they know Pret staff who receive the mystery shopper reports and manipulate the results in favour of Pret’s pockets AND who also knows Pret workers in shops, quote:
“I know people who conduct mystery shopper reports and individuals working at shops whose reports have been affected. In some cases, when someone is nominated for an “outstanding performance” by the mystery shopper, they should receive an extra £100 that week. Unfortunately, there have been instances where the “outstanding performance” line in the reports received later by the Pret shop has been left empty, with comments deleted, preventing anyone from receiving the extra £100”
End of quote.
When I worked at Pret from 2008 to almost 2018 we staff often had discussions where we noticed that STRAIGHT AFTER a big summer and winter party where Pret spent thousands of pounds, that many shops didn’t get team bonus EVEN though we KNEW we did well as we often remembered the incidence the mystery shopper described.
Team bonus is now £1.25 per hour extra for that week (used to be £1 per hour for that week and 50p during the pandemic, and Pret even tried to scrap the bonus but then a strike was announce and I tagged the Guardian in again). I remember talking with colleagues who became suspicious that we always failed to get bonus straight after a big summer or winter party.
Knowing Pret and how they cheat and steal, I NOW believe this. And the contact by above person saying that Pret also steal outstanding card rewards, I believe that.
An example of the £100 mystery shopper outstanding card reward via YouTube for one team member who gave a free drink to the mystery shopper (I call them “misery” shopper):
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Letting Low-Wage Staff Pay for PR Stunts
(In this case the NHS freebies)
Pret took from staff just before the first Covid lockdown in March 2020 when Pret made a big PR announcement giving free coffees and 50% rebate on food to NHS workers. The very next day after Pret made that announcement, CEO Pano Christou sent a mass email to all shops and head office departments that Pret will do cuts to staff. Pret as usual stole from staff to pay for the PR stunt of the NHS freebies. Needless to say the executives didn’t have a cut to their contracts and wages, not to mention bonuses.
Pretending to have Payroll Errors, Delaying to Pay Workers
Pret TWICE delayed paying staff in 2022 under dodgy excuses that there was a payroll error. And I remember in around 2012 that this already happened then, but I assumed this was a genuine mistake. Pret in around 2012 supposedly had a payroll error where the payroll staff “forgot” to pay everyone, and we got paid a few days later. I remember not thinking anything of it and even went around as a team leader offering to lend my colleagues money if they struggled. I assumed this was a one-off genuine mistake or mishap. But NOW I KNOW this wasn’t a mistake. This was DONE under former CEO Clive Schlee, and current CEO Pano Christou “learnt” from this and does the same.
Someone on Twitter who worked in payroll is appalled, quote: “This is appalling. As someone who bore ultimate responsibility for payroll in my organisation, I know this is inexcusable.”Link
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BUT, this is basically the THIRD time that Pret delayed paying staff under payroll error or mistake that I personally know of. And Pret often don’t pay the last week wages when staff leave who then have issues getting the pay. And CEO Pano Christou does what Pret always did, he sweet-talks his way through the press who bow to his bullsh!t.
End of May, beginning of June 2022 DM:
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Some staff announced on Instagram to be sabotaging Pret after not getting paid on time:
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And we all know by now how Pret REPEAT issues. Just few of countless examples:
Ongoing neglect on safety issues yet again, this time with staff. In 2023 getting fined £800,000 (down from £1.6 million) after ignoring 19 months of complaints with a faulty walk-in freezer door. A 2. staff got trapped inside the freezer, this time for 2.5 hours fighting for her life. Pret staff told me they got stuck in walk-in fridges and freezers and Pret did nothing. This time it was too much.
Two wage-theft lawsuits settled in the USA within 4 years (Pret steal wages and hours in the UK as well, but the legal system is not as helpful for employees than it is in the USA).
5000+ complaints on the ice drinks issue with the coffee subscription.
73% of unhappy customers on Trustpilot and many also on Google, Tripadviser … Truspilot is just centralised as in an overview.
etc. etc. etc. etc.
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Again, staff contacted me and I emailed Pano Christou while OPENLY copying in journalists including Sarah Butler from the Guardian who then reported on the pay delay.
I put the DM tip-off and Butler’s article in the following YouTube slide:
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The second pay delay in 2022 happened at the beginning of June 2022 at the Queen’s Jubilee weekend because Pret knew that the public would be distracted with the Jubilee celebrations AND banks would be closed on bank holiday Monday.
Pret executives do exactly what shop managers do, which shop managers learn from higher ups. Shop managers regularly “forget” to pay the correct hours that staff worked to save money and accumulate profit for the next quarterly bonus. I had to chase my hours for years! If a manager has 20 – 30 staff in their shop and “forget” to pay each staff the odd hour here and there, do the math, it accumulates. 120 hours a month and katchink!
June is the last month of the second quarter. Again, I was contacted by devastated staff and passed it on to the Guardian. But the Guardian article didn’t make much of a rounds because the public was distracted.
As a rule of thumb: When Pret make an announcement of any kind, an announcement of charity, of a deal, of an offer, an announcement of any kind that looks great, PAY ATTENTION in the next day(s) on what else is happening that Pret are trying to cover up by distracting with “charity” announcements.
CEO Pano Christou and the “change / coins in cabbies” 😉
It seems like CEO Pano Christou stole as a kid while cleaning cars. In an interview with the Mirror where Christou does his “rags to riches” story to try and lure low-wage workers in, he shares that he used to wash the cars for pocket money of the cabs that his father brought home. He says that there was more change under the seats than what his dad paid him. Mr. Chrsitou, did you STEAL coins from cabs?
I also washed my dads cabs, but I never took any coins, money, items from cars.
Quote from the Mirror, I added bold to the text:
“Mr Christou said: “My first job, at 14/15, was delivering mini-cabs cards through doors. I washed my father’s car every Sunday. “He would pay me a pound or two, but I would probably find more change under the seats then he paid me.”
Since the pandemic especially, Pano Christou likes to stage himself in the press as this “rags to riches” great CEO who cares so much. And because Christou knows how it is to be poor, he makes sure that Pret staff give him more money than he needs. Cut wages and pocket the money:
“Pret CEO handed near-£4m bonus in year staff pay was cut. Pano Christou also given 27% salary rise in 2021 as chain took more than £50m in government support”
And a recent shop manager review on Glassdoor, and it doesn’t matter how many people Pret “employ” to leave fake reviews, the truth will continue to come out:
Part of recent General Manager Glassdoor review about how manager cheat to reach impossible targets set by Pret execs and how most food is thrown away (please note that Ptet also lie about having a “fleet” of cars distributing food to people in need. Pret rely on unpaid volunteers to pick up food, otherwise it gets wasted):
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UPDATE Dec. 2023
Pret now changed their “fleet of cars” claim to “Every evening we donate as much as we can to those in need”. 😀
Oops, where’s them “fleet” of cars now!? Hey Pret, you’re reading too much expret.org and are learning or getting paranoid! How about allowing a UNION for your exploited, overworked, underpaid workers, hm?!
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Shop Manager review from mid November 2023:
“Toxic and draining
Toxic, mental health is seen as a joke. … They expect you to perform 125% since the first day. The kitchen environment is super heavy, from deliveries to producing an absurd amount of food that at the end of the day is going to the bin. The excuse is always that “we are giving away to charity” but 90% of the time charity never shows up, or can’t commit to being there at a certain time. So hundreds of pounds worth of food is going to the bin. Managers and Assistant Managers manipulate stock, temperatures, and a lot more to have the perfect shop when in reality most of those targets are close to impossible to achieve. (unless you have no life and want to work 80+ hours a week). … customers are completely overwhelmed by the insane amount of products sold … treat General Managers and Assistant Managers like people. Team members and the rest of the Key Roles are the heart of the company and are also treated very poorly and many times disrespectfully …”
And don’t believe the PR stunt about Pret baristas getting £14.10 (incl. bonus). If that happens than it is extremely rare and only happens at airports and busy railway stations where the pay is a little higher and products for customers also cost more.
Pret are tasked to aggressively speed-open shops worldwide and double in size by 2025. They do this via franchises to save money and also avoid giving deals, offers to customers and take from staff.
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
… like nothing ever happened, and whatever happened is just normal.
Since my brother died and the way I had to learn it, not having had ANY support, and later my dad dying, then my mum and I couldn’t bury her during 2. lock-down, and everything in-between, I had to be strong and continue to be alone. Relatives, friends, work … were used to me just getting on with it and just left me alone.
Pret started to target me in hopes I leave. My story with Pret is scattered all over my blog. And someone is copying all my writings without the thought of copyright in mind. As well as WordPress staff checking any new post I publish, as Pret must have contacted them.
“Friends” turned their backs very soon, and then wondered why I was “flipping out”, starting to drink. Everyone sends you away to therapists to avoid having to be with a “friend”.
And even in the midsts of being completely traumatised and out of my mind, people still just want something from you. It’s incredible the depth and length of carelessness and selfishness we live in, in this Western society.
I have been through hell more than once since my brother died, on several levels, situations, circumstances. And BECAUSE I dealt with it strong and not bothering anyone, everyone just gaslit me that this is normal, just so they avoid having to deal with the immense burden, losses and pain I was confronted with.
I am strong. But I allow myself to not be strong. And whoever can’t handle that needs to stay away. And I stay away from the wrong crowd.
And those who started to support, I pushed away because I didn’t know who to trust, or people said they’d do something, even offering it, but then didn’t do it. How would a bereaved, traumatised person handle broken promises?
People love it when I have break-downs, it gives them the excuse to say “you’re hurting me, stay away”, while they’ve never been at my side in the first place.
It’s the society we live in. It will be the society I die in.
I will never be normal. I tried.
For my family.
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
I am not good with publishing my work professionally. I’ve published a book of poetry in Germany in 2013, but the publisher went bust in 2016. The few books I have left or those floating around that people purchased will never see the light of day again. And that’s ok.
There is someone who systematically goes through my blog and goes through each post click-by-click and seems to copy my website and all my writings. Please be aware of copyright and that I have passed on my writings to trusted people in case I die before my (whatever) time.
I want to post a few more experiences while they’re fresh in my mind, certain things I experienced in my life. I already re-posted my time in Los Angeles in 1992 when the “Rodney King Riots” erupted and we young naive German “adventurous” just flew to LA without any goal or plan. Apart from the riots, I don’t even know how we made it back home in one piece as we stayed at strangers’ houses, even slept in a car for a few nights, went through a minor earthquake which was nevertheless quite scary as the house eerily moved back and forth like a ship in the waves. But this would be nothing to the hurricanes and tropical storms I experienced years later living in Florida. Stories for another time.
My encounter with Barry George at my workplace in 2000, and shortly after he was arrested and later wrongly convicted and imprisoned for TV presenter Jill Dando’s horrific murder in broad daylight at her doorstep. I just wrote about it yesterday as her unsolved murder is in the news again and I was reminded of Barry George. I did not want to put a photo of Mr. George on my post as this incidence still triggers me for how weird he was. But people can just google him.
My hellish experience at Pret A Manger is scattered throughout this blog and on social media.
My brother’s death and all the surroundings of it that was and is THE one most devastating thing in my life.
My dad’s coma, rehab and how the system works with hospitals and nursing homes that has scared the sh!t out of me. His dementia and clear thinking back and forth. His death while I was preparing for the Tribunal case I raised against Pret.
And then my mum.
I cannot believe she is already gone since over 2 years. Everything went downhill so fast. I’d fly back and forth since around 2017 when she needed an operation on the spine which went well. Then three months later my dad in a coma for three weeks. Then Pret continuing to target and the fire me days after my dad came out of his coma and seemingly started to recuperate pretty fast.
My dad dying. I raised a Tribunal claim against Pret at the time while flying back and forth to his bedside and to my mum still functioning well at home. I withdrew the case when my dad died.
From then on 2018 my mum started to deteriorate mentally. I flew over every 2-3 months and spent a solid three months with her during the first lock-down. The lock-down for me personally was a blessing in disguise because unbeknownst to me I took one of the last flights out of London and then got “stuck” in Germany. I didn’t realize at the time it would be the last time I’d be with my mum at her house. But I prepared myself and we started to get help with a carer and slowly talked about nursing home.
I was on autopilot again, still traumatized from my brother’s death and seeing my dad so poorly. I was shocked to see my mum completely change every three months. Every-time I flew over she seemed a different person. My dad’s dementia was also at the beginning stages, but also his mind was “smashed” as we say in Germany due to all the medications, the coma, the stroke etc. So, it felt more “normal” to see him confused.
But with my mum it was shocking because there was no clear change of circumstances except that a carer came into the picture. And only later did it click that THIS was the catalyst for my mum’s mind to change so rapidly.
What makes me still angry today is that my mum’s longtime and nice neighbours never told me that my mum started to shout at people when a postman or Jehovah’s Witness knocked at her door. My mum was never loud or aggressive ever. She shouted at me on the phone sometimes starting AFTER her 2017 operation, but at the time I put that down to trauma and grief about her son. Also, I did some research and read that some older people change mentally after a major operation, so it might be a mix of things: grief + OP + dementia + anxiety with carer etc. But I didn’t know she raised her voice at external people not part of our family.
Only during the first lock-down in 2020 did the neighbours tell me! I was so devastated and angry why they didn’t tell me before, I could have intervened and gone to the doctor with my mum MUCH EARLIER to check her brain via scans and then see that dementia started to kick in fully.
My mum has always repeated herself for many years. That was nothing out of the ordinary. But what I didn’t know and was later explained by specialists is that with some dementia patients, they become aggressive. I didn’t know all that, also because my dad was not aggressive, he was just forgetful and confused and the surroundings in hospital all added to his confusion. But he wasn’t shouting at people.
Only in hindsight did I also realize that my mum went through the “Five Stages of Grief”. Literally. People often mistake this theory developed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross as stages a bereaved person goes through. But that’s not it. Of course these “stages” can appear in grief at some point. But this was in regards to terminally ill patients Kübler-Ross worked with and noticed a pattern in how they processed their certain death.
My mum would be in denial (stage 1) that she needs more help than usual as she kept forgetting things and then also the shouting at people. Then get angry, shouting at people (stage 2 “Anger”).
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Then during lock-down she would constantly hug me or tell me “you’re my favourite daughter”. And I laughed and joked with her saying, “yeah mum, because you have so many daughters”, and she’d chuckle at this, as I’m her only daughter. But in hindsight she was bargaining (stage 3) when we started to talk about nursing home and medical support. She also would come into my room at night, switch the bright light on, sit at my bedside and just stare at me! I gently guided her back to her bed and sat with her for awhile completely confused why she is like this, whereas a few months before she wouldn’t do that! I was confused and scared myself sh!tless. No-one guided me, explaining dementia and anxiety.
She KNEW the “end” was coming, and I deeply regret not having immediately noticed that. Then the shouting at people which is anger. And the denial where she would make jokes and started singing and dancing, and I just went along because of all our trauma with my brother and then the pandemic that scared us all collectively.
When my mum died during second lock-down I myself went into CONSCIOUS denial and pretended VERY consciously that she’s still alive, but that I just haven’t called her in a few weeks. I couldn’t handle anything further.
I still go between torturing myself and being gracious with myself for not having taken the flight out of London just before the UK and Germany locked down again.
My mum’s house by then was already cleared, as I had to clear it weeks before and then flew back to London out of fear I lose my flat. So, I couldn’t stay at her empty house and her former landlords who were always very nice, but scared to have me in their house for fear of me bringing over Covid from the airport and the UK and German travel etc.
I booked a flight, booked a B&B nearby my mum’s hospital to just psychologically be able to tell her on the phone that I am close, because all visitations to hospitals and nursery homes were stopped.
But then my mum’s former landlord told me to keep checking the news as they’re about to lock down again. My flight was for the Saturday before lock-down and I researched and saw that the UK and Germany announced the 2. lock-down for that following Monday. Germany also prohibited hotels from having guests.
I then decided to cancel the B&B which at least I didn’t have to pay in advance, and let my flight go. Now I beat myself up that I didn’t fly over anyway and could’ve just slept in a train-station lobby or a reception area somewhere, just to be close to my mum and let her know that I’m back again. Strangely she did understand the issue with the pandemic as I and medical staff always explained it to her and patients. .
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Stage 4 “Depression” wasn’t so much there, except that my mum was always very anxious and I was used to her sometimes “neurotic” state, even years ago, but especially after my brother’s death. I accepted her and my mental anxiety as normal then.
My only comfort was and is what doctors later said to me that dementia is worse for the family members who witness it, but the patients themselves are often in “bliss” and are not stressed over things. And that’s true, my mum would often act silly and on the phone sounded like always (stage 5 “Acceptance”), but I often left the living room to go to the toilet or my room to cry my eyes out and go back once my eyes cleared up again and acted silly with her.
Dementia, Alzheimer is a brutal disease, and I’d rather sit in a wheelchair if I reach old age than lose my mind and be at the mercy of strangers in hospital, especially private equity FOR-PROFIT run hospitals and nursery homes.
And I sieve through my mind constantly what I could have done better or different. But I couldn’t. I was traumatized still and I did my best and my mum had great last three months at home and I am glad it wasn’t a terminal illness where she would consciously look at her last days. But I feel screwed up and don’t feel I will ever truly recover from these last years of ongoing trauma and loss. And I implore anyone from refraining to say that my parents were already older, and that’s just that.
May I remind everyone that we have just ONE life, and even if you become 110 years old, you deserve the absolute best quality of every second of your life possible!
I have learnt and come to terms about one thing for certain, NOTHING ever turns out like you plan or hope! I never ever ever expected a pandemic to come in and in the middle of it my mum moving to a nursing home and me not being able to physically be with her in her last days, let alone not able to bury her!! What the actual fnck have I done to the universe?! That would have never occurred in my wildest dreams!
Take care of your loved ones, call them if you haven’t in a while. If you can at all, reconcile any differences. If you can’t, you can’t. But if it’s possible, find your ways back together again.
And what I need to tell myself daily is DON’T be so hard on yourself! I did everything in my power and strength possible. It was a mess. Everything was a mess! But I did my best and I did well. And I had three solid months with my mum before she forever left her house and then life. It’s just all hitting me this year. Really, really hard. And it’s ok.
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Okay, I understand that people may think I’m making this up, and unfortunately 24 years ago I wasn’t as smart to keep evidence like I had to with Pret.
But as Jill Dando’s murder is in the news again as it’s still unsolved, I want to share my experience I had with Barry George, wrongly convicted of her murder in 1999. He was first convicted of her murder, and then years later cleared of it.
My encounters with him was in the Tottenham Court Road branch of easyEverything in the spring of 2000. Ok, I do have some evidence which is an old payslip from that branch! (I will upload a scanned-in the JPG later).
I worked there for a few month when the Internet just started to boom and the easyGroup opened up Internet Cafe branches all over London. On a side note, I never understood with this group why they didn’t call it “easyInternet”. Never-mind.
The Tottenham Court Road branch was one of the biggest branches in London with a little over 500 PCs. It was open for 24 hours when I worked there and I chose the middle shift 1pm – 9pm. I remember having had the founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou standing behind me one day and the pound coin drawer kept overflowing. We had to cash out tills 2-3 times during the shift as the till drawers kept overflowing with pound coins.
I won a thing where they did a competition to sell £5 vouchers to customers getting £6 worth of Internet time. It was like the Pret subscription push. But I got about £500 reward for being the top seller in the whole company. Again, sorry have no evidence, but it’s the truth.
The worst thing that we had to deal with was customers tucked away in corners watching porn and we kicked them off their sessions via the front till computers pretending there’s a tech fault when they complained. We were not allowed to confront them, which now I would probably ask security or line manager, or if I was the manager on duty for them to leave!
But the most memorable experience was Barry George.
We staff knew his first name because he told us as we always chatted with him.
Barry George was a regular. He was quite unkempt, chubby, weird. But he seemed nice, nothing special. We staff chatted with him as he topped up his ticket with a pound worth of Internet time.
He seemed to be delusional and always came to the counter, which was a square space with counters on the front, side and back, to pickup and pay for print-outs. The prints were of HIMSELF posing as a singer which was weird to us staff, but hey, each to their own. His favourite position seemed to be bend down in a knee position with a microphone in his hand.
It was so weird because he looked like crap in the photos. There was no appeal whatsoever!
Only later when he got in the news we learnt that he was infatuated with Freddy Mercury. But at the time we just thought he’s in LaLa Land about his perception on himself. And that’s fine with me. Do your thing, no judgement.
But then came a day that had me a little nervous as he seemed extremely weird. Not what we usually encountered with him.
We had a new staff member fresh from Italy who served Barry. She was standing at the till right next to me and visibly struggled with Barry who complained about something. So, me stupid one made the mistake to get involved!
Because my new colleague struggled, I just took over and said something like “Hey Barry, everything ok, what happened?”
He then complained to me that his Internet time just stopped even though he (supposedly) has more time left on his ticket. Alright?
So I check his ticket number and saw very clearly when, where and how much he topped up and how much he used. And he used it all. I reminded him that if he doesn’t log out of the session that his time will just tick away and finish.
He kept moaning and then I did what we were instructed to do. I decided to give him a £1 time on the house. I told him that I’ll give him £1 as he was a regular customer and mistakes happen. No problem.
As I was about to top up a free £1 credit, he kept moaning and moaning, and then I stopped just before I pressed “enter” to finalise the credit and said to him something like, “Barry, I was just about to give you £1 for free and you keep complaining. I will now NOT give it to you …”
And then he revealed what shocked me at the time. He said in these words verbatim I will never forget: “I just want to let you know that I was recording this conversation”. He then kept following me around the square counter saying “This will have consequences for you” and he mentioned my name as we had name badges saying “my name” is ignoring me … this will have consequences …”
I worked in hospitality/retail all my life, but this was a one-off experience in customer service even to this day.
And only then did I see a small black audio recorder in his hand as he was leaning with his arm on the counter.
I immediately stepped backwards and called my assistant manager as I was scared and didn’t understand what was going on.
My AM came out and tried to investigate with Barry and me, when Barry held his recorder up. My AM then said to him that if he doesn’t stop recording, that this conversation is over. The AM later asked me to put into writing what exactly happened to send to head office or his manager to be ahead of any potential complaint (which never came from Barry). And this is why I now regret not having kept a copy!!!
Days later when Barry returned as usual, he came to my till to top up credit and was making a joke that he supposedly lost credit on his ticket just to wind me up. I then said to him jokingly, “Ah Berry, I know you!” Basically being funny/cheeky with him that I won’t get fooled. But his reply to me was with a very serious scary face saying, “You don’t know me!”
Alright.
I remember very well that I replied, “You’re right, I don’t know you.” And from then on I refused to serve him and turned to the other side of the counter every time he approached the tills as I really was confused and scared of this guy.
His behaviour had stalker qualities. And only now when I really look into this case, as I just scanned through years ago, do I learn that Barry was a stalker and sex offender. He certainly had bad vibes for sure, but now I think would he had followed me or my colleagues after work? Good thing I moved to the States a few weeks after these encounters with him. I also remember being scared that the police would find my voice on his recordings and god knows what would be thinking. I was completely taken off-guard and also still kept thinking I’d get in trouble with head office, which was completely unreasonable to fear. I hadn’t done anything wrong and my line manager just wanted to cover me and the team by me writing down what happened as a pro-ative measure. Shame I didn’t keep a copy!!!
A few weeks later, I come to my middle shift and a colleague immediately approaches me as I just walk into the shop saying that Barry has been arrested for the murder of Jill Dando.
‘cuse me?
I felt immediately that I lost all the blood from my head and froze because of the previous weird incidents just two weeks prior. At the time the press wasn’t allowed to reveal his photo and only a black-and-white phantom drawing was published in the press. But it didn’t look like him, so I remained confused.
But soon after I moved to Florida and kept following the story as best as possible, still in “awe” how the fnck I could have had encounters with this guy.
But later of course, for some reason he was just “picked” as a suspect BECAUSE he was weird!!! And he really was weird! So weird I got scared. He was scary! I was scared of him after the recording incident and beyond.
And now I fear for my own life sometimes, because I am weird with all the traumas I went through! But I don’t give a sh!t.
COVER YOURSELF to not become the victim of someone paying the price. Remember JFK’s alleged assassin?
Barry was weird alright, and whatever mental health problems he had or has, he does not fit the description of the killer who was in a suit that terrible morning in Fulham. Barry never wore a suit or looked in any way smart. He wore a jogging suit, very unattractive, unkempt, but most importantly innocent!
I feel sorry for him and hope he does get compensation which they still deny him.
As the Junior Doctors are on strike again, which I completely support, the same bullsh!t words are going around that the BMA union started that Pret staff (or baristas) get £14.10 an hour. This LAZY hijacking of Pret’s low-wage workers, shows how little they care about retail workers AND don’t want to take it up with government workers’ pay.
I explained since last year that there ONLY few baristas employed compared to other staff. And VERY FEW baristas get the £12.85 and if lucky the +£1.25 bonus = £14.10. And out of those baristas they work at airports and railways stations where it’s immensely busy and Pret pay all staff a few pennies more as well as charging customers more.
A Team Leader who is a position ABOVE the Barista even doesn’t get £12.85 + £1.25 = £14.10.
Just yesterday on Facebook a shop manager posted a staff ad that shows the numbers. I put 2 screenshots here, the 2. with the time stamp so people don’t say this is an old ad. The time stamp hides Pret’s name, so I put both screenshots having hovered of the time:
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The Team Leader there, like in most shops, gets around £12.15 and if lucky the bonus which then is £13.40. Still not £14.10 despite being a position higher than the barista.
September 2023:
A job ad on Facebook with barista pay £11.42.
It’s clear from what I write below that the £14.10 is a myth and only available for extremely rare baristas who have connections to management.
September 2nd, 2023: £11.42 + £1.50 bonus (if lucky to get it) = £12.92 NOT £14.10!
ONLY in AIRPORTS and SOME BUSY RAILWAY STATIONS get SOME, VERY FEW baristas £12.85 and if lucky +£1.25.
I worked in shops of 35 – 40 staff all shift and places (kitchen and shop). They only have 1 – 2 Baristas and several coffee makers who are paid less. Airports and the busy train-stations have 2 – 3 Baristas (if at all!) plus several cheaper coffee makers to save money on Barista wages. Do the math on how many airport and railway station shops there are and estimate how many “trained” Baristas they have, and even out of those few, not many get the £14.10 incl. bonus.
IT’S JUST A HANDFUL out of thousands of staff!!!
It’s like an airline advertising a flight to Spain for £15 but don’t say that they only have 3 seats with that price. Pret use the same principle and the BMA not only fell for it, but mislead the public with it, apart from stepping on retail workers’ dignity.
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Here’s a rabbit hole. Please scroll down to the screenshots if you don’t want to read long text. I can’t keep it short, and always want to cover all the bases possible.
I have been monitoring reviews since 2018 and re-posted many on my blog and on social media. I am not reading reviews as much anymore, just occasionally and then scroll through a lot, mainly concentrating on HQ and Leadership reviews.
I noticed that only since the pandemic OPs Managers (area managers) and more HQ staff started to write reviews. Especially OPs Managers who get a sh!t-load of money and bonus usually stay quiet. But since around 2021-ish OPs and Group Manager reviews started to pop up. The pandemic has started to really squeeze everyone (except the CEO of course).
WHY Pano Christou’s ratings are so low and knowing Pret, they “recruit” positive reviews to boost his ratings. This has led him to put his resume out with the help of the media portraying him as such a great achiever while shops are in shambles and customers flock to social media and review sites to communicate their disgust about Pret.
I know how Pret cheat and lie with fake ads, reviews etc. Someone on Twitter told me as well that Pret recruited someone to keep changing the Wikipedia entry to delete the original Pret founder Jeffrey Hyman off the page. The person then was banned from Wiki.
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And since a few months especially Glassdoor reviews have become more positive (many similar sounding) even though work conditions are much much worse then they have already been since years, many staff quit and customer complaints increased. So, keep trying Pret 😀 . But the truth will always rise to the top.
The Guardian:
“Pret CEO handed near-£4m bonus in year staff pay was cut. Pano Christou also given 27% salary rise in 2021 as chain took more than £50m in government support”
In my “Rags to Riches” post I write about Pano Christou’s career path and why it took him 20 years to become CEO despite having had such a head start in position number 4 as an assistant manager. Also, little side note, the COO role that Christou briefly held never existed before and after. It was just briefly created as a stepping stone for him to go from UK Managing Director to CEO when it was clear that Clive Schlee would step down after a lot of online pressure after Pret (including Pano Christou!) ignored 2 customer deaths and 20+ injuries.
The COO role existed only for a few months as a bridge.
In this post here I want to share what Pret staff, in particular higher up managers and HQ staff say about Christou. My own experience as a Team Leader was when he was UK Managing Director and I always felt he was never pro-active or inventive. He’s just very good in looking slick in the press and sweet-talk like he learnt from his mentor, former CEO Clive Schlee. And most people in the business world and in general remain fooled.
This will be a long post because I always want to show how systemic issues are and that this isn’t just a “bad apple” situation or a few “disgruntled” former or current staff with an axe to grind.
I post reviews from the higher positions down with the most poignant reviews on top. These are from 2020 – 2023. There are many more negative reviews by management, but I included the longest ones and those with VERY precise explanation. The higher the position, the fewer the reviews and visa versa.
Please note, from Manager upwards they all know the CEO and Heads of Operations. It used to be up until around 2016-ish that the quarterly business meetings followed by gala, booze and food was included with ALL HQ staff, higher up management and shop General and Assistant Managers.
From around 2017-ish on (could have been 2016, but certainly 2017) Pret stopped having Assistant Managers at quarter briefs to save money.
So, from 2017 on only GMs on shop level joined quarter briefs. I mention this because especially Managers and higher ups like OPs etc. KNOW the CEO from regular meetings. This means that they KNOW what they’re talking about when it comes to Pret executives. Many shop staff are fooled, but you can’t fool shop management and above.
I have posted tons of shop staff reviews across my blog and on social media, but I start with only THREE reviews by team members which say it all, but then only concentrate on company Leader/Management reviews.
And of course there are positive reviews from managers on Christou, where reviews say that Pret is hard, overbearing but the CEO is nice! These managers, often young and fast promoted, don’t understand that the fish stinks from its head! It is the TOP leadership that implements things and/or doesn’t listen to complaints and concerns. Never forget that Pret ignored multiple warnings regarding labelling and even ignored customer deaths before it got public. I will never stop mentioning this, knowing this leadership myself. Many people just still don’t understand that and think that if the CEO “only knew” how bad things are, he’d change it! The opposite! THE CEO IS THE PROBLEM! Pano, like Clive Schlee before visits shops regularly! He is not far removed from daily operations!
What Pano just does is typical for CEOs, he removes himself, pretends not to know issues to not be the bad guy while it is the CEOs who put down targets, agree to penalties and the way staff are treated. I remember too well how I was cringing when an email from HQ came in to all shops, naming and shaming certain shops that didn’t do well with health and safety scores for example. And shops that did extremely well were also mentioned, but as weapon for psychology.
I’ve NEVER experienced this type of “public” company-wide shaming in any other company I’ve ever worked in. And that is also why I’m giving Pret a huge dose of their own medicine to swallow. Pret deserve every bit of exposure, naming and shaming they can get.
Anyone who knows my ordeal with Pret knows how Clive Schlee himself got involved and patronized me, and then gave the green light for me to get fired days after my dad came out of a three-week coma! And I still have his and Pano Christou’s emails!
These executives are RUTHLESS with a big smile!
And for those who argue that Pret workers always look happy and are friendly, please do your research on Pret’s extremely strict and micromanaging Mystery Shopper scheme that penalizes the whole team when ONE staff doesn’t smile. I write about it extensively, but will not spoon-feed people by linking to everything.
I will choose only a short sentence, either the title or from the main text of each review for people with visual impairment, where reading apps cannot read screenshots. Please also click on the links for the full review that reading apps can read.
Also, most reviews are from Glassdoor, I can’t be bothered adding more from Indeed.
Please note, you will see a “red thread” throughout the below reviews with THE SAME issues of: understaffing, overworking, given unrealistic and VERY little time to finish tasks and then forcing staff to work overtime WITHOUT PAY, toxic environment etc.
THIS IS ON PURPOSE!!!!
Pret exploit their staff, including shop management to breaking point. It’s a clever way of wage theft as well, letting team leaders work on team member wages with the excuse they’re still learning. This already happened in my time as well.
See the SAME REPEATED issue that they’re saying across the board.
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To read screenshots better, enlarge your screen via “ctrl and +” – to decrease again “ctrl and -” .
»Company from hell where lying is the key to their marketing strategy.«
On Instagram at the beginning of September 2023 a former Team Leader complained that they didn’t received the £1000 after at least working a year in Pret and they mentioned becoming a Team Leader.
People might remember the £1000 bonus that former CEO Clive Schlee announced in the night on 28. to 29. May 2018. That was the night when Schlee and Pret learnt about my blog and quickly made this announcement to counter my writings. I explain this in The Day Clive Schlee had a Bright Idee (no, “Idee” is not a typo 😉 )
But what was more interesting to me is that the manager just walked out and never came back. I know of a few managers who just walked out and never came back, even pre-pandemic.
In this post the former staff is calling Pret out on their fake Pret Foundation Trust “Rising Stars” program where they handpick a few people to say how wonderful Pret as an employer is.
Here some stats as of September 2023. And as Pret read my blog (there are “spies” passing things on when I release new blog posts) watch how OPs, Execs, GM reviews turn positive 😉
APPROVAL rate from higher up management and HQ staff. And this is not about the amount of managers leaving a review, this is the amount of disapproval by management on their CEO. It doesn’t matter if 10 managers review or 1000, it’s the percentage of disapproval by those who know the CEO up-close. And Pret reading my blog, watch how the approval rate will change in the coming months. 😉
OPs:
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Shop managers:
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Assistant Managers who are not up-close anymore like before, the lower the positions, the higher the score and vice versa:
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Operations and Group Managers
OPs Managers look after around 10 – 14 shops in an area; Group Managers look after around 4 – 5 shops before they step up to become OPs.
»Operations and high position roles mostly white, proportion from BAME background is none to little. … Reactive way of working – no clear directions« !!!
There are more reviews like this about no clear direction. And myself having been to HQ many times, I underline this, you hardly see staff from the Black, Asian etc. community. And most Caucasian British, German, French either work in head office or as OPs. In my 10 years in Pret in over 30 shops, I only worked with 3, no more than 5 Black or Asian Managers/OPs while especially the cramped kitchens are filled with BAME and Eastern Europeans.
You also see this in Pret’s ads on all their social media platforms. You see mostly young white females including hand-only ads. Now Pret starts to include black male here and there after I kept pointing it out to Pret on Twitter, Facebook etc. Pay attemtion to Pret ads, mostly female and white. Old fashioned ads not keeping up with the times and mainly trying to lure customers with young women, except when prompted repeatedly. Don’t you call Pret a trailblazer! They’re stuck with old systems.
And Pret can sugarcoat all they want, they are a racist company. Full stop!
»Culture change Product quality suffered as well as burnout for the staff as they try to cut too many costs. Management just make up their forecasts to keep the board happy yet cutting costs in wrong areas«
Please note that I had many encounters with Pret’s HR and HQ staff and KNOW for a fact how toxic and entitled they are! I write about one extremely traumatic encounter with a Development Manager who was used by Pret to gaslight me so they can fire me. This is a story sounding like out of a bad Hollywood flick, but it’s true. That’s why Pret remain silent: Questions to Lila Tighilt Warren.
Marketing Director (does NOT recommend CEO) »Highly territorial.«
HQ – Not Specified Role »HQ – Corporate bullies live here … People don’t seem to get promoted unless you are a bully or belittle your team members. The place is toxic.«
(Side note, I completely agree with this review from experience. When I worked at Pret, even as lower ranked shop staff, it was so visible that they always changed direction at short notice and wasted so much money on wrong decisions that we had to undo/fix due to poor decision making. We will see this also in another review from an office staff from New York further below. And that’s not only since Covid, Pret execs are incapable to lead with sovereignty and a secure stand. And Pano Christou has the reputation with staff to not have direction or vision. Of course not! He’s just the puppet for JAB Holdings!)
»Once Covid hit , the business made a lot of knee jerk decisions, strategy was changing on a daily almost.«
Recruitment Coordinator »Minimum pay, extreme workload, no opportunity of growth« (Side note, no wonder recruitment coordinator has to work hard with the high staff turn-over due to the exploitation and treating staff across the board like sh!t)
Also important to note is that many, if not most, higher up positions in Pret USA are imported from the UK. Many American reviewers mentioned this and are furious about it. »Generally a poor relationship with UK leadership, no support. … Senior management has no clue what people do and hires external people with no industry experience. … Senior leadership does whatever they want, if you are in the right clique.«
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Some reviews from before Pano Christou became CEO, but when he was UK Managing Director and Clive Schlee’s right-hand man, so the number 2 guy who can’t withdraw from responsibility.
IT Analyst 2017 »Manipulative and exploitative approach to employees as owners and senior management concerned about profit margin only. People are taken into account only if it makes a good PR. Genuinely fake and dishonest company.«
Side note, Pret’s Foundation Trust and their “charitable” work with homeless and vulnerable people is just PR and for tax breaks. When I became traumatically bereaved after working 7 years in Pret, Pret wasted no time to target me to leave. I even asked to please be put under the Pret Foundation like they do with the patronizing name of the “Rising Stars” program, but never got a reply. Even an OPs Manager asked this which I have in writing, again, no response. Of course Pret couldn’t say “no” as they would look bad.
And the recent visit by Prince William to a prepared, well presented shop was again just PR after Pret keeps getting bad press, being fined £800,000 after yet again ignoring safety issues, this time after a 2. staff got trapped inside a walk-in freezer for 2.5 hours.
I wrote a little exposé on net-worth £215 million itsu founder and Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe and that he received an OBE from Prince William himself. Metcalfe’s family had strong connections to the Royal Family, even before Julian was born. Julian’s father was the godson of former King Edward VIII, Queen Elizabeth’s uncle, who later rejected the crown. Julian grew up with high society and royals sitting at his father’s dinner table while he always pretends to be this trailblazing entrepreneur.
And Metcalfe is close friends and business partner with former Pret CEO Clive Schlee who owns half of Metcalfe’s company itsu. And Schlee is Pano Christou’s mentor. Full circle. Pret having bad press again, a prince whooshes in to save the day!
I write about Metcalfe’s connection to the Royal family, a questionable connection, what his staff say about him, and why some Asian people don’t support him. Oh, and how I chased him off Twitter: Julian Metcalfe Family Line!
So, Prince William “choosing” Pret to work with homeless charities was not a co-incidence. They wash each other’s hands.
Further in the reviews:
Corporate Staff NY 2018 »I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. … HR was mostly a joke, ‘leaders’ displayed zero initiative in mentorship of their teams, roles were unclear and the company had tunnel vision on decision making based on the opinion of one or two people who paid little attention to local market data.«
Purchasing Director NY 2017 »One of the oddest work experiences. Worked there during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.«
»Ruthless race for profit – Quick career progression – unfortunately due to high turnover … CEO is very not proactive to investigate situations in the shops«
Of course he’s not! He cares only to please JAB Holdings to get his millions in bonus and annual pay-rise. Don’t kid yourself to think that he cares! Again, THE CEO IS THE PROBLEM! The CEO sets the targets and expectations, no matter what! And then CEOs play dumb and claim they didn’t now how much staff suffer.
Yes, absolutely spot on, not letting people realize their potential! When I was a Team Leader running shops, most Managers pretended that I wasn’t doing a good job to manipulate me to do more. What they didn’t realize is that I work like a donkey anyway. That’s my nature. In private and in work life, I always give 150 million %.
Occasionally a GM would “slip” and actually compliment me before quickly putting on a poker face again. One GM told me that I run the shop with my eyes closed. Another GM said to a Team Leader who was going to another shop and trained me on the shop I just switched to that I was extremely good. This GM headhunted me from another shop after she saw how I ran the shop.
An OPs Manager I accidentally overheard when he was looking for expired food in their routine check and couldn’t find any, he said to a colleague not realizing I was close by working at the fridges, that I was one of the best. But in front of me, wouldn’t utter a word and pretend I wasn’t good enough.
THAT is Pret to the core!
And that is why I’m going to town so hard against their fake bullsh!t via my blog. My teams and colleagues told me many times I’m the best Team Leader, or I do things by the book etc. I wasn’t perfect of course, but I knew how well I did my job. But anyone above me pretended I was crap. I KNEW and know how well I work, so it never bothered me. I don’t do things for a clap on the back or for following or whatever floats people’s boat. But it does affect mental health when line managers constantly lie to you.
The next review is self-explanatory as well:
»communication feels like propaganda and brainwashing with a sole purpose of exploitation…«
»Bad senior management, profit first culture. Always blaming others and exploiting the team.«
But it has always been like this, also under Clive Schlee. It was just easier to hide during good and prosperous times. But come a crisis and with it the desperation of a CEO to bring in money. Lean back and watch how the real face shows in broad daylight.
This review reminds me of another GM review from 2014 when Schlee was still CEO and Christou UK Managing Director. People in management always knew how bad it really is. And as a Team Leader and staff in general I knew as well. But GMs have more behind the scenes knowledge.
»Great company in risk of ruin!«
Being forced to work for free has always been a huge issue in Pret, as well as wage theft which I also wrote about on my blog.
»I regularly worked weeks on end with no day off – there was onemonth where I only had one day off – totting up 80 hours a week fairly easily. … So, realistically, over time to meet “business needs” is something you can rely on more than a regular day off.«
Yes, the sub is Pret’s MAIN product now to the detriment of food, coffee and service quality. It gives fast and regular income, and is an easy data grab as Pret since 2018 build a data base, late in the data collection game. Many complaints since 2020 that people have a hard time cancelling and once they cancelled Pret continues to withdraw money from bank accounts under the “technical” issues excuse. Sure, a multi-billion £ company with THAT many tech issues. 😉
»… the implementation of certain ideas that were not well thought out and did not produce the desired results. This led to additional pressure and difficulties in meeting unrealistic targets. … I often found myself working a minimum of 60 hours …«
And that’s the thing, the same with team members, Pret advertise “higher” pay (50p above minimum wage) and some perks, but of course fail to mention that they will force and manipulate all staff to work overtime for free. With all the hours people work, it’s way BELOW minimum wage and borders on slavery-type work conditions. And this in turn affects food safety.
»Head office chaos.com … Minimum 60 hours per week …«
»in the last couple of years the bonuses and other benefits were cut by approx 75% long hours with no extra pay for the managers because the interpretation of the contract by the bosses is questionable … work even more hours for free«
I stop here as I wanted to concentrate on shop managers, Ops managers and HQ staff.
I tell you what will happen, Pano Christou is currently tasked to speed-open shops worldwide after the pandemic closures and losses to reach the target to double in size by 2025. After that he’ll receive his big bonus and then move on and leave behind the shambles to the next person and private equity “pimp”.
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Just like his mentor who ran Pret into an iceberg and Pano Christou is sinking it.
All this has lead to mouldy food (pictures here), cheating on food safety and ongoing mislabelling (pictures here).
Good luck!
Thank you for reading. I will not update this page like I usually do, unless there’s an exceptional reveal in a review that I haven’t read before.
My annual “Pret Year in Review 2023” done earlier this year for various reasons. I might update if some more scandals surface. So Pret, please don’t be naughty for the last 3 months of this year, I don’t want to have to change my slide.
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
I have written, posted, streamed many times on Pret A Manger’s pest issues. I worked in a mice infested shop once and asked for a transferal to another shop as Pret’s internal pest control team couldn’t tackle the problem. We staff even stopped eating anything that was assembled like salads, sandwiches, and only ate anything that came in packaged like the pre-cooked soups in
bags from the factory that we just re-heated. Or we brought our own food. Only when an EHO made a random visit to a Pret shop in central London around 2012-ish and found pest issues, the EHO closed down the shop immediately, ONLY THEN did Pret act.
Close a shop = lose money = company acts. Money talks. But having mice and rats nibble on loaves of bread, seeded muffins, popcorn bags etc. all that shops did was to throw the food away. But one assistant manager even just threw HALF a bread loaf away and used the other half for production.
The following photo I did when a mouse entered our shop during the night when deliver drivers deliver food to shops:
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In another mice infested shop, the assistant manager would basically throw the right half away, and keep any bread slices that “seemed” un-touched. Bon appétit!
This was AFTER Pret finally started to hire external pest control company Rentokil and we were then told to immediately close the shop when we see pests, log a call with Rentokil who then come during the night to set traps, spray chemicals (fly infestation) etc.
It’s NORMAL in cities to have rats, mice etc. BUT, it needs to be acted upon IMMEDIATELY and tackled thoroughly no matter what and how long and how often it takes!
It took an EHO closing a huge profitable shop in central London (back in around 2012-ish) for Pret to finally act. Prior to that we staff would even offer to come in on a weekend, close the shop and clean up. But the internal pest control team just laughed at us, as this would never happen for Pret to close shops to act on pest infestations … until an EHO shut down a shop. There you go!
Fat forward to the 2020s and complaints on pest issues rise again. This time I believe it’s due to the extreme under-staffing as Pret are squeezed by their owners JAB Holdings in tax haven Luxembourg to save money at every turn.
This squeeze leads to further issues with unhappy, exhausted, underpaid staff, dirty shops, closed toilets, increased pest issues etc. etc. etc.
Here just a few few of the MANY complaints from just this and last year alone.
You have to look quick, at the bottom left in this video is a mouse, calmly munching away during the DAYTIME business hours:
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61% of customers on Trustpilot disapprove of Pret on various issues especially with the coffee subscription, prices, dirty shops etc. but also pests, Many having vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. If you take the 11% of 2-star reviews, it’s actually 72% disapproval ratings. This is as of September 2023.
A former external electrician having been to many shops:
A former contracted delivery truck driver on Facebook, also having been to many shops (he told me via DM that he was a delivery driver), he replied to my comment on Facebook in July 2023:
I pointed out to the customer that after closing time, when there are plastic bags over equipment, it’s due to fly/bug infestation.
I posted photos I took in March and April 2023 from the Brixton shop but have seen equipment covered in many shops when I happened to walk by a Pret shop in the evening coming from a concert somewhere in London. This is an ongoing issue that is NOT tackled:
I further explained that the reason Y shops cover equipment to protect from pesticide, but not cover food is BECAUSE of money! A coffee machine costs Pret around £15,000-£20,000+. But they don’t give a toss about food safety as usual. There’s also no cleaning done in the morning AFTER Rentokil sprayed chemicals in shops. Not enough staff as usual. They got away with 2 customer deaths and 20+ injuries, why should they care?
Brixton again, in April 2023:
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I could go on and on and on, but I stop here as I always have very long blog posts. But I put some more on YouTube and Vimeo after Facebook and Instagram blocked my website url. They can’t block external video sites.
Also, please see my posts regarding mouldy food in Pret with pictures and ongoing mislabelling including using wrong ingredients like dairy Bircher Museli made with MAYONNAISE. Since “Natasha’s Law” is in effect, Pret are now breaking the law by mislabelling even now in 2023. But as long as the law is not applied and customers not reaching out to Food Gov via their online form, this will continue.
And as Pret were able to keep customer deaths and injuries silent for 1-2 years (even from us staff) before it got public, how many more have either died or gotten injured that we don’t know of? How many lawsuits were settled out of court with NDAs signed hindering customers and staff to speak out?
Only recently did Pret get fined £800,000 after yet again ignoring safety issues, this time in regards to staff when a 2. worker got trapped inside a walk-in freezer for over two hours, fearing for her life. The judge spared Pret from paying compensation as a civil claim is ongoing.
Customers have asked several repeated questions on social media on how this could have happened and why the staff member was NOT missed for over 2 hours. I explain in another post why this might have happened and Pret’s ongoing neglect with safety issues.
PRET REMAIN UNSAFE FOR CUSTOMERS AND STAFF!
As a “taster”, but many more pics in above posts. Pret’s “freshly made” lie:
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Staff worked with Covid diagnosis and symptoms DURING the height of the pandemic before there was even a vaccine.
This is ALL due to UNDER-STAFFING, exhausted workers having to work extremely fast, long hours, overtime not paid, bully-culture etc. This then reflects on the production, customer service, hygiene and other issues.
Video slides with more pest and hygiene issues:
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
It’s only September, but I do my Pret A Manger Year in Review 2023 which I normally do at the end of December, now.
When I started to write about Pret in May 2018, not many people believed me.
September is December’s Pret A Manger’s Year in Review 2023. Like they did Christmas sandwiches in July. Just to take the p!ss and copy Aldi’s July 2021 Christmas products early on.
If anything dramatic happens between September and December 2023, I will update the slide/video.
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
I started a podcast, but not in a professional way as I am new to this medium. I am not sure if I do more or regular episodes on issues, but I find it easier and important to voice a few things instead of writing long blog posts. I’ve written everything I could write about and feel to speak more than write, and some people don’t like to read long blog posts or for visual reasons cannot read.
I started with the subject of allergen, mislabelling, cross-contamination in Pret. I may continue on other subjects or these may be all I do, I don’t know yet. Thanks for reading/listening.
expretcast
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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.
Yeah, Pret can’t go half-way scandal, they have to go full-on! Ignoring TWO customer deaths and 20+ injuries before it got public, and still mislabelling and even selling “freshly made” mouldy food (please see photos via these two links). And now almost killing a low-wage staff member who got trapped inside the walk-in freezer for 2.5 hours fearing for her life! This was the 2. staff member who got stuck in the same freezer, the year before another one was trapped, but not as long as over two hours.
Here just one of many customer pictures, more in above link:
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Why does the following read like an “article” by The Sun or a Daily Mail tabloid piece … or a Mafia job?
Having survived Pret during bereavement being targeted and bullied, involving the executives and HR, I thought I’ve seen and experienced it all. But no, Pret always have to top themselves with another jaw-dropper, even though it’s no surprise to me. And when I started to expose Pret in May 2018, hardly anyone believed me. I was even blocked, banned, suspended, cussed out, called any name in the book, called mentally ill etc. Now, Pret can’t fix the cracks in their facade anymore and have become a laughing stock to many.
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And little side note, the staff member trapped in the freezer was female, and who again says that women are weak and just damsels in distress? I suspect maybe also she might have been corpulent and her body-fat kept her going if she had some weight. I used to be very overweight when I worked at Pret and lost it all after my brother died. If she was a small petite woman, this might have not gone well! But, what a trooper!
I literally cried for hours yesterday as I kept reading more detail and got flashbacks of how unsafe and careless Pret are. It’s one thing getting trapped inside a small room with poor light or no light. Add to that a fncking freezer??? In one walk-in fridge I went in and the slide-door closed, the lights turned off by default. And sliding doors are scarier/harder to open than a door you push open. The poor woman!!!
Part of the City of Westminster report, quote:
“The investigation established that there was no suitable risk assessment for employees working in temperature-controlled environments. The reporting system used by Pret revealed that there had been a number of call-outs relating to defective or frozen push buttons in the previous 19 months, including a previous occasion at the same remote kitchen in January 2020 when a worker had become entrapped in the walk-in freezer, having been unable to open the door from the inside. On that occasion, the internal door release mechanism was not working.”
Repeat:
“The investigation established that there was no suitable risk assessment for employees working in temperature-controlled environments.”
What, tell me WHAT does this remind me of?
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Link to the inquest into the death of second customer Celia Marsh.
Where has Pret’s slogan gone from years ago? “Doing the right thing naturally”. Oh I forgot, Pret had been banned from claiming their food is “natural” as it’s loaded with the “obscure chemicals” Pret claimed to not have.
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Having worked at Pret, I was always annoyed with all the brainwash slogans EVERYWHERE!!! Not wanting to label food with life-saving information, but brainwash slogans everywhere you look! The most annoying one for me when I helped the kitchen, stocking up the fridges was the “Lovingly Handmade” slogan. This one is gone now, thank god. Such a stupid, fake slogan that had me angry many times, because there is nothing loving in Pret. There is unnecessary pressure, a bullying environment, aggressiveness, fast pace, fake smiles, anxiety, depression etc. I might do an extra post on every slogan from the past and what rubbish they currently display.
My absolute all-time favourite customer tweet that hits the nail on the head, tweeted after people found out how Pret cut wages during the pandemic:
So, they changed all the bullsh!t slogans containing “natural”, “naturally”. This, I believe, was part of the reason Pret refused to label their food, despite all the warnings and despite customer deaths as customers would have seen all the stuff, E-numbers, Glyphosate etc. that’s in their food. With labelling, Pret ONLY started acting when this became public.
I changed Pret’s logo for them to reflect a more truthful message:
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Only heavy fines, the media, court cases etc. will implement change. But having worked at Pret, this change will only last a while, and then they go back to their neglectful self again.
“It’s what makes Pret, Pret”
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Former HR slogan (I added the question marks):
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People wonder, as I did as well, if the staff gets a compensation. The Evening Standard reports, that, quote: “The judge spared the company a compensation payout as civil proceedings over the incident are ongoing.”
But knowing Pret, they will try to settle out of court and have the staff sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for a small sum of money so she will ever be able to speak about her ordeal with the press. Pret offered me a few thousand £ if I sign an NDA, but I declined because MY VOICE, free speech and my experience is too precious to me to sell for a few (for Pret) pennies. Money will be gone one day, but then this stupid agreement is still in place. I rather starve but keep my voice and expose this toxic company.
The woman also got brainwashed by Pret because they made her a team leader now, as if that position is in anyway good or rewarding. This is how low-wage staff, foten from other countries, are brainwashed.
But little by little Pret true face keep getting exposed everywhere. The truth will ALWAYS come out, it’s just a question of time.
Further in the City of Westminster report, quote: “Pret a Manger pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay the Council its full costs, in addition to a victim surcharge, within 28 days. When passing her sentence, the District Judge decided on a starting point of £1.6 million, which was reduced to £800,000 following credit for an early guilty plea and mitigation advanced on behalf of the company.”
I don’t want to elaborate too much and turn this post into my usual long text, but below I want to briefly explain why this happened, as people on social media have repeated valid questions.
I want to first repost a brilliant article that came out after the news of two customer deaths was made public in the fall of 2018.
Pret A Manger and “Broken Windows Syndrome”
Absotuley spot on regarding Pret ignoring issues that happen and are raised again and again.
And another little side note, Pret was able to keep two customer deaths and multiple injuries quiet for two years, not even telling us staff. The freezer incident was in July 2021, TWO years ago. How many other incidents, be it customer deaths and injuries or staff deaths and injuries are under the carpet? During the pandemic staff contacted me saying that Pret let them work WITH Covid and that was even in 2020/2021 before a vaccine was out! Detail here: Pret Staff Tested Positive for Covid (2021).
So, with the freezer situation, people on socials keep asking certain questions I will briefly answer here in no particulr order. And please note, these are just my theories from having worked at Pret, these are not facts as we don’t know the full details. I hope a sensitive journalist gets a hold of the lady and she feels safe to tell her own story in her own words, and maybe her colleagues who witnessed the full shift.
But here’s my take from knowing Pret:
Why did the door not have a handle inside?
It DID, it was broken and the issue was raised multiple times the previous 19 months including another staff getting stuck inside the year before in the same freezer, but nothing was done to fix it. (It’s what makes Pret, Pret!) .
Why did no-one notice that their colleague was gone for over two hours?
That is a repeated question which I would also ask if I wouldn’t know Pret. But having worked at Pret, there is a very simple answer and several possibilities what may have happened here.
The MAIN reason from own experience is chronic understaffing and cutting labour costs. Pret are notorious for sending staff home as soon as business becomes a little quiet. And even when it’s not quiet, managers’ jobs are to ALWAYS scrutinize where to cut costs. So, anytime in the day, staff are sent home and the other staff who stay behind are SO SWAMPED and busy, working for three people, they don’t notice when people leave. And many don’t even say “bye”, they just leave to get home. Also, even when staff notice or are informed that someone is going to the remote kitchen, they forget about them as they’re too busy. Out of sight, out of mind.
Plus, everyone starts and finishes at different times as well. When I worked at Pret it took one, two, three hours before I even noticed that a certain staff already left. You’re simply too busy to notice people gone. And this was a REMOTE kitchen. Many kitchens in Pret are downstairs, away from the noisy shop floor and office.
Also, Pret manipulate staff to work overtime without pay. Pret schedule the work time so tightly that it is IMPOSSIBLE to finish tasks in the time given. Staff are then gaslit and pressured to stay longer for free. It happened many times that a colleague finished their shift, we thought they were gone, but then found them 30 minutes later in the office on the computer or cleaning something in the kitchen as the manager called them back to finish something.
And also don’t forget, THIS was during the height of the pandemic, where there was a lot of chaos and confusion already everywhere. .
Why was there no jacket / why did she not wear a jacket?
First of all, asking the question of why she didn’t wear a jacket to me smells like victim blaming!
2. Pret do have jackets, but many shops lose them or they are so stinky and dirty, most either don’t wear them or wear their own (which is not allowed due to outside elements being carried into the fridges and freezers). I once wore this jacked which is basically PLASTIC to do a delivery. It was regular cool outside, not too cold, but when I returned to the shop and took the jacket off, I was soaking wet, sweating and had to change my Pret shirt.
3. No-one expects to be stuck inside a freezer, let alone for over two hours! I went into the walk-in fridge and the freezer countless times without a jacket as I just needed to grab a box quickly and was out in less than 10 seconds.
I only wore a jacket when I spent 5-10 minutes in there writing down the ordering of what the shop needed as I was a team leader running shops. Pret are known for their fast pace, staff are bullied and pressed to ALWAYS work fast, fast, fast … Many kitchens are small where you can’t even hang the jacket. You’d have to go all the way upstairs or downstairs to grab the stinky/sweaty/dirty jacket from the staff-room or office. And then you get fear managed why you’re taking so long to just grab a box of croissants from the freezer. .
She should have taken her mobile phone with her
First of all again, victim blaming.
Second, Pret staff, except for assistant and shop managers, are not allowed to carry their phone with them. Even as a team leader running shops, I was not allowed to have my phone on me. I often carried the cordless shop phone due to calling other shops, being called by shops, customers or managers. But private phone is a no-go.
And thirdly, I doubt there would be any reception, especially if the freezer was downstairs. I worked in over 30 shops in Pret and we always struggled even in the staff room, on the same level as the shop, to get reception on our phones.
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So, for sure, NOW they have things in place to avoid any further issues (or rather to avoid fines and bad press!). But I also know for a fact that Pret will just pressure staff further to sign training material without being trained properly. I talk about the lack of training on a podcast.
And Pret being Pret and in business for 40 years, they still don’t have BASIC safety measures in place.
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If there are more repeated questions popping up all over, I update and add them here.
And in another blog post I write in detail what staff go through every summer with overheated shops. They work in 40+ degrees for hours everyday due to broken or inadequate air conditioning. It’s ongoing, and Pret don’t do anything about it despite ongoing complaints year after year. Not to mention the food being warm. I hardly ate at Pret in the summer during my breaks. Try eating a luke-warm duck wrap! Revolting!
In one shop ALL air cons were off, even the one in the office. We staff always went inside the walk-in fridge for a few minutes to cool off, and one colleague got pneumonia from going between 2-5 degrees and 40+ degrees back and forth every day.
