This article is what I meant many times when I wrote that I am shocked but not surprised on how Pret dealt with two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal, several hospitalized and multiple ignored warnings of customers. Having worked at Pret and almost having lost my life as I was bullied during already traumatic bereavement, this only shows how non-caring Pret is. To the public, this is new, as Pret has its PR in place with an approachable CEO and smiles all around. Pret invests a lot in keeping the facade polished while behind the scenes is a very different story.
And as cracks appeared in the facade, more marketing, using former homeless people for PR, efficient Tweets and free items give-away, that is paid for by increasing the prices. There is no such thing as “free” in Pret. Someone has to pay for all the freebies, and it’s not Pret.
One clear realization also on other companies whose skeletons fall out of the closet, with Pret there certainly is more in the closet, quote from article: “This isn’t just a matter of bad luck.”
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.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
The above slideshow is just a selection, an extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
For the first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Underneath the interview section are reviews/complaints from current and former Pret Staff.
You can still listen to the interview while scrolling below to the many staff complaints. Links to the reviews open in a new window or tab depending on what’s selected.
Full Interview:
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
The main subject being workplace bullying, we also spoke about gaslighting, “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general and what to look out for in an interview for a new job. 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.
July 2019 Glassdoor percentage: 44% of staff (all positions incl. Shops staff, HQ staff, Management etc.) recommend working for Pret; 50% recommend the CEO. Occasionally these numbers rise again when suspiciously 5+ positive reviews in a row appear listing each position. But the truth will always surface:
I write extensively about Clive Schlee’s “legacy” on “Late Night Girl Articles“. For new readers Clive Schlee labelled me his “late night girl” which I explain in my interview (audio player) and I used this label to be a sore in his sight!
On 14. July 2019 Clive Schlee was still on Glassdoor as the CEO. But since I post these percentages on my blog and on Twitter, since 15. July Pano Christou who’s to take over as CEO in September 2019 appears already as the CEO:
UPDATE: October 2019
A customer complained on Twitter about how when it is very busy the manager is not helping on the shop floor but sitting in the office. I mention this in my interview as well.
The second Tweet is a response to the CEO’s reply to the above tweet, yet it’s not addressed to his Twitter account nor posted in the same feed as above. I wonder what that’s all about:
If you want to skip this long intro, scroll down until the redwriting, and below it click on any of the many staff complaints I linked from outside Employment Review websites, YouTube, Twitter etc. as well as what I survived in 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.”
A former Manager 4 years after Bridgepoint purchased Pret:
Link to Tweet – Pret A Manger Staff Union, Andrej Stopa who got fired for starting a Union.
Italian: Exploitation, racism …
Rough translation: “Not very professional company and very low paid, little social life. And too long shifts, bullying and racism was everyday routine“
»Everything is over priced and you are forced to act like a happy jack-ass or your pay is cut. This place is what hell must be like.«
When customers who are so impressed with Pret because they only see the outside, the facade through the PR[et] machine, they ask Pret about these complaints and then are too easily sweet-talked into believing that this is just an unfortunate exception. But the truth will always come to the surface, no matter how long it takes.
I have chosen to do this public because I suffered so much and almost lost my life. I do this publicly for my own protection.
I wasted close to 10 years of my life in Pret! It is my biggest regret.
One major reason, but not the only one why there are so many complaints: Bridgepoint Capital. With the new JAB takeover, it will get even worse unless Pret radically changes their approach to the work conditions, and a £1000 fix won’t do it in the long-run, it is just an incentive to lure new workers in and retain current staff.
In the end, when nothing worked to make me resign because my grief was in the way of Pret’s business and my suggestions to improve work conditions was an inconvenience. When nothing worked (bullying, threats, file notes…) Pret used a Development Manager from HQ who also is a Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner, both that can be very dangerous tools in manipulating people, and they used it well. This development manager supposedly lost her brother similarly to how I lost mine and that way they used her to get to me, stepping on her as well as my dignity.
On a side note, she is governed under this therapy body who have a commitment right on their front page that I have not seen on other therapy sites: “Our accredited Register status helps to ensure the safety and protection of the public.” I find this odd, as if they have therapists who are not working for the safety and protection of the public. This Development Manager who is also a Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner certainly is not adhering to safety and protection.
I became suicidal and ill. I was tricked and trapped again and again by management and HR, and my ill emailing out of trauma, having started to drink, I was fired while my father was in intensive care just out of a coma. I declined 4 settlement offers not signing anything and survived to speak of the ordeal I went through. This is Pret “doing the right thing naturally” as their HR department, and Pret in general claims.
I want to “let” others speak as well, complaints from even recently on employment review websites, YouTube, Twitter and other sites in the long list below.
Complaints from current and former staff members and managers, you can “blindly” click on ANY link below at RANDOM and it will read the SAME in a nutshell, at different times/years, from different positions: Discrimination, horrible, biased and incapable management, overworked, not paid for overtime, favouritism shown to own country-men etc…. Pret has extremely good PR in place and is sweet-talking their way out of this or post their “good deeds” online to cover up what really goes on behind the scenes, when customers contact Pret regarding these Staff Complaints.
The first person ever to stand up publicly against Pret’s terrible work-conditions wasAndrej Stopa. I am the second, and in time more people will stand up.
In my own way to cope with this be it sarcastically or with humour to get away from the seriousness and pain, I take a complaint from below’s list and put them daily as “Quotes of the Day” on my blog and collect them HERE, to stress the point how toxic Pret’s work environment is, and how it is hurting people hidden behind the shiny PR(et) facade.
NOTE:
Since I compiled all the staff complaints there seem to be quite a lot more “positive” reviews appearing, especially regarding “good” management and work environment. If there are fake news, I am not alleging anything, but there may be fake reviews! And also the Pret website as well as the CEO’s has as the main pinned Tweets the “good” deeds Pret & the CEO are doing, again excellent PR. There are good managers and good shops of course, but the management style in Pret to pressure for more profit, is poisoned throughout the company. And in time the truth will always come out. Knowing how Pret and their corrupt HR dept. manipulate, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is tasked to write these reviews. In my 10 years in Pret I worked with over a dozen managers, and only 2 were decent, fair and caring, not to mention hard working. The majority I worked with are immature, discriminating, bullying, insecure, complacent and oftentimes incapable due to lack of training.
True reviews will always continue be written on the same lines of horrible and bullying management until this changes. Pret does annual staff questionnaires that are at times manipulated by management. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if some are leaving fake reviews.
One quote from a former barista in Pret NYC mentions that every shop they have worked in, it is the same story re: bad management, favouritism etc. And it really is, also in London, UK: “I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
Another review also from NY: “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 …” And I can verify this even in London, and I have worked with more than a dozen managers! Only 2 of them were exceptional and good, but it is the sad exception even now in 2018 as my experience and the below reviews show.
On the subject of missing pay and overtime not being paid as I have experienced as well in 10 years countless times that I had to chase missing pay from managers. This was draining and a job in itself.
Pret staff in the UK and elsewhere should do the same as Pret staff in the USA have done, go to court to reclaim missing pay: Pret A Manger settles overtime wage claims of 4000 employees!
You can click on ANY of the below reviews and read the same in a nutshell: bullying, discriminating management, over worked, missing pay, discrimination etc.
I did not correct any mistakes in the below reviews to keep it in their own words.
Start of the long list of staff complaints / review
Get ready to lick so many a***es to advance “Dear Lord, protect me from ever need to work for Pret a Manger ever again. Amen. For this company you are numbers, robots, machines, you are no humans.”
“horrible management … management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to a manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral.“
“Go back to the UK, Pret … I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience…
“Horrible place they shout at you all the time for any little mistake. … push you to be more and more quickly treat you like a robot not a human being … Dumb and bossy staff members….” Review from 27. June 2018
July 2019
Barista – “Not good – I always stay longer without pay. Change managers, treat your workers with respect! Pay more!“
Team Member – “Stressful and unsocial – stressful, poor management, rude and unempathetic”
Team Member – “Very bad experience – Advice to Management: You don’t listen to us! Nothing more to say! Bad experience and company!!“
Team Leader – “depressing workplace – quick money but depressing work place stop shouting“
Team Member, London – “horrible company! – Pros: nothing at all, low pay for slave work Cons: horrible manager and leaders. lies and discrimination. horrible company! Advice to Management: get new managers”
Team Member, Gatwick, UK – “Awful, vile kitchen staff – Constant bullying and harassment by the Team Leaders and staff. Low pay Disregard for employee’s wage payments Unhelpful managers“
Hot Chef, London – “Toxic, Stressful, chronically understaffed … baking over 200 pastries. Most of staff members are required to work over 45 hours a week. Staff members are being denied holidays booked with several months of notice.”
Team Member, London – “Aweful!Terrible work experience. Stressful and demanding for minimum pay. Not worth.“
Barista, London – “Micromanaged slave workI expected slave work to be in the past but at Pret A Manger you are treated like dirt!!!”
Team Member, Manhattan NY – “Apply to this job if you want to work for a role and not get paid for that role … as a team member I was made to hot chef, be a team member trainer, and an A team member, and was only being paid minimum wage whereas those key roles get paid more money.“
Barista, UK – “waste of time – very busy coffee shop, no work/life balance, staff calling sick every day so every day was short in staff, no pay for doing extra hours,unexperience and unprofesional managment“
Team Leader, Massachusetts, USA “don’t bother – Its a mess management is horrible and the higher ups are worst. all they care about is saving themselves from trouble and will throw anyone under the bus for their benefit“
Barista, Paris, France – “They accept anybody and pay the minimum possible in each role.”
Team Member Trainer (TMT) New York – “They don’t give you raises when its time. Inconsiderate and care more about gossip than why their stores are failing.“
Don’t work at Pret, slavery in 2019 – “They promise pay rise and promotion just to keep you slaving for hours and you have to remind manager to pay you the right amount of hours you work“
Nightshift, St. Pancrass, London “Toxic environment – Unprofessional superiors that scream a lot and treat you like slaves; Managenent not present during the nightshifts; Training programme not delivered appropiately. Stop treating your staff like slaves and give them a proper training“
Barista, Gatwick – “Stressful – Early hours To busy Stressful Hard to handle“
11. June 2019 “Nightmare – If you want to feel like a slave, work here. All management who will not accept you if you aren’t one of them…All phonies with fake smiles. They look down on the workers with spite. This company is everything that is wrong with the world.”
11. June 2019 “First world slavery!! – There aren’t any positives the negatives are too many…You don’t need to leave the first world to experience slavery. Pret is a extremely harsh and rude place.”
09. June 2019 NY Barista: “Poor Management and Favoritism – I had basically no work life balance for the almost two years I worked there just to have someone who was only there a few months get promoted to leader because she was friends with management.“
08. June 2019 Barista, Oxford: “Worst place in my life Cons: All! Everything is bad! Slave job! Bad managers who put always the blame on you… Learn to be more kind with the workers!“
05. June 2019 Team Leader: “DON’T APPLY – You meet great coworkers that get you through the day … You have disgusting managers that only worry about themselves and their pockets. Never threaten an employee. Be honest and upfront….”
05. June 2019 NY: “Nice people, tedious work – You are doing the job of three different positions because they are low on staff. Pros: Money Cons: Everything else“
01. June 2019: “Just Ugh… Pros: Free food, that’s really it. Not much more Cons: Everything else. You get worked like a slave for pennies – treat it like a VERY temporary job to put cash in your pocket”
Rough Translation: “Working in the kitchen is like slavery, they force you to make sandwiches in very little time under pressure, the supervisor/leader is always “screwing” up. When you finished your job you have to stay longer for free. It’s physically and emotionally draining/exhausting. You sweat for 8.65€ (£? as this reviewer is in Edingburgh and Pret’s wage is £8.65). Stop crushing people. Pros: Free food and coffee Cons: Slave Labour”
28. May 2019 “massive pressure on kitchen leaders, early hours, stressful environment”
28. May 2019 “Favoritism everywhere, all the hardworking people continuously got in trouble for the lack of job the favorites did.“
27. May 2019 “Robots welcome, humans go work somewhere else!!“
27. May 2019 General Manager (GM): “Pret is great place to work if you want to make some money – on management level. However pressure is so high you can’t rest when you’re off or even on holiday“
27. May 2019 “Work politics, blame games, pressure to deliver highly set targets”
23. May 2019 “Not good – Bad manager and team leader is lazy in the office long hours little wage Not a good company to work for“
23. May 2019 “I did not like working in Pret. My team leader is aggressive, I could not finish my bench in time. Pros: going home at end of shift Cons: horrible place“
23. May 2019 Hot Chef: “Thank you, NEXT! Training for me and others mostly happens at home when we are not getting paid. There is no appreciation for those who actually are acting as team members because one tiny mistake and you’re on the chopping block… being made to feel like I don’t matter, daily new rules and expectations“
22. May 2019 “Most Managers are super bad – Get more involved within the shop instead of sitting in the office. Learn to make better rotas.”
22. May 2019 “Do not work here – Management are rude and unreliable. Listen to ALL EMPLOYEES!”
21. May 2019 “-terrible managment -early start at 5:00am -long hours –rotas never ready can’t plan week -GM is stressing us all time -low pay -fake smiling even when feeling down -mistery shopper unfair -too much stress -no team work -manager stress and not available”
20. May 2019 “A lot of the raises that were given have been taken away. Not enough front of house workers“
13. May 2019 “the mystery shopper pressure is too much – every little detail is a problem your hard work is lost by the smallest mistake.“
13. May 2019 “very neurotic environment – everyone is so afraid of little mistakes – management manipulate in fear and are always stressing us. very stressful not worth the pay. Advise to management: get some psychological help – your leaders are neurotic – what do you do to them?
12. May 2019 “Don’t work at Pret, not recommended! – Huge stress and constant lack of staff. Very bad management. Terrible workplace. No point in giving advise, they don’t care.”
12. May 2019 “Pret A Manger is like the military and a cult!!If you work at Pret you go between brainwash and abuse. You get told nice things and given a few perks but for the peanuts you have to work like an animal“
09. May 2019 NY: “robotic work that eats away at your soul one day at a time. The turnover rate was ridiculously high, and for good reason.”
07. May 2019 “Scrap the bonus and pay us the £1. We work reallly hard.”
04. May 2019 “Stress, discrimination, mental health problems – Do not work there, HR cannot be trusted. Worst place ever. Pret has gotten much worse over the years, cut benefits, even less staff as before. Terrible place.“
02. May 2019 Barista: “Pret soldiers – You’re not a human in their eyes, more like a slave. The management rubbish, they doesn’t care for you. no opportunity, no life. Pros: Non Cons: everything“
01. May 2019 “Most staff english is not there first language, so this is often confussing – To speak english and not shout“
30. Apr. 2019 “Dishonest and incapible managers, long hours, stress, noise, low pay, no room to grow and learn”
27. Apr. 2019 “Constantly understaffed – No one listens to staff members,your advertising ,that you care for people,but it’s often complete opposite-discrimination,abuse no equal rights,constant favorism,most of times managers are in their positions ,because of licking their way up ,not because of hard work or honesty.”
22. Apr. 2019 “I don’t recommend Pret – What is your training for managers?? Why are many so careless and some so rude and bullying?? What is your problem???”
16. Apr. 2019 “Toxic work environment – very poor management, long hours, fake smiles, too high expectations … stop be racist“
13. Apr. 2019 “bad place to work don’t go there – we give you lot of advise already you don’t listen. it’s only about profit and cutting corners to do all the jobs. not worth”
01. Apr. 2019 “Treated like a slave Rude to new staff Over working So much pressure”
07. Mar. 2019 “Modern slavery Pros: it does not have anything good Cons: modern slavery and bad manager“
“Tough – Be careful not to fall in the trap of the happy family: it’s a brainwashing strategy to make you forget you’re just the piece of an engine to them.“
“Getting harder to stay here – In the last 6 months everything has gone downhill, many new standards which make it difficult to focus on customer service and turns us into robots.“
“Never again – Prêt a Manger is an appealing company from the outside, but once you get in you realise how rotten the sistem is.“
“Painful job – pret a manger is painful job. feel like a slave. no time for breath. depress. bad paid. anxiety bad boss. work so fast. loud and shouts. tired. lot of pain“
“Temporary job to get on your feet – Working for 8 months was easy at first then became very stressful and I couldn’t wait to leave that job. Managers lack management and pushes it off for employees to handle. They sit in the office all day. Play favoritism“
“Don’t even bother – The baristas for some reason act like management and hurl abuse at you. Horrible People“
“Worst company, dishonest, discrimination, lying to young people”
“Would give 0 stars if I could – Most of the managers are also passive aggressive and just generally neurotic and stressed and have a go at you for every small detail.“
Team Leader: “A lot of favouritism, if you don’t lick butts it’s complicated to develop your career there, unless you don’t mind to work there for ages to become Assistant Manager.”
“Exploitation!!!– there is never enough team members we have to work double and pick up the mess manager leaves behind.“
“Not enough staff on purpose – Pret always has low staff. every shop I go has not enough people. Manager is happy when they got big bonus but they got it by team members woking extra hard”
“Didn’t stay long – I spend a few days but it’s not for me. Manager didnt like me. Very hard job. Dont believe the hype.”
“Horrendous Place to Be – Hiring process is robust and Engaging. Sadly its terrible beyond this. Demotivating Team Leads.Grossly biased unless you are from their country/background. Floor was supposed to be cleaned with a Blue Role,By Hand.“
“Sugar-coated Slavery – The worst company I’ve ever worked for. Dishonest. Exploitative. Discriminatory. The HR depertament is a joke and the general managers or operation managers are either highly psychopathic or incompetent.“
USA “Treated like trash – Employees were treated like trash -Advice to Management: Treat employees better”
“Nightmare!! – too loud, too fast, too stressful, manager is shouting, not many team members, worked more then 50 hours all the time… The emotional labour of having to always smile and be super friendly is exhausting and also ridiculous. We are retail workers not customer’s friends.“
“Managers expect you to work like a robot and never get tired or worn out. Customers would get away with shouting at us and being abusive for no reason and the managers would just apologise and offer them some free food to avoid getting a complaint.”
“Floor Leader – extreme pressure for minimal pay -company constantly changing rules and adding standards”
“Team Leader – Rasism, discrimination ,team leader favorism ,screaming at you on daily basis high expectations people working for 2-3 people”
“Modern Slavery – Pros: it does not have anything good -Cons: modern slavery and bad manager”
Team Leader: “Never again – very poor screening system when choosing management, lots of hr issue unsolved … reconsider the Happy Team, Happy Customer scenario and solve the hr issues from headoffice“
“Not for british – I felt like an outsider in my own country. Train your managers! They look unhappy and stressed. I kept a low key to not become a target and just left.”
“Paris: Charge de travail horrible. – Entreprise a fuir absolument, des rushs épouvantables parfois 7 jours de travails consécutifs sans repos.“
“Never left a job so fast – I worked only a few week in Pret but fell used and stressed out. Expectations is high but no help from manager. Don’t recommend work there. Not helpful manager, stessful, not enough help, small team but lot of work“
“If I could give zero stars I would – Pret does not deserve even 1 star. I regret having worked there. Pret looks good from the front but once you work thete it’s a lot of stress and dushonest managers“
Barista: “You can do better – I was stressed out nearly everyday. The manager was very unprofessional and disrespectful. All she cares about was the money and working hard. But the pay didn’t match up with the amount of work. You’re required to do so much and know so much yet no one is taught the correct way. It just began to get too crazy for me. Drama, poor management skills and attitudes everyday. Toxic work environment“
“to much stress for little pay – bad managers in most shop I worked, dirty work kitchen don’t wash hands, no real training, blamed for everything, no support, bad paid“
“No – The place was always dirty. People wouldn’t take the job seriously. Everyday people would call out. I wouldn’t recommend working at this company. Avoid.“
Italian: Exploitation, racism: “Sfruttamento – azienda poco seria e stipendi molto bassi, poca vita sociale e turni troppo lunghi, bullismo e razzismo erano all’ordine del giorno“
Barista: “Horrible management – management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to a manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral.” (Note from me, this one is close to my heart as I was bullied during bereavement under HR and CEO’s knowledge and cover-up).
“Intense and stressful environment – The coworkers are very demanding and rude. The managers don’t fix issues with coworkers properly which causes a hostile work environment.“
Barista AND Hot Chef: “Horrible – Pret A Manger is honestly a very unprofessional work environment. I’ve met great people at the job but the job itself is very stressful and not worth the pay. Cons: Horrible management, pay, hours“
“I hate work in Pret A Manger – Treat all fair and don’t push so much. Boring job, learn nothing but have to work so fast. I hate working there!!!!”
“Wouldn’t recommend – There are lot of slogans and promises of awards but when you do well there is no award. Manager is stressed and hectic no time to learn and make mistakes. “
“Discrimination and favouritism – If you can play games Pret is perfect. Hard work doesn’t count but only when you push teams hard for bonus and not train them. “
“Don’t work for Pret when you sick – I have disability from doctor but manager don’t believe me. they push hard no matter when you sick or not.“
General Manager review, London: “Not the best place to work – Not much support to the management from the Operations Team. Had to work there at least 12 hours, as there was no other manager in the store, due to some HR issue, and hadn’t received the bonus, due to lack of staff which influenced my Family tree… was left with quite a lot of food waste, instead of having an ability to increase sales. As well, there was no charity collection, as they always use in their marketing… As much as they “Like to promote internally” you are still just a pawn for them.”
“Other locations were filthy. Seriously… I worked at a relatively new location with staff that enjoyed themselves… but I was sent to a couple other locations at times if they needed help and ooooh was it a different story. There were some seriously gross violations, health and cleanliness wise, as well as duty and customer service wise. Listen to employees if we say there is something wrong going on… there definitely is.”
Head Office: “Great brand poor management – Poor management resulting in poor decisions. Office culture is working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever and constant office politics.”
Manager: “Standards have dropped in recent years, growing animosity between team members and even their managers, training new employees is very sporadic and not everyone is trained properly, management standards have also lowered, if you’re a manager, good luck trying to have a life. You guys really need to start training people by following a system, not however and whenever you feel like it. “
“Ehh not worth it at all – Unprofessional staff, youre not even trained properly they just throw you in there and if youre lucky someone who isnt BRAND NEW (btw literally had someone that got hired 4 days before me showing me the ropes) will notice you dont know what youre doing and assist you…not enough breaks…I do not recommend!”
Review on YouTube towards the bottom beginning of July 2018 from RPQ who now changed the name to Branzinotito, quote: “I used to work for Pret. What a truly brutal nightmare is was. Horrible company.”
Same comment, new name:
“I am an ex GM. I walked out last yearas I couldn’t take the way we had to treat TMs to achieve ever increasing demands for profit and efficiencies.” (Full review in the picture below.)
The “certain venture capitalist firm” this Ex-GM is talking about is Bridgepoint who set the immense target since the 2008 purchase of increasing shops by 15% per year and were set to make a seven times return on their investment in 2018. It is “deal hungry” JAB’s turn now to take the baton from Bridgepoint and squeeze even further the life out of staff. Good luck Pret employees!
My initial comments to James Hoffmann’s video and his response, which are still not released but only visible when I am logged in to my YT account. I wrote an Open Letter to James Hoffmann because my comments weren’t visible, otherwise I wouldn’t have written one. He still hasn’t responded and just briefly recognized it via Twitter, as I have a hunch that he might have contacted or has been contacted by Pret who may have sweet-talked their way out of this again, as “PR”et is very efficient for the outside facade:
Unfairly dismissed Worker was unfairly dismissed, became homeless, lost his relationship, slept in his car for a few weeks.
A review regarding Pret’s Head Office from a former IT ANALYST!
Quote: “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 good PR. Genuinely fake and dishonest company.”
“One of the oddest work experiences. Worked their during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.”
Quote: “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…”
This, dear New York Employee, is because like you already mentioned that there is no training in leadership and employee relations. I have had over a dozen managers, and even more managers I’ve worked with when I helped out in other branches for a few days. In my 10 years in Pret there were only 2 of them that had people and leadership skills, one of which is this wonderful person, who’s also proven that a manager can be nice, hard working and still be really successful, as she was often at the top (#1, 2 etc.) out of all the shops. Also, Pret pays a little more than the competition and gives incentives, more holiday, bits and pieces here and there, because if they won’t give more they would have no one wanting to work in Pret as Pret is just way too stressful and hard work. To me, the hard work was not so much the issue, the issue was the UNNECESSARY bullshit = bullying and discrimination. And for Pret to dare bully me while I was going through extreme trauma with the loss of my brother and all the tricks and traps I could not clearly see until later, you bet I will speak about this openly no matter what they come up with next.
From YouTube 2008 this was before Pret became increasingly and intensely bullying But it has always been difficult, but since the 2008 Bridgepoint takeover, it became more systemic bullying as Pret was tasked and pressured to open more and more shops fast on almost every corner in London at least. I won’t point out who, but in the video is one person I later worked with, who became a GM later (I worked with them when they were AM) and is one of the rare people/GMs being good to their TMs.
“The idea of proper training is also rediculous – Most people are taken in under promises (including being a front of house or kitchen person but then dumped where they are needed and not where they were promised) but find that often by day 2 or 3 are thrown on a bench on their own in the kitchen and nagged at due to not being fast enough and expected to reach TM* productivity levels within the first few weeks with hardly any proper training.”
Throughout all my time in Pret I have mentioned the lack of training again and again and again and did my utmost best to train my teams even though many of my managers tried to stop me because I was investing time in my teams, but managers wanted me and teams to just be busy on the tills and in the kitchen… Training hardly exists in Pret. Development Managers are just doing their 9-5, Mon – Fri job, not being bothered if what they train is even implemented in the shops! There is a huge chasm between HQ and shops, no matter how much “PR”et is trying to convince otherwise!
“I’ve learned a Lot!…” “Cons: In Spite of the wonderful Pros of this company, Your subjected to emotional blackmail and serious labor issues with Most shops being run by Unprofessional and Bias Managerial staff backed by a corrupted HR Dept. Advice to Management: The Core Values you instill in your Employees are Virtuous , And is the the secret to your success!…..On the Contrary, I strongly suggest a Labor Union! so employees that are treated unfair have a platform for their voice to be heard without resentment or the sinuous backlash from your Inadequate Managerial staff & Flout HR Dept.!!!! who support them.”
“If you want to work in a happy enviroment without being bullied then whatever you do DON’T work for Pret … Being made to feel incompetent. Worked into the ground without empathy. Managers treat staff like idiots. The image of the happy enviroment is a joke. It would be good for the BBC or Dispatches to go under cover and work in a shop for a week to show the world what really goes on behind the scenes.”
and replace them with more educating indiviuals and ones that dont discriminate … Nothing but aggravation and a discriminating HR” <– (This review is as recent as 12. June 2018! I have my own extensive experience with the Pret HR dept. as the Head of HR said that I “Exhausted the HR department”. Sorry about that @ Head of HR, but as a Tribunal Judge already ruled that your hearings are “fundamentally flawed” I can more than verify this after raising grievance after grievance that were NOT conducted fairly and impartially).
“Interesting comments. My husband now works for pret and is being treated so badly by his area manager. I am astounded that they can get away with it. It seemed like such a nice place to work but it’s like some kind of sect… “
My response: they get away with it because it is systemic and they are trained to treat staff like this, for more and more profit.
— 4 months later: —
“Further to my previous comment [scrolling up above this review] about my husband having problems with his area manager. They stitched him up good and proper and fired him…this was done in such a way that they found a couple of things to hang him on which wouldn’t normally result in him being sacked. They clearly did all of this because he was going to put in a grievance against his area manager for bullying (he was talked out of this and thought it had all smoothed over) and then wham! The company disgusts me – how they could treat an employee with a wife and 2 small children like that I don’t know. The management of this company are pure evil.”
“Regarding the area manager, yeah they just sit on their fat bums all day, and email on their phones or look at stupid graphs. End of the day its about increasing sales, meeting targets and reducing labour. They will always cover there own backs first, to watch there bonuses, and not care about the workers.
Alot of managers i have met, are complete arrogant snobs, that know nothing about even running a store, yet alone trying to explain things to you, they sit on there high throne, and blah blah blah things.”
“Please get the bullies out – Forced to work without pay, … bullying tactics used by Heads, unfair salaries, descrimination …
“The brainwash is real” “The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. … managers/team leaders are not properly trained when it comes to simple communication. Especially towards female staff members. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period. Advice to Management: Get some proper training regarding real people skills.” (Absolutely true!)
“… Team Leader … Every shop has less people than required as this affects shops profitability” True about the Mystery Shopper! But even if you do well with the Misery Shopper (yes MISERY Shopper!) as I did again and again for years, I never gotten rewarded other than the usual bonus, even during bereavement doing really well, no mention. But the moment a few points are lost, hell breaks loose!
“Very demanding … Nothing you do there is appreciated“ “… Horrible atmosphere and you feel too much pressure all the time. Advice to Management: Please treat employees as humans not as robots! It seems like you enjoy making people unhappy.“
“Not kitchen, food factory”“Not everybody has to be a leader who works long enough for Pret and shouts loud enough. Management should assess the personality, the leadership skills and the interpersonal skills before making someone a leader.”
“Horrible training, too many lies” “Training sucks, people are treated like crap. Upper management do not care about you, will never recommend this company. Bottom line as a British company they treat employees as machines, they don’t care about how they feel, expect too much for too little. Horrible environment. Advice to Management: Treat people with respect and appreciate their hard work. Stop using your British mentality when it comes to deal with people. You’re people are horrible at this.“
“Worst place..” “Advice to Management: Absolutely less stress and please cut the roles because looks to work like slaves. Terrible experience.”
“Worst first day experience” “Pros: Nothing at all….. Not even a 0.0005 star. …Lies about family team vibes… They don’t recruit you for your work ethic…”
“Worst company to work for” … managers are always working with fear … Advice to Management: Get back to basic, care about the team and always listen to the little people, also be open and get rid of some top management who are so corrupt.” (And I thought I was tough with my critique!)
“The worst job I’ve had in London”“the good payment is not enough for getting worse my health (my back and my heart). l am with anxiety all the time, working in a tiny kitchen in a HORRIBLE atmosphere!!” (Yes, I was bullied during bereavement and tricked and trapped via HR, high five!)
“I have asked for several transfers to other shopsdue to management. Either a manager was extremely “lazy”, un-supportive, but gave the team a hard time when things didn’t go well, or another manager was like a tyrant, constantly threatening the team & individuals with & giving file notes for the smallest things. Ops Managers either aren’t aware of it, mostly being concerned with mystery shopper results for their own bonuses or not bothering about how the team is “motivated”.”
“You are of course right, hiring happy people is only a part of the solution. If an employee is unhappy, and its affecting their work, ask them what’s up (gently).”
My response: I lost my brother and in my bereavement was NOT asked “gently” what’s up, I was bullied, targeted, tricked and trapped by Pret’s HR dept. to get me out and ultimately fired while my father was in intensive care, just out of a coma. So, here I am again having survived to tell my story as “gently” as possible collecting all these reviews from other sites.
Pret A M*ffin “…team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear … listen to the little people, also be open and get rid of some top management who are so corrupt”
Pret A Robot “People are treated inhuman way in terms of sickness and work load. Employees are being treated more like robots than human beings“
Pret A Joke “You have a limited time to do your job everyday but this time limit is a joke. they give me the next rota just the day before the week starts.“
Pret A Nothing “didn’t learn nothing as i have things to give to that shop as i came with lots of experience and skills.“
Red A Manager “their [managers] personality only is good for business, but not for the people that work under.”
Pret A Scream “One of the things that I absolutely hated about working at pret, was the fact that management wanted you to act like you were having fun and smile at all times.“
Pret A Manager “the staff are great the guys who do the real work. The management suck“
Pret A No Respetar “Los managers son penosos“, “un horror!!” “desastrosa” and “todo… no tiempo libre, no respeto..”
NOTE: I don’t agree with the racism here! But the trend of complaints about management and leadership should be clear.
“Hot Chef Advice to Management: Be human. It’s not your own business.”
My response: That’s what I said once to a line manager who told us leaders that if we don’t like it in “his” shop to f*** off, I replied that he is also only employed by Pret, he does not own “his” shop!
“Brain wash, Control, Never stop…” “Cons: Aggressive and mortify management, brainwashing, mobbing, after working hours NON PAID, if you don’t finish YOUR DUTIES you stay after the working hours non paid… Advice to Management: Respect people that work hard! Don’t exploit them!”
“Assistant Manager Respect yourself don’t let managers to overload you.”
My response: easily said when they immediately threaten with Note of Concerns, disciplinary and job security!
“…also has a motto: FIFO or Fit In or Fu*k Off. I always got the impression that Pret was actually a free-thinking company…but perhaps they are becoming too large too and need to do the conforming thing.“
“Overworked, High expectations, No recognition” “Manager at my shop treated everyone really poorly. Expect you to stay longer to complete your job for free when not enough time is given. Constantly missing hours from extra shifts taken. Have to ask every week to see if they have repaid those hours and in some cases takes months to chase back.”
“I regret working there (don’t go)” “Team Leader who was working with me during the weekends (I was a part timer) was very rude to me , calling me stupid etc. … And I also ”love” how the company itself tries so hard to create this friendly enviroment for the employers by putting these sweet posters around etc. etc. when in reality it is very miserable and stressfull place to work for ! … People working in your company are not robots with smiles on their faces 24/7 !!!”
“Good first job … as foreigner” “Often happen to work “unpaid” overtime to finish daily duties … Limited progression career if you’re not in the state of grace of the Head of your working Area … In many cases I’ve weighed up a big incompetence and lack of skills between Team Leader and Assistant Manager’s position.”