“It’s what makes Pret, Pret”.
Please see customer complaints who often step in because Pret don’t listen to staff. And even then, Pret continue to demand staff to put on a big fake smile tested by strict weekly mystery shoppers who equally don’t care how hot the shops are, as they’re in and out in minutes. Not one mystery shopper week after week ever mentioned the over-heated shops. Not one, in all the years I worked in hot shops. Physical, mental, emotional, psychological strain and abuse becomes so normalised, I still don’t know how I survived this, even then during traumatic bereavement. But I survived to expose the sh!t out of Pret!
Although I am not surprised whatsoever that Pret yet again ignored issues raised, I am absolutely mortified at this woman’s ordeal! I wouldn’t be surprised if she suffers with PTSD after this life-and-death situation and am plainly disgusted at Pret’s ongoing neglect and profit-over-lives attitude!
Kudos to her, what a kick-ass strong woman she is!!!
I hope she gets a HEFTY payout in her civil claim! My thoughts are with her, my heart goes out to her and I hope she gets good mental health help and has lots of support!
Fnck Pret! Fnck their whole executive team and HR department! Fnck ’em all!
Pano Christou having come from McDonald’s, an incapable CEO having learnt from his entitled mentors Clive Schlee and Julian Metcalfe, he’s a “manager”, not a leader! He just about manages.
Stop killing and hurting people, you psychopaths!
And don’t get me started on Julian Metcalfe, I chased him off Twitter and wrote a little exposé on him.
Thank you for your time and for reading all this. Look out for each other and treat your staff with the utmost respect and care! They are the reason your business exists. They make it all happen! Never forget that! Life is too short to be exploited and treated like the dirt on your shoes! You will build a legacy alright, and Pret have certainly crafted theirs.
I finish with a short video on what to do when stuck in a freezer. For any Pret staff and food workers in general reading this, the Pret staff used cardboard from the croissant box. That was very good as homeless people use cardboard and it helps. You can also use the large plastic bags inside the croissant boxes that hold the products and wrap it around the neck, head, face (enough to still breathe) hands, feet etc.
I didn’t think of the plastic until this video:
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
So heartbreaking Sinéad’s early death! Her son’s death last year was unspeakably hard.
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My thoughts on the why female artists have less support than male artists on my podcast:
Please click on this LINK as Spotify that took over Anchor.fm doesn’t allow embedding.
When I pre-booked the Barbican gig for April 2015 in late 2014 I had other concerts pre-booked for 2015, but cancelled as I learnt of my brother’s death in January 2015.
Sinéad was the only artist I did not cancel. I trusted her music because she’s authentic, no matter how “messed up” she was. She was real and important and always timely.
Her life was full of pain and different turns and mental health struggles. But one of a kind. So blessed to have seen her live! So glad I didn’t cancel!
A true and pure artist, a brave woman, a beautiful soul!
My favourite live video of Sinéad:
RIP 😔
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Sinéad called the police on her friend & collaborator the legendary Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, as she was worried sick with his drug use. I don’t know how he can even be alive with the amount of drugs and alcohol he’s been drenched in since childhood! He’s like a tea bag immersed in poison and somehow survived. Do some people have certain genes to survive being a walking pharmacy?
There will never be an artist like Sinéad, who no matter how controversial she was or messed up, cared so much for people and had no judgmental bone in her being!
To me she was not “controversial” at all, she had a very clear distinction of right and wrong, of (wrong) judgement and compassion. She was one of the early artists who spoke out on behalf of Britney Spears when Brtiney had her breakdowns with the paparazzi and what we now know how her own family conspired against her. NO-ONE spoke out for Britney then, than Sinéad did!
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While the likes of Katy Perry and other artists laughed about and mocked Britney, Sinéad spoke out! THAT’S a person who is fearless, who cares, who understands issues on the dot and is a fncking trail blazer!!!
I knew I had to go to Sinéad’s Barbican concert while cancelling other gigs shortly after my brother died because I felt safe to not feel lost at an “entertainment” show. It wasn’t a concert, it was going to church! That gig was my sanctuary during hell!
Her ripping up Pope’s picture on one of the biggest USA TV shows was not something I would or could have done, but I hugely respected her for this act, that no-one before or since would dare to dream of doing. A clear statement AHEAD of all the crimes that came out later. Acts, words, ART that she did standing on her own feet, often alone, isolated, but she kept standing and walking! She never followed a trend!
I’ve never been so devastated about a famous person’s untimely death, I usually am not connected, but this one is devastating for some reason! It’s always those who are too sensitive and compassionate who leave too early! Fame is horrible. She didn’t do everything right, but who does? Who can be so famous, wear their heart on their sleeve, get so much backlash and yet remain so kind and thoughtful?
I feel so sad for her family, children, grandchild. So fncking sad!
Sinéad O’Connor & Shane MacGowan Interview, Ireland 1995 Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor on songwriting, touring and mortality. Shane MacGowan wrote the song ‘Haunted’ for the soundtrack to the 1986 film ‘Sid and Nancy’. The film focuses on the relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist with punk band the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Originally performed by The Pogues …www.youtube.com
I love the fact that the pandemic has forced businesses to re-think their food waste and donate or sell nearly expired and even expired foods to food banks and pantries. There is still too much food waste of even perfectly fresh food. Last time I checked, it still is illegal in Germany to “dumpster dive” where mainly students and eco-warriors pick out perfect food from dumpsters behind supermarkets and distribute it to friends and people in need.
Two students were put on trial in Germany a few years ago and made a public spectacle of in court to deter others to “steal” food from dumpsters. I haven’t followed the story anymore and am not sure what the verdict was, please do your own research there. But as far as I know in 2023 it’s still illegal in Germany to dumpster-dive, while France changed the laws to force businesses to keep using good/non-expired food and later food share with charities instead of mass-throwing out food.
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Also, side note, someone is copying and pasting my posts one by one. Just make sure you have a leg to stand on when claiming that my writings are yours.
I know that Pret waste a lot of food than they can donate, as I had to throw out countless large bin bags of food for years, as well as members of the public posting pictures and videos of Pret’s food waste in the streets. But since the pandemic, and companies being forced to show their greed in broad daylight, Pret not only carry-over food to the next day(s) to sell (hence, false advertising, as NOT freshly made), but now SELL left-over food as “surprise” bags for cheaper via the TooGoodToGo app.
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The problem with that is not only the risk to get expired/mouldy food, but that while BEFORE the pandemic Pret was VERY strict about NOT even giving for FREE cooled down hot food like hot wraps, soups, porridge, mac & cheese etc. to charity due to safety reasons. NOW they sell it for cheaper via TGTG.
I was reprimanded by my manager when I was new to running a shop and gave hot food to charity at the end of the night. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to give cooled down hot food away. I was stressed about this and felt humiliated that I was told off like this. And as Pret are Pret, what do they do now? Not only a complete U-Turn on safety issues, but even making money from it under the “charity” umbrella for tax breaks and brownie points with the public.
Can I have an apology by the manager who reprimanded me, while 1. I wasn’t even told about this when I was “trained” to be a shift runner before I became a team leader. And 2. Pret now continuing unsafe food practices, despite 2 customer deaths and 20+ injuries from labelling/ingredient issues. They’re now making money from it.
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Needless to say how hypocritical it is AND unsafe as soups in Pret at times have been re-heated 3-4+ times to save money on waste. I go into great detail in Pret Quietly Change their Slogans in how Pret seem to move away from the “freshly made food” slogan to “handmade every day” as I keep bombarding the internet with writings AND pictures of mouldy food from Pret.
When I pointed out to TGTG UK branch about Pret’s Hypocrisy in Food Safety, they of course blocked me. That’s telling. It means they don’t want to know about food safety and the dangers of unsafe food practices.
I explain in detail in the two above posts on Pret’s slogans and hypocrisy HOW Pret’s food is really made, especially soups that are cooked in factories, delivered in plastic bags (containing 6 cups per bag), then just re-heated in water baths or the microwave. By the time a customer gets a soup, it has for absolute certainty been heated up twice. Again, hence, not freshly made.
I explain how staff even years before the pandemic keep re-heating unsold soup bags the next day after they cooled it off the night before when it didn’t sell. It is not uncommon that the soup you eat from Pret has been re-heated 3, 4 or more times to save money on waste.
“Incredibly unwell after eating a tomato soup”:
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A customer favourite is the Mushroom Risotto soup, but here it tastes “odd”:
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And many more. And this isn’t even from the cheap TGTG surprise bag, these are customers paying the full price.
On Facebook TGTG also recently blocked me after I linked to mouldy, non-fresh food to an excited customer having gotten soups in their surprise bag. But before they blocked, I reminded them that if a customer gets ill or worse, even dies again from any Pret food due to food poisoning and the ongoing mislabelling, where vegans and vegetarians (some for over 25 years) eat meat, and religious people eat pork instead of beef or fish or veg, TGTG will not be able to say that they didn’t know how Pret remain unsafe.
I keep the receipts!
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WRONG labels:
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DAYS after Pret opened their first shop in India, CHICKEN hot wrap instead of veg. On Facebook was another India complaint recently where the customer is threatening with legal action against the franchise owner about other issues.
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The one that even shocked me, and I’ve seen a lot, is where the dairy Bircher Muesli was made with MAYONNAISE!!! This must have been made by either a new worker who struggles with reading English when looking for the yoghurt bucket in the fridge or an extremely exhausted staff who rushed like a headless chicken, or both. They all have to rush in understaffed shops under a bullying fear culture.
I speak about how Pret were always and continue to be unsafe in their food practices on my podcast, incl. how staff are pressured to cheat by signing training papers without being trained. I highlight a weird Barbican seminar AFTER the first customer Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died. But there was NO mention of a fatality and further injuries. I also highlight the difference between Starbucks CEO’s proactive handling of crisis and Pret’s CEO (then Clive Schlee) lack of action in crisis, and other insights into work at Pret.
And current CEO Pano Christou who came from McDonald’s, coming full circle, turning Pret into a McDonald’s type business isn’t better as we can see with current mouldy food and ongoing mislabelling. And when the customers died in the UK and more got injured worldwide, Pano Christou was the UK Managing Director and also ignored it before it got public in the press. He was number 2 to Clive Schlee and could have intervened in any way.
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Many more mislabelled products in above “Vegans Eat Meat” post.
And as a little but important side note, no-one will ever know IF or how many homeless people suffered food poisoning or got hurt eating mislabelled food. Homeless people have food allergies and intolerances as well! Food allergies are not reserved for the rich and privileged. Poison, injuries and death don’t discriminate!
The only thing that the rich or middle class people have in favour, they can afford legal aid to sue companies, and like in the case of the millionaire Ednan-Laperouse family are able to reach up to government and get “Natasha’s Law” implemented as well as being summoned by King Charles in his last days of being a prince.
A poor or homeless person simply suffers or dies. That was that. No one would even know why they got hurt or died. But if it is known, there won’t be any repercussions. No-one held to account. End of. Let’s be real here! They might even get ignored by paramedics.
A flatmate and I in Germany once tried to change bandages of a homeless man who had infected wounds on his ankles and always came to our door to ask for money or food. But this time he came with complaints of his ankles.
We made a rare exception to let him in and try to tend to the wounds while calling the ambulance. The ambulance came, but hesitated to help the man as he didn’t want to go to hospital, and they seemed in a hurry to get out again as the man was smelly and dirty. Not only did the paramedics NOT tend to his wounds, but they left him with us! Today I would absolutely demand for the medics to tend to the man, no matter if and why he doesn’t want to go to hospital! They have all the tools to do an initial clean up of the wounds.
This is many years ago, but I’m still shocked about it! So, don’t kid yourself to think a homeless person on the street will get help or justice when dying from hidden or mislabelled allergens.
But now to what I really wanted to write about!
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Food Pantries Seem to be Taking Over the Amount of Food Banks
Rising food banks is a concern for me. But as there’s now money to be made and it adds up. Food pantries seem to be rising and now even seem to outnumber food banks in areas. Good, we may think. Yes … but …
I worked in charities, volunteered since I was a teenager and know the tricks and traps of the multi-million pound charity “industry”, especially with staff making good salaries while the work is being done by unpaid volunteers.
As Pret read my blog, they will be delighted to learn that I rely a lot on food banks and pantries, still unable to work and function in a “normal” workplace. I’m not ashamed about it and we will see who will be laughing more regarding Pret A Manger.
But I do crazy things sometimes where I go to a local restaurant and treat myself to a full blown meal!
As food pantries have popped up all over during the pandemic and since the cost of living crisis, I was given the tip by neighbours about pantries. I was really excited to find pantries where you even get real vegetables, not just canned foods.
The deal is simple and might vary a little bit from pantry to pantry. But in comparison to FREE food banks that mainly give tinned foods and other non-perishable items, and maybe some donated pastries and bread, food pantries don’t require a referral from the Job Center, Citizen Advice Bureau or your GP. And they sell vegetables. And important for me, I feel a little bit “normal” to BUY food rather than get hand-outs!
And free food banks are only limited to people who live in that borough. If I live in borough “A”, I can’t go to borough “B” to get free food. But with food PANTRIES, there is no requirement to be in the borough of that pantry. Some require registration for their data base, others just ask for a first name for the list on the day as it is on first-come / first-serve basis with ticketing.
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Example of Two Pantries
Each pantry sells food two to three or four times a week. Pantries that are close together also share food. What pantry “A” didn’t sell on Monday, pantry “B” gets for their Tuesday sales etc. But pantry “B” has to pay pantry “A” for the food. That way food waste is minimized especially with vegetables and fruit that spoil fast.
Anyone can just come by unannounced and in comparison to food banks will not be asked any embarrassing questions on why they need the food. They’re not asked about details of their crisis. This fact has led me to not go to food banks anymore and had my fridge empty many times, because I didn’t have the strength or courage to go to the Job Center or GP to get a referral and then again having to explain to food bank volunteers what my current situation is.
This was then very attractive for me with food pantries. PLUS, in my pride I feel better when I PAY even just a little bit. It has more dignity. And with pantries you CHOOSE items that you like, while with food banks they just collect items for your bag except products you’re allergic to. Since the whole Pret allergy catastrophes, not only businesses are forced to take food allergies more serious. Food banks and some (not all) pantries have the allergy question on which foods you can’t have included in their questionnaire now.
Even when I want to escape my Pret writings, I am constantly confronted in businesses and pantries with Pret due to allergy warnings that only started with Pret’s customer deaths. It always takes death before change happens.
Without calling any pantry out, I just name them in letters.
Pantry A:
Pantry “A” only sells once a week on a Tuesday between certain morning and afternoon hours.
The deal is, you either pay £2.50 for 10 items which are 5 tins/non-perishables (tins, pasta, rice, tea etc.) and 5 fresh items veg/fruit. And for £5 you get double, 10 non-perishables and 10 fresh items.
Pantry “A” is pretty good with fresh stuff, they get fresh veg and fruit (which is NOT donated but purchased by the way), an hour before giving it out. BUT after I received 2 large onions which I wanted to use on the same day, I found that the insides were rotten, I started to tune my ears to conversations of other pantry customers.
Just yesterday I got to know a lady who’s been going there for a while and is a little bit of a “trouble maker”, calling out the pantry staff for hiding fresh fruit and veg under the table and then giving out the older stuff. My kinda trouble maker and we hit it off immediately after I shared my rotten onions debacle which I had to throw away. 😀
I believe the staff member hides the fresh food to minimize waste costs and then be able to sell fresher food to pantry “B”, who might otherwise not take the “older” food. Cheeky bums!
Pret do the same. When I worked at Pret I had to look at all the selection, and an hour before closing time sell sandwiches to the nearest Pret shop that was open longer, as every shop is required to have a certain amount of selection on display until closing time, not too much selection of a variety of products, but also not too little.
Now, people may say, “beggars are no choosers”. Ho-ho! Stop yourself from such disrespect please. First of all, the food is not free, but just a fraction of the cost, and still you PAY money. Secondly, food pantries advertise themselves as ethical, helping the community etc. but NONE of them mentions on their website or posters that MOST of the foods are expired!
One pantry had such NON-fresh veggies and upon taking an oat milk from the shelf, looking at the best-before date, which will be 29.07.2023 (in a few days of writing this), the volunteer, who minutes before was talking about dignity when I pointed out how organised everything looks, said that these are best-before dates which are fine after those days.
She’s right of course, but as I kept looking around at the clearly visibly non-fresh veg, I didn’t feel much dignity.
Pantry B:
This pantry is with the “dignity” volunteer lady. And their deal is £4.50 for 16 items. They have a colour system where they have coloured stickers on shelves. You can get 8 yellow items, which are non-perishables; 6 pink items which are “fresh” (fruit and veg); and 2 red items which are special things that are either more expensive usually or in some way special, like cheese, frozen stuff, large bottles of coke etc.
They also have some free items they would otherwise not get rid of like some green sugar fondant for cakes or bunches of radishes which were okay-ish but the leaves where already yellow.
The reason the lady mentioned dignity was because I asked her some questions and mentioned that I read on their website that the pantry started during the pandemic and how I find this great yada yada. And then I mentioned how impressed I am with how they organised it with shelving, fridges, even some nice lighting etc. looking like a shop rather than a warehouse, like food banks often look and feel.
This is then when she explained that they started with tables and more bare before slowly changing it to a shop type look to give it dignity.
Now, when you mention dignity, I start to “dig” deeper. Pun intended! And please keep in mind that I’m talking about a food pantry that sells food for MONEY, no matter how little the price is. This is not a food bank or a supermarket dumpster!
Again, it isn’t even so much a problem for me that food pantries sell expired or soon to expire foods and somewhat non-fresh vegetables and fruit for a very cheap price. But to do so under the “we care for the community and vulnerable people” umbrella, without even mentioning that the food “may be” expired but still safe to eat is not on. It lacks integrity, transparency and true care.
And mind you, isn’t SELLING expired / out of date food not unlawful?? No matter how cheap the price? Also, there were a lot of large potatoes next door where customers couldn’t see it. This means this pantry is also “hiding” fresh produce to get rid of old stuff while claiming to serve “good quality” and healthy food.
And in my distrusting, pessimistic mind I can’t help but think that this is becoming the norm rather than a momentary exception. Tory politicians celebrate the rise of food banks and businesses cash in AGAIN on non-fresh, expired food for pantries and then claim to be ethical in their care for the “community”. Yuck!
The rich seem to do this on purpose to yet again degrade the poor by throwing crumps at us for which we even have to pay, even if it’s not much, but it does something to the psyche. It’s clever, the poor are hardly to be found in supermarkets so that rich people and people with a regular income can enjoy every place for themselves. Again.
Segregation of another kind. Quietly move the poor over there with the cheap stuff, and have the rich over here with the “proper” goods and services. And then feed the poor with the crumbs that fall off the table. In our modern times all this is done under “charity” and “ethics” while still having a laugh. I know it’s an age-old class struggle. But it will always sit queer in my system like a plank of wood swallowed horizontally.
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Dignity
As I volunteered for many years in three countries with different projects, I once helped out at a local clothes charity in Florida that gave away free clothes that were donated. This was not a thrift store or pawn shop selling clothing items for 50 cent, all clothes, bags, hats, shoes etc. were for free.
I can’t remember the exact rules, but I think it was something like a person could come every so months (maybe 2 or 3 times a year??) and choose 3-5 itmes per person, per visit. I can’t remember exactly. Part of my job with the other 3 to 5 volunteers was to go through bags upon bags of donated clothes each week and sieve out ANY piece that had even the slightest stain or hole.
I remember being literally TOUCHED by the only STRICT rule they had to NEVER give out any item with even the slightest stain or hole, even like a little bleach stain which is a “clean” stain. We had to be meticulous like forensic detectives to look for stains, holes and any imperfections. And because we all were so touched by the care for vulnerable people’s dignity, we all made sure to do the job properly, no matter how long it took! It was a “mission” we completely took on and OWNED!
It was about DIGNITY! It was SUPER important for the charity to give out the best possible to people struggling and already embarrassed to be asking for free things. One little stain, one little hole, and the thing went in the bin, or if any of us volunteers were happy to take it, that was up to us. We were different as we saw the items first thing, but did not want to subject a person in need to take it in the “beggars are no choosers” mentality.
And it might be cheesy for you who read this, but I’m tearing up and have goosebumps remembering this as I’m writing this. This was true lived dignity and respect. I can’t remember where I wrote this on my blog, but this is the same place that occasionally did a spa day for sex workers. Occasionally the charity put on a whole Saturday for sex workers and people who can’t afford it to get free hair cuts, make-up done, manicure, pedicure etc. for them and their children. Someone also cooked a proper nice meal. They did that to remind people that we all have dignity and are worth the respect every human being deserves, no matter their background or circumstances.
What was striking to me as well was that those who served doing the make-up or manicure or cooked, were a mix of “regular” people from the community, current and former sex workers and/or former drug addicts. It was such a mix of people without any judgment! Just one day of “utopia” where people who are simply human beings came together and made something beautiful for all involved. There go them tears again!
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Friends are Stranger than some Strangers
You know this thing when a friend clears out their cupboard and comes to you to give you a pile of jumpers or dresses to choose from as they’re clearing out. And you choose an item or several clothes with excitement, especially if one piece was always your favourite when your friend wore it. Only later when you have more time to take a closer look to find stains on the jumpers, or the odd little hole in the dress. And you start questioning your friendship! Well, I did.
If the friend would have said to a group of friends that they have some clothing which have stains/holes and they can’t or don’t want to wear it anymore, maybe due to a public job, but if anyone still would want it to help themselves, that’s different.
If a clothing item for example is really expensive and you could never afford it, but maybe you’re an arty person and know ways to cover up the stain or hole, go for it, as long as it is communicated that the person wants to get rid of it due to imperfections.
But to come under this “mantle” (pun intended again! Sorry!) of “I’m clearing my cupboard because I have too much stuff …”
Well …
I was lead to write today’s post after I ate vegetables from “dignity” pantry “B” yesterday, which were okay-ish, but I noticed that I have increased stomach aches, diarrhoea, and a few months ago even vomited for the first time in 8 years.
The last time I vomited was in early 2015, days after I learnt that my brother died and in the following days finding out more and more detail, which were so shocking to my system that I vomited at one point. Good thing I was at home and not on the bus or at work.
Without going into personal detail with my physical and reproduction health, but I knew that it wasn’t pregnancy or food poisoning. My body just exploded in shock. And after that I must have cramped up my body during trauma because I never vomited again, even during the most drunken moments.
My body has always been robust and I have always been able to eat everything. I am very lucky to not have any allergies or intolerances.
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Not just Health but Dignity
Today, from yesterday’s “dignity” Pantry “B” shopping I made myself a salad with the spinach, pepper, the free rubber radishes, some herbs that are still kind of in the green-ish area. In addition I used the vegetables that are more on the “softer” side like an aubergine, spring onions etc. to stir fry them.
I threw as many spices and lemon juice at everything as I could handle, to pimp up the taste. But while eating I realised, you can’t pimp up texture. There’s nothing worse than the texture of non-fresh vegetables, especially with aubergine. And vegetables that are not fresh also lose taste. There’s just something eerie and yucky about non-fresh vegetables.
And after the meal my stomach felt achy again and still feels off while writing this. I started looking at everything in my fridge and kitchen cupboard. Everything from food pantries have either soon-to-expire best-before dates, or have already expired, or are about to expire in the next days. Even tinned foods have expiry dates of no later than August and September 2023. So, you can’t even stock up for a rainy day like what we experienced with empty shelves during lockdowns or rising prices.
So, you’re forced to eat stuff before they expire for the sake of health and dignity. I am re-thinking the food pantry opportunity and think of eating less, even though I don’t even eat a lot as my stomach can’t take much food anymore, but eat at a higher price with FRESH produce from the supermarket.
In the long-run when eating non-fresh food and expired foods, I feel I’m paying with my health for it.
Less food but fresh, tasty and healthy, though more expensive = dignity.
Or regular meals, but expired, not tasty at all and potentially a health risk in the long run. No dignity.
Not yet decided if I should feed my body on the sacrifice of my dignity via food pantries, or my dignity at the cost of my bank account with other important things I need via supermarkets.
Feeding both body AND dignity isn’t possible at the moment.
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.
As Pret do what they do best, use the press to impress the public with profits, being in the black with higher profits since 2018, I want to magnify why that is.
First of all it’s interesting that Pret compare the profit rise to 2018, not 2019 just before the pandemic losses. The two customers who have died and over 20 who got injured (that we know of) which came to light in September 2018, may have been a factor that Pret compares to 2018 instead of 2019.
In early 2022 I wrote a reddit post on how Pret make profit through their coffee subscription. This year reddit hid my post, while I can still see it when logged in, others can’t. The typical reddit over-extreme censorship by power-tripping moderators of subreddits who can’t stand when people write with extensive knowledge. Their insecure little selfs need to silence anyone for no reason while putting complicated “rules” in place that are easy to break. Or even when rules are not broken,they just come up with reasons why they ban people. It’s become so normal that I always expect being banned, therefore I don’t even read the rules anymore. 😀
Just move on to the next. I copied my post into my own reddit profile to link to it again as it is too long for a Twitter thread.
In this post how Pret A Manger make PROFIT from their Coffee Subscription, I go into detail after a Times journalist asked on Twitter on Pret can make profit with such a “generous” subscription deal. I replied briefly and he started following me and ask questions. Later his boss also started following, but in my usual drunken stupor I kicked all journalists off incl. from the Guardian, BBC etc. It is what is it.
This is when Pret started the subscription at £20.
I basically listed on reddit how Pret cheat, take, steal from customers, delay service, refuse expensive items, make it hard to cancel … all to avoid people using the subscription.
A BBC report also came from my tweets explaining how Pret keep scamming customers: “Pret customers complain over drinks subscription deal“. Journalist Mike Powell mentioned my blog as I kept updating issues on the subscription and other things.
So, Pret now boast that the subscription is the reason for the profit jump, and it’s true because the subscription is THE fastest money AND data grab while avoiding to deliver on the advertised T&Cs.
Meanwhile, quality suffers. Food and coffee quality down. Service quality down etc.
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For a more extensive, but not updated, list on Pret’s expired, stale and mouldy food with pictures, please see Pret’s Food isn’t Fresh.
Many complaints on Pret’s coffee, even before the pandemic. This is just the tip of the iceberg:
And 61% of customer on Trustpilot give one star reviews, 11% two stars and only 19% approve of Pret. It’s actually 72% who are very unhappy customers with the 1 and 2 stars combined. Many having vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. The complaints are on a variety of issues, the main issues being higher prices for lesser quality products, the coffee subscription has a lot of complaints, and dirty shops, rude staff etc.
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As of 21.07.2023
My “favourite” review is form 01. May 2023 in a short and sweet sentence, quote:
“Why Pet deserves to fail
The Pret on Marylebone St, literally closed the door in my face. Said they were closing, still staff working the counters.
Pret deserves to fail. From a once customer focused company its now a brand which needs to go“
Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe said to me on Twitter when I linked him itsu staff reviews where staff were calling Metcalfe a liar, sexist, racist etc. Metcalfe said that these reviews are biased as anyone can just anonymously leave a review. Of course he has a point, but 1. why would anyone make the effort to leave a “fake” review. 2. Then the positive reviews are also biased and fake. 3. The Trustpilot reviews are done by mainly people with their names and many having a history of many other reviews.
Most are NOT anonymous, no-name one-off reviews.
What Metcalfe said, I’ve put on YouTube after I chased him off Twitter when he deleted his tweets and then Twitter account after just 2 days on there. But I screenshot his tweets when he kept RT’ing my tweets. He certainly wasn’t media savvy there:
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The Office of National Statistic, that seems to be obsessed with Pret, has tweeted several times over the last few months that Pret sales have decreased in MOST locations. I believe this is also due to Pret pushing the subscription too aggressively to make FAST money and to collect data quicker.
June:
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July
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Some of the MANY staff reviews
Glassdoor: “Coffee subcription ruined work morale completely.”
Indeed (verbatim, I leave mistakes in): “they’re pushing their subscription harder than ever (Head office peope going around central london stores complaining that we’re not pushing the “New club pret subscription” to every single customer in the middle of morning coffee or lunch rush times to people who don’t want yet another subscription…).”
Indeed: “Since the subscription service was introduced, the queue is non-stop but doesn’t bring any additional cash to the shop to hire new staff with. This results in the shop being understaffed, so you are expected to do the job of 3 people at twice the normal speed.”
Increased customer complaints on rude and aggressive staff as unfortunately customers want their “free” subscription coffee, not seeing how burnt out staff are. I worked at Pret before the pandemic, and it was already hell to work there, but I can’t even imagine working there now with the subscription and the extra abuse by Pret head office. I KNOW how psychological abusive Pret executives/leaders are behind that mystery shopper enforced smile.
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So a PR move via the press to say their profits are up due to the subscription sounds like a call to ignore that shops are in shambles.
Another issue that was briefly reported on was that Pret’s donation increased by 122%. Again, misleading success because the donations came in many times due to the donation devices being VERY close, right next to the payment devices. Many customers by accident and in the noisy rush tapped the donation devices to pay for their food/drink and then donated £5 to the Pret Foundation (for tax breaks and brownie points with the public).
Customers where then prompted again to pay. Some have pointed out correctly that this is very psychological, customers who donate feel embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”. Pret now that psychology very well. Pret also kept and still now keep ignoring customer contacts about the refund in hopes they will just give up.
And further issue how Pret scam customers via the coffee subscription which is the reason for the high profit jump:
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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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
UPFRONT: Not sure why the screenshots below are stretched vertically, another one of WordPress’ little “changes” that upsets us writers a lot! Just click on the links underneath the pictures for context. Trying to fix it.
WordPress already censored me on Pret’s behalf by having moved my blog into the adult section where porn sites are stored. This is because they need to keep free speech, but it means that WordPress users cannot find my blog when logged in and in the reader’s section looking for Pret articles. My blog is hidden despite me PAYING for it! .
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“mater” Yep. I does “mater” doesn’t it.
Quote:
“Thank you for your patience while we’ve reviewed your site’s content and your previous correspondence with WordPress.com.
As previously mentioned, your site expret.org contains materials which meet our definition of mature content including use of strong language and mature subject mater that is not suitable for all WordPress.com users.
As such—and as outlined on this support page—we prevent this type of content from appearing in public spaces within WordPress.com such as the Reader. Beyond that, your site remains publicly accessible online and can be viewed by anyone.”
If any webdeveloper reads this, please let me know if you can help me with transferring my blog to a new webprovider.
Also, side-note, someone is speed-copying my blog posts lately again. Don’t forget copyright in case you try to publish and claim copyright. You won’t get away with it.
And if anyone tries to get my blog shut down like some always try with my social media channels, I have already everything backed up since I started the blog. So, keep trying.
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Even if it’s hard to believe, but I rarely post anything regarding Pret anymore, as I still try to recover from the multiple “hells” I went through these last 8+ years. I have also upset and offended many good people in my PTSD drunken stupor. No excuse. I keep people away as best as possible.
I have written the anger off my system on this blog, but am still struggling on several fronts. I have written everything and anything regarding Pret that I know of and forced Pret to secretly change many things while remaining uncredited. But this one is important. I try to keep it short. Haha! 😬
As Pret know my blog and I have posted on different social media channels and emails etc. how Pret’s “freshly made” slogan is also a lie, Pret seem to slowly and quietly change their packaging bit by bit as:
1. I know from experience having worked at Pret where some products are prepared the day before and then just the finishing touches applied the next morning, or even worse, preparations done on Friday or Saturday and then finished on Monday. Seen it countless times over the years. I write extensively on HOW Pret’s food is REALLY “made” in Freshly Prepared Brainwash, with more photos of mouldy food in Pret’s Food isn’t Fresh.
2. Staff have told me that, especially during the pandemic, Pret started to freeze soups (which are cooked in factories anyway and then just re-heated in shops) to prolong expiry dates, as well as soup bags that were cooled off after the water bath, then again re-heated 3-4 times while procedure is to THROW it OUT when the bag is unsold!
Pret soups come in boxes of 4 plastic bags. One plastic bag of soup contains 6 cups for customers, so the cost of throwing even one bag out is quite high, but I did it anyway! Also toasties, uncooked hot wraps and sandwiches are carried over to the next day(s). The soup issue and staff interaction I also put in above “Brainwash” post.
Another staff a while ago contacted me saying that Pret quietly are removing the “freshly made” fridge signs. I have to find that mail, can’t remember if it was via contact form/email or on Twitter, Facebook etc. DM.
3. But more telling is where customers post pictures of mouldy food and use-by dates on social media, as I put in above “Food isn’t Fresh” post.
The familiar sticker: “Made today – Gone today – No ‘sell-by’ date – no night life”
Haha! Of course Pret might claim they now say “use-by” not “sell-by” date!
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And the REALITY, which has always been the case, but now more in the open, WITH the date:
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Close-up:
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This tweet is from 12.07.2023 but the use-by date is for the next day 13.07.2023. And no, don’t be fooled when Pret might say that when customers buy the product they can put it in their fridge overnight for the next day. Nopes, PRET themselves will have this in the fridge for the next day(s).
READY TO (CH)EAT:
And having worked at Pret seeing countless times staff PEELING off labels and then re-attaching a new date on the old product to avoid waste. Staff do that since forever with expiry dates on ingredients. I explain this in detail on my podcast on HOW staff cheat. And no, in case you wonder, I never did that because when caught you get fired unless you’re “close” friends with the manager or OPs manager. This was the main reason why I was never promoted beyond team leader level. But I didn’t care. I slept well at night and never had to look over my shoulder.
I worked at Caffe Nero where they also stretch the dates of the cakes with a label-gun individually on defrozen cakes. And I even went after the manager when my boss left, I went back to the cakes and re-attached the REAL date!
Nero customers always complained that the cakes are hard and taste dry, and I was always embarrassed about it. My manager would always peel off the old date and attach a new extended date. I then went after it once my manager was gone for the day and changed it back to the old date and WASTED all the cakes that expired that day or days before!
DON’T HIRE ME if you want me to cheat! Not going to happen! I made mistakes in general, but not cheats with health, safety and quality! Do with it what you want!
I got myself in “unwritten” trouble with Pret management when I told colleagues to please not risk their jobs by “stretching” dates (peel off old date, attach new date) for management. Managers let team leaders and staff in general do the dirty work for them.
REVIEWS:
And yet, customers leave tons of reviews on Trustpilot, Google etc. and all social media channels on the low food quality and stale, even mouldy food in Pret.61% of customers on Trustpilot (as of July 2023) aren’t happy with Pret, many even vowing to never set foot inside Pret again.
Here is my BIASED opinion of a Trustpilot customer review being my favourite. Quote from 01. May 2023:
“Why Pret deserves to fail
The Pret on Marylebone St, literally closed the door in my face. Said they were closing, still staff working the counters.
Pret deserves to fail. From a once customer focused company its now a brand which needs to go”
Of course Pret won’t fail, CEO Pano Christou having come from McDonald’s as a manager started at Pret as an assistant manager 20 odd years ago, has come full circle turning Pret into a low-quality McDonald’s-type business. And don’t forget that Pret sold 33% to McD in the late 1990’s to get their foot into the U.S. market. McD sold their part again of course. JAB seem asleep but they might wake up and consider to sell Pret to the next private equity “pimp” to further squeeze the lifeblood out of the brand. Do what you do best.
NOTHING can touch Pret, not even customer fatalities.
I recently got yet anotherreddit post hidden for pointing out that Pret are actually a small company, after 40 years in business when someone claimed Pret was HUGE. Nope, they ain’t! They just missed the train to become too big to fail.
And the recently opened Toronto, Canada pop-up already has 1 star reviews with one customer wishing he could give 0 stars. People don’t know that Pret received £485million from owners JAB and shareholders during the pandemic closures, with the ridiculous task to speed-open 200 shops worldwide by the end of 2023, and to double in size by 2025.
This pressure leads to not only further food safety issues, lack of staff training, but also shows how Pret cheat by opening little pop-ups in existing businesses to reach that target. Canada is the best example. And even India already starts to get complaints DAYS after opening.
I’m sure Pret by now have found the negative customer reviews, many which are written under people’s names with accounts showing many other reviews. So, Pret can’t claim that these are fake or biased, like Julian Metcalfe claimed.
But with the staff reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed having mysteriously improved into more positive reviews, despite the lack of, exhausted and increasingly rude/aggressive staff, watch the next few months when customer reviews improve as well. Once Pret finds out about the poor customer reviews watch positive reviews increase in the coming months. 😉
And, as a friend of the original Pret founder Jeffrey Hyman told me on Twitter that Pret recruited someone to keep changing the Wikipedia entry on Pret having opened in 1986 (not 1983) to avoid mentioning Hyman, from my experience with Pret’s dishonesty and trickery, I believe that.
Just few of the many customer complaints on Pret’s new India outlet, most are on Instagram:
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You simply can’t fool paying-customers! They TRUST their senses regardless of what sweet-talking bullsh!t Pret give in the press and on social media. And Pret’s time to fool the public like they did in “fat” and rich times pre-2018 customer deaths news and pre-pandemic is over. In lean times the real face shows!
Where people on social media did NOT believe me when I started to expose Pret in May 2018, many even blocking me, cussing me out, now it’s common knowledge how bad Pret really are. And no, people didn’t always block or cuss me out because I posted drunken tweets, that’s understandable and expected. But I was often just linking them to evidence they didn’t want to know about. Ignorance is bliss, and I destroyed their bliss! Sorry, but I care about your health more than your wishful-thinking of a multi-billion £$ fairy-tale company that cares NOTHING about you, except for your money!
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe once tweeted to me (RT’d my comments) that itsu staff reviews on him are biased as anyone with an anonymous account can just leave a review. Yes, he has a point, of course, but 1. why would anyone leave a fake negative review for what reason? And 2. the CUSTOMER reviews on Pret are often done under people’s names with an extensive review history on their profiles! So, try again!
Plus, pictures of mouldy food speak louder than a 1000 words as we know.
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“NATURAL” Fools:
Pret were banned from claiming their food is “natural”, so they changed the packaging and logo from “organic coffee – natural food” to “organic coffee – freshly made food” (I question their claim to do organic coffee as the beans are so cheap and Pret stopped fair-trade already years ago. Plus, customers don’t like Pret’s coffee! But that’s another matter).
And now, Pret also changed the packaging from “freshly made food” to “handmade each day” via a few humps. Pret again play with customers assumptions to think the food is “freshly” made each day while it’s not. It’s a safe way for Pret to cover their stinking asses, as they are not claiming “freshly made” on the packaging, while it’s still on their logo on shops. Customers will assume it’s freshly made after years of brainwash.
Before the freshly made bad hair-day:
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Now as in 12.07.2023 Pret seems to have run out of space to squeeze in the “freshly” bit.
Of course it’s cheaper to change the packaging of the next batch in the factory once the old batch is used, than it is to change the logo for the entire brand on shop fronts. Pret threatened a three-man London small bakery with the name “Bread A Manger” with legal action to change their name. At first the bakery wanted to resist, but quickly bowed to the pressure and changed their name to “Bread And Macaroon” to save money on the “BM” logo. They estimated that the brand-name change for that ONE little shop would cost them £8000!
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Funny enough, there are businesses with the name “Pronto Pret A Manger” or “Miss Pret A Manger” and others with the exact “pret a manger” term in their names. They also sell food, but Pret choose to pick on this small business with a LESS similar name! Knowing Pret like the back of my hand, they always look for the LEAST resistance and the most vulnerable to pick on.
Pret, including Clive Schlee, David Carter (HR), Lila Warren and a host of OPs managers and shop managers tried their best while I was traumatically bereaved. But you simply don’t pick a fight with a traumatised person who has nothing to lose and think you get away with it, stupid!
You just don’t do that, fathermucker!
And little side-note, I’ve been exposing Pret since 5+ years now, and Pret don’t have the balls to threaten me with a lawsuit! I wonder why, I wonder why!
If Pret were to sue me or make a public statement about me, it would open a can of worms for them and have my blog land on Wikipedia, like Andrej Stopa is mentioned on Wiki after Pret made a public announcement about why they fired him. So, they remain silent about me. Fncking cowards!
Someone anonymous already mentioned my blog on Wiki, but it got deleted as the main editor doesn’t have evidence that my experience is legit like they have with Andrej, because Pret made a public statement in 2012. Despite me having evidence. Doesn’t matter.
I was positively shocked one day to find in my blog statistics that 10 visitors came from Wikipedia. I made the mistake to contat the main editor, and the rest is history (as in my blog being deleted again off Wiki. There you go).
Whoever put my blog on Wiki. Thank you. I guess I upset too many egos, so it got deleted. Or, maybe I just am too much of a woman to feature in a man’s world of greed.
Yep, I’m playing THAT card, because it’s true!
Whoever put my blog on Wiki, I’d like to buy you a coffee in an indie business. But that will never happen of course.
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I tried to reach out to formerly Bread A Manger to NOT bow, but failed to reach them. Oh well, I tried!
If rebranding costs a small independent shop £8K, do a rough calculation how much it would cost Pret to change their shop logo and branding across the company worldwide. Especially since Pret already had to change it around 2018 to take the word “natural” off! They might have to lower staff wages again to pay for it! 😉
“French-run London bakery accuses Pret A Manger of ‘bullying’ over demand for name change”.
But if you read Pret’s social media posts, and ESPECIALLY advertisers and PR firms for Pret, they all emphasise and keep repeating the brainwash of “freshest” food, “freshly made food”, “fresh food” etc. The public is hypnotised with “fresh, fresh, fresh …” I can’t help but think that this is Pret’s typical chaos in their communications. The memo hasn’t gotten through yet.
For example also, after 3 years of tweeting about and at Pret, Pret finally blocked me on Twitter around 2020-ish. Pret also DISABLED the comment section on Instagram where I can see my comments when logged in, but it’s hidden from the public when logged out. Pret did not block me on Instagram nor on Facebook (as of July 2023) while I’m blocked on Twitter. Pret’s typical inconsistencies.
ORGANIC COFFINS – NATURAL FOOLS:
Also, when former CEO Clive Schlee was on Twitter before his account was deleted in 2020, he never blocked me, while Pano Christou when he was UK Managing Director and before he deleted his Twitter account in July 2019, blocked me.
I changed Pret’s logo already years ago when customer deaths and injuries became public. Pret didn’t even tell us staff about it. And former CEO Clive Schlee kept mentioning in interviews that his wife always said to him that “any damn fool can run Pret“!
Yes, Clive did, and so does Pano. Where Clive ran the ship into an iceberg, Pano is sinking it!
I think this logo more reflects reality.
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And apart from poor customer reviews …
SALES ARE DOWN:
The Office for National Statistics has posted that Pret’s transactions are down in MOST locations, while Pret and business partners/PR firms work hard to portray Pret to be thriving.
Granted, it is summer when many customers are on holiday. BUT the customer reviews cannot be ignored.
That’s what you get when you start turning into “card-only” shops and p!ss customers off with the flawed coffee subscription, exhausted/rude staff, dirty shops, mouldy food, closed toilets even for paying customers with disabilities etc. etc. etc.
But how about looking into Pret’s packaging they quietly change, their signs, logos, claims?
Ooops, it’s gotten long again!
But I finish with a YouTube slide of “Pret’s Year in Review 2022” that I do each year. Can’t wait for the upcoming year in review 2023 at the end of December with some really juicy customer posts, and some from staff. The choice this year is very hard, that’s the best part! And it’s only July! 😀
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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.
“People often confuse the terms sociopath and psychopath and use them interchangeably. They aren’t different in the clinical sense. Both terms refer to people who have antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Those with ASPD have no regard for others’ rights or feelings, lack empathy and remorse for wrongdoings, and have the need to exploit and manipulate others for personal gain.”
I am not saying that what happened to me is due to “sociopaths” hurting me, but I have more and more the impression that people who are completely fine with discriminating against others for whatever the person is or has, that this lack of empathy seems so “normal” in society.
People are so used to either get hurt or hurt others without any thought of wrongdoing. I said this before and people wonder at what the heck I am talking about or what I mean, but I am literally SCARED of the quiet, meek, petite, soft-spoken person who after a while comes across like a “vulnerable narcissist”, than the openly angry, loud or outspoken person.
The harm that I have suffered from people who very subtly hurt people and people’s dignity, there is a reason why the Equality Act exists and even mentions dignity. I was so used to be treated like utter shi!te until my brother died and I suffered horrific treatment at Pret and by some “friends” who turned out not to be friends after all.
Society wants people obedient to their cause, silent, don’t bare your scars, we don’t want to see them.
I remember in particular one horrific story of the Austrian woman Natascha Kampusch (English Interview) who was abducted aged 10 on her way to school by a disgusting cowardly pedo, put in a man-made dungeon and held as a slave for 8 years before she found the opportunity and then courage to run away. When she broke free and her captor then killing himself to avoid justice, she gave an interview within two weeks of being free. She smiled in the interview, looked “healthy” etc., and people expected her to cry all the time or look in some kind of distress. She did not fit their box of a victim, nor did they wanted to be confronted that this can and does happen in THEIR community.
Side note: Austria is a fncked up country anyway, for such a small country to also have had another unbelievable case, that of Elizabeth Fritzl who was lured into and imprisoned by her own father in the basement for 24 years. She was raped and bore 7 children and lived underneath the family apartment under her mother who pretended to not know any of it. What’s up with Austria??!! Oh, I forgot, Hitler came from there and unlike Germany, Austria has not dealt with their own Nazi past and seems in general to have a mentality to sweep things under the carpet.
What shocked me as I started to follow the story over a period of time, was that many people in the community wanted her silent. They even started doubting her story, just so she’s quiet. She gave interviews, wrote a book, later also becoming a TV show host where she interviewed famous German speaking people who had a tragic story in how they survived certain traumas. For example she interviewed Niki Lauda the famous Formula 1 race driver who had a horrible accident, burning his face and head and how he overcame etc.
And people in the community were p!ssed off with Ms. Kampusch for being so VISIBLE and outspoken! They wanted her to crawl back into her dark corner, cry her silent tears and shut the fnck up. But she didn’t! They were confronted with this unspeakable crime against a child, against a human being and how on earth the community either didn’t see this or closed their eyes.
Her captor even took her out to the supermarket at times, and no-one seemed to notice or care, despite her case being in the news for years. And Natascha having been so indoctrinated and scared to not say a peep to anyone until one day she broke free!
And then the community wanted her to crawl back under the rock!
No sir! Her way of starting a lifelong healing process was to be PUBLIC, VISIBLE, AUDIBLE after YEARS of isolation and suffering! She even had to justify herself on why she’s so visible. Really sad and disgusting how survivors of any crime are treated by the community. Every time I saw an interview or project with and of her, knowing how her community wanted her silent, I always thought “You go girl! You keep speaking! Keep putting yourself and your trauma into this sociopathic society’s face and ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM and what YOU WANT to do!”
My story of survival is not even worth in any kind of comparison, but my own experience with the lack of empathy, the sheer targeting even at work to get rid of me, because bereaved employees are an inconvenience … and my thought that many businesses, organizations, charities, countries are run and managed by a bunch of sociopaths who only care for their own gain. And don’t you dare have an ailment of any kind that might inconvenience them.
Me calling the Samaritans and other helplines again because society and the “community” that claims to be THERE for the community want silent, obedient, little sheep doing their bidding.
No sir!
I am here, I am loud, and I will not be silent.
Getting kicked out of projects or work only means freedom to SPEAK freely and loudly!
And that already feels liberating and life itself. I think about death every day, how short life is, how I don’t even want to live sometimes and crawling back to hope. I KNOW that life can end in a blink of an eye, for no reason, no fault, no nothing. Just the end!
And the thought that we treat people with such disrespect, especially those vulnerable, and the hopelessness I feel in this society, in this very community, in people supposedly supportive or close (friends) etc.
I wrote to someone today who sent me a cold reply which led me to write this post, that I’d rather be fncked up in my head like I am but have great empathy and compassion for people, than be “healthy” and cold like a sociopath, but I wrote that in the form that I won’t use the “P” word. Strong words, I know, but this person who replied in such a cold fashion once said to me, after I mentioned how horrible the attack on Ukraine is, that person said that they don’t really care as this is far away.
I was shocked and even upset about this attitude! Sure, at least it was honest, and I always appreciate honesty. And I love how people reveal their true attitude. But first of all, it’s NOT far away, it’s on our door step. A major European war none of us non-political people would have ever imagined happening again. And 2. even if it was in Australia or on the flipping moon, to not give a hoot about an innocent democratic country being illegally invaded and thousands upon thousands of innocent people about to be thrust into hell, how COLD must you be to not care! The mail from that person was therefore no surprise. And I am glad when people out themselves as such unempathetic people while pretending to be so soft spoken and “helping” out in the community. This is not the community I want to be part of.
You will not be remembered for what a great artist you are, or what a great cook, or how talented you are with building things in the community. You will be remembered for how much empathy, compassion, true care and love you had. Hypocricy and narcissism is rampant in society.
Give me mental illness anytime, but don’t take my empathy and compassion for truly vulnerable people.
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.
As the Junior Doctors are on strike again, which I completely support, the same bullsh!t words are going around that the BMA union started that Pret staff (or baristas) get £14.10 an hour. This LAZY hijacking of Pret’s staff low-wage shows how little they care about retail workers AND don’t want to take it up with givernment workers’ pay.
I explained since last year that there ONLY few baristas emplpyed compared to other staff. And VERY FEW baristas get the £12.85 and if lucky the +£1.25 bonus = £14.10. And out of those baristas they work at airports and railways stations where it’s immensely busy and Pret pay all staff a few pennies more as well as charging customers more.
A Team Leader who is a position ABOVE the Barista even doesn’t get £12.85 + £1.25 = £14.10.
Just yesterday on Facebook a shop manager posted a staff ad that shows the numbers. I put 2 screenshots here, the 2. with the time stamp so people don’t say this is an old ad. The time stamp hides Pret’s name, so I put both screenshots having hovered of the time:
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The Team Leader there like in most shops gets around £12.15 and if lucky the bonus which then is £13.40. Still no £14.10 despite being a position higher than the barista.
ONLY in AIRPORTS and SOME RAILWAY STATIONS get SOME, VERY FEW baristas £12.85 and if lucky +£1.25.
I worked in shops of 35 – 40 staff all shift and places (kitchen and shop). They only have 1 – 2 Baristas and several coffee makers who are paid less. Airports and the busy trainstations have 2 – 3 Baristas (if at all!) plus several cheaper coffee makers to save money on Barista wage. Do the math on how many airport and railway stations shops there are and estimate how many “trained” Baristas they have, and even out of those few, not many get the £14.10 incl. bonus.
IT’S JUST A HANDFUL out of thousands of staff!!!
UPDATE September 2023:
A job ad on Facebook with barista pay £11.42
It’s clear from what I write below that the £14.10 is a myth and only available for extremely rare baristas who have connections to management.
September 2nd, 2023: £11.42 + £1.50 bonus (if lucky to get it) = £12.92 NOT £14.10!
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Further in my post from March 2023:
UPFRONT:
Pret emphasise BARISTA wages, even though hourly paid Team Leaders are above Barista’s position and pay, and that’s simply BECAUSE many staff and especially Baristas have quit Pret.
And ESPECIALLY after the smoothie/frappe lies Pret gave for years resulting in the BBC reporting on it .
Pret NEED Baristas since many shops open later and close earlier due to even more lack of staffsince the coffee subscription mess. Therefore Pret emphasise THAT particular payrise to the press, despite Team Leader being a position AND pay above Baristas. Only VERY few Baristas will get that “up” to pay, who work at airports and made friends with management.
Pret depend on Baristas to get many and FAST coffees out because coffee is the BIGGEST profit margin and Pret keep pushing the coffee subscription that had many staff quit! A latte for customers means £3.50+, but for Pret means around £40p including cup, lid, milk, water, Barista wages etc.
So, Pret will be delighted to find that social media is on fire with people appalled that Pret staff (supposedly) will earn more than junior doctors, and so getting much needed publicity after all the bad press. Pret very cleverly again use terminology and keep information vague. Quoting the UP TO £14.10 “depending on experience and location”.
Pret via the media announced a payrise in March 2023 for April 2023, but fail to mention WHY they raise wages. The UK government will raise the minimum wage to £10.40 in April, and Pret would be in breach if they don’t raise the basic pay as it is below £10.40 currently (March 2023).
A Pret worker will start at £10.60 in April. Pret always pay 20p more than the minimum wage to appear generous. But this is because work at Pret is so exhausting, staff work for three people, even before the pandemic. But now it’s much much worse, and many staff have quit. The current pay bands until end of March 2023 can be seen below.
Pret say that depending on experience and location, that Baristas can earn up to £14.10 per hour, but again keeping it nice and vague. Pret don’t mention that this is for including the £1.25 bonus which is NOT contractual. And the “up to” pays incl. bonus is at airports and busy railway stations like Waterloo, King’s Cross etc. where the pay for staff and food costs for customers are higher. And airports are even WORSE busy than regular shops! And it’s “up to” £14.10! Mostly it’s less than that for most Baristas.
“Barista pay is slightly higher and will increase from between £10.85 and £12.50 an hour to between £11.20 and £12.85. Pay rates depend on location and experience.” Source: Sky.com
So, the £14.10 INCLUDES the £1.25 Mystery Shopper bonus which is NOT contractual and therefore not guaranteed (many shopsrarely get the extra £1.25 bonus per hour). It can be refused to be rewarded by weekly Mystery Shoppers (see Mystery Shopper reports on what’s demanded from staff), but also by Managers for ANY silly reason. The bonus system as psychology is abused and used to keep workers on their toes.
Hardly any Barista will get the £12.85, let alone the added £1.25 = £14.10 per hour. Most start and REMAIN on the lowest of £11.20 and don’t always get the £1.25 bonus.
Also, Pret shop General Managers who have to cover Team Members (lowest position) to save money and work overtime without extra pay, say that at times Team Members are paid more than GMs.
And a staff who is HOMELESS and has to couch surf while Pret do their PR stunts “helping” homeless people and collecting donations (for tax breaks and brownie points with the public):
I suggest again like I do all the time, that an undercover journalist goes into Pret or at least that journalists wait a few months until AFTER April 2023 when wages across companies are raised, and ASK Pret Baristas from different shops if they get the “up to” £14.10 incl. bonus. I guarntee you, most will laugh you out of the shop!
And Pret here emphasise on Barista pay while Team Leader pay and position higher than Barista. That means Pret are DESPERATE for Baristas as many have left.
Plus, all staff, and especially management work many more hours overtime unpaid. So, if breaking down the pay, it is less than all the pay bands mentioned in below’s chart. Staff are manipulated to work overtime without pay and managers are pressured to CUT labour and then stay longer unpaid. Win-win for Pret execs and shareholders on the backs of shop workers AND managers.
And shops on average have 1 – 3 or 4 assistant managers (kitchen and shop floor) while having anything between 15 – 50+ staff depending on how big and busy/long opening hours the shop is, like an airport or trainstation. So, this “up to” £14.10 is just for a small handful of Baristas, most who’ll be friends with management.
A Barista gets a little over £11 in April 2023 AFTER being a lesser paid team member for god knows how long. You never start as a Barista in Pret, but always as a Team Member. Only Managers who come from other company brands start as ASSISTANT Managers in Pret before then being promoted to Managers again (like it was with current CEO Pano Christou). Any other role in shops start at the bottom on Team Member level with the pay you will see in below chart.
And all the pay bands will mostly be kept at the LOWEST rate for most, except for those who make friends with management, including via the bed room. Sad but true. Please see a recent staff review on this.
And whatever pay anyone gets, they will stay on that pay for many, many years and work for three people. Pret sucks the life-blood out of staff and fool the public.
In my Pret CEO Pano Christou’s Rags to Riches post I go through the various shop positions. Pano Christou loves to tell the press that he “started in shops”, which is true, but he often fails to mention that he started as an assistant manager with more pay, perks, benefits, more holiday, more bonus, sick pay from day 1 (that’s a big one!) etc. etc.
I explain in detail many of the benefits he received from day 1 starting in Pret compared to what a Team Member gets. In brief, the main SHOP positions are very hierarchical. You NEVER jump the line to Barista. Workers start at:
#1 – Team Member
#2 – Barista or Hot Chef (shop floor) or Team Member Trainer (kitchen)
#3 – Team Leader (kitchen or shop floor as both are run by separate Team Leaders)
#4 And THEN Assistant Manager shop OR kitchen. Pano started from day one as AM after coming from McDonald’s where he was a Manager. ONLY Managers from other companies fast track, or rather for them, back track to Assistant Manager position with lots of perks.
Pano just likes to portray to the public that he started at the “bottom”. Typical Pret psychological wordings, knowing the public always ASSUMES things. “Starting in shops” can mean anything! But most assume it means he started as a low-wage Team Member. Nopes.
I worked at Pret when Pano was UK Managing Director, and I was never impressed with him. In my experience, he’s not a leader. He doesn’t come up with any significant changes, he was just the shadow of his mentor, former CEO Clive Schlee, like a clone speaking the same psychological slogans. And even in staff reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed and on social media staff keep mentioning that he’s detached, despite visitng shops to let his boss hang out. In my impression of him, he has his head in the sand and just caters to Pret’s owners, 2. richest family in Germany, the Reimanns under in taxhaven Luxembourg based JAB Holdings, and he wants to build a legacy of speed-opening shops worldwide, while many existing shops are in shambles.
#5 – Genral Manager overlooking both shop and kitchen
And then if they move further up, they’ll go outside shops to become Group, then OPs/Operations (area) Managers. Group Managers get their feet wet by being placed in an area of about 4 – 5 shops before moving on to become OPs where they then look after an area of about 10 – 14 shops.
But let’s go further if we do compare government wages to private equity wages. CEO Pano Christou got £300K in 2020, £400K in 2021 during the pandemic when profits were down and after he cut wages, benefits, bonus and paid breaks of the lowest paid staff. And I’m sure he’s getting another £100K now in 2023. PLUS £4million in bonus in 2021 and counting in the years to follow.
UK Prime Minister Richi Sunak gets £165K, and let’s just forget for a moment that this is just like a waitress tip in coppers for this multi-billionaire. But Pret’s CEO gets more than double in annual wage than Sunak, PLUS millions in bonus.
USA President Biden also gets less than Pret’s CEO, just a fraction less in annual pay. Do your own research.
I took the liberty to change the BMA ad in honour of low-wage Pret Staff who are tossed around like a football by Pret, the government, and now NHS Unions and Staff:
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And this corrupt Tory government are WORTH the likes of Pret. You know why? Because they deserve every mouldy sandwich they can buy.
Now, here’s the current pay rate for Pret shop staff until April 2023 for each position. And as you can see, you won’t find assistant managers on the chart. 😉
Pret just spin the numbers very vaguely, not mentioning the discretionary bonus, and the public falls for it!
I screenshot this table on 13.03.2023 off Pret’s website where it’s linked to via a pdf link:
So, workers, as in Team Members will start 20p higher than the minimum wage from April on. And that’s for staff over 22 years old, mind you. And a Team Leader is really like a mini manager doing all the work, running shops and getting all the blame. I was a Team Leader, I know how excrutiating it is for such a low pay.
Also, Pret made cuts to staff IMMEDIATELY before first lockdown in March 2020 WHILE giving freebies to NHS workers. And later Pret proceeded to cut wages, benefits, bonus, paid breaks etc. Pret workers are still worse off than before. This payrise is due to the minimum wage being raised, and is a complete joke and PR stunt.
And most fall for it using low-wage Pret workers as examples to boost support for NHS staff. I completely agree that doctors, nurses etc. should get way more pay, but don’t use Pret staff and the MISLEADING “up to” £14.10 pay which includes the discretionary (not mandatory) £1.25 bonus to make a point, while you don’t do your research properly and fall for Pret’s vague wording where Pret leave YOU to assume the pay is for baristas.
Use the government’s CORRUPT dealings to prove your point! And stop falling for Pret’s bullshit!
Doctors, nurses and unions should point their fingers UP to the government that always say they can’t afford to pay what doctors/nurses and unions ask for. Yet, the government comes up with multi billions for dodgy stuff. THAT’S where doctors and nurses should raise their voices, and not the lazy way to point downwards to fastfood workers. What a shame!
Use the Billions the government came up with for the track & trace scheme that failed.
Use the £140 million they already paid and the annual £1.5 Billion to send traumatised refugees to Rwanda, a country with human rights issues.
Use the millions upon millions upon millions of pounds for dodgy contracts by many Tory politicians for their families and friends.
Use the wall paper money Boris Johnson spent.
Take your pick! The list can go on and on and on. But no, let’s use low-wage Pret workers. That’s LAZY activism! And it’s also misleading and deeply dissappointing that educated people don’t fact check Pret’s pay for various roles but just fall for Pret’s clever and vague wording.
Point to this corrupt government that use tax payers’ money to spend it on themselves instead of the people and workers across the board. The government AND Pret LOVE it when workers in all fields and skills pick on each other for the crumbs these millionaires throw at them.
Last year Pret TWICE delayed paying staff under dodgy excuses. The second pay delay strategically using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, knowing the public would be distracted should the press become wind of it, which it did as I was contacted by Pret staff and passed it on to The Guardian. AND on Monday banks are closed while Pret promised that staff can get pay on THAT bank holiday Monday.
I was contacted by desperate staff and emailed CEO Pano Christou and openly copying in Sarah Butler from The Guardian, who then reported on it. But because it was the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, hardly anyone noticed the news. Pret being clever again.
Later The Guardian then also reported that the CEO got almost £4million in bonus and a 27% payrise in 2021 AFTER he cut wages, benefits, bonus etc.
That’s Pret A Manger for you!
Junior Doctors do NOT earn less than Pret baristas! Do some FACT checking and research, and stop using the bottom most rung like Pret and everyone else already do!
The DM I received and passed on to The Guardian:
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying (in which Manny Matern was part of) 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.
The year hasn’t reached its first quarter yet, and this is already the “Staff Review Of The Year” for my annual Pret Year in Review.
Rarely does someone go out of their way to describe the hellish work conditions in Pret like this one. I can underline every dot and comma here. It’s a long review, but so poignant that I want to quote the whole thing here verbatim without correcting any typos as I like to leave reviews as they are in their own words.
I also quote the whole thing here because you have to be registered/signed into Glassdoor in order to read reviews, except one or two reviews, then you’re blocked from reading unless you register/sign in.
I used to post staff reviews DAILY calling it “Quotes of the Day” when I first came across Glassdoor and Indeed. I was shocked to see other similar experiences. I became OBSESSED and read ALL the reviews as well as social media comments from staff.
I wish I’d seen those while I worked at Pret, as I often felt alone in my traumatic experiences with Pret’s top leadership, former CEO Clive Schlee, then UK Managing Director/now CEO Pano Christou, then Head of HR now People bla bla whatever he’s called now, David Carter, Lila Warren the development manager who was used to gaslight me claiming she also had a brother who died in his flat and wasn’t discovered for days, and many managers and OPs managers.
Unintentionally I poked into the HEART of Pret! I explain in detail in the audio player at the very bottom of this page.
I don’t check reviews much anymore, maybe once a month, and this recent one is a treasure of knowledge in how the reality of Pret is behind the facade. This is Manchester, but this is across the company.
I will not comment on any of what the person wrote because the whole review stands on its own, only to say that apart from agreeing with all this person wrote, I can completely relate to the “shell shock” comment. I still heard my colleagues voices outside of work ordering lattes, “extra hot”, shouting, “latte is ready, who ordered the latte!”, the shouting barista: “pick up your drinks!!!” etc. etc. And I still suffer with tinnitus.
While I worked at Pret and went through the horrific bullying DURING bereavement I had this roaring tinnitus in my right ear roaring like a heater-pump in the cellar. That tinnitus type is gone and only returns when I feel stressed about something. But the beeping tinnitus in both ears remains and I’ve learnt most times to tune it out.
And the other thing which is spot on is that all foreigners work in the kitchen and get abused. Shop workers get abused as well, but differently and more covert while in the kitchen it is overt, away from customers’ eyes. But occasionally customers witness the bullying, which I posted here: Caught in the Act at Pret.
I can only implore investigative young, preferably foreign journalists to go undercover into Pret. Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror made a good start after I asked her to send someone in, but she only worked the late shift in the shop for a week. It needs at least a full month in the kitchen AND shop in the morning, and in several shops to see the systemic issues.
Pret love to employ foreigners and also put foreign managers in shops to take advantage of staff. It’s VERY common to have a Spanish or Polish shop manager who then employs mainly from their country and then only speak in their language. This is so the worker, who often just arrived in England weeks before and got a job via a friend, doesn’t learn English. The worker is completely dependent on the manager for information and is lied to left, right and centre. The worker doesn’t know their rights and where to turn to as they trust the manager thinking the manager helped them get the job.
What I want to add here on my blog is that it’s also common for managers, OPs managers and HQ staff to coerce staff into sex for promotion. I’ve worked with incapable managers where it was an open secret how they got into that position. And a former manager recently told me that half of HQ is sleeping with the other half of HQ, even giving me specific names of who slept with who even the very top executives. But I will refrain from naming the names here as even though I believe the former GM, I only post issues with evidence. But it’s very common in Pret and therefore trickles down to shops.
Just a few reviews on this:
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etc. etc. etc.
And the question the reviewer below asks is right, how can Pret be allowed to operate like this?! My only guess is since they are under this corrupt Tory government where many politicians shop at Pret, do Pret get away with even customer deaths and injuries and due to their demand for shops to reach high targets sell mouldy food.
Pret have gone unchecked on these issues, especially in the UK and Europe for years, while in the USA staff sue Pret because the legal system is different there. And the unions don’t mobilise but wait until they’re approched by burnt out staff who have no strength or will left.
A review from the USA from 2014 said a similar thing, that Pret should be reported to the Dept. of Labor, and this is from years ago before the pandemic and is from across the pond. This is across the company as Pret’s executives are the head of the fish that stinks.
And I’ve found the American reviews, especially from the no-nonsense New York staff, amongst the most angry reviews on Pret.
I don’t correct any spelling mistakes, the only thing I do is separate the sentences to make reading easier. I wish people would put spaces in their reviews! Grrrrrr. And I wish I knew who that is, I’d congratulate them for the effort and how spot on it is.
The only thing I want to briefly explain in below review about the “move off the till”. In EVERY Pret shop (sweat shop!) I worked in over 30 management always demand that the 2-3 staff members on 7 tills move from one till to the next to make it appear to Pret that the tills are well manned.
Every button the staff press on the screen is recorded. Every 15 minutes is seen in the system. If one staff uses one particular till too much having 30 transactions on that till within 15 minutes, but the next till has no transactsions, then Pret see that the tills are not manned.
So, staff are ordered by management to move tills to have 15 transactions on this till, 15 or 20 on another etc. I even had a manager who had a timer that beeped every 15 minutes and we 3 staff then had to move to an empty till. It’s basically to even out all the tills while being understaffed.
I refused to move and therefore was bullied. Pret KNOW about the moving of tills, I even told CEO Pano Christou when he was still UK Managing Director. But apart from his usual sweet-talk, nothing changed.
But this is what the reviewer here means by “move off the till”, meaning move till or move to another till. One day out of frustration I tilted the till up a little bit saying to the manager, “I’m moving the till”. Very humiliating work conditions!
Join a union!
Now to the review, my new favourite review! From 02.04.2023 in Manchester:
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“Treated like garbage, unless your face fits”
“A horrible experience for anyone with a strand of morals, decency and self respect. One of the most demoralizing workplaces I have worked at. I never knew places like this existed in the country.
The kitchens are glorified sweat shops but just in Western garb. The working conditions are really poor and I know this is made so not by stereotypes like physically poor working conditions (like dilapidated buildings for example that wouldn’t pass health and safety) or a third world country – but the deprived workplace culture, company direction and standards that exists.
It’s distressing to know sweat shops exist in the first place but to know they exist in the UK and on the high streets of every town or major city in shops like Pret takes my shock and horror to a whole other level. People work like robots for an entire shift in the kitchen with 30 minutes break (unpaid) churning out food for the shop, many of them who don’t speak English or have very poor English speaking skill and have no desire to interact with you. Exploitation comes to mind.
The people working (who are immigrant workers with poor integration) wouldn’t survive in sane decent working conditions unless they were hidden away in a shady warehouse or production plant. Instead they are hidden away in slave driving kitchens like Pret that glorifies it’s upmarket brand while they take as much as they can from their employees and bleed them dry.
If for example these people HAD to speak English and be prepared to do so daily, these people would be jobless which gives Pret as a company A LOT of power. These people, by the way, are keeping the kitchens running and therefore the shops open and they are exploited in the process. I’ve never met anyone but marginalized immigrants which explains sadly what target demographic Pret are looking for to churn out their ‘fresh food’ on a daily basis.
The same can be said for most other staff who are from demographics that represent immigrant workers where job security, advancement and opportunity are already low. Pret exploits this very evidently.
The front counter is a nightmare. Chaos all day, mismanaged and people shouting and being rude and obnoxious to customers. No structure, no team work, NO COMMUNICATION. You’re manic all day and then go home with the echoing of “CAPPUCINO!” or “ANYBODY ORDER A MOCHA?!” in your ear like some form of mild shell shock, and it repeats daily.
There’s no team cohesiveness to gel things together or make it worth the stress even in the tiniest bit. You’re on your own. Everybody for themselves, except the clique of course. If you don’t gossip, don’t backstab, don’t push others around, don’t triangulate and bully etc, you’re not welcome. Managers on power trips daily, along with leaders.
Lots and lots of posturing and this goes on in front of customers as a show of power. Constant moaning, bickering, point scoring, passive aggressiveness. Run by incapable ‘leaders’ who are nothing but manager pets whose face fits, and managers who do nothing for you but talk at you, treat you with utter contempt, demand of you and expect you to guess how to do your job effectively and then undermine and humiliate you if you ask questions or don’t know.
I was told contradictory things all the time by ‘leaders’ which was incorrect as told by managers. Manager instructions would be contradicted by leaders. Do this, don’t do this. This is okay, no it’s not okay. Move off the till as you’re putting too many orders through, why have you moved off the till, move off the till now. Most staff above team member are in positions because of favoritism and very evident discriminatory bias, not through achievement or actual skill and capability.
There are NO leaders, just very insecure and challenged individuals. All staff above team member are in a clique and know each other. Bullying is common. There is a clique around the local managers in Manchester where if you’re not in with them you have no chance from the get go and if you speak out about your concerns, you will quickly be ganged up on and ousted. These managers openly speak in European languages so you have no idea what they are saying but it’s clear it’s an us vs them environment.
Their actions speak far louder than their words. The vibes I got from working this job are some I’ve never experienced before and I’ve worked my fair share of unsavory jobs but this TOPS it. I don’t know how this company is allowed to operate.
Please read the reviews other people have created. They are NOT exaggerated, people are really suffering working for this company, and also please read up on Pret’s controversial history. The customers are also far from happy if you do your research you will find out. I did not do this and I wish I did to save me the headache of getting involved with this company. Avoid avoid avoid. There are jobs you get because you’re desperate and then there are jobs you get because you’ve made a BIG mistake. This is the latter.
Advice to Management
I have no advice for management except to say that management should be broken up to rid the toxic dynamic shared between area stores as this is clearly a main starting point for all the problems as every store is part of an ‘inside’ group where all the managers . This would allow change to occur within individual stores”
I agree with breaking up management, but Pret are not interested in that, the fish stinks from its head. CEO Pano Christou, like his predecessor Clive Schlee are just the smiley clowns of Pret, fooling everyone.
When I read reviews on Glassdoor it’s best to click “Recent Reviews” or “Lowest Rated” to see systemic issues, and on Indeed click on ALL (not just UK).
I cannot imagine a more poignant and detailed review to come this year, so this review will go as the “Review of the Year 2023” in my yearly YouTube Pret summary!
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying (in which Manny Matern was part of) 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.
Pret A Manger and their sister company itsu have become so accustomed to the public believing every lie and BS they dish up, they don’t realise how silly they look.
They live and move in such a bubble, for years having gotten away with lies and BS. Not even customer deaths and multiple criticism, bad press and bad staff reviews faze them. “Them” as in Pret and itsu, as in Julian Metcafe, Clive Schlee, Pano Christou, David Carter, Andrea Wareham, Lila Warren etc. etc. etc.
This screenshot is from a deleted tweet of none other than Julian Metcalfe, RE-founder of Pret and founder of itsu.
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Yeah, low-wage, zero-hour contracted workers love such flexibility because they are so rich to be working at itsu and Pret in the first place!
There is no cure for entitled arrogance.
I write extensively about his connections to the Royal Family, a questionable connection, his love for zero-hour contracts as well as robots, and how I chased him off Twitter.
He kept RT-ing my Tweets until probably someone from Pret educated him of who I am. He then deleted his account. More of his response to me on Twitter which he deleted after just being on Twitter for 2 days:
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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, and worked with the BBC.
I was recently insulted over a hundred times on Facebook by a guy to whom I pointed out Pret’s mouldy food. Warning people about potential food poisoning, especially after 2 customers died in Pret and over 20 got injured from unlabelled/mislabelled allergen, I was met with hostility by this James guy on Facebook.
After a lot of “interaction” and his insults, he posted an interesting comment about Manny Matern without even mentioning he rlast name! Manny is a former Operations manager (OPs) who supposedly gave me a hard time on social media. Once he wrote that weird comment, I remembered I wanted to put an interaction on my blog on how Manny lied publicly under a post on Linkedin where Pret CEO Pano Christou was also tagged in and would be notified to see my post.
I found it weird that this guy mentioned Manny. And then taking a closer look at his photos, there seems to be a resemblance!
I initially wanted to put the Facebook guy James’ comments here as I screenshot all his insults, but I don’t want to give this toxic guy any space here, and ideally I don’t want to give Manny any space. But I find it important to call her out as I had personal encounters with her.
She was part of the management team in an area where I was bullied and she took part in it against me while I was traumatically bereaved which she knew about.
I left Pret almost 2018 when I started to publicly expose Pret. I January 2021 Manny “liked” a pinned tweet I have about former CEO Clive Schlee. Manny knew Clive well as she worked for over 20 years in Pret. She literally clicked “like” on it.
I then asked her publicly on Twitter to press unlike as I don’t want any affiliation with her and her on my social media. I also publicly asked her on Linkedin. For 6+ months she kept ignoring my request.
I finally then asked this request again publicly under CEO Pano Christou’s Linkedin post, tagging Manny in.
She then lied that she never liked anything etc. And then I posted a screenshot of her “like” under Pano Christou’s Linkedin. She then blocked me, which was about time and I called her out publicly, like she assisted a main bully who asked Manny for help against me.
And then, years later when Manny saw how I kick Pret’s butt via myblog and also the press, she thought she could show me some “solidarity” by clicking “like” on my pinned tweet. No, girl, you go back to Pret and keep sucking up to them. As an Operations Manager in 2015 when I was targeted by Ivana, your colleague, you had every opportunity to put Ivana in her place and support me, knowing I just lost my brother.
So, Manny, if you’re reading this, thank James (who looks similar to you) for pointing you out on Facebook, because I completely forgot to put your lie on my blog. back in 2021.
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After months of me asking her publicly on Twitter and Linkedin to “unlike” my pinned tweet, I asked her again publicly under CEO Pano Christou’s Linkedin. Mr. Christou deleted his Twitter account in July 2019 after I linked his Twitter account to the press when Clive Schlee’s “retirement” was announced. He then shifted to Linked in where business people tell him all day how wonderful he is, while shops are in shambles and sell mouldy food.
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Manny, quote: “I have never nor would I like any of your posts on any social media platform …”
Liar, liar!
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I learnt from people like Manny, and the bully Ivana Hrmova and all the other toxic, lying OPs managers to always keep evidence and everything in writing. And now I shove it back at all the current and former Pret execs.
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying (in which Manny Matern was part of) 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.
My dilemma with NHS therapists is mainly unprofessionality. I don’t have the strength to write a long blog post, but just want to highlight something. Please excuse any potential spelling mistakes as I am lazy at the moment and for some reason the spell-check doesn’t work here at the moment. I will clean up this post later. I’m just tired, but still want to share something important regarding therapists.
I’ve had several NHS therapists, all limited to six or no more than twenty week sessions. Some I cut short due to unprofessionality. My last therapist told me within the first minutes of our first telephone assessment which she almost missed, that she is on compassionate leave. Compassionate leave usually means there is a bereavement. Minutes later she told me that she is from Ukraine. This conversation is days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
So, I’m in the dilemma immediately not knowing how to proceed and find myself in the therapist position again, and as a client feeling selfish to be the client while her country is under siege. She is also the trauma therapist who kept telling me from the first session on that “talking alone doesn’t help”. And I told her later that I haven’t even started talking then and now. This therapy was EMDR, this eye-movement therapy, which makes no sense to me and didn’t do anything for me.
My first therapist after my brother died was a trainee, but I didn’t know this at first and assumed he was a bereavement counselor as I asked for this via the initial phone assessment with a NHS person. He later started to talk about some private stuff, how he was a business man before moving into therapy. He even turned up at work when I worked at Pret. He knew I worked at Pret as I just started talking about my Pret ordeal. He knew the area, but not my exact shop. But one day he suddenly stood in the shop and I completely blocked him out in my mind like having a black-out for a few seconds until he reminded me a week later in therapy session that I was very professional. Only then did I remember that I saw him in my shop.
I remember not being happy at all and communicated to him that I’m not comfortable that he just comes to my work, even though it was complete coincidence.
A psychiatrist who did a diagnosis was very “clumsy”. He would not wear a mask in the period between first and second lockdown. He would pull the chair too close to him for me to sit, in a large room. I then took another chair and sat further away from him behind a desk to broaden the distance.
As an effort to gain my trust, he told me in the second assessment appointment that his brother was currently in hospital. I didn’t respond to it but later in an email asked him to not speak about any personal issues. As he knew about my trauma about my brother’s death, he thought he could mention his sick brother to build some kind of connection. No, sir!
Another therapist I had briefly was a psycho-analyst that Pret paid for AFTER I contacted former CEO Clive Schlee, because for almost a year Pret’s HR department kept ignoring my concerns with the prolonged late shifts and then the bullying etc. Pret then paid for short-term therapy whereas before contacting the CEO in WRITING it was hard to even get an appointment with HR. This psycho-analyst at about the third session would lie in his armchair with his back resting on one armrest and his legs dangling over the other armrest as if he was at home or in a pub.
I didn’t go back to the fourth session and never returned.
I don’t know why many therapists, NHS and private, keep acting unprofessional. I don’t understand how they’re trained and if no one tells them that it is inaproprite to speak about THEIR private lives or have inapropriate body language/behaviour.
It puts a burden on the client who then switches into friend-mode or turns into the therapist trying to support the therapist whose country just got invaded or whose brother is in hospital. I communicated that with most therapists that I don’t want to know any of their private stuff, and it’s embarrassing for me to even have to tell this to therapists.
I write all this because recently I watched an interview of an actress that I don’t know. She was interviewed by my favourite talkshow host Stephen Colbert. I don’t care for most actors or guests that come on shows, but I love Stephen Colbert and love watching his work. So, I sit through all interviews of all guests, even though I’m not interested in many of them, mainly because I’m bored with movies and actors. But Stephen Colbert makes it worthwile.
Apart from the AMAZING dress this actress was wearing, she said something that had me think BINGO! Now she can afford many years of therapy, not sure why so long, but if you have the money, why not? And she doesn’t realise what a professional therapist she has!!!
I NEED a strong trauma specialist, but can’t afford it. But I so appreciate what she said about her therapist. I quote verbatim starting where it starts at around 5:37 minutes.
Quote: “I had the same therapist for about eight / nine years … I treat it [therapy] as a car where I want to do the maintenance while opposed when the car breaks down … then try to fix it in the end …
At 6:20 Stepehn Colbert asks Jessica Williams if her role as a therapist is based on her own therapsit, and she says “No” … “I don’t even know that much about my therapist.”
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Eight or nine years with the same therapist and she hardly knows anything about the therapist! THAT is a fncking GOOD therapist!!!!!!!
Further she says, “I wish I did, I’m always trying to, like, deduce what her life is, secretly. Sometimes she’ll let it slip every now and then. …” etc.
And I think, girl, you have a good therapist if after 8 years you still don’t know much about her or him. Of course after YEARS of therapy it’s just human that some personal info slips here and there, but not at the first session or early on in the therapy, and certainly not any traumatic issues the therapist may have suffered or currently goes through.
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Side note, she mentions as well that when she bumped into her therapist at the grocery store that she “dissociated” from her body as she was taken off guard to see her therapist in a private setting. This is a good description in how I felt when my early trainee therapist suddenly stood in my shop where I worked in Pret. I remember going home thinking who I saw that day but couldn’t remember until the therapist told me at the next session days later.
He started the session saying, “You’re really professional”. I replied asking what he meant. “Well, you didn’t say anything.” Again, what is he talking about? And he said that last week when he was in my shop and I just looked at him but kept walking past him without greeting him or saying anything. This is then that I remembered that I saw “someone” but couldn’t figure out who and why it’s significant. On my way home I remember very well thinking “Who did I see today? There was someone I saw…”. I thought that it must have been a famous person or so, as I served many famous people in Pret, but I won’t drop names here! 😛
So, his mentioning this made me remember. But I was in general in great shock about my brother’s death as this was about 6 months after I learnt. Seeing the therapist was then another type of shock I couldn’t process and then just “dissociated” myself llike Jessica above experienced. It’s really weird how the mind works.
When I talk about my brother’s death and how I learnt about it etc. I do NOT want a therapist to think that talking about their brother will make me open up or feel at ease. It has the OPPOSITE effect!!!
YOU are the therapist and I am the client. STOP putting the client into the position of the carer who has to again carry a burden that doesn’t belong to the client for fnck’s sake!
If a therapist ever stumbles across this blog post, please go back to the basics of what I hope they teach therapists in university to NOT share ANY personal information, especially if it has to do with your own traumas, sickness, loved ones, loss etc. And especially not at the very first session or early on into sessions!
One therapist said to me “You have a lot of insight, you should consider doing a course in counselling”. Ok, fair enough I appreciate that observation and advise. I explained that I couldn’t be a counselor because I would carry people’s problems home with me and have enough pain and trauma at the moment.
And this might be my dilemma, I am so broken inside, such a mess, but I come across very strong, with a lot of insight. I can verbalise my own trauma very well etc. And some therapists then might get “tempted” to start speaking about their stuff. I don’t know. But it makes me depressed because I feel forced to put up my guard again and slip into therapist – or friend-mode. It feels and IS unhealthy and simply unfair.
It seems like many therapists want to do short cuts, as sessions are often limited to 6 weeks, by quickly throwing in some private info that they think is similar to the client’s trauma in hopes the client opens up quick and the sessions go on smoothly.
I truly believe that many, if not most therapist should not be therapists and may have chosen that occupation or role to either fulfil their own deficits, or because it’s good money. A regular councelor can charge around £60 for a 50 minute session. A good therapist starts at £80-£100 per 50 minute session.
And if you charge that, please don’t use the client as your shrink!
So, I keep just watching good therapists that I find on YouTube and give up hope, because the reality is that without finances, you simply can’t find a “proper” trauma specialist, not in the UK. My go-to therapist is Dr. Ochberg, even his old videos. A “too-good-to-be-true” therapist.
Since my brother died and everything that unfolded regarding his death, how the police dealt with it, how I had to learn about it, how he was already cremated and so many other complications, how my friends were either helpless or careless and most abandoning me early on, how relatives dealt with it, how Pret bullied me etc. etc. etc. I have become a complicated “being”. A heavy, abnormal load.
Since my brother died and everything else that happened, I have become like this bulky, unstable, loud load that really needed a vehicle to drive ahead, next to me and behind me to navigate through life and keep other vehicles on the road safe.
I didn’t have a vehicle like this to protect me and others from this load. I bumped into other vehicles, crushing them and kept crushing myself with the load. And when a vehicle came along, at best it was more like a bicycle trying to pull a truck out of the ditch. And at worst there was none to help me navigate the load, and worse, there were tanks from several sides crushing me under the load (Pret A Manger etc.).
Where I used to be the most loyal friend, reliable, trustworthy, discreet, patient, giving the benefit of the doubt, I became the opposite of these. Partly through the trauma, through alcohol, in anxiety, anger, hopelessness, not knowing who to trust. But nevertheless, it’s my load, it’s my responsibility, it’s my fault, it’s my sh!t.
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(While searching for a picture of the escort vehicles for abnormal loads, I found this and love their name “P.A.L.S.” Priest Abnormal Load Services. Very fitting for my metaphor.)
I don’t mix the 3 “Fs” well. I have always kept them separate.
If I have family, I have family who are there no matter what. But that wasn’t always the case. If I have friends, they are not my family and abandon you quickly. And a firm, an employer should stop calling themselves a “family” to brainwash employees to work for free and work most of their waking hours spending time at the firm. And if someone offers me friendship, I don’t trust it thinking what do they really want.
I walked through Oxford yesterday with some people who are neither family, nor friends, nor a firm I work with.
The “leader” of the group was like a General who zigzagged us through the town to check off all the events they planned to see. One of the group was an elderly, but still young enough lady who had walking difficulties. She couldn’t keep up with the pace and had another lady walk with her most of the time. I spent most of the day trying to slow the General down and decided halfway through the day to give up and to also walk with the lady at the end of the flow.
I went home yesterday KNOWING that in society people who “slow down” a group / an agenda / an idea … are left behind. I refused to leave the lady struggling at the end of the line. My wish would be that all the group slow down their walk and walk side-by-side with the lady, instead of pushing ahead in passive-aggressiveness to cover everything they wanted to cover on the journey.
That’s my story. I used to have friends until my brother died. Then my friends and the firm I worked with (Pret A Manger to name them) deemed it inconvenient to walk with me at the back of the group.
My family was broken, and are now dead. My relatives didn’t help, rather the opposite.
And whatever else people want from me is just for their needs/wants/conveniences.
And whoever is left, or resurfaces or is new in my journey, I push away when drunk.
I have become high maintenance, where I used to be easy, where I used to be light (in load and radiance / neither heavy nor dark).
I still have so much anger and so many wrongs I wish to right, but don’t know where to start and if I can survive the load.
I sabotage myself, partly I think with the thought that why should I have a good life with good things and good people when my brother can’t have that anymore because he’s fucking dead and I couldn’t change that?
A favourite artist’s music used to carry me through difficult times when I thought those times were horrible, which now seem a far away walk in the park.
Julie Miller’s »At the End of the Road« which, like many of her songs she sings with her husband Buddy, describes the burdens of life in simple words:
In today’s climate, a cheesy song. And this song is from a Christian perspective where God is waiting at the end of life to carry you into bliss. I don’t believe in that stuff anymore, but the song is still a comfort, to at least hope, that I can be some “burden-lifter” to someone without being taken advantage of by false friends, or a firm that exploits without shame, and a family that is none as in some relatives, or a family that is no more, as in dead.
But as beautiful as the song is, and ringing “truth” to Christians who put their faith in the beyond, that at the end of a heavy life they might bump into a god who THEN helps them, I don’t need anyone at the END of my road. I needed someone DURING the journey ON my road, like the lady yesterday who couldn’t keep up with the pace of the group. Then two of us walked side-by-side with her, chatting and giving her the dignity that she is not a burden, but that we love to walk alongside her and explore the town, in the hope she forgets her painful back and legs. I think she was in a lot of pain, but put on brave face and refused to sit down inbetween. She was more thinking of the group than herself. And that’s the shame of our soiciety today.
The ones who really need some burdens lifted are the ones who lift wrong burdens in society.
And as beautiful a metaphor Julie’s song of faith is, it would have been hyporcisy to have said to the lady with her deformed legs and painful back yesterday, “Hey babe, keep walking, at the end of this road over there by the trainstation the journey will be lighter, I will be there. Until then, see ya la’er”.
And how cynical would it have been if I told the lady yesterday that her painful back will be lighter, and that she should just look down on the pavement where there are the invisible footprints of Jesus who carries her. Bye! I’ll meet you later at the train station where I will be there for you. The lady didn’t need to be met by the General and the rest of the group at the end of the road, the train station, but at the BACK of the road where she was left behind.
Or when I had Covid mildly in 2021 and I helped in a nearby cafe as a volunteer “opportunity” (free labour for a business!) and we still had to self-isolate by law, I informed the facilitator that I can’t come in for at least a week. She replied back that if I needed anything “next week” to just let them know. I told her a week later when I tested negative again, that I don’t need anything once I’m negative, but that I might have needed something THAT DAY when I started the week-long self-isolation and wasn’t allowed to go outside for shopping! In other words “call me once you’re better and I can pretend to be there for you at the end of the road.”
I hope the lady with the walking difficulty didn’t feel like a burden or that we showed pity. It wasn’t pity, although I was angry with the General and some of the group. I said to one of the group who was kind to the lady that I didn’t realize I joined the military when driving up to Oxford.
I want to re-write Julie’s text a little for the walking lady:
If you should feel tired and cold And if you need someone to hold you, my friend Then you should feel perfectly safe In the middle of your road There are we to carry your load with you to bear, we-ee are there So when you’ve been long on your feet With no idea when you might meet the rest of the fleet Then onto these arms you can lean
In the middle of your road There’s hopefully NOW a much lighter load for you to bear, we are here …
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The end of the road I am moving towards, where the load becomes light, is the end we all will come to. I simply cannot see an end of a road being that my life becomes “light” again, or that I won’t have anger anymore, or that I will succeed to completely stop drinking, or that I’d be able again to trust people, or that I won’t lash out in this PTSD mode, or that I can trust that there will be someone somewhere, or that I won’t be the one in my family who dies alone in a room or a hospital or a nursing home …
And maybe I can take an offer of friendship at face value without the suspicion of anyone being an opportunist. That’s my fault to be suspicious. And it’s my fault to push people away. I’m not a risk-taker. I rather crush under my load than take the risk to hope. I have no courage anymore to lose people, to lose things.
My abnormal load has become other people’s load they can’t carry. And it is not their load to carry. It is mine. But I don’t know how to shed the load in a constructive and healthy way. And if people come along to help carry some of the load or better, to move alongside the abnormal load to help navigate through the narrow roads, I don’t allow them for fear they crush or leave me in the ditch again. I prefer to crush on my own. Self-sabotage is the load to divert the “punishment” from others to myself.
All I know to do is try to lift other people’s load a little bit. A lady who can’t walk fast and is left behind by a group who has an agenda. Let’s walk side-by-side, no matter how slow.
One of my favourite Emily Dickinson poems may be a favourite because I try to give “legitimacy” to my existence by trying to not be a burden to others, but maybe be able to lift a burden instead of being one. But that’s wishful thinking.
»If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.«
But even a bird’s feather is sometimes too heavy for me now. I have become selfish, more than I need to maybe.
I can’t apologise anymore. I can only say that I am not the friend anyone thinks I am. I am not what you need and not what you want. I am incapable in friendships and in employment. I am useless in any relationship. That’s my end of the road, and I am there myself to stop walking with my load and just leave it be.
This blog entry will be an evolving one, because there is no answer or moral to this story.
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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.
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 and what Shop Managers and HQ Staff say about Pret and their leadership. 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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
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, and was mentioned by the BBC.
Upfront to the WordPress staff who always check my blog posts when I publish a new one. I’m not sure if it is WordPress policy to pass info on to current and former company heads, in this case Pret as I got a certain “visitor” again after I wrote a crucial post. WordPress already moved me into the “adult” section where they only move porn sites to. This is censorship after I believe Pret must have reported me, but I write under free speech and don’t lie, backed up with tons of evidence.
So, if a WordPress staff serves as a “snitch” to Pret, please talk to your line manager and check if this is appropriate or WordPress policy.
Thanks.
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I don’t check Pret staff reviews anymore as much like I used to, maybe once a month. But a recent review from a shop General Manager (GM) got my attention. This GM mentioned among some negative feedback on Pret that CEO Pano Christou is “exceptionally kind”.
Part quote from the review:
“Cons: Expectation to achieve work that is physically impossible, in a timeline that, when broken down, is mathematically impossible. Intense pressure leading to breaking codes and regulations is a common occurrence, and those with stronger ethics end up working up to 100 hours/wk.
Advice to Management: Instead of only setting targets and expectations, map out how they could be achieved. Consider why most management leaves the company they love so much, due to burnout.
With that said, Pano is exceptionally kind and I’m sure he would fix all these issues with more competent direct subordinates.”
And this is where most workers, even managers when young go wrong and are brainwashed. It is the CHIEF, the head of the company who is the problem and who sets the tone for the company. Pano decides on pay cuts and cut workers’ pay, benefits and paid breaks so he can get a pay-rise and millions in bonus.
And why did this GM not approve of Pano and give him the green light (check mark). This GM refrained from giving an approval or disapproval. Very weird review. Confused GM? But it shows how Pano continues to charm and blind workers as well as journalists.
It is Pano who works in Pret since over 20 years, who implements and continues an abusive mystery shopper scheme and sets unrealistic targets for his bosses and shareholders to be happy.
That’s exactly the mistake many staff make, they are unhappy with how Pret are, how they are treated etc. but they don’t attribute this to the top leadership, because like former CEO Clive Schlee, current CEO Pano speaks “kindly” to staff in head office or when they do their rounds visiting shops.
And that’s exactly their game. It’s like a “bad cop / good cop” situation. It’s all a tactic, a game where the CEO separates himself from the harsh OPs (Operations/Area Managers) who are tasked to set high targets that GMs find unrealistic to reach.
CEO Pano, like Clive before him, is the “good cop” and let’s lower ranked staff be the bad cop, but all of these execs have a common goal: make as much money as possible on the backs of low-wage workers and customers.
But THE FISH STINKS FROM ITS HEAD!
In June 2017 Pret held a one or two week seminar only for leaders and managers at the prestigious Barbican Centre on customer service. I speak about this seminar extensively on my podcast in Part 01, Part 02, Part 03 and Part 04 of labeling issues and allergy trial. All episodes will open in a new window.
I speak about this seminar as it was held a year after the first customer, Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died, but NO mention whatsoever on allergens or labeling. No training or retraining. NOTHING.
All we were “taught” was how to continue to “slime” customers and love-bomb them to gain and retain them and then bring back to the shops what we “learnt” (which was nothing new). In hindsight it seemed to me that the development team came up with this seminar where we learnt nothing new to use their annual budget. When departments don’t use their annual budget, it often gets cut for the next annual period.
That seminar seemed to me like a complete waste of time and funds. It could/should have been used to invite scientists and allergy experts in light of the first customer’s death and several injured to teach us on allergens and labeling. But no, Pret went ahead with a meaningless seminar in the expensive Barbican rooms.
The title of the seminar was called “Be Kind – Be Honest – Be Generous”. A VERY typical Pret brainwash which turns out to always be the complete opposite.
I explain on my 4 part podcast episodes above that Pret are far from kind when they did NOTHING after TWO customers died and several got injured, as well as having bullied me DURING bereavement and the systemic bullying culture that exists in Pret.
And being honest? I know from own experience how dishonest Pret are and expose some of their lies on social media.
And being generous? Let’s see how generous Pret are.
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The email invite to the seminar where I got my slot to go:
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Also, calling Pret’s training center an “academy” I felt always as a joke. In my training times in head office, I rarely learnt anything and had to train myself for years in shops searching and reading up on issues myself.
Pret’s generosity
On 18. March 2020 just before the first lockdown when the whole world was still in the air about Covid, Pret made a typical PR announcement to be giving free coffees and 50% food rebates to all NHS workers every day. All they need to do is show their NHS badge and they get a free coffee and cheaper food.
Great. Everyone went crazy on Pret’s “generosity”. And as Pret are Pret, they often make these charity announcements to cover up what they’re doing in the background to staff or other dodgy things.
The very next morning 19. March 2020 I wake up to a DM of a desperate staff that CEO Pano Christou sent an email to all shops and head office with the announcement that Pret will be cutting hours, and with it pay.
DM:
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Pret used the NHS not only for PR but as a smokescreen to hide their nasty cuts to staff. very generous!
Full CEO email here: To NHS Employees. Already low-wage Pret workers basically PAID for the NHS PR stunt.
There was only ONE NHS staff who was disgusted at this after I started swamping Twitter with this:
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Further on Pret’s “kindness, honesty and generosity”
Again, on 1st June 2022, just before the Queen’s Platinum Jubliee I woke up to a new DM by a different Pret staff reaching out to me that Pret for the 2. time this year delayed paying staff under supposedly “payroll errors”.
I immediately emailed CEO Pano Christou but openly copying in the press including Sarah Butler from the Guardian, other journalists and BFAWU President Ian Hodson who, Sarah Butler then interviewed.
Again, Pret cleverly used an occasion, just like with the NHS freebies, where the public is distracted with the Queen’s celebrations AND knowing that on bank holiday Monday all banks are closed.
Part of the DM:
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Pret’s announcement where if staff need money they can get it but with a fee which Pret supposedly would pay:
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On Instagram a staff member announced to be sabotaging Pret now, others called sick as an indirect strike action. Food and service quality would be compromised:
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Is it “exceptionally kind” of Pano to cut pay, use the pay cuts to fund NHS freebies etc. etc.?
WAKE UP EMPLOYEES!
People may ask why Pret would delay pay on purpose, simple, CEO Pano behaves exactly like a manager in Pret does. They have weekly, monthly, but most importantly quarterly targets to reach. June was moving to the end of the 2. quarter. And pay delays with constantly managers “forgetting” to pay hours helps shops and management to reach targets and get higher bonuses.
Pret settled TWICE in New York having had to repay 4000 workers close to a million dollars each time for WAGE THEFT!
Pret was also amongst UK companies being caught to pay some staff UNDER the legally required minimum wage and were then named and shamed by the UK Government.
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Or a few years ago under Clive Schlee, customers started to boycott Pret after finding out that Pret wanted to get young people to get free labour, using the apprenticeship short-term experience to not pay them except via “free food”.
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So, after I emailed Pet’s CEO copying in Sarah Butler and the press and Sarah wrote the following article, but it got drowned out by the Jubilee celebrations.
And Sarah Butler dug a little further later after I mentioned on my blog and podcast that Pano Christou received £300K pay in 2020 but didn’t spill the beans on how much he got in 2021 and 2022 after cutting wages. Then in August 2022 she reported the following:
So, in 2021 Pano got a £100K pay-rise and £4million in bonus while cutting as much as possible from low-wage staff who carried Pret through a dangerous pandemic. In 2020 Pano already got paid more than the UK Prime Minister and about the same as US President Biden. Since 2021 Pano overtook that further.
I could go on and on and on regarding Pret’s “kindness, honesty and generosity” by posting countless staff reviews on Pret’s wage theft, pay delay, missing pay as well as my own experience. But I want to end with my all-time favourite former customer tweet which I could not have put into better words!
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 witnessed by customers: 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.
She takes responsibility while Pret blame downwards as usual.
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Let’s see some tears, hey!
But it needs to be the tears of a young blonde female.
Nothing new under the sun.
Pret will use that to say “See, not our responsibility”.
Let’s use a new business venture, a female young person to put blame on. Let’s do the usual.
You know the drill.
And it will work. Why? Because we live in a globalised situation where the trend is to suck anyone lower out of their skill, thei rights, their will.
I may not live to see the day, but I KNOW the day will come when Julian Metcalfe, Clive Schlee, Pano Christou, David Carter …
will be remembered via my blog. And as much as the media, politicians like to ignore it. All good 🙂
P.S. Pret A Manger, you have blood on your hands, also with at least one staff suicide I know of, but can’t proof. Lucky you. But I survived. Now go and keep getting off the hook.
P.P.S. keep smiling.
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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.
So much so that we printed a label within ONE day of Natasha’s and Celia’s deaths.
One day!
NOT!
That’s how fast we can do things! In fact, we anticipated our customers deaths that we had labels ready to go once they died.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse.
We are deeply saddened by the death of 42 year old mother of 5 Celia Marsh.
We are deeply saddened by the allergen injury of Isobel Colnaghi in 2017, also from unlabelled sesame in the UK who also almost died, who lost in court against us in 2021 because we successfully blamed one of our low-wage worker.
We are deeply saddened of the injury of David Matt in 2015 in New York, also from unabelled sesame, who lost in court against us in 2016 before Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died. We are deeply relieved that sesame wasn’t part of the USA allergen list compared to Canada.
We are deeply relieved that former Pret CEO Clive Schlee’s open letter response to a concerned allergy sufferer is buried from the public’s eye (but don’t tell anyone that it’s on this blog).
We are deeply relieved that the UK justice system and the media are on our side.
And we are deeply able to label packaging WITHIN A DAY when a higher-up person like the Queen dies.
We’re deeply able to do that.
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The press, the justice system, and survivors keep ignoring what I expose about Pret’s negligence because I am a traumatised person having survived Pret’s systemic bullying culture. People don’t want to listen to current and former low-wage workers if they are traumatised. I am traumatised after what I survived (audio player interview at the bottom of this page).
But I keep talking and writing. And I keep saying that people will not be able to say that they never knew how bad Pret is.
I explain in detail in 4 podcast episodes how Pret were and continue to be careless with food safety, including selling moudly food increasingly. And no-one pays attention, not even the Food Standards Agency that I tagged in many times.
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For a full visual of mould and rat droppings on Pret food as well as on the ongoing mislabelling I explain in my podcast, please see pictures. These are visuals of what explain on the podcast on WHY this keeps happening:
I’m not a professional podcaster or journalist, I just speak from my gut and from memory having worked at Pret for 10 years in over 30 shops, with horrible experiences of the top leadership including CEO, HR, HQ staff and management. I have tons of evidence, including paperwork from Pret themselves. I declined Pret’s hush money and never signed the NDAs they wanted me to sign.
Podcast episodes:
Part 01 of ongoing mislabelling and why staff accidentally take wrong ingredients and mislabel.
One example from even last year, 5 years after Natasha died and 4 years after Celia Marsh died. I explain how Pret work behind the scenes and why it is SO EASY to mistake ingredients:
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It’s profit over lives by under-staffing and pushing low-wage workers to the brim. Pret only cater to the strict weekly mystery shoppers, the emotional labour scheme that Pret implemented many years ago to portray a “happy” facade while ignoring food safety issues. Lack of food safety has gotten much worse, despite customers having died. Recruiting for Personality rather than Skill can be Fatal.
Part 02 I highlight a weird Barbican seminar and the difference between Starbucks CEO’s and Pret CEO’s handling of crisis.
Part 03 Allergy Trial of Isobel Colnaghi in 2021, and how Pret was cleared after successfully blaming Roberto Rodriguez, a low-wage worker. I also explain how training is done in Pret, or rather how it’s NOT done and the dodgy things shops do.
Part 04 In light of the inquest into Celia Marsh’s death and how Pret had TWO types of labelling in place before customer deaths became public, BUT not the labelling that you’d expect from a multi-billion £ multinational company.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
I did 3 podcast episodes explaining how Pret was and continues to be careless on their food safety, even after 2 customers died, a 3. narrowly surived and over a dozen got injured. Pret ignored all that until it got public.
And dispite “Natasha’s Law” in place, Pret continue to mislabel their food and even bring food overnight, not fresh, many customer pictures of food with mould and even rat droppings on.
ALL due to extreme understaffing, high pressure, poor training etc.
I mention a particular Barbigan Centre seminar Pret held AFTER Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, the first customer died. This is significant. I also talk about the difference between Starbucks and Pret CEOs actions in times of crisis. I explain how training in Pret is REALLY done and why Pret successfully was able to blame a low wage staff for another customer injury of Isobel Colnaghi who almost became the third fatality.
I also explain my role as a team leader which is one reason why I’m still shocked in how Pret ealt with this and the money power Pret had, but didn’t use.
Of course people say that I have an axe to grind, but that is not my concern. It is people’s choice to LISTEN to what experienced current and former staff explain, especially when they deliever it with EVIDENCE.
I don’t ask people to believe me if I don’t bring evidence. But I have plenty, that’s why I link to them.
I may do an updated episode with all 3 combined in less time. This the first time I did a podcast and just spoke from the gut. But I try to redo those with notes into 1 episode and in much less time. I’m not a professional, please bear with my simple talk.
But I give a lot of info from behind the scenes.
Below, under these episodes are links to the mouldy food and mislabelling issues.
The first customer who died, 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse of sesame hidden in the dough of the baguette which wasn’t labelled on the packaging nor the fridge label. Her parents’ campaigning brought “Natasha’s Law” where all food businesses must label packaged food now.
The second customer was 42 year old mother of five Celia Marsh who died in Bath from dairy traces in a vegan wrap. Isobel Colnaghi who almost died also of hidden sesame, lost her case against Pret.
So, the unsafe food practices continue, even worse now. See pictures of mouldy food via below links. And due to the ongoing mislabelling, Pret are now breaking “Natasha’s Law”. A new inquest into Celia Marsh’s death will start in October 2022.
All this is due to ONE reason: understaffing, stressing and exploiting staff to the max. CEO Pano Christou doesn’t care. He lives in La La Land and has never been a leader, even when he was UK Managing Director and former CEO Clive Schlee’s shadow.
He enjoys the money, his mansion, working from home etc. while exhausting his staff. He cut wages, benefits, even the paid break. Most work 10 hours through without a break due t high staff turnover and unreasonable pressure.
Then Pano had the audacity TWICE this year to delay paying staff under dodgy excuses. The second time cleverly using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, knowing the public would be distracted if the press would get wind of it.
The press DID get wind of it because I was contacted by staff in despair as I write publicly and pass leaked info on to the press. I emailed CEO Pano Christou directly, openly copying in the press, including Sarah Butler from The Guardian who a day later reported on it.
She started to dig depper and also reported recently that Pano received a pay-rise and millions in bonus in 2021 after he made temporary pay cuts permanent.
So, needless to say staff are p!ssed off, they are already on the fringes of existance, carried Pret through the pandemic, risking their lives. Some got sick I was told, but were pressured to keep working or lose their jobs.
I’m still hoping there’s an undercover journalist in Pret for at least a month.
Some staff on social media announced to be sabotaging Pret now (see screenshot below). Many call sick as an internal strike action. All of this contributes to unsafe food handling, stale, expired food, mislabelling, exhausted staff etc. etc. etc.
Pret got away with 2 customer deaths and multiple injuries, so they feel invincible and the lack of food safety has gotten much, much worse iin broad daylight.
Writing to journalists and the government food safety people didn’t help yet. How many people have to die? A small independent, and especially minority business would have been shut down and the owners sent to prison if one customer had died. Pret is protected and safe in this Tory government of corrupt politicians.
Staff on Instagram in June when Pret for the 2. time delayed pay:
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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. Thank you for reading/listening.
Let’s do a little bit more digging into Julian Edward Metcalfe, founder of itsu and re-founder of Pret A Manger. This is just a brief “case study”, not a deep dive into Metcalfe’s family line as I want to highlight something specific.
And dear journalists, maybe one day you may give credit where all the research I do for free and ALWAYS credit/link to the source where I found the information, my experience and encounters with these people comes from.
Also, to British people especially journalists, I write so detailed as if I was teaching a school class because I have many American readers who are not familiar with who’s who in the Royal Family.
Julian Metcalfe is the founder of itsu and what I call the co-RE-founder of Pret A Manger. I explain below.
Julian’s father: David Patrick Metcalfe.
The Duke of Windsor (who before that was King Edward VIII, Queen Elizabeth’s uncle) was David Metcalfe’s godfather.
Julian’s grandfather: Edward “Fruity” Metcalfe.
Edward Metcalfe was best man to then recently abdicated King Edward VIII and American actress Wallis Simpson. This led to Queen Elizabeth’s father becoming king.
Julian’s great-grandfather: George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston.
I will mention him later from an interesting tweet.
Quote from The Telegraph article about Julian Metcalfe’s parents:
»The couple had two sons and a daughter, but divorced in 1964; two years later Alexa died after taking what a pathologist at the time suspected was “a sleeping draught”. Their children, including Julian Metcalfe, the future founder of the Pret A Manger sandwich chain, moved back to live in great style with their father. “We had powerful people to dinner all the time,” Julian Metcalfe later recalled of his childhood.«
Another quote about David Metcalfe, Julian’s father which shows how Julian grew up in the highest society and privilege: »Friends celebrated (David) Metcalfe as “the last man about town with a bit of style”. At his home in Wilton Street, he was host to “everybody who is anybody”.«
And of course with all these connections to the Royal Family and high society, Julian Metcalfe has an OBE.
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Now let that melt on your tongue like a mouldy Pret sandwich: Julian Metcalfe’s FATHER was the godson of King Edward VIII, who gave up his “kingship” to be with Amercian actress and *scandal scandal* divorcee Wallis Simpson. Prince Harry repeated that, but he didn’t have much to lose.
Let’s do some brain-fnck here:
Prince William is the great-grand nephew of King Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor), giving the OBE to great-grand son of best men to King Edward VIII – or – son to godson of King Edward VIII / Duke of Windsor.
Got it?!
Oh, what a coincidence!
Katschink!
Is there any wonder that some call Pret a “British institution”?
The million dollar question is: Who is Julian Metcalfe’s godfather? Prince Philip? Or even Prince Charles if he wasn’t too young to have become godfather? Metcalfe’s Wikipedia entry is mighty quiet about all his royal connections.
In his full Q&A at the Oxford Union I noticed one thing very predominantly, Julian is constantly portraying that he fell into success by accident. He pretends to be clueless, admits that he was lazy in school and that success supposedly just keeps falling into his lap, as if he’s such a talent where everything he touches just happens to turn to gold.
In reality, I believe that from what I read in the press, his foot-in-mouth disease in his tweet exchange with me and the itsu staff reviews (see my YouTube slide further below), that he is a spoiled prat who had enough money to re-start Pret after it didn’t succeed the first time around.
I write so blunt because of how he treats his staff and his indifference to the health and life of people in general.
And I, a NOBODY chased him off Twitter simply because this prat isn’t used to getting challenged! When you read the staff reviews of him that I linked to him on Twitter and later put on my YouTube slide, it’s very visible that he must be a very aggressive, angry and patronizing person. His staff must be in sheer fear around him. He is used that everybody hushes around him or is part of his harsh environment. Most journalists kiss up to him and business people worship him. And then little me comes along, challenges him for 5 minutes and he tucks his tail between his legs and dashes off after just 2 days on Twitter!
Most of you who read this are perfectly fine with rich people, especially men, to treat HUMAN BEINGS on low wage like sh!t. But you counter me, a “nobody” when I speak out, because you are upset that YOU don’t do the same.
In his Oxford Union Q&A he keeps portraying to be falling into success by accident. One itsu staff review hints at this very strongly in a shocking review calling him “oafish”.
Click Ctrl & + to enlarge the screenshot or just read the full review via the link underneath. Ctrl & – to decrease the size again.
For people with visual impairment where audio reading programs cannot read screenshots, I just quote a few highlights from above review, quote:
»Toxic leadership, Favouritism, Lack of Diversity, Poor Management, Cruel CEO/Founder
JULIAN METCALFE the oafish chaotic founder who insists on being involved across all areas despite having little to no knowledge in anything apart from sales and operations. He wanders the office behaving as if he’s a cutesy naive child and then behind closed doors will overtly disrespect and bully those that work directly with him. Have noticed him being very sexist, making racist jokes in front of minority staff, and regularly shouting loudly and aggressively at managers TIL they’re in tears. (A technique which his leadership team mimic) – head office is in constant turmoil and there’s a very high staff turnover due to people leaving after breakdowns or lack of support (mainly Julian’s mistreatment) or by being discreetly fired when Julian decided he’s displeased. – schoolgirl gossiping, hostility and aggression amongst department heads.
… When you have your employees shaking with stress and fear who call the police on your c.e.o. Due to an uncomfortable environment that is probably a wise time to step in.«
End of quote.
This and other similar reviews I linked to Metcalfe on Twitter, causing him to delete his account shortly after.
A recent little video appeared on Twitter with the title “Why I h8 itsu”.
Just click the play |> button or click the Twitter link under this video:
As I write on Pret and also “chased” Metcalfe off Twitter (please see YouTube player below) I get contacted now as well by itsu staff and customers. One email I received was last year:
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Quote for people with visual impairment where programs can’t read screenshots:
“Hey there! I saw your Twitter and how you faced bullying and abuse from Pret. I’ve recently been doing research into Julian’s other company Itsu as I’ve been a consumer of it for a while. However, there are massive racist notions and cultural misappropriation that I’ve found and hoping to gain support from for the company to make actual changes. Would you be interested in seeing what I have over email or Discord or anything else?”
Other reviews along those lines where Metcalfe is directly mentioned as being accused to being sexist, racist, aggressive etc. I put on my YouTube slide below together with his deleted tweets that I screen-grabbed before he deleted.
I find his facial expression, tone of voice and choice of words pretty intense to put it lightly. But of course an appearance or impression doesn’t prove anything. Many people, especially in the business world fall for this and mistake this for “passion” or “being passionate”. What I see is aggression and anger. And I also noticed that half the questions he is asked, he doesn’t answer except with the same supposedly “humility” of saying that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Anyone taking a closer look? Anyone REALLY look at his words and demeanor, and see something here?
Many of these itsu staff reviews keep pointing out that he behaves like a clueless child, before then aggressively “undoing” months worth of work.
I linked some of these reviews to Metcalfe on Twitter. He must have been warned by Pret about who I am, as he then suddenly deleted some tweets and his Twitter account completely after being on there only for 2 days.
Most of his tweets I took screenshots of before he deleted it as I was gobsmacked that he even responded to me and kept retweeting my tweets. I think someone in his PR department needs to get fired, unless he doesn’t listen to them. I placed most of his deleted tweets here:
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I use YouTube because my blog where I expose the REAL Pret A Manger from behind their happy facade, used to be heavily censored and completely blocked on Facebook and Instagram for a couple of years. So, I started a YouTube channel as they can’t block YouTube. Pret must have reported me to social media, Twitter is regularly censoring me, but this forced me to spread out onto other sites and thus expose Pret on a much broader spectrum. Thank you very much Pret. 🙂
What’s crazy is, that after I also chased Pret CEO Pano Christou and former CEO Clive Schlee off Twitter (Pano “hides” on Linkedin where people tell him all day long how wonderful he is), I tweeted to Metcalfe that we will see how long he will last on Twitter. I had a laugh basically, not realizing he’d delete his account a day later!
Note: I changed my Twitter handle from @LateNightGirlMe to @expretDOTorg as Clive Schlee patronized me, calling me his “late night girl”. So I took that, turned it around and created my blog latenightgirl.org which will lead to expret.org. I created a Twitter handle to throw it back at him publicly. But I changed the handle as it doesn’t make much sense for new readers who are unfamiliar with my story.
But I know how this shocked Clive when he first learnt of my blog and then qucikly made the £1000 announcement to all staff to counter my writings. I write about the timing of the £1000 for all staff in The Day Clive Schlee had a Bright Idee.
And as my handle is changed, it is now under my new handle on Twitter itself. Also, as Metcalfe deleted his account, you don’t see his handle in the tweets anymore, only the screenshots I took at the time show it.
Excuse my strong words, but I struggle with anger after what Pret put me through:
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No response is a response Will see how long you can hold on Twitter
Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted Clive's retirement plans to the press. Clive's account was deleted in July 2020
I know these 2 are #cowards, Pano hides on Linkedin >
— Exposing PretAManger since May2018 expret.org 🇺🇦 (@expretDOTorg) October 30, 2020
And if people put his deleted handle @JulianEMetcalfe into Twitter search, they will only see the replies from people to Metcalfe, but not his handle anymore.
THERE ARE TWO JEFFREYS that Julian Metcalfe doesn’t want to be connected to.
The first is the late Jeffrey Hyman, the original Pret founder, opening the first shop in 1983 Hampstead but didn’t succeed. He sold the brand, name and logo to Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham. But Pret, Julian Metcalfe, his friend and business partner former Pret CEO Clive Schlee who owns half of itsu, and current CEO Pano Christou all refuse to mention or honour Hyman.
And yet, Pret keep using Hyman’s original Pret logo/font in their head office and in at least one shop, in Victoria. I made the below photo in about 2020 or 2021 outside one of Pret’s Victoria shops when I walked by, knowing about this original Pret sign that I saw for the first time in Pret’s Victoria 75B Bressenden Place head office, and then later again in below tweet of Hyman’s first Pret shop.
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This logo was used by Hyman in 1983 when Pret was like a deli and then sold to Metcalfe and Beecham. Pret use it as a retro sign in head office and at least one shop, yet Pret and Metcalfe refuse to mention Hyman. A plaque is dedicated to Metcalfe and Beecham, but no mention whatsoever on Jeffrey Hyman.
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And maybe Pret cleverly mention the first Pret shop AND kitchen to say later that Hyman’s shop didn’t have a kitchen?
Since about 2 – 3 years Pret now have the brainwash words above shops and sometimes packaging, simply saying “London 1986”. This way, every customer who walks into a Pret shop gets brainwashed of the opening in 1986 by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclaire Beecham, instead of in 1983 by Jeffrey Hyman.
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A friend of Hyman told me on Twitter that Pret employed someone to keep deleting Jeffrey Hyman and the 1983 opening of Pret from Wikipedia:
THE OTHER JEFFREY that Metcalfe doesn’t want to be connected to is Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein who’s the convicted pedophile whom many believe was “suicided” in prison. It does not need to mean anything that Metcalfe is in Epstein’s address book, as Epstein was collecting data from many rich and influential people he met or knew. But it’s still interesting. I write about how I came to this info on Julian Metcalfe in Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book.
As I “chased” Metcalfe off Twitter, blogged about it and made this slide on YouTube showing his deleted tweets, itsu staff or people who are familiar with Metcalfe issues contact me. This is how I became aware that Metcalfe is in Epstein’s “little black book”. Again, this doesn’t mean anything as Metcalfe’s 2. wife Brooke Douglass de Ocampo was a New York society writer and therefore well connected. But I still find it interesting. It’s clear that the rich and famous are connected, often dating back decades into the past. Not to mention Prince Andrew’s direct friendship with Epstein and Metcalfe’s family connections with the Royal Family. They all know each other.