“Demanding. Can be fun” “High demands not in line with pay, lack of support, inconsistent training, stressful/poor work life balance”
“horrible management, super biased” “super biased managers most of the girls in my store are from the same place even the assistant manager and FOH so they tend to group together against people they don’t like even if they don’t know them. … make sure the store isn’t just a bunch of biased friends that if you aren’t part of their group they’ll make your life hell”
“Horrible experience” “Lack of communication b/t managers and staff. – Immature workers – Slave-like environment – Biased behavior – Too strict on simple task. Advice to Management: Work on communication and stop treating co-workers like robots.”
“Team Member” “my location had a rude manager who cleaned up her act after I tried relocating. There is no HR, just a recruitment team who will give you phone numbers to where you wanna go. Overworked for sure; management expects perfection for their weekly shopper. You’ll be running from the basement to the first floor, between tons of customers, and up to the second … “
“The one thing that did frustrate me and ultimately caused me to leave was the way it dealt with the enthusiasm troughs. In fairness to Pret, I left 8 years ago; so this may have improved since but in my experience the company was not good at dealing with people’s frustrations. There was a strong message for people who were frustrated with something and couldn’t get it resolved – leave! I saw a number of people become shunned and passed over if they had feedback which wasn’t entirely positive. Often people left disgruntled having started out as the desirable happy employees. I suppose in someways it was a useful self selection process – when I became frustrated with a few things and felt threatened that my feedback would fall on highly judgemental ears I knew it was time to leave – leaving the happy people behind me. “
My response to this review: This person left in 2008 out of frustration, I started in Pret in 2008 and can only say in all fairness to Pret, that it gotten worse.
“Great company, but will take advantage” “Rude young team members and too many managers in 1 store. Advice to Management: Cut back on all the chiefs we need more indians” – My speech for 10 years!
“Team Member” “Multiple Supervisor – Confusing Leadership … Lack of leadership … Add some structure & look for ways to encourage workers to work hard and have fun without risking their jobs”
“General Manager“ “Very racist upper management. They make you work 60 hours per week and they don’t pay you for it (just basic salary). They don’t appreciate your work no matter how good you are. Tendency to promote british managers than american ones. Advice to Management: Open your mind towards american managers. stop racism that is happening to workers. Get involved with the employees and don’t let the operational managers act as they own the people.”
“cashier / hot chef” “Some managers are very anal! The customer is more important then workers. Advice to Management: Listen to your employers suggestions!!” – (I think they meant “employees”)
“Great things preacherd, not always practiced” ” If you are a Pret Person, quirky, and in with the right crowd, you’re golden. If not….good luck. Pompous and thinks too highly of itself.”
“Pressure is crazy especially if you work in the kitchen. … Paperwork is excessive at times. Advice to Management: Reward those who work hard for you and give them a raise. Catch them doing the right thing and praise, and dont just discipline the bad”
“team member” “stressful environment, too many people trying to overpower others. Advice to Management: think like a team member and your key roles to understand success of the team”
“just terrible” “Discriminatory management. Unprofessional atmosphere … Abusive staff. Don’t just promote the people that you like, promote the people that are the most qualified.”
“working at pret” “Lack of accountability … poor management.” (Absolutely!!!)
“Long hours, unrealistic expectations…” “Unrealistic targets, little support, long hours. Advice to Management: Stop changing everything all the time with poor execution“
“Terrible experience…”“Cons: Pretty much everything is a con: -lots of stress -under payed -long hours/ short brakes -terrible management -really unflexible schedule.”
“Spoiled, selfish upper management…” “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.”
I will shorten the comments now as this is never ending… Links can just be clicked and read….
In an Imaginary but Honest Interview with Pret I made up the acronym of what Pret stands for: PRET is a four letter F-Word spelled F E A R which stands for: Fire Early At Request. Or one can say Fret.
@Pret, at any company, please treat your people right, as a team leader I have shown you that when you treat your team right, you will still be successful and the money comes in and the team feels truly respected. You don’t want people like me who raise the standard while still treating the team good. I was too loud for you, and yet, if you would have protected me in the darkest time instead of continuing to put me under suppressive management, I would be writing a completely different blog now.
Thank you for reading.
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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.
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.
“… in The New Republic, Timothy Noah observes that the sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger aggressively monitors its employees’ displays of enthusiasm. If any worker at any particular store seems insufficiently pleased to see their customers, he and all of his coworkers could suffer the consequences. Pret CEO Clive Schlee even monitors whether his employees are making enough affectionate physical contact with each other.”Link
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4 our of 5 points even while being served in 15 seconds. Sorry dear Misery Shopper, that the team didn’t serve you in 1.5 seconds to get 100%.
“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.”
1. Team Member are not paid the first 2 – 3 days, depending on age, when sick, having to make constant decisions if to stay home and lose income, or if they are fit enough to work while ill.
2. After this comment I found myself in the office being told off by the manager. No question of “how are you”…
3. I couldn’t smile at times after I buried my brother and my manager again had no mercy. And when I smiled and the MS made excellent comments, there was NO recognition from the managers.
4. Pret A Manger, stop this emotional abuse and exploitation for your millions.
“I felt miserable when I walked in to begin with. I looked at the staff on the tills and they all looked very unhappy and not cheerful at all. To improve, the staff members could be smiling and interacting with each other to liven up the atmosphere.”
After this comment, the never-smiling, moody, shouting manager told the team in the kitchen after this MS report: “Your smile is part of your uniform. You are expected to wear a smile like you wear your uniform!”…
Pret: “We aim to be attentive to each customer’s needs. Rate the engagement level of the whole shop team during your visit.”
MS: “There was a staff member who was replenishing stock and another tidying away after customers left promptly. Before sitting down at a table the member checked my tale and chair to see if they were cleaned properly.”
Pret: “We aim to serve our customers within 1 minute of joining the queue. Were you served in a reasonable time, bearing in mind how busy the shop was and the number of open tills?”
MS: “I was served in less than a minute.”
Pret: “We aim to serve our customers their hot drink within 1 minute of payment. Did you receive your hot drink order within a reasonable time, bearing in mind how busy the shop was?” MS: “I was served my hot drink almost instantly.”
1. The “reasonable” time is unrealistic, staff get so pressured and used to work on autopilot that they ALWAYS rush and panic for every second they may lose to finish any job, especially customer service.
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.” MS: “I was not greeted at the till or given a smile …”
1. On average a Team Member does between 300 – 500 transactions per day, depending on how busy it is and if working in the rush times. 300 transactions are NOT 300 people, 1 transaction can be serving 3 people. So, on average a TM communicates at least with 500 – 800+ PERSONS, plus colleagues, line managers etc. The exhaustion staff members go through, not to mention depression is something the public doesn’t want to know about. I was complemented many times by the Mystery Shopper and customers for my friendly service, attentiveness, professionalism… but they did not know that several times I left my shift headed for the bridge.
2. If the TM is successful and the MS is happy with the overall atmosphere and requirements of the shop, the whole team receives the bonus. If the TM messes up, doesn’t smile or whatever the MS may not be happy with, the whole team loses bonus, and the TM will find themself in the office being told off, at times manipulated with fear management, threatened with a disciplinary and/or ob loss… Even during bereavement, I was summoned to the office and my non-smiling was one part of a list of (small) things I was targeted with.
If any team member, including leaders and managers would have been “outstanding” by giving a free coffee for example or making lots of conversation (kissing butt) that person can receive an extra £100, even if the bonus was lost. And if the score/points were perfect, that person can earn double, £200. That at least was when I was still in Pret in December 2017.
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, 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.
@ Pret A Manger, maybe one day you really really live up to your slogans.
Because otherwise it just bites you in the butt.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
One current Pret employee who found the courage to speak out on the Pret post for the House for the Homeless project. This now has put a target on his back with HR having an eye on him, and I won’t be surprised if he will get an invite for a disciplinary hearing, or an “informal” meeting to intimidate him. But as Pret is reading my blog, they will find something small to hang on him to dismiss him. Don’t look over your shoulder, put your head up, look ahead, and join a Union.
Quote of the day:
“There’s one thing to say. Pret has to look after their own people because whatever [is] going on behind the scenes it’s pretty bad. I repeat myself; Team members are abused by work in terms of quantity of work and responsibilities… Unfair management for sure… I truly understand fear of speaking for people that work in Pret because they need a job…”
Nothing more to add, except: Respect for speaking out! Good luck, and don’t let Pret intimidate you into silence, Ciovica! Join a union ASAP! >>> @bfawu1 or @NSSN_NE or @__PAMSU__among many others …
Link to Facebook commentThe link will load a few seconds and needs to settle before this direct comment appears. This comment from yesterday’s was after the initial comment on the Pret house for the homeless Facebook post that I used for yesterday’s “Quote of the Day”: Pret A Money Hungry
Link, again needs to load before the comment appears.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Some free PR for Pret again with my and other former as well as current Pret employee’s thoughts on the house for the homeless project.
As Pret became aware of my blog in the night from 28th to 29th May 2018 and read my blog, and CEO Clive Schlee always likes to get input from staff and the public on ideas, I posted a blog entry in July 2018 on the cafe chain Social Bite’s project of building a village for homeless people. Of course this may have not been the catalyst for starting a Pret house, but I know how Pret/Clive take ideas and take the credit for it. Clive made the £1000 announcement for all staff in the early hours of 29th May 2018 when he and Pret became aware of my blog. I know how the CEO reacts fast when reputation and profit are at stake, I have seen this many times in his reactions and emails. And I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that this was five years in the making. ONE house started with the help of a multi-million pound company taking FIVE years to plan?????!! … while an unknown coffee chain can build a VILLAGE within two years of planning! I leave the origins for the idea of the house for the homeless parked here.
Today was the DAY. The Launch of the Social Bite Village. 2 Years in the making! 11 purpose built 2 bedroom houses and…
@ Clive Schlee, remember the Permanent Residency application I told you about for the foreign workers when Brexit was voted for? Or you seeing me and my team’s organization of shops and then implemented throughout the company, with pictures of immaculate langars on every shop wall? Or the Mystery Shopper ideas I brought via OPs SN? Or IN THE EVENING when the Grenfell Tower fire happened, you had a meeting and decided to give £100,000 to the Evening Standard foundation for the victims ON THAT NIGHT … I still have the emails. Or my post in August 2018 on “Suicide Sanctuary” and a house for the suicidal… It is good to find ideas and implement, but I know Pret as an organization that only implements support if it helps the business and PR. I’m not the only one having experienced this.
You can decide very quickly if you want to, and then it supposedly takes you 5 years to plan ONE house for the homeless? Really?? Too much bad press in 2018, hey?
This is why I am so critical, not of the house for the homeless, but of the motive behind it. This is very easy for Pret to do, and I wonder why it has taken so long? And why so few “Rising Stars” came through the programme in 10 years?
Only few people on Facebook and Twitter look further than just from 12 to noon and ask Pret why so few. A Facebook comment on the Rising Stars programme in December 2018:
… because it only takes few to fool the public with a marketing scheme to divert from deeper issues …
The answer to why Pret puts them into one shop I write about in my Open Letter to the PFT.
Out of this amount of employees, only 450+ “Rising Stars” came through the program. Pretty low for a company that prides itself in ethical issues and charity. But it only takes a few people for marketing and the public swallows it blindly.
I also commented regarding the house on Head of the PFT Nicki Fisher’s tweet, but within minutes was “shadow banned” again. Twitter is secretly censoring and hiding Tweets from the public as Pret is a paying customer, wanting to avoid bad press and the truth reaching the public.
As Pret had a lot of bad press last year where a few scandals that came to light that where nicely tucked away in the dark, the house for the homeless, or as I rescission it “The House of the Rising Stars” which Pret will again steal from me, but you read it here first, is a much needed boost for Pret’s typical marketing strategy. No, I am not being negative, I just know how dishonest and toxic Pret is, even using a Development Manager from HQ who lost her brother who died alone in his flat, like my brother died alone in his flat. But Pret used her to sanction me for traumatic emailing, and NOT for mutual support. She then entered into private emailing and text messages which was part of me being unfairly dismissed while my dad was in hospital, just out of a coma. This perversion and disrespect for bereaved in their dignity let’s me question Pret’s “charity”. I cover this extensively among other blog entries in “The Perversion of a Toxic HR Department“.
To make this clear, I commend this project and even if I believe this to be a PR stunt, it’s still good to have something in place, even if it’s to polish the shiny Pret facade again that has gotten a lot of cracks lately.
But I want to give my thoughts on why a lot of this is hypocrisy, a cover up of the reality of work conditions behind the facade, and my concerns on how Pret is from the start going about it.
My regular readers know my traumatic story with Pret, but for new readers, please visit the “Mind Map” I’ve created that leads to important blog entries for an initial overview as my blog has grown and won’t be easy to find ones way around the maze of writings.
On this Mind Map click on the little arrow next to a title to get to that blog entry: “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”
I wrote a transcript from the video Pret posted on facebook with comments from a current Pret employee being critical, as staff are not treated as Pret likes to portray to the public.
Transcript in black with my comments in grey:
Resident Mattia: “I was homeless for two weeks. Not because I’m homeless, you are not homeless you are different than me. We have the same right, we need to have the same opportunity.”
This seems common with the Rising Stars who seemed to have been homeless for a short period, as well as most being quite young, not like many homeless people are who are also addicted to drugs and/or alcohol to be able to cope on the streets for long periods of time. I often think of this homeless man Steve, who’s striking photo was taken before he died. His story, a common thread through homelessness, when he lost his son and couldn’t cope. He became ill and died alone in hospital.
I understand that Pret wants to reach those from the streets that are still “easier” to recover, than those who through a longer period have mental health issues, addictions, illnesses and won’t easily get back on their feet with employment. That’s fair if Pret chooses this to get their investment back faster, by especially young people with a short history of homelessness, compared to those who bring a lot of “baggage” on a long way to recovery. But then communicate this, because the public has a visual of those sitting in their 40s and 50s with ripped and dirty clothes, drunk in a business entry at night. That’s what bugs me about this marketing again, to “play” with psychology knowing that the public view homelessness as what they see on the streets in long-term homelessness and addictions.
Now, I don’t minimize even ONE day on the streets, as I have my own experience of having been out a few nights years ago when I was in-between jobs, accommodation, even countries. I don’t minimize Mattia’s two weeks or someone’s ONE night on the streets. What I am raising is the image people have of homelessness and the hopelessness attached to it. And Pret is incredibly good in playing on words and psychology of assumptions. “Natural” food … nope! “Lovingly made in this kitchen” … nope! Customer deaths hidden under the carpet … nope! Staff overtime wages not paid and hoping to get away with it … nope! …
Nicki Fisher, Head of PFT: “So, the goal and the purpose of the Pret Foundation is to alleviate poverty, in particular homelessness and hunger.”
Here’s where I put on the brakes and interrupt the sentence before Ms Fisher even gets started. To alleviate poverty while having employees in shops on poverty wages and stressed to breaking point? One former homeless person working with the homeless points this out bluntly:
Both Tweets also being critical of @wlm_uk, and if it’s true what they say, than of course Pret chooses this kind of charity for business purposes.
NF: “We’ve done that in a number of ways. So, giving (uhm, and throwing) food away at the end of the day, giving financial support to different charities, and through employment via our Rising Stars programme. And now, hopefully through the new Pret house, where we’re going to be giving accommodation to people on the streets who are on our employment programme.
I keep on saying that if I was a former homeless person I would be offended in labels like being called a “Rising Star”. CEO Clive Schlee is known for putting his foot in his mouth speaking too fast before he thinks. Labelling me his “late night girl” minimizing my trauma in emailing, and then having me fired two months after he called me this, with my dad just out of a coma. On autopilot, still blaming myself for my brother’s death and having been a burden to a multi-million/now billion pound company, trying to regain life. I chose that label for my website and social media to “throw” it back at him. The refusal for a non-bullying policy and support for the bereaved is just Pret. A People Business Partners admitted that Pret needs to improve on this after I raised the issue in a grievance appeal’s hearing after having been bullied by superiors:
(Email between HR advisor and PBP about my suggestion and plea for support. But in hindsight this email looks like a pretense to cover their backs. This PBP later in another hearing changed his mind saying that in hindsight he could have been wrong. Pret kept playing games.)
But instead of this, I was continuously bullied, shouted at, and if shouting didn’t work, then excluded from meetings even a Christmas Dinner (!!), information withheld etc. All under Clive Schlee’s and HR’s watchful eye.
Mattia: “They give me my place safe, my privacy.”
NF: “Never done anything like this before, and that’s why our partnership with West London Mission Is really important.”
Jude, Director of Operations WLM: “We have a long history of supporting homeless people and working in the sector, working with Pret in partnership. Start working with the Rising Stars supporting their journey through the Pret programme. We’re all really excited about it as you can imagine.”
Yes, I can imagine as the money donations from Pret is flowing …
Mattias: “They’ve given me a lot, and they gave me an opportunity to start my life.”
I’d like to show Mattias and the other residents what the majority of Pret’s employees are “given” while he is used for PR. How easy it is to take a handful of vulnerable people, shower them with materials, trips and accommodation and then just let them do the marketing for Pret. In meantime regular staff in shops suffer.
Yesterday’s Facebook comment on the House for the Homeless by a shop staff member:
and today:
Link to Facebook comment need to load a few second to see the comment, also need to be logged into FB.
This staff member has now got a target on his back from HR for speaking out publicly. But I underline his every word! And that is why Pret’s house to me is slap in the face of the workforce that are stressed, overworked, underpaid, dropped and let down by Pret’s senior leadership for the sake of profit and repaying the investors. Frankly, throwing their sheep to the wolves!
Dear Clive Schlee, how does this make you feel pocketing £30 million that your hardworking people you were entrusted with brought you? A house for the “Rising Stars” won’t fix the repeated crying out from all the other staff members. The carpet has become very crooked and easy to stumble over.
I am certain that there is not ONE Pret employee who doesn’t like the homeless house project. And I am certain that the workforce in Pret is pulling together in support of homeless people getting accommodation and jobs with Pret’s help. But letting your workers down by driving them to the ground with intense stress and low pay, and then compensate your bad conscience by taking vulnerable people off the streets on a hike, giving them accommodation and low paid jobs, doesn’t cut it, sir.
The public and certainly your staff is not that ignorant! Employees just give you the benefit of the doubt too much, like I did and almost lost my life.
I’m sure Mattias will not be aware of my website, but for the sake of the public and staff, here is the contrast and why the above staff member is pleading and why I am calling out your hypocrisy and diversion of issues.
Pret Reality for many:
Link Former assistant manager went from the kitchen to the streets.
2017 A customer comment in Chicago on a deceased Pret Staff, Dante and Pret in general: “I knew Dante. He was an extremely nice person. That being said, Pret is a horrible company to work for.”
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Clive Schlee, I am glad that you are not my captain anymore!
I decided to do a second blog post as “Pret Poets Society 2.0”, my way to creatively tell the public how harsh working conditions are in Pret where regular staff are pushed and stressed beyond their limits. Pret is excellent in PR and doing charity work to present itself as this great company to the public. But my and many others’ experience is very different behind the scenes. The Mafia does charity work, donating huge amounts to get support. No, I’m not saying Pret is a Mafia organization, even though one review called it like this, but I am pointing out that it is super easy for a multi-billion pound company to do charity work, it’s like flipping a penny in a beggars cup, while behind the facade staff are treated like slaves.
Many reviews below call out the “Modern-day slavery work environment” while public believes staff are so happy, not knowing it’s because of the Mystery Shopper incentive to earn extra £200 if the MS nominates for being extra nice, or they are fear managed when losing the MS requirements. More on this in the blog entry “Why do Pret Staff continue under Harshness?”
Below I listed Staff Reviews / Complaints in categories of their job roles, starting with the Team Members all the way up to Head Office and office reviews.
For a detailed job description on each role please check the first “Pret Poets Society” post. In this second post I want to just go straight into the reviews.
Leaving all mistakes in the reviews to keep it in their own words
and starting with the most recent reviews.
In each job role I highlight a few reviews that really hit the nail on the head.
TM/TM* or unspecified and mixed job roles
30. Oct. 2018 NYC “Go back to the UK, Pret – I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience, HR was mostly a joke, ‘leaders’ displayed zero initiative in mentorship of their teams…”
July 2018 Review on YouTube towards the bottom from Branzinotito:
08. Feb. 2019 Facebook comment on Pret’s House for the Homeless and PR. Need to be logged in to read, but here’s a screenshot:
January 2019 From YouTube: “Horrible place to be , pret a manger looks brilliant to the outsider but poor workers are inslaved … they work hard and they always on edge and being told to be fake and be extra nice and sweet”
23. Jan. 2019 Office: “Poor management resulting in poor decisions. Office culture is working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever and constant office politics.”
27. June 2018 London “I have worked there just 2 weeks and left. Horrible place they shout at you all the time for any little mistake.”
25. June 2018 London “Bad management and not taking care about people – do not give power to irresponsible people”
13. June 2018 “Hellhole – … you treat people like they’re useless and worthless … get down from that high horse you’re on.”
21. May 2018 London “People will dominate you until you feel like resigning the job.
Supervisors/Team Leaders treat you like a slave.”
15. May 2018 “you are not seen as human – even when you are having a bad day you must smile – fake atmosphereThey treat you like a smiling robot slave that has no life outside of pret. People have come in for a coffee and a sandwich, not a 5 star Michelin restaurant experience, if thats what your going for pay your staff better.”
18. Apr. 2018 “lack of good organisation – management is a joke – numbers are more important than people”
13. Mar. 2018 “The management is terrible. Thassit.”
21. Jan. 2018 London “We have to be smiling a being polite to a bunch of unpolite people. At least give us the London Minimum Wage”
12. Jan. 2018 London “Never ever! I like Pret just because of people – colleges and because of free food, on the other hand most of the customers was rude and absolutely not thankful for service. I hate all managers,what work for Pret”
23. Dec. 2017 “high rated company – low salary, too much pressure”
10. Dec. 2017 “super biased managers most of the girls in my store are from the same place even the assistant manager and FOH so they tend to group together against people they don’t like… horrible training and won’t listen to employees – Advise to Management: make sure the store isn’t just a bunch of biased friends that if you aren’t part of their group they’ll make your life hell”
25. Oct. 2017 London “Will be leaving soon – Always messing up pay
– If you’re even 2mins late, ITS A BIG ISSUE! (& you will miss out on weekly bonus)
– Expect too much from you (work you like a slave)
– Everyone speaks their own languages
– Be more understand to staff needs
– Train managers regularly (especially with confidentiality)
– Employ more staff”
18. Oct. 2017 London “Overworked environment – Cons: Many of them. People are treated inhuman way in terms of sickness and work load. Employees are being treated more like robots than human beings so all the company values presented in academy are just crap. Whats more they promote you for more advanced roles without paying you for that. So you become a barista or a hot chef and they delay sending you for a training to save money.
tart treating people like people.”
10. Oct. 2017 London “rude behaviour at the workplace (kitchen manager shouting at everybody) … The training should be more about encouraging people than about shouting and shaming them.”
06. Oct. 2017 NYC “Lack of communication b/t managers and staff.
– Immature workers
– Slave-like environment
– Biased behavior
– Too strict on simple task
Work on communication and stop treating co-workers like robots.”
03. Oct. 2017 NYC “my location had a rude manager who cleaned up her act after I tried relocating. There is no HR, just a recruitment team who will give you phone numbers to where you wanna go. Overworked for sure; management expects perfection for their weekly (Mystery) shopper.
Welcome your employees, request a bigger staff…
Also, managers shouldn’t be rude. If someone knocks on your door, answer politely and return the courtesy. Don’t leave your new team member working extra hours since the schedule wasn’t fully explained to them.”
11. Sep. 2017“Not kitchen, food factory – Sometimes the leaders forget that the team members are persons, not machines. Some leaders are lacking politeness, consistency and character. Not everybody has to be a leader who works long enough for Pret and shouts loud enough. Management should assess the personality, the leadership skills and the interpersonal skills before making someone a leader.”
06. Sep. 2017 Birmingham, England “Not sticking to contracted hours- giving you more when it suits them and giving u less when it suits them
Not sticking to actual job roles
You are a full time cleaner part time what you actually applied for putting rotas up literally days before changing rotas without informing you had me working as a barista for two years would not give me training so they do not have to pay me correctly Advise to Management: quit”
28. Aug. 2017 “extremely rude co workers, unprofessional management, not properly trained however expected to know what you’re doing and smile while doing it.”
14. Aug. 2017 Edinburgh “management have no clue how to manage people. train management team to reduce turnover.”
23. July 2017 “The environment was very stressful as you’d imagine, however it always felt like you’re doing something wrong, even when you are trying your hardest. I didn’t feel I received enough training and when I asked for some more training I was told there’s no time at the moment for that, which made it even more difficult for me to be a better employee.
Working in a high demand environment like Pret can be difficult, this on it’s own will motivate the workers, there’s no need for added stress and pressure from the management.”
22. July 2017 London “Strong favouritism – Only comfortable place to work if you belong to certain races – Should practice fair treatment to all staff… team leaders who all happened to be from the same country they came from… Team leaders act like they owe the shop and do and eat whatever they like and telling team member a list of food that not included in staff free food – Management should swap team leaders and managers to other branches”
15. Juni 2017 NYC “Very bad management. They treat you like a slave. You have zero value for them. They don’t recognize your effort. They thread us and show the door if we don’t work very fast. I wonder what kind of manager training they give that manager treats people like crap.” (Little side note from me: There is no to little training, even an OPs who was one of the rare nice OPs, confirmed this once to me when I asked the OPs, as I tried desperately to understand why management in Pret is so appalling throughout the board!)
29. May 2017 “Bad experience – Manager was rude, short tempered and enjoyed shouting at employees. Treat your employees with respect. Be polite .”
28. May 2017 “Cliquey environment… Horrible staff, didn’t care about anyone who wasn’t from the same cultural background and extremely dismissive management who were rude and unhelpful. ”
27. May 2017 “Bad managers… Learning to communicate politely is important.”
Pros: Hmmmm hard one. I would say free food. If it wasn’t for the 20 word min I wouldn’t have said anything else Cons: Multiple Supervisor – Confusing Leadership Lack of leadership
Add some structure & look for ways to encourage workers to work hard and have fun without risking their jobs”
07. May 2017 London “Management doesn’t listen or care. High staff turnover. You get paid very little for what you are expected to do. Invest more in team building and ensure proper training. Have proper career advancevent opportunities.”
25. Apr. 2017 “Not for British people or young people. Very strict at some stores. Big divide between team leaders/managers and team members. Managers just want their massive bonus will work too like a slave. Relax it’s coffee and sandwichs”
(No it’s not coffee and sandwiches, it’s massive bonuses and huge profits)
17. Apr. 2017 “unskilled managers, racism, bad pay, they take advantage of staff”
21. Mar. 2017 London “lazy managers high demanding ops – Advise to management: take good care of the team”
10. Mar 2017 “Stress at work … poor management … Stress people less”
04. Feb. 2017 “Highly defensive personalities amongst management and very difficult to collaborate in order to improve and develop. I would advise more training for people in positions of responsibility.”
12. Jan. 2017 “strict hierarchy, …team leaders are bossing and frustrated – take it easy”
10. Oct. 2016 London “It’s a Trap – Huge stress. Never stops. Brute customers… Shouting all around. listen to your employees. Say something nice from time to time. Don’t insult them!”
10. Oct. 2016 “Stressful. It’s like a china factory. They ring a bell to tell you when they want you to clean or to go to the till, leader use to shout people.”
29. Sep. 2016 “Poorly trained management. Too much dependency on skillful employees.”
26. Sep. 2016 London “Worst first day experience – Pros: Nothing at all….. Not even a 0.0005 star – Cons: Management don’t speak one bit of English – Staff in the kitchen don’t speak English – It’s really hard to communicate – Lies about family team vibes – They don’t recruit you for your work ethic – Ethnic and racial issues (if you don’t believe me go to few stores ask who’s a white or black British in the team) Hire British people Practice English at work rather than using your language
And stop listening to your fella country boys or girls of their stupid feed back…”
09. Sep. 2016 “Our manager sets up the rota. The only full-time person that is allowed to have a day off on weekends is her, that’s it. Very, very unfair. Weekend is the worst period of the week when we have loads of customers and complaints that we have to deal with.”
01. Sep. 2016 “If youre young and look young (im 17) they will be difficult with youre last payment They always make mistakes like ‘adjust the rota’ resulting in me not being able to work
They dont tell you what you’re entitled to food wise Some of the management are rude or never show up
The team leaders make younger employees do the worst jobs”
09. Aug. 2016 “There are no appointed qualified trainers there like you promise beforehand, why say it then? You just have to learn as you go from your colleagues”
23. Mar. 2016 “Years – Takes advantage of your kindness”
07. Mar. 2016 UK “I just feel very strongly that the general public view of this company is very far off from the truth – I want to be as loud as possible here – PRET DOESN’T CARE.”
03. Jan. 2016 USA “Slave work, they ask for a lot of work for a little bit of pay… food isn’t actually naturalBe kinder to your employees they are not slaves”
22. Dec. 2015 London “The other team members are really nice and welcoming – Managers are a pain”
11. Nov. 2015 London “they need slaves for work and they are very bad – manager was very bad he was all day on face book in his office”
16. Oct. 2015 “Bad management who talk to staff rudely, and yet don’t do their jobs properly”
04. Dec. 2015 London “Brainwash, Control, Never stop, Last time shift – Aggressive and mortify management, brainwashing, mobbing, after working hours NON PAID, if you don’t finish YOUR DUTIES you stay after the working hours non paid… Respect people that work hard! Don’t exploit them!”
15. Oct. 2015 NYC “Great Things Preached, Not Always Practiced – Relies too heavily on UK influence, and has difficulty adjusting to American tastes and culture. If you are a Pret Person, quirky, and in with the right crowd, you’re golden. If not….good luck. Pompous and thinks too highly of itself.”
11. Oct. 2015 NYC “Sandwich artist – Terrible hours and poor management and training some people are complete jerks to the new people the expect you to know how everything is made in less than a week of starting the job” (Sandwich “artist”? Pret’s American slogans… LOL)
01. Sep. 2015 London “the good payment is not enough for getting worse my health (my back and my heart). l am with anxiety all the time, working in a tiny kitchen in a HORRIBLE atmosphere!!”
26. July 2015 London “Nothing you do there is appreciated… Horrible atmosphere and you feel too much pressure all the time. Please treat employees as humans not as robots! It seems like you enjoy making people unhappy.”
23. June 2015 Part-timer: “management talks to you with little respect.”
20. June 2015 NYC “Pressure is crazy especially if you work in the kitchen. Sometimes they want you to do more then your job description. Paperwork is excessive at times. Reward those who work hard for you and give them a raise. Catch them doing the right thing and praise, and dont just discipline the bad”
28. May 2015 “stressful environment, too many people trying to overpower others – think like a team member and your key roles to understand success of the team and the shop to be successful, or fail in profits and likeability”
24. Mar. 2015 London “If you want to work in a happy enviroment without being bullied then whatever you do DON’T work for Pret Early hours – Being bullied – Total disregard for health and safety – Being made to feel incompetent – Worked into the ground without empathy”
18. Mar. 2015 “Lack of accountability … Poor management”
26. Dec. 2014 “Terrible experience one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had – Pretty much everything is a con -lots of stress -under payed -long hours/ short brakes –terrible management -really unflexible schedule”
25. Dec. 2015 “Long hours, unrealistic expectations, high pay – Unrealistic targets, little support, long hours – Stop changing everything all the time with poor execution”
07. Jan. 2015 NYC “Spoiled, selfish upper management has ruined it for the rest. 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. get over yourselves.”
26. Dec. 2014 “Terrible experience one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had –Cons:Pretty much everything is a con -lots of stress -under payed -long hours/ short brakes -terrible management -really unflexible schedule”
15. Dec. 2014 London “Team Leader who was working with me during the weekends was very rude to me, calling me stupid … There is a a HUGE pressure on having a BUZZ in the shop, which made me feel like a clown and also in my opinion made very fake atmosphere in the shop.”
03. Dec. 2014 “Manager at my shop treated everyone really poorly. Expect you to stay longer to complete your job for free when not enough time is given. Constantly missing hours from extra shifts taken. Have to ask every week to see if they have repaid those hours and in some cases takes months to chase back.”
11. Nov. 2014 NYC “Horrible,OverWorked For The Pay,Bad Management And Bad Treatment Felt Like A Slave”
31. Oct. 2014 London “not a good culture. every manager dictates his values to the team.”
13. Oct. 2014 London “Abuse of power most part of the times – Incorrect wadges, my management doesn’t know what is a calculator or how to read a rota correctly – Pret does rules for itself but it doesn’t mean that you have the right to don’t follow the ones made from doctors or the state, management in my shop has a lack of professionalism.”
11. Oct. 2014 “There’s too much pressure.They overwork their staff with little compensation.Any bad move and you lose the bonus, and the work in the kitchen is incredibly difficult and they stay past their schedule but they don’t get anything for it.Pret used to be about having a happy staff and happy costumers, now it’s just about the money. They keep feeding people this image of “happiness, good times, best place in the world!!” that when you really start working there you become very surprised and disappointed.I quit my job just after 3 weeks because I was feeling physically sick and they gave me insane shifts to do without my permission.
If you see that people are overworked and they can’t keep up with the standards, hire more staff!And there are too many irrational rules to follow.When the staff says that something is “unfair” or “impossible to do” don’t just say “that’s how things work at Pret”.”
31. Aug. 2014 NYC “the management dont really care about employees and all the things they have to do to make them happy they are always on your back about things that is usually their fault
benefits suck..take about half your paycheck
follow way too many standards get retrained”
01. Aug. 2014 London “Too much pressure… Often happen to work “unpaid” overtime to finish daily duties… In many cases I’ve weighed up a big incompetence and lack of skills between Team Leader and Assistant Manager’s position”
30. July 2013 “Brainwashed sandwich making – The company is trying to brainwash you, they expect you to give up your life and be ready for Pret 24/7; they want to use you. There are a lot of favouritism, which leads to promoting incompetent people to more senior roles.
The salary system is completely unfair; people who work for the company for 5,6,7,etc. years get the same salary as a someone who just started a few months ago. The management expects you to do the workload of 2 or 3 people, including doing their job sometimes.
It’s not the NASA, just a sandwich shop, where human beings work, not robots.”
07. July 2014 NYC “long shifts, a lots of heavy lifting and horrible managment”
24. Apr. 2014 “Great perks that come with a price – They expect perfection
– High stress levels when understaffed … – Very little to no leniency on rules”
18. Dec. 2013 “They will hire you even if you do not know the language – Your thoughts are worthless, you are there to keep up with the work. If you want to promote you better be ready to not have a personal life years…..55hours a week to show you are worthy.” (NOTE: Hiring people who don’t know English is so they won’t know their rights nor where to complain to)
08. Oct. 2013 NYC “Pret was a stressful and busy job that seeks perfection and expects you to actually be perfect”
29. March 2013 NYC “Heavy workload, borderline demeaning, discrimination. Maybe a bit more respect towards your employees?”
02. Oct. 2012 “hard hard working culture, to much pressure to be working 100% every sec. make it easy”
20. Apr. 2012 London “The moral is terrible and … being overworked. The idea of proper training is also rediculous – Most people are taken in under promises (including being a front of house or kitchen person but then dumped where they are needed and not where they were promised) but find that often by day 2 or 3 are thrown on a bench on their own in the kitchen and nagged at due to not being fast enough”
16. Aug. 2011 “Careless – understaffed. and unfair decisions made by management. most of your employees don’t look forward to working there because you are staring them down every second. they make one little mistake that doesn’t affect the restaurant what so ever and act like it’s the biggest deal ever. happy employees make happy customers.”
21. July 2011 “Pret doesn’t care about workers. The most important is business, profits. That’s why they cut working hours and made you work harder.”
19. July 2011 NYC “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.” (The full review says everything!)
04. July 2011 “Poor senior leadership due to lack of experience … Promotion and staff recognition based on personal favourites rather than competence and experience. Quite clicky. Favouritism at the top has to stop and start to recognise talent at middle management. Like the social hierarchy, this sphere of the staff population seems to be the ones who get screwed over the most, often talented individuals are overlooked for promotion.”
20. Apr. 2011 A woman’s review on her husband who worked in Pret:
“Interesting comments. My husband now works for pret and is being treated so badly by his area manager. I am astounded that they can get away with it. It seemed like such a nice place to work but it’s like some kind of sect… ”
My response: they get away with it because it is systemic and they are trained to treat staff like this, for more and more profit.
— 4 months later: —
“Further to my previous comment about my husband having problems with his area manager. They stitched him up good and proper and fired him…this was done in such a way that they found a couple of things to hang him on which wouldn’t normally result in him being sacked. They clearly did all of this because he was going to put in a grievance against his area manager for bullying (he was talked out of this and thought it had all smoothed over) and then wham!The company disgusts me – how they could treat an employee with a wife and 2 small children like that I don’t know. The management of this company are pure evil.”
“Regarding the area manager, yeah they just sit on their fat bums all day, and email on their phones or look at stupid graphs. End of the day its about increasing sales, meeting targets and reducing labour. They will always cover there own backs first, to watch there bonuses, and not care about the workers.
A lot of managers i have met, are complete arrogant snobs, that know nothing about even running a store, yet alone trying to explain things to you, they sit on there high throne, and blah blah blah things.”
08. Jan 2011 “DISCRIMINATION in PRET A MANGER!!!!!!!!!!?”
2008 Review that shows it has always been like this in Pret!
05. Sep. 2008 “I’m an ex-Pret employee so have direct experience of this engagement. I can vouch for the truth in Sam’s comments. The happy people philosophy was one I always adopted when recruiting new people and it made a difference to the way that we worked. The one thing that did frustrate me and ultimately caused me to leave was the way it dealt with the enthusiasm troughs. the company was not good at dealing with people’s frustrations. There was a strong message for people who were frustrated with something and couldn’t get it resolved – leave! I saw a number of people become shunned and passed over if they had feedback which wasn’t entirely positive. Often people left disgruntled having started out as the desirable happy employees. I suppose in someways it was a useful self selection process – when I became frustrated with a few things and felt threatened that my feedback would fall on highly judgemental ears I knew it was time to leave – leaving the happy people behind me. ”
NOTE:My response to this review, the person left in 2008 out of frustration, I started in Pret in May 2008 and can only say in all fairness to Pret, that it’s gotten worse.
“I knew Dante. He was an extremely nice person. That being said, Pret is a horrible company to work for.”
Hot Food Chef (HFC)
11. Mar. 2018 London “Hot Chef – setting up the hot food production, dealing with sales and wastage as well as taking many responsabilities. Pressure and plenty of targets.”
21. Jan. 2018 London“Really hard work with Really bad management, it’s same in all shops, people think that a job there is a challenge making bad to the other colegue. Hot chef position has lots of stress, pressure – Be human. It’s not your own business.” (Bingo!)
31. Oct. 2016 London “Worst place – The team is nice, some team leaders are stupid and rude…! Management lives in another world. Absolutely less stress and please cut the roles because looks to work like slaves. Terrible experience.”
22. Feb. 2016 NYC “Some managers are very anal! Listen to your employers suggestions!!”
Barista / Coffee Maker
30. Jan. 2019 “Busy and stressful environment whit no support from management. Forget about contracted hours! You will be doing overtime most of the time, as there is a lack of staff nearly in every Pret”
01. Nov. 2018 NYC “horrible management – management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to a manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral.”
12. June 2018 NYC “Nothing but aggravation and a discriminating HR – fire the HR staff you have now and replace them with more educating indiviuals and ones that dont discriminate”
05. Dec. 2017 London “Dear Lord, protect me from ever need to work for Pret a Manger ever again. Amen. For this company you are numbers, robots, machines, you are no humans.”
12. July 2017 “Over worked and Aweful Mangers – *everyone complains how much they hate this job *managers dont care about standards (manager was too lazy … (he’s mostly in his office so he gets paid to sit and do nothing because he has his leaders do majority of his work)”
12. July 2017 “If you want to follow the company standards, you need to have enough labor. Do not kill your employees.”
24. June 2017 London “Poor management, really short breaks, work longer hours, not equal distribution of tasks for cleaning/closing shop.”
19. Dec. 2016 Edinburgh “Would not recommend … Managers do not care about they team. Never get 2 days off in a row. Practice favoritism”
13. Mar. 2016 “Hard work all the time and high pressure – More people-orientated management needed in the shop”
16. Nov. 2015 NYC “Act a little more like management and a little less like the employees. I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
16. Nov. 2015 NYC “The management plays favorites more often than not. Also, if you are overweight, older, or unattractive you can forget about even getting past the interview stage (exception often made for relatives of said favorites or management). Key roles and shift leaders must have open availability, which makes it impossible to have other employment. Overtime isn’t allowed often, and managers often send employees home early if it looks like that 40 hour mark will be passed.
Act a little more like management and a little less like the employees. I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
29. Sep. 2015 London “The Brainwash is real. 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. managers/team leaders are not properly trained when it comes to simple communication. … (A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period). Get some proper training regarding real people skills.”
12. May 2015 Chicago, IL “just terrible – Discriminatory management
Unprofessional atmosphere
Osha standards not met
Very Low pay
Abusive staff Don’t just promote the people that you like, promote the people that are the most qualified.”
Team Member Trainer (TMT)
20. June 2018 London “Not for sensitive people – Very stressfull environment (especially at back of house) Come to your shop at weekends from time to time to see how it’s look like when it’s understaffed”
13. Apr. 2018 London “Fun, but stressful and not worth it – Unattainable goals
Very short breaks / irregular – Poor management and under-trained Pret A Manger has cut down on staff so theres more a lot more of things to do and not enough staff to do everything, so employees are being worked harder. Management do not have sympathy or care for employees. Managers only focus on their goals and tasks.
27. Apr. 2017 “Work like robot, disorganisation… Listen more to your employees’ needs”
08. Sep. 2016 “Lots of pressure, and work colleagues shouting at you. Starting the shift at 5am. I haven’t got paid. There’re too many opportunities in London so don’t end up working here. They should take care a bit more of their employers.”
20. May 2016 London “Clear talking is just marketing: if they have a bad opinion about you, forget any clear feedback.
A lot of pressure. The workload can be very challenging especially compared with the wage. With a bossy manager your life might become really hard and sickening.
The coffee calling system is messy during busy hours, I stopped thinking to step up as a barista because of that.
I do not give any advice to management, they are always right of course.”
20. Jan. 2016 London “Put same manager know how to organize the team and what you have to do”
01. Feb. 2015 London “This company pays better than most other coffee and sandwich chains, but it expects you to do a lot in return. You are supposed to be happy and smile at all times.”
12. June 2013 Washington, DC “Listen to your employees, some have great potential that needs to be channeled not blocked”
07. Dec. 2010 “Very hard work – No support and respect from Manager”
Floor Leader (FL) / Kitchen Leader (KL)
06. Feb. 2018 London “- huge pressure especially on the higher positions
– working overhours without being paid, no breaks (happened to me only while working on the Team Leader position)
– lack of recognition from your own manager elimitates the opportunity of growth (basically only your own manager can push you up on the career ladder and the reasons for promotions really often seems to be based on personal preferences)”
Definetely have a deeper insght into the progression situation within the shops. You lose lts of amazing people just because they stay unrecognized due to personal preferences of manager.
29. Nov. 2017 London “Look after your people and figures will look after themselves.”
17. Oct. 2017 London “Every shop has less people than required as this affects shops profitability. …managers that come externally, as most of the time, their personality only is good for business, but not for the people that work under.”
14. Oct. 2017 “Slavery hasn’t been abolished. Early starts, rude staff. kitchen leaders are disrespectful. Improve how staff are treated.”
31. Jan. 2017 “Cut back on all the chiefs we need more indians”
13. Nov. 2016 London “Management bonuses are profit driven so hours are cut often The £1 bonus is often used as a threat to keep people in line I would recommend joining a union
Team Members deserve london living wage from a company that has the means to supply it.”
02. Nov. 2016 “Promotion can be down to who you know not what you know.”
06. Aug. 2016 London “Most of the managers are really difficult, they forgot where they come from, please treat the people as human beings, We know the profit and your career are important but you don’t have to be rude.”
19. Mar. 2016 “Bad management – Rotas never placed in advance – Treat people like human beings”
08. Sep 2015 NYC Shift Leader: “hours are constantly changing
pay doesn’t match time sheet
a lot of call outs
team members are constantly training themselfs
train team members longer make sure they are avail to handle the rush”
15. Nov. 2014 NYC Shift Runner: “Your subjected to emotional blackmail and serious labor issues with Most shops being run by Unprofessional and Bias Managerial staff backed by a corrupted HR Dept. I strongly suggest a Labor Union!, so employees that are treated unfair have a platform for their voice to be heard without resentment or the sinuous backlash from your Inadequate Managerial staff & Flout HR Dept.!!!! who support them.”
27. June 2013 Kingston upon Thames, England “Tends to get very stressfull during busy periods with lots of pressure from the management … sometimes late payment of the over time, working 8days in a row according the rota, calls to come to work on your day off … it would be great if employees wont be treated only as a work force that helps make money” (Side-note, this Team Leader sounds like one of the hard working ones who cares a lot and is always called and overworked.)
Assistant Manager Floor or Kitchen
(AMF / AMK)
20. Dec. 2017 London “Avoid working there – Too much pressure working there , company expects you to do all your job within the time you are schedule but it is impossible , you will end up working hours for free, no work life balance at all , they have he mistery shipper but it is all a fake thing you can not control , the standards are so high the only thing it will drive is you stress everyday . Don’t work there . Cons: Extra hours not paid”
26. May 2017 NYC “Pure Misery – 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. Quit your jobs and go back to England and stay there.”
11. Dec. 2013 NYC “Promotions bases on politics, inconsistency In polices , long hours”
09. Oct 2012 London“Too much pressure and managers with poor interpersonal skills. Respect your team, be patient and keep cool under pressure. Be fair to your team members.”
19. Nov. 2014 London “Worst company to work for – Pret was the best company 10 years ago, they were more about the people and it was beat place to work. now the company is just about the profit also it is run like mafia organisation where it is about who you know, the team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear, the way the company is going it will not last long.
Get back to basic, care about the team and always listen to the little people, also be open and get rid of some top management who are so corrupt.”
General Manager (GM)
07. Juny 2018 A former Senior Manager’s response to my review:
03. Feb. 2018 “High demands not in line with pay, lack of support, inconsistent training, stressful/poor work life balance”
11. Mar. 2017 “Pret A Manger Reality – Long hours, inexperience Operation Managers.
Companhy values have been lost along do way, bonus scheme not very fair.
Pay raises no fair either, You don’t get reward for results and work ethic, just if you have a close relationship with your Operation Manager, you are the new hot of the month.
Listen to your people more closely, massive turnover on Pret Managers at the moment and everyone just ignoring the reality, huge unhappiness amoung the managers.
Create and fair and competitive process for development.
Opportunity Network for Pret employees, just another flawless (meant flawed) tool at pret, most of the vacancies have people already for them, they want to create an illusion you can develop yourself.
Focus on team members it’s essential, but managers dictated the success on your shops, and drive passion to the team.
HR doesn’t protect the managers.
PIP, pret Partners only people, whom have friends already in, not related if you can contribute to the company, just based on relationships.”
(NOTE: HR doesn’t protect anyone unless it suits Pret’s business.)
15. Nov. 2016 NYC “Toxic, low class, unprofessional culture – Racist, non-inclusive environment that upper management and hr are fully aware of but ignore.” (NOTE: worth reading this review in full!
25. May 2016 USA “Very racist upper management. They make you work 60 hours per week and they don’t pay you for it (just basic salary). They don’t appreciate your work no matter how good you are. Tendency to promote british managers than american ones.
Advise to Management: Open your mind towards american managers. stop racism that is happening to workers. Get involved with the employees and don’t let the operational managers act as they own the people.”
31. Oct. 2015 NYC “Horrible training, too many lies. Training sucks, people are treated like crap. Upper management do not care about you, will never recommend this company. Bottom line as a British company they treat employees as machines, they don’t care about how they feel, expect too much for too little. Horrible environment. Treat people with respect and appreciate their hard work. Stop using your British mentality when it comes to deal with people. You’re people are horrible at this.”
20. Apr. 2015 Chicago, IL “Manager- horrible upper management, unrealistic goals, promotions based on politics. Favoritism with management – Hiring is based on looks – All push with no support – No integrity – A lot of show and dance for support center and president/ceo Your employees will respect you if you offer genuine support. It is all about what your shop looks like when the CEO is in town. Stop favoriting managers, no one respects you for it.”
01. Feb. 2014 “Great company in risk of ruin! Please get the bullies out and revive Pret to its former glory. Used to be the most amazing company to work for, a job to be proud of. Now your people work in fear…..its time to listen!”
23. July 2012 “I am an ex GM (10 years service) I walked out last year as I couldn’t take the way we had to treat TMs to achieve ever increasing demands for profit and efficiencies.”
HQ London or Offices in other Countries
19. Dec. 2017 London Former IT Analyst: “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.”
28. Feb. 2017 NYC Former Purchasing Director: “One of the oddest work experiences. Worked their during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.”
Facebook Group started in 2011 by former employee, which is hard to find as Facebook on behalf of Pret hides any bad press (censoring).
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 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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Two tweets late on 08.02.2019 to Nicki Fisher, Director of the Pret Foundation Trust had my account be shadow banned again.
That’s no a problem, because my writings are still tweeted from other accounts.
I am just raising awareness that Pret is trying to hide the truth of how it is behind their facade.
This is a brand new example of the two Tweets that got my account censored and banned again where my Tweets from that account is not visible to the public, while still visible in my “Tweets and Replies”.
I made screenshots in case Tweets are completely deleted at some point.
This is Nicki Fisher’s Tweet I responded to. You may or may not see at the bottom “View more Tweets”, but if you click on it, there’s nothing for any viewer. And yet, there is…
Initial Tweet by Pret’s Nicki Fisher: (some free PR for Pret 😉 )
When you scroll down you cannot find @LateNightGirlMe (now changed to expretDOTorg) Tweets.
Direct link to my first Tweet from @LateNightGirlMe (now expretDOTorg) that got hidden minutes after I tweeted and was then shadow banned, probably from Nicki Fisher reporting my Tweet to Twitter to censor / hide it to avoid bad press:
1st now hidden Tweet but still there in my “Tweets & Replies”:
Link The 3:49 PM time is American, it was shortly before or midnight to 09.02.2019
On this 2nd Tweet I am referring and linking to a Tweet from that day, is from a former homeless person who works with homeless now and sees through the bull-crap Pret is doing:
This blog entry is to show how Pret tries to hide how staff are treated from the public.
@ Nicki Fisher and Pret in general, if you are reading this, you can report me to Twitter every day, my Tweets reach people via other Tweets. My blog is busy as ever, people reading about the true Pret behind the facade.
I have become a campaigner and I will never stop speaking out against your systemic workplace bullying. Your pretense in charity while not protecting bereaved employees who are working for you for many years, and what you have done via your Development Manager LiWa, who lost her brother like I did, but you used her not to support me, but to sanction me. And than she crossed boundaries as well, because that all she knows in Pret.
You can pay hush money to people, report me to Twitter all day long. This will not go away, until you address this with courage and be the leader and “doing the right thing” that you boast to be and do.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
… is CEO Clive Schlee in terms of PR, marketing and presenting a well polished facade. But the CEO is not the best thing that happened to staff. Him being approachable and friendly is acting while staff suffer and are being fooled. I am a former Pret employee of 10 years and have survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement under Pret’s leadership. My interview on a podcast at the bottom of this page.
No matter how many customers died, a third nearly fatal allergy reaction, several hospitalized and multiple ignored warnings: the CEO will fix every mess with an approachable smile.
Clive Schlee labelled me his “late night girl” and I survived his “friendliness” to publicly speak about my ordeal and many other staff complaints I collected onto one page: Selected Quotes and long List of Reviews and comments on the web.
How easy it is to take a few former homeless people who are vulnerable and easy to be manipulated, taking them to Schlee’s PRivate PRoperty in Austria for a hike, or going to Stone Hedge and now giving them accommodation and a low paid job, separating them from regular shops, as quoting Schlee they don’t want to keep them “too exposed” being slow to “integrate” them into regular shops.
In the meantime regular shops are harsh places with poorly trained bullying managers who are tasked to reach high target and profit, so that Mr. Schlee can pocket his £30 Million. So, what does he compensate this poor treatment of staff with?
Yep, good deeds via charity.
I posted several blog entries on the facade that Clive Schlee like the Ronald McDonald Clown does for McDonald’s, Clive does for Pret. Clive is the good cop, shop management are the bad cops, but all have one goal, squeeze as much “productivity” out of staff to maximize profit. And in all this throw in some good works and lots of free coffees for customers (that are paid by raised prices) and the public is hypnotized and lulled in to sleep.
With all things in life where we want to believe a facade and are shocked beyond believe when the quiet neighbour next door who was always so involved in the community turns out to not be what everyone around him believed. The truth always comes to light about a company, person, system, ideology…
The “Fallen Stars” of Pret – Regular staff have a different story behind the scenes. Yes, there are good shops and good managers as well, but I worked in over a dozen shops and have only worked with 2 maximum 3 managers who were good and “normal”. The majority is terrible management.
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in —> Pret Staff Complaints
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather 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.
I may not be a Guardian or New York Times writer, where the public easily believes the Press and find it hard to believe a report on the appalling work environment a person’s inside knowledge shares publicly.
I write as an insider of Pret A Manger having worked on the front lines of a stressful and discriminating workplace. I have survived workplace bullying even during bereavement which I write extensively about on my blog and Social Media as well as share for the first time verbally on a podcast (at the bottom of this page).
I experienced Pret, especially CEO Clive Schlee as dishonest, shop managers as bullying and excellent in hiding this profit-driven behaviour behind the PR[et] facade. Like neighbours who hide abused and smiling children behind a beautiful house, but when the truth comes out, everyone is shocked. Really? No, I’m not comparing Pret to the smiley Turpin or other abusive families, what I am pointing out is the age old trap, where people fall for a facade of a friendly looking leadership and PR. I just use an EXTREME example to make a point of how things can be hidden in broad day-light. Behind the “happiness and smiles” in Pret is the Mystery Shopper and the £100 incentive if staff are extra nice. And if Mystery Shopper results are bad, staff are “motivated” through fear management. Sorry to burst the bubble on the happiness illusion in Pret. I cover this extensively in “How Companies force Emotional Labour on Low Wage Workers“.
Customers see how stressful it is in Pret, but have been so conditioned an plainly spoiled where they are happy to wait in Starbucks for up to 15 minutes, but complain in Pret when the coffee isn’t ready in 2 minutes! Pret produced this for high profit, and just very few say something, most customers want their coffees fast and don’t care to look closer let alone mention something!
Rarely do customers point out the stress, chaos and upset they observe. Most just want their coffees, believe the nice facade and off they go:
A village built for the homeless by cafe chain Social Bite. I covered this in 2018.
It is super easy for a multi-billion pound company to do some charity work, like I would flip a penny in a beggars cup which doesn’t cost me anything. And thus Pret, lulling the public in again with good deeds, while behind the scenes it is very different. All the free coffees and product give-away, which is very good customer service of course, absolutely, but who’s paying for these freebies? No, it’s not Pret. It’s customers paying it forward by other paying customers as Pret keeps raising the coffee and product prices. Among other bills prices are raised to pay for all the freebies while staff are underpaid and overworked. The few pennies more that Pret pays staff compared to the competition, is because Pret has no choice as the job is so horrendously harsh and stressful, no one would stay for the minimum wage. But for a team leader who has responsibilities almost like a manager to get £9.30 an hour is an insult! It’s better to work for less pay and in turn less stress.
Schlee tries to compensate this “leadership” style by treating former homeless people (whom he patronizingly calls “Rising Stars”) with kindness and more consideration. In his own words Pret is “careful to integrate” them into regular shops, as the work environment is brutal and may catapult them back unto the streets, further adding cracks to the facade.
While this is a great thing to do, helping people back into work, giving them a beautiful break, by flying them out to his Austrian home, or hike in the English countryside etc., I question the motive behind this kindness. Many staff in the main “population” of the workforce are treated horrendously bad (my own story in the interview at the bottom). People are fired unnecessarily and unfairly, staff become depressed and suicidal. I was bullied during grief under Schlee’s watch and him even being part of my ordeal calling me his “late night girl”, two months before I was fired while my dad was in intensive care just out of a coma!
This contrast to the “Rising Stars” program should make anyone question the true intention of Pret’s “kindness” as I pointed out in my Open Letter to the Pret Foundation Trust. It is like what one reviewer compared Pret to a “Mafia” organization I posted in Pret A M*ffin. No, of course Pret is not a Mafia organization, but what does a Mafia organization do best? They rule in every corner of a region, give money to the city and charities, to school projects and hospitals, and of course to the police and politicians. Even the press is influenced, while the Mafia is getting free range and their backs covered to build their organization and destroy lives. So, I can empathize with this reviewers comparison.
Quote from his blog about the Rising Star program and the idea for them to run a shop entirely by former homeless people:
“Our shop idea lost momentum when we returned home. People pointed out that we didn’t have enough Rising Stars at a management level to actually run the shop. Others felt we might be leaving them too exposed, as we are usually careful to integrate Rising Stars into our shop teams.”
The CEO gave himself away again, knowing very well how horrendous work conditions in shops are, pushed by his profit-driven agenda, especially since private equity took over, to repay the investors on the backs of low-paid workers. They who work double for a few pennies more.
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in —> Pret Staff Complaints
The News reports on Pret supporting a house for the homeless and patronizingly labelling former homeless people “Rising Stars”, is another typical “initiative” that looks to me like the usual diversion Pret likes to do from the allergen deaths, not acting on labelling until customer deaths became public. This should send alarm bells through the public who is easily put to sleep with freebies and PR. Other crisis of the company that the public is being informed are:
4000 Pret staff in the U.S. gone to court for unpaid overtime (TWICE in 4 years) and the illegal practices Pret used. Pret Staff in the UK also are not paid overtime and have to constantly chase their wages. I had to do this all the time as managers tend to “forget” to pay the correct hours worked… I collected those complaints from many staff reviews on “Quotes of the Day” selected staff complaints. Countries like New Zealand as of recent years criminalized “wage theft”. The UK is way behind this issue that is rampant.
Many Staff Complaints that I collected onto one page linked to other review websites, YouTube, Twitter etc.
My own story that sounds like out of a twisted Hollywood movie, except that I have all the written evidence, and Pret’s only reaction is to report me and let Twitter hide my public posts.
And other issues.
Pret keeps reporting me to Twitter, Facebook etc. to let them censor me by hiding my Tweets from the public. This secret censoring is called “shadow banning” and the public for most part is unaware this exist, many don’t even realize they are shadow banned. Facebook even deletes PRIVATE messages where I link in the message to my blog here. Check Twitter hashtags #ShadowBan #ShadowBanning #StopShadowBanning #TwitterCensorship etc. Also, google James O’Keefe undercover journalist who infiltrated Twitter with hidden cameras on the issue of shadow banning.
And as Pret reads my blog, the £1000 announcement for all staff came on 29. May 2018, the night when Pret and the CEO Clive Schlee became aware of my blog. They also learn as I have given Clive Schlee himself several tips on things he then implemented and took the credit for.
There are companies that have done for many years what Pret does now. A coffee chain Social Bite that built a VILLAGE for homeless people. Or the Timpson shoe repair & key cutting company, a family business since 1865 goes into prisons since many years recruiting ex-convicts. They even train prisoners while in prison, so that when they come out they go straight into Timpson employment without being “in between” in danger to re-offend or fall through the cracks.
Timpson aims to employ 20% of ex-prisoners. Many ex-offenders are in high positions including finance, as they are more reliable being appreciative having gotten another chance. Timpson is also the company that has as one of its slogans: “Great service by great people”…. Pret has their slogan “Good jobs for good people”. And sure, companies always “steal” ideas as the market is competitive. But I always love when people come up with true ideas like Social Bite to really help and make a lasting impact, not just for PR and own gain while Pret’s CEO pocketed £30 million for himself. A house for the homeless is nothing for him to do. It’s a penny in a beggars cup. And Pret staff behind the scenes suffer.
One comment on Facebook in Feb. 2019 by a current Pret staff on Pret’s homeless house post, also points this out that Pret does this to gain customers while behind the scenes it’s “chaos”:
And yes, it’s good to have a house for the homeless and do all these good things. And it is better to do those things even if this is used for PR, but I want to keep pointing out how harsh it is behind the scenes in Pret, so much so to the point of people becoming suicidal, depressed, disheartened as I had close calls at the bridge.
A response from another person on this charity that Pret has teamed up with. With “HB” the person means “Housing Benefit”, rent that is paid by social services for people without a job:
MyOpen Letter To The Pret Foundation Trustand how Pret use vulnerable people for PR, while not giving people with mental health issues a job beyond the trial period despite them being 100% and EVERY product picture perfect. And Pret treating regular staff with unbelievable harshness. I survived to publicly speak about my and others’ ordeal.
If you want to restore or protect your reputation or keep maintaining a nice public image to get lots of customer support (£££), what do you do? You go out and look for the most vulnerable people and placate everywhere your good deeds. Even the Mafia does that, and they do that very well.
And then there are others who don’t do so much shouting about their good deeds as they want to help and not just polish their facade. A Village for the homeless built by Social Bite that I posted in July 2018, and I am always happy to help Pret with ideas. And in the meantime I continue to tell the public how it is behind the scenes, including confronting Pret on a suicide of an assistant manager in 2017, and what Pret has done to me and many others.
Pret can continue to be silent and let Twitter etc. shadow ban me. It always gets more clicks on my blog when I’m shadow banned. Thank you.
UPDATE:
A Tweet today from a former homeless person on the press release, who looks beyond the PR of Pret as they know how it is and the political correct issues they face as they work with the homeless as well:
Link to 2 consecutive Tweets ONE & TWO by former homeless @Homeless_Info that are semi-hidden where one has to click on “Show More”.
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, 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.
I want to address something that I have been part of and influenced under, which many people from the “outside” have asked about, or cannot understand without having been under this kind of work environment.
If you are a new reader to my blog, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”, an overview to my experience as a former employee of Pret A Manger and what I’ve survived under Pret’s leadership including CEO, HR, HQ staff. My story sounds like out of a twisted Hollywood script, but I have written evidence and my open confrontation of Pret on Twitter, Facebook etc. is met with Pret reporting me and letting social media platforms “shadow ban” my accounts. Shadow banning is secret censorship Twitter denies doing, where my Tweets and comments are hidden from the public at times. But I keep writing as I almost lost my life in this toxic work environment.
Regular readers know my story, but as a brief introduction:
I worked for almost 10 years in Pret on the shop floor, for the most part as a Team Leader (Front of House Leader, also called Floor Leader – FL). The kitchens have their own team leadership, Kitchen Leader (KL) responsible for running the kitchen teams and production. FLs are responsible for running the shops. All leaders responsibilities, apart from looking after the teams, is like being a mini-manager. The Leaders are actually the ones who do the real work, where the General Managers (GMs) are often sitting in the office, getting paid for shouting at teams, not being trained properly in people- and leadership skills.
Leaders look after health & safety, do the ordering, waste management, look after customers, work on “busting the queues”, make sure the Mystery Shopper requirements are met, organize the teams and many other responsibilities. In all their hard work they are being underpaid, overworked and always blamed. Many bear under this to rise on the career ladder to become just another complacent manager getting paid for sitting in the office and being off most weekends.
After 7 years in Pret my brother died, which my family and I didn’t know for 5 weeks that he was dead and already cremated! I am still putting the puzzle pieces together, investigating myself what happened, what is fact, what is fiction, why everything was handled so apathetically and carelessly by the police, what legal options I have not able to afford legal aid. The only “consolation” I was given by the police was, that once they rule out fowl play, they are not interested in the cause of death anymore and hand the case back to the coroner. Too much paper work frankly. Of course, would it have been one of their own, they would go to town to investigate AND find relatives before completely “destroying” my brother’s remains! No chance of getting an autopsy even after burial.
I went into a mental war zone that I am still moving in, even though much calmer now, but in my mind I am in a grey wasteland.
What made it even worse, and to this day I cannot believe I went through this, was that I had not only no support from Pret, but was bullied and targeted by superiors under the watchful eye of HR. Some support started after I contacted the CEO having tried for almost a year to raise issues of bullying with HR, unbeknown to me at the time that this put a target on my back. Yes, this sounds unbelievable, and if anyone doubts this, I have plenty of written evidence and confront Pret including the CEO Clive Schlee, mainly on Twitter openly.
Clive Schlee patronized me, having a laugh by calling me his “late night girl” which I explain on my blog. But now they neither respond, nor do anything except letting Twitter and Facebook secretly censor me (shadow ban) by hiding my posts from the public and even isolating my account from supporters where I don’t get notified at times of their Tweets.
I also want to point out the fact that Pret did not act on numerous customer warnings regarding allergen labelling, even after TWO customers died, a third nearly fatal and several hospitalized over time, that should send alarm bells through the public.
But this is another blog entry on how the public is lulled in with slogans, sweet-talk, free coffees (that are funded by prices being increased) and an approachable CEO with a smiley facade. I question even if he really is behind all “his” tweets as he told us once that he has trusted people who answer mails for him when his work load gets too much. And as I have emails from the CEO and know how he writes, I doubt he’s behind all his tweets. But that’s not important and I leave it as speculation.
So, the main issues I want to point to can be found as I linked above to the overview: “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”
Also, to start I want to link again to the Pret Staff Reviews & Complaints and Selected Quotes from that long list that I collected from Employment Review sites, YouTube, Twitter and other websites.
I started in Pret in 2008 just when Bridgepoint purchased Pret and started to squeeze the life out of staff, with high targets to open on every corner. One recent article by The Times briefly scratches on this, “Pret was the best thing since sliced bread but private equity ruined it”. Quote: “To my surprise, I also find myself feeling bothered by the sheer number of Pret outlets in London. … It’s obvious what the owners are trying to do. As one veteran private equity investor put it recently: “We buy a business, work out how many restaurants you can get away with in an area until it’s become saturated, then try to convince a new buyer that there is plenty more runway”.”
I remember noticing the increase of Pret shops from around 2009-ish on. I cannot compare to pre-2008 but heard that it used to be a little easier, and certainly with much more staff, even though still harsh and fast paced. But all I knew was from 2008 onward. From the beginning I felt the stress, but as I am a hard worker having worked in the food business almost all my life, I just put it down to just being a very busy work environment. Yet, I always told my teams where Pret was their first job, that Pret is very different to all the other companies I worked in three countries over the years.
I had a life, I had friends, projects, all the usual things one enjoys. I managed to not take the stress home too much, although was complaining to friends a lot. And here is where a lot of people also make the mistake, I often narrowed it down to me being very efficient, passionate about everything I do, and thinking I just expect too much. With expecting too much, I mean that to me very normal things like: integrity, honesty, hard work, communication, training etc. was a given. And in my previous employment I either did not experience any bull-crap or I was completely ignorant of it. I don’t know. All I know is I never had issues at work.
I expect a lot from myself and often thought that my expectations were too high. So, I stood back and made the mistake to come under intense stress and harshness. I always understood that leadership has in its word and meaning “lead”. We all lead by example, no matter if good or bad example. But in Pret I and colleagues were always perplex about the lack of integrity of managers, the lack of efficiency and care. But you go on, do your job, go home and have a life.