It’s one big happy family. This and Metcalfe’s close friendship to Clive Schlee, who is Pano Christou’s mentor, is why Pret cannot be distanced to Metcalfe when he made his ‘eugenicist’ statements to the Daily Mail and continued to rant on Twitter before deleting his account. Not to mention how Pret ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen injuries before it got public. Not to mention how awful Pret treat their staff. That’s from my own traumatic experience and what staff review on Glassdoor and Indeed, press articles etc. etc.
After I linked itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe on Twitter, he kept putting his foot in his mouth saying that anonymous staff reviews are biased. Well Mr. Metcalfe, this then also goes for the positive reviews. You can’t have it both ways.
One of his responses I didn’t include in my YouTube slide where I put most of his deleted Tweets. But he had the arrogance and audacity to claim that his low-wage staff “begged” for zero hour contracts. He also aims to turn shops mostly into robots and machines serving customers, eliminating labour costs to advance his net-worth £215 million personal empire.
Pret as well as itsu staff are also mainly “trained” via iPads on their free time during break or after work. There’s little to no training in both companies. And whatever training there is, workers have to do unpaid in their free time.
Greed is a bottomless pit.
Please note that my Twitter handle used to be @LateNightGirlMe after Clive Schlee called me his “late night girl”. So, to throw it back at him, I took that offense and created my blog under latenightgirl.org & Twitter name. I changed it as it doesn’t make much sense for people, and to keep my blog URL visible as it’s often censored on social media platforms. I explain the “late night girl” issue in the audio interview at the very bottom of this post.
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What a clown!
He actually wrote that! As if low-wage workers who are already paid the minimum possible, have so much money to spare to afford being flexible with their time. Anyone who wants to have flexibility to work can afford it and does not need a low-paid shitty job like itsu or Pret. I’ve rarely been held for such a fool. And before anyone mentions that Pret and itsu have “happy”, smiley staff, do some research on their strict and micromanaging mystery shopper scheme.
If people just take a slight look at his business dealings, it becomes very visible that he does NOT care whatsoever about workers, labour rights, building up a healthy workforce etc. He is your “average” greedy, entitled business men, coming from privilege but pretending to be an entrepreneur having started from nothing.
His “survival of the fittest” attitude is not just evident in his ridiculous lack of being media savvy to the Daily Mail (or his PR rep was on holiday), where he was happy to sacrifice the elderly and vulnerable people to save his millions, but in an iterview with The Telegraph. The heading quotes Metcalfe: »Only the fittest will survive high street cull, warns Itsu and Pret founder Julian Metcalfe«.
I didn’t even know about the ads that Metcalfe did with women athletes he later tried to justify to me in his (now deleted) tweet after I linked staff reviews to him saying he’s a sexist. Just after he mentioned this I researched and found this ad in The Evening Standard:
»Women who are not trying to be men!«??? What insecure talk is that Mr. Metcalfe?
Julian’s great-grandfather which led me to reasearch a little.
George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston.
I started to dig a little deeper into Metcalfe when I saw the following tweet after Metcalfe made his lock-down comments to the Daily Mail:
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Julian Metcalfe took a page out of his great-grandfather's book. George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston cut rations during the Indian famine, claiming "indiscriminate alms-giving" was a public crime. Millions died. So what if a few thousand die to save a sandwich chain? pic.twitter.com/LKMCPv8pfO
And of course I need to mention Metcalfe’s buddy Clive Schlee with whom I had shocking encounters that I explain on the audio player interview here at the bottom of this page. Metcalfe and Schlee have been friends and business partners since decades. Metcalfe gave Schlee the CEO spot in Pret.
I found an interesting lawsuit that was won by a former itsu partner who claimed he was booted out by Metcalfe and Schlee. He won his court case and received an undisclosed compensation amount, probably in exchange for signing a NDA so the amount cannot be disclosed.
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Quote from The Caterer article: »A senior chef last week won his unfair dismissal case against Julian Metcalfe, founder of both the Pret A Manger sandwich-shop chain and Itsu sushi restaurants in London.
Clive Fretwell, who had worked for 14 years at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, told a Woburn employment tribunal he had been recruited in 1988 to help develop a chain of Itsu restaurants.
He said the intention had been to give him a 2.5% founding stake in the business and an additional 10% in two years, with the possibility of “big money” if it were sold.
When a second restaurant, which opened two years later, failed to live up to expectations, Fretwell claimed he became aware that Metcalfe and Itsu co-director Clive Schlee were trying to get rid of him.
He said he was told last July that the company could not afford his salary, and he was dismissed in August.
The compensation agreed was undisclosed.«
»… trying to get rid of him« sounds very familiar to me. I wasn’t even a “partner” with a certain percentage stake in Pret, just a small fish, an underpaid and overworked team leader. But I raised big concerns and trauma on Pret’s systemic bullying culture where they tried to get rid of me as soon as I became bereaved.
In an The Independent article about the lawsuit Clive Fretwell described Metcalfe as a “strong personality”.
It’s worth doing some research into Clive Fretwell who is a respected chef having learned in France and cooks “proper” cuisine.
Staff and workers help Pret (and itsu) to build their brand and ONLY if they are part of their elite group of like-minded people who are only out for profit and having a laugh on the costs of workers, are they protected. If they’re not part of their way, regardless how hard they work and help make the brand successful, they’re out. That’s why the Pret Foundation Trust is a joke, a smokescreen to hide ruthless practices behind the happy facade and a PR stunt for brownie points with the public.
I had NO help from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then bullied by the core people of Pret. NOTHING! Even though I asked for support from the foundation as well as an area manager later also IN WRITING asked Pret to place me under the PF.
Nopes. Nada. Instead, upon HR’s request run under David Carter, then head of HR, I was gaslit via another HQ staff and then fired days after my dad came out of a three-week coma. The more and the louder Pret, itsu and any large corporation talk about their good deeds, intentions and charity, the closer you need to take a look.
Since writing about Pret publicly for 4+ years now and all the social media posts I read and boycotts customers announced, one tweet is my alltime favourite tweet that puts down in a nutshell who Pret really are, I could not have said it in any better way:
Betty tweeted this in response to a call to boycott Pret after they made the pandemic temporary paycuts permanent, which came to no surprise to me. And Pret twice this year delayed paying staff, the 2. time using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, knowing the public would be distracted should the press get wind of it and banks are closed on bank holiday Mondays.
I immediately emailed CEO Pano Christou himself, openly copying in journalists including Sarah Butler from the Guardian who then reported on it. She also reported later, recently in August that CEO Pano Christou got a payrise and millions in bonus after cutting staff wages and benefits in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. I predicted that this would be the case back in April on my podcast.
A current Pret staff announced on Instagram that staff now sabotage Pret from within:
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And apart from the extreme under-staffing, even before the pandemic, this sabotaging as well as stressed workers leads to unsafe food practices. Mould and rat droppings on food as well as ongoing mislabelling of food.
I always say that all the slogans Pret have on their walls, all the sweet-talk, the ethical bla bla, all the “charity” Pret announce on their marketing and walls, you can be sure that 9 out of 10 times it’s the complete opposite. And the same goes for itsu. The nonsense Julian Metcalfe always says how much he cares for staff etc. while when you look at him speaking without the sound on, he looks angry, tense, and his words are “strong” to say the least. Clive Schlee is more slick, he was the Ronald McDonald clown for Pret. The smiley mascot hypnotising customers and staff with sweet-talk while having a horribly abusive mystery shopper scheme in place and naming, shaming and blaming shops publicly to the whole company when they fail.
At least Pano already removed the stupid brainwash slogan “lovingly handmade” from the packaging since I’m exposing Pret’s toxic bullying culture and unnecessary high stress. That one got the most on my nerves.
The sheer perversion of Pret’s conduct still has me speechless like it’s straight out of a twisted Hollywood script. I have no other word at the moment than to call this “perversion” what Pret did, my ordeal reaching to the top leadership. It couldn’t have gotten any higher than that. That’s why Pret don’t sue me and Julian Metcalfe upon learning who I am tuck in his tail and ran for the hills. But I have it all in writing. And when people ask why I didn’t go to court, I did, and I explain in detail in my audio interview at the bottom of this page.
I experienced and witnessed it many times as well as reading staff reviews on the favouritism that reigns in Pret while hard working people with skill are dumped like dirt, and the crooked staff take all the credit for the success skilled people bring to the company.
Further in the Telegraph article about Julian’s father David shows how frequent and used Julian was to mingle with the richest people and royalty. And there is then no surprise that he had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Julian can’t help himself to be set apart from “normal” hard working people, using “lower classes” to advance his rich lifestyle. He doesn’t know it any other way while pretending to care.
Further quote about Julian’s father David: »In particular (David) Metcalfe had a flair for pairing New World entrepreneurs, ambassadors and tycoons with Old World aristocrats, intellectuals, royalty and social commentators. His dining table was frequented as much by dukes and royalty as it was by Detroit and Texas tycoons and politicians from across the political spectrum.«
Julian’s ex-wife is from the USA and is mentioned in Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book. It always comes around full circle. These people mix and mingle with each other, and it all remains with the richest people while claiming to be a trail blazing entrepreneur starting from nothing.
And as far as I have read in my research, I have not found anywhere that Julian mentions his connections to the Royal Family via his father and grandfather. I believe he doesn’t mention it as he wants to be seen as this groundbreaking entrepreneur having started from scratch. Many entitled rich people want to be seen as “self-made” millionaires while having gotten huge starting packages, loans or gifts from family to start or restart a business.
Little side note that I don’t know enough of to get into further, but “ARK” is from a quote on reddit, »Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), is an international children’s educational charity based in the UK. ARK held fundraisers every year from 2002 to 2012. Dozens of people listed from Jeffrey Epstein’s Black Book attended these ARK Galas.«
CHILDREN’S charity and Jeffrey Epstein go together like Pret A Manger/itsu go together with Trade Unions! *Irony off*
Also note, the woman in the picture is Pippa Holt, not Metcalfe’s ex-wife Melanie. This is just what I found in connection with this ARK charity gala event.
Current Pret CEO Pano Christou does the same, having learnt how to BS the public under Clive Schlee, portraying that he started in shops as if to say he started at the bottom. He started in shops alright, but he started as an assistant manager having come from McDonald’s management. Pret’s assistant manager role is position #4 in the shop hierachy. The lowest, #1 position is Team Member; 2. Hot Chef or Barista; 3. Team Leader (kitchen or shop) and then #4 is assistant manager before becoming the shop general manager.
He started with higher pay, £500 business attire that Pret paid for, monthly £50 to dry clean his clothes, “business” travels, management parties and galas, and all the perks that are thrown at assistant managers and higher up management.
Pano did not start at minimum-wage, wearing a Pret uniform and a silly cap with pins that could have dropped into food while staff weren’t allowed to wear jewellery or piercings. He didn’t labour for 9-12 hours in the high paced, noisy kitchen being shouted at by leaders and management. Since I point this out on my blog, he finally mentions in interviews that he started as an assistant manager instead of how he always said that he started “in shops” where people assume he was a low-paid team member.
Back to Metcalfe, many in the press and certainly business people love this success story, not wanting to hear how Metcalfe really is, as “success” often only comes when exploiting the masses and being “someone” regardless what it does to society as a whole.
Maybe Jeffrey Hyman’s friends, who occasionally mention him on Twitter at his birthday or anniversary of his death want to write a book about Hyman and make him known to the world, since Pret and Metcalfe refuse to honour, refuse to even mention him while using Hyman’s original font/sign. If you don’t want to mention or credit to the original person, at least have the integrity to not use anything the original person created as in an old font/sign.
Oh silly me! Pret/itsu and integrity?
Pret remain Pret, they lie, steal, manipulate and exploit in any way they can. Just your good ole greedy corporate, owned by in tax-haven Luxembourg based private equity firm JAB Holdings under the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns with an extensive Nazi slavery past. And itsu now hooked up with Bridgepoint, Pret’s previous owners. And the real reason that Mectalfe hooked Pret up with McDonald’s was to get Pret into the U.S. market. Once in, they “divorced” their “marriage of convenience”. When I learnt about the McD and Pret collaboration, all alarm bells went on. It’s like a vegan business hooking up with a meat factory to get into a certain market. Red flag right there.
And Pret had to remove the word “natural” from all their marketing after getting slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority … but that’s another story for another day, not to mention Pret selling mouldy food with rat dropping on in 2022, while claiming to “freshly make” years after 2 csutomers died and over 20 got injured which Pret all ignored until it got public, and keep getting away with …
»And when your sun goes down, you’ll know, you’re like everybody else you know.« – Whitey
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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 witnessed by customers: 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, and was mentioned by the BBC.
I really don’t want to waste a blog post on this guy, but it’s important to show how some people want to be in denial, go against whistleblowers and try all sorts of “tactics” to deny that they don’t care about customer deaths and staff exploitation.
I responded to a tweet that has now been deleted by a Pret customer in Switzerland about Pret opening a new shop there. The person, who on his profile had “Journalist” as well as “Media Personality” stated, said “finally some good sandwiches”.
I replied with a tip to be cautious regarding the “good” sandwiches and posted my blog post with customer complaints on mouldy food etc. all with photo evidence. He then replied with the TYPICAL set of tweets that die-hard Pret fans do. It later turned into silly and also nasty gaslighting, lying, getting his tweets switched that I couldn’t reply anymore.
My response to his now deleted tweet with English translation underneath:
The others who are tweeted in either remained silent or encouraged him to ignore me. Cancel culture as well as enabling behaviour by the book.
Mould, stale bread, rat poo, bugs, flies, hair,plastic in food with photo evidence:
Denial or Tactic #1 – Never happened to “ME”, therefore the problem doesn’t exist:
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“Never happened to me in London” – translated = therefore this problem doesn’t exist (and I don’t care that customers died, and Pret having ignoring it).
My responses are to show further evidence and sharing that in my 10 years in Pret KNOWING Pret from behind the scenes including senior leadership and CEOs, that I’ve seen a lot in Pret. I also link to the customer deaths and so on.
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My tweets can just be followed from above link.
I then tease him saying that he probably doesn’t want Pret to get bad press with all the things I link him to, to which he responds:
I then apologize, which was the mistake, because since then he kept accusing me of offending or attacking him in hopes I would fall for his cheap gaslighting.
The Google translate doesn’t translate well here, I basically said “Of course (not assuming anything). Apoloogies.” etc.
To which I explain again that 1. Pret’s name is still on franchises and Pret THEMSELVES have and continue to screw up in London, UK where Pret are head quartered. And that Pret themselves have ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen injuries before it got public. I worked at Pret when people died and wasn’t even told, despite my responsibility having been health & safety.
So, I link him to the two customer deaths in the news on YouTube to have a VISUAL bringing it closer to him, as he is also a father:
Tactic #3 – Sure it’s bad but this would never happen in Switzerland.
“yes bad Clearly. Here in Switzerland, everything is declared everywhere.” = Yes, bad, but that happened way over there in the UK, HERE in perfect Switzerland we have strict food standards.
To which I pointed him AGAIN to a recent customer video from BERLIN, Germany where there are also strict food safety laws, and the video showed how stale the bread is.
I also explained that mouldy food continues to happen in the UK as well as MISLABELLED products where Pret are now breaking the LAW, “Natasha’s Law”.
End of correspondence.
I already packed this tweet exchange away into the past and moved on, when he tweeted the next day a German news article about a woman having bitten into a mouldy McDonald’s product. He now deleted this tweet also, like he deleted his initial “fan” tweet about “good sandwiches” in Pret. But here are my responses to his ridiculous McD comparison.
Tactic #4 – It’s not only Pret, it’s also other businesses, therefore this is “normal” in large chains:
Tactic #5 – Continued gaslighting accusing me of offending and attacking him in hopes I become insecure, while it is HIM that’s insecure like heck:
Just follow the links and click translate otherwise the post gets too long.
I kept asking him to give precise examples where I offended or attacked him. That didn’t come. And by then he could have just blocked me. But instead he switched his replies to me so that I couldn’t reply anymore, while he kept tweeting at me. Very nasty, cowardly and childish behaviour by an adult “journalist” and “media personality” from Switzerland.
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Tactic #6 – SEVERAL things: He deleted information, was embarrassed to behave so poorly while a journalist, then lied he never claimed to be a journo.
DELETED “Journalist” off his profile after I addressed him as a journalist having seen his claim on his profile and asked him to not take things personal. He then lied that he never claimed to have been a journalist and asks me to check his profile where he just deleted “Journalist”. I pointed out to him that I already checked it and that he deleted it off his profile. He now added it again, see screenshots.
What a creep!
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1. Journalist:
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2. The “Journalist” deleted:
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3. Then “Journalist” added again:
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Tactic #7 – Playing dumb asking if I was a bot:
This is then when he started to make all his replies to me “non-repliable” anymore (I just made up that word 😉 ), but he continued to tweet at me. I then blocked him to which he blocked as well. He said that I am an Aldi fan because I gave a metaphor on Aldi vs Lidl to explain his ridiculous comparison between McDonald’s and Pret. I explained that Pret claimed to be fresh and wholesome which McDonald’s never claimed, and that the whole world knows how bad McD is. But Pret was successful in fooling the public for decades.
He then tried to trick me with the Aldi example and then I couldn’t reply anymore. But I replied later via my other account after screenshot some of his tweets before he deleted.
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Unable to reply to his tweets:
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His behaviour is a typical bullying behaviour by the book. And he is enabled by others who pad him on the back.
Tactic #8 – Playing dumb again:
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He received tons of information about my own story as well as customer fatalities and injuries, staff exploitation etc., yet he pretends to not understand what all this was about. Then he deletes his initial tweet and the McDonald’s tweet as he was caught out being indifferent and doesn’t want to be seen as a journalist who is a big fan of Pret.
In a nutshell, this guy was shocked and impressed to have come across so much evidence in how bad Pret really are. Many people respond negatively because they feel shocked and called out to have fallen for Pret. He was so occupied with it that he tweeted the McDonald’s mould issue to me the next day where I was already finished and done with this feed.
But I always respond to anyone and then move on. And I don’t really want to waste a blog post on him, but want to show how SLICK gaslighting, lying, deleting, accusing etc. works in cancel culture.
It’s a shame, because I am more disappointed of people claiming to be journalists than the average Joe who rants on social media.
The last time I came across such a toxic, gaslighting, cowardly person with lofty claims was literally the top Pret senior leadership team. This Gerry guy cowardly switched his tweets so I can’t respond anymore, but kept tweeting at me while I couldn’t respond. Then I blocked him, which I rarely do, so that he can’t continue to tweet while I can’t respond.
I then tweeted my response to him via my other account and now write this blog post and pass this on to his journalism buddies because his and my correspondence are public.
This was TYPICAL denial, cancel culture, trying to manipulate JUST because the person did not want to look objectively at what I presented as huge evidence including customer pictures, news articles, my own experience. THE worst thing that can happen that customers died and Pret IGNORED it has NO meaning to this Gerry guy and his friends. They are bystanders, onlookers and enablers who don’t care except if this would happen to them. Very sad.
And by all means, mute or block me, but to “silence” me and then keep tweeting at me where I can’t respond is COWARDLY. And this is why I call this guy out now.
If this Gerry guy says anything “positive” about his encounter with me in the future, stay away, be cautious, he has lied and played his tricks like an insecure yes-man.
Oh, und Gerry, guck mal wer alles von Twitter weggerannt ist nachdem ich getweeted hab 😉
Du hast noch sehr, sehr viel zu lernen was Pret A Manger betrifft, und ich habe dich jetzt angespornt Pret zu helfen deren Fassade aufrecht zu halten. Ran an die Arbeit, Gerry! Put your name to Pret and STAND behind everything they do, with your name.
I chased Pret RE-founder Julian Metalfe, former Pret CEO Clive Schlee and current CEO Pano Christou off Twitter. And Julian Metcalfe is in Jeffrey Epstein’s address book. Link in the YouTube description.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
I tend to write long blog posts to cover all the basis possible. And I could write the longest blog post yet about loss, but I don’t know where this would go. I have had losses, disappointments, betrayals in my life, like we all have. It’s what makes life a bitch. But I have not known how loss can be a string of things for a long time.
I have yet to speak, either on my podcast or here on my blog, about details regarding my brother’s death. I touched on it here and there but still can’t go into it for fear it would spiral me again into the deepest darkness again. This out-of-control feeling that if there is a hell, this must be part of it, an endless falling into a dark bottomless pit.
I never knew that when you lose a close person, a family member, anyone close to you, that this is the catalyst of many other losses. I heard about it that a loss of a child breaks up a family and the parents often end up divorcing.
For anyone new to my blog or story, I learnt in January 2015 that my brother died 5 weeks prior and was already cremated when we learnt of it. To top it up, I learnt this via an EMAIL! This is how far I can go at this moment, as I can’t cope to go into detail how everything unfolded without falling into this pit again.
To top it up further, I was bullied during this traumatic period of shock and grief in and by Pret A Manger management under the watchful eye of HR and later patronised by former CEO Clive Schlee. I explain this in greater detail on my podcast “expretcast” in 3 episodes. In the audio player on the bottom of this page I didn’t go into the detail of it, but on my podcast with greater hindsight I went to town detailing how Pret targeted me since the beginning.
Three years after my brother died I almost simultaneously lost my job and my dad within months of each other. Pret fired me days after my dad came out of a three-week coma, knowing he was in intensive care. In hindsight, losing a sh!tty job at Pret is nothing to be mourned about. Pret’s head of HR David Carter made me 3 offers of money if I resign, sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to never speak about my ordeal or go to court. I declined the “offer” and was fired. Later when I withdrew my court case against Pret as my dad died, I was made a fourth offer which is normal when withdrawing a tribunal case. I also declined as I didn’t want to lose my voice to speak out what happened.
In-between all this I lost a lot of friends pretty much from the first year as in our society death and loss is still a taboo, as if this would never happen to anyone.
Three years after my dad died my mum died. She died during second lockdown in Germany while I was stuck in London. I couldn’t bury her. Another loss I can’t go into at this time as I can’t cope. I made so many videos of and with my mum when she was still living in her house as I don’t have ANY video of my brother and still regret having deleted all his voice mails from years ago. I still have this problem that I clean up my phone very fast and don’t keep much. That’s why I kept my mum’s voice mails and made videos. But I still can’t look at the videos, even though I assumed I would devour them once she dies. But I can’t look at them at the moment.
Recently a long-time friend died in the USA where I lived for a few years. I didn’t expect to be thrust into a new darkness, as I haven’t seen him since 2013, and only sporadically had email conversations with his wife in-between the years. He was a rare gem of a man who don’t come around much, and I am broken for his wife, who’s equally a gem. I’ve never met a couple like them, which the world needs more of.
I lost my mind, my mental health is screwed up. I was overweight and lost 35-40kg within a year. The first 25kg I lost in the first 6 months after the news of my brother’s death. I had to go shopping 3 or 4 times for clothes as I kept losing weight, never anticipating to “shrink” so fast. EVERYTHING I had to buy new in smaller sizes except socks and shoes.
Some say that this is a good thing that came out of the loss of my brother. Sure, in a certain way there are always “good” things that can come from trauma and loss. But the weight loss was so rapid, as I couldn’t eat, even though I had free lunch food at Pret, that it brought upon other health issues. Rapid weight loss isn’t healthy either. I am grateful I rather lost than gained weight, as my dad was the total opposite. After my brother’s death, he gained weight and comfort ate while I couldn’t even swallow. But yes, having gone back to my original weight I grew up with is a plus as I can walk up stairs without pain in my joints and shortness of breath. Or I can buy clothes again whereas while overweight rarely found what I liked in my size. But I’d rather weigh like an elephant and have my brother back.
I lost support. I lost opportunities. I am a few steps closer to understand how people can lose their homes and end up on the street due to alcohol or drug issues after a traumatic experience.
I still struggle with drinking although it has become much better.
Receiving the news of my brother’s death via email and then also being bullied in Pret by a line manager via group emails, as well as Lila Warren who was tasked to give me a disciplinary for emailing Pret so much, she then later ALSO started to communicate with me via text message and email in private for which she disciplined me in the first place. has fucked me up so much that I started to write thousands upon thousands of emails to EVERYBODY! I also struggle then when I tweet sh!t to people while drunk.
There is no excuse, I looked into getting a time-lock safe but haven’t gotten it yet. That’s completely my fault and responsibility.
I have almost lost my life in close calls to jump … and know we will all lose our lives one day.
I still want to look into researching and maybe writing about our society’s and culture’s approach to death, loss and grief. I have experienced so much sh!t in the last 7+ years that I don’t know which book to write first or if to write a series of books combining a lot of the things I went through. But I’m tired of writing.
I called into a BBC radio show in the early morning of Christmas Day 2019 where I briefly touched on how we in our society today handle grief and loss. Of course now since the pandemic and more wars this subject has become more “accessible”, and even on the radio I hear more and more that this theme is popping up.
In my experiences the last 7 years I have sabotaged a lot of opportunities and friendships. Apart from PTSD, I also think I do this partly out of guilt not having responded to my brother’s email which ended up being his last. Why should I have a good life while he is dead is the emotion I often felt. Sibling survivor guilt, fear of losing friends again when a tragedy hit. The friends that left me hang early on, I didn’t deserve it. But I deserve it now. I push everyone away now so I have nothing left to lose.
As I said, screwed up. And before you judge, check my podcast episode on my NHS mental health service ordeal. I asked at one point if I have some form of autism, and a brief questionaire was started by a psychologist where it was mentioned that I cover some points, but no further assessment. I gave up.
In a nutshell, one major loss is often the catalyst of a string of losses, it certainly was in my case. And where this goes from here, I’m not concerned anymore.
And again, my apologies to all and everyone I offended, hurt and upset. After such a long time, I have no excuse.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
I explain on my podcast in Part 01, Part 02 and Allergy Trial as part 3 why Pret was and continues to NOT care. Please pay attention to a particular Barbican Centre seminar I mention.
More customers and the public have and still are realizing now how bad Pret really are. I refer to Pret as plural, not singular (Pret are vs Pret is), because there is a core group of people behind this company who detached themselves from the suffering of shops and workers. And this detachment affects customers.
A recent Facebook comment in July 2022 to one of Pret’s posts says it all:
For people and audio reading programs who can’t read screenshots, a person commented to Pret, quote: »So glad you haven’t managed to pollute the Middle East with your corporate mafia company.« End of quote.
When I first started writing publicly about Pret in May 2018, even before the two customer deaths became public later that year, I discovered Glassdoor and Indeed review websites that I didn’t even know about while working in Pret. I couldn’t believe my eyes in how blunt and angry some reviewers wrote about Pret because I experienced the same, if not worse.
I became obsessed and sieved through Glassdoor, Indeed and the Internet in general, on a search for others who know Pret as a toxic company that fooled the public for decades with a caring and ethical facade, while the total opposite is the case.
My all-time favourite former customer tweet that needs no further explanation:
Link to @betty_de_brazil’s tweet where she responded to customers’ call to boycott Pret after Pret made temporary pay cuts permanent.
In 2018 there was hardly any critique from customers. But I became obsessed with staff reviews and wrote a DAILY “Quote of the Day” with a chosen review I found. I expanded on the reviews, explaining what the reviewer means. I now stopped since 2019, and rarely check reviews anymore as I’ve made my point now!
But a few reviews I found from recently which I want to put here, as work conditions have worsened to an unbelievable level of carelessness by Pret and current CEO Pano Christou. Pret delayed paying staff TWICE this year under bogus excuses, the second time during the Queen’s Jubilee weekend knowing that the public would be distracted and banks closed on bank holiday Monday.
One staff on Instagram in early June 2022 after Pret delayed paying them announced to sabotage Pret by reducing food and service quality.
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The result of this AND of hugely understaffed and stressed shops becomes more and more visible. This mouldy sandwich was posted just two days ago:
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And many more complaints.
Food quality has decreased a great deal already during the pandemic with customers flocking to social media posting photos of mouldy sandwiches, even rat dropping on a baguette. Reports on food poisoning has also increased. The latest even from today 01. August 2022. I posted more photos on Pret food is not fresh. Check the dates of the posts.
Not only are shop managers pressured to cut labour, sending staff home when there’s a hint of a quiet time, leaving whoever is left to work in shops completely overstretched and exhausted. In the meantime CEO Pano Christou cut their pay so he and shareholders can get a raise and millions in bonus. So, staff morale is low. Workers cut corners to try and resist the slavery-type bullying to work harder and faster for less. Working overtime without pay has also been a big thing in Pret even before Covid. Wage theft is also huge in Pret from own experience and also from two class action lawsuits Pret settled in New York, repaying 4000 workers. I write about this in Wage Theft in Pret. But in the UK the legal system is different and often in favour of companies rather than poor workers.
I will post some recent review at the bottom of this page and want to just as briefly as possible (yeah right!) explain Pret’s mentality.
From my interactions with current CEO Pano Christou and what I read in his emails to shops when he was UK Managing Director under then CEO Clive Schlee, I perceived Pano NOT as a leader. Pano came from McDonald’s management, and for a while until I kept pointing it out on social media, has always said to the press that he started on the shop floor. This of course gives the impression to the public that he started at the bottom. But far from it! So, I keep calling out Pret’s bullsh!t.
While he started in shops alright, he actually started in position number 4 as an assistant manager (AM) with higher pay, more bonus, more perks, paid travel to fancy places with other management, quarter briefs with galas, free fancy food and booze etc. etc. One of the perks he got that all staff who move into management get, even assistant manager roles, is £500 from Pret to go shopping for business attire which they can keep. And then assistant managers and shop general managers (GMs) get £50 EVERY month for the dry cleaners. This may have changed since the pandemic, but I’m talking about the “rich” years in Pret. I write extensively about these perks and the difference of assistant management to team members in Pano Christou’s Rags to Riches Story.
Since I kept pointing this out, he now at least says that he started as an AM.
Pano was for years Clive Schlee’s shadow. All I saw of him in my 10 years in Pret was when he accompanied Clive to shops, silently standing next to or behind Clive. And the only correspondence I saw was when Pano kept writing weekly or monthly emails to shops in how much money Pret made, especially when Pret reached a new million pound mark. And he also wrote emails to shops to announce when a shop closed.
Those emails where the most ridiculous emails I’ve read from anyone in Pret’s leadership teams. Especially when I was bereaved and traumatized. I was a team leader and would sit in the office in the afternoon to do the ordering of stock or cash up tills when I saw an email from Pano come in starting with the words: »Dear shops … it is with great sadness that I have to announce …«
Reading just the first few words, panic overcame me and my heart stopped thinking, “who died?!” And then the sentence continued: »it is with great sadness that I have to announce that (such-and-such a) shop is closing down due to (whatever) reason …«
I had these mixed emotions of anger and complete ridiculous shock that he spoke about the closure of a shop as if someone died, and as if we low-wage overworked staff even cared! Of course part of my panic was also because I received the news of my brother’s death via an email! So, I was constantly on the edge about emails and bad news. But I didn’t give a toss if Pret made another million mark or closed a shop because we were treated like dirt and bullied. I didn’t care if shops closed or how much money Pret made. I had NOTHING from this except manager after manager and OPs managers cheating me out of hours, money and break promises.
On 01. July 2019 Pano Christou, who was then still the Chief Operations Officer, closed his Twitter account after I tweeted Clive Schlee’s retirement to the press, also pointing to Pano’s Twitter account. And Pano was the only Pret executive who blocked me. His former Twitter handle has been taken on by another Pano Christou from Canada a few months later.
The COO role by the way didn’t exist before and after as it was just a stepping stone for Pano to go from UK Managing Director (2018) to CEO (2019).
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Pano has his head in the sand with the current issues, despite increasing complaints on mouldy food, bad press, more staff speaking out etc. It’s like he feels invincible after Pret got away with so much, especially TWO customers having died and dozen plus injured.
Clive Schlee was more “attentive” to reputation issues. He bullsh!tted the public and staff as well, but he was more active in bullsh!tting everyone, while Pano put his head in the sand, “hides” on Linkedin and enjoys other business people kissing his butt all day long, telling him how awesome he is in Linkedin’s typical toxic positivity way. Pret also has a lot of favour and support by some journalists like Harry Wallop from the “independent” newspaper The Guardian, which I explain in above podcast episode I linked to.
Pano is used that Pret keep getting out of trouble, no matter how bad it gets. He is either delusional or really doesn’t care, but he certainly is not a leader.
Clive left with this legacy from staff:
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A customer on Twitter pointed out that Pano upon becoming CEO in September 2019 has work cut out for him. Pret then let Pano take over the Glassdoor CEO spot in July 2019 despite him becoming CEO in September 2019. Clive didn’t want any more poor scores I guess.
In August 2022 Pano continues the trend with staff:
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Staff review and also email me saying work conditions have become beyond bearable. I know how hard it is to work at Pret. It was already horrific in my time, long before the pandemic. But I can’t even imagine how it is now! And this is not to be excused with Brexit or Covid.
Skimming customers out of money in many ways like via the coffee subscription, apps, deals that Pret don’t honour under bogus “technical issues”; Placing donation devices very closely next to payment devices where customers in the rush and noise accidentally donate £5 to Pret’s “charity” (charity = tax breaks and brownie points with the public); Not serving complimentary items any more, Decreased product size etc. etc.
Under-staffing (has always been done, but is much, much worse now)
Resulting in longer queues and frustrated customers who let it out on the low-wage workers who are at breaking point while Pano Christou smiles to the bank
More work while still expecting the same and higher standards, and expecting high financial results
Ongoing bullying
Ongoing wage theft, delayed pay, cutting hours, not paying hours worked for
Leadership non-existent
HR don’t care (that’s a no-brainer after what I’ve been through)
Poor food and hygiene standards (mouldy food, pest issues, dirty shops etc.) due to lack of staff and
Low morale
It’s each to their own to survive
And so on …
I say it again, Pano Christou is NOT a leader. He is stuck in the old Pret way that has shown him that Pret get away with ANY- and EVERYTHING.
After what I survived in Pret with direct contact to the top leadership, Clive Schlee, HR, HQ personnel, Pret’s lies, cheats, theft etc. I FIRMLY believe Pret, as in the core group of Pret’s leadership team like Pano Christou, Andrea Wareham and David Carter from HR and a handful of others who worked there many years for high pay, they are a clique of overpaid executives who run Pret like an organization which to me does indeed resemble like a mafia organization that a person on Facebook pointed out to Pret.
It’s all about the few at the top getting the biggest cut of the cake while abandoning the “slaves” on the front-lines who make all this happen but break at the end of the day. And it shows a great deal of the arrogance of Pano and the executive team to KNOW about all the suffering and appalling food safety issues from social media posts and news articles, but continue to drain employees AND customers.
A really good tweet just from today that made my day knowing that more and more people are aware of how abusive Pret are:
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Some recent staff reviews I find noteworthy to mention here.
Pros Company from hell where lying is the key to their marketing strategy.
Cons Managers shout at us, cleanliness is non-existent, no recycling, expired food in the fridges, stress all the time.
Advice to Management Shut down your modern slave factories where you rely on green washing to attract consumers! You are not a healthy company!«
End of quote. I underline every single word 150 million percent! And I cannot explain how many times I have literally cried when I was contacted by staff in despair telling me that Pret delayed pay again, or do cuts here and there, how broken down workers are who are still forced to pretend a happiness or not get mystery shopper bonus. And whatever else they write.
I have many regrets in life, have made many mistakes, but it is safe to say that is it hands down by miles my biggest regret having worked in this horrible company!
For more reviews, please just scroll through Glassdoor and Indeed yourself and also check my front home page.
To end this long blog post, I post again here what made my day when Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha had some stern words for Pret and called on her 500K+ Instagram followers to boycott Pret. I still tear up when I watch this as not many celebrities would speak out on behalf of low-wage workers.
Unfortunately her words fell on deaf ears with Pret. After this video keep playing to see how I chased itsu founder and Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe and Pret executives off Twitter. An anonymous person sent me the info that Metcalfe is in Jeffrey Epstein’s address book after the person saw my YouTube slide with Metcalfe’s deleted tweets, which I screen grabbed before he deleted. Metcalfe kept retweeting my tweets, but someone from Pret must have warned him who I am, he then deleted his tweets and Twitter account, but not before I screenshot most of it.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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, and was mentioned by the BBC.
And many, many more. Pret also always want people to DM to lure their data from them for future marketing, and then make it hard to unsubscribe from emails.
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Some products Pret have ALWAYS for years prepared the day before, NOT “freshly made”, like the honey yoghurt, birchler muesli and berry yoghurt pots/bowls. A team member closing/cleaning the kitchen in the afternoon would also prepare the berry bowls with yoghrurt into the plastic bowls, put clingfilm over it and place into the fridge overnight. The next morning a team member would just put the granola on top. The granola wouldn’t be put on the night before as it would be soggy by the next morning. Bottom line, the berry or honey is already in the bowl with the yoghurt the day before sales. NOT “freshly prepared”. This is why sometimes there is a watery texture in the honey pot as the yoghurt “separates” from the honey over night.
And Pret now prepare many other items the day or days before, as seen below.
Any food issues, food poisoning, pest issues and now mislabelling can be reported directly to the government via:
Upfront to any regular customer in Pret who SEES how Pret UNDERSTAFF shops even before the pandemic (1 person on coffee, 2-3 on tills in the morning, queue out the door, 3-4 people in the kitchen etc.) where staff are BURNT OUT. Many shops now open later and close earlier than advertised, due to many staff leaving and whoever stays behind is left completely exhausted …. All this after Pret cut wages and CEO Pano Christou got a payrise and millions in bonus. HOW do you think these burnt-out and disheartened low-wage staff, who are forced to smile for bonus, can keep up with hygiene and health & safety practices? Not to mention correct labelling after 2 customers died and 20+ got injured that Pret all ignored before it got public? Tell me how?! And you STILL fall for the “freshly made” lie!
Before customers died and got injured, people were oblivious to Pret’s poor practices and TRUSTED Pret because former CEO Clive Schlee and current CEO Pano Christou and the executive team were successful for years to sweet-talk the public with their wholesome slogans. Now it’s not just more common knowledge how bad Pret really are, but with below EVIDENCE, you have NO reason to believe that Pret’s food is “freshly made” nor fresh! Pret and their enablers in the PR and business world repeat over and over and over and over again, like a cultish mantra, the lie of “fresh” and “freshly made” food to keep brainwashing the public.
If a company understaffs to maximize profit and treat their staff like the dirt on their feet, it WILL come back to customers and endanger people’s health and very lives. And food.gov.uk and the media close their eyes because I’m “just a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind”. Well, you’ve been warned.
I write so blunt because I was a team leader responsible for health and safety, and I took that very seriously. And here are the Pret executive team having a laugh to the bank on the backs of workers and the health of customers. I speak about this extensively, how it REALLY works behind the scenes on my podcast.
As Pret continue to mislabel their food and mix up ingredients, they are now breaking the law, “Natasha’s Law” whereas before they kept getting off the hook as there was no law.
Pret are known for their fairy-tale slogans, some which they removed now. Since I expose Pret from 2018 on, calling Pret out on their lies and fake slogans, they removed at least one that I know of and which has always gotten on my nerves.
Former CEO Clive Schlee was very good in fooling customers and staff alike. The slogan “Lovingly handmade in this shop today” was always a sore sight for me when I stocked up the fridges in Pret, seeing this bullsh!t, but experiencing every day that NOTHING is “lovingly” made, nor is it “made” but it’s just “assembled”. We staff were pushed and pressured to work at a high pace without being able to just breathe. I point out Pret’s systemic bullying culture. And since the pandemic it’s much much worse to regain profit!
Unrealistic targets are set on purpose that staff simply cannot fulfill the time given to assemble sandwiches. So, they’re manipulated and pressured to work extra time for free as they’re told they weren’t fast enough, while in reality they work at a super fast speed which results in neglecting health and safety, and hygiene issues.
On the “freshly made/prepared” brainwash, it’s Pret’s typical slogan where they applied psychology like all companies do, knowing how we humans think. It’s the same with the lie that Pret’s food is “natural” and Pret were then ordered to remove the word “natural” from all their marketing as their food is loaded with the “obscure chemicals” Pret claimed to not have.
You can safely say that 9 out of 10 times all the slogans on Pret’s walls and marketing is the complete opposite. It’s the same with the “happy” facade and all the smiles that are enforced by very strict weekly mystery shopper visits. If ONE staff member doesn’t smile, the whole team can get penalized by not getting bonus. More on Pret’s psychological abusive mystery shopper scheme with excerpts of mystery shopper reports via YouTube: Smile for the “Misery” Shopper.
As more and more customers wake up to the reality of Pret, many who started boycotting Pret when they learnt how Pret cut wages etc. My alltime favourite tweet regarding Pret is:
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I couldn’t have said it any better after all the bullying, lies, brainwash from Pret.
UPDATE 26.01.2023
Would you like some fleecy hair with your baguette?
Pret’s sign used to be: “Organic Coffee – Natural Food”. The sign was created in such a way that we in the Western world who read from left to right, and top down, that we read “organic food”. But Pret didn’t claim that the food is organic, just “natural”. And I question Pret’s claim to do organic coffee as their coffee is so cheap and Pret stopped doing fair-trade coffee since a few years now.
There are countless complaints since years on Pret’s coffee, at one point Pret was even named “worst coffee shop” as their coffee tastes like “charcoal”. I worked in many restaurants and coffee companies, Pret’s coffee beans are by far the most oiliest beans I’ve ever seen! I often got stomach cramps from the coffee that I switched to tea. And I love coffee!
Some of many complaints I summarized on YouTube:
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After being told by the Advertising Standards Authority to remove the word “natural” from Pret’s marketing, Pret exchanged the slogan from “Organic Coffee – Natural Food” to “Organic Coffee – Freshly Made Food”.
Former Pret CEO Clive Schlee said in an interview that his wife would always say to him, »Any damn fool can run Pret«. Well, that seems obvious. And any damn fool can also ruin it.
I therefore redid Pret’s sign with a more realistic logo and write about Pret’s “natural” claim in Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat.
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So, we think that Pret’s food is fresh, but Pret never claims that, they claim that it is “freshly prepared”. But that’s also not always true as you will see in the below customer complaints and pictures of mouldy food. Pret now carry over sandwiches from previous day(s) while claiming to donate leftover food each night to charity with another of their slogan “made today, gone today”.
And even the food donation isn’t fully true, as a lot of food is wasted every day. I write about this in Pret’s Food Waste with pictures of food in the streets and my own experience of having had to waste countless large bin bags of food for many years.
Before I get to some of the many complaints on mouldy food, here just a few of many complaints on stale food from over a decade ago:
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I already wrote a post about how Pret “stretch expiry dates” which they’ve always done.
For more pictures of mouldy food, even food with rat droppings on please see Pret’s Food Isn’t Fresh.
Pret also now freeze soups and other products. A former Pret staff already told me 2 years ago via Facebook messenger.
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It is no surprise that Pret cannot be reached. Pret fired many, I’m sure the social media staff is also downsized. This soup sounds like it’s been re-heated 3-4 + times already. Again, keep in mind that Pret soups/porridge are cooked in factories and just re-heated in shops.
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“Odd” tasting soup:
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UPDATE Feb. 2023
It’s kind of weird that an Evening Standard journalist can’t find contact details for Pret. But maybe out of shock people incl. journos just at first want to call out Pret on social media, as many know that I have an eye on Pret issues:
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Also, I have to find the DM and screenshot of another Pret staff who contacted me in 2021 with the following:
“Pret have started keeping their food overnight and selling it the next day. Considering they’ve built their entire brand on the Freshly Made slogan it’s very misleading. They’ve also slowly started removing all the freshly prepared signs from their stores hoping no one finds out.”
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For more pictures of mouldy food, even food with rat droppings on please see Pret’s Food Isn’t Fresh.
And for many pictures of mislabelling, as well as mixed up ingredients (dairy Bircher Muesli made with mayonnaise) even after TWO customers died and over 20 got injured which Pret all ignored until it got public, please see: Vegans and Vegetarians Eat Meat in Pret.
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Freshly Prepared versus Fresh
You can simply “freshly prepare” a sandwich or salad with stale bread and mouldy cheese. It’s freshly prepared, but not fresh. And now, sandwiches etc. are carried over to the next day(s), so even the “freshly prepared” slogan isn’t always true and false advertising. That’s why I also advise for people to be careful with hot food like toasties where you won’t easily see when the cheese is mouldy or the bread stale. Once it’s heated up, ingredients just melt and stick into each other.
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And soups in Pret are often reheated 3-4 times to save money on waste. If there’s a bag of soup left in the “marinator” (water-bath) at the end of the day, the staff are supposed to throw it away for safety reasons as the soup by that time will have been heated up for the 2. time (first cooked in the factory, then reheated in the shop).
But to save money, staff cheat under pressure from management, take the hot soup bag out of the marinator, let it cool down and then place it back in the kitchen fridge. The next day or two days after, it’s reheated for the 3. time, at times even repeated for the 4th time.
And now, since Pret want money after the pandemic losses, they even SELL cooled down hot food like soups, croissants etc. via the Too Good To Go app under Pret’s charity umbrella (tax breaks). Pret with the help of TGTG sell end of day food under the charity umbrella (tax breaks and brownie points with the public).
Before the pandemic, Pret had the STRICT rule for us NOT to give even for free hot food at the end of the day for safety reasons. Not they SELL it! This means, by the time a customer buys it for cheaper via the TGTG app, they will reheat the soup at home or in the office in the microwave for at least a 3rd time, often 4th or 5th time.
When I was a team leader handing out food to the charity volunteers who picked up food after closing time, I got in trouble by management for giving soups and other hot (cooled down) items to charity. Since getting told off, I then never gave any high risk food to charity, no matter how much they asked for it. I only gave them a hot item to choose from if the charity worker ate it then and there in the shop while it was stillsomewhat warm, but explained to not take it with them. While I put their food together, made them a hot frink and they enjoyed the food in the shop after closing time while we were cleaning up. But now when Pret want money, they do everything they can to get a penny. Health and safety out the window.
Where before Pret wouldn’t even give it for FREE, they sell it now cheaper, risking health and safety of customers. What do we expect when a company gets away with 2 customer deaths and over 20 injuries we know of.
When I called Pret and TGTG out on this, TGTG blocked me.
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So far to health and safety, and transparency.
Chefs versus Sandwich Makers
When Pret run out of an item, they just place a sign into the fridge saying “Chefs at work” to imply that there are chefs/cooks in Pret’s kitchens, while they’re “just” sandwich makers who ASSEMBLE sandwiches/salads etc. from factory ready cooked produce, hence: prêt à manger / ready to eat.
The only products that are not ready cooked in factories are the frozen baguettes, cookies and croissants that are up to a year old (not fresh) and then just baked in ovens from their frozen state.
The other raw item that is delivered every morning, and god knows how old, is the raw egg mix that comes in Tetra Paks and are then just poured into paper trays and cooked in the oven for the bacon butties. Same with bacon, it’s just cooked on baking trays in the ovens.
No Pots and Pans in Pret’s Kitchens
Soups and porridge are also cooked in factories, delivered in bags that contain 6 cups per bag. These bags are then just reheated in water-baths or microwaves. The hot chef, or whoever starts in the morning first thing switches all the machines on (coffee machines, ovens, “marinator”/water-bath) to preheat. Porridge bags and some soup bags are put into the water bath which takes a good 40-60 minutes to heat up, ready for breakfast (porridge) and lunch (soups).
If around lunchtime a shop either runs out of soup or didn’t put enough soup bags into the marinator, they just pour a bag of cold (factory ready cooked) soup bags into a container and heat up for 8 minutes in the microwave.
I was told by a former staff that Pret now freeze their soups to extend the expiry date. Does all this sound “freshly made” or fresh to you? The private message on this is found here: Pret Staff Tested Positive For Covid (And Pret did Nothing).
In a nutshell, Pret “freshly prepare” their food the same way we do at home. We buy bread, ham, cheese, ready-boiled eggs that come in water/brine, tomatoes etc. We put all the ready cooked foods into our fridge, and two days later “freshly prepare” a ham and cheese sandwich topped with slices of ready-boiled eggs.
All the ingredients are several days to weeks old, and keep aging in our fridges.
Panera Bread, the chain mainly in the USA, which is also owned by JAB Holdings that own Pret, fired a staff for posting a video on social media explaining how Panera really do their Mac & Cheese, in water baths, just the way Pret do their soups and porridge.
Pret’s Mac & Cheese in my time 2018 was made from ready cooked pasta, then mixed with Bechamel, added in some ready-cooked cauliflower, bacon and cheese on top, and then heated in its paper packaging in the oven. But again, everything’s already factory cooked and then just assembled and re-heated.
Panera’s (frozen) Mac & Cheese preparation, same way Pret do their soups and porridge:
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Bon appétit.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
When I started writing publicly about Pret on my website and also Twitter, Facebook etc. Sarah Butler from the Guardian started following me on Twitter early on.
I’ve already emailed many journalists before I was on Twitter, but hardly anyone responded. When Sarah started following I was of course gobsmacked that a journalist seemed interested in my story with Pret. I sent her a DM, but she never replied. After a few weeks I “kicked” her off my following.
I had many journalists follow since, and of course in my drunken stupor kicked most off.
The only journalists that either replied or initiated contacting me and then investigated further were BBC journos Vivienne Nunis and Mike Powell. Mike was very interested in telling my story and mentioning my blog, which he did in his report on Pret’s lack of iced drinks on the coffee subscription.
Vivienne also reported on a Pret issue, a leaked video that I was sent via DM of a zoom call with Pret CEO Pano Christou. I passed it on to Vivienne, she reported, but didn’t mention my blog. I understand that this is often due to the editor not wanting to mention.
After Mike reported on the coffee subscription, mentioning my blog, other major news outlets reported as well, but never mentioned my blog. A Times article even quoted from my blog, but without crediting back to me. The journalist probably didn’t anticipate me finding his article with my quote. Journalists blame their editor, and here with silly excuses:
Other journalists via emails confirmed that it’s not right to NOT credit the source when quoting. One theatre and arts reviewer even agreed publicly that they should have credited to my blog:
And some other journalists who got inspiration from my blog, but never bothering to mention the source.
Yes, of course I have manic episodes when drunk, but with Sarah Butler this wasn’t the case initially. In fact Sarah would comment rather positive towards Pret, especially in 2018/19 when former Pret CEO Clive Schlee was still in Pret and on Twitter. Schlee also followed Butler on Twitter. It seems to me that people often follow someone to “influence” them. As Sarah states on her Twitter profile that she writes on “ethical” business, she must have been fooled like most of the public, including many journalists, that Pret is an ethical business.
This was Pret’s and Clive Schlee’s main marketing tool to fool the public. But now, the facade has gotten much more cracks and Sarah is taking a closer look. But again, no mention of my blog.
The only time she responded to me was when I publicly asked in frustration if the claim of the Guardian to be “independent” investigative was here in 2019. Please note, I changed my Twitter handle from @LateNightGirlMe to @expretDOTorg:
So, Sarah was introduced to Union president Ian Hodson, as she started interviewing him when staff issues became public after I either tagged her in or emailed her.
I could write on and on and on, but just to say that it is disheartening that journalists love to peek from my blog or social media, but hardly anyone likes to credit back to me. And no, I don’t solely put the blame on my drunken rants.
I will never forget that Mike Powell was willing to mention me. I DID mess it up and it’s the way it is. But I will always be grateful to Adam from the Adam Paradox podcast, Gergor Gall from the Scottish Left review (links at the very bottom here) and Mike Powell from the BBC for mentioning my blog.
I’m also grateful to Vivienne for investigating THE MOST on Pret issues and for her immense patience with me.
My drunken outbursts are not right and no excuse. I just want to explain what’s going on when I feel frustrated. I’ve been “robbed” so-to-speak of so many things, especially in Pret. Constant promises were broken. And when people just take and take and take and take … I can’t take it anymore.
I’m sorry to everyone for my horrible emails, tweets etc.
Please always have courage and care to credit to sources and mention who/what inspired you to write your article. It shouldn’t be me to “press” journalists and their editors to mention my blog as the source of your report. And it shouldn’t be me to do all the research so that journalists can just write articles to their name on my “back” and labour.
My experience with Pret has messed me up big time. And if I have to bend a journalist’s arm to credit back to me, something’s not right! End of. That’s the main reason I’ve kicked most journalists, even high profile journos, off my following. I’m tired of journalists just sitting there on my following, waiting for a story to drop in their laps! No, you need to put in the work and stop wanting me to feed you, where you then get the rewards to your name on the back of my research and insight.
Please have integrity and care.
Thanks for reading.
Latest podcast episode on Sarah Butler’s writing and my podcast:
If the podcast player doesn’t work, please click on link below.
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 witnessed by customers: 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.
Two podcast episodes on my “forecast” in April that Pret’s CEO Pano Christou most likely either got the same pay from 2020 (£300K) or higher, plus the millions in bonus. And today’s episode after yesterday’s Guardian article.
The CEO didn’t spill the beans in April’s Times article what he got paid in 2021 and what he will get in 2022 because if he got the same or less, he would have announced it like Pret always announce their “charity” quickly. He only shared what his pay was in 2020.
Yesterday the news emerged that Pano Christou got a 27% payrise (£400K) and £4.2 million in bonus after cutting low-wage staff’s pay, benefits, paid breaks and other perks.
And before any office worker complains that you don’t get paid breaks, well, work for 8, 10, 12+ hours in excruciating heat, noise, stress, rude customers, mystery shopper fear management, bullying managers etc. and then we can talk again. Until then, keep sitting on your butt and browse through Linkedin.
Today’s podcast episode (may have to click on link underneath if WordPress refuses to post the player here):
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 witnessed by customers: 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.
… and “freshly made” is psychology, as well as not always true.
Please see customer pictures further below of mouldy food, even rat droppings on Pret food, if you want to skip my detailed text.
Also see my Freshly Made Brainwash post, on how Pret’s food is actually made. I am honestly surprised that no more people have died in Pret, unless it is hard to link to if people had food from different brands in a day, or more injuries aren’t known. But what I can say is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. And as Pret got away with fatalities and injuries, they keep full steam ahead with even worse food safety issues.
I also explain on my podcast in 4 episodes (because I kept forgetting important info) how Pret was and continue to be neglectful on food safety when customers died. In the episodes I talk about a weird Barbican seminar Pret held a year after the first customer died; also weird labeling machines Pret implemented in 2017 but NOT for ingredient labeling; the difference between Starbucks CEO and Pret’s CEO handling of crisis, the lack of training and how staff cheat on training etc. etc.
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“The more you Pret, the more you get” the chance of a mouldy sandwich with droppings from a rat!
Please watch this brief video regarding mould on bread and why we shouldn’t even eat the clean part of the bread. And then scroll down to the customer complaints, photos, videos of mouldy food and ask yourself if Pret have started to care after TWO customers died and 20+ got injured (which they ignored before it got public):
UPDATE: November 2023 on Reddit under “What restaurants in the UK do you think have terrible food?”
One person replied: “Went to Pret once and had a milkshake that tasted like vomit. Swapped it for another, which also tasted like vomit. Sandwich was dry …“. etc.
Please note, that especially since the pandemic when Pret started the coffee subscription that put huge pressure on staff and added to waiting time for customers, staff prepared the milkshake drinks and left it standing on the side for hours, even days to save time AND money on waste. Often they just quickly stired the drinks insetad of putting it into the processor. You see this further below in a private message I had on Facebook with a former staff who gave me more info how Pret now carry over food and drink to the next day(s). Hence, it’s NOT (and by the way NEVER was) freshly made. Since the pandemic it has just gotten worse. And as Pret got away with customer deaths and injuries, they feel invincible.
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UPDATED: 19. Dec. 2022
I always explain to people to be extra careful with Pret food towards the end of December close to the holiday closures. Shops are racing to not have high waste and depots try to get rid of stock that expires soon. Shops then “stretch” expiry dates and now sandwiches are carried over to the next day(s).
Reports on food poisoning and customer complaints on stale/mouldy food has drastically increased.
For any food poisoning, pest or mislabelling issues people can report directly to the government site for EHOs to take a look. The more evidence like receipts,photos/videos of mouldy food etc. the better. Contacting Pret alone won’t bring much as Pret just collect data for future marketing. They may send a voucher or not. But they’re building a data base since 2018 and do everything to get customer data.
Quote from 19.12.2022 complaint: “I have only eaten food from here today and have the Deliveroo receipt to prove this. I ate the chocolate croissant for breakfast and the chicken and avocado sandwich for lunch at 2pm. By 4:30 I almost passed out and was feverish. I was nauseous and achey and had diarrhoea on and off for hours until 9pm when I was violently sick. I have spoken to 111 as I felt so ill | Symptoms: Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Fever”.
Upfront: If you DM me on Twitter or Facebook, Instagram etc. please be aware that I don’t get notified! If I don’t respond within a week, try to get my attention again or contact me via my contact form. I am blacklisted on social media, shadow banned, my posts hidden at times in censorship after Pret must have reported me etc. I am often not notified when I receive a DM or a DM request. But they can’t silence me after I declined hush money and never signed the NDA.
After Pret ignored TWO customer allergen deaths, 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse (died 2016) and mother of five, 42 year old Celia Marsh (died 2017) and over a dozen further injuries before it got public, unsafe food practices not only continue without consequences, but have gotten much, much worse in broad daylight. There was almost a third fatality of student Isobel Colnaghi, who narrowly survived in 2017. She lost her lawsuit against Pret, because Pret didn’t break a law and successfully blamed a low wage worker.
There will be an inquest coming in September 2022 into Celia Marsh’s death as her husband is not giving up to get answers. He sued Pret but nothing could be proven if Pret was at fault. He now keeps going to have an official inquest with the vegan yogurt provider Coyo that supplied Pret with vegan products, but since Mrs Marsh’s death have been booted off by Pret. They blame each other.
The press is aware of this as I tweeted them in many times and emailed this blog post to many journalists as well as the Food Standard Authority. And maybe there is an investigation we don’t know of yet, or a journalist is going undercover to see for themselves. But this can’t go on like this.
I was a team leader in Pret with one of the job description being health and safety. I took that very seriously and never cheated on stretching expiry dates etc. Cleanliness and doing things PROPERLY was extremely important and my strength. This trickled down on staff who then also worked in a clean and careful manner, no matter how much pressure Pret threw at us. I REFUSED to cheat! Needless to say, I was never promoted beyond team leader level. And I ddin’t care!
Pret is very micromanaging and overly strict, penalising and bullying staff for the slightest, even unimportant issue. So, the below is extremely upsetting and offensive to me. I wasted 10 years in this toxic company doing my job extremely well, being known for my health and safety, hygiene work and record.
But now Pret want more money with less staff and quality. Hence, see the below.
Also, mislabelling continues where vegans and vegetarians eat meat, or people of certain faiths eat pork instead of whatever was labelled on their food. I collected only a few of the many, many complaints with photos: Vegans and vegetarians eat meat at Pret.
Pret are now breaking “Natasha’s Law”.
And before I go into some of the photos of customer complaints of mould and rat droppings on food further below, here only some of many food poisoning complaints.
Pret opened in Berlin 2018, and in 2019 already food poisoning report:
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A customer complaint:
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UPDATE August 2022 right off the bat, several recent food poisoning incidences. One on 22.05.22 is from Paris. These issues I believe are a direct result of what I write and post on below.