I used to visit 3, 4 and at times 5 events per week. I am a sucker for live gigs and music in general. I visited over 100+ concerts, theater productions, museums, art events in 5+ years. I traveled, especially visiting family in Germany and friends in the U.S. where I used to live. I was extremely active in my personal life. I published a book of German texts, worked on projects for other artists, enjoyed dinners and cinema with friends. And even while Pret was stressful, I managed often to shrug off the harsh management, complaining to friends, but getting on with my personal passions.
And then my brother died.
What happened then, I would have never ever imagined could happen. I knew Pret was a tough place to work in, but I am no stranger to hard work and just got on with it. Again, I had the wrong expectation to assume Pret would support me as a longtime staff member, or as an employee, no matter how long my service. I write extensively about the bullying I went through while already traumatically bereaved and in shock.
During the main issues of being targeted I applied for my employee file as I tried to understand why the harshness even during bereavement kept happening. One of the emails by a People Business Partner, who responded to a mail from an HR advisor who was the note taker of the first grievance appeal’s hearing against a bullying line manager. I said in the hearing that there is no support and the HR advisor passed this on. Later in another grievance hearing this PBP changed his mind after I pointed out his email. He then said that maybe in hindsight he made a mistake.
It was a complete fog and confusion. In hindsight a lot of this was “gaslighting”, making me think that I was the problem, making me think that I was not bullied, even with all the written evidence I presented, they pretended I was not bullied. In another Tribunal where the Judge ruled unfair dismissal, the Judge also concluded that Pret’s grievance and then appeals hearings were “fundamentally flawed” at the top of page 10 with the check marks. I also went through flawed hearing after flawed hearing which I cover in other posts. And the PBP saying that in Hindsight he made a mistake had me speechless and in a Twilight Zone.
The email regarding my pointing out the lack of support:
So, him changing his mind later in a hearing after I pointed out his email, was just another typical way of Pret leadership playing games. But I just crumbled again and again.
My system just switched into autopilot, while working extremely well and making the mistake to approach Pret’s HR with suggestions on how to better support bereaved staff. Little did I know that by doing so, I put a target on my back. Only now do I understand why so few people approach HR as Prince William points out after some research they have done, that only 2% of employees approach HR regarding mental health issues. After my trauma with Pret I understand why so few try to raise awareness and/or make suggestions to HR.
I wrote it somewhere before that I still would approach any HR department again, but this time not alone and not without a note-taker, as Pret “lost” an important document which I applied for in my file. Their note-taker took notes that would have proven that I had no support. But because I never experienced anything remotely of a hell I experienced in Pret, I always approached leadership alone, knowing I act with integrity, came with open hands, but I had to learn my lesson hard.
This is why I write so bluntly and intensely now and have a zero tolerance on bullshit!
But during that time, I blamed myself for having been bullied, I blamed myself for being a burden. I even apologized for a nervous breakdown I had in the office during a team brief after being shouted at in front of my team, two days before the first anniversary of my bother’s death. I put it down to my own grief and what psychologists call, “sibling survivor guilt” having survived my brother. I always knew how well I worked, and it is not cocky when I say that I was one of the best team leaders. I know how well I work and I know all the feedback from my teams, customers and Mystery Shoppers. But when you work under insecure management who pretend that your work is never good enough to pull you down on their level, it’s a constant struggle to figure out what’s going on, why are you not promoted, but held low etc.
I am not a psychologist, but I know that human beings are prone to come under a cloud of suppression and get used to it because they have pure intentions and blame themselves. This is being taken advantage of. One Pret Assistant Manager review highlights the lack of self-respect here very clearly:
“Respect yourself don’t let managers overload you”Link
But Team Members and especially Team Leaders have no choice, because they are manipulated and often subtly to even openly threatened with their job security. Or a very common tactic is to give them unfavourable shifts where the manager knows that a TM either cannot work, or does not like certain shifts. I was given the minimum contracted hours after I lost my savings when my brother died. My boss knew that and rarely gave me more hours to work, even though I asked many times. There is so much manipulating control going on and bullying has many facets from right out shouting at staff, excluding them, withholding important information, transferring them to difficult shops setting them up for failure etc.
I went through it all during bereavement and only in hindsight can I see how much this was a plan under HR in hopes I resign. But I didn’t. I even declined 4 settlement offers if I resign and never speak about my ordeal, 3 offers while still working in Pret and the 4th via Acas when I filed a Tribunal claim, but withdrew because my dad just died in the middle of preparing for the case. I collapsed and knew without legal aid I could not mentally see through a complex court case.
Not having signed my rights away, I buried my dad, went under for a couple of months, and then decided to go public.
Another Assistant Manager’s review (I leave the mistakes to keep it in their own words):
“Avoid working there – Too much pressure working there, company expects you to do all your job within the time you are schedule but it is impossible , you will end up working hours for free, no work life balance at all , they have he mistery shipper but it is all a fake thing you can not control , the standards are so high the only thing it will drive is you stress everyday. Don’t work there.“Link
The Mystery Shopper, or as I have renamed it the “Misery” Shopper, is the driving force behind the expected happiness. When I left Pret in Dec. 2017 the reward for an individual staff member for being extra nice when the Mystery Shopper witnessed their special service is £200 tax-free. Even if the team loses the bonus, an individual Team Member can still earn up to £100 on top of their wages. With the bonus and perfect scores = £200 when the Mystery Shopper nominates them for their “outstanding” service. This is why staff are constantly smiling, chatting and giving free items in the hopes the MS is around witnessing this or even better, be the recipient of this extra kissing butt.
And customers are so impressed with the constant “happiness” of staff not realizing that staff have financial incentives, especially when giving free items away in hopes the MS is present receiving or witnessing this generosity.
Financial incentives when successful, and fear managed and micro managed when not.
A Tweet from the former Pret employee who was fired for having started a Union:
Different Mystery Shopper excerpts. Pressing Ctrl & + enlarges pictures for easier read, and Ctrl & – to decrease size again.
I was told off in the office after the Mystery Shopper comment on me having coughed as I had a slight cold:
“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 their age. So you had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager as I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS. When we were sick we were never even asked by our bosses how we were! Nada! And when we happen to serve the MS and cough, not even then, just put downs constantly as managers rely on the MS points which count towards the biggest chunk of their quarterly bonus.
Yes, the extra cash is a good reward and gives great customer service. But firstly, not all are motivated by financial incentives, especially while being stressed and pushed on a daily basis. And secondly the flip-side of this is, that when staff don’t smile and the Mystery Shopper comments on it, or customers flock to Twitter with complaints, staff find themselves in the office or other back room, away from customers and get told off. And then they are commanded to smile. I mentioned it in another blog post that the most ridiculous telling off I and my team received after losing bonus as no-one smiled, was where our non-smiling and moody boss said, “Your smile is part of your uniform. You are expected to wear a smile like you wear your uniform…”
He also said that we need to leave our problems at home etc. I was in the middle of a grievance appeal’s process due to my former line manager openly bullying me, and still coming to terms about my brother’s death. I will not get into this particular shop further, but teams are getting conditioned to this type of “emotional and mental abuse”, and yes, I call this abuse!
The press called this “emotional labour”. Quote:
“… in The New Republic, Timothy Noah observes that the sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger aggressively monitors its employees’ displays of enthusiasm. If any worker at any particular store seems insufficiently pleased to see their customers, he and all of his coworkers could suffer the consequences. Pret CEO Clive Schlee even monitors whether his employees are making enough affectionate physical contact with each other.”Link
This pressure not only from Mystery Shoppers and Managers but also from cutsomers who quickly run to Twitter and publicly at times even naming staff members, not thinking for one minute that Team Members are human beings who might be going through a hell they don’t see! I smiled, gave freebies, was complemented on my service by customers, and after my shift went for the bridge.
3 years of good service, then ONE incidence and this lady blackmails Pret with losing her business. This then is fed back to the manager who pressures the TM or even the whole team:
I responded to some of these Tweeters on why they call out hard working staff’s names publicly, not even bothering how intense working on the front lines in Pret is:
Fear management, manipulation, exploiting vulnerabilities and good will of staff etc.
I often ask people if they really believe or even bother to care if Pret staff can smile, show a happiness, friendliness and being polite for 6, 8, 10+ hours EVERY day in a fast paced, intensely loud and stressful work environment.
So, why do staff subject themselves to this and continue for years?
The answer is not simple but manifold:
For one, most are foreign workers who are glad to have found a job after leaving their debt-ridden country behind. They have kids to feed in hopes they will have it better one day.
Often people think that with time it will get better and certainly once you climb up the career ladder. At least I was under this illusion as I’ve never had problems in other companies and kept giving Pret the benefit of the doubt time and time again.
Many staff members have the ability to just keep their heads down, play the game and unfortunately many play it on account of hardworking people.
Other times it’s just simply assuming this is just the way it is, and they just get on with it, not realizing how damaging it becomes for their mental health in time.
I found an interesting Tweet yesterday that shows that even investigative journalists who are under life threatening situations come under this:
I used to ask like many people do why battered woman who are beaten and abused by their husbands/boyfriends stay so long in a toxic and violent relationship, often for decades before breaking out.
After what I have been through during already traumatic bereavement, I don’t ask that question anymore. I for one became extremely vulnerable, I was emotionally broken on the ground so-to-speak. I was in a fog of shock and grief, still functioning on autopilot, trying also to distract myself, exhausting myself physically to cover this excruciating pain of loss and unanswered questions. I was often literally begging my bosses and HR for help, I became ill with emailing, irrational. I started to have panic attacks, the first ever which happened in my sleep! I woke with or from a panic attack thinking I had a heart attack.
I even tried to find another job, had a trial day, but either I overdid my work or I didn’t sell myself well, or both. I was lost in where to turn, couldn’t take off unpaid leave as I had no financial means, having lost my savings after my brother died, running errands, traveling between Germany and London etc. A friend of mine understood when I gave up hope and thought I could never find another job, she said to me that it makes sense that I stayed with Pret as this is the “devil that I know” compared to the devil that I did not know in a new company.
Many battered women partly take a long time to leave their violent “partners” as this is what they come accustomed to.
How I survived my Pret ordeal having had several close calls at the bridge, I don’t know. Partly it may have been the intense anger I had because of how my brother’s death not only happened, but was dealt with, and certainly I didn’t want to put more grief on my mum. Added to that how Pret had nothing more to do then try and get rid of an inconvenient employee, whose only “crime” was that they became bereaved, while having been a very good asset to the company for several years.
I had many conversations throughout the years with colleagues who felt stuck, scared to know if they can even find another job. And make no mistake about the low paid workers in Pret, many of them have degrees from their countries. I worked with a woman from Finland who had PhD in some technical work which I forgot. I worked with a Spanish woman who was a fully educated lawyer. One colleague from Brazil who was the secretary of the mayor of the small town he lived in. Another Brazilian lady was a bank manager in her town. Many artists, IT people, musicians, I worked with a trained pianist, I myself self-published a book from scratch by myself, financed it, organized it etc. etc.
For most, their degrees are not accepted in the UK, they would have to study some extra semesters. Others lack the language and just work to improve their English to get a start in the UK. Sure, Pret pays a little more, give a few more perks, throw parties etc. But the work they expect is like working for 2 or 3 people to get their Investors their money back plus profit! Labour is cut in most shops to maximize profit and with it managers’ bonuses. CEO Clive Schlee pockets £30 million from the JAB take-over and whatever sums of money all the top leadership get thrown at. All on the backs of low-paid workers needing to feed their kids and pay the bills.
A Barista review just from last week 30.01.2019 highlighted this:
Staff get used to this as this seems the norm and no-one is standing up. And if people do stand up, like Andrej Stopa who was fired for starting a Union, or like I did internally and now from the outside, staff remain intimidated and hopeless. Fear is a huge thing in Pret, and it’s so subtle how one can get sucked in without knowing it, until you are so paralyzed. You’re almost brainwashed by the slogans and harshness. Rarely do people have longevity in raising these unacceptable issues. The only option they find, apart from resigning or getting dismissed, is to give anonymous reviews on Indeed, Glassdoor, Twitter etc.
in 2011 someone even started a Facebook group “I Hate Pret A Manger” which is hard to find even when looking for it, as FB is also shadow banning. But I stumbled on it by coincidence just recently.
I have been contacted by current staff with the plea to not out them, and I never would. But I urge every staff member, even in other companies to join a Union. Take it from me, I had to learn the hard way, but that is why I am now so outspoken and not intimidated anymore, no matter what tricks and traps Pret comes up with. For fastfood workers I can only recommend the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) that has been instrumental in the first ever McDonald’s strikes in the UK that started in the U.S. years ago. Everybody knows how poor work conditions in McDonald’s are. But Pret has been successfully lulling in the public and controlled staff, so people often don’t believe how it is behind the facade when this is pointed out. I don’t blame them. All I ask, if something looks too good to be true, take a closer look.
And the £1000 that Clive announced on 29. May 2018, well Pret became aware of my blog on the night from 28th to 29th of May 2018. I know how Pret’s CEO reacts fast when reputation is at risk! And in October staff were still waiting and forbidden to further tweet or get a disciplinary with the risk of getting dismissed. Well, I’m delighted to have been instrumental for all staff to get an extra £1000 which they usually would have to wait 10 years to receive!
I couldn’t help but spill the beans on that Twitter feed, but most of my Tweets are of course hidden!
If you have read this long blog entry, and indeed some other of my writings, it means you care (apart from Pret that also read my blog ;-] ). But those of my readers who care, I do not take it lightly that people give of their time to subjects that are easily avoided by most people. It is always hard to have ones “bubble burst”. We want to believe a shiny facade, in this case Pret’s facade, that they have so carefully presented over many years.
All I ask is to look closer. Ask questions and give ear when you hear critique or something that surprises you, as we all were knocked over by Pret having been silent about two customer deaths and not done anything until it became public. And most importantly, don’t victim blame the staff who came and come under this harshness. It’s so easy to judge from the outside that they should just get another job! Don’t judge when people cannot find their way out or become hopeless. It needs a lot of support like a Union, friends, professional helplines to get a healthy perspective of what is acceptable behaviour towards decent and hardworking people. It goes faster than one thinks to slip under a workplace bullying environment, especially when it is systemic as it is so rampant today. Amazon for example is one of the worst, and YouTube is full of undercover reporting within Amazon warehouses and drivers.
Yes, many Pret customers also go on Twitter recommending Team Members by name who give great service. But it is even better to speak to the Team Member themselves, because I was told over the years by some of my customers if I received some goodies as they wrote to HQ or Twitter about my service. And most managers don’t even care to tell their staff when a good report is given on Twitter, especially if that Manager doesn’t like the Team Member. Reach out directly, or even in the presence of the manager. Pret does not have time by the amount of daily Tweets to pass on every message, even though they always say they do.
One card with a £20 note inside kept me going when I was in my darkest time in a shop with a bullying manager. The customer who only knew me a few days did not know what hell was raging inside me with my grief and the turmoil in Pret. If he would have gone to Twitter naming me and how he appreciated my service, I would have never gotten this message, as the manager of the store targeted me. But him giving me this card, even if without the money, it meant the world to me and I broke in the office later after closing time because I had moments I was ready to quit and go over the edge… And even though it’s very sad to me that this card kept me going like a glass of fresh water in the desert, but people do not understand how staff feel, in depression, even suicidal.
And this is my campaign to say that every person deserves to be treated with respect and their dignity protected.
Thank you for reading.
I wish I got some contact details from the customer who gave me this card that kept me going to let him know how many times this card reminded me that people care. I read it after closing time in the office and just sobbed.
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.
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UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview. Underneath the interview section are reviews/complaints from current and former Pret Staff.
You can still listen to the interview while scrolling below to the many staff complaints. Links to the reviews open in a new window or tab depending on what’s selected.
On Vimeo:
Or Audio Player:
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
The main subject being workplace bullying, we also spoke about gaslighting, “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general and what to look out for in an interview for a new job. 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.
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 …”
A customer complained on Twitter about how when it is very busy the manager is not helping on the shop floor but sitting in the office. I mention this in my interview as well.
The second Tweet is a response to the CEO’s reply to the above tweet, yet it’s not addressed to his Twitter account nor posted in the same feed as above. I wonder what that’s all about:
NOTE from the start: I myself did approx. 300 – 500 transactions per day depending what shift I was on and how busy the shop was in general. This means I served not 300 – 500 individual people, but more than that. ONE transaction can be 1 customer or a group of people ordering and paying together. Even with one transaction serving a group, you speak with several people about their order etc. So, on average I spoke individually with no less than 500 – 800+ people a day, plus colleagues, bosses, answering the phone etc. Multiply that by how many more are in a team… and one gets the idea of customer flow in a shop, it’s like a train station. I still have some of the reports of the summaries and a chronic beeping and roaring tinnitus…
It depended on how many hours per day I worked and what my job was for the day. If on coffee, I mostly listened to orders but didn’t speak as much directly with customers. Same in the kitchen. But with all the amount of customer interaction, Pret’s brutal expectation for profit is that staff members connect with EVERY customer, smile, eye contact, small conversation. If they fail, they are summoned into the office or anywhere away from customers, are told off, at times threatened with their job security, send out and ordered to smile by a non-smiling manager. I will add an extra blog entry on the mental and emotional strain and what I also experienced, the mental abuse by superiors when the Mystery Shopper report wasn’t as positive (= less bonus for the managers). Pret doesn’t even stop when staff become bereaved as I had to experience so traumatically.
The press called this “emotional labour”. Quote:
“… in The New Republic, Timothy Noah observes that the sandwich shop chain Pret A Mangeraggressively monitors its employees’ displays of enthusiasm. If any worker at any particular store seems insufficiently pleased to see their customers, he and all of his coworkers could suffer the consequences. Pret CEO Clive Schlee even monitors whether his employees are making enough affectionate physical contact with each other.”Link
I can absolutely verify the aggressiveness of this. I still don’t know how I survived.
Further below I listed selected reviews as “Quotes” from the long list of Pret Staff Complaints. These are EXACT quotes linked from various Employment Review websites, YouTube, Twitter etc. as well as my own story regarding Pret A Manger on my Blog here. I left any mistake in the reviews to keep it in their own words. These selected reviews I chose from the many in the above link because I can underline those as I have experienced Pret similar (and even worse).
When customers who are so impressed with Pret because they only see the outside, the facade through the PR(et) machine, when they ask Pret about these complaints, they are too easily sweet-talked into believing that this is just an unfortunate exception. But the truth will always come to the surface, no matter how long it takes.
NOTE:
Since I compiled all the staff complaints there seem to be quite a lot more “positive” reviews appearing, especially regarding “good” management, training and work environment, all issues that is really appalling in Pret and the numerous reviews speak about. If there are fake news, I am not alleging anything, but there may be fake reviews! Knowing how Pret and their HR dept. work, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone writes these reviews.
And since I compiled these complaints, the Pret website as well as the CEO’s has as the main pinned Tweets the “good” deeds Pret & the CEO are doing, again excellent working PR(et) machine. There are good managers and good shops of course, but the management style in Pret to pressure for more targets and profit, is poisoned throughout the company. And in time the truth will always come out.
As true reviews will always continue on the same lines of horrible and bullying management until this changes. Pret does annual staff questionnaires that are at times manipulated by management. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if some are leaving fake reviews.
In the meantime, click on ANY of the below reviews and read the same from different years, even days ago and different countries, in a nutshell: bullying, discriminating management, over worked, missing pay etc.
There are also a lot of complaints regarding being overworked for extra time but not being paid for it. I can verify this as I had to chase my missing hours for years! Pret Staff in the UK and elsewhere should do what over 4000 Pret staff did in the U.S. with a class action suit regarding missing pay.
This review from a former London TM from 13. Aug. 2018 makes this very clear. I called this “Quote of the Day” entry the “Wage Watchers” Program in Pret.
UPDATE end of Nov. 2018: An undercover investigation sparked by my blog. Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror went undercover in Pret after reading my experience and my suggestion to go undercover to see for herself. She “only” worked a few days in the shop, not the kitchen, and can’t do an in-depth cover like my 10 years in Pret and the below reviews. But it is a good start that scratches the surface on how it is behind the scenes. My comments on her findings in my blog post:
“Undercover Under Pressure in Pret”
#04 Threat A Manger “Very bad management. They treat you like a slave. You have zero value for them. … They threa[t] us and show the door if we don’t work very fast.”
#05 Pret A Fear “Please get the bullies out. … Now your people work in fear.”
#06 Pret A Mistake “Horrible place they shout at you all the time for any little mistake.”
#08 Pret A Blackmail “Your subjected to emotional blackmail and serious labor issues”
#09 Corrupt A Manager “Worst company to work for … the team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear.”
#10 Kiss A Bum “Managers treat you poorly, they are racist and discriminating. If you want to get promotion you have to sleep with someone and kiss manager’s bum.”
#11 Pret A Squeeze “Management is trying to squeeze you like a lemon …. no weekends off, not even 2 days off together.”
#12 PR(et) A Manipulative “Manipulative and exploitative approach to employees … Genuinely fake and dishonest company.”(Former IT Analyst’s review on Pret’s Head Office)
#19 Pret A Machine “Horrible training, too many lies … people are treated like crap. Upper management do not care about you … they treat employees as machines … Horrible environment.”
#20 Bad A Manager “Bad management and not taking care about people … do not give power to irresponsible people”
#21 Pret A Slave Stressful and dominating … Leaders treat you like slaves.
#22 Pret A HaRsh “HR problems, employee is treated really badly…”
#23 Pret A Smile “you are required to have the widest fake smile on earth”
#24 Rude A Manager “Management and some members of staff were extremely rude and patronising”
#25 Pret A Bad “A shame that such a big company is becoming so bad day by day.”
#26 Pret A Push “Little training was just pushed at the deep end as soon as I started the job”
continued below…
#27 Pret A Manager-Ex: “I am an ex GM. I walked out last year as I couldn’t take the way we had to treat TMs to achieve ever increasing demands for profit and efficiencies.”
#28 Pret A Hell: “if you treat people like they’re useless and worthless, they won’t work so well anymore … TREAT PEOPLE PROPERLY!!!! get down from that high horse you’re on”
#29 Pret A M*ffin “…team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear … now the company is just about the profit also it is run like mafia organisation where it is about who you know … get rid of some top management who are so corrupt”
#30 Pret A Robot “People are treated inhuman way in terms of sickness and work load. Employees are being treated more like robots than human beings”
#31 Pret A Joke “You have a limited time to do your job everyday but this time limit is a joke. they give me the next rota just the day before the week starts.”
#32 Pret A Nothing “didn’t learn nothing as i have things to give to that shop as i came with lots of experience and skills.”
#33 Red A Manager “their [managers] personality only is good for business, but not for the people that work under.”
#37 Pret A Scream “One of the things that I absolutely hated about working at pret, was the fact that management wanted you to act like you were having fun and smile at all times.”
#38 Pret A Manager “the staff are great the guys who do the real work. The management suck” (review by a manager)
#39 Pret A No Respetar “Los managers son penosos“, “un horror!!” “desastrosa” and “todo… no tiempo libre, no respeto..”
#40 Odd A Manger “company going in one direction and then the opposite” (review from a former Purchasing Director, NYC)
#41 Pret A Scam “This job is a scam you work hours and hours and it never matches your check”
continued below…
#42 Pret A Shady “really shady company. They worked us off the clock and would be quick to transfer even there best workers over favoritism”
#43 Pret A Blame “overworking envornment , discriminating HR , unprofessional managers”
#44 Pret A Bos(s)ton“No person deserves to be traumatized or stressed to death by work. Current laws do not address interpersonal cruelty at work.”
#45 Pret A Powerkid “whichever is your mental state, you have to be happy and smile…you can also suddenly be under the powerkid that is mainly rude,… setting up your rota to damage your personal life just for fun, or shouting at you in front of the others…”
#46 Pret Abusive Staff “Discriminatory management Unprofessional atmosphere Abusive staff”
#48 Pret A Mouthful “The positions are hardly worth it for the pay you get. Better off being a team member if you don’t see Pret as a long term career prospect.”
#49 Pret A Cutting Staff “Poor management and under-trained … Pret A Manger has cut down on staff so theres more a lot more of things to do and not enough staff to do everything, so employees are being worked harder. Management do not have sympathy or care for employees”
#50 Pret A Not Worth “Not Worth The Stress … Either stop cutting hours or stop giving teams a ridiculous amount of tasks to complete.”
#51 Pret A Brainwash “There are a lot of favouritism, which leads to promoting incompetent people to more senior roles.”
#52 Pret A Mental Abuse “Hostile work environment … mental and verbal abusephysical violence in the workplace”
#53 Pret A Horrible “Extremely stressful managers dont know anything and drama every day. People need to know how to take responsibility there. I wouldn’t work there.”
#54 Wage Watchers Progam at Pret “Keep track of your own wages – left with more than £100 owed to me which I had to claim back! … I was made to feel like I was in the wrong and spoken to rudely.”
#55 Pret A Exploitation “You should probably consider buying industrial machines to make sandwiches instead of focusing on exploitation East-European employees.”
continued below…
The Pret A Manger Staff Uniform Cupboard for a perfect smile all day long.
#56 Pret A Mask “Team member 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”
Dear Misery Shopper, Team Members are not paid the first 2-3 days when off sick. If you’d pay staff sick leave, they will stay home and cough!
“request people to show a ‘fake’ happiness” … “you are required to have the widest fake smile on earth”
#57 Pret A Shout “…all they seem to do is try to create robots that operate at 100mph and have no personality … I’d sacrifice a paid break and a free lunch for a decent environment to work in where I’m not shouted at daily, and made to feel sub human.”
#58 Pret A Condescending “Insure management respects the workers and don’t be condescending on them, please don’t act over controlling in respect to ensuring we work like robots”
#60 Pret A Modern-day Slavery “When you follow [the points and rules] they then moan that you are to slow and need to hurry”
#61 Pret A Slave’s Company “If someone can’t finish job on time has to stay longer, for free. Common practise is to give someone job to do, just a couple of minutes before end of shift and after telling that “you couldn’t finish on time, because you are to slow.”
continued below…
#62 Pret A Noxious “Go back to the UK, Pret I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience”
#63 Penalize A Funeral “management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral”
#64 Pret A Manchester “need to hire different managers, ones that respect staff. the ones there now, shout at staff, don’t understands there circumstances or disabilities”
#65 Pret A Politics “Poor management resulting in poor decisions. Office culture is working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever and constant office politics”
#66 Pret A Scared “…been given a letter saying that u have not been performing and from that time u will be on risk to be fired”
#67 Pret A Lacking Staff “Busy and stressful environment whit no support from management. – Forget about contracted hours! You will be doing overtime most of the time, as there is a lack of staff nearly in every Pret.”
#68 Pret A Money Hungry Regarding doing charity for the homeless: “The help they do is just for public to bring more customers in. Behind is chaos.”
From only few of these complaints and my own experience, which has almost cost me my life, working in a toxic, unfulfilling, non-rewarding and right out dangerous work environment that gives no room for people being vulnerable in bereavement or mental health issues, behind the scenes it is a very different story to what Pret presents at the front. The annual questionnaire Pret does to ask staff of their experience is flawed as some managers manipulate those, I know of one manager who has been dismissed for manipulating (doing the questionnaire online on behalf of those who did not want to participate), another has been caught by staff, but none has raised the issue.
I have raised a grievance as my shop had a 100% participation in the questionnaire, even though I did not participate in it. The hearing was not investigated properly, and only vague assumptions have been made by HR, but no thorough investigation took place, which would have been easy to be made as I was one of 4 Team Leaders, the external company who held the questionnaire could have been contacted with the shop number that was assigned to my shop to see how many Team Leaders participated and could have scrutinized the wording, as I am very particular in my wording.
So, these anonymous complaints that I gathered will repeat itself on the same lines as linked here. The shiny facade will sooner later crumble, and hopefully things will be truly changed and not just PR and slogans presented. But I doubt it, as money is just corrupting people too much.
I am proud to say that the unions in the UK and the U.S. (with further being informed) are now aware of and having an eye on Pret A Manger that has gotten away with so much mistreatment of their hard working people for so many years. The time will come that even Pret will lose its facade, just as companies like McDonald already did so many years ago. My work is done!
I almost lost my life and am struggling to find my way back to living a normal, anxiety-free life again.
A customer in Chicago commenting on a deceased Pret staff and Pret itself:
“I knew Dante. He was an extremely nice person. That being said, Pret is a horrible company to work for.”
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, 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.
A customer comment on a deceased Pret employee, Dante and Pret in general (Chicago): “I knew Dante. He was an extremely nice person. That being said, Pret is a horrible company to work for.”
UPDATE 09.02.2019 Facebook comment on Pret’s house for the homeless by current Pret staff regarding work conditions:
Link will load a few seconds and needs to settle before this direct comment appears.
Link, again needs to load before the comment appears.
And many more on Selected Pret Staff Reviews from the long but not exhaustive list of Staff reviews and complaints collected from review sites, YouTube, Twitter etc.
My Advise to current Pret Staff:
If you are a current Pret Employee, especially in the shop and / or kitchen, I advise you to not waste your time trying to change work conditions, nor “fight” bullying, non-caring managers and dishonest HR internally, but join a Union ASAP!
Before I worked in Pret I never had any problems with a company or bosses. Of course I had the usual stresses any job brings, especially the food industry, and a boss here and there would get on our nerves from time to time, but nothing like the hell and trauma I survived in Pret! Nothing came even close! I never ever imagined to be bullied during already traumatic bereavement! Never! My story is like out of a twisted Hollywood Film and sometimes people don’t believe me. That’s fine, I have all the written evidence, have declined 4 settlement offers if I resign and never speak about my ordeal nor go to court. I do not sign my rights away, especially not the offensive peanuts Pret offered!
And all Pret does on Twitter and Facebook regarding my public confronting them, is to report me to Twitter to “shadow ban” me so that my followers are not notified about any new tweets and the public won’t see my tweets as Twitter on behalf of Pret (£$€) hides my tweets.
But because I never experienced anything even remotely bad in a company before, that’s why I made the mistake to give Pret the benefit of the doubt one too many times while clouded in grief and trauma, as this was a first. I was trying to figure out why this was happening to me. In my darkest time during bereavement, when I was so traumatized I couldn’t see left from right and just went on autopilot, I was even bullied on top of this! From my experience with this company, Pret A Manger, and especially their toxic HR department, I can only urge you to join a Union! Keep on writing reviews on Employment Review and other websites, but safe yourself unnecessary pain and time, and join a Union.
In fact any employee should be a member of a Union. Period.
For Pret workers and food workers in general, I can highly recommend the Bakers Food and Allied Workers’ Union. The BFAWU was instrumental in the first ever McDonald’s workers’ strikes (McStrike) in the UK that already took place in the USA, but in the UK they are a vital force in organizing workers who suffer financially, physically and mentally.
My story is spread over this website, but to get to the most important blog entries for an overview, please visit this “Mind Map” I created to link to key blog entries. There you can choose the posts that most interest you to know about by clicking on the arrow linking back to this website / blog again.
Understand, that when you join a Union and Pret knows about it, that they will find anything against you to get rid of you. Andrej who founded the Pret A Manger Staff Union (PAMSU) was fired under the “pret-ense” of allegedly having made homophobic remarks 10 months prior to getting dismissed.
Andrej confronting Pret on the real reason of dismissal.
So, join a Union and speak out, but understand that once Pret knows that you joined any Union, your days in Pret are numbered. But you won’t be alone. I cannot recommend the BFAWU enough and wish I knew this Union when I was in the middle of my Pret ordeal.
President of the BFAWU, Ian Hodson’s much needed words for employees and employers alike:
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
This latest review from 30. Jan. 2019 is what I wrote about in my other blog entry where I suspect fake reviews that are written for Pret. These fake looking reviews all share how short they are, no precise detail, very vague, “fun” appears a lot and identical reviews in short succession to fill up the latest / top spots.
But the real reviews will always keep coming, so I’m not bothered.
And this barista review shares very clearly how understaffed most Pret shops are. Cutting staff to maximize profit. And then customers flock to Twitter armed with photos of appalling coffees, half empty cups etc. Customers don’t realize that staff have 1 minute to serve or risk losing the Mystery Shopper bonus.
I write about this extensively in “Pret A Manger Reviews” and on a YouTube comment on how Pret staff are “motivated” with fear “Pret A Scared“.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Quote of the Day: (Bold highlights by me) from YouTube, currently at the top of the comments:
“Horrible place to be , pret a manger looks brilliant to the outsider but poor workers are inslaved … they work hard and they always on edge and being told to be fake and be extra nice and sweet and if someone is just him/her self he will be taking into the office and will be warned and told off and been given a letter saying that u have not been performing and from that time u will be on risk to be fired or put in the kitchen to work even harder and be threatened! Poor staff are sooo scared that they do what they are being told out of worry to lose job , so if you get free item not because of the staff member is being generous but that’s because of her manager and area manager. Who says to give about 2 to 3 items free on that day and since you are at least showing her that she is still a human she will give it to you rather than a rude heartless customer
This is what I wrote in several Tweets and on my blog that staff are threatened, and depending how insecure they are even get a letter pressuring them to perform better or risk being dismissed. I remember vividly when a new Team Member received a “File Note”, now called “Note of Concern” because our shop lost the Mystery Shopper because he didn’t smile. This Note of Concern was a typical tool of fear management.
Depending on the staff member, some did “only” receive a telling of, others this kind of “letter” or even further a disciplinary which is a secure step towards dismissal. The more intimidated a staff member is, the more these tactics are used. And that is why Clive Schlee, CEO is “careful to integrate former homeless people into regular shops, saying that they would be “too exposed”.