The latest (as far as I checked) is posted on Twitter on 15.08.2022
And many, many, many, many more. This is just the tip of the iceberg as not every customer goes on social media to complain with photos.
So, here is Pret A Manger’s psychology in using terms & slogans: “freshly made”. You can “freshly make” a sandwich with expired ingredients, mouldy cheese & stale bread. It’s “freshly made” with UN-fresh ingredients!
Also, Pret staff tell me that sandwiches and other products are now “carried over” to the next day(s) making Pret’s slogan “made today gone today” also false advertising. This is why staff don’t see the mould. If they would make a sandwich today from a mouldy or stale bread, they would feel/see it. But as some food is carried over in its packaging, they don’t see the mould and other problems like rat droppings, plastic, hair etc.
The following blog posts are important to read, and please be aware that these issues were BEFORE Brexit and the pandemic, in fact since years:
Pret food is NOT natural and why the word “natural” has disappeared off Pret’s signage and packaging. I explain in detail here:Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat
I mention these because I was contacted on Twitter in 2021 with the following, in part, quote: “Pret have started keeping their food overnight and selling it the next day. Considering they’ve built their entire brand on the Freshly Made slogan it’s very misleading. They’ve also slowly started removing all the freshly prepared signs from their stores hoping no one finds out.”
End of quote.
30. July 2022, that’s the worst mould sandwich so far. “Freshly made” mind you. I reckon this one is at least 2 – 4 days old sitting in fridges. Also, soups get reheated several times which is also not allowed. Hence, complaints of bitter tasting soups keep coming in.
Update 04.08.2022 a video from Pret in Berlin where you can HEAR the staleness of the bread. Just click the play button in the picture. You will also see further below complaints from Paris as this is company-wide.
Many of below customer complaints are not in this YouTube slide show:
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UPDATE: September 2021
Pret together with the TooGoodToGo app now SELL leftover food for cheaper price in bags for people to pick up from shops. The OLIO app still give free food while TGTG app sells it now! Even HOT food that has expired after the 2 hours shelf life is now sold that Pret wouldn’t even give for free before, due to safety issues with the temperature fluctuation! Pret was VERY strict about this and I was reprimanded once by my Manager for giving out-of-shelf life hot food to the charity that picked up food in the evening! More detail: Pret A Manger Health and Safety Hypocricy.
So, when it comes to money, anything goes suddenly! And Pret sells expired food under the “charity” umbrella to collect money for the Pret Foundation Trust to, quote: “alleviate poverty” while having made cuts to staff wages and benefits. Pret workers are now on minimum-wage and have to top up their pay with benefits. Pret CEO Pano Christou even has the audacity to ask his low-wage staff for donations! Pret is trying to get money at EVERY turn having installed donation devices in shops that customers mistake for payment devices and accidentally donate to Pret! Katchink!
I strongly believe Pret should get investigated on where the donations REALLY go to! More on Pret’s Foundation Trust: Pret A Manger’s Charity Projects, and WHEN they do charity events.
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I have to mention like I did in above “Stretched Dates” post, that in Pret, many Managers and Leaders have always stretched dates, especially during the Christmas period when the depot sent short-dated ingredients to get rid of stock, as the holidays approached and stock was sitting around expiring.
I won’t bother posting all the Tweets of customers who complain to Pret with and without photos that the bread is stale, or the chicken tastes off etc. Just a few so you won’t need to take my word for it. There has always been date stretching, but since the lock-downs it’s gotten worse. Below Tweets are all from DIFFERENT shops, so this is not just the odd shop here or there, it’s throughout the board. And as a side-note, Pret received a cash injection from owners JAB recently: JAB pumps £185 million into Pret via MCA-insight.com
Furthermore, Pret received an additional £100 million from shareholders to open 200 more shops within 3 years. Pret also received help from the UK government with the furlough scheme as well as bank loans. Of course the bank and shareholders want their money back, so the squeeze continues. And with “squeeze” I mean raising prices, lowering pay to minimum-wage (the payrise in April 2022 is just for PR as the government raises the minimum-wage), benefit and other cuts remain in place, customers get ripped-off which I explain in detail throughout my blog and on my YouTube playlist etc. etc. etc.
Yet, Pret refuse to pay rent and have multiple lawsuits from landlords in the USA on their neck reaching into the millions, some I listed here: Pret’s Lawsuits and Settlements. Instead of paying their bills and debts as best as possible, they go ahead and open more shops worldwide. Quality suffers, customers are p!ssed off, boycott and staff walk out. What do you do when you have problems at home? You go out and continue the bullsh!t elsewhere in hopes they will never know how Pret fudges up back in the homeland (as well as those countries they’re already open).
13.08.2021 mould on cheese (for this Italian style “Parmesan” cheese to get mouldy, it takes a very LONG time. This means, this cheese has been stored way beyond its expiry date or the fridge was not cooled appropriately, and understaffed shops have no time to get it fixed):
UPDATE May 2022, 2 mouldy products from 2 different shops in 1 day:
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A customer who seems to know that I write publicly on Pret issues posted to me on Facebook that Pret’s food isn’t freshly made. I first responded to his fair-trade question that Pret had to remove the word “natural” from signage and packaging, but my post disappeared (either got deleted by FB or hidden, I can’t find it) he responded:
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Link to FB post. Please click on “View … more replies” to see the post.
07.05.2021 Mouldy Cornichons!
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Now THIS is bad, because pickled cornichons and cucumbers take months to mould! This mouldy cornichon hasn’t just gone bad within days, who knows how long it has been sitting in that Pret kitchen fridge! More detail on the times when mould forms, here: Can Pickles Go Bad?
Part of a private Facebook message with a former Pret staff who allowed me to post this on my blog. Their experience DURING the pandemic where sandwiches, products are kept over-night and expired foods are used, and to my surprise that the ready cooked factory soups that come in plastic bags now get frozen to keep them beyond their expiry dates. Their only game now is to not get caught by a surprise EHO visit:
An indicator that soup was frozen before re-heating again. Customers usually rant and rave about the Mushroom Risotto soup being their favourite soup from Pret. But here, it’s the worst, quote: “runny like soup, hardly warm and tastes odd”. I used to freeze soups I bought from the supermarket or cooked myself. With “creamy” soups it does become runny and tasteless.
About the milk, what the former staff is talking about is that when the Barista (or staff in general) have milk bottles out on the counter for 4 hours, it needs to be WASTED! Because the time for the safety of the temperature outside the fridge is 4 hours. In the morning, the counter is full of milk bottles, and they will all go by the end of the super busy morning coffee rush even within 2 hours. The morning person scribbles down the time with a black marker. So, when they put out the milk at let’s say 6am, and at 10am there are still 2 bottles left outside, they HAVE TO be wasted.
In the afternoon/evening shift, the coffee maker should usually have just 2 – 4 bottles out as it is less busy. But at times they put out too many bottles, ending up having to waste. But instead of wasting, they put the milk back into the fridge for the next day.
Thus, customers flock to Twitter complaining about bitter coffees. And I could give a gazillion other examples how there’s is cheating going on under the pressure of management. I explain it in detail here: Pret A Manger also Stretched (Expiry) Dates
And important to mention that these practices where already done for years pre-Covid, it has just gotten worse now. A Tweet from 2019:
Pret London City Airport had a poor hygiene rating by a surprise EHO visit of 2 out of 5. It was mainly on pest issues and general hygiene. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. More detail on this:Pret’s Hygiene Rating December 2021.
For other “gone off” foods, please visit pest infested Pret shops via Rat A Manger & Pret A Mice or via YouTube with some “explicit” videos (you have been warned!):
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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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
Following Pret issues I keep seeing confusing information and mixed messages regarding Pret’s sales and profits. One week Pret’s sales are down, next week sales are 80% pre-Pandemic levels, next week Pret is close to ruin due to having to repay loans by the summer 2022, then profits up again … In the USA there are lawsuits in the millions for upaid rents.
Knowing Pret and their top leadership CEO Pano Christou, HQ staff, the HR department, OPs (area) managers, shop management etc. while claiming to be doing “the right thing naturally”, Pret’s way is to cheat, steal, borrow and scam customers and staff.
Pano Christou is under pressure to speed open shops. Pret received close to half a billion pounds, yes billion, from tax-haven Luxembourg based owners JAB Holdings (Germany’s 2. richest family, the Reimanns with an extensive Nazi slavery past) and shareholders. Pret received this money with the task to open 200 shops worldwide in the next 2 years. This is a huge and unrealistic task.
I remember when private equity firm Bridgepoint took over in 2008 and tasked Pret to open at least 15 shops per year. Me and my colleagues felt the squeeze. And now with JAB it’s even worse.
India’s richest business man has hooked up with Pret to open shops in India. I feel sorry and worried for workers AND customers in India, especially since Pret has a very poor track record on food safety and customer care, despite their “happy” and generous facade.
JAB and shareholders are like the Mafia, they want their money back. These private equity firms pass companies like Pret from hand to hand like drug dealers do with drugs and money laundry. Makes me almost feel sorry for Pano Christou who is squeezed in-between like a middle man and lower ranked drug dealer appeasing the big lords.
But the price is paid by the very bottom, the “addicts”, those who need jobs and sell their labour cheap to the overlords because they don’t know that they can beat the “addiction” when they get help and organise.
I’ve seen interviews of Pano Christou in India and other places lately, and he does NOT look relaxed. He looks tense, nervous, keeps sniffing as if he had a cold or is snorting cocaine. Not alleging that he does, but his nervous sniffing is unusual for him. I know of former OPs managers and HQ staff who took drugs in the toilets in head office.
I had to wipe cocaine traces off toilet hand dryers in Pret shops where mainly business people frequent. Again, I’m not alleging Pano is taking drugs, but I am calling Pret out again and again for scamming customers, stealing and borrowing from staff, selling expired, mouldy food even after having ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen injuries before this got public. THAT is what I can say for sure! I link to the reasons and evidence further below.
The media is helping Pret’s “propaganda” by saying sales are up, profits are soaring again, and I have a sense this is to attract potential investors.
Pano must be under pressure from JAB and shareholders to produce numbers. Hence, Pret delayed paying staff TWICE this year under dodgy excuses, the 2. excuse was “payroll error”.
Pano seems to be doing the EXACT thing that all shop managers do. Shop managers tweak numbers, cheat, extend expiry dates to save on food waste to boost their bonus and please their OPs managers. Pano has to produce and reach targets for his bosses JAB Holdings.
And since Pret’s been making profit again, they could and should raise wages, reinstate the benefits and paid breaks they cut. But of course no, they continue to cut in anyway they can including stopping complimentary items like butter portions for soup bread, seeds for porridge, sweetener, downsized the complimentary honey portions etc. etc.
These cuts are okay for me, what is NOT okay is borrowing from low-wage staff like workers are a bank to loan from without interest! Wage theft is also huge in Pret.
Here are just some of the mixed messages and “propaganda” Pret and the media throw out there:
So, trading slumped down to 62% “because” of the train strike, let’s just blame workers again. Yet, on this same day news say that Pret’s sales are UP.
Can they make up their minds, or is this truly “propaganda” to get investors and customers in?
Pano Christou is SO detached and deranged, he doesn’t care one bit about workers. He even had the audacity AFTER he cut wages, making “temporary” pay cuts permanent to ASK his low-wage staff to donate to his “charity” half-marathon. Pano has NO shame whatsoever. His greed, or maybe it truly is desperation is amazing! I gave Pano a nickname, “Panoccio”! 🤥
It also reminds me of Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe who didn’t want a 2. lockdown willing to sacrifice “a few thousand very old and vulnerable people”. I chased him off Twitter and was later informed that he is in Jeffrey Epstein’s address book:
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Pret and itsu are thick as thieves and ice cold business people hurting people with a smile.
It has until June to pay back £66.7m in loans, after having already extended that facility. A separate £605m loan facility is due to expire the following summer.«
This news to me seemed to have served to panic customers to flock to Pret for support. No more news on this since then. So, Pret either seemed to have repaid the £66 million and still has to repay £605m by the summer 2023.
And here’s what Pret’s been doing to reach targets:
Claiming to have suppLIEr issues and technical faults preventing customers to get special offers and certain expensive and complimentary products.
The worst for me is delaying to pay their front-line, lowest paid staff TWICE this year and the ongoing wage theft.
And no, don’t make it too easy on yourself by saying staff can just look for another job. It’s not that simple when you have no money, a family to support, maybe even debt. Pret wear out their workers on purpose so they can’t think straight and have the strength to stand up or look for better jobs.
But customers can EASILY shop elsewhere and CHOOSE EASILY to support small independent businesses.
But no, most customers are as greedy as Pret by wanting freebies, a cheap coffee subscription and are willing to wait 10 – 15 minutes now while giving the few staff that are left a hard time for being “slow”!
So HOW can Pret be making pre-Pandemic 80% plus profits again while being understaffed, long queues, many customers boycott or completely abandon Pret.
Is it “propaganda” again to draw new investors while Pret is struggling in reality?
Many large companies underpay workers and are into wage theft. But for Pret to delay pay twice this year by getting bolder and bolder in broad daylight, shows desperation to me.
The uo and down, back and forth messages of soaring sales, then being close to bankruptcy is such a typical communication mess from Pret.
One employee review from New York from a purchasing director give some insights into Pret’s leadership. A purchasing director is closer to Pret leadership than shop staff. And I can underline this having had my traumatic experiences with Pret’s leadership ncluding former CEO Clive Schlee, Pano Christou, the HR department and some HQ staff.
Quote: »One of the oddest work experiences. Worked their during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.«
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Just a few more from the USA and from London’s head office staff:
»The kitchen staff is treated like slaves. They are expected to do the impossible. The upper management is a bunch of heartless, evil British monsters that take credit for all the positives and assign blame for all the negatives. … Advise to management: Quit your jobs and go back to England and stay there.«
»Spoiled, selfish upper management has ruined it for the rest. … upper management thinks they are better than everyone else. They spend (waste) lots of money on dinners for themselves and “leadership conferences” that are really just excuses to party in Orlando or Vegas. “Business” trips to Boston and Chicago are really expensed vacations for their families. The Brits have taken over NYC. Pret has brought over many managers and leaders form the UK and ‘beheaded’ many of the US employees who built the brand to make room for them. Advice to Management: get over yourselves.«
A recent review of many along those lines, partial quote:
»harassing higher management from group and ops manager above. Unhealthy to both mental and physical health. … Group manager shaming for being sick. … Wages regularly not paid on time. … Safety standards for teams lack luster [causing] high risk of injury. … Advise to management: Replace Pano with someone competent.«
I could go on and on and on, but to wrap it up, here some words from people in Ireland and Spain regarding Pret opening in those countries:
Spain’s and Ireland’s “welcome” message to Pret and below, “The Pret A Manger Anthem”.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
People in India are used to hard work and low pay under extremely harsh circumstances. I can imagine that Pret are anticipating speed opening in India where they can exploit and abuse workers even worse than they do in the UK and USA where people go to court more than people in India.
My heart breaks for any worker who is told lies and believes they get a good job in a “good” company!
It is beyond me how people, especially business people are either too naïve, too lazy, not concerned or plainly don’t care about the truth of Pret or any company at that. Of course business people are MAINLY concerned about money increase, no matter how that increase comes. And IF there are some ethical points, they don’t take a closer look and just copy & paste what they are fed by the company.
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UPDATE July 2022
A Guardian article recently reported on Pret CEO Pano Christou’s pay-rise and £4 million bonus in 2021 after he cut staff wages.
I speak about it on my blog and predicted back in April 2022 that I believe Christou either got the same pay or higher after cutting wages.
As the embedded players are just 30 second previews, please click on the blue links:
I want to dissect a thread on Twitter by an Indian business man with over 190K followers. Mr. Mukul Agrawal is the founder of Agrawal Corporate, entrepreneur, investor, trader, stock market analyst, finance coach and TEDx speaker. But it is evident that he only copied what he read maybe on Pret’s website and a little on Wikipedia, and whatever info is prevalent still.
He first writes that Pret opened its first shop in 1986, then later writes correctly that the first shop opened in 1983. He must have briefly peeked at Wikipedia. His copy & paste info is all over the place. I responded and corrected him on a few issues and pleaded to take a closer look. But I doubt he would care. It bugs me that especially business people don’t do their homework properly.
So, here for other people who do care about the truth and reality of Pret A Manger.
For people with visual impairment, I put some screenshots of the tweets and news articles here, which I always do as a form of “evidence” and in case people delete their tweets. But I paste the text underneath, as I was told by a blind person once that reading programs cannot read screenshots. I have found the same with the automated voice converter that reads my blog posts and converts my text into audio. I put some audio conversion of my blog posts on my podcast. The voice can’t read the screenshots. So, I aim to also type out or paste texts from screenshots on my blog.
Text of the tweets, I copy 4 of the 5 texts as Twitter didn’t translate the first tweet. I responded to some wrong information but want to expand here in the post. My “corrections” come underneath each quote.
First Quote: »Pret’s mission has been simple. Serving hygienic and properly prepared fresh food and good organic coffee.« End of Quote.
My response on Twitter but I expand on some more information here below.
1. Pret had to remove the word “natural” from their signage & packaging after lawsuits as their food is loaded with chemicals.
2. Pret food is NOT fresh. Customer complaints with picture of mouldy food. And Pret’s food is NOT organic. Pret do not claim that their food is organic, but they claim that their coffee is. I explain in my blog post why Pret had to remove the word “natural” from all their signage, packaging and marketing: Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat.
I also linked people to my post about Pret’s food not being fresh with pictures of customer complaints of mouldy food, rat droppings on food etc. I also want to highlight that reports on food poisoning has increased in the last few months. Blog post with photos of mouldy food: Pret Food is NOT Fresh.
Pret’s brainwash slogans of “freshly made food” which replaced the “natural food” slogan on their packaging, is also a typical psychological message. But the reality is, even if it was made fresh on the day and not secretly carried over from the previous days, you can “freshly make” a sandwich from stale bread and mouldy cheese. It’s “freshly made” with NON-fresh items.
And never forget that Pret ignored TWO customer allergy deaths and over a dozen further injuries before this got public. Pret ONLY slowly started to act when the deaths became public. We staff weren’t even told and on my podcast I explain in 3 episodes how Pret was and continues to be careless with food safety and customers health and safety. Please pay particular attention to a specific London Barbican Centre seminar that Pret held AFTER the first customer died and several got injured. I speak about this in Part 01, Part 02 and Allergy Trial as part 3: expretcast on Spreaker.
And in memory of the two customers who died, it is important to keep saying their names:
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, died in July 2016 from a reaction to sesame.
Celia Marsh, 42, mother of 5 daughters died in December 2017 from dairy in a vegan wrap.
A student named Isobel Colnaghi, almost died and would have been the third victim in 2017, also from an unlabelled sesame reaction. She lost her court case against Pret because Pret was successful to blame the low-wage worker. I speak about this in the above three podcast episode.
Second Quote from the business man: »Since opening its first shop in London in 1986, Pret’s mission has been to serve freshly cooked food and the best organic coffee. Its food is prepared throughout the day and the unsold food is donated at the end of every day.« End of Quote.
I highlight in the tweets that not all food is donated to charity each night and link to my blog post about daily food-waste with pictures of customer complaints having seen food waste in the streets: Pret’s Food-waste.
Also, many people still don’t seem to know or realize that Pret’s food is NOT cooked in Pret kitchens, but cooked in factories and then just re-heated and assembled in shop kitchens.
It is like when you go to the supermarket, get a loaf of ready-sliced bread, some cheese, some ham and salad. You go home, put the food into your fridge and a day or two days later “make” a sandwich “fresh”. Freshly made from factory-cooked ingredients. Same with the soup. you buy a ready cooked soup in a tin or plastic tub, put it in your fridge and re-heat it a few days later in your microwave. Pret’s just been successful to fool the public with all their slogans and brainwash. And we love to fall for these fairy-tales of a multi-billion pound company with seat in tax-haven Luxembourg under the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns, with an extensive Nazi slavery past!
The only products that are cooked from raw or partly cooked products are the frozen baguettes that are up to a year old, frozen croissants, frozen cookies and raw eggs that come already mixed in Tetra Paks for the bacon breakfast rolls. NOTHING is cooked in Pret shops, there are not pots and pans and stoves in the kitchens. There are only ovens for the baguettes and ready mixed Mac & Cheese, water baths to heat up the already factory-cooked soups and porridge, and microwaves to quickly re-heat soups.
A former employee of Pret’s sister company Panera spilled the beans on how Panera re-heat their already cooked macaroni and cheese. The staff got fired for putting a video of this on YouTube. But this is the exactly same way that Pret re-heat the ready cooked soups and porridge, in water baths of bags containing six cups of soup. The water-bath equipment is called “marinator”.
Video on YouTube:
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The only thing with Panera Bread is that compared to Pret, Panera do not advertise that their food is “freshly made”. So, I won’t have any expectations. But Pret claim that their food is freshly made and with it play with customer assumptions that they interpret this to mean that Pret’s food is fresh.
Third Quote from the business man: »Their coffee is (and always will be) 100% organic and they also have a coffee fund that financially supports the next generation of farmers. This is (partly) what we think makes Preet special.« End of Quote.
My response on the financial support for coffee farmers:
Pret exploit farmers and have even stopped doing fair-trade coffee. Pret’s multi-billionaire owners JAB Holdings in tax-haven Luxembourg pressured farmers to lower prices! I linked to a The Economist article titled, »JAB upends coffee trading« with the sub-title: “The owner of Peet’s and Pret a Manger is pressuring suppliers already ground down by low prices.” Link to the article.
Customer complaints have increased that Pret’s coffee tastes horrible. The cheap prices and Pret not doing fair-trade coffee anymore makes me question HOW their coffee can be organic. I have visited organic animal and vegetable farms in Virginia, USA where I was looking into doing a 3 month sabbatical a few years ago. I asked many questions to the farmers and they told me that it is extremely expensive to get certified organic via annual fees. And my question is, how can Pret’s coffee be organic when it is so cheap and the taste very poor.
A reminder, Pret was caught cheating by claiming that their food is natural. They had to take the word “natural” off their marketing. In other issues Pret has been caught ripping off customers, lying about the subscription deal which the BBC reported on in December 2021. Article: Pret A Manger customers complain over drinks subscription deal.
And the price reflects on the quality and taste. Here are only few of the many complaints from customers who say Pret’s coffee tastes like “dishwater” or the beans are like “rat shit”:
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And many, many, many more.
Last Quote from the business man: »Established in 1983, Pret currently has over 460 shops in the UK, with 324 locations in London alone.« End of Quote.
My response was just that this time he mentioned the correct date of the first Pret shop opening. I want to highlight something that a friend of the late Jeffrey Hyman, the original founder of Pret, told me on Twitter not long ago. Hyman’s friend paid tribute to him on the anniversary of his death. I responded to his tweet saying that Pret always avoid mentioning Mr. Hyman. I have noticed now as well that since about a year, Pret has put the words “London 1986” above their shop doors. This seems to me like wanting to brainwash the public about the year of Pret’s first opening.
Jeffrey Hyman’s friend said the following to me on Twitter after I pointed out Pret’s refusal to mention Hyman:
When I tweeted, “Unfortunately Pret don’t give him credit and continue to avoid mentioning him”, he replied, quote: »I know. They even employed someone to repeatedly change the Wikipedia page that mentions how Jeffrey Hyman founded the first Pret-A-Manger. A moderator banned the person when they said they were retained by Pret to do that.« End of quote.
After what I survived and went through in Pret, especially from the VERY TOP executive leadership team and the HR department, I absolutely believe the person. Pret lie, cheat and steal left, right and center! They have no morals, no ethics, and every good, wholesome or ethical thing you read from Pret is the COMPLETE opposite!
I want to nightlight again my favourite tweet by a former customer who said the following after replying to a customer who called for boycotting Pret when Pret made the temporary pandemic pay cuts permanent:
»A while back, I saw a Pret ad that said its staff were “passionate” about making sandwiches. This kind of bullshit talk always hides ruthless practices in my experience« End of quote.
At least current CEO Pano Christou removed the brainwashing slogan on their packaging that used to say “Lovingly handmade” after I keep pointing out the opposite. And people are usually naïve to believe that a low-wage, stressed out worker can “lovingly” hand make anything!
I want to expand now on a few other issues. The main issue of exploiting workers. Pret settled twice class action lawsuits in the USA. Pret “shaved down” (meaning, rounded down) wages and were sued twice within 4 years. Pret settled and repaid close to $1 million each time repaying 4000 workers. Pret also recently settled a lawsuit for finger printing workers. More on these and other lawsuits including on racism and bullying in shops: Pret’s Lawsuits and Settlements.
Also, recently Pret delayed paying their lowest-paid staff twice! The second time Pret cleverly used the Queen’s Jubilee weekend, knowig that the public would be distracted with celebrations. And they were right! I was contacted by desperate staff with this info and passed it on to journalists, including Sarah Butler from the Guardian. Sarah reported on it, but her article was drowned out by the Jubilee weekend as hardly any customer commented. Usually when the Guardian or BBC report on a scandal in Pret, there is an outcry for days and calls for boycott. But not this time, because Pret was clever enough to use the bank holiday weekend to delay pay. And also on bank holiday Monday all the banks are closed so that Pret won’t have to pay emergency wages and staff cannot arrange an overdraft in order to pay their bills.
Staff have announced that they basically now will sabotage Pret, which means also their food and service quality. What a staff member said on Instagram about the pay delay which directly influences food safety and customer satisfaction. And please don’t blame the staff here, that’s too easy! Pret put customers in danger again by under-staffing shops and treating their staff like sh!t
It comes around full circle. How you treat your staff reflects also what you think of your customers.
One person raised the delayed pay with Pret on Instagram, quote: »This is outrageous, it’s a bank holiday week-end and your team members are working instead of enjoying themselves and you didn’t even pay them. You should not allow to have these technical issues as you push your staff to not do any mistake. And is not even the first time.« End of quote.
To which the above person replied in part, quote:
»Don’t worry. We already drastically reduced food and service quality (since we work for free) and we will make sure Pret doesn’t make as much money as they think they will this bank holiday weekend.
They told us 12 hours before payday that there is no money, on 1st of June when everybody has rent/mortgage to pay. They left us with no money to provide for our families.
We tried to contact the head office regarding the issue but all of them were already gone enjoying early bank holiday.
Lots of people already took sick-leave as a strike action leaving those in the shops understaffed (food availability will be affected). Thank you for your support.« End of quote.
I also want to highlight here as a reference why and when Pret make huge “charity” announcements, especially why former CEO Clive Schlee made the £1000 announcement for all staff back in May 2018 when he found out about my blog. A small list of “charity” announcements: Pret’s Charity Projects.
Former CEO Clive Schlee under whose “leadership” two customers died and over a dozen got injured, left with this “legacy” from staff on Glassdoor:
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And current CEO and Schlee’s prodigy, Pano Christou is continuing it:
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I could go and on and on, but I stop here and leave the reader with two YouTube slides of people in Spain and Ireland resisting Pret’s plan to open in their countries. I doubt India will resist Pret as many workers there for one don’t have information on how exploitative Pret are, and also because they are used to harsh work environments. But it’s not right. They also deserve a decent wage and respectful working conditions with dignity and a good life. But that will never happen with Pret, not in reality, only on paper.
Please see my YouTube playlist for more issues in Pret, especially with the coffee subscription and staff issues. And my podcast where I walk people through Pret’s strict weekly mystery shopper scheme, why stressed staff in understaffed shops smile so much for 8, 10+ hours straight, not mater if they are depressed, sick, bereaved etc. Podcast: Pret’s Strict Mystery Shopper Scheme with examples of weekly reports. I explain how one staff member can get extra cash even when the whole team didn’t get bonus. I also explain how staff use the freebie give-aways to penalize rude customers etc.
Thank you for reading, and I am sorry for my traumatized self sometimes. I still struggle daily and am not sure if I will survive. I just write and write to distract myself and inform people, so they don’t experience the trauma, pain and loss that I went through.
Spain:
Ireland:
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
If you want to know the epitome of a therapist, or the epitome of a human being … I dare to believe that there a good therapists out there.
With the permission of Dr. Ochberg, I used his poem after I lost my brother. We didn’t know he was dead for 5 weeks and cremated. In Germany, there is no independent investigative body to look into the police. They all cover for each other. If you can’t afford a lawyer, you need to cope in other ways.
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
Days before the Queen’s platinum Jubilee weekend I was contacted by someone informing me that Pret delayed paying their lowest paid shop staff for the second time this year.
Cleverly using the bank holiday weekend knowing the press and the public would be distracted with the celebrations. I contacted journalists, including Sarah Butler from the Guardian. Actually, I emailed Pret’s CEO Pano Christou, openly copying in journalists and Ian Hodson from the BFAWU union whom Sarah later asked to comment. I included the info I was given as Pret staff always reach out to me with important issues, knowing I write about it and pass it on to the press.
Part of a DM I was sent and passed it on to the press:
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Shortly after, Sarah Butler reported on it, but of course it got drowned out in the news due to the Jubilee celebrations. Sarah Butler also reported on a strike action plan I tagged her in last year, and this started an uprising of customers who called for boycotts. But Pret being Pret, using the bank holiday weekend as people are distracted was a clever move. There was no uprising this time.
But I want to point to another reason why I believe that Pret used the Jubilee weekend to not pay staff on time. On 22.06.2022 I saw some info via Propel that Pret’s sales have risen, also during the Jubilee weekend.
I am not business savvy and don’t understand business matters too well, but I know Pret very well. I know their mentality, their tricks, their sweet-talk in charity, the environment and safety issues versus how it is in reality.
I know that when there are systemic issues in a company, group or family, it always comes from the top, “the fish stinks from its head”.
For one, how can sales be up 88% to pre-pandemic levels when more and more customers boycott Pret, with many vowing to never set foot inside Pret again after learning how Pret exploit staff. Plus, shops have shorter opening times due to lack of staff. How do they throw around with figures like that?
How about a closer look?
I cannot count the number of times when manager after manager in shop after shop in my 10 years, in over 30 shops in Pret, “forgot” to pay me the odd hour here and there. The same with colleagues who would approach me as I was the team leader, complaining that the manager didn’t pay their full hours AGAIN. Often a new team member was too scared to speak to the moody or angry manager, so they came to me and I spoke to the manager on their behalf. But I also encouraged the colleague to not be afraid as they are not doing anything wrong, but the manager is!
I say with certainty that this was on purpose in shop after shop. This was especially clear when staff were sent home earlier then scheduled and managers QUICKLY adjusted the hours where staff worked less, but often “forgot” to adjust the hours in the system when staff worked longer than scheduled! Many staff don’t even check their hours and never notice that the odd hour or two hasn’t been paid, ESPECIALLY when they helped out in another shop for a day.
I kept a spreadsheet at home and marked it daily in my phone calendar how many hours I worked EACH day. Then I checked the pay and it was literally almost on a weekly basis that at least 15 minutes to an hour was missing.
Pret managers do this on purpose to not pay the odd 15 minutes to make the staff feel embarrassed to ask for the 15 minute pay. But after a while I DID demand to be paid to the minute as this became the rule rather than exception to “steal” pay/hours from us.
Do the math, if you are looking after a shop of 25 – 30 staff members, take an hour here and there from most of them every week. It is 20 – 30 hours every week that you profit from by “forgetting” to pay. It all adds up.
The same with last week’s pay. I myself have not been paid for a whole week when I left Pret. When a team member starts in Pret, they don’t get paid for the first week. They get the first week pay on the end of week two. And then when they leave, Pret forgets to pay it back.
Managers and assistant managers are on a monthly fixed payroll. But Pret exploit them as well by making them work overtime without extra pay.
Shop managers are constantly pressured to produce numbers and reach targets. They cater to the area managers (operation managers OPs). OPs cater to head office and their heads. And CEO Pano Christou of course caters to owners JAB Holdings (Reimann family) and share holders.
The systemic and systematic issue of not paying staff their full hours worked is a huge issue in Pret, as it may be in many low-wage companies.
It was especially noticeable that managers “forgot” to pay when we neared the end of a quarter where managers and higher ups get their bonuses. Pret also has the “premiership” where shops compete for the top shop spot, being the #1 shop in all of Pret. I worked in shops where we became top shop, and often #2 and in the top 10. This of course means a sh!tload of bonus for managers and also regognition to be on the top.
Every quarter Pret holds a “quarter brief” where these shops are mentioned and where the CEO mentions specific managers. A gala is held and money blown out with expensive food and booze for the top people. while the lowest paid workers paid the price for it. Also, trips to Dubai, Paris, Las Vegas for managers and higher ups under the guise of “seminars” and team building while shop staff crumble.
The following review from New York is worth quoting outside the screenshot:
»They spend (waste) lots of money on dinners for themselves and “leadership conferences” that are really just excuses to party in Orlando or Vegas. “Business” trips to Boston and Chicago are really expensed vacations for their families. The Brits have taken over NYC. Pret has brought over many managers and leaders form the UK and ‘beheaded’ many of the US employees who built the brand to make room for them.
In the USA people don’t mess around much and go straight to court, while in the UK and Europe the legal system is different, not as much in favour of plaintiffs. Most workers don’t even entertain the thought to raise a complicated and expensive lawsuit. So, they give up, bear under the burden or just leave.
Former CEO Clive Schlee left with this legacy:
And current CEO Pano Christou is continuing it:
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Twice in the USA Pret settled lawsuits for “wage theft” where Pret “shaved off” (rounded down) pay. Twice Pret repaid approximately 4000 workers a combined $1 million. More info: Wage Theft in Pret.
And speaking of “deal bonus” posted on Twitter by Clive Schlee, I write about the reason WHY Schlee made the £1000 bonus announcement to all staff back then. It came as a response after he was made aware of my blog in the eve of making this announcement. More info with proof: The Day Clive Schlee had a Bright “Idee”.
And now the Pret executives have become bolder, DIRECTLY taking from workers instead of before via the “middle-men” of OPs and shop managers. Pret now directly claim to have had “payroll error” delaying to pay staff.
Sarah Butler’s report after I contacted her and others:
McDonald’s had a 30% stake in Pret in the early 2000s for Pret to get their foot into the US market. Once in, they divorced their “marriage of convenience” shortly after. But this should have rung alarm bells for the press and public. Pret, who claim to be healthy and ethical hooking up with McDonald’s just leaves behind a bitter taste. And CEO Pano Chrsitou having come from McDonald’s, where he was a manager (started as an assistant manager in Pret with all the perks, NOT a low-wage team member), is now turning Pret further and further into a McDonald’s style business.
We all heard of horrifying instances where low-wage fast-food staff spit into customers’ food. I doubt a Pret staff would do that, BUT staff are now internally striking, literally striking back and sabotaging Pret from within.
From Instagram
Also, the same person:
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I explained later to above person that it DOES matter if Pret “only” delay pay for a day. Pret’s financial week starts on Fridays. Weekly staff are paid on Thursdays. So, paying staff 1 day late on a Friday means Pret has a new budget to work with to present better numbers of the previous week to JAB, shareholders and now the Pret Index. Just as I explained above that managers take an hour here and there, if a staff member notices this, the manager then repays it the following week. I had a sneaky manager put me on three day sick leave in the system, while I was only sick for two days. A full 7 hours were missing from my pay. He profusely apologized, but then asked me if he can repay 1 hour per week. I was new to Pret and naive and agreed! I should have demanded the full 7 hour pay then and there which Pret can do.
When I was off sick leave for 3 months during bereavement and the bullying environment, David Carter from HR met me to offer the first of 4 settlements if I sign an NDA. As I was off sick and without pay, I asked David to meet me at a cafe close to my home as I couldn’t afford the bus fare to HQ. David came and immediately took advantage of my financial struggles by offering me money in return for me to resign and sign an NDA. But to appear supportive in case of a court case later, he also offered me £300 as a good will gesture and gift. I smelled a rat but accepted the £300 gift. I didn’t want Pret to later say in court that they offered money but I rejected Pret’s offer of help and therefore have no grounds to sue them. Pret also paid for counselling but the bullying continued. After a year of no support and bullying, then having contacted the CEO, only then did some support come in while the bullying continued.
But later when I arrived home, within an hour, I had £300 in my bank account from Pret. Pret and companies in general CAN pay within minutes. This was in 2016 and David told me to take a while to think about the settlement offer which I later declined. Part of the email which he put into writing, I believe in case for court:
And yes, the funds appeared within an hour.
My former manager wanted to spread out the 7 hours pay over several weeks to reach targets. And this is what I mean regarding the Pret Index and using the end of a quarter or a specific event like the Queen’s Jubilee to delay pay.
And now even more than ever before, I fear for food safety. As if Pret need more customer deaths and injuries, shops serve expired, mouldy, stale food with insects, rat droppings, hair etc. Pret also keep mislabeling due to under-staffing and with it now break “Natasha’s Law” which was implemented in October 2021, five years after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from a baguette containing unlabelled sesame she was allergic to. The second customer, mother of 5, Celia Marsh died of dairy in a vegan wrap. And further dozen plus got injured over several years, including after the two deaths and Pret doing NOTHING until this became public.
Ongoing mislabeling of course is due to the extreme under-staffing which happened already before the pandemic. The pandemic just made everything worse and Pret, instead of putting on the brakes and rebuild the brand with QUALITY, they rush ahead with dodgy practices and aggressive expansion plans to please JAB and share-holders.
Blog link with more pictures of mouldy food than I used in the YouTube slide below: Pret Food is NOT Fresh. It all comes around full circle.
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After having received cash injections from JAB Holding (£185million) and shareholders (£100m and later again £200m) Pret are tasked to open 200 shops worldwide in the next 2 years.
Bridgepoint bought Pret in 2008, I started in Pret mid 2008 and never even knew Pret. But since 2008 I noticed Pret shops popping up at every corner in London. Later I learnt that Bridgepoint tasked Pret to open 15 shops per year. Link to “Case Study“.
And I can tell you we FELT the SQUEEZE! Now, I don’t know Pret in any other way than being back-breaking work for little money. But I kept hearing in the early months of working at Pret that colleagues who worked pre-2008 kept saying Pret has become stricter, harder, more unfair etc.
And now, with JAB, the squeeze got even worse. Tasking Pret to open 200 shops in 2 years … good luck shop workers AND customers! Of course Pret moved more into franchising. But being desperate to please JAB and shareholders after the cash injection and the task to speed-open shops worldwide, they directly now stoop even lower from their castle to the slave pit, and take from low-wage staff like using workers as a piggy bank or bank to loan money from without being charged interest.
And of course Pret wants more investors, and most people outside the UK either don’t know the scandals in Pret or still think of the “old” Pret with the happy facade. Business people and investors read Bloomberg with the Pret Index showing rising numbers that also came during the Queen’s Jubilee weekend. And passionate business people drool over the Pret Index. So, what better time to “borrow” money from the lowest paid workers to have rising numbers, than during the Jubilee to pimp up the Pret Index to lure in possible investors.
In a nutshell, Pret KEEP ripping staff off, y’all, just like they rip customers off via the coffee subscription, apps, special offer deals etc.
Pret’s shady practices on a variety of issues:
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Spain’s response to Pret’s plan to open:
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From Facebook
Ireland’s response:
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Pano Christou’s 2020 pay was £300,000 PLUS millions in bonus. He didn’t reveal how much pay he got 2021 and 2022 after cutting wages, benefits, paid break etc. during the pandemic, keep taking from staff having made temporary pandemic cuts permanent. But if he had cut his wages like he did to staff, he would have announced it as Pret are quick to announce “charity” events. For me it is safe to assume he receives the same pay if not more. And by the way, Christou is paid more, double than the UK Prime Minister and gets the same pay as US President Biden. Katchink!
My podcast episode on this:
I could go on and on and on and on and on, but mark my words, food safety is already highly compromised and will not get better with this aggressive expansion and labour issues. I know what I’ve seen and experienced in Pret. I know what staff tell and send me. And I see the ongoing complaints on social media, including food poisoning websites reporting on every increasing issues of food poisoning issuespeople report.
To the WordPress staff who always check the blog posts that I do, you can inform Pret all day long, I can see how you check each post when I publish it. WordPress has moved my blog into the “adult” section where they move pornography sites to. A WordPress staff, they brainwashing-ly call “happiness engineer”, (yuck!) told me it’s been moved. And when I checked the rules they linked me to, all I can see is that they move porn sites there. So, they use this excuse to censor my free speech. Pret most likely contacted WordPress and the platform bowed to pressure by hiding my blog within its platform. This means, WordPress users who are logged into WordPress cannot find my blog on the internal “reader” platform. When people use the internal WordPress reader search button, put “pret a manger” in search, my site cannot be found/seen. Same with any other social media platform restricting my posts. So far to free speech and whistleblowers being protected, hey. 🖕
What do Pret have to hide, I wonder …
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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 witnessed by customers: 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.
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.
I wanted to call this post “Fear Management vs Courage” but I know that when you care, you won’t need courage. You only need courage if you are afraid.
If you care, if you love people and have a passion for the truth, you won’t need to bullshit anyone around you.
I know I am a “nutcase” for many. I’ve offended many people while drunk, wrote horrible tweets etc. But not always and not when I reached out to journalists early on.
From the get go, I want people to know that Sarah Butler from the Guardian ignored my “concerns”. But she now writes on issues in Pret that I tag her in or email her about. Sarah Butler was the first journalist of a major news outlet who followed me very early on in 2018 when I started writing publicly on Pret in May 2018.
After having contacted journalists, I was excited of course that a journalist from The Gardian started to show interest. I also saw that former CEO Clive Schlee followed Butler and that she wrote very favourable of Pret, like most journos did and still do.
I DM’ed her, but never got a reply. After a few weeks, I “kicked” her off my following and from then on kicked most journalists off who started following me from The Guardian, Times, BBC etc. That’s me being stupid, still in trauma, angry etc. It is what it is.
But this post is dedicated to 2 BBC journalists.
Vivienne Nunis and Mike Powell.
Vievienne, because she is of course a great journalist, but she is a human above anything.
Mike Powell, because he is a human, and a journalist who was ok after I emailed his editor to even just utter my blog, and indirectly my story with Pret. It takes a human to do that.
There is no “human-ness” in Pret. They kill people and exploit staff with a smile.
We live in these times where journalists are silenced with a simple whisper, a simple smile, a free coffee, a facade, a fairy-tale. I am disheartened that journalists in this country are silenced and soothed by simply being silent.
It’s all about getting (y)our names out there.
Journalism is extremely competitive. Twitter is filled with “investigative” journalists who do copy & paste journalism.
I contacted hundreds, if not thousands of journalists on various platforms since 2018.
Vivienne Nunis was one of very few to respond. And she was the only person to reluctantly meet me for an interview. And whoever she interviewed of current and former Pret staff, she found reasons to not cover the bullying environment in Pret. That’s fine. It’s a risky subject to cover.
Three years later, Mike Powell, also BBC and now freelance, contacted me after I tweeted to him. But he wanted me to provide all the research while saying that my blog won’t necessarily get mentioned. I contacted the BBC ahead of publication to explain my concern. They then mentioned it. But it should go without having to raise the issue. Sources should be mention if they wish to, without having to “beg” to get mentioned.
I contacted the BBC to make clear where his upcoming story was coming from.
They “mentioned” my blog then. The Times later jumped on the story and took a sentence from my blog but without mentioning the source of my blog, quoting me verbatim but only mentioning “a blog” and never thinking I’d find the article. The journalist of course just blamed his editor. Every journalist avoids tooth and nail to name my blog while taking info from it. You have no shame, press.
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I put on my media page which press articles I directly influenced and/or got the ball rolling.
Any future leaks I get from Pret staff, I want to pass on to an unknown, young, starting journalist.
And then there is Ian Hodson from the union. He sent me to a women’s activist group up North London because I was bothering him too much after he contacted me to offer “help” on Twitter.
Keep your help, Ian. Go on TV, go on LBC, go and speak to Sarah Butler from the Guardian now, after you all were too proud, too embarrassed to PUBLICLY speak out from what I survived.
Sarah Butler from the Guardian only cares about a story to her name, and now Ian Hodson.
She followed my Twitter account early on in 2018. When she started following, I DM’ed her, but of course, no response. Clive Schlee was her follower when he was still on Twitter. I made her unfollow me.
I understand that Sarah NOW immediately writes a report as soon as she’s informed. Sarah writes on issues I tag her in or email her, but she still treats me like I don’t even exist. I have had enough people in Pret and now journalists treat me with contempt.
Like other competitive journalists, don’t ever mention expret.org, hey. Mike Powell/his editor was the only one who mentioned my blog, But only after I contacted the BBC. Yet, thank you nevertheless. And I know that I MESSED UP many an opportunity.
I am a human being who survived Pret and have immense insider knowledge I put on a silver platter. But the press in this country play dead until they can use info and then not credit the source.
And regarding unions, I now understand why Pret staff start their own union or just give up, because you “established” unions never gave a sh!t. The BFWAU left the Labour party. I don’t care about politics. Feed your ego, but leave us workers alone.
Longevity lasts like a pickled onion in a jar vs crowds chanting your name for a moment.
Many RT all day long. Is that it? You sit in your home to RT Tweets? Really?
We workers do not know the difference between people who care and people who just want their name out there.
And Sarah Butler, go and get your story, after you “followed” me and I contacted you then. But you never responded and remained silent, because you only want a story to you name.
You journalists need to do better.
Work hard. Never stop. And keep bullshitting the public, ignoring the elephant in the room.
You are reporting while using my work, my research and ignoring my story, my experience (except Mike Powell and his editor). Vivienne Nunis put in the most work, but it went nowhere, though she is the hardest working journalist out there that I’ve had correspondence with. And it’s partly my fault that the story went nowhere because I kept flipping out in this PTSD mess. But it doesn’t need to be perfect, I am not perfect. My story is complicated and I’m a mess. That’s it. And if someone really wants to cover a story, they would. Just respect the source, the person and their story.
Vivienne did cover the leaked video that I made her aware of. But as usual my blog, my story is not mentioned, like it doesn’t exist.
Pret quickly deleted the video after Vivienne reported on it.
Go to Africa, go to America, go to Bucharest. Go to Pret’s head office. Go to the toilet. Just go, you journalists.
Go, feed the pigeons. Sarah Butler is ready to report now.
Well done you all. Above all, stay human.
I’m sorry I “flipped out” so much. But I’m also not saying sorry anymore.
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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.
I keep writing horrible emails to friends, foes, Pret, the press, and I’m sure Pret are happy to see me suffer. I’m sure they’d be glad if I’d kill myself. This company has destroyed my life and the lives of so many others with a big fat fake smile. And they continue to do so.
After I raised issues with shop management and HR for almost a year, being ignored and further bullied, I contacted the then CEO Clive Schlee who then started some support, like Pret paying for counseling. But that was as a show in case for court, and the bullying continued. All the “support” Pret showed after I put my complaint in writing to the former CEO, was to show for court. As the bullying continued, I was offered money if I resign, never go to court, and never speak about my ordeal with Pret. I declined and indirectly forced Pret to fire me.
I tried to resign, tried to find another job, but I couldn’t sell myself, even in a low-paid job. I was too broken down, insecure, hopeless to find even the lowest paid work. If I would have found a job, I would have resigned. Even without signing an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) taking “hush-money”, if I would have just resigned without signing my rights away, I could have NEVER written this blog.
Pret would have made a public statement like they did with Andrej Stopa who was fired for having started a Union. Pret would have said that they were happy with me as an employee, that they offered me help, but that I willingly chose to leave. Pret HAD TO fire me so that I can speak out. I didn’t realise this at the time. I even BEGGED in the last dismissal hearing to not fire me, my dad was just out of a three-week coma in Germany.
Even before any option of a dismissal came up I asked Pret if I can be put under the Pret Foundation, even an OPs manager later suggested I go under the PF for a while. But that never happened. Pret who claim to help homeless people, young apprentices and prison leavers have no room for long-term employees who go through tragedy. That’s why this Pret Foundation is just a PR machine and a smokescreen to hide horrible practices. I literally begged the hearing manager to not fire me! They did anyway, unknowingly forcing me to speak out publicly.
I have had to watch my parents, each on their own, deteriorate in a horrible institutional system in hospitals, rehab, nursing homes that are mostly chains under private equity. I had to struggle with everything on my own, and when help was offered, it either rarely came or it was not meant or just as a polite gesture. Or when help is offered, there is sometimes an ulterior motive and I have to figure out who means what. Or when I asked for help, I was met with a deafening silence or the words “I’m too busy”.
Or when the help is genuine, I can’t trust it, because of what Pret did to me via so many issues and people, and most vile, via Lila Tighilt Warren who claimed to have had a brother who died alone in his apartment, wasn’t found for days, like my brother was. I researched and searched if this brother existed, but found another person not the same as she described. This very horrific act Pret and Lila did, destroyed my trust in people.
The press are bystanders, watching. And what they use from my blog, experience and research, they make sure not to mention me and my ordeal. And those who wanted to report, I pushed away in my paranoia.
There ARE good people, but I can’t distinguish anymore the sheep from the wolves. And GOOD people are suffering my mistrust and outbursts because of this horrible company! No, it is I who bears responsibility for my words, writings and actions. But it takes evil people to destroy lives.
I have made the mistake to stay in Pret for 10 years, bearing under a toxic, dishonest, corrupt environment, where all that counts is making as much money and more and more and more.
And when someone asks why I don’t go to court, I did, but then withdrew when my dad died and I couldn’t afford legal aid. I have researched the British legal system of workplace related lawsuits while I filed a tribunal claim. I have read that even when former employees win their tribunal cases, the pay-out is so small, they end up in debt for the legal bill.
Pret and companies like Pret know that. They KNOW people can’t afford legal aid. They know that even pro-bono lawyers don’t want to pick up a fight in a 5-day trial for their 30% of an £8,000 payout. Too much effort for too little reward. Unlike in the USA (see Johnny Depp’s lawsuit in the UK vs the USA). Different systems.
A former Pret assistant manager who got unfairly dismissed won his tribunal case getting rewarded about £8,812. Worker unfairly dismissed, says tribunal. After he lost his job, having a young child with his partner, he ended up on the streets living in his car for 2 weeks. For the tribunal it was worth a merge £8¾K. All this money probably went straight into his legal bill. Not to mention the mental strain people go through in a legal case against a large company.
When my dad died, leading me to withdraw the tribunal claim, I knew mentally it would lead to suicide going through the 5 day court hearings, even if I’d won. One day preliminary hearing, and 4 days court hearings, as the dates were already set having had 6 months to prepare with my dad in hospital, flying back and forth. I was told by free legal advice at Citizen Advice Bureau that there may be a 6th day with a second preliminary hearing as my case was so complex, having involved the top Pret leadership team. Even though I had strong evidence and Pret already hinted in their response to court that “if [I] win the case … that the reward should be low” according to some other lawsuit outcome that has set the precedent for lawsuits thereafter. But I had no support, no financial backing, no moral support and a new funeral coming up …
And before anyone says that I need therapy, first of all I have fought for therapy since over five years; 2. I have therapy now but cannot talk as there is a strict agenda to follow a rigorous program. So, please first ASK what people have had in support and therapy before giving unsolicited, patronizing advise.
In this life and society, most everywhere, it is all about money, position, what each individual can get out of whatever they can get from those already at the edge. If you are sick, disabled, bereaved, old … there is no place for you in a society that is looking for “productivity” more than those who produce. You are a disposable machine, a piece of garbage that is of no use anymore, sucked out of the life-blood by greedy corporates and anyone lacking basic human decency. The strong must become stronger and leave the vulnerable behind, as they can’t contribute to this cog-wheel of a society at a given time or forever. Survival of the fittest by the book. A repeated issue throughout time. Human nature at its worst that always becomes the norm with a new generation, until a new “uprising” and new precedent of disobedience …
Yes, I sound gloomy, but I suffer and fought hard to not only survive. I see the dark during a sunny day. And I’m sorry I am not what you thought or hoped for. Pret win again, hey.
I need people to stay away because I have nothing to offer you and I feel I won’t get better. I write horrible when drunk and hope everyone knows it is not personal, but you need to stay away.
And I will never stop saying that Pret A Manger, up to this current leadership in 2022, the same PEOPLE in head office that run the place since decades, this a core group of the top leadership and HR, are the most evil, toxic, greedy, exploitative, dishonest, incapable, unsympathetic, unethical, cowardly people I have ever had the nightmare to be dealing with.
And I remain deeply ashamed to have spent so long there and to have had any association with them.
And to friends, I don’t know what “friendship” is. It’s a myth.
Recent, select customer comments and staff reviews from Glassdoor, Indeed, Twitter etc.
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The following to me sounds like wage theft again. Highlighted, quote:
“- Did not receive 80% of wages despite being on the furlough scheme
– All your hard work was over in a 2 minute zoom call – If you need a second job to support you, better clear it with your overlords. I know this is a standard practice but it shouldn’t be – if you want your workers to devote so many of hours of their lives to you, pay them decently so they can do more than just about afford to live
Unless you work in their offices, they do not give a s*** about you. Also the CEO doing company wide zoom meetings from the comfort of his very fancy house whilst retail workers are paid peanuts, talking about how we all need to pitch in to save the business is a joke.
Retail workers are the entire reason Pret is still standing. Those in office tend to forget that without retail staff upselling, being on the floor and handling customers, they wouldn’t have anything to sell.
I would love to know what the CEOs salary is in relation to the lowest paid retail employees an whether this has increased or changed during the pandemic – and the justification for leaving those who work their hardest at the bottom of the Pret ‘family’ foodchain on wages that do not meet the stanard of living, are not entitled to many benefits” End of quote.
Answer to the question how much CEO Pano CHristou earns? In 2020 = £300,000 PLUS millions in bonus. He does not reveal how much he made in 2021 and 2022. If he also cut is pay, he would make that public. The silence is a hint that he remains on £300K and probably more.
Pano loves to present himself as the “cabbie’s son” who started at the shop floor. But until recently, since I called him out on it, failed to mention that he started at position number 4 as an Assistant Manager because he was a manager at McDonald’s. He didn’t start as a low paid team member having to wear uniform, and in those days a silly cap, that increased the body heat in stuffy hot shops and kitchens. Pano received £500 to buy business attire; £50 every month for dry cleaning; insurance; paid sick leave from day one (that’s a big one!) compared to team members who are paid from day 3 being sick with a sick note. His quarterly bonus went into the thousands. And all the other perks, travel, fancy galas for management and so on.
Part quote: “It was just so depressing that I had to work there and thankfully don’t need to anymore. They need to consider what they do to the staff and force them to work it’s just not a good way to sort and they know that. A lot of workers are mistreated and insulted daily. The management is a huge part of that.”
Upon my question to above Instagram person who’s staff, if it’s true that Pret for the SECOND time recently didn’t pay staff on time, the answer was, quote: “That is correct, however the delay was much less noticeable as it was late by 1 day only.”
This staff doesn’t realize that even though it wasn’t that noticeable for staff, it’s still 1. unacceptable and 2. a huge deal because Pret’s work week starts Fridays and staff are paid on Thursdays. This means the “less noticeable” for staff is a big deal for Pret as their new financial week starts Fridays. They most likely had issues with shareholders wanting to present better numbers, and then “pay back” the next day starting on Friday’s new financial week.
Pret use and abuse the goodwill of workers. And this has always been the case with shop managers, they ALWAYS for years and years, every week “forgot” to pay an hour here, an hour there. Do this with a handful of shop staff every week and it all adds up, as many don’t check their hours, not noticing the “odd” hour here and there not being paid.
And Pano Christou now does THE SAME company-wide. Stealing in broad daylight, “borrowing” from the lowest paid to appease shareholders. Mafia-style in a nutshell. Pret use low-wage workers as a loan-bank. Absolutely despicable, unethical and disrespectful. And I hope financial auditors and the government get wind of this.
And there is no strength or courage to join a union and stand up. And Pret know that and wear the staff out so they don’t have an ounce of strength left to even entertain the thought to fight back.
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 and was mentioned by the BBC.
I have haunted many photographs In the background, and the fore And as many loves that have crossed my path
In the end, it was friends In the end, it was friends In the end, it was friends It was friends who broke my heart
Well fair do’s Nobody prepares you and nobody’s prepared Nobody’s prepared And they tell you, “Just you wait it kills you” And only love can break you More the more you care And all and all in love is fair But it’s not fair
I have haunted many photographs In the background, and in the fore And as many loves that have crossed my path
In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends It was friends who broke my heart
And I’ve pushed myself to be vulnerable And then slept with one eye wide All that pain and nothing gained in the end
In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends In the end it was friends It was friends who broke my heart
When I started to write about my Pret ordeal in May 2018, I also started to do extensive research on the Internet on anything Pret related. I searched for similar experiences from staff and came across Glassdoor and Indeed, Facebook, Instagram, other blogs; searched on lawsuits, press articles, anything and everything I could find on Pret, where there are systemic issues. I also did this to back up my own experience as many people didn’t believe me. Now it is more common knowledge that Pret are NOT what they portray to the public.
But in 2018, I was a messenger who got “shot” as my message wasn’t welcome or people wanted to remain in their illusions about Pret. It was and continues to be an uphill battle.
I then came across a video called “Cruelty in Pret” which was uploaded in July 2018, is about chickens and the lack of welfare in farms. I bookmarked it like I do with most important or interesting issues.
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A short while later the video was switched from public to unlisted. I also couldn’t find the website that is listed at the end of the video nor anything on “The Humane League Campaigns” who posted the video.
I didn’t post anything on this as I couldn’t find any info and don’t post anything of which I have no evidence or a source where it came from. So I kept it on the bookmark shelf until now and passed it around social media here and there today.
I was perplexed that the video turned unlisted shortly after it was uploaded.
It could be that Pret contacted the person(s) and warned them with a lawsuit or so, and they then unlisted the video and the website never worked.
And then yesterday the Twitter’s sphere started to light up with this, quote:
“Chickens raised for meat suffer tremendously at factory farms.
Our new report examines which food companies are backtracking or failing to demonstrate action—including Pret.” End of quote.
In it Pret have been caught yet again to be naughty.
Quote:
“The following companies have failed to report measurable progress toward their broiler welfare goals and have deleted their previously public policy commitments:
• BareBurger
• fresh&co
• Pret A Manger
• Tender Greens
• Zoup!”
End of quote.
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I am not surprised at all that Pret deleted their policy commitments. Pret also stopped doing fair trade coffee a while ago, but still claim to have organic coffee. Pret already had to take the word “natural” off signage and packaging after being slapped by the Real Bread Company via the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
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Further more I found a website that calls out former Pret CEO Clive Schlee for supporting CAGED chickens in Asia. Schlee is on the board of directors of Dairy Farm Group, one of the largest retail companies in Asia. The website DairyFarmEggs.com writes further, quote:
»Clive and Dairy Farm have a dirty secret – A shocking series of investigations has revealed what the company wants to keep hidden: they continue to sell customers eggs from filthy, cruel battery cage egg farms with higher food safety risks.
A series of investigations at multiple Dairy Farm egg suppliers found feces and dirt caked on the bars of cages where eggs are laid. Feces piles up just inches away from eggs and from the birds themselves. Mother hens are crammed for nearly their entire lives in battery cages so small and cruel they are illegal in dozens of other countries around the world. The corpses of dead hens are left to decompose right next to hens laying eggs for human consumption.« End of quote. Link to website.
Clive Schlee also owns half of itsu and worked for several years in Asia before he became CEO of Pret, but left Pret in 2019.
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So, it makes sense that they delete their commitment to not be held accountable for not keeping their commitment yet again.
There was a Twitter storm for days, which as much as I support this, but has drowned out the issue that Pret are not paying their shop staff this week. The Guardian reported on this yesterday after I was informed by staff and passed it on to Sarah Butler from the Guardian and other journalists. Detail on this: Pret’s New PR Stunt on Payrise in Pennies UPDATED.
Pret did this on purpose over the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday as they know that the press and the whole of the UK are distracted with the celebrations. Usually when especially the Guardian, the BBC etc. report on anything Pret related, Twitter explodes with calls for boycotts. But of course, Pret being clever and always do their dodgy things at certain times or distract with charity announcements, there’s hardly any mention now.
Today’s main mention is the chicken cruelty issue as vegans and animal lovers come out en masse to tweet at Pret.
That’s alright. The Payment issue will resurface again.
What still surprises me though is that many people are shocked that Pret deleted their commitment. Many still say that they thought Pret was ethical, as if they lived under a rock since 2018 when the 2 customer deaths and several allergen injuries became public. Or is it that animal activists are not as much concerned about people.
Of course people can inform themselves, can stand up against wrongdoing and choose where to go, animals can’t do that. But still, people don’t realize that when a company treat their employees like rubbish waste, it will reflect back on customers and is also a no-brainer that a company like this won’t care about animal welfare.
And it is beyond me that many animal rights activists still fall for Pret who have COUNTLESS chicken products like chicken itself, eggs, mayonnaise etc. And the claim of “free range” chicken still seems to fool most. And the above report points out the suffering on free-range farms. A healthy egg and chickens are from PASTURE RAISED chickens. But that is too expensive for mass production.
And since Pret jumped on the vegan bandwagon, most vegans are excited instead of supporting vegan-ONLY food places. I’m not a vegan, but if I was, I would ONLY eat in purely vegan restaurants, cafes as I’m a little crazy as a purist!
Eating insects is a delicatessen in some countries and slowly is growing in popularity here in Europe. Once this becomes trendy, you bet Pret also will jump on that bandwagon to increase profit.
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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.
Yesterday after I was contacted by someone regarding Pret not paying staff this week, and then emailing the press and The Guardian reporting, I wrote a last email to Pret’s CEO Pano Christou and HR.
I also want to apologize to any and all Pret staff who contacted me, whom I kept referring to unions. Several of you contacted the unions and didn’t receive any response. I am angry and very sorry to have let you down on this. I can only say, please look for a better work opportunity and leave it all behind. It feels to me that the unions are more about politics and political agendas. The membership fees may be forwarded to political parties and projects. I have so much anxiety and mistrust about any organizations.
It seems ONLY that employees themselves will reach change when we stand up, not the unions. The unions will just “come along” when we initiate action and pay them, and then they will take the credit for OUR sweat, blood and tears. I’m sorry to be so gloomy.
Thank you for your trust and reaching out. I am sorry to have let you down.
If you need any more help, please reach out to the press directly. The press reach things more and quicker than unions or myself. But you need to have evidence, always gather and keep evidence in writing etc.
The Guardian: Sarah.Butler@theguardian.com, Ben.Quinn@theguardian.com
The Mirror: Amy Sharpe who went undercover into Pret after I asked her as I was too anxious. We were in contact via Facebook: https://twitter.com/amylsharpe
BBC and freelance: contact@bbc.co.uk, Vivienne.Nunis@bbc.co.uk, Mike.Powell@bbc.co.uk
The Daily Telegraph: Janet.Eastham@telegraph.co.uk
The Scottish Left Review who published my articles TWICE early on, when no news outlet was ready to report: Gregor.Gall@glasgow.ac.uk
And Adam, the amazing podcaster from California who interviewed me when no news outlet cared/dared: https://twitter.com/1AdamParadox
My last email to Pret, to CEO Pano Christou and HR, copying in the press and staff; verbatim without correcting spelling mistakes and grammar:
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This is my last email to you Pret,
I Blind Carbon Copied (BCC) private people in, staff, friends of staff, customers who reached out to me to tell them to not be afraid to speak out and stand up.
Pret has almost destroyed my life! But I survived to tell my story! And staff contact me with info and leaks, and it is my pleasure to pass this on to the press and others.
Is it still Pret’s practice to name, blame and shame shops that don’t do well? This has always bothered me. But it’s wonderful to turn the tables!
Complaints have increased on stale and mouldy food, expired foods, critters and rat droppings in food … you can “freshly make” a sandwich with stale bread and mouldy cheese.
Not paying your staff, the LOWEST paid staff in Pret who carried you and Pret through the pandemic while you sat at home or in socially distanced shiny air conditoned HQ, demanding for shop/kitchen staff to come to work even when they have Covid. Only you know if there have been Covid sick or even deaths. You managed to keep 2 customer allergen deaths quiet, I fear any news coming out one day that staff have died of Covid while they struggled to get paid!
Customer complaints increased on the coffee-subscription, apps, deals that are not fullfilled as advertised, and all your bogus “technical issues” while receiving “digital technology leaders” award and being slimed with award after award, compliments after compliments on Linkedin where everyone is telling you how awesome you are!
Surround yourself with Yes-Men/Women, hold your seminars and keep sweet-talking about sustainability, and keep ignoring customer emails/DMs/phone calls… and let customers and staff get on with telling the real story.
It’s no surprise that the way you treat your staff, it will reflect on customers.
Your “charity” projects make me cringe everytime I hear about it. The donation devices that Pret placed NEXT to payment devices where customers in the rush and noise accidently donate £5 thinking they pay for their coffee. And then the psychology that they are embarrassed to ask for a refund from “charity”.
The £1000 announcement that Clive Schlee made late at night from 28. to 29. May 2018 after I sent the link to my blog late that night to Sannu because I know that she can’t a secret!
The NHS freebie PR stunt you did before 1st lock-down on 18. March 2020, and right the next morning sent out an email to shops and HQ to announce cuts to staff. The low-wage staff basically PAID for your NHS PR stunt!
The half-marathon you ran last year and having the audacity to ask your low-wage staff for donation to “alleviate poverty” straight after you made temporary paycuts permanent, had turned my stomach!
And now, using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, where the press and people are distracted with the celebrations, to suddenly have a “payroll error”, and the 2nd time since recently not paying staff.
Your “charity” are a smokescreen and good for tax breaks.
To anyone who still works at Prt, if I can stand up on my own against these dwarfs who almost destroyed my life, you can stand even stronger TOGETHER with the Unions like BFAWU! Pret is more scared of you than you of them when you organise and stand up, strike, walk out, make higher demands and not let Pret trick you again with reinstating bonus that is discretionary to mystery shoppers and GMs!
I could go on and on and on, but I’ve written enough and wrote the Pret poison out of my system!
My greetings to your mentor and buddy Clive Schlee who patonised me as his “late night gitrl” while I SUFFERED with my emailing, he had a laugh and then shortly after getting me fired with my dad in intensive care, which you all knew about. And please tell him that the greatest thing I appreciate on being a woman, who is mistaken for a “girl”, on having been a low-wage “low skill” worker, is that I love it when entitled, rich, privileged, arrogant, self-assured millionaire business men underestimate me, and people like me. That’s my great joy!
Also greetings to Julian Metcalfe whom I had the pleasure to also chase off Twitter. Even if the YouTube slide is slightly out-of-date, but it still shows what’s really is behind you executives.
You can try to shut me down, I will pop up again. I do not care about the amount of followers or anything else and have backed everything up triple. It means nothing to me what you may do or how Pret report me to social media! Keep reporting. It means nothing to me! It only leads me to sprad out on other platforms.
What means the world to me is a SINGLE person to this day sending me an email or DM with words like “Wow, I just read your such-and-such, I didn’t know that about Pret. I thought Pret was so great … I will tell my friends and family and support small independent business from now on…” That is Christmas and Birthday all in one for me!
You made £300,000 in 2020 PLUS bonus. It’s interesting that you didn’t reveal how much annual pay you got in 2021 and 2022. If you had cut your pay like you did to your lowest paid workers, you would have made a big announcement like you make all the “charity” announcements.
I worked all my life in hospitality since I’m 16 years old, NOTHING has been as horrific, traumatic, unfair, disgusting as Pret in any company I worked in! Nothing! Your brainwash and fear management has followed me years after you fired me days after my dad came out of his 3-week coma!
You have it coming for you from staff, unions, more press, whistleblowers, more OPs and GMs leave reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed and elsewhere … and you deserve everything that’s coming for you within the law, within the legal frame and free speech! You deserve it!
My apologies again to journalists, staff, strangers, friends … for my drunken outbursts from the traumas I’ve been through. I stand by my mistakes even when I am ashamed of it! But I own up to it. And I work on it like we all work on our recovery.
And to Pret, it is my UTMOST PLEASURE to have put you on a map showing your TRUE colours to the public.
I am not afraid of you, in fact, I have no respect for you whatsoever! I cried tears of anger last night when I received mail about staff not getting paid, because I know the excrutiating PAIN, anxiety, existential fears they go through! All while you sit in your comfortable huge mansion laughing to the bank!
It takes a special breed to not do anything about customer deaths and injuries until it became public. I was a team leader responsible for health and safety and didn’t even know about fatalities! Shame on you! You put ME as a team leader in DANGER to potentially be at “fault” for another injury or death by not telling me, not training and retraining me on allergen, labelling etc.
It takes a special breed to keep taking from the LOWEST paid on the BOTTOM of the barrel! All while portraying to the public to be ethical and caring! I am PROUD to have cracked Pret’s facade further and further!
And I KNOW that my tears of anger and grief will turn into tears of joy!
expret.org 🖕😎🖕
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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.
When I die there will be people coming out of the woodwork, former friends who knew me 20+ years, claiming to “know” me.
No they don’t. They’ve left me 6+ years ago after my brother died.
And those who claim to know me, will try to get with those who knew me years ago, but left me hanging.
There will be people who claim to be my friend or know me or have met me. Again, no. Yes they met me, but no, they don’t know me.
You may claim to live close to me, but you don’t. And you know what I mean by that. A neighbour next to me is further away than an alien from the moon.
The people who know me, are the people in the street, in the cafes, in the pubs, in their homes, in my home; people who walk like ants, organizing themselves in love and respect for one another; and who are not embarrassed to be associated with me. That’s a friend. A friend who doesn’t want anything from me but just be.
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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.
“Sometimes when you’re running against the darkness, you find someone who seems to know the best path out, someone who has run that road across a terrible landscape and come out alive and better. There aren’t a lot of ways to express the depth of gratitude for the work they put in.
Even if you never come to actually know them, the fact they helped you beat the darkness makes them feel like someone on your team, like the anchor of humanity’s worst and most fucked up relay.
And when you begin to flag a little bit because it doesn’t seem like the race is ever going to end, you can look up to someone like that, someone who showed you that it’s never too late to try to outrun the lies and bullshit the darkness will tell you to get you to slow down.
And then one day you realize, it isn’t a race at all, because a race has a finish line, and this thing fucking doesn’t.
It’s just a run. A long run. Along the way, you pick up running buddies, people you admire for their toughness, people who keep you running, people you never would have expected to turn something that can be so hard into something you can enjoy.
And so when you have run so hard ahead of the darkness that every horizon looks like a sunrise, it’s almost impossible to believe that one of those people who led you out got tired.
“Wait,” you think. “They had it figured out. They showed me how to run. They showed me the sun.”
Even leaders get tired.
Over time, it might be hard to tell difference between the fatigue of running & the darkness they are running against. It might be hard to lead the way for so many people. It might, it might, it might. That’s the thing. You never know what it might.
And then they are gone.
So, what the hell are you supposed to do then? When you have finally learned how to run, how do you keep going when you lose one of the people who showed you the way? What do you do when you start to doubt “the way” is actually the way?
I guess I don’t know.
But today I guess I’d say this:
If you feel like you’re running alone, look around and you will find others running, too. They may be running differently, maybe backward, blindfolded, or in some janky way that makes them stand out against the field. Find those people and run with them for a while.
Eventually, if you just keep running, you’ll find people who are running a lot like you. Even if they don’t know you, they will understand you. And they will lead you—not to a finish line—but toward that sunlight where being tired isn’t so tiring.
And here’s something you might not expect: you might look up one day and realize someone is following you while you run. They are matching your stride and keeping your pace. They are grateful to have found YOU.
Be proud of that and use it to keep running.
It’s crushing to see one of your running buddies fall off stride and slip away. It can make you want to double back and find them. Don’t do that. It’s not how it works, or at least, it’s not how you want it to work.
Keep your stride. Steady your breath. Allow yourself to confuse the tears on your face with the sweat of your struggle.
And don’t stop or double back. Look for the other runners. They are everywhere.
We are everywhere.
(I don’t always feel great about Twitter, but the degree to which this thread resonated among friends & people I’ve never met has been very comforting and reminds me how important it can be to just admit how guy-punched something can make you feel…and how alone we *aren’t*)
And since I woke up to all kinds of inspiring messages today, I will pass this on. It’s what I remind myself when I feel like I’ve felt since hearing about Anthony Bourdain.”
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.
Pret used to claim to have a “fleet” of cars picking up food to distribute to charity. Since I call them out on this lie, ALSO but nor exclusively via YouTube, Pret now changed their slogans as of 2023:
As in: “Every evening we donate as much food as we can” 😉
Keep reading my blog Pret. And keep stealing ideas Pano Christou, you car-crash of a CEO after 20+ years in Pret!
Yet another idiot falling for Pret’s brainwash.
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UPDATE: January 2023
So, in 2018 Pret pledged to eliminate all single use plastic by 2025, although they put a loophole into that pledge by saying “unnecessary” single use plastic 😉
And as usual I can’t help thinking that Pret came up with some bogus slogans to BREAK their pledge (as single use packaging is cheaper – katchink!). I’m intrigued with what tricks and slogans he tried to fool the audience. And just like with Pret’s “natural” food claim which they had to stop, teir “ethical” facade, the exploitation and bullying of staff, their foodwaste etc. etc. etc. 9 out of 10 times the slogans on Pret walls, website, marketing is the complete opposite!
When I worked at Pret, even though we had 2 different bins for “recycling”, it all went into the same waste pick-up truck.
Pret must have done a trial for recycling, but it must have not been successful as I’ve never seen this type of bin in any of the 30+ shops I worked at in 10 years.
»The civic society described the mess that had been left on the street on the last Bank Holiday Monday as a “horrendous example of fly-tipping”.«
Further:
»“We’ve checked the rules and even one such bag of rubbish left on the street counts as fly-tipping, so that puts it into Cheltenham Borough Council’s domain as an enforcement issue.”«
»A Pret a Manger spokesman said: “At Pret, we are proud to be part of the communities where we have shops, and are disappointed to have fallen short of our own standards on this occasion. We are working with our waste management provider and team members to make sure this won’t happen again«
Well, what have we got here … (in chronological order)
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UPDATE July 2022
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And while on the subject of waste, I have written extensively on Pret’s food waste issues. Pret claim to have a “fleet” of cars picking up food each night. Pret do have a car like this or several, but a “fleet” of cars is leaning out the window. I’ve seen a car once on my day off during the day driving by in Trafalgar Square. But in my 10 years in Pret, having worked in over 30+ shops, I’ve never even ONCE seen a car like this pick up food. Not once!
Pret rely on unpaid volunteers to pick up food. If no-one picks it up, it gets wasted in its packaging to landfill. The Pret Foundation car is window dressing more than anything. Of course they drive food to places, but there is no nightly pick-up, and it cannot be coincidence that in 10 years I’ve never seen this car pick up food from any of the 30+ shops I worked in.
Pret also SELL out-of-shelf life cooled down hot food via food app, again, supposedly for the Pret Foundation. Yet, before the pandemic hit Pret’s profits, they were STRICT for us to NOT give out hot food even for free to charity due to safety issues. I got told off by a manager once for handing out hot food when the charity volunteers arrives to pick up food. Now they sell it for cheap under the “charity” umbrella. When it comes to money, health and safety out the window! I write about this extensively in Pret’s Health & Safety Hypocrisy.
Pret always pretends to be so safety concerned, yet, don’t forget they ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen further allergen injuries before this became public. I speak about this on my podcast expretcast from the bottom up, Part 01 Ongoing Labelling Issues, Part 02 Ongoing … and Allergy Trial 2021. I draw especially attention to a Barbican seminar which is very important to mention.
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A former staff member also laughs about this:
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Another former staff:
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Another former staff member who got fired for starting a union:
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When customers or members of the public observe food-waste as it happens, and the below screenshots are only a fraction of what I pasted into my other post on food waste in Pret.
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Repeated food waste ignored by Pret:
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Bleach poured over food:
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Paris, France:
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Amy Sharpe from the Mirror went Undercover in Pret after I asked her to see for herself on issues:
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.
So, here are some pictures of mine … more to come in time.
This blog post will be updated with new pics as the graffiti changes every day.
07.05.2022
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08.05.2022
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more to come one day …
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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.
I explain in detail about Pret’s micromanaging Mystery Shopper scheme which I call “Misery” Shopper for a reason.
Pret’s micromanaging Mystery Shopper scheme which I plainly call abusive:
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The Wiki link to my blog that was deleted, which I explain in above audio.
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I have run out of space/time on my free podcast and am shopping around which podcast provider is the best value before I purchase.
On the podcast I cover some other Pret issues, like the allergen situation, ongoing labelling problems etc. As I ran out of free space I post the above Mystery Shopper episode here on my blog. For Timothy Noah’s “The Enforced Happiness of Pret A Manger” and other articles on emotional labour, as well as several examples of Mystery Shopper reports, please see my page: The Dangers of Emotional Labour.
Thank you for listening.
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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.
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.
I didn’t want to publish this, but it’s part of my life.
Always take care of those closest to you, and work your way from there.
And always remember, there are more good people in this world, they just have to wake up.
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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.
And CEO Pano Christou is completely detached, ignoring reality, portraying a “happy” company facade to the public via the press that happily play along.
A playlist of staff reviews; mystery shopper reports (why staff smile so much and give freebies in a highly stressful environment even when depressed and bereaved; customer complaints and boycotts; coffee subscription issues etc.:
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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.
I want to add 2 things, the post underneath the line below I have converted on my Anchor.fm podcast to a voice version. It’s an automated voice, not perfect, but for those who don’t like to read long blog entries. I place the episode here as well.
And the other thing is I want to place my favourite tweet of recently after a customer responded to other customers outcry of Pret making temporary pay-cuts permanent. The below blog post/voice convertion is very important for people to understand Pret’s mentality and why it remains dangerous to eat there.
The Tweet by @betty_de_brazil from 12. August 2021 reads, quote: “A while back, I saw a Pret ad that said its staff were “passionate” about making sandwiches. This kind of bullshit talk always hides ruthless practices in my experience.” End of quote.
Unfortunately reading programs can’t read screenshots of Tweets or YouTube slides. I have to keep that in mind when doing new blog entries, to write out Tweets. I was also once told by a blind person on Twitter that their programs cannot read screenshots. So, below Twitter screenshots are not read by this automated voice conversion. Apologies to all with visual impairment, I’m learning as I go.
This blog post conversion to audio file is close to under 11 minutes long. At this time the French word “manger” isn’t pronounced the French way, but the American/English way of “Jesus in a manger”. For those who love to point out unimportant mistakes, get over it. Thanks.
As this player is just a preview, please click on the title itself within the player to go to the full audio version on Open Spotify:
A few years ago I already dissected an article where Pret’s HR Director Andrea Wareham was interviewed. “Pret’s People Management Secrets” from HR Magazine. In this interview Andrea Wareham shares a lot about the typical Pret PR bla bla. But one sentence stands out to me which is typical Pret, but also dangerous.
Quote: »Pret famously recruits for behaviours, “personality rather than skills” as Wareham puts it, and these, she adds, are “relevant in every market”.«
When I worked at Pret it always astounded me how little many shop Managers knew of the job they were hired to do. Those staff members in lower positions who had more knowledge than some shop Managers due to experience and skill, were exploited and the Manager took credit for it.
It often bothered me how the “wrong” people got promoted and those who knew how to do the job where kept low.
In an unlisted video on YouTube (why unlisted?) new CEO Pano Christou even inadvertently gives away how poor the training in Pret is. He shares how when he did stock take for the first or second time, that he stayed until 4 o’clock the next morning! And that’s exactly how it is in Pret. The training is so poor and even Managers often are clueless that especially new staff have to stay long (unpaid!) hours to figure out how things work! Before I worked at Pret, I worked in many different food places, most of my life I worked in hospitality industry, in wine bars, restaurants, a canteen, a hotel. But never did I have to stay longer hours to figure out how things are done than in Pret! It was the most frustrating thing not being trained and not being given time to train others!
If people are trained and have skills, especially since Pano Christou was a Manager at McDonald’s before he joined Pret as an Assistant Manager, there would be NO NEED to stay until 4 o’clock the next morning to know how to do a stock take and other issues!
Pano should have known the job already, or at least picked it up quicker as he had previous Management experience. Unless he kissed his way up, like so many do. In Pret people also get promoted through the bedroom, and then more than few are incapable to do the job and rely on lower ranked staff to do all the hard work!
Pret is famous for their smiley staff, but since I write about it more extensively since 2018 it has become more common knowledge that this smiley culture is driven by weekly Mystery Shoppers. I wrote a few posts about it and made some YouTube slides as my blog is heavily censored on Facebook and Instagram where it is completely blocked. Even private messages are deleted automatically by algorithm when I link to my blog as Pret must have reported me, thus FB, Insta put me on a black list. But YouTube isn’t blocked.
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Journalist Timothy Noah wrote a brilliant article on Pret’s emotional labour (labor in US English) that Pret enforces low-wage employees to perform. “The enforced happiness of Pret A Manger“. I really recommend reading this article! And oh, how I remember the mental agony to have to smile, chat, present a happy facade, just to get a few more peanuts. And even during already traumatic bereavement I was expected to “leave my problems at home and wear a smile like I wear my uniform”! Real words of one of my Managers after we lost bonus for not smiling! Low-wage staff have to act like emotional prostitutes and acrobatic clowns to make Pret look good and as a happy place!
Noah wrote this article in 2013, a year after the first public “scandal” hit Pret when Andrej Stopa was fired for having started a trade union. Noah was one of the first, if not THE first journalist to take a closer look at Pret and write critical about the company when no-one dared to write critically. In fact, most journalists, even to this day write ecstatic positive articles about Pret.
Noah points out what former CEO Clive Schlee said about staff touching each other, quote: »”The first thing I look at,” Chief Executive Clive Schlee told The Telegraph last March, “is whether staff are touching each other . . . I can almost predict sales on body language alone.”«
Pret’s previous Mystery Shopper requirements even was that Pret aims to “attend to EACH customer’s NEEDS” … and aims to “connect with EVERY customer with eye contact, a smile and some polite remarks”. The weekly Mystery Shopper is then tasked to comment on how low-wage staff smile etc. and give points accordingly.
Excerpts of the old Mystery Shopper reports before Pret changed the wording but kept the expectations via Managers:
Since I write extensively about Pret’s Mystery Shopper scheme which has surprised many customers who assumed that staff give freebies out of “random acts of kindness”, while in reality staff are almost guaranteed to receive the £100 reward when giving a freebie to the Mystery Shopper, or the MS at least witnessing this “generosity”!
And Clive Schlee to me served like the Ronald McDonald of Pret. He was the friendly clown that was approachable to customers and staff alike, while in reality putting a rigorous Mystery Shopper scheme in place and manipulating staff with brainwashing slogans, and expecting touch to portray a wholesome and happy company … all to increase sales.
And yet, we all wonder how on earth can TWO customers die in Pret, a third customer narrowly surviving and at least nine more injured due to unlabelled allergen in the food. Pret IGNORED the multiple warnings to label their food, even after customers have died and got injured, Pret kept smiling and went full steam ahead doing business as usual. Pret only started slowly to implement product labelling AFTER customer deaths became public! I worked at Pret when 2 customers died and we weren’t even informed of this. Not even a HINT to be more cautious and diligent with labelling and allergen. Nothing! The emphasis was ALWAYS to drop every task, run on till, smile, serve customers fast and present a happy facade. Personality is more important in Pret than skill!
If you don’t know what you’re doing and just “look” the part, but neglect life saving issues, you shouldn’t be hired or run a business! Smiling and having a bubbly personality is a plus, but without skills it’s useless for the health and safety of staff and customers alike! Clive Schlee, the Ronald McDonald of Pret has proven time and again how clueless he was:
Alicia Turrell deleted her Twitter account, so this link is gone. But to zoom in on what former CEO Clive Schlee responded to an open letter, shows how he lacked skills and knowledge on how to approach the lack of labelling that several customers pointed out, including a lawsuit BEFORE the first customer died.
Schlee’s patronizing, appalling and plain clueless response:
»Dear Alicia, I am sitting in Gatwick Airport waiting to board my flight and I have been reading your discursive open letter to Pret. I must say you have a charming, self deprecating writing style and it was very gracious of you to mention so many good things about Pret. I am Pret’s CEO. You also make your point about allergen information. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how to respond. I think you are telling us to train our staff better. I can’t argue with that. I think you are suggesting we treat allergens more seriously. Again, fair point. Is there anything else that you would specifically like [u]s to do? With best wishes Clive«
I am not a fan of Wetherspoons or any food/drink chain at that, and at least their staff have started standing up with Unions. But I heard an interview of founder and CEO Tim Martin recently on Desert Island Discs from 2017. He said something that positively surprised me and maybe because pub business is a different animal from cafe/restaurant business in customer service to some extend, but he mentioned something on how staff present themselves.
Then presenter Kirsty Young asks Martin at around 26 minutes in the interview, quote: »And when you are chatting, as you are doing every week to managers and deputy managers and bar staff, do you ever say to them, “never ever say this to the customer?«
Martin replies: »No. And I also tell them, “you don’t have to smile either”.«
Kirsty Young: »You tell them they DON’T have to smile?«
Martin: »They don’t have to smile, no! We don’t go out of our way to tell them to be nice, because I think that puts too much pressure on people. I think when you go to a pub you get a beer, someone’s natural personality will emerge better if they are not under too much pressure, which of course they are under tremendous pressure anyway. Some of our best bar staff are quite grumpy.«
I cut out that part from the above program:
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Or in the closing words of Timothy Noah’s superb article on Pret’s emotional labour enforcement: »Now that I know Pret’s slender blonde doesn’t love me, I prefer the human contact at a D.C. lunch counter called C.F. Folks. The food is infinitely better. But I also like that the service is slower, the staff is older and grumpier, and the prevailing emotion is “Get over yourself.” Try touching someone at C.F. Folks, and you just might get slugged.«
I say it again, recruiting for (fake or even true) cheerful personality rather than skill can be fatal!
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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.
below are some hints that Pret did not train us staff well and that former CEO Clive Schlee had no clue on what to do. I write from 10 years of front-line shop experience in Pret, most of which I was a Team Leader responsible for running shops. Sure, people think I have a vendetta against Pret and that’s why what I extensively write shouldn’t be taken seriously. That is people’s prerogative to decide. I just write.
Am I out of my mind? Sure. Am I angry? Of course. Are my social media rants off? Yes, at times, after I had one too many drinks in order to cope with trauma. But I know what I’m talking about first hand when it comes to Pret!
What I have been through is stuff for a shooting spree, but I went on a writing spree, and people can block me, look down on me, call me insane and all kinds of names, anything and everything. But I know what I have experienced and so many others I mention in my blog. So, people can continue to block me, report me, get my social media channels shut down. Be my guest.
And upfront, English is not my mother-tongue, so my grammar is a mess!
In the trial in Bristol it was said, quote from Sky News: »Food safety expert Dr Belinda Stuart-Moonlight told jurors Mr Rodriguez was fully trained and had acted outside of Pret A Manger’s allergen procedures.«
Well, Belinda Stuart-Moonlight is a food safety expert, but I and my former colleagues are Pret A Manger experts! And no-one wants to listen to low-wage front-line shop workers! But I’m going to say it anyway!
From my 10 years in Pret plus witnessing my colleagues in over dozen shops, I can verify that Pret’s training is extremely poor! For me it didn’t exist! If I was trained, I was given stuff to read during my break. If I was trained by a line manager, they were in such hurry, impatient and often clueless themselves. At times I myself wrote emails to HQ departments on issues to get the info directly from them because my Managers either didn’t know, or didn’t want to train me. The only reason that I was knowledgeable was because I made the effort to get information AND much of the information I knew came from previous employment in the hospitality industry, but not from Pret.
In an unlisted video on YouTube new CEO Pano Christou even inadvertently gives away how poor the training in Pret is. He shares how when he did stock take for the first or second time, that he stayed until 4 o’clock the next morning! And that’s exactly how it is in Pret. The training is so poor and even Managers often are clueless that especially new staff have to stay long (unpaid!) hours to figure out how things work! Before I worked at Pret, I worked in many different food places, most of my life I worked in hospitality industry, in wine bars, restaurants, a canteen, a hotel. But never did I have to stay longer hours to figure out how things are done than in Pret! It was the most frustrating thing not being trained and not being given time to train others!
If people are trained there IS NO NEED to stay until 4 o’clock the next morning to know how to do a stock take and other issues!!!
Pano here doesn’t realize that he’s giving away how poor the training in Pret is! Also, as a side note, WHY is the above video “unlisted” where people can only find it if they have direct link to it! Shouldn’t Pret be proud about a new CEO etc.??? Pret also prides themselves in hiring employees according to their personality!
So, Pret is full of smiley, chatty, bouncing people, but few have SKILL that a business needs to actually do the job. And those who have skills are exploited by the smiley bouncing folk who take the credit for the work skilled people do! Former CEO Clive Schlee himself was like the Ronald McDonald of Pret. He was the clown who’s main job seemed to have been to sit at the facade of Pret fooling the public on how wonderful and caring Pret is. He made himself available as this “transparent” and approachable CEO that everyone loved!
In the meantime, customers die, staff are bullied to work like machines to increase profit etc. etc. etc.
Hiring according to personality rather than skill can be fatal!
One of my passions has always been training and informing people. Even customers would comment that I had a lot of knowledge and why I wasn’t a Manager. My colleagues, many who are from other countries, always came to me when they had questions, because 1. I had a lot of knowledge on issues, partly because I worked in the catering industry most of my life even before Pret. And 2. I took my time to give them any and all info they wanted and needed as far as I knew it. But during the shifts I was always called away from training my colleagues to serve customers. Shop Managers always want the tills manned due to chronic under-staffing to increase profit and their bonuses.
My first year of being a “shift runner” running shops, I didn’t have the First Aid course. My Manager forgot or couldn’t be bothered to put me on the First Aid course which is mandatory when running shifts. I didn’t know it either until another Manager pointed it out when I changed shops. Other times I was asked to cut corners by Management, which I declined. Most of the time we were pressured to sign the yearly training records WITHOUT being trained or re-trained etc. etc.
If you were to walk into a Pret today and ask any member of staff if they are well trained, they will tell you yes! But they will tell you this out of fear! Pret staff are fear- and micromanaged via weekly Mystery Shoppers. Mystery Shoppers can also be regular customers. When I was bullied DURING bereavement in Pret, customers NEVER knew what I went through because I never told anyone except some colleagues. I remained professional and was riddled with anxiety. I’d never dare to tell a customer how it really is. I pretended to be happy, because that was our job, and Mystery Shoppers were tasked to probe and then comment on our smile and chatty attitude including eye contact … or lack thereof. My Teams would have lost bonus if I’d spill the beans and it happened to be the Mystery Shopper I’d talked to.
Pret: “We aim to connect with every customer with eye contact, a smile and some polite remarks. Rate the engagement level of the person who served you at the till.”
Mystery Shopper: “I was not greeted at all at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming, the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engaged and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
So, I buried my brother weeks before, couldn’t smile or chat, my Manager who knew about my bereavement, wouldn’t even allow me to work in the kitchen for a few days where I wouldn’t need to smile or chat. I wasn’t placed into the kitchen because I wasn’t fast enough in making sandwiches as I wasn’t used to the kitchen. And then we got comments like this from Mystery Shoppers. Do you think we would tell customers that we were not trained properly or that we are bullied? I smiled most of the time, went home after work and headed for the bridge.
But if you knew a Team Member outside of Pret, especially those who left Pret, you would hear the real story. I could give you names of current and former staff who spoke to journalists and spilled the beans on the reality, one of which is lack of training. I won’t give you their names of course, but there is a lot of communication happening behind the scenes between staff and me, between staff and journalists, and staff leaving anonymous reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed, Twitter, Facebook etc.
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EDIT:
I want to add something I just shared with others on another platform. The reason I took health and safety, allergen, labelling, liquid spillage on the floor etc. so serious and always was on my colleagues’ case when they slacked about dangerous H&S issues, was not because Pret took it so serious or trained me well. It was because I myself made a mistake in another company before I worked at Pret. A customer ordered a SOYA frappe and stressed to me that it NEEDS to be soya as they have a dairy intolerance! I assured the customer that I will make it a soya. Due to the hectic stressful shift, I completely forgot to LEAVE OUT the dairy powder that is added to thicken the frappes & milk shakes. The customer left.
Half an hour later they returned with a rash on their throat! They asked me if the frappe was soya, I absolutely assured them it was, but then in shock remembered that I added the dairy powder. I was young and new to that company, never having had any training or experience with allergen. I admitted that I forgot to leave the powder out. Good thing the customer explained that it wasn’t life-threatening and they said “It’s ok, I just get a rash”. I reimbursed them and profusely apologized. The customer could have contacted HQ, but I’ve never heard anything from my Manager or HQ.
And because I had a VISUAL of their rash it gave me such a shock and wake-up call! I’ve NEVER EVER made that mistake again and MY MISTAKE accompanied me to Pret. And THAT IS WHY I was so uber careful and trained my teams and was on their cases about labelling, the allergen guide, spillage on the floor etc. It wasn’t because Pret trained me so well! In fact my colleagues and even some Managers and Leaders would make fun of me because I was so diligent with anything related to health and safety!
I used to be extremely annoying to my colleagues when it came to the fire exits! When rubbish bags piled up, or even a broom leaned against the exit doors, I would remind them again to please leave the door clear at ALL times! I said I don’t even want to see a dust corn in front of the emergency exit door! I lived in the USA for a few years and the constant news on mass shootings or a mad man going into a kindergarten stabbing little kids! I explained that a mad person could walk into the shop and start stabbing people, the exit doors need to be cleared all the freaking time! I explained that we always think this could never happen to us, or in London! That’s the WRONG thinking.
This soya-dairy experience was a scare that I will never forget, and this was MY fault! And I’m beyond grateful that the customer at the other company “just” had an intolerance, not a life-threatening allergy!
But Pret? From my experience, they were lapse! Any former colleague would tell you that I got on my colleagues’ nerves when it came to health and safety and the allergen guide, BECAUSE I myself made a horrible mistake in the other company. But it was a ONE-OFF mistake that I never repeated, no matter how busy it was!!! In fact, as I was a Team Leader having to multi-task, I listened out to my colleagues when I heard them order a soya frappe, I interrupted my customer service, no matter if I thought it may have been the Mystery Shopper, to inform my new colleague and their customer that there is DAIRY powder added, just for their information. At times the customer was ok, because they just liked Soya, other times they declined the frappe as they couldn’t have dairy, and then ordered another drink. I trained and re-trained my colleagues to ALWAYS mention that we add dairy powder when they ordered a plant-based frappe.
In Pret we couldn’t leave the dairy powder out like I could in the other company, because the dairy powder is already attached to the ice-cubes in the individually portioned blue bags. We couldn’t take it out as we sometimes didn’t have a separate only ice-cube machine. If we had a separate ice-cube machine, we could then just make a soya iced drink which wasn’t thick, but at least without the powder.
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Former CEO Clive Schlee himself inadvertently admitted that staff need more training and that Pret needed to take allergen more serious. As Schlee suffers from foot-in-mouth disease he responded to an open letter by an allergy sufferer back in 2015.
I made the following screenshot at the time when Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s death became public. Alicia Turrell posted Schlee’s response to her open letter to Pret on Twitter. She closed her Twitter account now and her Tweets are gone, but I still have the screenshot. Alicia Grace Turrell is an actress and I’m sure it won’t be hard to find her and contact her for her own experience with Pret’s response. The Tweet is from 2018:
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Clive Schlee’s typical patronizing response transcribed for easier read. It’s dripping of his typical sweet-talk, “sliming” Alicia with his compliments, making sure he mentions that he, as the CEO himself, writes to her. Yet, he’s clueless on what to do, admitting that Pret did not take allergen seriously and that staff needed (better) training.
»Dear Alicia, I am sitting in Gatwick Airport waiting to board my flight and I have been reading your discursive open letter to Pret. I must say you have a charming, self deprecating writing style and it was very gracious of you to mention so many good things about Pret. I am Pret’s CEO. You also make your point about allergen information. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how to respond. I think you are telling us to train our staff better. I can’t argue with that. I think you are suggesting we treat allergens more seriously. Again, fair point. Is there anything else that you would specifically like [u]s to do? With best wishes Clive«
End of quote.
There is NO mention that staff are “fully” trained! In fact Schlee admits that he can’t argue with Alicia’s “fair points” and that he isn’t “exactly sure how to respond”! How can a CEO of an international food chain not be sure how to respond?! And Alicia Turrell wrote to Pret NOT to Clive Schlee, but Schlee in his typical self-assured way thought he’d impress a customer by responding HIMSELF. And Alicia Turrell was supposed to be smitten that the top chief himself replied. Well, she wasn’t! She was appalled at his response!
This correspondence was in 2015. And here is how Clive Schlee and Pret started to take allergen more seriously, and we staff received more training:
In 2016 a man in New York sued Pret after he had a reaction also to unlabelled sesame. Pret won. When the man learnt of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s death, he was devastated as he hoped his lawsuit would be a wake-up call for Pret.
In 2016 Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died. I worked between 2008 and end of December 2017 in Pret as a Team Leader. Part of my job description was Health and Safety. And I took that very seriously. But not only were we NOT informed of Natasha’s death (and later Celia Marsh), but there wasn’t even as much as a HINT to be more cautious and diligent with labelling and allergen. Nothing!
Natasha’s mum tells of her shock about Pret’s lack of action:
Pret went full steam ahead doing business as usual!
I write extensively about the lack of action, the lack of training and the relentless pressure and pace in which low-wage staff have to work. If they don’t work fast, they get fear managed with disciplinary and the threat of job loss. And working fast, rushing, being exhausted and depressed, they make unnecessary mistakes and continue to mislabel even now in 2021.
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I also write extensively about Pret having hired the prestigious and expensive Barbican Venue in the spring of 2017 (after Natasha’s death and the NY lawsuit) to do a one (or two week) seminar. Pret hired the Barbican to do a seminar on customer service for all Leaders and Managers to take back to their Teams to train them. I can’t remember if it was two weeks, but it was certainly one week all day every working day. This seminar was all about how to lure customers in and kiss butt to increase profit, and to gain and retain customers. There was NO mention whatsoever on allergen and labelling. Nothing whatsoever! It wasn’t even mentioned that a customer has died. That’s how Pret “fully” trains staff after a customer has died! Irony off!
This seminar was AFTER the open letter from Alicia Turrell, AFTER the man in New York sued Pret and most tragically AFTER Natasha died.
Pret could and should have put on the emergency brakes and reshuffle the theme of the seminar and could have easily spent the money on allergen experts to teach us on allergen.
Pret also started to implement labelling machines for expiry dates for the kitchen in 2017, back of house, BUT NOT machines for allergen labelling for shops and customers, front of house.
One reason I believe also why Pret wasn’t keen on doing ingredient labelling on the packaging is because Pret claimed that their food is “natural”. But after ASA and a lawsuit challenged Pret (there’s a new lawsuit on this now again in NY), Pret took the word “natural” off their signage and packaging. Pret’s food was found to contain the “nasty” chemicals that Pret claimed wasn’t there, including GMOs and Glyphosate for which the mighty Monsanto, now under Bayer, have been sued by thousands of people in the U.S., having to pay billions of dollars in compensation.
Again, I am writing as a former front-line shop employee with 10 years experience, most of which was as a Team Leader. Sure, I have a “vendetta” against Pret after what I survived. But I am deeply offended that Pret didn’t even tell us about customers having died. I learnt like everybody else via the press after the inquest into Natasha’s death. And I’m further offended that Pret didn’t put on the brakes and had urgency about labelling and allergen, training and re-training us! I and my colleagues continued to be the next potential “Roberto Rodriguez” where our words and actions could have endangered more customers and the blame would have been on us. And like Natasha’s father Nadim said that the food labelling laws “played Russian Roulette” with his daughter’s life.
Pret that boast themselves to be front runners and trail blazers in issues, ignored multiple warnings and subjected us staff to partake in the Russian Roulette. And I can absolutely understand Roberto Rodriguez having dived under and not letting solicitors find him. He was blamed, but my argument is, was he really fully trained or did he just sign the training records out of pressure? Roberto is in a pickle: he can’t admit that he wasn’t fully trained if he signed the training records without having been trained. It’s a lose-lose for staff.
I took Health and Safety extremely seriously, and I was known to take it very serious. I got on my colleagues’ nerves as I was always on their cases, including Managers, to keep fire exits clear, to keep fire extinguishers clear for easy access, to immediately take the yellow “caution wet floor” sign when there was a spillage on the floor while we were getting the mop, FIRST put the caution sign down on top of the spillage and THEN get the mop etc.
My colleagues were always annoyed with me being on their cases, as well as telling them to NOT stretch dates of expired foods etc. etc. etc. To then learn that customers have died and been injured and NOT being informed and NOT being trained or re-trained more thoroughly is so offensive to me. Pret is micromanaging and EASILY penalize staff on even the smallest issues. And yet, they failed US as staff more than we could have ever failed them!
Ranvir Singh, ITV: “How can people trust Pret when you still don’t have full allergy labelling on every item in all your stores?”
Clare Clough: “Pret takes this incredibly seriously. We immediately put allergy alert stickers on to all of our products, so that customers would have on every single product they bought from Pret, information on how to easily find the allergen information that they needed.”
Ranvir Singh: “Immediately when?”
Clare Clough: “Following the inquest.”
Ranvir Singh: “Right, so two years after Natasha’s death. … Which doesn’t sound very immediate to me.”
Clare Clough even goes on to say:
“We were already adding allergen information to the shelves where people choose the products, when we were first made aware of Natasha’s death.”
Repeat: “We were already adding allergen information to the shelves where people choose the products, when we were first made aware of Natasha’s death.”
And YET, Roberto Rodriguez LOOKED at the labelling on the shelves to see if sesame was included in 2017 and did NOT see sesame, and thus unbeknownst to him misinformed customer Isobel Colnaghi, who then suffered an allergic reaction also to sesame, narrowly surviving!
So, either Clare Clough wasn’t truthful and product labels on the fridges were not labelled, or she didn’t know that Pret did NOT label, or Pret labelled some products and missed other products like the item that Isobel Colnaghi chose.
Pret is cleared now, and the blame is stuck on Roberto Rodriguez. A low-wage foreign worker, who has to live with the blame of a customer’s allergy reaction that would have almost been the third fatal reaction to a Pret product.
A list of my blog posts about the ongoing mislabelling, chronic under-staffing, staff reviews on lack of training, high pressure, bullying, unpaid over time, fast pace environment etc. etc.
My detailed report on HOW MESSY and chaotic Pret’s labelling system was before they started labelling in 2019: Pret’s Labelling Commitment?
Lack of training in Pret and how staff are pressured to sign training records without being trained (I also explain this in my below audio player interview from 2018 at about 1:13:00): Roberto Rodriguez – Pret Allergen Trial
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.
УКРАЇНЦІ, НЕ працюйте на мережу кафе Pret A Manger!
УКРАИНЦЫ, НЕ работайте на сеть ресторанов Pret A Manger!
I will say this loud and clear, even if I make inadvertent advertising here: Pret’s £50K donation to Ukraine is peanuts and a joke after the CEO and other execs pocket millions on bonus alone and cut staff wages etc. Some shops make £50K a day, many in 2 or 3 days. It’s PENNIES for Pret!
Pret waste no time to make a big PR announcement of their “charity” to regain favour, as many customers boycott Pret due to the wage cuts, stale food, subscription scam etc. After 4 years writing on Pret, I am proud to read more and more customers who see it as NORMAL that Pret is not what they claim to be. This was different 4 years ago where most where shocked to hear what I write or didn’t believe me. I get less blocked these days!
So, now Pret jump VERY quickly at the UK government refugee scheme by announcing another PR stunt to employ Ukrainian refugees. Here it is again, 1. for PR to get customers in who fall for this, thinking Pret is so wonderful, and 2. Pret want cheap labour.
Pret A Manger was built on the backs of Eastern Europeans who work like machines! I worked with many from Romania, Poland, Lithuania etc. Without these workers Pret could NOT have expanded so fast from the mid 2000s until Brexit.
I just post some of the comments here from customers and Pret staff, some who laugh about Pret’s claim to want to offer “emotional” and financial support.
When I worked 7 years in Pret my brother died, and Pret were in a hurry to get rid of me! Another former staff of 9 years talks about similar experience on Instagram.
I can only implore the reader to not fall for Pret’s PR stunt. They need workers! They will take a few refugees and treat them really, really well putting them in easy, quieter shops (if there is such a thing as an “easy” and quiet shop).
Then they will “parade” them one day in how they saved their day! Others who are thrust in fear and bow quicker will be put in kitchens and work their butts off for minimum-wage …
Don’t be fooled that Pret care! They jump at this opportunity as Brexit has made it harder to get workers and Pret is desperate for European staff, so they “fast track” them now. Many staff have left and keep leaving and I just hope that Ukrainians don’t take any bullsh!t, especially after what they’re suffering now. When you lost everything, especially loved ones, you are super vulnerable! And Pret KNOW how to use that! If you don’t believe me I have all the paper work as proof. That’s why Pret don’t sue me, it would open a can of worms for them!
Former staff on Twitter, I asked in that feed what “legacy” work Pret is talking about!
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I know Pret very well and how they BS people, on Instagram Ukrainian people ask how they can apply, and the social media staff say that they can contact the bogus Pret Foundation trust that serves as a smokescreen to hide bad practices. On Facebook the social media team tell people to keep an eye on social media.
In other words: Pret have NO clue what to do because this is only a PR stunt with no intention to help. These mixed messages are typical for Pret, because different social media staff give different info depending on their shift. They’re not on one page because there is no plan.
Pret have NO intention whatsoever to help. It’s just their typical marketing stunt.
On Instagram Pret pass the buck to email the Pret Foundation that most likely will not respond:
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On Facebook Pret admits to not have a plan and lures people to keep checking Pret’s social media, and no update will come, because there is no plan to help:
To highlight the comments as the screenshots are small.
mehrdadology writes, quote: “Am an unemployed british citizen and pret rejected my application twice for no reason! who is going to help people like me!”
I explained to mehrdadology that Pret don’t want British workers as they may ask for higher pay and they know their rights. Pret prefer even people who speak very little English, put them in the kitchen where they can’t talk due to the loud music and fast-paced work. They don’t speak English and therefore don’t know where to ask for help when they run into trouble.
The other comment, “Stop profiting from real tragedy cocksuckers”
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Some can only laugh at Pret’s claim to care:
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A customer who complains that standards are low, dirty shops etc. That’s what you get when you under-staff and exploit staff so much that they just leave.
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Yes, Pret ARE a ruthless company to work for. And the second comment I highlighted “8 years …” is a hint that Pret didn’t care about Crimea in 2014.
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A former staff of 9 years:
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Linkedin:
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Facebook:
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etc. etc. etc.
And just a small collection of the MANY staff reviews from Glassdoor, Indeed, Twitter, Facebook etc. This staff member’s advise to management is: “Burn in hell”. And an email from a staff member I received and quote here:
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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.
And, it’s funny how journalists feel “vindicated” to have known all along how Pret’s subscription is a rip off, ignoring that I’ve been writing this since Pret started the subin September 2020 😉
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The article starts:
»Oh, how delicious it is to be proven right. A little under a year ago, I cancelled my Pret subscription after I was struck with the lightning bolt realisation that the chain was using my own caffeine addiction to rip me off. I haven’t had a coffee from Pret ever since.«
How delicious it is to be proven right? Tell me that since May 2018 😉
My “Pret’s Continued Coffee Subscription Rip-Off” post from January 2021 is still one of THE MOST read articles on my blog, read especially by journalists. It emboldened journalists to more freely criticise Pret now compared to years ago when most were kissing up to Pret non-stop (except Timothy Noah).
And as usual, journalists MAINLY write a critical article about Pret when THEY themselves are affected as customers. Hardly independent journalism there. No care whatsoever what current and former staff say. Who cares about low-wage workers who are VITAL in customer servoce and the food and drnk these journalists put in their stomachs which these burnt-out, often depressed, some alcoholic workers TOUCH.
Metcalfe said that Pret’s »customers have been “let down” by the fiasco over its loyalty programme, amid claims of “chaotic” management at the sandwich chain.«
And yet, I also see complaints on Twitter/X by itsu customers saying they can’t access the itsu app as well as expired/foul foods incl. fish etc. 😀
And from knowing Pano Christou from his Pret UK Managing Director days, I keep saying that Christou has his head in the sand, was never an innovative or pro-active leader and only wants to build a legacy to have aggressively expanded Pret under instructions from owners in Germany via tax haven Luxembourg.
Original post from before the updates:
Several customers, including a The Times journalist, have ask how Pret can make a profit from their “generous” subscription offer after Pret first introduced the sub in September 2020.
UPDATE 27.04.2023: Reddit censors very heavily for no reason, unless prompted by Pret via Facebook/Instagram because my website url is completely blacklisted on FB/IG.
This picture here says “deleted”, but that’s not true, it’s been hidden from public view by reddit in secret.
Reddit also hides the feed on my reddit profile. Please see THIS LINK which here below is portrayed as “deleted”.:
Link that leads to my comment which reddit has HIDDEN around mid April 2023. It’s still there, because I can see it when logged in, but not when logged out. I made a screenshot of the upper part of my comment, with the date on my computer bottom right.
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I linked to my comment on anothr sub-reddit and was then informed that I deleted it, which of course isn’t the case as reddit just hid it from public view. The comment by the person who told me, my response to the person is also hidden 😀
Welcome to reddit’s toxic censorship. Reddit are THE worst in regards to censorship on social media platforms.
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Here’s my full text that reddit has hidden from public view, and I updated some issues now in 2024.
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Pret’s coffee subscription “Club Pret” is now Pret’s MAIN product to the detriment of drink, food and service quality.
How Pret A Manger make a profit via their MAIN product, the coffee subscription to the detriment of food and service quality. It’s a rabbit hole, but I explain.
– Pret FIRST advertised in Sep. 2020 the subscription as “endless”, “unlimited” barista made drinks, that included the expensive iced drinks, chai latte etc. while their T&Cs say 5 drinks per day in 30 minute intervals.
– After a year long of tweeting, complaining, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) got involved and Pret had to remove this false advertising and only announce it as 5 drinks per day, not endless.
– Then Pret announced early 2021 to be discontinuing the expensive iced drinks on the sub from April 2021 on. Many customers announced to boycott Pret and cancel their subscription. Pret then pretended to be humble, listening to customers and announced that the iced drinks will remain on the sub. But this turned out to just be on paper.
– Customer complaints started flooding in that they can hardly find a shop that makes the expensive frappes, smoothies etc. Common excuses were broken ice machines, broken blenders, out of stock etc. etc.
– The most nasty thing Pret does (and it continues to this day in some occasions) they make it hard for people to unsubscribe/cancel from the sub. And when people do manage to unsubscribe, Pret continues to withdraw money from accounts, even months after cancellation. . Money Saving Expert already reported back in 2020 that Pret kept withdrawing money from bank accounts, at times even MONTHS after customers cancelled the subscription. The following Tweets I’ve put on YouTube are just some of many, many more complaints: .
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At the bottom of this page I put another YouTube slide with further issues with the subscription that I explain here.
– Pret claim to be having technical difficulties etc. And yet, how can a company the size of Pret have THAT many technical issues for THAT long!? .
UPDATE March 2024: I don’t update pages anymore, but want to put a recent screenshot from Facebook where even after over 3 years of the subscription, Pret STILL make it hard to unsubscribe and social media is filled again with complaints on changes with the app. .
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There is MORE on this 13. March 2024 issue in further updates at the bottom.
In a nutshell, Pret make profit by the following: (Please note, the list is NOT exhaustive, these are just the most common issues since years and ongoing, while some things have stopped).
– Luring customers in via a falsely advertised subscription (also see BBC report below).
– Refusing to make the expensive drinks under various excuses.
– Technical difficulties hindering customers to scan their QR codes, and then after giving Pret the benefit of the doubt, they pay AGAIN in-store for a coffee thinking only their QR code has an issue, while reality many customers wait for their QR code for days and/or their codes then don’t work and as they’re already in the shop, they PAY again for a coffee.
– Pret also claim to have “supplier issues” since a year on chai latte. Chai latte is more expensive for Pret to give on the sub and it takes longer to make for the understaffed workers. So, they just say, we don’t chai due to supplier issues. Yet, Starbucks, Nero, Costa etc. have no supplier issues on chai.
– Under-staff shops forcing staff to work harder for less money, less staff, and have customers wait longer, and then turn around leaving the shop without a “free” coffee.
– Also, quality of products went down. Watered down products, cheaper coffee suppliers, decreased package/portion sizes for the same or even higher price etc. Pret also stopped complimentary items like the butter portions for soup bread, or discontinued the seeds for porridge, or downsized the 35g honey pots to 15g honey squeezable etc. etc.
– The Attachment rate: Someone mentioned already that people often buy other things while coming for a “free” coffee. Especially forcing customers to wait longer in the queue due to understaffed shops, they linger around in the queue looking at other items, tempted to buy what they never came for in the first place. Win-win for Pret. I posted a snippet of a leaked video I was sent by staff from a zoom call of Pret executives which I passed on to the BBC who reported on this. In the video UK Managing Director (who’s currently on maternity leave) explained the “attachment rate” when Pret first had the “£20 for 20 coffees” deal.
In a nutshell, it’s basically ripping people off in many many little ways, and it all adds up. Some thieves who steal credit card details, don’t rob your whole bank account in one go, no, they purchase items in small amount of money over a period of a long time until people notice it.
People don’t notice the odd £5 disappearing from their account, especially if they have a good income and use mainly card to pay. That’s how Pret does it. Take a little here, and a little there, but spread it out over MANY customers and for a LONG time … KATCHINK!
That’s where the profit comes in. They would only stop when called out publicly by MANY people and especially the press, the ASA, lawsuits and heavy fines. Other than that, the rip-off continues.
When journalist Mike Powell and I worked on a follow-up story as complaints continued, Pret knew he would write a second piece as journalists always contact the company for a comment just before they put out the press report. Pret then quickly announced that they plan to change the smoothie menu to a watered-down iced-drinks menu to avoid further trouble.
Mike then had to re-write part of his report adding the sudden announcement by Pret:
And again, many customers complain that the “new” iced-drinks are like a Ribena version of cheap sugary drinks. Many customers complain about the subscription, low quality service and coffee etc. so much so that 74% on Trustpilot (63% one-star and 11% two-star reviews combined – as of March 2024) disapprove of Pret, many having vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. Several journalists across different outlets also have started to write negative reports about the subscription.
And it doesn’t matter how many “perks” Pret promise to lure people into signing up for the subscription, any perks (bag of crisps, can of coke, or now even a HOT COFFEE which is already part of the subscription worth 40p for Pret!) are just temporary for a few weeks and many shops again don’t honour the deals under “technical issues”.
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 try to get through via phone where Pret customer service rarely picks 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.
Pret being Pret and very naughty again, they break their own T&Cs.
… and no journalist has spotted it! Hell will freeze over before anyone contacts trading standards.
On 13.03.2024 Pret emailed all subscription customers that Pret are changing the app, giving customers only 5 days notice while in their T&Cs it’s 40 days. Please see underneath the Telegraph article:
I know like the back of my hand how dodgy Pret are on a lot of issues and will simply not respect data and other issues unless heavily fined or exposed.
Further in the Facebook conversation, the person explains how they can’t get their BANK details deleted. And THAT is VERY typical Pret and a complaint I saw throughout the years.
The biggest audacity and fishing for more data is that customers who try to delete their bank details, HAVE TO update wit NEW card details before being able to delete, DESPITE having cancelled the subscription.
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On Trustpilot former customers warn people about Pret’s data breaches:
In the USA customers and staff sue quicker because the legal system is different than in the UK. But people can make a GDPR request to get their data deleted within 30 days or contact ICO. But it seems Pret keep getting away with not complying.
“Pret A Manger Fingerprinting Class Action Suit Reaches Settlement”
Also, see some of the recent bad press for Pret, in particular on the price hikes, lowered quality and the subscription. One journalist is even giving tips on how to get the best out of a “bad” Pret subscription.
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, wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review and was mentioned by the BBC.
Customers continue to raise the issue of under-staffed shops with queues out the door. Exhausted staff who slave for minimum-wage while Pret made a big PR announcement to be raising pay to £10 (from April on) while having cut pay during the pandemic, cut benefits and paid breaks. Workers are worse off while Pret do their usual “charity” PR stunts again.
And before anyone compares and comes with the “argument” that you don’t get your breaks paid, try to work on your feet for 8, 10, 12+ hours straight every day under intense stress, noise, heat, tinnitus, angry leader, bullying manager, mystery shopper commenting that you didn’t smile, frustrated customers who complain that their coffee took 2 minutes etc. etc. etc. Try working in that environment, all while HAVING to smile or not get mystery shopper bonus. Staff should get their breaks paid again and more than a flipping living wage. I write extensively about Pret’s micromanaging, strict and plainly abusive mystery shopper scheme here: The Dangers of Emotional Labour.
Pret silenced a staff member’s strike announcement which rallied a lot of support from customers via the media. Let me rewind to 2020.
At the start of the pandemic, just before first lock-down, Pret did a nasty PR stunt again. Pret announced on 18. March 2020 to give free coffees and 50% rebate for NHS staff, which of course turned into a big media event with countless customers complimenting Pret on their “generosity” and ethical attitude. Well …
The very next morning on 19. March 2020 I received a desperate message from a staff member unbeknown to me, that CEO Pano Christou has sent an email to all shops early morning on 19. March to announce cuts to staff.
Pret used NHS staff for PR and as a smokescreen to hide cuts to staff. I was sent the CEO’s email by another staff member and published it here:Plea to NHS Employees.
In a nutshell, low-wage front-line Pret workers paid for the NHS freebies. Companies like Pret always take it from the lowest to do their marketing scheme for the public. I passed this on to the press immediately and went on a social media spree to inform as many NHS workers as I could find.
Only 1 NHS staff was outraged as far as I could find. I’m sure there are more. But most NHS workers loved the freebies, with nor care about Pret staff.