I am exposing WHY this concern is, because Clive Schlee KNOWS his managers as they are trained to work in fear management. A former homeless person being subjected to this management style would not serve PR very well as they are in danger to be catapulted back to the streets as they couldn’t handle this manipulative and harsh approach.
Hence, Pret puts what they patronizingly call the “Rising Stars” into one shop, including former homeless manager, thus showing to the public how lovely Pret is, while Team Members in regular shops have their “stars fall” in fear management, dismissals, resignations etc.
The above highlighted quote also is what I meant when I wrote my Open Letter to the Pret Foundation Trust:
Above quote: “…been given a letter saying that u have not been performing and from that time u will be on risk to be fired or put in the kitchen to work even harder and be threatened!”
Pret plays the game for the public by giving people with mental health issues a three months trial, but after the trial period are not taking them on even though, in this case Sergio from the Brixton Mosaic Clubhouse mental health place, gave 100% excellence and EVERY item picture perfect. He was just too slow and wasn’t even taken into the shop front were he wouldn’t need to be that fast.
If Sergio would have stayed on, he would have eventually needed to be pressured, but that would have gone sour as he would have clearly felt the discrimination. Thus, he was treated nice for 3 months, not taken on and he did exactly what Pret wanted: he spoke well of his experience, not realizing how he was used for PR.
Also, staff are drilled to be friendly, smiley, happy at all times no matter how they really feel as I have survived being bullied even during bereavement. The weekly Mystery Shopper probed if staff smile, give eye contact, make small talk, serve hot drinks within 1 minute etc. etc. etc. Staff switch into autopilot, and I still don’t know how I survived this. I was hard on myself, the added “sibling survival guilt” didn’t help to productively deal with this fear management.
Mystery Shopper excerpts on the forced friendliness and 1 minute service demand:
Please press Ctrl & + to enlarge picture for easier read, and Ctrl & – to decrease size again.
Also, the second Tweet of former Pret employee who was dismissed for having started a Union, scratching on the Mystery Shopper with the hashtag #EndTheMysteryShopper
If Mystery Shopper comments aren’t as favourable and points are lost, and worse even, bonus is lost, TMs find themselves individually in the office or in the kitchen as a group, away from customers, being told off and warned. And then they are being send out commanded to smile.
I will do an extra blog entry on the Mystery Shopper. But the main point with the MS is that the whole team can gain bonus on a list of things the MS is tasks to look out for like variety amount in products selection, cleanliness, atmosphere and especially the service. If one Team Member (TM) messes up the service, the whole team loses bonus incl. and especially the manager. This is done for peer pressure. But if everything is more or less good, the team gets the bonus which is £1 per hour they’ve worked the week f the MS visit. So, if a person worked 40 hours that week, they get an extra £40 on their wages.
This can be increased if an individual TM is extra nice or does something extraordinary and the MS happens to witness this. The TM doesn’t need to serve the MS to get what they call an “Outstanding Card” (OC) which is not a card, but a name for an additional bonus the TM gets. When I left Pret in December 2018 the extra reward was increased to £200. So if the MS is either served by or witnesses an outstanding service by a TM, the MS can decide to give this OC and that TM receives an additional £100. If the points are perfect, that extra bonus for that individual TM is doubled to £200. And that is why customers are so impressed with the non-stop friendliness, because they don’t realize like the person in the YouTube video getting a free cookie every time, that TMs often suspect a customer to be the Mystery Shopper and hope to get that extra cash when being extra nice.
There is a daily budget on how many free items staff are expected to give away. This is what the below person comments on below on their complaint under the YouTube video. And then customers wonder why the price for coffee has been increased twice within a short time. Part for this is that someone has to pay for all the freebies, and it isn’t Pret.
If bonus is lost, managers get extremely angry as the Mystery Shopper reports count the most towards quarterly management and area management bonuses. The money grows the higher the management, the more the bonus.
Needless to say what turmoil and depression some develop being “commanded” to smile, make small talk etc. And customers are so impressed, assuming staff are so happy working for Pret. Again, how I survived this even during traumatic bereavement, I don’t know. Maybe anger kept me going, pressing forward in a complete fogged up mental state.
Today’s quote, a YouTube comment from early January 2019 or late December 2018. This comment shows what Pret purposely did NOT do with Sergio for the sake of PResenting a nice facade and why the CEO said that they are “careful to integrate” former homeless people into regular shops as they would be “too exposed”:
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
I have listed a few customer complaints on Pret’s misleading, and what some call “deceptive” packaging in “Class Action vs. Pret For Deceptive Packaging” and the different versions from Pret why this happens. But the list below is just the tip of the iceberg. Not all customers flock to Twitter with photos, and I worked in Pret knowing how common this issue is.
One of the last and most ridiculous reasons Pret gave has been deleted after Pret read that blog entry.
In this blog entry I just want to give a visual throughout the years, briefly touching on the lawsuit and again the deleted Tweet at the end. These complaints are only the ones customers care to show on Twitter.
A list on mostly cold Salad Wraps and a few Hot Wraps. Plus Pret’s mostly repetitive responses with some change of versions later:
New reason for “air” wrap which was later deleted!
13. Jan. 2019Pret’s NEW reason for packaging “deception” which was later deleted! (After my other blog entry “Class Action vs Pret” and Pret visiting especially on the 14. Jan. 2019).
12. June 2019 This looks like after a team brief about all the complaints on Twitter, so staff spread it out as much as possible! 😀
etc…
.
.
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.
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.
A review from a current employee on Pret’s office management from 23. Jan. 2019. Some people continue to work in Pret and it seems like they’re crying out via Employment Review sites. And as many current and former Pret staff know my website, they know I will add any of those kinds of reviews as Pret is checking my website. Yes, they are, I’m not gonna tell the reader how I know. But thank you Pret for stopping by again! I hope you find some useful things, not to better cover up what you do and sweep under the carpet again, but to truly change how staff are treated behind the facade. It may even save a life! Thank you.
Quote:
“Great brand, poor management”
“Poor management resulting in poor decisions. Office culture is working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever and constant office politics.
Spend more time speaking to the teams and find out what’s going on.”
So, this current employee loves the brand, even has a positive outlook for Pret, and remains an employee, but does not improve of the CEO Clive Schlee. I have to mention here that Pret’s HQ has always been an open space office, even the CEO sits at a desk not hidden away in a closed office. And he speaks to people. This looks good and transparent. So, there is exposure, and the office and people are visible, but even in an open space office you can still play your games and have your pretenses.
And like I mentioned in the Manchester Quote in yesterday’s blog entry that the CEO himself explained in an interview posted on YouTube, that he “really knows his people”. And again, that’s why he has no excuse how the atmosphere in Pret is, be it the harsh, stressful and bullying work environment in shops, or the politics and favouritism in HQ, as well as the offices in other countries. One angry reviewer exploded in late October 2018 about the discrimination of staff in the USA: “Go back to the UK, Pret– I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience…”
And also, true reviews will keep coming in until Pret really becomes what they claim to be as supposedly such a caring and great company. I recently wrote about suspected fake reviews (Oh, oh I sound like Mr. Twitter Champ now!). But I analyzed some reviews that look fake in “Pret A Manger Reviews“.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
This new review from 22. Jan. 2019 gets my attention because of the discrimination I have experienced after having become bereaved, and through the bullying from superiors via HR mentally very unwell. I was shouted at, suppressed, even as a responsible leader for shifts and teams excluded from meetings (even a Christmas dinner in 2017 after I just returned from Germany when my father woke from his coma). I was laughed at, one manager said to me after I was “dumped” into his shop due to the open bullying by another line manager, I was told by my new boss that he “doesn’t want the area to feel sorry” for him anymore … etc. etc. etc.
I cover this in “Discrimination: Physical vs. Mental“. Because I was in the middle of a grievance appeal’s hearing where the grievance that was raised by an HR advisor on behalf of me, was entirely rejected, even though witness statements of the previous line manager shouting at me, and me breaking down, and him sending me out to the shop floor in a broken down state. I was like in a mental war-zone, stumbling through a mine field being “shot” at from all angles while trying to find out what happened to my brother. Regular readers know the story that is spread throughout this website and will turn into a chronological book.
But this new review from a Manchester Pret shop needs to be highlighted and posted.
Quote (I leave any mistakes in to keep it in their own words, bold added by me):
“bad management. rota’s only done 1 week at a time
need to hire different managers, ones that respect staff. the ones there now, shout at staff, don’t understands there cicumstances or disabilities”
I wish I could tell that person that Pret’s management is like this across the board and that the top leadership, CEO, HR etc. know exactly what’s going on, but they are in a bubble up in HQ and flying out to Dubai, Las Vegas, Austria for their parties, and using former homeless people for PR.
Many employees, especially on the shop floor and kitchens assume that the top leadership are not aware of how managers are, they don’t understand yet that the fish stinks from its head. I used to give Pret the benefit of the doubt too much, while deep down knowing and understanding the principles of leadership and how it trickles down from the top, that leaders LEAD by example, including bad example!
That is why the CEO Clive Schlee does his smiley front, compensates the harsh work environment by using former homeless people, visits shops regularly etc. He has no excuse whatsoever to claim that he doesn’t know what’s going on. He always puts his foot in his mouth and clearly showing that he knows his people, quote from an interview on YouTube, from 0:38 onward:
“… overall it conveys a message that the Pret A Manger boss REALLY knows his people, and knows who they are, and not just what they do.”
Yes, he does! And HR know their people, too, that’s why they continued to place me under poor and suppressive management EVEN during the stressful grievance hearings and traumatic bereavement, in the hopes I’d resign. But even 4 settlements didn’t do it, so they eventually fired me. And I survived to publicly write about this toxic company.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
I decided to do an extra blog entry about the issues of “shadow banning” on Twitter and other social media platforms. Many people are shadow banned / censored and don’t even know about it. Too bad for Pret A Manger, because I planned to phase out my Pret “rants” to a great degree but then these shadow bans are like a reminder that I am not doing anything wrong, and the public needs to know how it is behind the PR[et] facade that I survived.
As the whole subject of shadow banning is still relatively new to me this blog entry will evolve and change, as I gather more information adding to this post. Every change I will start with: UPDATE and then the date with it as I don’t have the strength to do it all today. But really want to start on this to draw people’s attention to this issue that is so rampant on various social media services. I am a “regular customer” to shadow banning and should get a loyalty card! I am being banned everytime I post a very direct tweet regarding some dishonest Pret statement or my knowledge from how it is behind the scenes.
I get banned especially when I write about the Mystery Shopper and how staff are drilled to be smiley, happy and friendly ALL day in a highly intense, fast-paced and stressful work environment. And no-one stops to think for a moment how this can be, except very few people. Staff are pressured to serve each customer within 1 minute etc. Customers go on Twitter to commend shop staff, which is great, but they don’t know what really is behind this “happiness” while team members work under fear management, depression, low pay and so on.
“Shadow banning (also called stealth banning, ghost banning or comment ghosting[1]) is the act of blocking or partially blocking a user or their content from an online community such that it will not be readily apparent to the user that they have been banned.
By making a user’s contributions invisible or less prominent to other members of the service, the hope may be that in the absence of reactions to their comments, the problematic or otherwise out-of-favour user will become bored or frustrated and leave the site.[1][2]”
What I don’t like with this definition, though is that the author of this Wiki entry calls the shadow banned user “problematic” as if to say they are a problem or trouble makers, while some may be, but many raise awareness. And while I don’t agree with certain political ideologies, as long as they don’t call to arms or promote violence or discrimination, freedom of speech should be protected and respected. The option to block individual users is always there. And funny enough, in Pret’s case, neither Pret nor its CEO block me! The reason for this is partly because their mentality has always been to collect anything they can use against people in case of a court case. And no joke, the CEO also has learned a few things that I suggested while I still worked in Pret and has taken the credit for it.
Pret is also regularly asking customers for input. But while this seems noble to involve customers in bringing their ideas, I pointed out somewhere else that it is very naive when Pret asked the public for recipe ideas that many people are happy to give recipes away without first having patented it. Thus Pret is making millions on the naiveté of customers! 😀
And I am not blocked so that Pret stays informed about my writings on them. Be my guest Pret A Manipulator!
Twitter lying about not shadow banning:
Quote: “We do not shadow ban, you are always able to see the tweets from accounts you follow (although you may have to do more work to find them, like go directly to their profile).”
In the same sentence they say they don’t and do shadow ban!
My own explanation:
First of all, many other social media platforms shadow ban and to my shock Facebook even deletes links to my blog in PRIVATE messages!! This goes too far and I am looking into options how to approach this, as a normal mail they often ignore. Twitter has ignored my contacting them regarding my notifications of my second account having been completely wiped out!
This link was just a link to my blog. I was able to do this many times before, but since recently, especially since I am aware of shadow banning, FB deleted many of my Facebook posts and some mails. But it doesn’t help, my message is still getting out. But deleting PRIVATE messages goes too far. I’m not a terrorist to be needing such censorship.
Also, I started another Facebook account with a brand new hotmail email address. But Facebook’s bot must have connected the new account to my LateNightGirl “campaign” and when I logged into my NEW and so far unused hotmail account connected with the new FB account, hotmail prompted me to enter my phone number as I supposedly sent a lot of emails. But I haven’t even sent ONE email as the account was a few days old and only in use for FB. So, FB must have informed Microsoft and they all are criss-crossing information! Unbelievable! You are made to be the villain while you raise awareness on toxic companies. Amazing.
Also on my second Twitter account I am since yesterday always prompted to verify with the phone number I signed up with. Usually when this happens it is because I sign in from another computer (different IP address) and Twitter gives the last two digits of my phone number. But since yesterday it seems that Twitter tries to confuse me to see if I have another phone number as it does not give me any digits:
Other Tweeters complain that from their several thousand of followers, hundreds disappeared without any reason. This is the tip of the iceberg that has been going on for years with the majority of people not even knowing this is happening.
But in my own explanation, shadow banning is like you are sitting behind a mirrored glass in a police investigation room, you can see people, hear them talking, but they don’t see or hear you. I found a perfect GIF to describe this:
So, basically the bottom line is that you tweet your heart out, click “like”, Retweet (RT), follow, comment etc. but your followers don’t get notified. People can only see your tweets when they go directly to your “Tweets & Replies”. But who does that except a new person coming across some tweets and is curious what you write about. It would never cross the minds of your followers to go to your Tweets directly, for what, they know they get notified when you tweet, “like” something, not knowing you are banned and behind this wall. Also, others are not notified when I send a direct message (DM) and vice versa. Other times I and they are notified, but I am not notified of new “likes” and responses to my Tweets… partly shadow banned and seems at random. Whoever is doing this just seems to have a laugh deciding one day to ban my likes, other times my DM etc.
Fellow blogger, Niki Flow put it in brilliant words, quote:
“This shadow-banning is nothing more than a loophole around freedom of speech and an abuse of power to silence people whose opinions differ from whatever engineer institutes this ban. Even more chilling, this banning is almost certainly being purchased and used to whitewash reputations and cover corruption.”
From her own blog entry in her comments section: Week 3 Goals
Please check out her wonderful blog and support her, she’s a great inspiration and support to me.
So, on the bans, before I was told that I was shadow banned, I’d notice that my Tweets weren’t visible when I was logged out after having clicked on some Twitter links from my blog for example. I didn’t see my response Tweets to a post on Twitter, I only saw them while logged in. This feels like you’re going mad!! Niki Flow also rightly pointed out that this should be made illegal.
Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey’s hearing in Congress. This part is regarding shadow banning Democrats more than Republicans. The funny thing on Twitter is when I read the below hashtags that ALL sides are shadow banned! So, Trump supporters complain about Trump’s tweets being banned, Democrats complain they are being banned and it really seems like the above hidden camera investigation, where one of the Twitter staff says that he bans when he feels offended from a Trump content for example. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do NOT support Trump, but the way they censor is completely at their own discretion. Now this is the real serious stuff on China, Russia, political parties etc.
This tester is outdated and needs to be reworked. I had conversations with one of the developers and they are aware and are working on an updated version as Twitter is a few steps ahead of this. I was happy to point out a few things on my own shadow bans which they didn’t even know was happening. So, this helps them develop a better program.
I see it in this way now, being shadow banned is more of an honour than a penalty for me. For one, I’m not alone, this happens to so many people if you take a look at the below hashtags on Twitter. And most importantly my Tweets, posts, writings are having an impact. As I am telling my story, not lying, having all the written evidence, and confront Pret and the CEO directly on Twitter, all they do via Twitter is to try and silence me. Well, thank you Pret for admitting that you have a lot to hide.
I also must say that this whole thing, writing my heart out and being shadow banned, has greatly relaxed me. Where I would normally get really anxious, nervous, angry and hectic in the past, especially during the darkest times in trauma, I am now just “chilled” and think, oh well, another ban. Yawn!
And I keep writing in a much more relaxed way. There comes a time when nothing matters anymore.
Please pass on the issue of shadow banning to everyone you know as this is still too hidden. It doesn’t need to be this blog entry, can be only the undercover hidden camera investigation on YouTube, Wiki etc. But please pass this issue on.
Thank you for reading, keep checking periodically as I’ll update with any new issues, as well as precise examples of my own bans with Screenshots, links etc. I will indicate any updates in the subject line with the date I added new info.
Have a wonderful ban-free time, and should you be banned, put your head up and keep speaking out as long as it is for information and the best and well-being of people and animals!!
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Please see IMPORTANT 21.03.2024 UPDATE at the bottom of this page regarding Pret now SELLING end-of-day food instead of donating.
Also, please note I am not updating any more customer complaints/photos etc. as it’s clear how Pret fool everyone via all their slogans on the wall. Please see the YouTube slide below for more more updates, especially during the pandemic.
Pret now use staff T-SHIRTS for their slogans and PR, as they’re called out too much on social media. Pret even stopped posting original posts on Twitter (except replies) as peope mainly post there and too many journalists are active on X getting tagged in. Pret now mainly use Facebook, IG, Linkedin.
The food waste issue is not just in the UK, it’s everywhere where Pret is loacated incl. USA, France etc.
To anyone concerned about food waste in plastic to landfill, please don’t be fooled by Pret’s generic question on social media to DM on “which shop” this is from and they’ll have a word with the manager bla bla. Pret only want customer data for future marketing.
This is bogus, as Pret is very aware, and staff are then told to waste AWAY from customers’ glance. I wasted countless bin bags of what can be seen below due to lack of staff, time etc. Also, there are food bins in Pret kitchens and the shop behind the counter, BUT due to constant lack of staff, there is NO WAY staff can separate all the food from its packaging! £9.75 per hour paid workers are NOT paid for overtime, yet are always manipulated and pushed to work longer without pay.In fact Pret manipulate staff, give them very little time to finish tasks and then pretend they didn’t work fast enough. Then workers are manipulated and fear managed to work overtime for free.
Staff are so exhausted, and they stop caring. Pret settled TWO class actions in New York on WAGE THEFT having had to repay 4000 workers, while the same problem in the UK exists, but staff never have the idea to organize and sue.
New York staff review September 2019 “always getting sued” and expired food:
I can only say again and again for anyone to go undercover for more than a month into different shops and countries to see how vast this problem is. The below photos from London, New York, Chicago etc. is just the tip of the iceberg.
Pret keep saying they have a “fleet” of cars picking up food each night. The former staff laughs for a reason! In my 10 years having worked at Pret in over 30 shops, often in the evening, I have NEVER EVER even once seen an above Pret Foundation Trust car pick up food. NEVER! I did see this car one time during my day off when I walked through Trafalgar Square. But I simply don’t believe that Pret has a “fleet” of cars.
This car is window dressing. I’m sure it does some useful transportation to supply larger events, but picking up food each night is done by unpaid volunteers from charities themselves. If no-one picks it up, it gets wasted in the bin to landfill.
UPDATE 2023:
Since I call Pret’s bullsh!t out on their “fleet” of cars, they now changed their slogans.
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 Mr. Pano Christou, you car-crash of a CEO after 20+ years in Pret!
29. March 2021: Some staff now put Pret food-waste by street waste bins, away from Pret shops to avoid getting caught again wasting food. And Pret plays dumb asking “which shop” this was from, knowing very well it’s normal, just make sure to not get caught!
A Pret staff member’s Facebook post on over £500 worth of food waste, from ONE shop, in ONE day. That staff member went out (unpaid!) to distribute to people. The highest waste I’ve ever logged was around £500 as well! This staff member doesn’t realize that Pret doesn’t care where the food goes, and certainly not that the staff member distributes the food without getting paid over-time.
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UPDATE December 2020
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Pret always pretend 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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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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July 2020 Pret opposite Olc Vic theater in London, I myself took this photo:
The above are only a few of the photos customers bother to go on Twitter to complain. The problem is much larger as I wasted I don’t know how much food in 10 years, not to mention how food is wasted in the kitchens! The main problem is over-production where staff are stressed, pushed and bullied to produce huge amounts in little time… and a lot of it for the bin! And CEO Clive Schlee pockets £30 million after the JAB purchase. So, yes, Pret is desperate to uphold an image of “charity”. But so many issues are way out of balance. Not to mention how customer deaths and ignored warnings were dealt with until this became public… not to mention how staff are really treated behind the scenes and forced to smile for an extra £100 via the weekly Mystery Shopper visits. Or if the Mystery Shopper comments that staff didn’t smile, fear management is used and the threat of job loss as the bonus can be lost…
UPDATE: December 2019
Only one of many such Tweets by a customer who wants more variety. If you click on the photos, tell me if this is really not enough choice. The demands for more choice results in more waste. The customer calls these “empty” shelves! Count the products in there, as well as the variety!
In above photos I counted a variety of 25+ products and around 105 products at least. Sure, it’s 1pm and according to Pret standard they are OUT OF SELECTION, which would lose them Mystery Shopper bonus big time. BUT, in few minutes the shelves are filled again with a lot of products. By the end of the day there will have been an over-production and high waste again. If a shop is out of selection at 1pm, this means they are understaffed OR if they have enough staff, they have a lot of new people who are still learning the products and cannot work fast yet.
Pret staff reviews (reality):
Former TM review from 18. Oct. 2018. The “55 Yes” vs. “0 No” votes speak for itself.
UPDATE: April 2019 further below from the UK and the USA of Pret staff throwing food out even while a shop is still open. Again, if staff are overworked, underpaid, bullied (collected here) … they stop caring and sabotage the company, and unfortunately with it also those in need. I learned from a former Pret General Manager, working for the competition that when he was a Team Member and his manager bullied him and the team, they would throw whole food packages like cakes etc. out while doing the morning delivery checks. They were so angry at the manager that they threw NEW food items straight into the bin that came from the food supplier. They didn’t even mark it off the invoice because they wanted to created a huge unaccounted for the manager to sabotage the manager’s bonus.
As customers again keep going to Twitter with photos, videos and comments about seeing bags of food waste from Pret, instead of this being donated to those in need I want to explain why this is happening more than people realize and Pret wants to admit. I speak from 10 years as former Pret staff throwing countless bin bags of food away!
The Sunday Mirror photo. The most bags like this I remember wasting into the rubbish room at one time was 3 (THREE) bags in one night! Also, because some waste companies pick up rubbish in the morning, bags like this are stored in the rubbish room over night adding to the risk of pest, mice etc. being drawn in, especially over the weekend when there is no rubbish pick-up in some stores depending on the waste company, council etc.
Quote from Amy’s report: “At the end of the shift I apply allergen stickers to leftover sarnies, salads and pots. These are given to the homeless as part of the commendable Pret Foundation scheme. But there are never enough stickers and a bagful of perfectly edible food is binned each day.” (I underlined).
A pretty bleak and stern warning to Pret concerning donating food to the wrong place, as huge amounts are binned every day and donating to wrong places is not helping people to be self-sufficient. Worth watching the video in the Tweet:
Link to video message for Pret. This also shows how production is set too high, staff are stressed with doing too many products for the bin! But as long as businesses like Pret make their millions (CEO pockets £30 million for himself alone!) this waste issue will continue.
In recent years Pret has been one of the trailblazers in giving left-over food each night to charity and people in need. But Pret is not the only one, they are just at the forefront “PR-ing” about it loudly. In the 1990’s I volunteered for a charity and once a week we were one of the places that Boots gave left-over sandwiches to us for distribution. Our day was Wednesday from the charities in the area (Notting Hill). This was in the mid 90s, 7 years after Pret started business in 1983 in Hampstead, was shut and restarted in 1986 in Victoria.
In my 10 years in Pret I don’t even want to think back on the amount of bin bags of food we had to throw away. In the beginning the reason for this waste was that at times charity did not pick it up or some shops did not have a Friday pick-up for example. Of course this could have been avoided by having teams go out to bring the food to places or call other neighbouring areas, as each area has their charities appointed for each shop. Some shops have 2, 3 or more charities who have their delegated day for the pick-up, like my charity had Wednesdays in the 90s with Boots.
But sending out the closing team sounds good on paper, but Pret staff are so swamped with work and exhausted by the end of the day to even bother bringing food out. And staff are not paid over-time while they are being over-worked, understaffed, given so many tasks to do. I was one of the few team leaders who was very organized and helped my teams instead of sitting in the office as leaders like to do. So, we often managed to finish on-time. But still then, we were extremely exhausted to do anything extra “on the house” after 9 or 10pm, while our bosses didn’t care if we worked longer unpaid. Managers in every shop like to cut hours to maximize profit and management bonuses. This in turn puts a humongous strain on staff and they are too exhausted and stop caring.
One Pret employee puts this in clear words: “Advice to Management –Either stop cutting hours or stop giving teams a ridiculous amount of tasks to complete.“
I can relate a lot to these reviews! It always seemed like managers enjoyed burdening down staff, while they sat in the office or left early to go home, not to mention not working on weekends. And the next day when tasks were not done, because team members were swamped unnecessarily with work, understaffed, exhausted, managers held their sermon in the office, telling off mainly the team leader and the team at times as well. It was a lose-lose situation and the point came that I had enough of this and sent my teams home on the dot of when our shift was supposed to finish. After having given overtime many times without pay I drew the line and suffered the consequences of not being the manager’s favourite.
But I didn’t care. My priority was the team’s welfare who most of them have families at home and with the shift finishing at 9 or 10pm they often hardly saw their kids. I made sure the most important tasks like health and safety, cleaning etc. was done, and other not vital issues I left undone. This at times helped because some managers then gave us an extra team member or allowed me to pay my team the extra time, because my managers knew how I worked, that my teams were not lazy, but gave their best every time.
And labelling food for charity started in 2015 or 2016, I can’t remember, but this added to the work load while not getting extra staff to finish all the work load Pret demands. So, with the labelling issue for charity I had to decide to keep to the very end. If we managed to finish important tasks we labeled the food. Many times we didn’t even have enough labels printed, or couldn’t find on the computer where the labels were for printing, or other organizational issues we had no time to solve. If we couldn’t label, I was instructed to throw the food out, even when charities came by and demanded the food! I had to refuse, apologize and explain how swamped we were with tasks but low on staff and not paid overtime. I only managed to give the persons picking up the food, if they wanted to eat something then and there where they had access to the allergen information in the shop.
In the beginning of labelling we would give unlabelled food to charity, but some charities would then complain to Pret HQ that the products weren’t labelled or partly labelled when we ran out of time or labels. Other charities got angry with us for NOT giving out unlabelled food. It was a constant struggle between the fronts. So, I made the decision that if my boss said to not give food out, they have to take it up with management. Little did I know WHY this was so important to label, as we were not informed of the two customers having died from unlabelled allergen hidden in products. There wasn’t even as much as a hint to be more vigilant with the labelling, except to not give food out to charity unlabelled. That was all, but no explanation as to why because there wasn’t any labelling for customers. It didn’t make sense at the time until when the deaths became public.
But to work overtime a few minutes here and there without pay was not the issue for me, especially when emergencies happened like flooding, power-cut, accidents etc. And it was no issue for my teams either. If this was the exception it’s perfectly fine, but in Pret this was the rule and I had to draw the line. If an employer doesn’t care for their workforce, the workforce will not care for the company. Exceptions are always okay, but not exploitation and constant issues like this. And the above review is spot on as I experienced this for 10 years in shop after shop and was one of the very few to draw the line as my teams were always happy when I ran the shift as they knew they’d finish in time!
The lawsuit of 4000 Pret workers in the USA shows this as well: “Pret A Manger Settles Overtime Wage Claim” and the long list of Pret Staff Complaints I collected from various sites unto one page linking to each review. And Selected Quotes that really brings the stressful environment home which I experienced shop after shop with the last 3 years traumatically in bereavement.
But the issue of food being wasted each night, it is a bigger problem than Pret wants to admit. The only way for this to be minimized is for staff to be paid overtime or have enough team members on the shop floor who are TRULY trained, not just on paper, covering for all the tasks Pret expects.
A list of customer complaints, some with photos and video and some Updates on recent Tweets:
This issue Pret responds by claiming: “this is very concerning to hear as we donate our unsold cold food to the homeless throughout the UK. Can you DM us with which shop this was in and some more information on whether it was hot or cold food?”
First of all the constant repeat to get customers away from the public eye into private DM with the question of which shop while Pret knows EVERY shop does that. And to ask if this was hot or cold, Pret knows very well that “egg rolls from the COUNTER” are cold products! But this “pret”-ense (sorry, can’t help it!) of not knowing is bogus, because Pret sets the time for these breakfast baguettes in the morning as for 2 hours of shelf-life.
These baguettes are marked on the back from the time they are made in the kitchen to the time staff have to waste them as the quality decreases and the baguette becomes soggy when not refrigerated. If the OPs manager happens to come by, they often check the time of the product and the team leader responsible for the shift gets in trouble if the items are still on sale while the time has passed the expiration “hour”.
In my 10 years we were never ever instructed to keep them until the evening for charity. Never! They are supposed to be thrown without packaging into the green food waste bin behind the counter or in the kitchen. But again, because team members are so busy and stressed, they just chuck it in the regular bin. I managed many times to waste it into the food waste bin, but even while I worked very fast, I didn’t always manage and at times also threw it into the regular bins. It is just plainly impossible to follow the ridiculous amount of demands Pret sets, especially when managers also cut staff to maximize profit and with it their bonus. It’s always and forever just about money for management! Full stop!
The next Tweet is a terrible example of how staff stop caring and even sabotaging innocent people in need. I have not witnessed this in any of my shops that teams poured
on food to make it uneatable, but I have heard countless stories of how staff sabotage the business because the managers did not care for their teams. I heard from a former manager that when he was Team Member, he saw at times how teams threw whole new packs of cakes and other food items in the bins during the morning delivery checks, to sabotage the managers bonuses: high waste (unaccounted items) = less bonus.
I personally have witnessed staff throwing Pret brochures away, that give employees steps and values to follow. But because many managers are the worst examples in portraying any values, and teams realize that if the top leadership does not care, it trickles down to lower management. Managers pressured with targets, overwhelmed, not well trained, and the worst being complacent; teams become disheartened and at times throw these booklets away with an angry smirk and whatever else they do in anger or to sabotage managers’ bonuses.
But to destroy food by pouring bleach on it is quite horrendous! But it should give the public some insight in how frustrated staff are. I keep linking to a selection of the Staff Complaints I collected to highlight this, as well as my own trauma with Pret.
Retweeted from same feed:
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I keep saying all the time that if something looks to good to be true (from the outside) who will take a closer look? I write from inside knowledge… but most people don’t want to know how it really is. It’s far easier to be lulled in with brilliant marketing and a smiley facade, added with fast Tweets and customer service. Amy Sharpe’s undercover report was a good start, but she worked only in the evening closing shift. It would be great for someone to work undercover in Pret for at 1 month in the kitchen from 5am on. That is where the Pret blow is felt.
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in → Pret Staff Complaints
UPDATE 21.03.2024
I have followed Pret’s “lies” since years and documented it here on my blog. One such lie is that they have a “fleet” of cars picking up and distributing food each night. I cover this in the YouTube slide at the top of this page. As Pret know my blog and follow what I write, they now changed their slogans and put them on T-Shirts instead of using Twitter/X as too many people are now calling Pret out online. Pret also have NOT posted anything on Twitter since 2023 and mainly use Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin as more JOURNALISTS are ACTIVE on Twitter compared to the other platforms.
Today’s lie is of course under the “kindness” slogan. I posted already about Too Good To Go blocking me on X for calling them and Pret out for SELLING food that Pret deemed UNSAFE before the pandemic. Please see: Freshly Made brainwash in how Pret REALLY make their food (in factories).
After I called TGTO and Pret out, TGTG blocked me. I explain in detail in above “brainwash” article.
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And today Pret are again called out for two things:
That a staff member declined a charity pick-up because Pret now sell via TGTG.
That Pret OVER-produce food that then need to be wasted. I agree, we always were SO pressured and stressed to have the fridges FULL of food and got sick to our stomachs on the sheer food waste every day.
Please click “ctrl & +” to enlarge the screenshots for better read. “ctrl & -” to decrease again.
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UPDATE: Oct. 2019 Glassdoor scores
And the legacy Clive Schlee left with:
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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, wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review, and was mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see my MEDIA page for the press articles I influenced.
NOTE upfront, in some of the Tweet screenshots I post below one can see that in some I have responded, but when you click to see the Tweet, my Tweet is gone. It is still there when I am logged IN, but while logged out no one can see it. It’s Twitters shadowbanning again on Pret’s behalf. My Main Twitter is @LateNightGirlMe (which is now expretDOTorg) gets regularly shadowbanned. But traffic is flowing, so I’m not concerned.
As I wrote before that some reviews look fake and as insiders know that big companies use PR companies, as well as ask loyal employees to leave positive feedback mixed with a little bit of bearable negative. The latest series of feedback look a little fishy, dear Pret. Make an effort! I write this also because colleagues have lied in grievance investigation hearings in favour of my bullying superiors. The Development Manager who was tasked to sanction me has lied about not having had private contact with me. HR on several occasions have not been correct, having used questionable resources to get rid of me etc. etc.
One specific review was written days ago on the 1 minute demand for staff to serve customers and coffees.
Example:
Customers flock to Twitter with photos of half empty cappuccinos, wrong teas, luke-warm drinks. One of my several Tweet responses to this rip-off was on 11. Jan. 2019. I point out regarding the pressure teams have via the Mystery Shopper, to serve customers within 1 minute, to hand over the hot drinks within 1 minute etc. or the whole team loses bonus. This seemed to have been “answered” in a new review on 14. Jan. 2019
Mystery Shopper here counted to the second how fast the coffee came out and YET, only giving 4 out of 5 points which frustrates the managers and OPs managers as the points count towards managers bonuses. The Mystery Shopper is the largest chunk of managers bonuses, that’s why the pressure is the highest and teams are extra kissing customer butts for 1. the Mystery Shopper, and 2. fear of the angry manager when points and/or bonus are lost. A colleague once received a “file note” (first step towards a disciplinary) because we lost bonus where he didn’t smile. So, he lost bonus, got peer pressure as the whole team lost bonus and on top of that got a triple penalty by being given a file note for added pressure and fear management.
Mystery Shopper snippet:
As the picture is too small for the print I quote what the MS here commented:
Pret: We aim to serve our customers within 1 minute of joining the queue. Where you served in a reasonable time, bearing in mind how busy the shop was and the number of open tills? MS: “I was served quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
Pret: We aim to serve out customers their hot drink within 1 minute of payment. Did you receive your hot drink order within a reasonable time?(Pret demands 1 minute and then turns it into a “reasonable” time) MS: “I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.” (yet, still gives 4 out of 5 points. Maybe 5 seconds would be better for a perfect coffee, dear MS?)
So, the quick service means quick customer and money flow.
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. MS: 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.
So, after comments like this the team member is summoned into the office and receive a sermon from the manager. The most ridiculous telling off we combined as a team have ever received from our boss, was after we lost bonus because the MS commented that the shop felt “miserable”. It was a very straining shop, very busy, harsh boss who never smiled or even said good morning. All this reflected on the team. The manager summoned most of us during the quiet period into the kitchen and said: “Your smile is part of your uniform! You are expected to wear a smile like you wear your uniform…”
Some more bla bla and then he said to us with most of us having our eyes to the ground like little rebuked puppies, he said something like, “if anyone has anything to say to that (losing the bonus = not smiling) speak now, you can’t come later, as I won’t speak about this later…” etc. I said to him something like, “are you sure, because I would want to say something to you, but not openly here (as he was my boss, didn’t want to embarrass him)”.
He insisted and said, “No, speak now, later is no opportunity.” I then said, “But So-and-so, you never smile when you serve customers.” … He quickly said to let his boss tell him that, and I apologized having to hold back a chuckle! But since then he made an effort and at times even smiled!
One of my several Tweets regarding 1 minute expectation, 11. January:
New review on 14. Jan. 2019 (It’s all so much fun!)
This review tries to clear up something and explains that staff have 1 minute to serve ONE customer, but this is not true. Yes, 1 minute per customer on paper. But when you have between 3 to 5 Team Members working behind the counter in the morning coffee rush, including the barista and a coffee maker, with a customer queue to the door of about 20 – 30 customers lining up it is completely bonkers.
Most stores have a minimum of 7 – 10 tills, but in the coffee rush 3 manning the tills, 1 hot chef getting the croissants out and 1 – 2 on the coffee. The Mystery Shopper timing the staff, PLUS the manager pressuring the team to work faster… it’s one big load of bull-crap this review! If customer number 20 is the Mystery Shopper, they will wait over a minute from the time they join the queue. Boom! Bonus lost! If they are served within a minute and then receive their coffee within a minute, the coffee is often poor quality, half empty, not hot or too hot etc.
But customers expect their drinks fast and perfect. In what dreamland do people live in, they even SEE how crazy and chaotic it is. Once when we came out of an intensly busy coffee rush and it became quiet, I served a customer and just blew air like you do when you take a deep breath and just sigh for exhaustion. In no time the customer asked for the manager and complained, not even being bothered how I was, not realizing that we just came out of a mental coffee rush with only 3 of us while the manager sat in the office.
And if you are a regular customer in the morning, count the amount of tills and how many staff are behind the counter. The kitchen staff who are pressured for time to get products made are often called to help on the tills, and than they get in trouble for being late on their products! It’s a never-ending stressful “battlefield”. Managers like to cut staff to increase profit and their bonus and a big slap on the back by the CEO in their quarterly meetings. All on the backs of hardworking Teams.
One recent comment on YouTube of the many I collected in the Staff Complaints:
(Click Ctrl & + to enlarge)
And with this endless rushing and pressure customers then flock to Twitter with photos of appalling quality of drinks. I only post a few, but every day one can see them on Twitter.
And these are only the few I post here as my blog entry gets too long again!!! But everyday customers tweet to Pret with photos of appalling drinks, for which they paid too much already.
Undercover reporter Amy Sharpe contacted me for an interview after having read my blog. I wrote my comments of her report in “Undercover Under Pressure in Pret“.
Let’s have a look again to some real barista reviews, who are swamped working in cramped areas, which Amy Sharpe also pointed out in her article, quote:
»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.”«
Unfortunately the photo doesn’t show the tiny work counter in front of the coffee machines. But if one looks to the bottom right photo where the silver counter edge is and follow a line along the photo, one gets the picture how small the work stations are. I had to retrain teams shop after shop how to best organize the space to not be cluttered and then frustrated in the busy work period.
This photo is a better view. There is even a sink directly in front of the left coffee machine taking vital workspace away! And these cramped work stations are everywhere I have worked in and staff are always complaining about the lack of space to work, balancing every move they make while being forced to show a happiness and pressured via Mystery Shopper comments. All staff then do is switch to autopilot.
Even many kitchens are a nightmare in cramped working areas, not to mention the staff rooms. Customer space is maximized to maximize profit, staff area is minimized and a nightmare to work in.
This looks like a shelf next to a sink, with the storage of drinks next to it as many Prets don’t even have a stock room and items are stored under and on top of work benches, on shelves, even the tiny staff rooms are often used to store non-food items and boxes, taking away from the already small areas forcing staff to have their break in the loud shop, never really resting.
The following picture of a rubbish cart is from the worst shop I’ve worked, not only because the bullying was the heaviest there, but because there was NO space. There was only ONE toilet for customers AND staff alike. I had to go to the Costa next door at times as I didn’t have time to queue for the toilet! The back-room was an All-in-one room: Office, staff/changing room with lockers, Fridges and Freezers, Store room, the Hot Chef area where the soups were prepared, the Chemical room with all the cleaning materials etc., the Electrical Room and to top it all, the RUBBISH room.
Many times the rubbish was left over night after the collection already came. This photo is from September 2015 and Pret was then forced to expand the working area, decreasing the customer area as the rubbish was a health & safety issue. But this shop existed for at least 2-3 years with the rubbish included in the multi-task room.
Staff would even change their uniform in there next to the Hot Chef preparing food! It was a complete nightmare. And even when we complained about the lack of space and rubbish, Pret would not listen and only changed when prompted by health & safety people.
And rarely do customers point out the stress, chaos and upset they observe. Most just want their coffees and off they go:
And this is exactly what Amy Sharpe pointed out in her undercover report and I have experienced too many times: Understaffed to maximize profit, yet expected to do everything within the given time and not being paid overtime. So, teams stop caring and don’t clean anymore. In the U.S. 4000 Pret workers have successfully taken Pret to court for not paying overtime. UK staff need to do this as well.
Amy Sharpe’s findings that I can wholly underline from my experience, quote: “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.”
Some genuine barista reviews:
“Dear Lord, protect me from ever need to work for Pret a Manger ever again. Amen.
For this company you are numbers, robots, machines, you are no humans.”
“I used to work for Pret as a main barista for about 2 years in London. It was a total nightmare apart from some nice customers and coworkers. Their system is utterly mess and they always force employees to work extra.” YouTube comment
“Act a little more like management and a little less like the employees.I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
“had me working as a barista for two years would not give me training so they do not have to pay me correctly” (Yes, this also happens to other roles especially to the Hot Chef)
There is certainly an extra blog entry on the laziness of managers, in this case even the danger where the GM doesn’t change labels/signs after complaints:
“*managers dont care about standards (manager was too lazy to change the meatball and the falafel sign even though there were many complaints)
*manager told me how easy HIS “job” was (he’s mostly in his office so he gets paid to sit and do nothing because he has his leaders do majority of his work)”
Also, I pointed out sarcastically on Twitter that the percentage of recommendations are below the 50% mark having dropped:
And now today it’s risen, but still barely half the workforce (don’t) recommend to a friend. And the steady 70% didn’t even rise with the £1000 announcement.
So, they’re working quite hard to raise the percentage. And I’m sure after reading this blog entry the (fake) reviews continue. 😀
Here are some that don’t look real. I won’t point out on every review why they seem fake as Pret keeps learning from me. But with some I explain why, to really show why these look fake. Whoever may have been tasked to write these reviews, just cares for the % to rise and filling the top lines, bumping up the positive reviews so people stop scrolling down eventually to the terrible reviews:
10. Jan. 2019 “Waiter” (sounds like from the U.S.)
“I worked at Pret A Manger part-time
Pros: Very nice Team, Good salary.
Cons: Noise environment, can be very busy”
07. Jan. 2019 “Tim Member Star” (For having worked 8 YEARS in an airport which are the most stressful shops, calling the team “Tim” sounds like a fake reviewer pret-ending to be a foreigner! Or this is the proof that there is NO training, as Team Members across the board have to sign training records every 6 months, read information etc. The word “Team” is plastered all over the place in shops, not to mention their job role as a TEAM member star! While the rest of the review is mostly in accurate spelling. They can even spell complex words like: “specific”, “customers”, “interact”, and even “treat”, but 3x not Team??! Good try, try harder!)
“…the Tim is friendly… more than family Tim… For managers I don’t have specific advice, everyone has to treat the customers like that, that they want to be tried when we are like customers, more focus, attention, smail, chat and, with not interact and pushing, more regular training and short meting in a family-friendly way”
UPDATE 02.02.2019
As Pret reads my blog (I won’t say how I know, but I know) another review from 30.01.2019 has been added, again with correct spelling, except the last words. I know how corrupt the top HR leadership is, where they did certain things they knew at the time would hurt me, in total discrimination. But I also know that people always will have to face what they did to others. This new fake looking review looks very strongly like a response to my above quote on “Tim” vs Team:
Yet, on the SAME day another review from a barista which is 100% reality in Pret!
“Busy and stressful environment whit no support from management Forget about contracted hours! You will be doing overtime most of the time, as there is a lack of staff nearly in every Pret” Link
Here several reviews days in succession and I won’t say what looks fake here, just read:
The following two reviews two days in a row look identical, also often pointing out parties as Pret is always looking for young people luring them in as they are paid less and are easier to mold without knowing their rights:
16. Dec. 2018 Team Member(the only con is “depends on the shop”) Pros: Weekly pay, good co-workers and food. Nice Pret Parties
Cons: Depends on the shop you’re assigned
15. Dec. 2018 Team member at Pret (“at this particular branch” – clever! Very fake looking review.) Pros: Weekly pay, flexible hours, great co-workers from all walks of life
Cons: The GM at this particular branch was impossible to work with
09. Dec. 2018 Team Member(“can feel like” very softly put for staff that can never plan their weeks because the rotas are rarely published in advance)
Cons: rotas need to be out more consistently and in advance can feel like you can’t plan ahead unless you have set hours
Advice to Management: Keep doing what you’re doing
05. Dec. 2018 Front of House Leader(Cons: A “little bit” of pressure… need to get up early “sometimes” – good one! This is a very clever review: it says that there is a “little bit” of pressure and they have to get up early “sometimes”. The reader reads this, applies for a job in Pret and works in a REGULAR Pret shop where EVERY Pret shop is ALWAYS busy, understaffed, start at 5am and earlier, unless they are on late shift. And the new team member then thinks they just happened to land in “a” busy shop not knowing that ALL shops are like this! And this supposedly is a team LEADER reviewing! You cheeky bugger reviewer, you! 😀 How much are these reviewers paid to fool people like this?! )
Pros: Great company to work for, paying well, you are getting the stuff food as well. Great staff parties.
Cons: A little bit of pressure if you are working in the busy shop, also you need to get up early sometimes.
28. Nov. 2018 Amazing Job(There is the “depends on which shop” again)
Pros: Flexible – very good employee training
Cons: Depends on which shop you get.
(This “very good employee training is a direct comment on my writings regarding no to poor training of staff.)
On Indeed. You, the reader tell me what looks dodgy in these reviews, mostly within days in succession. It isn’t hard to spot:
“hard working.team work.nice staff.good comunication.using the till.customers service.the hardes part of work is starting very early shift at 4.00am.i like work on weekend.”
Fun work place, great teamwork and ethos. Loved working here, great experience and lots of new skills learned. Would definitely recommend working for pret and I would happily work fro them again.
Fast and fun work place Great organizational culture, awesome training system. Everything is so standardized, structured and convenient. Great salary. Everyone is respectful and friendly. I loved working at Pret!
Fun and easy Pret a manger is a good company to work for but if you want improve your skills in other areas than retail you might have some problems with it.
Overall in my opinion it’s a great company for a first job
It teach you good customer service and organisation skills.
great people, great customer hard work ethic (Here the reviewer, supposedly a GM, is even having a laugh as the only Con “its addictive”. Also, for a manager to be writing all in small, no caps used. They’ll work on that one now.) amazing company, great people. loved every minute with Pret. made amazing friends and had great training and support, i have learnt alot from this company,a dn am sad to be wanting to leave.
TWO DAYS before: its ok it is an ok job to start with, i believe the best of the same kind you can see around, the best part is the free food, sometimes is a lot of work but bearable
etc.
Pret can counter that the negative reviews may be fake. No sir, the negative reviews are written with such passion and detail. I even met some of them on various platforms who wrote to me and I linked them to their own reviews when I recognized their experience from the reviews I collected.
And now the ones again that I can absolutely underline from my 10 years in Pret A Manger. The last 3 years extremely fogged up and traumatized. I was lied to by top leadership, gaslighted via HR with a Development Manager who was used to sanction me, instead of supporting each other in our common grief. I write extensively about this perversion of Pret in “The Perversion of a Toxic HR Department” under the leadership and knowledge of CEO Clive Schlee.
Pret’s “Rising Star” program is PR as regular staff are pushed and stressed, once they become bereaved they become an inconvenience. I write extensively about this on this blog. The best way to get to the most important blog entries to get a quick overview is via the “Mind Map” I created: “My Ordeal With Pret A Manger“. From there it links back to this website to the most important articles.
All these reviews I have experienced in all my 10 years, in over a dozen shops, in every shop:
This person’s name is changed to Banzinotito Scrolling down in this YouTube video
… and many, many more in collected reviews from Employment review sites, YouTube, Twitter and other sites: Selected Quotes from the long list of Pret Staff Complaints.
Pret can try and counter those all day long, the truth will be told again and again. And Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror having gone undercover into Pret, I hope more journalists will go into Pret as several have also gone into Amazon. But the press needs to go into the kitchen, work for a month in the morning kitchen production! That’s when the Pret blow will be felt hard! It will be harder though now, as Pret will scrutinize their job application closer, but people behind the scenes suffer and hold under this because they have kids to feed and are lulled in with incentives. But mental health is suffering. I survived to tell my and others experience.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org, LateNightGirl.page.tl and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
Pret A Manger DELETED their Tweet to Natalie Raybold about the new (bogus) reason for the “air” hidden behind the cardboard, after Pret read this blog entry! I explain further below.
@Pret, thanks for stopping by again, unfortunately your visit led to your deletion of a Tweet. Getting caught doing the “right” thing again!
As the case is settled now, the “wrapped too tightly” version started again… and the generic “oh no” responses from Pret continue with the usual “Please send us a DM with which shop you visited” as if this was an isolated incidence. To any reader, go unto Pret’s “Tweet and Replies” page and see their cut & paste responses, even though lately there seems to be new Twitter staff on the shifts, their wording is changing finally!
Also, please see my front / home page (click on the top right of this page) for other issues, mainly with staff and how Pret REALLY treat their employees, incl. HQ staff. Please scroll to the screenshots on the home page, these are just the tip of the iceberg.
I didn’t want to put this “wrap collection” into a blog post, but Twitter and Facebook keep hiding, deleting etc. my posts, FB even deletes my PRIVATE messages when I have a link to my blog in the message! So I enter the below list into one post, hence only one link to post and a list of customer complaints.
In the U.S. people easily sue companies, in the UK they just go to Twitter, rant a little and that was that. Even customers dying, getting hospitalized from unlabelled allergen in products, no law suit! In the U.S. it would hail a storm of law suits upon Pret with lawyers drooling for cases like this! But in the UK they fall asleep being cooked like frogs while getting bribed with cheap free coffees! Unbelievable!
After my repeated comments on Pret’s funny reason for the cardboard to hide “air” behind it and letting customers pay overpriced half products, Pret keeps sweet-talking customers into sleep, “Oh no, this looks like it has been wrapped too tightly”.
UPDATE 2023:
The deceptive packaging issue continues, but I won’t update all that customers post on social media (mainly Twitter). But an update until June 2022 via YouTube:
.
I can’t be bothered to update all the complaints in 2023 mainly on Twitter, but also Facebook, reddit etc. But this of course continues as people keep settling out of court on issues for a quick money-grab and the company is never held accountable.
But let’s rewind to 2016 where Pret’s version of an excuse was, starting as usual with “Oh no…” to pret-end that the Pret social media staff is surprised. The rather TRUE response here is: “this isn’t right…”
Exactly! This is NOT right! Thanks for the honesty here, Pret. Unfortunately nothing was changed in the packaging to be decreased, or an increased size of wrap to fill the packaging for an honest product. And communication down the line, of which version would be best to give on Twitter complaints, got messed up over time.
And this one from the U.S. in October 2018 is a give away that this indeed is not an honest packaging for the later “version” of a 13. Jan. 2019 explanation by Pret. Stephanie feels “very tricked” and Pret EVEN agrees by saying:
Fast forward a little … the version is that this is “wrapped too tightly”. This loosely wrapped product Pret says looks too tightly wrapped. LOL! The consistent “Oh no”… “Oh dear”… Oh gosh”… from the UK Twitter side remains, to give the impression that this is an EXCEPTION while Pret is being sued in the States for deception.
Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a brand new version of a warped wrap packaging!
After repeated comments on this ridiculous “reason” for Pret having spread that version too broadly, the version now is even more ridiculous, I added the bold highlight. New reason completely holding customers for idiots!
Quote: “Our packaging is designed to leave a space in the middle so the wrap can be displayed clearly at both ends and doesn’t get squashed. We’re sorry if you feel mislead on the size, Natalie but we can assure you that you’ve received both halves of the same wrap.”
How absolutely amazing Pret now openly fools customers! The Wrap WON’T get squashed as the cardboard center is sturdy and protects any product from being squashed. This should be a UK law suit (the bot that bookmarks my blog in the States on behalf of Pret can send this one to them! Be my guest!)
The issue is NOT the size of the wrap, but the misleading size of the packaging. It’s an old trick businesses do knowing that customers buy via sight, not probing on the weight and measure, even if a package would state that. But as everyone knows, Pret packaging has hardly ANY useful information on it, as at least the first of the two customers who died had to pay with her life, and only when the public became aware of their deaths does Pret SLOWLY change labelling. Let alone have a weight and measurement of the product on the packaging. Pret’s packaging just has bla bla sweet-talk of whatever, but NO useful information on ingredients, weight etc. except in stores where ingredient/allergen labelling is TRIALED as I write this.
So with Pret products that are assembled in the shops each day, customers rely SOLELY on their eye-sight, and as they don’t have time during their lunch break to weigh out the product with their bare hands if it is too light, or the usual weight, they go by eye-sight. They cannot purchase according to weight or how much of a certain ingredient is “behind” the packaging. Companies use this to their advantage and what I find, mislead customers to “assume” the package is completely filled inside.
The most common is items like Washing Powder. Yes, it does state the amount in KG, but what customer carries a scale or knows how to size up the packaging. So, the washing powder packaging is often very large, but upon opening at home a quarter is just air, because businesses know customers buy according to eye sight, not information and weighing the product.
And Pret’s wraps get the most complaints because it has the middle section to hide air, whereas the sandwich and salad packaging has more “window” to show the majority of the item, and less possibility to hide air.
I cannot believe my eyes reading this! From “Oh no, this isn’t right…” to this hilarious open fairy tale, holding customers for complete idiots! And customers swallow the fast, efficiency of Pret’s Twitter feed and go back to sleep while they remain happy to pay for hidden air.
PRET’S DELETED TWEET:
The above link used to lead to this tweet from Pret:
The whole feed again before Pret deleted their Tweet:
Natalie Raybold’s Tweet here has no Tweet above anymore, as it is deleted.
Even the whole feed of her Tweet has disappeared and some are only visible because I have the remaining Tweets in my Replies as I responded. Pret changed quickly after Natalie kept protesting as well as my post on the bogus reason: “It does appear to be a rather small wrap, Natalie…” Link
Initial Tweet standing on its own, no other Tweets are found. This looks like part of shadow banning.
Direct link of part in the feed from my own Tweets & Replies as I tweeted within this feed. Natalie Raybold here responds to the new reason and finds this misleading. But from her initial Tweet, this cannot be traced anymore. If I wouldn’t still have my Tweets, only her initial post would be visible.
Twitter and Pret are in this together on behalf of protecting profit driven companies! Katschink!
Thus, it should be clear again how dodgy this is and how Pret tries to hide this, as this may get people’s attention for another lawsuit.
These, the list below and others I didn’t include here, are only those that people bother posting on Twitter. Not every customer produces a photo publicly as they don’t have time and may think this is a one-off, not realizing how much this happens.
Links to Class Action Suit and customers’ complaints on Twitter. Links open in new window:
12. Jan. 2018 Little Duck (expensive), lots of Greens (cheap)
13. Jan. 2019 Pret’s NEW reason for packaging “deception”
Ok, didn’t expect the next day to have to continue on this…
14. Jan. 2019 I should get paid for giving Pret so many tipps, now Pret does NOT give any reason anymore but write instead: “We’re sorry to hear that, Sam. Please could you send us a DM with some more info including the shop you visited?”
There isn’t even a “oh no… oh gosh” response anymore, well done Pret! Them spies and boss are reading my blog. Well, thank you! Keep it up and be on your toes! 😀
On 28. May 2019 a customer posted a video and I will include the whole feed as the exchange is brilliant. This customer won’t let Pret BS him or get lured into DM:
Pret being desperate to get the customer away from the public into DM.
Little side note, where it says “1 more reply” is my reply LOL! Twitter hides it, even though I’m not shadow banned (yet!) they do hide posts for companies or political issues. They hide it so it can’t be seen immediately as people are busy often, they don’t realise there are more replies and don’t always see the “1 more reply” thing.
Here’s my reply when one clicks on it, tucked away in-between two tweets:
Peek-a-boo… PreT-A-Boo…
Direct link to the first of my tweets as I feel a shadow ban coming! 😀
One solution would be for staff just “spread” the wrap to fill the package!
It’s certainly a good give-away that Pret knows what they are doing and the versions they keep giving when they don’t even respond to the Tweets addressed to them directly in this feed HERE further down the Tweets.
And I can’t help but think that Pret now changed the version because of this law suit. Time will tell. I cannot find any more info on this suit.
A TripAdvisor Review on Pret and the oldest trick in the book on shrinking products but charging same or higher price. I have seen this many times over the years when I worked in Pret. The brownie for example disappeared for a while, we were instructed to tell customers that the product is being “improved” and when the brownie returned, it was smaller.
And currently customers on Twitter keep lamenting that the Vegan cookie is not on sale anymore and Pret again says that the recipe is being improved. And yet customer after customer says that it was perfect, doesn’t need improvement, even today again:
Someone recently mentioned a rumour that the Vegan cookie wasn’t even Vegan in the first place, hence Pret did what they do best, they “deleted the cookie”. Vegans point this out a lot that many products advertised as Vegan have eggs in it, not to mention Celia Marsh’s death as she was allergic to dairy. This second death in Pret from a non-dairy product that contained Dairy Protein is still under investigation who is responsible, Pret or Coyo that supplied the non-dairy yogurt.
And to finish on a positive, just today when I cooked something, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened a brand new Colman’s mustard powder package and upon opening had to catch powder falling out as the jar was so full it ran over. The photo is already after I used some of it, but it’s still filled to the top. This is rare these days, and maybe it was an “accidental” overfill, as I haven’t bought this product for a long time and can’t remember how it used to be before.
But maybe there’s another blog entry on deceiving vs honest packaging one of these days and companies need to be called out for it, the good and the bad guys. But on a positive note, the good stuff needs to be mentioned as well.
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, 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.
If your friend, family member, colleague, employee, acquaintance… loses someone, don’t leave them alone. You will not know what to do, and that is ok. Just don’t leave them alone, or even worse tell them it’s their fault they are so down. They are lost and don’t know what to do. They feel already the guilt of loss and being a burden.
And stay away from Pret A Manger and any company that hurt people, using them for PR while bullying those who go through tragedy. Don’t believe their facade and psychology. They can afford companies who manipulate with wordings to “hypnotize” the public for profit. And the public wants to believe the facade. I know Pret since 10 years and gave them the benefit of the doubt too much (that only is my fault). Pret does not care for people, except themselves and whoever is in their elite group who play their games. As long as you play their game, you are in their group.
Most people don’t play games and are just used, and exploited, and lied to. Pret A Manger is a very dishonest company. Support the small independent businesses, even if you have to walk, drive extra to get to them. We all enable those careless companies because we are not willing to change our habits.
They even did nothing after customers died and multiple warnings to label their products properly until it became public. If that doesn’t tell people how Pret really is, than I don’t know.
The blogger community is the best social media among all social media platforms; solid, thoughtful, creative.
I’ve given it all, I told my story, if people care to know or not is not my concern. Pret doesn’t even respond on Twitter to my open confrontation. All they do is get Twitter to “shadow ban” me. Pathetic! I passed on the written evidence to people. I’ve given it my best. Stand up for yourself and those who can’t. Look closer, if a profit-driven company looks too good to be true, look behind the facade. Businesses can afford to employ companies to write fake reviews, look at the little people who stand up against a giant. Join a Union and stand up for yourself. I was too naive and traumatized and gave Pret the benefit of the doubt too much.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
in the summer of 2000 when the London Eye was brand new on the South Bank, I went with a friend to take a ride. I can’t believe it’s that long ago! I was days away from moving to the States, met with friends, strolled through London, did my last errands in preparation. My brother visited me a few weeks before, although the London Eye wasn’t on my “map” at the time and I showed him around London to the typical “old” London sites. The only high-rise building then was the NatWest Tower in the city and the highest was the Canary Wharf Tower in the Docklands in East London where I first lived when I came to London. (London’s Skyline throughout the years.)
July 2000
When I went with my friend to take a ride, the price was £8 which of course now is over £20, close to £30 I guess. But when I purchased the ticket, a former colleague of mine was sitting in the ticket booth and gave us a complimentary ride! So, my first and last ride was for free. I must say that at that time I was not too impressed with the view, but I think now since a few years the view has immensely changed due to the new high rise buildings in London.
I never imagined that the London Eye would become the focal point of the New Year’s Eve fireworks display. The first time I saw it live on Lambeth Bridge was after I returned from the States in 2006. I’d see the fireworks by the river since then every year until 2014 with one exception in 2011 or 2012. I saw it from different views, often on Lambeth Bridge with friends, one time even from directly opposite the Wheel on the other side of the river, other times from behind the wheel. But I would not recommend to be that close directly opposite as most I saw was just smoke and overwhelming bright flashing of white light. I would have needed sun glasses to see properly and not get blinded and smoked in. Things really do look much prettier from afar sometimes! That said, it still was an amazing experience, if not just for the atmosphere with friends and strangers alike.
London Eye where are you?
Since January 2015 with all that happened and all the trauma and nightmare, I never saw the fireworks live up close again, partly also because over the years it has become too crowded, and since a few years they charge tickets to control the crowds as well as getting funds in as they blow millions of tax-payers money into the air. I used to be ambivalent about the fireworks and the money that could be used for other projects. But in a rare occasion I since take the same approach as most people, that life is short, let’s just enjoy something as gigantic as this display of colour, sound and energy, uniting friends and strangers for a few hours and minutes.
I have found that the best view is from a screen or my balcony where I can see a good portion of the Eye and fireworks. In 2006, 2007 etc. it was still very easy to leave with friends from a party close by Lambeth Bridge 20 or even 15 minutes before midnight and still get a good spot on the bridge without being squeezed. And it was free to watch up close without any fencing and boarding off the view! But since these last few years, if you don’t go to a certain spot HOURS before after having purchased a ticket, you have no chance for a reasonable space anywhere. Plus they fence off certain spots with high wooden boards so that those who don’t have a ticket have their view blocked.
The only thing I am not keen on with the fireworks is that they put music in the background since a few years now. The idea is to use only music by British artists, which makes sense, although this year they seem to have chosen a mix of international artists as a statement with Brexit at the door. But in the early years of the fireworks there was no music and you could just enjoy the pure display of light and sound which I always called the “Big Bang” at the Big Ben.
July 2000
Like with most things, everything becomes commercial. When I worked in the city until 3 or 4pm on New Year’s eve, I had to rush to get over the river to the south side where I live, as they started to close down streets and bridges in preparation for the crowds. If you missed it you were stuck on the north side and had to take the cramped underground home. But I always try to avoid having to take the Tube and either walk or take the bus, anything to stay over ground.
The last time I saw the fireworks by the river was from behind it in 2014 into 2015. I didn’t pay much attention that I didn’t receive a text message from my brother as this was not unusual. Sometimes on New Year’s Eve he would text me to wish me a happy new year as Germany is 1 hour ahead of England. Other times I would text him when he was at a party having forgotten to text. Other times we both didn’t text or in the early years of mobile phone where we’d call for a minute. And oddly enough the only text message I still have was his reply in early January 2013 to wish me a happy new year. I always deleted text messages from everyone and regret that now. But this one text I still have.
I watched the fireworks for the last time live up close on 31. Dec. 2014 not knowing my brother has died weeks prior. It didn’t worry me that there was no message from him as this was always random over the years. In January 2013 he even replied to my New Year’s greeting a few days after 1st January. Other times he texted on the dot of 12 midnight. Other times not at all. We were never very traditional in our family and communication was completely free of expectations. But I did sent my brother and friends the YouTube link to the fireworks on 01. January every year. He loved fireworks, and in Germany people do their own on the streets at midnight, and my brother was always the first and last to blow up rockets fearlessly!
Would I want tradition now? I don’t know. A certain consistency and predictability is always good I think. But my focus now is just taking one day at a time and always know that life can change in a second.
I just enjoy the fireworks from afar on a screen and from my balcony.
Happy New Year to everyone, where ever you are. May this year be kind to you, and if life hits from all directions or an unexpected angle, may you find solid footing to have strength and eventually peace.
Plus, a little beautiful behind the scenes look at the logistics and preps for the fireworks. Fascinating how detailed and precise planning of many brilliant minds can make something like this happen:
And another view from the ground for the technical minded, but as a direct link from one angle only and from several angles.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I grew up with this. On every “Silvester”, a New Year’s Eve tradition where the family gathers around the TV hours before midnight and watch “Dinner For One” without subtitles… and not needing it.
Don’t ask me why this is a German tradition! I have no idea how this became so ingrined into the New Year’s Eve TV program, and when I ask my friends outside of Germany about this tradition, they respond with “Dinner for what?” I’m sure Wiki knows, but for the sake of the “good old days” I’d like to remain in bliss.
I did get bored with this already as a kid watching it every year, but I miss my brother and this reminds me of us being allowed to stay up beyond midnight, sitting and munching away in front of the TV, hours before the fireworks went off.
I also miss our New Year’s text messages, even when we didn’t text New Year’s greeting every year, which didn’t alarm me on 31.12.2014 when I didn’t get a text from him.
I can only say to anyone, keep phoning or texting, or calling or emailing, whichever is your usual means to communicate. Leave a message, no matter if it’s normal that the person on the other side doesn’t immediately reply or not. Do it anyway. You never know if they need to hear, read, see you.
I don’t pray for peace, happiness or success, I just take one day at a time.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Pret sucks because they treat their staff bad for the sake of profit while pretending to be nice to employees.
Pret sucks because there is so much dishonesty from the top down, hiding behind a PR facade and marketing companies lying on behalf of profit and using people for PR.
Pret sucks because they will not care until the masses vote with their feet for better staff treatment, customer safety and integrity in the business.
Pret sucks because they lack courage, automatically bookmarking my blog entries in a certain country without changing anything towards honesty and integrity.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
The mails of Pret employees who don’t want to be outed for fear of their jobs. I won’t out you, I just out the top leadership for letting you down!
Clive Schlee, you did your buddy day now, but you cheated. You know how much they pretended to be nice while you were there. And you pret-ended to be nice to them while you were gone in business.
You called me your “late night girl” to your Director of HR in October 2017. You patronized me, thinking you are too big too fail.
I am too small to care, sir.
You were at a cross road when you decided and handed your people over to Bridepoint & Co thereafter … and you took your turn at that cross road. I speak so bluntly because I was shouted at, avoided, disrespected, stepped upon after I buried my brother.
Burying my brother’s ashes was something I cannot survive. I’m sure you’ll be happy when I’m quiet.
Maybe you can go back to the beginnings and stop the PR.
Pret A Manger was the worst company I’ve ever worked in.
Her name is Emily.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I worked in Pret A Manger when two customers died, and I cannot get over not having known. I would have struggled. I would have resigned. I don’t know what I’d done. But not business as usual!