In the following months Pret fired 3000 staff, cut hours, cut pay, cut benefits and stopped paid breaks while executives worked safely from home or socially distanced in air conditioned head office. And they continued to received a juice bonus package. If not, Pret would have “proudly” announced that executive pay and bonuses were cut, as Pret is always FAST to make huge PR announcements.
The same with donating £50.000 to Ukraine which is peanuts for Pret. Many shops make £50K in two days, some even in one day! In contrast to that, former CEO Clive Schlee received £30 MILLION on bonus for himself alone. We can only speculate how much all the other executives and share holders pocket, even during the pandemic!
I explain WHY and WHEN Pret always make big “charity” announcements including the interesting timing of Pret’s £1000 announcements to all staff back in 2018: Pret’s Charity Projects.
They then made the cuts permanent which caused a huge public outcry via the media. One brave staff member made the strike announcement but was quickly silenced because Pret played a trick on them. I explain here: Pret Staff Announce Strike.
Two tweets from only today from 2 different shops within an hour from each other. And Pret always ask customers to DM with more info claiming to be “so concerned to read this” as if Pret isn’t aware of the stress THEY cause from head office. Especially on weekends shops have maximum 3 staff, if they’re lucky 4. I worked like this in different Pret shops, and that before the pandemic. But now it’s much much worse. So, Pret ask for DM to lure customer data for future marketing.
More customer complaints and staff reviews in below YouTube slides including some stern words from Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha.
I use YouTube because not everyone wants to read long blog posts and because Facebook/Instagram completely censored/blocked my website after Pret and die-hard Pret fans reported me. But they can’t block YouTube!
Staff reviews and Nadia Sawahla’s words after Pret made temporary pay-cuts permanent:
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Some of many staff reviews from before the pandemic:
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The MOST poignant staff review from a kitchen worker who also had to jump in serving customers. There is no better worded review I have ever come across regarding work at Pret:
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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.
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.
Please click on above Spotify logo to listen to a converted voice version of below text.
I want to link to several posts I wrote from a behind the scenes perspective having worked at Pret A Manger when two customers died. The first fatality was 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse from unlabelled sesame in a baguette. The second customer was mother of 5 Celia Marsh who died of dairy traces in a vegan wrap.
It is still not clear whose responsibility Celia Marsh’s death was, if the non-dairy yogurt supplier or Pret.
I know from experience that it is super easy to hastily grab the wrong products in Pret as shops have always been under-staffed to maximize profit, and many are foreign workers who can take the wrong ingredient in a hurry. Staff are penalized if they don’t reach a certain percentage in the speed of assembling sandwiches.
I want to keep this short here and only link to the posts with certain issues I have experienced first hand. I continue to highlight that under-staffing shops is dangerous. And Pret continue to do so to maximize profit, even before the pandemic. Burnt-out staff are bound to make dangerous mistakes.
Some people say that I have a “vendetta” against Pret after what I survived as staff, and that’s why I write on all sorts of issues. My response to this is, it takes immense wrong doing for someone to speak out extensively and “whistle-blow” on wrong doing. If I was “just” a disgruntled former employee, I would have never started a blog. This is not about being disgruntled, this is about my own survival from this company and why Pret remain dangerous to people’s health.
I need to stress that I was a Team Leader of the shop floor responsible for a host of things like running the shops (opening or closing), ordering stock, counting money at the end of the day, checking temperature of cooling equipment, looking after the staff, striving that we had high scores in Mystery Shopper visits etc. etc.
A Team Leader in Pret is really like a mini-manager! they do EVERYTHING except hiring and firing. They are the true managers who run the shops. Same with kitchen Team Leaders, they run the kitchens.
But one of the responsibilities and job description of Team Leaders is health and safety. I myself took that extremely serious as I had many years experience in the hospitality industry in three countries.
I was known by colleagues to get on their nerves when I saw spillage on the floor and I stressed to first grab the yellow caution sign before getting the mop. Or the emergency exits even having the slightest item blocking it. Or the emergency calling cord that’s hanging to the floor in toilets and was tangled up. I always untangled it and re-trained everyone to keep checking that the chord is always loosely hanging on the floor easy to pull should someone be lying on the floor etc. etc.
This was not my managers training me to keep an eye on, this from my experience outside of Pret where I was TRULY trained!
I stress the Team Leader health & safety responsibility because Pret is extremely strict with many issues, but also with a lot of unimportant issues. But Pret did not only NOT tell us, especially Team Leaders, that not one, but two customers died and several got injured, there wasn’t even as much as a HINT to be more cautious with labelling and allergen. Absolutely nothing! I am still very angry about this because Pret left us basically in the Wild West that if something happened, it’s our fault because they basically didn’t break the law at the time.
A list of issues I expand on in great detail:
Be Honest, Kind, Generous – Seminar on Customer Service. I start with a seminar that Pret did at the Barbican in spring 2017, a year AFTER Natasha died. But the seminar was NOT about allergen or labelling, it was about how to lure customers further to keep coming back spending money.
Vegans and Vegetarians Eat MEat at Pret with many photos by customers. Pret shops still mislabel products even in 2022 due to under-staffed, stressed out workers having to rush. Picture in the heading is a pot of mayonnaise sold as Bircher muesli. A stressed, rushed staff took the MAYONNAISE bucket instead of the dairy yogurt bucket. EASILY done!
A staff could have grabbed the dairy yogurt instead of the non-dairy yogurt for the vegan wrap that Celia Marsh died from.
Pret do not label food in Dubai and Paris in 2021 and maybe other countries where there are insufficient labelling laws. Customers complain to Pret on social media with photos. Most likely there are no laws like the UK law “Natasha’s Law” since October 2021. Should a customer die in Dubai or Paris, Pret will again blame the local laws.
Pret Hygiene Rating 2/5. Many customers complain on filthy shops and London City Airport has scored 2 out of 5 in a December 2021 EHO visit on pest and hygiene issues. Again, under-staffed shops where staff are pushed to work fast to get products out but have no time to clean. Pret has never paid overtime while giving staff purposely very little time to do the job, then forcing them to work for free. Many staff walked out of Pret now.
Photos and videos of flies, maggots, rat droppings etc. in Pret food, as well as mice and ants running around including on food etc. Rat A Manger & Pret A Maggot via YouTube:
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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.
Pret’s in shambles alright. But above picture by @Ruffbinta on Twitter, where Storm Eunice knocked at Pret’s door a little too hard, is a good metaphor how Pret is a shadow of their past PR glory. Though, they’re still able to fool the public with a smiley front.
So, relax! Pret won’t go bust! Take a deeeeep breath and have some soothing camomile tea on the house. You’re just being fooled again. This is just their usual way to use the media to make people believe Pret’s crocodile tears!
In Germany they have a saying, “In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen”. Loosely translated, “In times of crisis, the devil eats flies”.
In other words, in unprecedented times we do things we’d NEVER EVER thought we’d do in “normal” times. We would even eat flies if it keeps us alive.
The problem here though is, Pret is NOT in trouble! They are doing the USUAL thing of using the media to keep luring customers in.
I explain this in the “Tränendüse” post from 2020 when CEO Pano Christou did a clever PR stunt using The Guardian.
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Every link I post below shows evidence of how Pret keeps tricking the public.
Pret is desperate for customers. And what BETTER way to get customers in than saying, “We are about to close down if you don’t come and wait for 15 minutes to be served by our understaffed minumim-wage workers while we refuse to pay taxes and are busy counting our money … Hey boo, come on, buy our fertilizer.”
All the customers who not only boycott Pret, but vowed to never set foot inside Pret again (for lowering wages, coffee subscription issues, poor quality coffee and food, customer allergen deaths and injuries etc.), Pret wants to get back by squeezing their tears into a throw-away cup in hopes people return in droves.
Pret is back 93% pre-pandemic levels, but hey, someone needs to foot the bill for the loans Pret took out and all the lawsuits they’re hit with, including the recent settlement for FINGERPRINTING staff in Illinois agreeing to pay 800 staff a combined $677,000 (after lawyers take their share around $500 per staff)!
The comment section shows a lot of insight into private equity. Some people aren’t fooled by this.
Quote from Hercule Smith: “This is a non story. The PE sharks are just running their business in their normal fashion: drowning in debt to negate tax (until just before they want to refloat it, when debt will just marginally reduce). They’ll drop in more equity when they have no choice, unless they spot a chance to dump the debt via a pre-pack or similar.”
Another quote: “How do you issue a warning and say you are continuing to expand?”
Bingo! As the above person already explained about the private equity sharks, Pret received £100 million from shareholders to open 200 more shops within 3 years. This will now be doubled to £200 million. Pret also received £185 million from owners JAB Holdings in tax-haven Luxembourg as well as the support from the government during furlough etc. There is NO plan to pay debt!
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Another person wrote what I also thought yesterday, quote: “If they are struggling to pay £60m this year how on earth would they pay £600m next. As for trading at 93% od pre pandemic level I find that hard to believe.”
Exactly! Especially also with all the lawsuits and settlements, Pret have no urgency to pay any debt. I also find it hard to believe that Pret made 50 million coffees on the subscription. They claim 50 million cups on Instagram and Facebook but NOT on Twitter because more people would call Pret out on Twitter than Instagram & Facebook. And the press is more active on Twitter but not elsewhere.
Here one customer calling Pret out on their BS on IG which I posted on Twitter:
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.
I have written already extensively on Pret A Manger’s micromanaging Mystery Shopper scheme including slides on YouTube. Someone last winter linked to my blog from Wikipedia, after I wrote a lot about my experience in Pret with the Mystery Shopper scheme and I kept mentioning Timothy Noah’s excellent article, “The Enforced Happiness of Pret A Manger“. But the Wiki editor deleted the link again. I don’t know who put my blog on Wiki or why it was then removed.
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But after 2018, after the customer deaths became known, Wikipedia updated a lot of information they didn’t have before, like the first Pret being opened in 1983 by Jeffrey Hyman NOT in 1986 etc. Pret keep it away from the public that Jeffrey Hyman was the first to open Pret and have now even put signs on Pret shops with a simple “London 1986”.
A friend of Jeffrey Hyman alleged on Twitter that Pret employed someone to keep deleting Hyman’s info off Wikipedia!
A lot of info has been taken from my blog as usual, while Wiki remains out-dated on Pret issues. But that’s for another post.
I want to highlight again Pret’s humiliating Mystery Shopper scheme, but instead of a long blog post (don’t bank on it!), I want to link to my page with certain posts and YouTube slides I’ve already published. I use YouTube and keep adding to a playlist on a variety of issues, as Facebook and Instagram completely blocked my website after Pret must have reported me. But they can’t block YouTube! ‹^› (°_°) ‹^›
The press now KNOW about Pret’s emotional labour scheme but don’t want to elaborate on it as they always like to avoid having to mention my blog from where they got the initial info from. So, I keep updating customers who are still fooled that minimum-wage workers seem happy in an unforgiving stressful, noisy, hot, straining work environment.
Many customers are grateful to learn of this, some other customers cuss me out or communicate in other passive aggressive ways that they don’t want to know about this. They are p!ssed off because I destroy their illusions that staff actually smile for bonus and £100 cash rewards and NOT because they are in love with the customer or are happy working at Pret!
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Many middle-aged people are especially annoyed when they learn of the Mystery Shopper requirements, because they love to flirt with low-wage staff (for free coffee or just because they can). Some even LOVE it that staff are exploited this way and seem to get a kick out of it. Others have expressed their “reliance” of being “emotionally” cared for by poorly paid staff, who are exploited to meet the emotional needs of customers so that these customers return again and again to spend more money.
Customers become “reliant” on the emotional attention of low-wage staff as if workers are psychologists or emotional “prostitutes”. Customers have become conditioned to get their emotional fix from hospitality workers and workers have become accustomed to sell emotions on top of food in order to top up their low pay. I still cringe at this having had to distort my feelings for extra cash and to not get fear managed when a Mystery Shopper commented that I didn’t smile, even when I was sick. Staff are not paid the first 2 – 3 days sick leave, depending on their age, even when they have a sick note.
I had to constantly make a decision if to stay home to get well but lose money, or go to work sick and risk that my Team didn’t get the bonus because I coughed!
Mystery Shopper excerpt when I coughed and therefore couldn’t smile:
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Mystery Shopper comment: “Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful enough to smile that day.”
I was reprimanded in the office later by my boss after this report came in. I also didn’t “feel cheerful” enough to smile after I buried my brother and Pret bullied me to keep performing emotional labour and refused to place me in the kitchen. I literally begged managers to please put me in the kitchen for a day or week where I didn’t need to smile. But they often refused because I was too slow in the kitchen but very fast and efficient in the shop.
I had to suppress my grief and keep smiling. After my shift I often headed for the bridge. Well Pret, I survived to tell my story!
Important to note as well that Pret staff have 60 seconds (sometimes Pret changes it to 90 seconds) to serve a customer, also to get the coffee ready into customer’s hands, and on top of that staff are demanded to stroke people’s emotions on the go!
If a staff or the Barista takes longer than 60-90 seconds, they risk also not getting Mystery Shopper bonus as Mystery Shoppers time them to the second while expecting PERFECT coffees, smiles, chatting, eye contact …
Many more customer comments via the below YouTube l slides.
I received many Mystery Shopper “outstanding cards” (£50 cash reward) and “super outstanding cards” (£100 rewards when the scores were perfect) and many customer compliments for my service. But inside I was burnt out and later suicidal after my brother died. Pret continued to demand that I smile. I was reprimanded by management, including an area Manager after the Mystery Shopper commented that I didn’t smile.
The Mystery Shopper didn’t know that I just buried my brother, but Pret knew. It didn’t matter. No mercy.
Since I publicly write on this, highlighting certain sentences from the Mystery Shopper reports, Pret has changed the wording to avoid criticism.
Excerpt of previous Pret Mystery Shopper questions which Pret has now changed to more general questions:
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Quote, I highlight/bold a few things:
Pret: “We aim to connect with every customer with eye contact, a smile and some polite remarks. Rate the engagement level of the person who served you at the till.”
Mystery Shopper: “I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming, the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engaged and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
Little but important side note, an individual Pret staff serves an average of 300-500 customers per 8 – 10 hour shift depending on the busyness of the shop and their position. Hot Chefs, Baristas, Kitchen Staff of course serve less people as they have their job roles cut out for them. Pret demands that staff bend backwards like acrobatic clowns and what I call as “emotional prostitutes” to draw customers in emotionally to spend more money.
Further:
Quote:
Pret: “We aim to be attentive to each customer’s needs. Rate the engagement level of the whole team in this shop during your visit.”
Mystery Shopper: “The team members were focused on their jobs but were not welcoming customers. This could be improved by the team members smiling at customers when they entered the shop, and making a friendly remark or small talk, where possible.”
Where possible? Maybe it wasn’t possible because Team Members were FOCUSED on their JOBS for which they were paid for. Bonus is at the discretion of Mystery Shoppers and Managers. it’s a bonus, not a required wage! Yet, in this they are bullied and fear managed THE MOST!
It’s a lose-lose for staff. They are focused on their jobs for which they were hired and paid to fulfill, and if they wouldn’t be doing their jobs, they would be penalized for not cleaning, stocking up etc. And customers love to flock to Twitter to complain that their tables weren’t wiped or there is no sugar stocked up. All the while Mystery Shoppers are demanded to probe if staff smile while bending backwards being FOCUSED on their jobs!
If they do their jobs, they are reprimanded for not smiling. If they smile and chat but then don’t have time to stock up or clean or a bit of toilet paper is on the floor etc., they are reprimanded for not doing their jobs. It does not matter AT ALL how well they work, how much they do, they are always penalized and bullied in a nutshell.
Only one of many such reviews, quote from Glassdoor review “Stressful“:
»Constantly understaffed and expected to clean the entire store andmultitask like crazy because there is no one else to do it Sometimes really hard to get the bonus because you work so hard to make the entire store presentable, clean and neat but if the mystery shopper comes during the busy lunch period when you are understaffed and have to stay on till and cannot leave it and tidy the shop floor and they then don’t give you the bonus because there was ‘toilet paper on the floor in the toilet that could have been tidied’. Or if there is a long queue until the door they complain that they were not served within a minute and a half of joining the queue which is ridiculous.«
So, now many shops have locked the toilets with “out-of-order” sign on it since months.
They go left, they’re penalized for not turning right. They turn right, they’re penalized for not turning left. They run, they’re penalized for not stopping. They stand still, they’re penalized for not moving … You get the picture! I know what I’m talking about, I survived this bullsh!t abuse!
If you, dear reader, really want to see the micromanagement and humiliation in how ONE staff made a silly mistake, resulting in the whole team not getting bonus, readTHIS, especially at the bottom of the page!
But be warned, your illusions are going to really get fucked up!
And to further destroy illusions of Pret’s “generosity”, when a staff member gives a freebie, that is almost a guarantee to get the £100 cash reward from the Mystery Shopper. An example of this is at the very bottom YouTube player.
I am not a fan of chains and neither of Wetherspoons, but boss Tim Martin in his interview with Kirsty Young on Desert Island discs years ago, said something that pleasantly surprised me. I’ve put an excerpt of the interview on Soundcloud, click play:
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Pret boasts about recruiting staff for their personality rather than their skill. This sounds lovely doesn’t it! Yet, so many especially in leadership are clueless on how to do their jobs. But as long as they are like bouncing bunnies fulfilling customers’ emotional fixes, that’s all that Pret cares about.
Two customer deaths and 20+ allergen injuries has not taught Pret a lesson that SKILL is life saving, with or without a smile. I write about this in: Recruiting for Personality rather than Skill can be Fatal, where I dissect HR Director Andrea Wareham’s interview on this.
Again, please also read Timothy Noah’s brilliant article from a customer and journalist point of view! And you may say, why don’t staff just get another job? Well, this question is for psychology and experienced service workers to answer in how fear management, brainwashing and inexperience with exploitation in low-wage jobs work.
And if you as a customer would ask any Pret staff if they’re happy working there, of course they will say YES with a BIG smile, because they fear you could be the Mystery Shopper! Even regular customers can be Mystery Shoppers and staff ALWAYS anticipate them walking into the shop at anytime.
I renamed the Mystery Shopper to “Misery” Shopper also because these are often people who ENJOY their power to withdraw or give bonus. I once signed up on a Mystery Shopper Forum where secret shoppers mingled and exchanged experiences of their jobs.
I explained to them our ordeal and how excruciating it is to have to love-bomb customers to get extra cash EVEN when we are bereaved, depressed, ill etc. Nine out of ten Mystery Shoppers on that forum were merciless and said that it is our jobs to smile no matter what. They absolutely enjoyed the power they had over minimum-wage staff. That’s why I dedicated my blog post on Timothy Noah’s article naming him a “hero” in my book! As a journalist he dared to take a more critical look at Pret back in 2013 when no journalist dared to critique Pret.
A thorough and extensive list on Pret’s emotional labour demands via weekly Mystery Shoppers can be found here, with links to Mystery Shopper reports, my own experience, YouTube and journalists reports: The Dangers of Emotional Labour.
Here I want to briefly highlight a few things again. I will now abbreviate Mystery Shopper to MS.
Since I write about Pret’s MS scheme, Pret has put some info into shops to quickly counter any critique and “admit” they do MS requirements, but they fail to explain how micromanaging and humiliating it is. Again, for thorough detail, see above “Dangers of Emotional Labour” page to the links.
After a strike announcement was made in August 2021, Pret quickly reinstated the hourly staff bonus from 50p to £1 starting in September 2021. Now Pret announced that the bonus will be £1.25 from April on when the government raises the minimum wage, forcing Pret to pay a few pennies more to LOOK generous.
Shop/kitchen hourly paid staff SOLELY rely on their weekly bonus via the weekly Mystery Shopper visits AND shop Managers moods.
Until April 2022 a staff member can earn an extra £1 per hour IF the MS is happy enough to give it. If a staff member works let’s say 60 hours that week, he/she will get £60 bonus that week if the MS is happy to give it. From April 2022 it will be £1.25 p/h. But even if the MS awards the bonus, the shop Managers have the discretion to NOT give the bonus for ANY silly reason. I explain in detail in above “Strike” post.
I and colleagues have been threatened by management that our bonus will be cut for any and all silly reason I explain in detail. Thus, Pret is using the bonus system to penalize staff and save money. Some staff have left reviews on Glassdoor and/or Indeed explaining that the bonus is used as a “weapon” or that achieving MS bonus has become extremely hard due to understaffed shops. Teams have lost bonus because there was a little toilet paper on the floor in the toilet, regardless if the shops are understaffed.
THAT IS WHY many shops have just CLOSED the toilets with an “out-of-order” sign on the door, as they don’t have staff to keep it clean and thus not get bonus.
It’s a lose-lose for shops! It does NOT matter how much they bend backwards and forwards, Pret penalize and bully them via the strict and unreasonable Mystery Shopper scheme. In hindsight after what I have survived in Pret, I really really believe that Pret executives and head office including HR literally ENJOY treating staff like this. Leadership that abuse their power over minimum-wage staff.
Managers also coerce young inexperienced Team Members to have sex in exchange for promotion. Sure, you may say, that’s a hefty allegation, but what world do you live in where your illusions get the better of you? Abuse in low-wage jobs is rife EVERYWHERE in the world. You know that! It was often an open secret what Manager got into their position via the bedroom! Sad for a sandwich shop! You expect that in law firms and politics or the music industry, but a sandwich chain? Really sad.
Quote: “… Only sad thing was the whole sleep with a manager to get to where you want. Sadly it was the case for who was my assistant manager and main manager at the time. A lot of staff were very angry at this happening but that was not for me to dwell on. I looked past it.”
People have sex in the staff room because the shop offices have hidden cameras after Managers would have sex in the offices.
Shop Managers, Assistant Managers, Area Managers and above get their bonuses quarterly. But their bonus relies on a host of things like shop profits, waste management, labour costs, health and safety scores etc. But the biggest chunk in management bonus comes from the Mystery Shopper scores.
So, while shop/kitchen hourly paid staff solely rely on Mystery Shoppers and Managers to get their bonus, Managers and higher ups have more chances to get their bonuses. Thus, penalizing front-line, low-wage employees is much easier than Managers. This way they can control staff better while cashing in on the top levels.
Anyway, for anyone who loves to live in the real world and doesn’t mind to get their illusions destroyed, I wrote an encyclopedia on Pret’s “Misery” Shopper scheme with tons of examples and MS reports detailing the point and cash reward requirements.
So, next time a minimum-wage worker is love-bombing you, you won’t need to toss and turn at night thinking they’re in love with you. They just want to top up their crumbs that millionaire executives throw at them.
Smile For The Misery Shopper:
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After my writing on this, Pret changed the wording, but the demands remain as brutal as ever:
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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.
As Pret is raising the coffee subscription price from £20 to £25 a month, some customers announced cancelling their sub (good luck!). Some mention that they continue to NOT get any smoothies/frappes, even now in winter, no chai latte available etc. Pret of course continue to use excuses while in reality don’t want to serve any expensive items, including the complimentary cream on the sub. I write about this extensively in Pret A Manger keep adding excuses for not serving items
Also, Pret played a very clever tactical game. They raised the prices of food and other items these last few weeks, so customers quickly got the coffee subscription in hopes to safe money on raised coffee prices. Pret waited a few weeks so more customers subscribed, then now raise the sub prices. And it is common knowledge now that Pret make is hard to unsubscribe! And even when people succeed to cancel the sub, Pret continue to withdraw money from accounts. More on this below.
Between June and September 2021 Pret came up with yet another lie after multiple complaints kept coming in about lack of smoothies and frappes. Pret held people for fools, and most fell for it.
The lie was that they’re “sourcing improved equipment” but that this will take “a little while to deploy to every shop”. What Pret is NOT telling customers is that the GENERAL term of “equipment” are NOT ice machines or blenders, but the Cimbali coffee machines. Pret again leave it up to customers to interpret new improved “equipment”.
Customers keep speaking about ICE MACHINES and BLENDERS, NOT coffee machines! Pret wants to give COFFEES on the subscription NOT expensive iced drinks and chai latte etc. So a general term of “equipment” should fool the public.
Grass has grown over this and complaints continue now in WINTER 2022 Februrary that hardly any customer can find a smoothie or frappe where the demand is VERY low in the cold weather. Pret still refuse to serve it to safe money and continue to rip customers off via the subscription.
Companies who work with Pret usually make huge announcement of equipment roll-outs. Coffee machine company Cimbali and others announced on all social media platforms that Pret has purchased new coffee machine equipment.
Interesting that there is NO announcement of ice machine or other equipment for iced drinks. 😉 The faster coffee machines are there of course to do MORE coffee for the subscription! But no iced drinks are offered. Also, what do faster more efficient coffee machines do when there is hardly any staff to man them!
So, the Pret social media staff spoke a half-truth. Pret DID roll out new “equipment”, but for coffee beans, not for ice machines or blenders, and neither for more staff to work to get the queues down.
And when complaints flood in about where the equipment is, Pret will claim that they meant the coffee machines. Thus the customer is the one looking stupid again.
UPDATE 24.03. 2022
A new lie has emerged which is so funny I almost peed myself laughing! A shop supposedly got a new blender but with only ONE jug. Well, that is impossible because in Pret we were ALWAYS required to have at least TWO separate jugs for dairy and a separate jug for non-dairy (smoothies). We even got stressed to use the appropriate lids. The dairy jug had its own lids and the smoothie jug has its own lid, EVEN when they were washed, we were required to use appropriate lid for each jug.
And Instagram is also on fire with new complaints regarding no iced drinks served.
Another lie Pret gives which is also laughable. In the summer Pret claims that due to HIGH demand, they quickly run out of iced drinks (even at 7am in the morning 😉 ). Now the lie is, in winter due to LACK of demand … 😀
I worked at Pret as a Team Leader, like a mini-manager, responsible for ordering stock every day. I worked for 10 years in 30+ shops, we NEVER EVER EVER ran out of iced drinks in WINTER! Not even in the summer. We were always instructed to have plenty in stock, which we did! It was EXTREMELY rare, even in the summer that we ran out of ONE item, then we offered another iced drink. And especially in Winter, there is NO way shops don’t order enough or ran out! Complete Bullsh!t and lies! So, Pret continue to hold customers for fools.
Pret raise the subscription price while offering sh!t service and VERY limited products. Even the BBC report from December 2021 of 5000 customer complaints doesn’t seem to change that. Only a HEAVY fine and the masses voting with their feet will get Pret’s attention.
BBC: “Pret A Manger customers complain over drinks subscription deal”
Pret is indirectly pinning customers against low-wage staff, saying £1.50 from the subscription increase will go to the staff pay-rise. So, customers get mad at staff, while in reality, Pret is greedy, using the crisis to fill their pockets again. The pay-rise to £10 which will come in April, and is NOT in effect now, is a joke anyway because Pret keeps all the benefits cut, staff are still worse off.
Also, Pret is hit with numerous lawsuits ringing up into the millions, especially in the USA. A recent class action Pret has settled on fingerprinting low-wage front-line shop staff for clocking in and out. Pret agreed to pay 800 staff a combined $677.000. Everyone will get approx. $500 after the legal Teams take their slice.
And who better to foot the legal bills than customers!
Dan Price, founder and CEO of credit card processing company Gravity Payments who lowered his million dollar wage to $70K a year and raised all his staff wages to $70K, made a good statement:
After getting challenged on their “supplier issue” excuse (Pret read my blog) as well with chai latte since almost a year as well as matcha latte, cream etc. (all expensive items for the subscription) they now use a broad, general excuse of “operational difficulties as a result of the pandemic”. A one-size-fits-all approach that cannot be traced for truth. Clever Pret. But still, customers aren’t stupid and remain unhappy. Many silently vote with their feet.
Pret A Manger’s Shady Practices, especially with the subscription and the difficulty to cancel the sub with Pret continuing to withdraw money AFTER people cancelled:
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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.
I want to point out something else here with Pret’s advertisements.
For one, Pret only use slim FEMALE hands in their advertising and mainly CAUCASIAN female hands. And the way the hands are holding a baguette or wrap has even other customers stunned.
Of course Pret will say it’s up to the customer in how to interpret Pret’s communications. When I worked at Pret and we had our training days in Head Office to become Team Leaders, we spoke about the calories in products. We were informed that the Posh Cheddar baguette had the highest calories, but that it is up to customers to decide what and how much to consume.
In other words, we say it’s healthy, while it’s loaded with salt, fats, chemicals, but you dear customer decide if you want to stuff yourself with out food. So, don’t complain later! This also happened in the lawsuit regarding Pret’s “natural” claim. Pret tried to get the lawsuit tossed out saying that paraphrased, customers should know that Pret’s food isn’t natural. I write on this in detail here at the bottom of the post: Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat.
I will just put a few screenshots here, but people can check themselves what kind of ads Pret do, only using female, mainly white hands.
One customer pointed out on Instagram about the length of the baguette advertised that Pret enlarged. I worked at Pret for 10 years and NEVER seen this size baguette:
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The same ad on Facebook where a customer “omg’d” on it:
Also, a little side note, Pret is often cleverly using customer photos for their online ads. At times customers are “lucky” to get a month of free coffees for making free advertising or provide photos, other times customers have to ask for something. In reality, ads usually go for thousands of pounds especially when in print forever. But many are willing to give it freely to a multi-billion pound company making money off people’s photos and printed words.
And the monthly free coffees are of course via the subscription service that people have to sign up for! Win-win for Pret all the way! Coffees for Pret are extremely cheap. It costs Pret nearly nothing. One cup, including cup, lid, milk, labour etc. doesn’t cost more than 30-35p. Do the math on the profit margin and people easily selling out for cheap items in return for precious data (for marketing and to bind people to the brand) including intellectual property.
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Here, a customer is bold enough to ask for something for allowing Pret to use their photo, and yet after 3 weeks still hasn’t heard or received anything, while Pret collects data (home address, email) for future marketing:
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I also pointed out to Pret during Christmas time 2018 how unprofessional and CHEAP it is to use in-house staff for ads, when one photo showed quite poor, actually missing, manicure. Pret then deleted the Tweet, photo-shopped the picture and re-uploaded 11 days later. Now they seem to have gotten a better photographer, but it’s clear that the advertising people in Pret seem to be male.
Deleted Tweet from 10. Dec. 2018 which made me lose appetite:
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New Tweet from 21. Dec. 2018, photo-shopped and cropped whatever couldn’t get fixed 😀
Even when zooming in on a 2021 ad for a wrap, the fingers are also look “rough” as if Pret used a kitchen staff for a free photo shoot.
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Why am I making such a fuss about it apart from being put off by poor manicure for food ads? Because Pret DEMANDS front-line, low paid shop staff to be PERFECT while under intense, unreasonable stress, and then in their highly paid marketing and digital departments at Head Office not delivering themselves!
Apart from that, I want to point out that Pret 9.9 out of 10 times use Caucasian, female hands and leave it up for interpretation what customers see in the photos.
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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.
Below are just a few of the recent or repeated lawsuits Pret has faced and/or settled. Some lawsuits have disappeared off the news, and it may be because the plaintiffs settle out of court and signed an NDA, like the former staff lawsuit on racism. The case completely disappeared off the news.
Many customers on social media complain that Pret has raised prices to 20-24%.
Apart from getting more money of course, it is to cater to the owners JAB Holdings with seat in tax-haven Luxembourg under the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns. Also serving shareholders and Pret executives, it may be that because Pret is facing settlement payments, who better to foot the bill than customers.
In the USA people sue very quick, while in the UK, even after customers died, hardly anyone is suing, and when they do, Pret keeps winning. The legal systems in the USA and the UK can’t be further apart.
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A staff member in the USA mentioned the constant lawsuits against Pret:
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There are ongoing lawsuits, at least six against Pret in the USA for unpaid rents. And even though Pret got help from the Government for employee costs during Covid, has received a cash injection from owners JAB Holdings of £185 million, have been awarded £100 million from shareholders etc. These are what Pret received. Another £87 million Pret is trying to get from the banks.
Altogether Pret received Government help and privately £285 million plus trying to get another £87 million. All the while refusing to pay bills and many customers feel cheated on the subscription service, hardly getting the items they’ve been told they’d get.
The money Pret received, they don’t use to pay their rents and debt, they use it to open 200 more shops. Pret lowered wages, benefits, paid breaks of already stretched and burnt out front-line workers, then raised the wage to £10 after a lot of public pressure and a strike announcement. But the raise is still UNDER the living wage and Pret just made a big PR announcement about it! Staff are still worse off than already before.
Pret raise prices, refuse to pay the bills etc. etc. And now customers and staff foot the bill under the inflation umbrella.
A few recent lawsuits, some that have been settled, others that are still ongoing or settled and plaintiffs can’t speak about it.
One of the most troubling ones, and where Pret is showing their TYPICAL naughty streak is the fingerprinting of employees in Illinois. The $677,000 settlement is really peanuts, because 800 current/former staff will get around $500+ each AFTER legal aid took their share.
While I’m with staff lawsuits, Pret had to repay TWICE 4000 staff for “shaving off” (rounding down), cheating staff out of pay. I write about this here: Wage Theft in Pret
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And another former staff lawsuit regarding racism in several NYC shops. This is the lawsuit that has disappeared off the public and press, unless I’m not searching right. Link: Lawsuit vs Pret A Manger on Racism with a link to the full court document.
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I can’t find any more info on this lawsuit and its outcome. I suspect that it was settled and the plaintiff Ms. Battle may have signed an NDA. Hence, we won’t hear of it anymore in the public. But it’s just my guess.
Regarding Allergen Lawsuits – So far Pret has won them ALL, unless something got settled out of court and so is not in the public knowledge.
Pret has set aside £10 million for allergen lawsuits and keep winning cases, even after two customers have died and 20+ allergen injuries Pret ignored until it all blew up in the media. Pret won because they didn’t break any law. and YET, Pret still don’t label in Paris and Dubai according to customers there. The UK now has “Natasha’s Law”, so it is LAW to label food. And which ever country outside the UK that does not have labelling laws, Pret just goes ahead and DON’T label! So far to the “meaningful change” Pret promised in 2018 when the deaths and injuries were revealed.
Instead of setting ONLY aside £10 million for lawsuit settlements, Pret should continue to invest in LABELLING also outside of the UK. In the UK “Natasha’s Law” is now in effect since October 2021, but Pret AGAIN will blame laws in other countries should another customer die or get injured.
And other lawsuits that are older or settled out of court.
One important lawsuit and challenge by the Advertising Standards Authority is on Pret’s “Natural” claim. Many people either haven’t noticed yet, or don’t know why Pret removed the word “natural” off all their signage and packaging. I explain here: Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat
etc. etc. etc.
One interesting lawsuit that was won against Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe where former Pret CEO Clive Schlee was involved (who owns half of itsu) is from 2002, quote from The Caterer article:
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A senior chef last week won his unfair dismissal case against Julian Metcalfe, founder of both the Pret A Manger sandwich-shop chain and Itsu sushi restaurants in London.
Clive Fretwell, who had worked for 14 years at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, told a Woburn employment tribunal he had been recruited in 1988 to help develop a chain of Itsu restaurants.
He said the intention had been to give him a 2.5% founding stake in the business and an additional 10% in two years, with the possibility of ‘big money’ if it were sold. When a second restaurant, which opened two years later, failed to live up to expectations, Fretwell claimed he became aware that Metcalfe and Itsu co-director Clive Schlee were trying to get rid of him.
He said he was told last July that the company could not afford his salary, and he was dismissed in August.
The compensation agreed was undisclosed.” End of quote.
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.
Below I explain that I was reported to Twitter (screenshot below) because I wrote a blog post OUTSIDE of Twitter. I can see now that my Twitter account has been shadow banned (restricted, censored).
What Laura Elliott who rallied followers to report me, doesn’t realize is, that this happens all the time and is called “shadow banning”. It is a regular occurrence on Twitter. Many Twitter accounts are shadow banned constantly for speaking out after someone, who doesn’t like free speech, reports them. Some of course broke some rules. But restricting accounts/shadow banning is super normal on social media, especially on accounts that are whistleblowers or call out wrong doing in general (my Pret issues etc.).
In the first year when I blogged and tweeted about Pret, and CEO Clive Schlee was still on Twitter, I got shadow banned every other day! Now they stopped reporting as it is useless to silence free speech.
With the Laura Elliott situation, after Twitter initially didn’t find that I broke any rules, Laura deleted her Tweets (evidence), made her account private so that she can’t get reported and seemingly she and her followers continued to report me. And then Twitter just went ahead to shadow ban me to just have peace. 😀
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UPDATE: Twitter again reversed their decision of the shadow ban, which I explain in a Tweet (scrolling up).
Their generic mail:
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And since then the bully brigade plays Wordle to swamp tiny bully’s Twitter feed. Little do they know …
But of course they will continue to try to shut me down. A little message to tiny bullies, it doesn’t matter, even if you succeed, you will be known for your actions.
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I encourage Laura to continue to rally her yes-people to keep reporting me. It makes no difference whatsoever. Even if my account gets suspended. It makes NO difference.
Laura Elliott aka @TinyWriterLaura has rallied to bullying and grossly lied about me which I explain in my first blog post (below).
I have come up against a multi-billion pound company that I’m writing about. If she really feels so “harassed” because of disability like they claim, she is free to go to court and take all her followers with her as witnesses. She can then have the chance to tell court about her disability and where she felt that I harassed her.
I don’t know what happened to her, why she is so angry. But I am not interested in someone who rallies a mob to bully. I write about my own traumas very openly here, it’s very easy to see. I don’t make vague claims without explaining or evidence.
I have ONE regret, that I gave this bully too much space on my blog, but it is important to write this to show how “mob bullying” and gaslighting can be spotted. It takes tiny, insecure, cowardly people to gather a mob against someone, explained below.
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I already expanded on a very long blog post on the mob bullying I experienced on Twitter two days ago. I want to highlight an article that is much more poignant than I could ever write (I tend to write long texts!). But the article is EXACTLY what I wrote about in my experience.
Someone wants to be in the right, and when they can’t be in the right they elicit their followers (a mob), and in my case to report me to Twitter to get shut down. I say it again, I don’t care if I’m shut down, it’s just online stuff, Twitter goes rampant with quickly shadow banning or suspending accounts. It means nothing! I will always continue to write and speak out, no matter how much anyone wants to silence me.
People go against freedom of speech and freedom of expression while themselves publicly targeting others or simply speak their minds.
And I just had a thought pop up; I’ve lost everything, my family, the closest ones and the most important things in my life I have lost. And if you’ve lost everything, anything else you may “lose” doesn’t matter.
If you lose everything, you can’t lose anything! I may use that as a quote somewhere. And you can’t lose your voice! Be it in writing, speaking, using music, art etc. You can’t lose your voice. So, keep speaking, writing, blogging, singing, painting … keep speaking.
I wrote extensively about my experience with a disability journalist Laura Elliot, @TinyWriterLaura who rallied followers to report me to Twitter. They then proceeded to claim she is harassed as a “disabled” person.
I came across a quote that puts it in a nutshell in much less words than I am able to write, but this is EXACTLY what’s going on.
Quote: “One reason for mob bullying is to get the target to perform the desired behavior….which is to leave. If the target leaves, the mob feels empowered and turns their attention on to someone else”
They make themselves the victims, claiming they are being harassed and sought out. And whoever doesn’t agree with them is “evil”, called names, shut down. And many people just go away in silence. But not me! I will be not be bullied, they can report every day if they want, I’m not scared or intimidated by tiny characters who gather a mob because they can’t stand on their own! I survived too much, especially in Pret to be taken for a ride by cowards like this.
This is also what I wrote in above blog post about this being visible from this “mob” when someone doesn’t agree with them, they are labelled evil and other names. I posted an example of this by another person who called Laura out on this:
People who bully and want others to “bow to their whims” are generally very insecure. That’s why they call for followers to gather and report or whatever they scheme against one person or a small group of people.
They attack and then claim to be harassed. Disability is used etc.
When they succeed, they pat each other’s back “well done, good on you for not letting others harass you”… kind-of-talk. They claim to be harassed on their disability etc. There have also been open lies and from what I experienced in Pret and was able to proof it via grievance hearings, the leader and the mob are pathological liars. They literally come up with stuff. I also mention this in my long post with screenshots of Laura’s deleted Tweets.
I really feel sorry for them, because in the long-run they will run into problems where they get so entangled, they can’t see reality from imagination anymore.
I want to avoid writing another hugely long post and just link to an excellent article on this, with a quote that I experienced two days ago: “Mobbing typically starts with one individual, a leader of sorts, who then solicits secondary individuals to assist …”
Boom! Classic again.
An even PUBLIC call was made to followers to report me to Twitter to get shut down. Someone tagged me in after I was blocked, hence not followed any more Tweets. And others DMd/mailed me. Her account has been privatized after Tweets have been deleted. Basically evidence has been deleted. But I have all the screenshots before they got deleted.
Being tagged in and private messaged by people I never engaged with. Maybe this was done to get me back involved into the “conversation”, as I was already done.
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Shadow banning (censorship) happens very frequently on Twitter. And when I’m shadow banned, that doesn’t matter. Many accounts on social media are shadow banned when one tiny person reports. It has become very normal. It is a good sign because it shows when people are speaking out and “rocking the boat”.
Also, I want to recommend an amazing 3-part series on systemic workplace bullying that ITV put on in December 2019. The full episodes I link here to YouTube.
There are so many “mob bullying” scenarios that also shows pathological lying, targeting, sabotaging etc. which is different from what I described above. But it’s a really good drama series on how targeted mob bullying works. In this case the LEADER is bullied by his team because the company is making people redundant and the group is after the Team Leader’s position.
The actors, ALL of them are not only scarily good in portraying this, but I was so glad that they did a series on this, as workplace bullying is hardly covered in film, TV and theater. I hope they do a squeal or more on this subject, as workplace bullying is a pandemic on its own!
Trigger warning: If you’ve survived bullying of any kind, and especially workplace bullying, there are several things that can trigger or distress you! I myself was only triggered in the sense that I cried through almost all 3 parts of it, as I recognized so many things. But I was also still fresh in bereavement after my dad died. It was a mix of things. So, please be careful and just bookmark for later view when having breaks.
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.
I tagged people in who clicked “like” on a Tweet. Something I do all the time. Some people appreciate being informed, other people get p!ssed off about it, others start following me after I tagged them in, others block me, others support me etc. etc. etc. I concentrated on the Tweet about Pret staff not wearing masks, not on the Tweet that was RT’d. Jeffrey Taylor later said he muted me (I’m not blocked as I’m notified of his Tweets where responded in the feed).
This woman at first started to want to mediate that I and the initial poster agreed. When I further explained what I’m writing about, she said “bye”. I then explained that this is such typical “cancel culture” attitude where people immediately leave a conversation because they can’t seem to have a normal argument or even disagreement.
This seemed to have been a “fight or flight” situation. She first wanted to exit the conversation (flight). I gave my opinion about “cancel culture” because these days it seems a challenging task to have a discussion when you don’t agree with something. And then she went into fight-mode.
By all means do what you want to do, leave, block etc. But equally everyone has the right to voice their opinions without being accused and insulted thereafter. But it turned very quickly into accusations and insults. When accusations and insults didn’t work, it turned into a classical gaslighting scenario.
I’m not going to post all the screenshots here, the “conversation” can just be followed via the above link. I just post a few classical examples of ganging up and gaslighting.
I was accused of aggression, which took half a dozen Tweets of me asking for clarification before she finally explained. Then another person entered the feed who wasn’t even tagged in, and started off with insults right off the bat.
From then on there was this “struggle” of the two of them for me to stop tweeting while they kept tweeting in a fast pace, or demand for me to admit I made a mistake or whatever they demanded.
Now the first person has 7000+ followers, but who comes to her “rescue”? A person who hurls insults from the get go. It’s with what kind of attitude/people you surround yourself with, that is what speaks louder than anything.
They then went ahead and in a super fast pace tweeting at me trying to force me to stop. At the end THEY stopped, and pretended to mute me while still tweeting at me. If people are that bothered they usually block. End of. But they kept going and going and going while demanding me to stop.
I have to admit I had a little chuckle as well, they were tweeting so much at a fast pace that I couldn’t keep up “screen-shotting” all, nevertheless responding to individual Tweets. I responded in-between asking to please SLOW DOWN and give me a chance to grab everything and respond:
Now I know how Ricky Gervais feels when he gets insulted and he just responds with sarcasm! 😀
After insulting me didn’t work, the gaslighting went into full gear, quote:
“I’m trying to advocate for Laura here because you wouldn’t listen to her, so I hoped that you’d listen to me. Literally the only thing I care about is that you’ve done wrong by Laura and won’t admit that or apologize for it.”
So, they wanted me to “listen” after FIRST telling me to “shut the f*ck up” and calling me the C-word. Yeah, that’s a great way to advocate for someone to “listen”!
Further, quote:
“outside of this you could be a lovely person, a great activist, but the way you’ve acted to Laura and the red flags in your speech along the way have just made it hard for me to empathize with you in this”
Little recap, first I’m a “c***” who should “shut the f*** up” and move on, then I may be a lovely person if I just do as they say. But because I don’t “obey” their demands to not voice my opinion on a public platform, they turn this into, paraphrased, ‘if you do what we say, we will find you lovely and your activism worthwhile‘.
All the while they CHOOSE to tweet at me in a Formular 1 pace from all sides (probably in hopes I’d get overwhelmed?), demanding me to stop. They act like I forced them to respond, and they worked hard for me to stop, while nobody was forcing them to respond. After that ALSO didn’t work, they turned to, paraphrased, ‘you’re sick, dangerous, harassing … and in need professional help‘ …
Classic! 😀
All the while calling me names, accusing me of aggression etc. while I never said one bad word to them. I am demanded to apologize while being called a c*** and should shut the f*** up! No apology from them, instead further accusations, insults and discriminating language.
Now, I have “cussed” people out in the past, but while I was drunk in trauma. I apologized for it, often deleted, and other times left it in as a reminder to myself etc. It’s not something I’m proud of and I did this when drunk and it’s an issue I have worked on since all the sh!t hit the fan. I love what Adele said recently in an interview, that she does not have access to her Twitter account because of the risk of her tweeting when she drank something. She trusts someone who has the password and she tweets occasionally. But for people to show such toxicity while NOT drunk shows a lot about them.
I also have been able to start to heal BECAUSE of support from people who don’t accuse me of things EVEN though they have ALL the reason to accuse me after I cussed them out while drunk. You know who you are, and you will be mentioned in my book credits! But I don’t gang up on a person who raises an issue where I might then get so hyped up because I was tagged in.
I have been tagged in to subjects that have nothing to do with Pret. At times I engaged in the conversation, other times I moved on because I did not know the subject well enough to be able to contribute. End of. But I don’t get upset and then hurl insults at the person who tagged me in to an issue they care enough about to want to tag people in on a PUBLIC platform.
The first person who started accusing me of aggression and other things, is a “disability journalist”. I mentioned this to her later after she became very discriminating (“you’re disgusting … you need professional help…” etc.)
When I pointed this out to her, she then turned it into another gaslighting issue that I supposedly knew she was disabled and tagged her in regardless. I corrected her that, 1. I did not look at her profile when I tagged her in because she “liked” a Tweet about Pret. I looked at her profile many Tweets after the initial tagging in. And 2. her profile says that she is a “disability journo”, not that she is disabled.
And despite that, what does any disability have to do with anything here? I tagged her and others in on an information regarding Pret, not HER disability! And this is where the issue lies: disability is used to play victim while behaving in a hostile way. Laura Elliott hands out criticism with the help of others, but doesn’t like to accept criticism, and then turns it into a disability issue. Not being specific, not explaining anything, just a barrage of insults and accusations.
The second person who flew into the feed to the rescue, and after cussing me out from the get go, had a moment of self-reflection on her own feed which is commendable. But they were assured by the disability journo that they did nothing wrong.
If someone would commend me for using abusive and insulting language, I would run far, far away from that person! This is not the type of character I would want around in my life! I had a former Pret staff once join into a conversation where I was insulted and he defended me, but he hurled insults at the other person. I quickly stopped it and asked my friend to not speak in such language to them. It’s ok to come to the “rescue” so-to-speak, but there is no need for hating on people, even if they hate on me.
It’s like that Michelle Obama moment where she said “When they go low, we go high”. Again, I have cussed people out before, but I was drunk and then apologized and will never be proud of it. But I don’t gang up on people to kiss butt of someone who throws a fit because she was tagged in. And it’s the people you surround yourself with that either reflects who you are yourself OR if you have a good character, your character gets poisoned.
So, RM_King here had a precious moment of self-reflection, but let the insecure, toxic bully steer them away from potential U-Turn and with it growth in character.
The journo then claimed she muted me (2:37pm). But between 2:49pm and 3:17pm for another half an hour kept tweeting EIGHT more Tweets at me, calling me “unhinged” after I finally called her unhinged first. I have all those screenshots with the time line. She kept twisting and turning issues, accusing, getting help from someone else who started insulting me etc. etc. etc. ALL because I tagged her in. Who’s unhinged, aggressive, insulting and in need of professional help here?
When people are incapable of arguing in a civil manner, they twist and turn it into the other person being sick, in need of help etc.
(Off-topic, reminds me of what they did and continue to try doing to Britney Spears. I’m closely following Britney’s ordeal which is one big horror show. Get someone, lock them up claiming they’re mentally ill and a danger to self and others, and then milking them of millions! Classical.)
Then finally she said that I am “thoroughly” muted! Excuse me, but you either mute someone or you don’t, there is no partial or thorough mute. And if you mute someone, you don’t keep tweeting 8 more posts to them. And, people often ANNOUNCE that they mute someone when they have no more civil arguments left, while in reality still reading and moving the conversation into private DMs. That’s all reasonable, just don’t accuse or insult people while you yourself are having issues, revealing your deranged attitude! Makes you look stupid, erratic and unreasonable. I felt bullied today, but because of what I survived at Pret, I am proud that this did not affect me emotionally like it would have been a while ago. So, I should really thank Pret! Full circle!
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Brief UPDATE and side-note: What also strikes me very clearly is that @TinyWriterLaura seems to be a very dominant person, always wanting to be right and gathering “yes-people” around her. This is when @RM_King then comes in, trying to please Laura, sucking up to her and then being told by Laura that RM_King did nothing wrong once RM_King has a moment of self-reflection. Laura has now finally blocked me after I tagged her in when I posted this blog post. Of course I could still see her Tweets when logged out after people sent me her Tweets.
If people look at her Tweets, she’s having a lot of issues and people respond to her strongly. Link to another person being bugged by Laura, scrolling up. Laura then again enters into a string of Tweets to the person. Enjoy @KaymakliBlu! 😀 Laura strikes me as a typical insecure bully by the book! And bullies like to surround themselves with other insecure people who poison themselves by defending the bully and even when having a moment of self-reflection, it gets drowned out and so they become more callous. I feel sorry for them to be honest!
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But also to say, I’ve had some interesting interactions with people who claim to be some kind of disability advocate, or once even a guy who was a Samaritan and cussed me out because he was part of a Tweet where I responded to someone else who responded to him. Again, I just responded to a Tweet with no insults or any negative thing except to tweet reality on how Pret is. And boom, world-war three broke out. It’s the people who often proclaim to work with disability, mental health and other health issues, who are the ones who come after me like I just stepped on their toe.
And @RM_King, you’ve been quite an “@rsehole”, and I don’t mind an apology for your insults, but I guess that will never come. But thank you for providing material for a case study of a classical example of gaslighting.
UPDATE 21.01.2022
I thought I was done with that woman, but no, some people have tweeted at me and emailed me on further issues she is doing. She called for others to report me to Twitter. That’s fine, report if you want. That report from Twitter came back as not confirming that I broke any rules. But even if, it doesn’t matter, but what DOES matter is that Laura right out LIES in another Tweet to her followers.
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Not only is she desperate to get help, dragging others in because she doesn’t seem to be able to stand on her own, but 1. She seems to have become obsessed now and keeps dragging people in, 2. THE following can get her in court for defamation! And I am now seeking legal advise.
I loosely followed the case where Jack Monroe has successfully sued Katie Hopkins for defamation. This has cost Hopkins over £300.000 ordered by the court to pay. Hopkins had to sell one of her houses.
What did Tiny Laura lie about? In red (apart from the first sentence):
She blatantly lies saying, I would seek out/find “anti-mask” accounts to “share” with them. I’m intrigued to see in my Tweets and replies where I “found” and “shared” with anti-maskers. This woman is everything she accused me of. Absolutely everything. One of the most toxicity I’ve ever come across.
And the following lie has me now consider to involve legal aid:
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I tagged some people in who “liked” her post where she lied without anyone researching if what she said is actually true. I tagged people in as she blocked me, to ask Laura for evidence. I have RARELY seen such weird, twisted and blatant lie about anyone or anything! Now, of course they all pretend that I’m harassing them, which is exactly what seems to be the plan Laura had with tweeting these. And I am now looking into legal aid for defamation which is in writing.
What strikes me the most is that she and many people say either on their profiles or somewhere in Tweets that they have disabilities. I saw this AFTER some of them insulted me, just to be clear. And you would think that people with disabilities, or any people who are often at the fringes of society, overlooked, discriminated against etc. that they of ALL people would be kind, understanding, asking where someone is coming from etc.
But here I have experienced such a toxic, aggressive, twisting narrative and plainly DISCRIMINATING group of people under someone who seems like the leader of the pack!
What the heck is up with that???!!! Someone please enlighten me! I have been through EXTREME trauma since my brother died and what happened in Pret. As a result I suffer PTSD and other issues. I am THE LAST person who would call a person with similar trauma or any disabilities a “c***”, an idiot, or rally other people against them! Yes, as I said above, I have cussed people out, but that was 1. while I was drunk and later apologized and 2. I always did that to “strong” people or people who have enough power to “crush” me, but don’t. Because it takes STRONG people to have self-control and empathy.
I gained respect for a moment for RM_King when they had a moment of self reflection. And it is important to see how the gaslighting continues and how it works. One clear sign is to make the villain the victim and the victim the villain. And this is also a typical tactic, people use their disability status to claim being harassed. Laura is portrayed as the poor poor person who has been so wronged, while there is so much evidence on how toxic and insulting she behaves.
She asked for help from yes-men/yes-people who quickly encourage her that she did nothing wrong. I am so glad I don’t have people like this in my life, but instead people who’d tell me when I’m off-course. But people who say yes and amen to everything someone does or says, are not people anyone would want in their lives, unless they ARE toxic and have an agenda. They immediately “cancel” anyone who doesn’t agree with them and then play victim. CLASSICAL! They act in a mob against even one voice who challenges them.
It’s also a classical example of bullying and lying to get empathy and a response to then claim “harassment”. I wasn’t paying any attention until someone informed me. I find this interesting for case studies. Because of what I survived in Pret, I can recognize this better than I did when I was undergoing the bullying in Pret. I, too am disabled, but I rarely hang this on my sleeve. I don’t force people to treat me in a way only I want to because I’m disabled. I stand on my own without gathering a mob. And that is always worth it in the long-run. I wouldn’t be able to write a blog about Pret if I was lying or being unreasonable. I provide evidence of issues, while bullies hide behind lies and others.
So, Laura succeeded in getting followers involved and it is again a very good example of gaslighting, ganging up in bullying behaviour as a group. She is a journalist and could EASILY write her own blog post or article on her experience. But she gathers an amount of people so they report because she doesn’t know how argue or agree to disagree. The first report didn’t work, so they try again. They claim I harass them while calling me “idiot”, and they keep responding while they could just simply block. They CHOOSE to respond playing victim to try and get more responses from me, claiming I harass them. 😀
After what I survived in Pret and all that I lost, there is NO amount of people and grouping to bully me into silence or to fear or into anything! Gaslighting and twisting things is such a YUK thing, it makes you feel dirty in your soul afterwards! But I will not be bullied into their narrative.
Further UPDATE: I tweeted the following to the press as well as other hashtags. When people search for her name, especially in connection to my handle, they will find these. And if she tries or succeeds to get my Twitter cancelled or minimized, not too worry, it still gets out there. I’ve lost so much in the few short years that losing any online thing means nothing. I was bullied into silence before, that won’t ever happen again!
And I asked again for people to not contact me with more of her lies. Thank you to those who did, as I was done with her. But I will now let the police look into this, so please report her to Twitter and/or the police, but don’t send me further Tweets of her toxicity.
First of several Tweets to the press and others:
I shouldn't b steeping so low & should do what Michelle Obama once said "When they go low, we go high". But after I posted my blog post on how gaslighting works using own experience with a woman called Laura Elliott @TinyWriterLaura she asked for followers to report me to Twitter
— Ex Pret A Manger — expret.org — #NHSpay15💙#BLM✊ (@LateNightGirlMe) January 21, 2022
By the way, my blog stats are through the roof! Thank you!
UPDATE: 22.01.2022
I think I understand a little now what also is the issue, this group of people under the “leadership” of her come across very “militant”. It’s about mask vs. anti-mask, vax vs. anti-vax etc. And ANYONE who doesn’t agree with them, or another subject is added will experience hell and brimstone! 😀
But it made for good case study! And I can only implore anyone who reads this from the Laura brigade, if you agree with me or not, that’s not my concern, but surround yourself with people who are not boot-lickers and butt kissers! I am VERY selective whom I let into my life, and part of the character trait of those I have in my life are people who don’t always agree with me. People that I TRUST, who have the right motives at heart and have the love, care and insight to give me critique on my blind spots, NOT insults and cancel culture. I don’t have ONE yes-person in my life, not one. I have no room for them. I don’t trust them. A yes-person’s “nice” words make my stomach turn!
I’m not a believer in God or the Bible, but one Bible verse always stood out to me: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:6
If I have yes-men in my life, they will tell me ALL the time how great I am and never at fault towards others. A true friend will critique in a caring, not an insulting way. Yes-men insult others on behalf of the one they lick the boot of. And WHEN they say nice things (“you could be a lovely person ‘but’…”), it’s stinks to heaven!
UPDATE: A brilliant article on “mob bullying” which is exactly what happened here. One quote I came across: “‘One reason for mob bullying is to get the target to perform the desired behavior….which is to leave. If the target leaves, the mob feels empowered and turns their attention on to someone else'”
Another one from below article: “Mobbing typically starts with one individual, a leader of sorts, who then solicits secondary individuals to assist …”
They put into better words than I’m able to that this is not about the target, in this case myself, but the bully themself and their issues. Everything I’ve been accused of is what this person portrays. And once you’ve been through traumatic bullying experience, in my case in Pret you not on;y 1. recognize this much earlier, but 2. you don’t this in as you know yourself. They can try and shut me down, it doesn’t matter, it’s just online stuff, I go on and keep writing and speaking out.
People with a mob bullying mentality are also pathological liars, they delete their Tweets to delete evidence, but will sooner or later reap what they sow. And it’s good to keep highlighting how bullying and gaslighting works. The above article points those out very poignantly.
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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.
I rarely check on staff reviews anymore like I used to, but sometimes a review jumps out, maybe almost for its “poetry”.
I wanted to call this blog post “Business Plan in Reversal” because the following review by a Barista sounds almost like a proposal or ad.