Not once was I or my team informed of it.
I was a Team Leader, a mini-manager, doing the ordering, waste management, looking after the team, health & safety, money handling, cashing up, stock-take, customer service … But there wasn’t even as much as a HINT that two customers have died within two years from allergens hidden in Pret products!
We weren’t even urged or hinted that we needed to be more diligent with the labelling or allergen information.
Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Pret kept it well hidden from us.
As the news keep highlighting that Natasha’s Law is getting close to becoming reality, I remember again after having posted this blog entry, that when I worked as a team leader I often checked incoming emails in the office as most communication between shops and from HQ are done via emails.
One such mail came in at times from the UK Managing Director Pano Christou who has now been promoted to COO, a position which didn’t exist in Pret until JAB took over, and who keeps a low profile. When I was in the office doing cashing up, or the ordering, or whatever I had to do as part of my leadership duties, and everytime this type of email came in my heart stopped and then pounced in a panic. The subject of the mail and the first lines read something like, “It is with great sadness that we have to bring the news …”
I received the news of my brother’s death via an ice cold, short and to the point email. In that one email I not only was informed that my brother was found dead five weeks prior to this email, but that he was cremated and completely gone! The efficient German police that has mandatory ID system for all citizens with my mum living at the same address for over 30 years claimed that next of kin could not be found … I write about this in various blog entries. But not only did this immense shock thrust me into an extreme traumatic time, but to be receiving this news via email has spiraled me into unprecedented emailing months and years later, of which I am just now recovering from.
So, these emails coming in from HQ with sad news had me fall into a terrible panic.
The email from HQ continued along those lines: “It is with great sadness that we have to bring the news that our shop in such-and-such a city/street will be closed permanently on such-and-such a date.”
Sorry, what?!!
Excuse me, what???!!!!!
My heart still pouncing, tangibly feeling blood leaving my head in the next shock that this type of wording in these emails was about a freaking shop closure?!?!?!?!!!
Of course I was relieved that this was NOT an announcement of someone from HQ or a shop having died! And I had to press against my chest for my heart to calm down again hoping my team wouldn’t call me out for customer service, as I was shaking still! But my point here is, that NOT ONE time came a message, be it via email, phone, via the weekly info/news sheet from HQ, not in Team Briefs in the shops, no extra emergency meetings, not in private from our managers… NOT ONE announcement that not just one, but TWO customers have died from Pret products! It was more important for Pret to announce in such a dramatic way that a flipping shop is closing down for whatever reason. As if anyone in the shops cared about Pret losing money from their millions, still opening on every corner constantly, while staff are underpaid, overworked, over stressed …
I get it that team members who come to work, stand at the tills, prepare sandwiches, stock up and go home without having leadership responsibilities may have not been informed. But I was a Team Leader, with the main responsibilities of Health & Safety, Customer Service, Team Engagement, Training etc. But Health & Safety (for customers and staff alike!) was the top priority in my job description! And I took that part very serious, often to the annoyance of my colleagues where I would stop them, even if they were behind their tasks, stopping them if they were working in an unsafe way for example, or the fire exits were blocked and staff rushing around, I made it priority to always have safety first and then anything else, no matter how busy is was etc.
So, these HQ emails about shop closures as if someone died first of all had me angry as my email experience of my brother’s death just hit me again and again when these emails came in. But now it’s even more appalling as Pret did not see the need to inform ALL staff, and most of all not changing and acting in URGENCY on these labelling and allergen issues until this became public and people started boycotting! This still has me shake my head in disbelief and shock, and yet knowing Pret, their procrastination and negligence is not surprising! I cannot even begin to imagine what the families go through!!
If Pret would have decided not to inform us, but still immediately implemented the labelling, that would have been a different matter. They could have held meetings with all leaders to communicate that Pret would be bringing in an allergen labelling system for all products. They wouldn’t have even needed to lie and could have told us that because several customers complained about the lack of labelling which they did before and even after the deaths, Pret could have said they decided it’s time to label all products, no matter what the law says.
But nothing! Absolutely nothing!
In 2017 Pret even hired the prestigious and expensive London Barbican Centre to do several days of training for leaders on customer service (basically how to kiss customers’ butts for more money!). Yet, this instead could have been training days for leaders on allergen and implementing labelling! But no, nothing!
And thus, Pret’s claim to be doing the right thing, with their HR department taking this claim to more lofty heights by saying to be doing the right thing “naturally”, has my stomach turn even now, no matter how much I know Pret’s mentality, and I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m still gobsmacked!
And one of the main things I’ve learned from my Pret experience is, the louder someone or an organization claims something, the less this is actually happening because it’s like holding up a banner of words as the reality behind it is very, very different. It’s like putting on a lot of make-up to cover up the true face. And this is where Pret is extreme, all their slogans and bull-crap words are just a facade to cover up what’s behind it. I know, I’ve worked in it for years and survived.
The only allergen labelling that was implemented in around 2015 or 2016 was for charity. I cannot remember exactly when this started, but the thought behind that I understand only now, because we were never told the reason. The reason being that charity, homeless people most likely won’t have access to the Internet to check the ingredients and as they receive the food after closing time not being able to get into a shop to ask for allergen information.
But there is a contradicting twist in all this. In 2017 Pret started implementing a food labelling system in all Pret kitchens for the ingredients in the fridges that were opened and needed a product label with the new expiry date, once the item has been opened.
Before that, hand-written labels were used. So, for example if a tub of crayfish has a use-by-date (UBD) of let’s say 4 days from today while closed, the UBD changes to let’s 2 days once the tub was opened. Because many Team Members made mistakes as they are constantly rushing, writing the wrong UBD where the product then expired because they put a day longer, these labelling machines were implemented, where a Team Member just types in the product, the original UBD while unopened, and then the machine with all the ingredients programmed into it, calculates and prints out the correct UBD for the now opened product.
Pret was willing and able to do that for kitchen ingredients, and yet, nothing for customers to make informed decisions if or what to purchase to safe lives. These kitchen machines were implemented in 2017!!
Machines for UBD product labels to me is not a priority as TMs could still continue to handwrite the labels as they did for years. But a labelling system for products on the shelves just didn’t seem a priority for Pret.
I am tired of trying to tell the public how utterly non-caring Pret A Manger is.
Also in 2016 which no one in the UK media seemed to have noticed nor researched a man in New York sued Pret quote: “after he a went into anaphylactic shock. He alleges that the restaurant staff served him food containing sesame after assuring him the food was free of the allergen.”
I tweeted about this HERE and mention that from the witness account in the verdict document the supplier of the wrap that contains sesame did NOT need to include sesame in the ingredient as in the U.S. it isn’t law, but in Canada it has to be included. So, the supplier acted responsibly and added it anyway even though by law he did NOT need to, but he included it in case the product was purchased from outside the USA, like Canada for example. Yet, Pret could not be bothered and after this lawsuit and then even after Natasha’s death still did NOTHING!
Witness statement from the supplier from the verdict document, Page 5 (FDA = Food and Drugs Administration):
“We list and perhaps by FDA regulations, we are asked to list or call out any of the ingredients that could be classified as an allergin [sic]. Wheat and soy are classified as allergins in the U.S. In Canada sesame would be included as we really don’t know wh~re stores are, so we put what might be outside this country or at least the border country.”
So, the supplier has sesame included, even though by U.S. law he didn’t need to. And Pret did not list, even though they had the info from the supplier ingredient list on the product.
Sweet-talk of the decade:
*IRONY ON*
*IRONY OFF*
If people want to enjoy their free coffees from Pret and continue to be lulled in by the shiny PR[et] facade, then go and enjoy!
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse: “A young person died from eating one of their products and the fact that they did nothing, and just let things carry on exactly as they had before, is beyond believe, actually!”
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse: “It’s kind of madness, isn’t it? Really, if you think about it? What is it? It’s just nothing short of a kind of mad situation.”
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, 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.
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 writings of my trauma with Pret.
If above link doesn’t open, please copy & paste the following link into a new window:
click on the – minus sign bottom left to decrease and get a full overview of the map
hover over and click the “attachment” sign (red circled below) on a particular title to see the link underneath and click to go straight to the article
hold the mouse clicked, “grabbing” it to move map around as you would with Google map
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Twitter “shadow banned” some of my Tweets, please google what shadow banning means. I responded to Twitter’s right-out lie about it, and even then can’t find my Tweet when logged out, and one example of many where Twitter shadow banned my Tweets Regarding the first Pret customer death.
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Please note, I changed my Twitter handle from @LateNightGirlMe to @expretDOTorg
When you click on this Twitter link you will see “Tweet unavailable” BUT it IS there when I am logged into my @LateNightGirlMe account (now changed to expretDOTorg). Here’s the screenshot:
ending with: 1045671338260787201 but when logged in I see my tweets, when logged out ALL my tweets are gone / hidden from everyone else, making me think everything is ok. I assume my tweets are tweeted, my likes are done etc. but only I see it. My followers are NOT notified of new tweets or DMs and can only see my tweets, what I write in DMs when they go straight to my Twitter feed or their DM inbox which most won’t as they are not notified while I am shadow banned … It’s a secret censorship Twitter denies doing on behalf of those with money and power.
I will do an extra blog entry in detail on what exactly shadow banning is with my own Tweet examples, and that many people are affected on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc.
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.
As this is (supposed to be) a time of cheer and peace and celebration, although many don’t know anymore what Christmas is about, I want to add a rather humorous take on my ordeal in Pret. I will always speak about what I have been through and how toxic it is behind the PR[et] facade. But like a semi-Advents calendar, behind each “door” is another “treat” of what I’ve been through in Pret and during this dark time.
Please support small businesses that are ruined by the big guns that don’t care for customers’ lives or staff’s welfare. Large corporations that only want to exploit PEOPLE and their pockets, packaged in good deeds and a shiny front.
Merry Christmas and a healthy good year to all readers, new and regular visitors.
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 are prohibited.
I was a Team Leader of the shop floor, which is like being a mini-manager who really is doing the hard work. As a team leader doing the ordering, waste management, looking after the team, health & safety, money handling, cashing up, stock-take, customer satisfaction etc. But there wasn’t even as much as a HINT that two customers have died within two years from allergens hidden in Pret products!
We weren’t even urged or hinted that we needed to be more diligent with the labelling or allergen information. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Pret kept it well hidden from us.
I am tired of trying to tell the public how utterly non-caring Pret A Manger is.
If people want to enjoy their free coffees, that hardly even cost anything for Pret, then stay tucked in, if that is all it takes to bribe you.
But the families have a different Christmas now. So keep tweeting about your free cookies and coffees while Pret tries to keep you “warm” with them, no matter how many people die, including staff by suicide.
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.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Many examples of continued issues even after the customers deaths became public, and Pret’s “promise” to implement “meaningful” change are the opposite of what is listed further down below. I stopped adding in December 2018 but only added a few recent examples as this is getting too much, but the issues continue.
Another customer hospitalized, Pret sent flowers and a £20 voucher and did not react for a day to this Tweet until being prompted again:
Another customer was sent flowers after an allergic reaction:
This tweet is from 30. April 2019 and has been deleted. @BloomandWild (the flower service) even responded to it, but they also deleted their tweet. Makes you wonder …
Most recent mislabelling again 03. May 2019. The ham vs. the veggie croissants, soup and hot food in general are the greatest issues with mislabelling.
I explain further below that due to a “chronic” lack of staff to maximize profits and due to immense stress on Team Members, lack of time given, lack of space, exhaustion especially on the Hot Chef who starts at 4:30/5:00am running non-stop until 2 or 3pm etc. these mistakes ALWAYS happened and continue to happen.
As a Team Leader I had to fix these issues DAILY. And this will not change unless Pret radically changes its structure, starting with a new CEO who ACTS and doesn’t sweet-talk which Clive Schlee does perfectly fooling the public with PR[et] slogans for years.
Undercover Report by The Sunday Mirror sparked by my blog on mixed up labels, out-of-date product, food waste and overstretched staff which I could write books about! 24.11.2018
New updates and additions at the bottom…
Link to Tweet (From experience with Pret soups, this looks like Pulled Pork to me, which also contains beans)
This could have been another death, hospitalization, allergic reaction… certainly an unpleasant experience for a vegetarian. Multiple warnings not taken seriously before and even after 2 customer deaths.
As I want to move away from my Pret outcry because I have said enough to give a good idea what really is going on behind the facade, but I keep seeing these complaints.
A tweet with the typical response from Pret that has me shake my head again and again, even though I shouldn’t be surprised.
A vegetarian customer got a meaty soup instead of what was labelled as a vegetarian Tuscan Bean Soup that even has the green veggie sticker on the soup cup. A meaty soup has a red sticker with the soup name, a veggie soup has a green sticker, plus the label on the Hot Cabinet with the ingredients (hopefully with full allergen info).
Pret’s response is to blame downwards as usual, making the Hot Chef (the person who is preparing all hot food) responsible. The OPs manager (operations manager = area manager) who often is quite stern, with an intimidating “bossy” attitude, visits the shop. The OPs then speaks to the General Manager (GM) or maybe even to the Hot Chef or person who prepared the soup.
On a side note, the Hot Chef has the most difficult and stressful job on the shop floor. Unlike the Barista who has the morning coffee rush, cleaning and stocking up, but then a quieter period during lunch time with lots of help, the Hot Chef never stops and goes from the morning bakery items to the lunch-time hot foods! In winter it’s the worst and intensely exhausting. Often they don’t get help except on paper, but in reality they are so stressed for time and often have tiny work benches, if at all, and if they are not organized naturally and not trained properly, they struggle a great deal. I mention the different job roles and stress factors in my Open Letter to Pret Customers.
So, the Hot Chef now gets even more stress and may not even get help, but will be blamed, no matter if the team may have been understaffed, or the Hot Chef may not have received proper training as I used to work as a HC and was thrust into it with little training and have seen this with other HCs again and again.
It is a lose-lose situation. The typical scenario is that staff are not trained properly, overworked, underpaid, stressed to the max, not helped and then blamed when things go wrong. Apart from my experience this can be seen in the countless staff complaints that I collected from other websites. A very typical Pret situation on a daily basis. Of course there are trained staff and good shops, but my 10 years in Pret mainly involved training myself, trying to help my colleagues as best as I was able to under intensely stressful circumstances.
Pret’s response to the customer who was sold the wrong soup is again typical for how Pret responds to this:
If the text is too small: Ctrl & + or direct Link to Pret’s “hilarious” response
So, the customer read the labels on the hot cabinet and the soup cup, and yet still got the wrong item and ingredients! If the customer would have been allergic to any of the ingredients in the wrong soup, having believed to have bought the correct item, scrutinized the labels, double checked everything … but still got the wrong item, this could have been another death… The Tuscan Bean soup does also look a little like this meat soup in the photo above. So, I have also seen often that customers open the lid to take a look and the similarity of the soups visually could still mislead them. And Pret responds in this indifferent way and just blames the Hot Chef who most likely is already over stressed as it is.
The (real) veggie Tuscan Bean Soup
The generic response that is so typical for Pret still amazes me. But the blaming is typical. Quote:
“The hot chef in charge failed the Pret standard for soup preparation…”
No, the Hot Chef most likely was overworked, stressed, had no help and was pressured by the GM or Team Leader to quickly get the soups out for selection so in case the Mystery Shopper comes, they won’t be marked down for missing items on the shelves. Plus, many Hot Chefs work in cramped areas without a proper work bench! Picture below.
No idea how a customer got a hold of this photo. If the customer lets Pret know which shop it is, the person who took and then leaked the photo will have an appointment with the Job-center soon. But this is a very common view I found in my 10 years in Pret. And this is then no wonder that serious mistakes keep happening: tiny work spaces especially for Hot Chefs who have the hardest job on shop level. This photo is a very familiar sight. Hot Chefs balancing act to have proper work benches. Very dehumanizing and disrespectful towards hardworking people to not give them the right space as well as time to prepare in a safe way.
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 well:
The following picture of a rubbish cart is from the worst shop I’ve ever worked, not only because the bullying by my line manager and his boss was the heaviest there, but because there was NO space. There was only ONE toilet for customers AND staff alike. I had to go to the Costa next door at times as I didn’t have time to queue for the toilet! The back-room was an All-in-one room: Office, staff/changing room with lockers, Fridges and Freezers, Store room, the Hot Chef area where the soups were prepared, the Chemical room with all the cleaning materials etc., the Electrical Room and to top it all, the RUBBISH room.
Many times the rubbish was left over night after the collection already came. This photo is from September 2015 and Pret was then forced to expand the working area, decreasing the customer area as the rubbish was a health & safety issue. But this shop existed for at least 2-3 years with the rubbish included in the multi-task room.
Staff would even change their uniform in there next to the Hot Chef preparing food! It was a complete nightmare. And even when we complained about the lack of space and rubbish, Pret would NOT listen to us and only changed when prompted by health & safety people because if an EHO would have done a routine check they would have closed down that shop immediately like an EHO did when mouse droppings were found in a routine visit to a Pret shop. Pret ONLY reacts when caught!
I keep repeating myself that Starbucks closed 8000 shops in the USA to train staff for an afternoon after a racial incident in one of their stores. They closed for a few hours to train their staff and then even remained closed for the rest of the day after the training. This has cost Starbucks an estimated $12 Million+ for that ONE day. Starbucks did that a few years ago already in the UK to retrain staff on coffee quality.
But in Pret customers die, repeated complaints keep coming in on wrong and inadequate labelling like this soup and other products … And those are only the complaints that are public.
And Pret A Manger does business as usual. Full steam ahead! Let the slogans and generic cut and paste responses do their work. I still cannot believe that Pret is still not putting on the brakes here, and gets away with “murder” so to speak.
I wanted to move away from my Pret outcry, but these incidences which are only public, there is much more going on which is not seen, but how people are being treated, how staff suffer… and how I survived Pret, I cannot be silent.
BEFORE Natasha’s and Ms. Marsh’s deaths became public:
05. June 2018 Quote: “Can you start labelling individual wraps?”
And the typical Pret “Oh gosh…” response veering away from the public into DM and just blaming “someone” for having placed item behind the wrong label. But no priority on labelling, no “meaningful” change, just full steam ahead doing business as usual. As a Team Leader I had to fix issues like this on a daily basis.
I just added one “before” example, but there are countless more. Also from my own experience having worked in Pret with staff on high pace and stress, understaffed to maximize profits, running non-stop with no time to oversee careful labelling and placing items on correct shelves…
AFTER Natasha’s and Ms. Marsh’s deaths became public, issues continue:
24.10.2018 Another soup issue. In the U.S. this time:
29.10.2018 This is either the Ham Mac&Cheese or Proscioutto, but looks like the Ham Mac with a green Veggie Kale & Cauli label instead of the red Meaty sticker:
Also 29.10.2018 response to a 26.10. complaint, after three days asking if she was okay. Pret may even be understaffed on their USA Twitter feed. A dish that contains at least enough “iron” supply for the day. The Pret A Metal-Wrap (Allergen Info: Contains metal, eat responsibly)
“A New York City man is suing Pret a Manger after he a went into anaphylactic shock. He alleges that the restaurant staff served him food containing sesame after assuring him the food was free of the allergen.“
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, 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.
40 years of music, her now being 58 years old, still going strong with three of her 5 kids on stage.
Her son joins her in this song and his twin sister being in view in-between, another brother on keyboards… her husband maybe behind the camera like he was in London if he doesn’t play drums …
A love song to life, relationships, family, gains and losses, giving up, falling down, rising up …
This song hit me again today.
My brother and I were always glued to the TV when Nena sang on the German “Hitparade” all those years ago.
I saw Nena in London in a small venue in 2010. I hope to see her live again in a big capacity she always does one of these short days.
I translated this simple song because it needs to be heard outside of the German language. I did a literal translation. I might do a more poetic one that would fit the English language.
To me with all the bullsh*t in this life, it is a love song to life.
I created this^ video yesterday to help get the word out about Ben.
It is set to two songs we loved and all sang together a lot, “Wheel in the Sky” and “Lights” both by Journey. I used photos from his life, from age -3 months when I was pregnant with him in Kenosha, WI, to the last photo of him I took and the last place he was seen.
It includes many photos he shared with me for under1000skies.
Another song I play often when I think of him that helps is “Don’t Stop Believing.” I won’t.
Please share with your social media if you like or friends.
I appreciate every single person who has shared Ben’s poster, sent prayers and good thoughts, and kind notes of encouragement over the years.
I’ll never be able to repay you, but I promise to continue to pay your kindness…
A Crash-course on the PR[et] stunt and how businesses PRostitute their values and demand their staff to do the same.
PRet’s
PRactices in
PRocrastinating
PRoper labelling when
PResented with concerns to
PRotect people and
PReventing
PRemature deaths from
PRepared
PRoducts, taking
PRecedence by being
PReoccupied in
PRioritizing and
PReferring
PRosperity, while being
PRetentious, but not
PRoactive,
PRactical,
PRagmatic,
PRimarily
PRofessional,
PRincipled and with
PRide
PRoviding all ingredients by
PRinting labels to
PReserve and
PRolong life … is so out of
PRoportion!
The PRefabricated
PRemeditated and
PRedictable
PRopaganda,
PRoclaiming
PRomising and
PRofessing that “nothing is more important right now” after an Inquest
PRobing a death, public
PRostests and
PRessure from the
PRess is typical for the
PR[et] machine with
PRofits over
PRivate lives
PRoving their negligence
PRoblem remains: no
PRocecution, no
PRison sentence, and no
PRoposed new leadership
Pret A Manger
PRovokes anger,
PRevails and regains
PRominence by hiring and
PRomoting
PR firm
Headland, Tovera Consulting and former FSA Chief Tim Smith to fix the mess and repaint the facade, like colouring a rotten egg after having ignored multiple warnings.
PRecious lives paid the
PRice, financially
PReyed and
PRowled upon by greedy
PRicks!
If Public Relation is not for the sake of both, the company AND the public; if a company cannot relate to families having lost loved ones, due to the company’s negligence, going full steam ahead with business as usual, then Public Ramifications won’t fix lost Reputation.
PRaying for the families, especially this Christmas time.
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.
UPDATE March 2019 I tell my story for the first time verbally on a podcast based in California, at the bottom of this page.
Today is my brother’s (estimated) 4th year anniversary.
I feel like writing a second short blog entry today after my first post and tribute to him, a second brief post on the “perversion” of Pret A Manger’s dealings with bereaved staff. I am still in shock over this.
I want to highlight this again in light of how Pret dealt with two customer deaths, as the public for the most part is still under the impression that Pret just made a mistake like any other would. But from my trauma with Pret, I experienced them as toxic, calculated, careless and stepping on people’s dignity.
I learned of my brother’s death on Monday 12. Jan. 2015
He was found on 15. Dec. 2014 in his flat, estimated date of death around six days before. As the date is an estimate, the council put the date of 15.12.2014 when he was found on his grave instead of the estimated 09.12.2014. We didn’t know they’d do that and again we were NOT informed or consulted on what OUR wishes were! I wanted to let this date be changed but my mum didn’t want me to struggle with this and just leave it. So many strange things happened like sending his urn from his city to my mum’s village council via POST! I didn’t even know this was “normal” procedure in Germany! For some people, like some of my friends this isn’t a problem, but for me it is! Terrible to send the urn of a loved one via post! Shock after shock after shock!!!
The police was so sloppy they couldn’t be bothered to search extensively as they ruled out fowl play.
They cremated my brother before finding us! Only recently I found a video of a family in the USA who’s son/brother died and was cremated without finding the family. I thought these things don’t happen.
When I learned he died, I learned it in one loaded email that amongst other things he was completely gone!
I am still in thoughts and communication with people on what I can do about how all of this was dealt with.
Fasting forward through a horrific period of trauma, confusion, unclear information, horror and on top of this being bullied in Pret during this time. If anyone doubts my story, I have written evidence that could fill several books!
In complete trauma, on autopilot having to work and like a zombie I raised grievance after grievance not realizing that Pret’s toxic HR department was behind my ordeal at work. It was a waste of time and energy. I just stumbled through an emotional minefield in a mental war zone.
Because I was so instabil, in the end calling sick increasingly, Pret used a Development Manager from HQ, who worked with Pret for around 15 years at the time, to sanction me. She had a brother who also died in his flat alone and was not discovered until days later, like my brother died and wasn’t found until days later. There are some minor differences between her brother’s and my brother’s circumstances in death, but overall the major parts were like a twin story. Her brother died roughly 5 – 6 weeks before my brother died in his home country, like my brother in our home country. But instead of introducing us for mutual support in our common grief, Pret used her to sanction me via the tool of gaslighting because I spiraled into traumatic emailing, even though she wasn’t even working in HR. I learned of my brother’s death via email, was targeted and bullied via group emails from my line managers and other emailing incidences that started an emailing sprint lasting for months. Straight away the day after the disciplinary she and I entered into personal contact solely via text messages and emailing for which she sanctioned me! I was so out-of-sync that initially I thought Pret was supporting me through her even though I was always confused and questioned her why she was used to sanction me instead of someone else doing the disciplinary and her just having normal, non-secret contact. But in hindsight and after having ignored a friend’s warning, she was “spying” on me, on my mental state and if firing me would be a risk for them as a disciplinary is the first and pretty secure step to fire people.
I was so out of it I didn’t see the scheming in this and to this day I don’t know if she even had a brother who died like he did. If her story is NOT true, she is an extremely good liar because the way she described everything was very graphic which I could relate to because that’s how it was with my brother! But if it is true, to allow Pret to step on her as well as my dignity like that is beyond me!
Not only was this the most corrupt thing I have experienced, I have also gone through another kind of loss of having met a person with the SAME loss to just be tricked and lose that support, even though after what she allowed Pret to do via her, I would not want any connection with her again.
My traumatic grief that NO-ONE understood plus the bullying in Pret was like going through a torching desert, then reaching an oasis and someone handing you fresh cold water, and just when you reached out to drink, they snatched it away!
THIS is Pret A Manger behind their PR facade!
And in Pret the bereaved are still treated badly as a former employee from NYC left a review in November:
To keep it short, after initial improvement of my traumatic emailing, I restarted as I was confused and further traumatized with the Development Manager’s conduct. I just became really unwell. My grief turned complicated. Her manipulating and gaslighting me was a very easy task for her as she is also a Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and in 2017 studied to become a Psychotherapist. She is registered under The National Hypnotherapy Society that wasn’t interested in pursuing my complaint.
I was fired three days after Christmas, days after my dad came out of his coma still in intensive care when I was summoned back from Germany to London for the dismissal hearing. Two months before I was fired Pret’s CEO Clive Schlee patronized me by calling me his “late night girl” because of emailing late at nights after work. He had a laugh while they all pretended it was so wrong, tricking and trapping me all the way. Therefore I named my website this to be a sore in his and Pret’s sight!
My dad died in March and in a new Twilight Zone I started in May 2018 to write about my ordeal after initially just having posted videos and poems for my brother. I will eventually re-blog everything for my brother and/or separate my Pret ordeal from my brother’s blog as my brother should not share a website with this corrupt and toxic company that is Pret A Manger.
I rejected 4 settlement offers if I resign and be silent about what I went through in Pret. These are the brief bullet points of my story with Pret. My story is spread throughout this website.
I know I am not dealing with this in a way I would have wished for, but I am still coming to terms and acknowledge after almost 4 years that I am actually doing extremely well under the circumstances! And I don’t care if people agree with it or not. It’s MY story, MY pain, MY loss, and MY way to try and navigate through trauma and grief. And I will eventually move away from this “ranting”, but the public is oblivious on how cold and negligent Pret is behind the facade. Unfortunately through deaths of customers becoming public and how badly Pret dealt with it do some of the public and the press slowly wake up.
My blog has grown with many writings of my ordeal with Pret, but to lead the reader to the main issues, please see the links below first before you get lost in all the other blog entries.
Undercover Under Pressure in PretUndercover investigation sparked by my blog by The Sunday Mirror’s Amy Sharpe (Thank you Amy for having taken my ordeal serious and having had the courage to investigate inside!)
Please visit my brother’s page I created today among other posts. I initially started my website and blog with videos and poems for him and will eventually turn this back for solely my brother and life in general.
He died alone in his flat, I want his memory to be known and not be alone. Pret has no place in my life even though I wasted 10 years in this company, it has almost destroyed me and postponed my grief for my brother. My brother is gone, I can’t recover him, but I will recover, tell my story and help people against workplace bullying under corrupt CEOs and toxic HR departments.
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, 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.
I want to respond to your invitation to give feedback on the good the bad and the ugly. As you anticipate my responses, not blocking me so you can collect my Tweets and writings (also through automated bookmarking from my blog) in case for court and other reasons I won’t speculate upon, I continue to share for the sake of the public. I used to never do these kinds of communications. I used to always be discreet and professional giving the benefit of the doubt, communicating one to one, and not calling out wrongdoing in public.
Yet as you know, with what your management and HR department has put me through under your guidance and leadership, especially managers telling me off in front of my teams and my repeated requests to be spoken to in private regarding mistakes, I was given the poor explanation that I am being corrected for the benefit of the team so they can learn from my mistakes.
Apart from this being very poor management and a lame excuse for bullying, I do like to take the opportunity and use this leadership “style” to communicate to you openly again for the benefit of the public and other companies to learn from your “mistakes”.
As there are always new readers who do not know my story and what staff in Pret go through, here again my feedback on Pret A Manger’s work-conditions. Starting with an employee review on Pret in New York City:
I used to be a very giving person, quick to forgive, patient in difficult times, very loyal come rain come shine, hard working with integrity and passion, deeply caring for my teams… and I am still these things with measure and with all the shortcomings I have. And if there is one good thing I take away from my experience in Pret, it is the lesson and freedom to say the small yet heavy word starting with “n” and ending with “o”.
Like the above review from 30. October 2018 of a former Pret employee in NYC, I can only underline this review as I have also never worked in such a toxic, abusive and bullying workplace that hides behind a smiley facade. And it took extreme trauma, being bullied during bereavement and gaslighted under a corrupt HR department to finally come to the conclusion that Pret is absolutely not what it gives itself to the public and staff.
From another review appropriately even titled “The good and the bad”, quote: “I just feel very strongly that the general public view of this company is very far off from the truth…”Link
The only good I took away from Pret is my freedom to say “no”, no matter if this will result in unfavourable positions, exclusion, less finances etc. It doesn’t matter. The most precious things I am left with is my integrity, my principles, my values that cannot be prostituted for money or bought for silence or crushed by incapable and poorly trained “leadership”.
No!
The Bad
Unfortunately Pret has drawn the bad out of me. Where I used to be discreet, professional and quick to forgive, I went so out-of-sync in my communication, and yet I am still learning with the support or others to not be hard on myself.
Tomorrow 09.12.2018 will be the fourth anniversary of my brother’s death, and that date is only estimated, we “adopted” that date just to have a reference. But I was not to learn for five weeks after he was found that he was dead and cremated, completely gone. All the circumstances, the mess and surroundings of it was to turn my life unto a halt while going ahead on autopilot with no choice but to keep working.
To then be bullied by Pret’s management and my aim to bring suggestions to HR and “help” a multi-million pound company improve work-conditions to have a clear policy for bereaved employees in place, was in hindsight not only a waste of time, but not my responsibility. Clive Schlee, you certainly had a good laugh on the account of my dignity and health. My grief was postponed while going through this ordeal in Pret. My grief has turned complicated as it already was. I can never be silent about what you put me through with this incapable, careless and manipulative management style.
The true employee reviews where staff are “overstretched” as undercover reporter Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror experienced; where staff are being treated in a way that a GM felt no other option than to walk out; and in my own and many other experiences where workers are stressed, pushed and bullied to breaking point even during bereavement will always rise to the surface of the facade you worked so hard on to maintain.
The slogan of “doing the right thing” and with your HR department taking it to more lofty heights by claiming to be “doing the right thing naturally” is unbelievable in its arrogance!
Review: “This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you. … You will lose everything that makes you human.”Link
You try to compensate this “leadership” style by treating former homeless people (whom you patronizingly call “Rising Stars”) with kindness and more consideration, and in your own words are “careful to integrate” them into regular shops, as the work environment is brutal and may catapult them back unto the streets giving your PR a true face.
While this is a great thing to do, helping people back into work, giving them an beautiful break by flying them out to your Austrian home, or hike in the English countryside etc., I question the motive behind this kindness. Many staff in the main “population” of your workforce are treated horrendously bad. People are fired unnecessarily and unfairly, staff become depressed and suicidal. I was bullied during grief under your watch and you even being part of my ordeal calling me your “late night girl” two months before I was fired while my dad was in intensive care just out of a coma!
This contrast to your “Rising Stars” program should make anyone question the true intention of your “kindness” as I pointed out in my open letter to the Pret Foundation Trust. It is like what one reviewer compared Pret to a “Mafia” organization I posted in Pret A M*ffin. No, of course Pret is not a mafia organization, but what does a mafia organization do best? They rule in every corner of a region, give money to the city and charities, to school projects and hospitals, and of course to the police and politicians, and even the press, while getting free range and their backs covered to build their organization and destroy lives. So, I can empathize with this reviewers comparison.
Quote from your (now former) blog about the Rising Star program and the idea for them to run a shop entirely by former homeless people:
“Our shop idea lost momentum when we returned home. People pointed out that we didn’t have enough Rising Stars at a management level to actually run the shop. Others felt we might be leaving them too exposed, as we are usually careful to integrate Rising Stars into our shop teams.”
It doesn’t matter how many “fake” reviewers are employed for Glassdoor, Indeed and other sites. True reviews on horrible work-conditions, naming and shaming shops when they don’t do well, overworked and underpaid workers, all these reviews will always continue unless real change happens for ALL employees, not only for a few selected “Rising Stars” for PR. Regular hardworking staff are being bullied, thrown on the streets, into mental illness, depression and suicidal thoughts!