I want to put the whole review here verbatim but spread out for its creativity. I don’t want to highlight any specific issue like I usually do, because the WHOLE review would need to be underlined.
From Glassdoor. The title, to be frank of Pret not being the same anymore, well Pret has NEVER been good or fair, they just were able to fool everyone better during good/non-crisis times! And former CEO Clive Schlee was better in sweet-talking while Pano Christou puts his head in the sand and goes into hiding, pleasing ONLY the owners, shareholders and himself.
»Not the same company anymore
Pros Free crap food and coffees if you care
Cons A toxic environment that doesn’t stimulate growth.
From the outside, it seems funny, on the inside, it’s a nightmare company based on favouritism.
Its culture and values? Only mere advertisements.
Its promotions? Crap marketing strategies.
Its products? Coffees, frappes, food and beverages are ridiculously cheap for them and 4 times more expensive for people that pay their major expenses with health. Without considering that the majority of the staff in their shops don’t care about hygiene and food standards.
Its staff? Bossy frustrated slaves to the company that tries to take advantage of any person they hire.
They strive to mask the truth from people, that the only thing they care about is money. That is why they have wages to the limit, cutting on staff and driving those who work to quit.
Pret is not a company that cares for its employees anymore, nor for the people. In my experience, from 2019, I have worked over a year at Pret and in the end, I didn’t even receive the payment for the holidays accrued.
If you are looking for a well-paid job that makes you feel satisfied with what you do, then this is not a company for you. In my opinion, any other job would be better than Pret. I don’t recommend it at all.
Advice to Management
You should reconsider a few things if you want to save this company from failure.«
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.
Yes, I can be light hearted and join some “fun” from time to time. But I can’t keep it just at a wishy-washy la la land situation. Fun here can be interpreted as wished!
A few “fun” things I tried to fling into the atmosphere from serious issues regarding Pret A Manger.
WOWing Pret Customers (Area managers sometimes give a staff member £10 or £20 when they see staff “wowing” at work incl. wowing customers. This is to manipulate other staff to do more. I still wow customers 😉 )
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.
I received an email by a current Pret staff last night. This staff has given a “fake” email that doesn’t work, so I can’t respond to it. Some staff write with their true name and email, others with pseudonym but still a real email, and others want to completely be anonymous, which is fine. But if any current Pret staff read this, could you confirm if this is true or not? The full email verbatim, quote:
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Comment: »Hey! I am a Pret employee and I have been reading on the news that Pret will increase our salaries and benefits. This is true. However all the news I’ve read doesn’t make clear that those changes will be in place only from April!! Even The Times says that this is our second pay increase in four months which is not true. I believe those newspapers were misinformed on purpose. It is ridiculous to announce a pay rise two months and half in advance!!!«
End of quote.
If this is true that Pret misinformed the press, then it truly is merely a PR stunt to lure workers in and make Pret look good again in the public eye because many customers boycott Pret after staff wages were cut to minimum-wage. And Pret is desperate for staff! The press played messenger again, like I mention in below post in my take on the pay-rise and why this is a joke: Pret’s new PR Stunt – payrise in Pennies.
UPDATE 30. April 2022:
I want to elaborate on some numbers in regards to pay.
CEO Pano Christou 2020 pay: £300,000 (more than UK Prime Minister) Source: The Times April 2022. Source: The Times.
USA President pay 2021: $378,333 (2022 conversion rate £300,897). Source: Yahoo news.
Now, it’s interesting that CEO Pano Christou spilled the beans on his 2020 pay, but NOT on his 2021 and 2022 annual wage, let alone how many millions on bonus he got. Former CEO Clive Schlee pocketed £30 million on bonus alone. Source: Daily Mail.
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I think Pano doesn’t give details on his 2021 and 2022 pay because Pano, Pret, former CEO Clive Schlee etc. are always QUICK to make charity or any “good-doing” announcements for the public. Pano, Pret cut staff hours and then wages during the pandemic. They did that in a very nasty way. I write about this extensively on To NHS Staff.
But in a nutshell, on 18. March 2020, just before first lock-down, Pret made a typical PR announcement to be giving free coffees and 50% rebate on food to NHS workers. The public and press went ballistic with praise as usual. The very next morning on 19. March 2020 I wake up to a DM from a Pret staff, whom I don’t know, that Pano has just sent a mass email to all shops and HQ to announce cuts to hours and with it pay. This is the very next day, early in the morning (probably sent late on 18. March 2020) Pano announced cuts to staff hours.
I was later contacted by other staff who sent me his email which I posted in above blog post which I addressed “To NHS Staff”. Pret did their usual nasty thing, doing PR announcements and even worse, using NHS staff as a smokescreen to hide cuts to own staff. I say it again what I said about this before, low-wage Pret staff basically paid for the NHS freebies and this PR stunt.
In above NHS blog post I posted a few customer comments on this. But this NHS worker was one of the very few who spoke out on behalf of Pret workers, most NHS staff enjoyed the freebies and didn’t give a toss who actually paid for it. It’s the same with all the free coffees, Pret don’t pay for it, they raise coffee prices to cover the cost. Same with the “free” plant-based milks, the week that Pret made vegan milks “free” was the same week they raised the coffee prices. You ALWAYS pay, one way or another, and most customers fall for it. The TImes made that clear as well: “Milking it: Pret a Manger’s dairy lovers pay for vegan surcharge“.
But to take from already low paid employees to give as a PR stunt to NHS staff takes a special breed of business people. Many call this “normal” business, no there’s nothing normal about that. In our society we’ve just been brainwashed to believe this is normal and good.
That’s why I emphasis some rare gems who speak out, like this NHS worker:
After cutting contracted 35 hours to maximum 28 hours and managers contracted hours from 42.5 to 35 hours, Pret then also later made pay-cuts. Pret “asked” staff to TEMPORARILY get less pay, as if they had a choice. Many were fired, those who didn’t want to sign the new contract were let go. And then in 2021 Pret announced the pay-cuts to remain permanent. Staff were now on less contracted hours, while still working overtime for free, a very common thing in Pret, and also had their pay decreased to the national minimum pay of £8.91.
If Pano would have also taken a pay-cut during the pandemic, he would have announced his 2021 and 2022 pay to boast about his “charity“. But he only revealed his 2020 pay.
When the public got wind of the pay-cut, many customers on social media started to call Pret out and many not just boycott Pret, but vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. Hello independents became the mantra. Even “celebrities” like Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha started speaking out. Mrs. Sawalha has over 500K followers on Instagram and more followers on Twitter than Pret UK and Pret USA combined. Her words alone has lost Pret a lot of customers and staff turnover remains high.
Pret silenced a staff strike announcement in 2021 with a trick after The Guardan reported on the strike announcement. I explain hat trick Pret used, here: Pret Staff consider Strike.
Nadia Sawalha’s stern words to Pret and some of the many staff reviews can be found in below YouTube video.
Back to some numbers:
UK minimum wage for over 22 year olds before April 2022 was £8.91, less for under 22 and even less for under 18 year olds.
UK minimum wage for over 22 year olds since April 2022 now is £9.50, less for under 22 and even less under 18 year olds. Needless to say that Pret love to employ under-aged workers and older experienced staff have to make up in unpaid overtime for the lack of skill and work experience young people come with.
In early 2022 when Pret learnt about the government minimum wage increase coming in April 2022, Pret made their typical PR announcement again on their website, not on Twitter because I and many others call them out on their bullsh!t on Twitter. Pret had the audacity to announce that they are having the highest payrise in their 36 year history to £10 and more. Source: Pret.com But Pret did not mention that this will come in April 2022 and Pret lied again, it’s not £10 an hour, it’s £9.75 as found on job recruiting sites. Link on Twitter from 7. April 2022 AFTER the government raised the minimum wage to £9.50 and Pret claimed to have the biggest pay-rise to over £10.
Here the potential worker even has limited public transport: .
. Pret have always paid a few pennies more, up to 25p, than the competition to appear generous and lure low-wage workers in. But staff have to work double and triple for it, and don’t get a payrise or promotion in many years. Even when staff go into a new higher role like barista, team leader etc. shop managers procrastinate the training, procrastinate the promotion, and with it procrastinate the higher pay.
MANY many staff members work in higher positions without the higher pay. I myself have been tricked by a manager who delayed my “graduation” to not pay me. She also broke a promise to give me the highest pay. When I confronted her and announced I’d be leaving if she doesn’t keep her promise, which she made with an old school handshake, she immediately promoted me and increased my pay to the promised highest rate. But then, she and her boss, the operations manager (OPs) transferred our kitchen assistant manager to another shop and we had no assistant manager anymore, and my work load increased. They basically retaliated by giving me part of the assistant manager’s job.
Pret staff over 22 years old starting pay £9.75 LINK
Pret is heavily into wage theft. I had to chase unpaid hours for years in every single shop I worked in. It was “normal” for me to have my separate spreadsheet, noting down how many hours I worked and how much I was paid. It is very normal for shop managers to take an hour here, and hour there, 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there from many staff members. It all adds up at the end.
Pret settled class action lawsuits TWICE in New York having had to repay 4000 workes combined almost $1 million each time. I write on this in Pret A Manger Wage Theft.
It is also very common that Pret does not pay the last week pay when staff leave. They did that to me, but I only noticed months after I left Pret because of the payout I received when Pret fired me, I didn’t notice that the last week is missing, also as my dad died at the time etc. My mind was occupied again from yet another blow. Some former staff mention the missing pay issues on review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed.
Little side note, there’s a reason why Pret and even CEO Pano Christou have such low ratings. Former CEO Clive Schlee already left with a “legacy” and even before he “retired” in September 2019, he let Pano Christou already take over Glassdoor representation in July 2019 to avoid further “landslide” ratings.
When Schlee’s “retirement” was announced in June 2019 (while he remained in the background as Non-Executive Director until mid 2021, a customer on Twitter pointed out the poor ratings and reviews on Glassdoor.
Since mid July 2019, typical Pret “leadership”, blame downwards, let lower ranks take over in critical times:
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So, if £9.75 or even if £10 is the highest pay-rise in 36 years, then it shows you how ridiculous and stingy Pret are, yet they are so used that the public falls for their bullsh!t, and employees are brainwashed and fear managed to look for better alternatives.
Journalists should go to Pret shops and ask staff directly. They may not get an answer as staff are instructed to refer journalists to Pret and not speak with them. But staff are frustrated and some may speak to the press nevertheless.
And here again a reminder on the public outcry last year after a strike was announced and Pret cutting pay to minimum-wage. Customers not only boycott, but many vowed to never set foot inside Pret again!
Two YouTube slides/videos within a playlist. I use YouTube because Facebook and Instagram have completely blocked my website after Pret must have reported me. So, I’m “forced” to reach out on other platforms. Just let the player continue after the first slide with all the customer boycotts, to the next video that will start automatically with Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha’s stern words to Pret. Nadia basically highlighted – I paraphrase – how staff have carried Pret through the pandemic and as a thank you Pret cut pay down to minimum, as well as cutting benefits etc.
And Nadia Sawalha having half a million followers on Instagram and more followers on Twitter than Pret UK & Pret USA have combined, Pret surely is desperate to do a PR stunt to fool the public AND potential employees again with the help of mainstream media:
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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.
PLEASE SCROLL TO 01. June 2022 UPDATE! Pret are doing an ILLEGAL thing of NOT paying their staff today! For the second time!!!
Please also see my post on Pret’s WAGE THEFT and the class action lawsuits in the USA Pret settled TWICE within 4 years: Wage Theft in Pret.
Also upfront as a point of reference, Pret SILENCED a strike action that was announced by Twitter person @at_pret last year. Pret did that with a nasty TRICK! Explained here: Pret Staff Consder Strike Action (and how Pret silenced it fast). I never heard anything further from @at_pret even after they asked me and others for help.
Please also see an update from 08.06.2022 at the bottom.
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Here we are again, Pret with the help of mainstream media doing their usual PR stunt. Headlines saying that Pret raises wages the second time in months … or this being the biggest ever raise in Pret’s 36 year history … or calling it a pay “boost” … etc.
And upfront as a little side-note, it is telling that Pret made this announcement on their website and NOT anywhere on social media, but let the press announce it. Pret has recently deleted former staff comments and made commenting on their “We’re hiring” posts unavailable. So, they don’t make staff announcements anymore on social media, but use the press for it as Pret wouldn’t be able to keep up with deleting all those staff comments! Why? Here’s why with screenshots of deleted staff comments: Pret “Last Minute” Staff Shortages?
Calling 50p or even 90p etc. the “biggest ever” raise in 36 years is very telling how 1. greedy Pret is and 2. how easily fooled the public is with the help of mainstream media! And even Unions fall for this, assuming “victory” where there is none! Pret only always raised pay a few pennies when the government raised the minimum-wage. On their own, Pret did not raise wages, that’s why they may be calling these peanuts the biggest ever in 36 years. Quite a joke!
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UPDATE late night 01. June 2022
Pret A Manger’s “payroll error” cough cough … So, it really seems that Pret are in financial trouble, with the loans, lawsuits, debt etc. But again, taking it from the lowest paid employees, well keep sleeping well at nights Pano. You think you get away with this? Staff and friends of staff ALWAYS contact me when you do sh!t like this again!
Just recently I changed my Twitter profile text. And more than ever, it may become reality.
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For the 2nd time Pret is not paying their front-line low wage shop staff. So much to the “biggest” pay-rise in their 36 year (39 year > Jeffrey Hyman) history (PR stunt).
Private DM from staff:
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For people with visual impairment whose programs cannot read screenshots, part of the DM I received from a person on 01. June 2022 says, quote, “For the second time in around 2/3 months pret has failed to make weekly payments to their workers. The failures of prets payroll team today will leave workers unpaid for 5 days. … They have set up a support portal which is only available on Saturday, still leaving two days without pay.” End of quote.
The DM includes screenshots of Pret’s email to shops, not included HQ staff like they usually do, which means, this might only apply to the lowest paid staff on the front-line shops and kitchens.
The person further writes, quote: “This is literally devastating for workers who not only have bills to pay for but also may have plans over the bank holiday, and also with banks shut are unable to set overdrafts etc” End of quote.
And Pret do this AGAIN in a very sneaky way like they did with the NHS PR stunt in 2020. Pret do this during the Queen’s Jubilee weekend when all the press and everybody are distracted with the Queen. By the time anyone notices or responds, Pret already made money and delayed pay to please shareholders and JAB. Low-wage workers suffer YET again for Pret’s crooked greed!
Brief recap from 2020 just before first lock-down: Pret announced on 18. March 2020 freebies and 50% rebated to all NHS staff. The very next morning on 19. March, I received a DM from a Pret staff writing that CEO Pano Christou sent a mass email to all shops AND head office, announcing cuts to staff. I write about this here where I published Pano’s email: To NHS Staff.
Pret used NHS workers as PR and as a smokescreen to distract from the cuts. The same he does now again during the Queen’s Jubilee. The press are busy and distracted. Disgusting @&%!….
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Yesterday’s message, NOTE: Payment will be made on BANK HOLIDAY Monday!!! On a bank holiday? Pay can never be made on a bank holiday or Christmas/Easter holiday etc. Pret STEAL and LIE in broad daylight!
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UPDATE 22.06.2022
Quote from Propel Info who only report on sales and positive things of Pret, never of critical issues: “The return of London’s bankers to offices last week following school holidays and the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday pushed sales at Pret A Manger in the capital’s financial districts close to a pandemic high.”
Sure, the numbers are up because Pret took pay from the staff over the Jubilee weekend, these crooks.
So, here’s the deal: Pret shop staff are NOT paid, and if they need money, there’s a fee which Pret are supposedly paying. We don’t know where to reach the government department, but this time a lawsuit is mounting.
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Pano Christou, what you are doing is ILLEGAL!
Shop staff are paid every Thursday, and Pret cleverly use the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday to delay pay! I am beyond disgusted! There is no such thing as “payroll error” in advance, and then for the 2nd time! Pano, you got £300,000 in 2020, but haven’t spilled the beans on how much you got paid in 2021 and now in 2022, PLUS millions in bonus!
I have emailed Pano Christou and copied in journalists. The person who DM’d me, I have passed on emails of journalists to them and will get financial standards body and the government involved now!
STOP STEALING from low-wage workers!
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UPDATE 02. June 2022, after emailing journalists, including Sarah Butler from the Guardian: “Pret workers short-changed as ‘payroll error’ delays jubilee wages”
A payroll employee calls Pret out on their bullsh!t, of course it’s inexcusable, because it’s a lie and an excuse in the first place. Pret should get investigated by financial authorities and the government.
I emailed CEO Pano Christou copying in Sarah Butler and others, which resulted in above The Guardian article. I sent one last email to Pano Christou yesterday and published it here:My Last Email to Pret / Pano Christou.
For people who come to my blog for the first time, I write so openly and bluntly after having been bullied and targeted DURING bereavement in Pret. Pret offered me hush money, but I declined and never signed the NDAs offered. My full story at the bottom audio player and links.
UPDATE 03. June 2022 Staff begin to sabotage Pret which means customers will also suffer. Instagram message, quote from one person:
“This is outrageous, it’s a bank holiday week-end and your team members are working instead of enjoying themselves and you didn’t even pay them. You should not allow to have these technical issues as you push your staff to not do any mistake. And is not even the first time.” End of quote.
Response by a Pret worker I highlighted some words, quote:
“Don’t worry. We already drastically reduced food and service quality (since we work for free) and we will make sure Pret doesn’t make as much money as they think they will this bank holiday weekend. They told us 12 hours before payday that there is no money, on 1st of June when everybody has rent/mortgage to pay. They left us with no money to provide for our families. We tried to contact the head office regarding the issue but all of them were already gone enjoying early bank holiday. Lots of people already took sick-leave as a strike action leaving those in the shops understaffed (food availability will be affected). Thank you for your support. I advise to come back next week if you’re our customer to avoid disappointment. @pret you forgot to pay us because of public bank holiday. That’s the real reason, you simply forgot but you’re trying to hide it under an “error” excuse. You deserve to be publicly shamed.”
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Off the bat, Pret of course are not paying £10 an hour. They pay £9.75, 25p above from April 2022 on minimum wage. And in this job ad, there’s even limited public transport. Staff have to figure out how to get to work.
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This Tweet is from 7th April 2022 when the new UK minimum-wage of £9.50 came into effect: Link
With the rising costs of food, utility bills etc. Pret staff are not only NOT better off than before, they’re WORSE off! Pret already made pay cuts during the pandemic down to minimum-wage, as well as cutting benefits, paid breaks and other perks. Raising the pay back to a little over minimum-wage is where staff were before, yet workers are still worse off than before! No more paid breaks. Staff rebates down from 50% to 25%. And other perks and benefits that remain cut.
And before you office workers complain that you don’t get your breaks paid, you should work just 1 hour in any Pret shop! You will run out within minutes, kissing the pavement!
So, what’s this new Pret hype all about that most fall for again?
A pay rise in pennies that’s a little over minimum-wage, like they had before Pret cut wages to minimum. Yet, wages are still below the Living Wage and Pret keeps the “temporary” benefits cut and other perks they cut during the pandemic, while putting more work on staff who work for 3 people each!
The bonus from £1 to £1.25 is also a joke because bonus is at the discretion of extremely strict, micromanaging weekly Mystery Shoppers AND shop management. Bonus can be refused for any and all reasons, no matter how small! Staff reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed have mentioned that the bonus is used as a “weapon“.
Or another review where shops are extremely under-staffed and workers have NO CHANCE to do everything as they have no staff, and the Mystery Shopper cuts the bonus because there was a little toilet paper on the floor in the toilet! Quote from Glassdoor review “Stressful“:
»Constantly understaffed and expected to clean the entire store andmultitask like crazy because there is no one else to do it Sometimes really hard to get the bonus because you work so hard to make the entire store presentable, clean and neat but if the mystery shopper comes during the busy lunch period when you are understaffed and have to stay on till and cannot leave it and tidy the shop floor and they then don’t give you the bonus because there was ‘toilet paper on the floor in the toilet that could have been tidied’. Or if there is a long queue until the door they complain that they were not served within a minute and a half of joining the queue which is ridiculous.«
And these are just 2 of the many reviews on Mystery Shopper bonus issues. And from my own experience, I and my colleagues have been threatened with not getting bonus for the silliest reasons. Current Pret staff who recently wrote to me said that their shops hardly get bonus anymore due to the utter chaos and mess in their under-staffed shops! I know from experience that it was already hard before the pandemic, but I don’t even want to think how staff suffer now, physically, mentally and financially. All the while Pret boast again, having a laugh on the cost of their hard-working employees.
I write about the extremely strict, micromanaging and humiliating Mystery Shopper scheme where ONE staff did not ask a SPECIFIC question, resulting in the whole shop team to not get bonus.
If you don’t read anything I write, PLEASE READ the following Mystery Shopper report via the link, and tell me if reinstating and even raising the bonus isn’t a PR trick by Pret: Pret Staff don’t look Happy.
But not only a little toilet paper on the floor is the issue now, many customers complain about dirty shops. London City Airport has received a hygiene rating of 2 in December after an EHO visit. Detail here.
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The bonus system is a tool to manipulate and fear manage staff. Low-wage shop and kitchen staff ONLY rely on the bonus via the weekly Mystery Shoppers AND shop managers random mood swings.
Shop and area Managers (OPs – Operations Managers) get their bonuses quarterly and their bonuses rely on a host of things like shop profits, waste management, labour costs etc., and the biggest chunk is the Mystery Shopper scores. But shop/kitchen staff only get or lose bonus from Mystery Shopper visits and Managers’ moods.
Hence, Pret reinstating the bonus back in September 2021 after a staff member announced a strike action because Pret cut bonus from £1 to 50p, is a TRICK. I explain in detail here: Pret Staff Consider Strike Action.
The psychology is simple: Pret cut wages to minimum-wage DURING the most dangerous times in recent world history. Pret also cut benefits and other perks. Then Pret raises the wage again to a little over minimum-wage the way it was BEFORE, while keeping benefits cut and staff doing much more work. And thus, they continue to sell ice-cubes to Eskimos in winter time.
And unfortunately staff, most of the public and the press fell for it! Even Unions celebrate! Shame on y’all!
Pret did NOT raise the wages now in pennies because of the strike announcement back in August 2021.
Pret now raised a few pennies as psychology for low-wage workers and the public because many Pret staff walked out, shops closed (also due to rent issues and lawsuits on unpaid rents etc.), many customers announced boycotts and some vowed to never set foot inside Pret again, Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha’s stern words to Pret, bad press etc.
All these led to Pret playing another trick by raising the wages a few pennies above minimum wage, but still under the Living Wage.
And all y’all are fooled again! Shame!
And as a visual reminder again, former CEO Clive Schlee pocketing £30million in BONUS for himself alone! Do a rough calculation how much pay PLUS bonus current CEO Pano Christou, all the other execs and the shareholders get! And then tell me again that the pay “boost” and investment of £9.2million for 8000 front-line staff who carried Pret through the pandemic on wage cuts risking their lives, is generous!
Pret’s owners JAB Holdings with seat in tax-haven Luxembourg under the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns, must have given the green light to Pano Christou to throw a few crumbs at workers to appease the public and burnt-out staff. Front-line workers are so burnt out, they have no strength to even look for a better job. Morale is low, hope is gone, so a few pennies are supposed to fool them again! And it will.
»You can’t run a business on goodwill when the goodwill dries up.« – Pret Staff Review on Glassdoor.
And remember the NHS smokescreen in March 2020 just before first lock-down? Here’s a reminder!
On 18. March 2020 Pret VERY quickly acted to the possibilities of a lock-down and announced free coffees and 50% rebates on food for NHS workers. The press and the public went ballistic with praise.
The very next morning on 19. March 2020, I wake up to a Twitter DM by a Pret staff who in despair wrote that shops have just received an email by CEO Pano Christou in the morning, announcing cuts to staff hours, and with it to pay. Other Pret staff started to send me the CEO email from that morning which I then published on my blog, as my website is the “channel” so-to-speak between Pret staff and the public/press.
I tweeted this to the press and all over, and Pret retracted for a few months until grass grew over it, but then started making cuts left right and center. But only to front-line Pret staff.
NHS workers were used twofold, 1. as a PR stunt for the public as well as NHS staff, and 2. as a smokescreen to hide cuts to staff. I write about the timing of this announcement and posted the full CEO email to shops here: To NHS Employees.
It is safe to say that millionaire Pret execs, who safely worked from home or socially distanced in air conditioned head office, TOOK from their low-wage front-line workers to pay for the NHS freebie PR stunt.And you all applauded!
And here is how Pret continually get caught doing Wage Theft.
Also, if anyone wants to take a peek behind the scenes on WHY Pret always makes BIG and noisy “charity” announcements: Pret’s Charity Projects.
So, dear mainstream media, you can continue to ignore my writings, my own experience and firsthand knowledge of Pret. You can continue to support this gaslighting system that claims to not be able to afford at the LEAST a living wage and PROPER benefits, to keep on enriching entitled prats who s*it on those who made them rich! You can continue to ignore Pret staff experiences and keep their voices silenced. You can continue to suck up to Pret because it’s not YOU who has to feed children on slave wages, after getting burnt out day-in, day-out until there’s nothing left to even find hope that this short life can be good for hard-working, honest people, who are stepped upon because their work is called “low-skill” to justify poverty wages …!
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That’s why very few people make it on my blog and YouTube posts, who are not as easily served up with Pret’s PR bullcrap!
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UPDATE: 08.06.2022
Someone posted on Linkedin about an auction for the Pret Foundation. Pret really seem desperate for money, using their “charity” smokescreen to get money.
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.
I’ve been writing on Pret’s hygiene and pest issues since I started my blog from own experience as well as what customers post on social media.
I’ve tweeted @foodgov on Twitter many times regarding pest issues, stale/expired food etc. I am surprised though that Pret at an airport did so poorly.
When I worked at Pret, an internal health and safety staff from head office made an unannounced visit to a Pret shop, and when this shop did poorly they call it a “black visit”. This means that shop had multiple issues of poor hygiene, expired foods, pest etc.
When this happens, Pret then names and shames that shop throughout the whole company for the rest of us to shudder in fear to do better. I never liked this calling out of shops, managers and staff, for the main reason that Pret do NOT give shops enough staff or PAID time to do things properly. Managers have not been trained properly on pest issues until a shop was shut down by an EHO at around 2011-ish. THEN only did Pret get a professional pest control company on board whereas before only had internal staff to deal with it.
I write about this in below link “Rat A Manger …” where I worked in a mice infested shop and we BEGGED head office for us to close the shop over the weekend to get on top of this! But no, nothing was done until an EHO closed down a shop after finding pest issues. Then Pret started firing and penalizing Managers who weren’t trained in the first place!
Plus, staff have always been overworked, even before the pandemic. Pret schedules staff rotas so tightly that staff have no chance whatsoever to finish all the tasks, especially the cleaning in the time given. Pret pretends that staff aren’t working hard enough, while in reality they work their @rses off! Managers then manipulate and fear manage staff to work overtime for free!
But because I was/am very organized by nature, I often managed to finish tasks with my colleagues on time, even early. And after this constant aim to manipulate us to work even harder for free, I drew the line and clocked off by the minute and as a Team Leader let my colleagues go home at the DOT of our scheduled finish time.
Whatever task couldn’t be completed, we left undone, as long as we did the most important things first, like cleaning, health and safety checks and repairs etc. Anything unimportant we left for the end, finished it, or we didn’t finish it and went home. Enough was enough! As long as we worked hard and did our utmost best, I refused to be threatened or manipulated to do even more for free. My Managers had no choice but respect this, because most of the time we DID finish everything and they KNEW my and my colleagues’ work ethics. They had NOTHING to get us with, even though they tried!
So, my question to regular customers is: You witness shops being so immensely busy, overcrowded, understaffed, two people behind the counter if they’re lucky, one person on the coffee, queue to the door, day in day out! And now during the pandemic and much more staff shortages, staff sick, staff walking out … shops close unannounced and without explanation or with dodgy “technical issues” notices.
Do you think that the food you eat is really FRESH?
Do you think that minimum-wage burnt out staff have time nor care to wash their hands in-between products (vegetable to meat products, allergen, gluten-free etc.)? Especially now during the pandemic in even more understaffed shops?
Do you really think that Pret has high quality products after being fed these slogans for decades?
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London City Airport’s hygiene rating is just the tip of the iceberg!
And if an airport shop can rate so poorly, a shop that is within a shopping unit on a property run by third parties, not independently as a shop on its own on the high street, are you kidding yourself that all the other shops are doing better?
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When I walk by a business that has a rating of 4, I always ask myself “What was the ONE point they lost the rating for?” I am not a competitive person in sports, or creative things etc. I do my thing, and when people are better or more successful in whatever they do, that’s great. I don’t care about that. Everyone has talents, makes effort, does hard work. But when it comes to hygiene ratings, I expect 5 out of 5 and won’t enter the business with a rating of 4! When it comes to hygiene and health & safety, I have zero tolerance to the slightest issue that is easily preventable!
The first thing I do when entering a restaurant, I go to the toilet, partly to wash my hands before eating, but also to see how the toilets are. I have walked out of businesses before even sitting down at a table, just by the looks of the toilets. End of.
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Link to part of the report which in this case was pest issue.
Quote:
»Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building (including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene« Improvement necessary. End of quote.
Usually when pest issues are found, the EHO who did the visit closes the shop until it is free of any pest. When an internal Pret HQ health and safety staff had a “black visit”, the shop has 4 weeks to improve. Often the shop Manager, even Assistant Managers and Team Leaders will be moved to other shops or send on “holiday” or get fired, depending on the situation and/or how close/friendly the Manager is to the OPs/area Manager. It’s all about making friends in Pret unfortunately. I was never good at making friends. I just wanted to do my job and go home.
Back in 2015 six+ months after my brother died and an area Manager targeted me for months on end with the help of other Managers, I was sent to a shop that had a “black visit” to help fix the mess. I was known for my strict hygiene and safety record, doing things by the book. But it was my darkest time in 2015 and 2016, with my brother’s death and the intense bullying issues that started shortly after I lost my brother.
Other Team Leaders and an Assistant Manager from other shops were also sent to that shop, as the whole shop leadership team was sent on holiday or fired. We had 4 weeks to fix the shop. What I didn’t know at the time is that I was sent there to FAIL! And I did fail in a few things, which was NORMAL because that shop was a f@cking mess and we were in front of a mountain of issues trying to figure out where to start!
All eyes were on that shop! Everyday “important” people from head office visited, health and safety staff came by, the pressure to improve daily was very high. And frankly, it was very unfair on us who came from other shops to fix a mess we didn’t create! They had no mercy! This area Manager who targeted me to get rid of me used the SMALLEST issue to get me a written warning etc. with the help of another area Manager and Managers.
Last year I called out another area Manager on Linkedin and Twitter who helped her to target me. This area Manager who’s shop had the black visit (she doesn’t work at Pret anymore after 20+ years, but still interacts with Pret on Linkedin), helped target me and then had the audacity to “like” my pinned Tweet about former CEO Clive Schlee. I asked her many times, for months to unlike my Tweet as I did not want her on my time line.
She was a SENIOR OPs Manager with 18+ years experience at the time. She could have EASILY supported me instead of supporting the bully-area Manager to target me. I still did my job exceptionally well, even during traumatic bereavement. I was KNOWN for my work. I was TOLD and confirmed via Mystery Shopper reports etc.
She could have stepped in, having seen my track record at work. But she helped the bully instead to get me a “note of concern”, a first step in the direction of a disciplinary and then dismissal. The smallest things I made a mistake in I was targeted with, penalized and threatened. All during the darkest time in bereavement! It was an emotional war zone I found myself in! How I survived this, I do not know! At the time “ignorance was bliss” and I kept giving Pret the benefit of the doubt, until the evidence mounted! I saw with my own eyes after applying for my file, how Pret with HR and Managers SCHEMED against me! It was there, in black and white on paper!
Bereaved, ill, even disabled staff have no room in busy Pret shops. Time is money, and whoever crumbles under the weight of personal tragedy will be sieved out fast.
If Pret would have supported me from day one, like they boast about their Pret Foundation Trust to be helping vulnerable people, I would be writing a completely different blog now!
And the little help they did provide was ONLY after I contacted former CEO Clive Schlee in WRITING, so as to cover their tracks! But the bullying continued, it just shifted in more subtle ways.
Pret’s Foundation Trust charity project is PR and a smoke screen. Longtime staff have no chance when they become bereaved or ill! They need to go ASAP!
I even suggested to Pret in writing to put me under someone in the Pret Foundation Trust until I recuperated, another OPs Manager I worked with briefly, also suggested this to Pret, also in writing! But Pret refused!
So, this experienced area Manager helping the bully and then liking my pinned Tweet? Really?? Nah!
She ignored my request to “unlike” the Tweet again and again! Only when I requested this again under current CEO Pano Christou’s Linkedin mention, did she unlike it, then blocked me and then LIED publicly to never have liked it. Well, thanks for confirming what a toxic b**** you are!
Typical Pret leadership!
She then lied publicly on Linkedin after I asked again for her to “unlike” under a post that mentions former CEO Clive Schlee and current CEO Pano Christou. I then got booted out of that feed and my post got hidden/deleted by Linkedin after someone reported me. That’s why I take screenshots. But this is VERY typical Pret A Manger leadership, they like stuff in secret while pretending to be with/for Pret in the open.
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Really?!
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But regarding Pret’s hygiene and pest issues, and the 2 rating in City Airport, dear customer, you see the tip of the iceberg here!
YouTube video and slide for those who don’t want to read long blog posts:
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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.
My second post of the year is for a lady who has raised the issue of racial profiling in a Pret shop in Manhatten, NY. She contacted Pret, and after a few times did get a response, but then keeps getting ignored again since months.
Of course, at this point it’s an allegation, but no-one who makes up stories would pursue this for months. And from experience having worked at Pret, I know for a fact that there is racism in Pret, also toward staff. I mention this because some come with the bullcrap “argument” that these are only allegations and no proof. I can only implore journalists again to go undercover into Pret and see for themselves!
I send her a link to CEO Pano Christou’s Linkedin post on Facebook, she posted on Linkedin as well now (see below). But so far no response again.
Pano Christou closed his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted to the press about Clive Schlee’s “retirement” and also mentioned Pano’s Twitter account. He then promptly deleted it and now “hides” on Linkedin where people tell each other sweet little nothings all day, and how awesome Pano is, while Pret shops lie in shambles!
Journalists read my blog, so I offered her to put her concerns on my blog. Her message to Pano on Linkedin which they still leave in, usually they delete critical posts:
»On August 30, 2021 I was racially profiled in one of your locations in Manhattan New York 47th & 6th street. I went through the proper channels and emailed customer service. As of this date December 23,2021 I have not gotten a phone call or any type of gesture apologizing. I have been in contact with someone but nothing has been done. I emailed them yesterday and my email came back blocked so I use two other emails address and they came back blocked. The first Rep was Elle Reference #10091595. I don’t want to discuss in details what happened on the platform but if I have to I will. You can check into this matter and get back with me ASAP.«
And having worked at Pret for 10 years and visited Pret’s London Head Offices many times, I rarely saw Black, Indian/Asian staff working there. Most are Caucasian British, German, French with very few exceptions. The same with OPs/area and shop managers.
UPDATE
February 2022
Pret’s response via Facebook (Shanee sent this to me). Pret AGAIN claims to have some technical difficulty, pretending they didn’t get the message.
I ask again like I did in my other post about Pret’s ongoing “technical issues” while having received a “digital technology leaders award”:
Pret A ‘Manager’ Received Digital Technology Award (for screwing up their digital technology so much!). In the post I linked to some of the many customer complaints that they can’t use their subscription and Pret claiming “technical issues”.
Question: How can a multi-billion £$ company have THAT MANY technical issues for so long?
Anwser: they don’t have technical issues, they’re just lying again!
Pret’s response on Facebook while continuing to ignore the complaint onracial profiling AGAIN. Shanee has the her emails as proof she sent it:
“Hi Shanee, We’re sorry to hear that your original message has not yet been resolved. We’ve asked our team to see if they’ve received your emails so they can get back to you as soon as possible. We’re also currently working to resolve a tech issue that sends an “undeliverable” message even when the emails are delivered. This is likely what happened when you tried to email our team this week.”
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Also, a Twitter feed of a customer experiencing racism in a Pret shop:
Former Pret staff after Pret made their PR stunt BLM message and always make big noisy charity announcement:
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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.
What encourages me so much in this is that he, that SOMEONE recognizes that this has been a “lonely” road, and that in fact ONE person can have an impact!
So, please NEVER underestimate YOUR voice, no matter how silently you whisper at first!
Check out his music, very soothing:
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And while I’m at it, another musician I literally just discovered yesterday, the last day of 2021. A year cannot end and start better than with new discoveries!
John Murry of Mississippi, but residing in beautiful music country Ireland. Also, check out his amazing covers of Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World”, and the classic Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” and have some hankies ready! …
UPDATE 06.01.2022
After purchasing John Murry’s last album and one song jumping out at me, I find that John Murry has plagiarized Mark Heard’s song “Nod Over Coffe” as his version of “Yer Lil Black Book”.
I’ve listened to Mark Heard since 1991-ish / 92. Unfortunately discovered his music shortly after he died through some of my favourite artists at the time doing a tribute to him. His catalogue is out of this world. Having died at age 40, he made 16 albums and collaborated, was a writer to writers like no other.
Up until 06. Jan. 2022, John Murry’s album was a new favourite. But not crediting to Heard is unacceptable. I will not post here what Murry’s excuses were he wrote me in DMs. But it’s telling that he took “Nod Over Coffee” and put the lyrics in the tumbler, swirled it around and out came a product he portrays as “art”.
And of course, if Murry would have clearly stated that this is a cover of Heard’s “Nod Over Coffee”, but that he’s put his own spin on it, way to go! I even love this cover. But now I will take a closer look at all the other songs.
I hear Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Joy Division … and that’s all valid and ok. We all are influenced and sound like so-and-so a bit. No problem. But FREAKING GIVE CREDIT!!!
Please scroll up in the following Tweet feed. I’m sorry, I made a mistake!
My Tweets to him, please scroll up. I deleted some Tweets as I was angry and don’t want to unnecessarily offend Murry:
I love covers, and your cover would have been good, but not crediting to Mark Heard? Are you serious???!!
— Ex Pret A Manger Staff #StandWithUkraine🇺🇦 #BLM✊ (@expretDOTorg) January 6, 2022
Songs below, but I also put the two lyrics next to each other on a PDF file and uploaded it, external link.
Seeing the lyrics next to each other, it’s safe to say that about 80-90% of the lyrics and a lot of the rhythm/melody is taken straight from Mark Heard’s “Nod Over Coffee”. Heard’s title even appears in Murry’s body of text towards the end! That’s when I woke up after thinking “I know this song, I know this song … where did I hear this song???…”
When you click on the – minus to decrease the page, a pop-up window will come up which is advertising, just click it away and ignore. Then click – minus or plus again how you need it.
I even love this cover! But if he won’t give credit to Mark Heard, I don’t want any of his music! It’s a principle.
Mark Heard’s original from 1991 just before he died, my favourite of his:
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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.
From the day I started writing on my Pret A Manger ordeal to the day the BBC, via journalist Mike Powell, put my writings on the map, 1312 days have passed.
Thank you BBC.
Thank you Mike Powell. Thank you Vivienne Nunis. Mostly for your patience. And for believing (in) me.
730,000 rounded down, because in selfish capitalistic worlds you round down … Time is money, and we don’t have time to be generous! Lose leap years, hold your numbers very tight! Mathematics don’t lie. In a nutshell, estimated 730,000-ish days from the first Christmas. Happy Christmas y’all! Life comes to an end, but until then we’ll live it. Every second of every day.
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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.
When I started writing about Pret publicly in May 2018, I never knew about Glassdoor and Indeed. I was too occupied with work and the traumas I went through, that I never realized that there were employment review websites out there.
I started to research on Pret and then came across Glassdoor and Indeed. It was like a new world opened up to me. I was so naive and like a kid in a sweet-shop, I discovered all these reviews about Pret that sounded so similar to my experience.
I then went to town and started collecting reviews. I put a chosen review that spoke to me on my blog every day and called it “Quote of the Day“. I obsessed over those reviews and scanned through the whole of Glassdoor and Indeed, as well as YouTube, Twitter etc.
Yes, I know! Whatever you think of my loony mind, it’s okay with me! I know what I survived!
These days I don’t check reviews so much anymore because I’m tired and I think I made my point now!
But a new review by Senior Leadership came that deserves its own blog post. I don’t know what “senior leadership” means, if it’s a shop General Manager, OPs Manager or someone in head office. It’s someone who’s either been in Pret leadership for a long time, or is in a high position. But these words ring painfully true and I love the way the person wrote it. Simple, short and sharp!
Quote:
»Awful, non-collaborative leadership that are never on the same page. Huge toxic blame culture. People are expendable… expected to work around the clock for the business but then in return were treated inhumanely when covid hit. Pret doesn’t care for it’s employees at all – it only cares about it’s externally facing reputation. Many of us that left, after having our morals and ethics compromised during lockdown have experienced PTSD.«
Advice to Management »You can’t run a business on goodwill when the goodwill dries up.«
PHEW!
The advice to management would have been a quote of the day I’d chosen. And this is exactly what CEO Pano Christou’s problem is. He has his head in the sand and is stuck in the past. He runs Pret the old way and thinks that sweet-talk and brainwash will continue to float the ship, while not realizing that the ship has run into an iceberg and is slowly tilting!
This review is one of those reviews that has me in tears! Please be safe, value yourself, aim for a better job that you deserve. Life is short.
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 and collaborated with the BBC.
I understand now why no journalist wants to report on my story. Every journalist wants to put THEIR name under your story! I am too much in control of my own story. It is always and will always be about people wanting THEIR name under a story. I is always and will always be about money, self-interest, ones own skin.
Your friends will leave you when you lose the floor underneath your feet. You employer will move heaven and hell to get rid of you once you have loss or illness in your family.
This world will spit you out once you are of no use to them.
Britney Spears said it best in her now deleted Instagram post:
Stay safe y’all.
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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.
The ongoing issues in Pret with EXPENSIVE items Pret don’t serve under the supplier issue lie.
So, how do Pret make money, save money, and get as much money as possible?
If you think that it is a coincidence that Pret keep having supplier issues, then why do Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Costa etc. even small independent cafes/restaurant have all the items that Pret claims are not available? Pret rides on the supplier chain issue and don’t give any EXPENSIVE item or complimentary extras. The pandemic forced Pret to show their TRUE face!
Interestingly, Pret NEVER have supplier issues on coffee, cow’s milk and bread, all the main products, but ALWAYS on expensive items like: chai latte, matcha latte, hot chocolate powder, frappe, smoothies (always broken ice machines or blenders or no ice!), plant based milks, and now cream! Complaints started also that shops don’t do a strong espresso shot or syrup when buying with the coffee subscription.
UPDATE: 23.12.2021 on Facebook:
Also as a side note, but IMPORTANT to note that Pret do NOT serve full extra shots, but HALF shots! I write extensively about this in Pret A Manger’s “Strong” Espresso Shot and why Pret call it “strong” and not “double”.
If a shop truly runs out of milk or coffee, then it’s due to management having miscalculated and didn’t order enough or in rare cases there can be delivery issues. But that’s rare. When I worked at Pret as a shop Team Leader, responsible to order stock, I once miscalculated and we ran out of milk. This is extremely rare. I grabbed a colleague and we went to Tesco down the road to buy milk. Pret allows that as long as the milk is organic, or whatever Pret advertises.
Of course, there are occasional delivery issues, but we had to move heaven and earth to get the missing stock in from another Pret shop or supermarket. Pret has no mercy on shops running out of even 1 item! But now, it’s a daily occurrence since the pandemic started. And supply chain delays come in handy for Pret to dupe customers. Wouldn’t it be funny if the supply chain REALLY don’t deliver coffee beans, milk and bread? 😉
Customer complaints since 2020 when Pret started the subscription, no iced drinks, or then iced drinks were served in SMALLER paper cup sizes, again due to “supplier issues” Pret claimed. Pret had NO issues getting the NEW 14oz paper cups while having supplier issues on their more expensive 16oz plastic cups for iced drinks. Do a rough calculation how many people are cheated out of 2oz per iced drink IF they’re lucky to get one on the subscription. The plastic cups are back now, but if I’m not mistaken, have also shrunk in size.
How do Tesco say? “Every little helps”! It all adds up in numbers!
Check the dates of the Tweets, especially towards the end of the slide. This is STILL going on now in December 2021:
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Clever thieves don’t do a big heist, they steal little by little but MANY people. People who had their credit card details stolen didn’t realize for months that a consistent amount of money was stolen, because the amount was small, but it went on for months. A steady income for thieves.
A customer realized this as well recently:
Pret stopped the complimentary butter portions for the soup bread. Customers also started to complain that Pret don’t do the little compote and seed pots for the porridge. And the honey sizes in the little pots has also decreased to smaller squeezable honey.
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Of course it’s at the discretion of a business to offer or refuse complimentary items. But I’m painting a picture here in how Pret is pinching at every turn while sitting on millions and making profit again. Little by little things are removed and people get used to it after initial outcry. And of course it helps for staff to not have to prepare all the little pots for porridge which is very time consuming, but to decrease sizes and stop complimentary items altogether is the typical business thing to cut costs.
And with the cream they ADVERTISE for their Christmas drinks, now they give more reasons to try and prevent exposure. And I keep telling people to contact ASA as well as consumer rights groups, and fill in the complaint form for false advertisement Pret keep doing. It just takes 2 minutes to fill in.
Day 20? Month #6! No cream since at least June 2021:
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Sorry 8 months!
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Sorry, 12 months! You get the picture!
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How can a company the size of Pret have “supplier issues” for 6+ months on specific items?! Since I write extensively about Pret’s “supplier issue” and Pret read my blog, the updated version now covers a broad range of reasons, quote: “ongoing shipping issues, delayed 3rd party deliveries or smaller quantity deliveries”.
And this way customers as well as consumer rights group cannot trace back if that is true, because more people/businesses are blamed.
But again, Pret NEVER has issues with coffee beans, cow’s milk and bread, the holy trinity of Pret’s business.
Also, Pret now SELL expired food they give to “charity” via food app TooGoodToGo (TGTG). Pret sell food under their “charity” umbrella and try to get money at every turn. Pret even now sell hot (cooled down) expired food via TGTG that Pret before wouldn’t even give for free due to safety issues with the temperature fluctuation! Also, soups get frozen now, NOT fresh as Pret claim. It was never freshly “made” anyway as soups are cooked in factories! I write about frozen soups in Pret Food is NOT Fresh.
The Mushroom Risotto soup is usually a favourite of Pret’s soups by many customers.
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When I worked at Pret, I know for a fact that the soup for example is heated at least twice, often 3 – 4+ times! By the time it is given or now sold after its 2 hour hot shelf life, the customer then heats it up AGAIN for a third or more time!
Soup is cooked in the factory and delivered in plastic bags holding 6 cups per bag. First thing in the morning the Hot Chef then places soup bags into the water bath (marinator) or later heats it up in the microwave. This is then the second time soups are heated. If a bag of soup is still in the water bath at the end of the day, it HAS TO be wasted! But many cheat under the pressure from stressed Managers. They let the bags cool down and then put it back into the fridge and heat up the next day. Third time heated up! Etc.
Of course this is not allowed, but many do it! My Managers always hated me because I wasted it! Yet, even with the waste, I still managed to help shops be successful. You absolutely CAN do things properly without cheating, but due to understaffed shops, staff feel the intense pressure and keep heated products as well as “stretch” dates of expiry dates!
Pret now making money for “charity” where before they wouldn’t give high risk products like hot food for FREE! When it comes to money, health and safety out the door! When I called Pret & TGTG out on it on Twitter, TGTG_UK promptly blocked me! Thank you for confirming that you don’t appreciate the truth! I can still respond to people who tag you in TGTG_UK, you know that, right?
After getting challenged on their “supplier issue” excuse (Pret read my blog), they now use a broad, general excuse of “operational difficulties as a result of the pandemic”. A one-size-fits-all approach that cannot be traced for truth. Clever Pret. But still, customers aren’t stupid and remain unhappy. Many silently vote with their feet.
Pret also placed donation devices NEXT to payment devices. Customers in a hurry and with the noise and stress in shops accidentally donate £5 thinking they’re paying. Pret does their usual psychology without saying it, many customers are upset but too embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”. Pret knows that very well! Many businesses, even theaters etc. have these donation devices SINCE the pandemic to raise funds. But they don’t place the devices NEXT to payment devices like Pret do!
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And many more complaints on all social media platforms.
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A small collection of issues where people feel scammed by Pret:
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Some posts of how customers feel scammed via the subscription, including not being able to cancel, and even if they manage to cancel in time, received a confirmation email of the cancellation, Pret still takes money even months after people have cancelled. Pret need serious investigation from financial auditors on how they skim customers.
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.
As current and former Pret staff contact me, at times I want to post their words on my blog, always with their permission.
A recent email in which I keep out certain information [deleted content], as they are too specific and may identify the person, like the shop they mention or their position or a specific incident with management, or the exact time they’re working at Pret etc. But here a few words verbatim:
“Hello,
I am just discovering your blog; first of all, hope things are getting better for you, on a personal level.
There is so much to go through, but so far what strikes me is that what was said 3 + years ago about pret, is still so very true. … [deleted content] … What I seen and experienced in just about [few] months at pret, I have never experienced it anywhere, and all I’ve read so far from your blog is still very accurate. I am thinking about … [deleted content] … Kind Regards,” Current Pret Front-line Employee
I totally agree with what the person wrote in regards to never having seen/experienced anything like this anywhere else what we experience(d) at Pret. I worked most of my life in the hospitality industry, in 3 different countries. I’ve never ever experienced the micromanagement, emotional abuse, exploitation and sheer toxic environment than at Pret.
I had to learn to respect myself and stay out of this type of environment. In my case I had to learn it the hard way as I kept questioning my own feelings. And Pret took advantage of that. In my case the top leadership and HR got involved. For any new reader, my story is scattered throughout my blog on every page at the bottom audio player interview.
To the person who emailed me with above words, thank you for permitting me to publish, and like I wrote already to you and to all others, join a union, leave a review on both Glassdoor AND Indeed (even in your own language to help your country women & men understand fully).
One of many former staff words, on reddit for example:
A recent Tweet regarding sexual harassment has since been deleted. But any staff who goes public on social media is desperate for things to get resolved, but out of fear staff then withdraw complaints, especially while still working at Pret, understandably:
etc. etc. etc. I have listed countless staff reviews and complaints as well as customer observations. But I want to keep posts short as I’ve written enough for 3.5 years.
And to Pret customers, contact consumer rights groups when you run into problems regarding the coffee subscription, pest problems and other issues.
A small overview of issues at Pret on YouTube. But issues are much bigger and persistent, this is just a small overview:
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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.
Terms and conditions at the bottom of this below Loyalty Card:
“Redeemable at the Manager’s discretion. Excludes Pret shops within Central London Zones 1 and 2…”
It even has an expiry date on it, forcing the customer to buy coffees before that date to get a free one … and at the manager’s discretion mind you! Pret showing its true “generosity” here!
I’ll spare the readers with more screenshots and links to Pret’s rip-offs. Do your own homework if you truly care!
But just to say that the Pret Perks (which used to be what they called “Pret Perks” for Pret staff with rebates from other companies) is NOT a first ever loyalty program for loyal customers. Pret had loyalty cards as you can see above, as far back as 2012, probably longer. But these loyalty cards were only available outside big cities and Pret kept it really quiet.
So, here you go with another Pret shadiness.
And also, to the WordPress staff who check every post I post after Pret contacted WordPress, and you’re instrumental of getting my blog moved to the adult section where porn sites are moved to. You will be found out as censorship on WordPress will be exposed. I’m not doing anything wrong. I exercise free speech and whistle-blowing. You will be found out and expose as well.
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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.
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.
Since I’ve been writing openly on Pret A Manger issues from a behind the scenes look with my own horrific experiences and other staff complaints directly to me and on review sites, I’ve been asked by many people WHY these issues aren’t more known in the public.
Simple answer: free speech does not exists on social media platforms, with mainstream media and with Wikipedia etc. Censorship is rampant on platforms.
It shows how Pret fears the truth getting out and how mainstream media and social media platforms assist big brands from exposure. I’d need a Ronan Farrow type journalist who cares about the truth getting out!
Here’s an example of how many customers are gobsmacked that they never heard about the issues in Pret. And here via the YouTube slide I ONLY included Tweets, I did not even bother to include Facebook posts/messages, Insta, private mails via my contact form etc. etc. If I’d include all, the slide would be over an hour:
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Examples of censorship:
Facebook and now Instagram that is under FB have completely blocked my website. If you enter a complete url from any of my pages here even into a Facebook PRIVATE mail, you will receive a message that this page goes against some rules etc. That’s why I started YouTube slides that FB/IG can’t block. I also link to Tweets etc. where my blog is linked to and people then can go directly via Twitter to a specific blog post that I post. And if FB shut me down, I will find another way. But Pret & Co will not be able to silence me!
Twitter:
Since 2018 when I started to publicly call out Pret, Pret that can’t sue me for libel as I have 1. evidence and 2. I declined 4 NDAs from Pret. All they can do is report me to the social media platforms to get censored or what is called “shadow banned”. Twitter then hides my Tweets and my Twitter account altogether where people can’t find my Tweets even when specifically searching for it. To check if you are shadow banned (censored) on Twitter, please visit www.ShadowBan.eu or if that site is down then www.ShadowBan.io .
Twitter heavily shadow banning has forced me to have several Twitter accounts, which is allowed on Twitter. You can even merge several Twitter accounts.
Taliban members and pornographic images are on Twitter. Facebook has heavy criticism on their dodgy actions. But hey, lets censor a nobody, a female who has written the most comprehensive website on Pret A Manger. Nothing new under the sun!
Put my Twitter handle @LateNightGirlMe (now changed to @expretDOTorg) into Twitter search and click on “Latest”. You will only find a few recent Tweets but not ALL of the latest Tweets. Compare this by going to my handle directly and click on “Tweets and Replies” for truly the latest Tweets, you’ll see ALL the recent Tweets than the Twitter algorithm are programmed to leave out randomly, even when I’m NOT shadow banned.
Linkedin:
People on Linkedin are die-hard Pret fans! They don’t want to hear the truth and they reported me to Linkedin. Linkedin then locks my account and wants me to send my ID! This has become increasingly an issue on social media as they are breaching data constantly. Facebook is the prime example of this. Pret know me! They know who is behind expret.org, but social media increasingly try to get private data and if they can’t force it, they lock accounts. Same with Twitter and phone numbers.
Linkedin is mainly into toxic positivity where rich business people tell each other sweet little nothings all day. It’s very rare to read critical voices on there, except when an official news report is out. But when I as a former Pret staff with FIRST HAND experience link to a critical issue on Pret, even if I link to a newspaper article, not even to my blog, BOOM! my account is locked after they report me to Linkedin.
The Press:
I have been contacted by many journalists and have contacted hundreds of journos directly and also copied in many on Twitter etc. Some journalists were very interested to report on certain issues (as I cover a lot of various issues in Pret, not just staff issues). But here I have to give a heads up, it is partly MY FAULT that they did not report because I’ve had these terrible outbursts while drunk. I speak openly about it and am still waiting for help via NHS mental help services as well as doing everything I can to recover.
I have lashed out at EVERYBODY, no matter who they were. I continue to apologize and hope people are ok. I accept the consequences as this is solely my fault and something I will always be ashamed about.
One journalists, Will Bedingfield from Wired wrote an article with a click-bait title of “The Rise and Fall” of Pret”. He wrote that 2 days after I tweeted a response to him with some facts. After he published the article I called him out and he deleted his initial Tweet. And his article wasn’t even anything deep and certainly not new. It was just a typical “lazy” report with a catchy title to put under his portfolio belt:
My Tweet calling him out and then he deleted his initial Tweet.
These and other reports that HAVE been reported with my help have never been credited back to me. The only 2 people I will ALWAYS credit as having reported on my experience and blog are Adam from The Adam Paradox Podcast, based in California who interviewed me in 2018. And Gregor Gall, editor from the Scottish Left Review who published TWO of my posts.
Any other journalist just publishes without giving credit WHO put them on Pret’s case in the first place and who fed them all the info. They just say to me “Thank you for you help…” And that was that! And I did “kick off” many even high profile journos from the Guardian, Telegraph, Times, BBC etc. because I was tired for journoalists to sit on my following waiting for a story to drop into their laps, while some ignored or ghosted me after my DMs to them!
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Etc. etc. etc.
And Pret apparently is asking journalists who contact Pret to verify if they know me, to NOT report on my blog! And they “obey”. There you go.
But yes, my outbursts didn’t and don’t help, but if a journo really wants to expose wrongdoing in Pret, they won’t be deterred by my traumatized behaviour.
On my Media page I linked to the reports that came out from my blog having either contacted or having been contacted by journalists who then reported.
WordPress:
WordPress has moved my blog into the adult section where they usually move pornographic sites. The reason they gave me was that I use curse words. But I linked to them a few of the many WordPress websites where people use heavy language, worse than me. So, even as a paying customer WordPress censors under the “adult content” umbrella. It means that WordPress users who are logged in cannot find my blog when they search for anything Pret A Manger related.
Wikipedia:
Mid November someone has linked my blog to Pret’s Wikipedia page as approved editors can edit open source pages. Screenshot below. I saw a referrer from Wiki on 18.11.2021 for the first time. I then contacted the main editor Edward Betts who started Pret’s Wiki page, and informed him that there are some out-dated infos and a mistake on that Wiki page, which I can send him updates with evidence. He then promptly deleted my link again from Wikipedia the next day as I had last referrers from Wiki on 19.11.2021.
Whoever linked my blog to Wikipedia, thank you! Sorry, censorship has gotten the better yet again. So, lets keep the mistake and out-dated infos on that page and not donate to Wiki on their annual donation efforts. Edward Betts/Wikipedia take info from my blog without crediting back. And this is why so many people on social media asked me why the public isn’t aware of the problems in Pret. That’s why. Mainstream media and even open source pages censor whistleblowers and protect companies.
The clever thing that journalists and now Wikipedia editors do is, they skim through my website and take all my research that I did, where I found press articles or where I am leaked info where I link to press reports. They then take these press articles which they never found on their own before except linked on my page, and then use this on their Wiki page so as not to have to cite my blog as a source. Thus, the press and Wikipedia continue to ignore people who have first hand experience because they bow to Pret and companies like that.
Journalists and writers in general are the biggest thieves of intellectual property and research. So, Pret will be delighted with my short-lived link on Wikipedia.
Screenshots:
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Censorship is alive and well. Free speech and giving sources to original whistle blowers is dead. And only when people die, do the press and writers in general, swarm over their writings and steal and write on it like there’s no tomorrow! Writers are the biggest thieves of intellectual property and sources than any other “art” form I know of.
Rappers are known for nicking tunes and remix them, but writers are the worst when it comes to taking material without crediting. Now in a much more clever way.
So, my work continues unpaid, un-credited …
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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.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more. Thank you for reading/listening.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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