The Ugly
The ugly part in my work in Pret has topped everything that I ever imagined could have happened in an already traumatic workplace experience. It has shown how toxic, disgraceful, disrespectful and scheming the leadership and HR really is.
I could tell you the estimated date of a man who died in his flat alone and was not discovered until days later when his corpse was already disintegrated to the degree that it wasn’t recommended to view his remains.
I could tell you about a woman who had to learn days later in another country that her brother has died, not knowing at the time what he died of.
I could tell you about a staff member who kept working in Pret, on autopilot, traumatized and trying to come to terms of the untimely loss of a loved one.
I could tell you about that employee and the details of the death, family circumstances, upbringing etc.
I could tell you about this person, but I won’t because this won’t be my story. This is the story of your Development Manager whose dignity you stepped upon by using her to sanction me for my emailing. She then entered into emailing and text messaging, even though she sanctioned me for it. We entered into personal communication because our brothers’ deaths were like a twin story.
But the ugly and frankly perverse part in this is, that she was not asked to get in contact with me for mutual support in our common grief. No, her tragedy was used against my tragedy for your toxic, corrupt and disregarding leadership style to avoid truly caring for your employees.
Unfortunately her conduct was equally abusive as she is also a Hypnotherapist under this governing body and she wanted to use my experience in grief for her psychology studies. And maybe she felt without a choice, with her back against the wall to please HR, maybe out of fear to not be treated favourably or have a career. I don’t know. But it was her choice and problem, and it is not my concern to figure out her motives for playing along with this disgraceful scheme.
The offense upon offense, grief upon grief, loss upon loss I have experienced since my brother died I am still coming to terms with. To be introduced to a colleague who has such a similar loss, to only be tricked and trapped is beyond me. The opportunity Pret A Manger has had, was not only lost, but it was kicked with disregard to truly make an impact that would have led me to write incredibly positive reports, instead of putting a crack into your facade, no amount of trips with the “Rising Stars” will keep your white washed facade in tact.
Your new bosses have now employed the specialists company Headland to help you in how to conduct in public affairs where your previous PR just doesn’t cut it anymore. They were added to help properly communicate without putting the foot in the mouth with sweet-talk and patronizing labels! Yet, what Pret really needs is not another firm to show them how to best keep the facade polished while it is rotten behind it, what Pret truly needs is real leadership that doesn’t have slogans but true ethics and care in place. True leadership that take responsibility, away from all the blaming game Pret is so entrenched in.
The crack in the facade will be fixed again, but there will always be new cracks appearing where the stench of staff mistreatment, toxic work-conditions, a corrupt HR department will ooze out unless the core, the heart of the business is truly changed from the top down.
I cannot bring my brother back, and I certainly will never work in a toxic company again, but I can keep taking my life back and live the freedom to share what happened to me and how many others are struggling to the point of suicide. And I am proud of what I was able to contribute, even while you, Clive Schlee won’t ever admit this. You don’t need to.
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” ― Anne Lamott
When I made this “video” below earlier this year, I was still in a mental storm of trauma, loss, guilt to have let my brother down, guilt to have been a “burden” to a multi-million pound company still giving the benefit of the doubt and blaming myself. When I made this “video” I just buried my dad around that time and still coming to terms about my brother.
I wrote in grief and blaming myself, where I shouldn’t have. Pret leadership, you are the ones that have all the resources and manpower to support staff that worked for you so long. And I wrote at the end of this video, “I know you have a good heart”, but I take that back, Pret and Clive Schlee because there is no good in the center, at the top leadership levels that allow and enable such pain and disrespect towards hardworking people as well as in the dealings with customers deaths.
Pret needs a heart transplant with a truly good heart at the center of the company to not just aim for profits at the loss of so many. And yet I doubt JAB Holdings will have their heart in the right place. It’s just another profit driven business based in tax-haven Luxembourg and some journalists have woken up.
But I decided to leave my wrong conclusions without deleting the video as you need to be reminded what could have been written from a bereaved former employee who survived your company unlike some others.
Thank you for reading.
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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.
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 Open “Letter” to Lila Tighilt Warren. 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, but I was not ready for the press:
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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. Pret never responded when I AND an OPs manager asked if I could be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then targetted. Pret never responded.
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 (being from Germany, that word doesn’t exist in Germany except in its English form. I had to explain it to a German therapist), “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 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 and What shop MANAGERS and HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.
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.
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
… helped many lose their feet and self-confidence, even bravely speaking to friends to lend them money, knocking on doors to find jobs and homes, talking about their experience being bullied in Pret, manipulated and fired during bereavement. And some becoming suicidal with one AMK ending her life in 2017.
Nothing against Sabina, she has her story, but she has been pampered in Pret for PR[et]. Sabina doesn’t know the many people who suffer, get fired, become suicidal, even dying. I don’t blame her. She’ll be fine.
Andrea Wareham spoke at the House of Lords on behalf of Pret as well, but JAB now axed her from the director’s board. Says a lot.
Pret A Manger, Clive Schlee, Niki I am NOT impressed at all whatsoever with your slick videos, politics, manipulation PR…
You hurt people to the point of suicide. You discriminate against the bereaved. You are a business.
PLEASE, please BE a BUSINESS without giving charity a bad name!
Learn more about Pret’s falling stars program if you even care.
And Pret, maybe learn from this lady, but I know you won’t because you are too “big” for that.
Sheryl Sandberg on bereavement at work and how her boss, Mark Zuckerberg not just “accommodated” her bereavement, but wanted her to be there. Respect, Mr. Zuckerberg, he sucks in other places like data protection stuff, but he got my heart on staff welfare!
Shame Pret, you missed so many opportunities. Too many.
Clive Schlee, having taken your patronizing, disrespectful label of late night girl as a website, I used to respect you, I still do, like I respect any person on the street, but I am not impressed with you at all. Not one bit.
You do not know what traumatic loss means. And I don’t wish it on anyone.
Good luck with JAB.
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, 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.
Dear Ms. Sister, unfortunately I have to bring you sad news. Mr. Thomas Brother was found dead in his apartment in X-City on 15.12.2014. From his paper work no next of kin could be determined so that I was appointed as curator for your deceased brother’s estate. … Your brother has been cremated under order of the city council. Copy of order attached. His urn has not been buried yet and you can decide where to bury the urn. Unfortunately I have to also inform you that his estate is in debt and have to therefore advise you to reject the inheritance. Please inform me of any other family and addresses. The contact details of the morgue are… With kind regards, Mrs. Ice Cold Curator
….
Dear Thomas,
I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your last email, I don’t even know why I didn’t reply. Maybe I expected to see you, but then life just keeps happening and we always assume next time, next time… And maybe I was upset that you couldn’t come to the concert I invited you to. Apart from being busy you were also honest enough to say that this wasn’t your type of music. But I got us on the guest list, with backstage meeting the artist I worked with. I wanted you to be proud of me.
But I have no right to be cross. I didn’t pay much attention to your 20 page business plan you sent me, maybe you wanted me to be proud of you. And I was, but it didn’t cross my mind to say something. I just replied that your business plan looks impressive but reads like Chinese to me as I don’t understand business language. I’m sorry I never told you how impressed I was, how proud that you had the courage to start a business. I could never do that, I’m too cowardly to start something like that. It takes a lot of courage, strength and determination to start a business. I always played it safe, just being employed and do my real passions and hobbies in my private life. You went further and gave it a go. But being employed did me no good after all. And now I don’t even have the courage for regular employment.
Can you believe the email this woman sent? She didn’t try to find out my phone number or mum’s address she lived at for 30+ years, in a country with a high sophisticated ID system where everyone is registered under law. She didn’t email and ask me to phone her or give my phone number and warn or prepare me that I urgently need to get in contact as she had to inform me about you. She just wrote a few sentences in a typical German efficient and straightforward way. No-nonsense, not wasting time, tell it like it is, no mercy. And she made sure she covered everything in one email. I cannot describe the hell, I cannot describe it. A huge hand of a monster thrust inside my gut and ripped it out in one fast move.
Do you know that the next day when I flew over to tell mum that you were gone, I called this woman but she didn’t want to give any more info. She sounded nervous, was upset that I called her at 9pm and said that she had no further information and that her husband is getting impatient in the background.
Do you know why? Why was she so short-cut and angry that I called? I kept calling the police, but they had no answer either. I am still confused. Why did the police handle this so poorly, why could they not give me a clear cause of death and couldn’t answer my list of questions? The only explanation the police guy gave me of why they didn’t do an autopsy was that they ruled out fowl play and suicide, and once they ruled out especially murder, they hand the case back to the coroner and close it on their file. Just like that. They have many cases to work on. A former police detective who was a customer of mine confirmed that if they don’t find anything suspicious, they just close the case as it would otherwise involve too much paper work. He told me that deaths in flats happen more often than we think. I’m sure if one of their family members was found like this, they’d go to town to find the cause. But there weren’t able to tell me what you died of. And they frankly didn’t care.
Everyone since then keeps telling me to not pursue any legal action as this would just add to the turmoil and the police always covers themselves. I had to put puzzle pieces together, with bits and pieces of information from your neighbours, your ex-girl friend C. etc. If you could hear me, I wouldn’t tell you that they sent your urn from your city to mum’s village council via post! Via post, Thomas. I’m sorry, I didn’t know they’d do that in Germany. If I’d knew they send urns via post, I’d made arrangements with the funeral service who arranged the funeral later, to bring it over in a dignified way. No one told me they send urns via post. I didn’t know so many things they’d do. I’m sorry, everything was a mess. Everything. Your three cats survived and they were able to catch two, but the third slipped through the door. I don’t know which one, but your neighbour said that she sees the cat outside sometimes, but it won’t let anyone catch it. I’m sorry your cats went through the six days seeing you lie there.
The police said that they rampaged your apartment. I know how clean you liked it, we had to take our shoes off, like in my place as well. But after you died, the cats just rampaged. They must have been distressed, the mum and her two kitties. The mum-cat in this picture you sent me before she had kittens, I wish I knew where she is. I’m sorry.
I dislike this country of ours. And if it wasn’t for mum, I’d never return. I buried dad in March, near you.
I saw an amazing play yesterday, Bury the Dead in which six soldiers who fell in a war refused to be buried. They got up from the ground where soldiers were digging out graves, but they just stood up and refused to be buried because they died too young. They died under the lies of the leaders who brainwashed them to fight and die for “honour”.
But they were too young to die and haven’t seen the world yet, or haven’t had the chance to start a family, or couldn’t finish that university degree they started before getting drafted. I wept through half the play and imagined you to refuse to be cremated until we got the news that your corpse was in the cold chamber. But then I thought if they would have found us before cremating you, mum may have wanted to see you. But what does a six day old corpse look like? Once an image is ingrained in the mind, it will never leave.
I wanted her to keep you in memory of this last photo she took of you a year before you died.
You looked annoyed as usual of her taking photos all the time. I had to forbid mum to go to the police station as they spoke about photos they took when they found you. The way they handled your death and case, I panicked they would show her the photos. Mum was extremely angry that you didn’t have her address and phone number in your flat. I had to explain to her that I don’t have that either as we live in the Internet age and we know her address and number by heart, as she lives there since over 30 years. She slowly accepted that.
I’ve written you many emails since until your account was shut for lack of you logging in and sending emails. I kept writing though and my emails bounced back as if you replied. But getting “Mailer-Daemon” responses wore me out.
Remember when you visited me in London and I showed you around? We took the tube to Tower Bridge and as we walked towards the bridge that was hidden behind the trees you asked me what “castle” this was. I said that this is the Tower Bridge. You asked, “Yes, but what castle is this?” It is the Tower Bridge I repeated. “Yeah, but what’s that castle?” Thomas, this is the Tower Bridge!!! And as we came closer where you could see the full bridge you laughed and looked at me embarrassed “Ah, yeah!”
It was one of the rare occasions that I knew something more than you did, as you were always too smart for me! I beat you on this one! Stupid, I know. I have to think of this every time I am at the Bridge.
And remember when we sat in the café by Piccadilly Circus and you called mum from your mobile pretending to be in your home? You chatted for a while with her and then just handed the phone over to me to say hi to mum! That surprise surely worked! I asked her several times since you’re gone if she can remember you calling her from London to prank her to think you were calling from your home, but she can’t remember. I don’t know if she blocked it out or if her dementia is getting worse. She’s more forgetful now, you know? But she’s doing okay. We went through rough waters these last four years. It’s normal they say.
All I know now is that I let you down.
And I don’t know how to forgive myself.
Knowing you, I know you’d forgive me, but I can’t forgive myself, Thomas.
I made this silly “video” for you, one of many, but this is the only one with a German artist. He sings about his best friend, Michael, who was like a brother to him. But his friend died. I mixed in another song of a Swiss artist and wrote my text to it. I’m not sure if these would be your taste of music, as our tastes was often very different. I am not into German much but I wanted to use German speaking artists. But you can’t see it, I know. I did it to cope. I messed up in so many ways, Thomas. I can’t forgive myself.
November, December, January have become months I’ve come to dislike.
I was moving around these past days and weeks extremely down and tried to figure out why several consecutive days I am just very low. It’s not the weather, I love October and November, and fog. My heart is tight and heavy as if something is suffocating the life out of it. On the verge of a panic attack, I seek quiet places. Anytime, in random places I tear up, just out of the blue.
I realized that on 19.10.2014 I received my brother’s last email. And I never replied.
He was supposed to meet me for a concert in November. But he couldn’t make it. He wished me to have fun, till later. I didn’t see the need to respond and assumed I’d seen him anyway while I was visiting Germany. But I got distracted and as he was busy anyway, didn’t even think to call him. Maybe I was disappointed that he couldn’t make it. I don’t know.
On 12. January 2015 I learned via an email that he was found dead in his apartment on 15. December 2015, approximate day of death 09.12.2014. No clear cause of death. No autopsy. They supposedly couldn’t find us and after a while just cremated him.
And I made the biggest mistake that I can see in hindsight. After flying back and forth for funeral, errand, family, investigating… I kept working as my savings dried out and without support couldn’t afford to take off. In hindsight I should have taken off at least six months to a year instead of flying back and forth and with the horrific experience in Pret on top.
I was in a fog, on autopilot, in a Twilight Zone, like a Zombie.
Three years of emotional horror while trying to pull myself together, but falling more and more apart. Guilt, regrets, self-doubt, everything kept crushing again and again into me like a building collapsing again and again.
After my ordeal in Pret, my father was submitted into intensive care, in a three week coma in November 2017. At the end of December 2017 with my dad just woken from his coma I was fired from Pret. Autopilot again, guilt, regret, existential fears … flying back and forth again to work and be by his side, back to London to look for work, back to my dad, back to London … back to Germany to bury him as he didn’t recover.
November, December, January, February my brother’s birthday, March, my father’s death. I want to cut some months out of the calendar. I shut everything down, most things and people that meant something to me, I shut down.
My heart is tight and heavy, and I feel any moment an anxiety attack is approaching. But I have learned to not fear them so they don’t come heavy. Just ride it out, the doctor said the heart is perfectly capable to handle it. It’s not physical. If it wouldn’t have been for my mum being alive, I don’t know if I would be here right now.
To anyone reading this who knows me personally, I have said it many times, but I want to apologize again for letting people down. It’s not you, you know that.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
As Anti-Bullying week has come to an end last Friday I remembered an older blog entry I made. I wrote the below post in May 2016 on another blog site where I mainly posted poems for/about my brother and just scratched on what I went through in Pret, without naming Pret at the time as I do now on this site. But when I was going through the mixed horror of my brother’s death added with the bullying in Pret, this particular time was like a transition period where my trauma worsened, but I didn’t realize it then.
At that time I rather felt that everything in Pret would settle for me and I could concentrate on coming to terms about my brother’s death. I always felt that my situation wasn’t dealt with properly, but I didn’t realize how much I was played and manipulated via dodgy grievance hearings. One area manager who was very slick held a grievance appeals hearing against a line manager who openly bullied me (shouting, blaming, excluding etc.) under the main catalyst who was his boss and the guidance of HR.
In the hearing she held she asked me what my “definition of bullying is”. At that time I was utterly distraught and fell for this trap to think I wasn’t bullied. In hindsight I’d answer this “question” with a question of what her definition of bullshit is! It was also the time when I applied for and received my file, but at the time I just briefly looked through it vaguely until months later when I meticulously sieved through every word on every page and went into deeper turmoil that I explain in “Not Quite a Beautiful Mind“.
Now, looking back, having been in deep darkness, confused, traumatized, holding on and trying to escape through writing, I am grateful to have given Pret the benefit of the doubt so much to be able to say, what a corrupt and toxic company behind a friendly facade and under the current leadership of Clive Schlee and HR Pret A Manger is.
May 2016 Blog post (I added the links from the old blog entry):
Definition of Bullying
Once on a school trip to the seaside of Western France, six of us girls planned to share a room in the youth hostel we were booked in. On the first night after dinner and having settled in, I found myself alone with one of the girls in the big room, while the other four girls spontaneously moved out again and into a vacant 4-bedded room together.
It didn’t take me long to understand what was happening. The girl who was “stuck” with me (or I with her) in the 6-bedded room was the typical person to not have been cool enough to share a room with. There was even talk about her already back home at a school-BBQ before the trip and how they would give her the trip of her life. She was typically uncool, by the book at that time; ginger hair, thick glasses, long front teeth, not wearing the trendiest clothes… The perfect uncool kid to be “avoided with” or not be around.
She (I’ll give her the name “Ginger”) was someone who didn’t fit into the norm, nothing more, nothing less. The usual stuff. I didn’t fit in either, not for “temperature” reasons, but because I was in a sphere of my own.
So, we just had more space and more peace. I didn’t like the situation because I wasn’t invited by the four “cool” girls, but I didn’t mind either because I never liked this kind of group dynamic. Nothing against groups as long as they are inclusive, accepting, supportive, more than just tolerant/tolerating. But tolerance would have been the bare minimum anyone could ask for if individuals in a group have neither strength nor courage for anything beyond that.
“The soul selects her own society, then shuts the door to divine majority. Present no more.”
— Emily Dickinson
Not having been particularly “cool” myself, and not really bothered if I was or not, I didn’t care to impress a group or be intimidated by a “mob” of freezers. I tend to select my own society.
The first of the five or six mornings we were there, I woke up turning around in my bed towards the door. From the sun beams that were shining through the windows, I could see something shimmering on the floor in front of the bed of my room mate. I got up, went to see what it was and saw it was a puddle of fluid, it was obvious from the stench that it was urine left there close to Ginger’s bed, with her still asleep. If she would have had to get up at night for the toilet, she most certainly would have stepped into it.
I pondered over this “pond” and was just perplexed on how it got there or worse, why someone would do this and how we both didn’t wake up noticing this invasion of our dignity. We cleaned it up later, pretending something weird spilled here somehow. I don’t know, I didn’t know what to think or say. Whatever we were thinking, not sure. To this day I don’t know why I didn’t get a teacher immediately and clean it up before she woke up. Maybe I was too perplexed, offended, embarrassed… Hopefully she thought I was the target or us both together; wishful thinking on my part. She was just always very quiet. I will never know if or what she realized was going on.
I didn’t know what to do, if I should go to a teacher or ask around why someone would do this. But going to a teacher or trying to find out who the “donor” of this mess was, might have just encouraged more of this. So I left it, assuming it was a one-off, never having seen any “pranks” like this on previous school trips.
As the days of the trip went on, we took a bus ride through the region. I was sitting in the back of the bus, one or two rows in front of the group of girls, now joined by the boys, and overheard them speak about how they want to cut Ginger’s hair at night. I remember freezing in my seat and feeling my blood disappear from my head with a tingling sensation in my face, going into panic-mode. I had two seats to myself since the bus was roughly half filled, as not the whole class went on this trip but just about two dozen of us. Everyone, except for the group and some couples, would sit generously in two seats, getting a little privacy away from the shared rooms in the hostel.
My thoughts started racing on what to do, since the “pee” situation I knew they would go through with whatever they planned. They must have felt secure that I was just a dumb bystander who’s “job” it was to console Ginger in the aftermath of whatever would happen to her. As if it was some kind of calling in life for her to be bullied and my calling was to just stroke her head, comforting her, oh well poor poor Ginger, c’est la vie.
My heart and my mind went into overdrive with the dilemma of not wanting to get into trouble with the cool crew, but also not wanting to allow something disgusting like this to happen to a girl, who’s only fault it was to not fit in.
Society-selecting time again!
Later that day before dinner time at the hostel, I couldn’t think straight, never mentioning any of this to Ginger or anyone. I was nervous before the meal, heart pouncing, thoughts pacing back and forth when I decided to speak up. I approached the room where the group always huddled together, prayed under my breath, knocked on the door and was invited in. I went straight to the ring leader girl and said sharply (with my limbs like jelly and my heart beating to my throat!) “If anything happens to Ginger, you will be the first to regret it!”. She looked perplexed, starring at me and then around the room, and laughing with the group asked if I was insane or what!? I repeated the sentence and just left the room shaking inside. I went straight to the room of one of the teachers, telling the whole story to just get this sorted. I guess some would call me a “Drama Queen”, but bullying is not just a drama, it’s a cowardly disgrace and a shame. The next dayGinger had her birthday, and the majority of the kids congratulated her, even if half-hearted by most, including some of the cool, “strong” and marvelous group. Nothing ever happened to the uncool girl anymore. And on the eve of our return back home, Ginger and I sat outside for a smoke while there was an improvised “Disco” going on inside for our last night of the trip.
To this day it’s just a guess if Ginger knew what was going on, or if she repressed the situation to just avoid the pain of it. We never spoke about it and she never seemed at a shock, just rather quiet and speaking about nothing really. Deep down I felt of course she knows. But my pretense might have matched hers equally, just so we can make that day. We just had a good smoke and a meaningless chat, but worth our while.
Nothing further happened as the teachers had an eye on it now, after my shivering confrontation with the group’s leader. But I meant what I said, even while shaking inside my boots. And I rather took the risk of being bullied myself, suffering the consequences, than having to watch in silence how a person is being targeted just because she didn’t fit in to whatever the majority felt was the(ir) norm, or to release the burden of their own meaningless existence.
Even with the threat of any more nightly “adventures” in our room, I slept well at nights. I’d rather be bullied or be with those who are, then being cozy with a bully.
I wondered at times throughout the years, and even now, what has become of Ginger. While writing this experience down, I looked up a digitalized photo of her with some of the bullies on the France trip. I do hope this wallflower became a bouquet, no matter if it fits into anyone’s perception of cool or beauty, but whom those bullies would not recognize today, because they are too busy and messed up in their own journey to fit in.
I never thought I would write this story down and after having scanned over a thousand photos recently into my computer from all the years of my life, even before I was born, then shredding the majority of it to get rid of clutter in my flat. I never scanned in the photos of the bullies, except when “Ginger” was on them, but just threw them away without digitalizing them. Don’t know if I’d regret it one day since even the bad stuff is part of our lives, but I have no room for those bullies on my computer. No more “beds” available.
I have not been bullied as a kid, except the typical teasing we all go through. But I cannot remember ever having been bullied as a kid in school. But I never would have imagined that I would be bullied as an adult.
What was my weakness? The thought that our lives are final on this earth? The inconvenience of my grief? That I didn’t “function” at times as expected? That I didn’t kiss anyone’s association or agenda? That I looked strong, but in reality was completely broken while on autopilot? That I spoiled someone’s perception of strength? That I reminded them of their own mortality and weakness?
In hindsight, please, someone tell me?
All I know is that I have been bullied! No more formal grievances needed. If the catalyst, the main bully is in leadership above you, you have no chance unless you have the strength to see it through. I’m sorry my brother’s death got in their way. He won’t do that again!
Sometimes people are bullied not because they are uncool in the perception of a mob, but because they may come across too strong. Anything that does not fit into the “norm” of the (insecure) majority might just be the perfect target. I don’t know. People in a group, in a mob do things that they would never do when alone. But unfortunately 1 single person, who is in the position of power or leadership, can influence a group who wants to please their leader/boss, and pull the carpet from under someone else’s feet.
It takes only 1 person, 1 leader to influence their sub-ordinance to either pull that carpet or provide a safe place for an individual or minority. Everything stands and falls with leadership. If a leader won’t allow bullying to happen, it won’t! If a leader closes their eyes, or worse, is the main catalyst of bullying, then God help us.
I understood this in my late teens/early 20s already, that’s why I went straight to the leader to make clear that she is responsible to set the tone of the group. But I was too scared and got backup by the teacher, the higher “leader” of the group. If telling on others is what it takes, then that’s what it takes.
It is horrendously easy to be within a group siding against one person, than to stand up within that group, reaching out against the decision of the majority and their leader for the protection and support of that one person. If we realize it or not, we constantly “select our own society”, depending on how strong we feel towards moral issues, health, justice, principles. We constantly make our choices and will choose until our last day. I have chosen wrong and right many times myself in different situations, but if I make up my mind that one person or a minority needs to be protected, especially while going through tragedy, than I hope my mind is made up regardless of the consequences. And after a while, if I manage to make it through in one piece, I sleep well at nights.
this question might really be asking how to avoid being made corporately responsible for those who are in the group they themself represent.
It is beyond me that a powerful group of professionals still try to protect each other without realizing how “small” I am and how simple I am reached without trickery. If we “manage” by fear, that’s all we do: fear!
All I hoped for was just for someone to not be afraid of me, for someone to just have a coffee with me asking how my day was and complain about the weather or whatever. The way my former boss “Cat” did briefly before leaving too soon. I am nobody, just broken, scared, loud, angry, nothing more to be afraid of, and nothing less to be stepped upon. I would have wished for some protection. But better late than never.
Now, I like to leave each day on a positive note. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with depression, other times I’m exhausted from the day, another time just chilled and content. I don’t dare to aim for happiness, I’m not there yet. But I don’t want to end a day on a negative note. And yet I still do it so often.
A dear friend recently said to me, “Forgiveness is a powerful thing”, something I did not want to hear, but know she is right. To “for – give”, to give away an experience, a painful event, letting go, is liberating. Even if or because it takes time and pain; falling, getting up, falling again, getting up again… as if I haven’t got enough pain to work through already. But bitterness won’t be the thing I will fall asleep with. And the only shimmering puddle I will wake up to is the dew of a new day, with new chances to look out for those who need a new society to lend them a hand to heal.
One thing I often did early on after my brother died, was to walk for hours through London, especially through the busy tourist areas I would usually avoid. There I sought and saw happy faces, little kids eating ice cream and being jolly, and when they cried it was because they didn’t get their ice cream right then and there. Very valid tears for a child; I envied the reason for their tears. And after five minutes the only thing that was crying was the melting ice cream dripping down on their chin, and life was sweet again.
There were glimpses of life in the midst of loss and blackness. I sought the smiles of kids, or the naïve curiosity of tourists, or the clumsy effort of new lovers… All I did was starring at life as it kept moving on and passing by me. There was life in the midst of trauma. At least I was an observer of it, like watching a movie passively, just “existing” without living the scenes I watched, looking for meaning, never mind a happy end. There’s none.
The Trafalgar and the Leicester Square areas and the Southbank have been my home away from home in the early weeks and months of making sense of my brother’s passing. I miss him. And I keep looking for him in my walks.
Life is good I want to enjoy it when it comes around.
The smile of a child; the glance of a lover; a little dog licking your face not caring if you’re happy or sad, just caring that you’re there; the courage of your boss; the neighbour’s lending hand; the shoulder of a friend …
May 2016
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, 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.
In 2015 Clive Schlee was CLUELESS what to do and patronizing as usual. Only ONE of several customer complaints and warnings before AND even after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s death:
In 2016, which no one in the UK media seemed to have noticed nor researched, a man in New York sued Pret quote: “after he a went into anaphylactic shock. He alleges that the restaurant staff served him food containing sesame after assuring him the food was free of the allergen.“
I tweeted about this HERE and mention that from the witness account in the verdict document the supplier of the wrap that contains sesame did NOT need to include sesame in the ingredient as in the U.S. it isn’t law, but in Canada it has to be included. So, the supplier acted responsibly and added it anyway even though by law he did NOT need to, but he included it in case the product was purchased from outside the USA, like Canada for example. Yet, Pret could not be bothered and after this lawsuit and then even after Natasha’s death still did NOTHING!
Witness statement from the supplier from the verdict document, Page 5 (FDA = Food and Drugs Administration):
“We list and perhaps by FDA regulations, we are asked to list or call out any of the ingredients that could be classified as an allergin [sic]. Wheat and soy are classified as allergins in the U.S. In Canada sesame would be included as we really don’t know wh~re stores are, so we put what might be outside this country or at least the border country.”
So, the supplier has sesame included, even though by U.S. law he didn’t need to. And Pret did not list, even though they had the info from the supplier ingredient list on the product.
Sweet-talk of the decade:
*IRONY ON*
*IRONY OFF*
The Translation Of the CEO’s Oscar-worthy performance
Clive Schlee: “I went to the Inquest…”
As if he had a choice!
CS: “and I saw the impact that Natasha’s death had on the family.”
He went, saw and came to the conclusion after two years since Natasha died, that her premature death, which happened on his watch, destroyed a family!
CS: “And it’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
And the Pret Academy Award in a leading role, for the performance that took two years to perfect goes to…
The coroner blames the law, now? Didn’t the coroner say that Pret’s labelling was inadequate? And further in this “REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS”, quote: »Regulation 5 allows for food outlets to avoid full food labelling requirements whether they prepare a small number of items in local shops or in the case of Pret, over 200 million items for sale by preparing these items in “local kitchens”. These items prepared in “local kitchens” are in fact “assembled” in large parts from items made in factory style outlets to Pret specifications. I was left with the impression that the “local kitchens” were in fact a device to evade the spirit of the regulation.«
Yes, that about sounds like the Pret I know! And I’m glad someone finally sees that Pret products are not freshly “made” but “assembled” from ready products out of factories into many tiny “factories” sold as “lovingly made in Pret kitchens” bla.
CS: … “the family asked for a change in the law.”
Wow! Dragging the family on his side while Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse said this in response: …He’s not acting fast enough. (Well, he’s ‘acting’ alright) “I would say to anyone with serious allergies or is concerned about allergies … don’t buy a sandwich or go to Pret A Manger, because they’re still holding your life at risk right now!” — Nadim Ednan-Laperouse
So much about “preventing future deaths”!
CS: “And I’m now making changes in PRET that will make that change in the law happen more quickly.”
I must say Clive Schlee has got some balls or deeply lacks the sense of responsibility, to still be in the blaming game Pret-ending to be a “leader” who brings the change after being clueless on what to do!
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.
UPDATED November 2018 – Undercover report sparked by my blog (at the bottom of this post).
UPDATE March 2019 – For the first time I share my story verbally on a podcast based in California.
Letter to the Pret Foundation Trust
To whom it may concern at the PFT,
I want to start this open letter with one of your former assistant managers who became homeless after being unfairly dismissed. And he is just one who is public. How many more underpaid and for overtime unpaid employees went from the kitchen and shops to the streets? Only you know … I certainly almost did!
And as your “labelling commitment” has been placed again under the carpet and replaced by, what I find a patronizing slogan, to call former homeless people “Rising Stars” is to me again typical for Pret and the facade of your company.
The Pret staff on the left in the photo with the white shirt, Hind, has been to my shop several times when one particular FL was difficult for the whole team and I was going through trauma. The FL was later transferred to another shop. But Hind in the photo came to my shop several times, and was obviously briefed about what I was going through at the time with my personal loss and the grievances that were raised due to the bullying I went through in a previous shop. She came to speak with the FL who was challenging for the team.
But not one time did she speak to me, not even hello or bye. Nothing! I didn’t know who she was, but it was clear that she was involved with the apprentices as she came by also for catch-ups with a young apprentice.
This post links to a member of the Mosaic Clubhouse in Brixton who worked for 3 months under your Rising Star scheme. But he wasn’t taken on after three months and explains that his experience was positive. Quote: “I was very slow and so they didn’t offer me a continuation of job after the three months trial. … In the end the experience was very good and worthy. ”
It was positive for him as he was treated differently, not shouted at; placed in a branch that Pret knows can be used as an example compared to the usual atmosphere in shops; he worked steady and stable morning hours, Monday to Friday with weekends off etc. Ben, the manager of the Brixton shop wrote this to Hind: “Please let him know that we were very impressed by his professionalism at work and always giving 100% in whatever he was doing. The quality of products he made were picture perfect EVERY time. Myself and the team would like to say a big thank you and we wish him luck in his new job and we hope he will pop by for a coffee on us whenever he is in Brixton as he will always be one of us.”
So, his sandwiches were picture perfect (a requirement in Pret) EVERY time, and yet he wasn’t employed beyond the three months trial period. He isn’t even completely clear why he didn’t get the job beyond his trial period, quote: “For what I understood I did my job very well but I was very slow and so they didn’t offer me a continuation of job after the three months trial.” He was not even taken in the shop front on the tills or any other place in the business, regardless of his 100% professional attitude AND picture perfect sandwiches!It urges the question if “slow” people, even while working with 100% excellence but with mental health conditions have a chance in Pret! Sergio certainly was treated really well but to me it looks like it was a show for him to give the positive report. If he would have stayed on, he would have eventually seen and be treated differently as Pret demands a high pace and a smiley front at all times.
One staff review makes this paradox and contradiction very clear. The expectation is to make picture perfect products, but super fast. Yet, Team Members are confused and frustrated because they want to work well, do their jobs with care and passion, but are pushed and pressed for speed: “They expect you to follow six key points of production and have passion in making items. When you follow this they then moan that you are to slow and need to hurry up as everyone in a Pret kitchen says choppy choppy which is the worst thing because it only makes you less motivated.”
And from experience I know how quick managers are to letting staff go, as a Team Leader I had the lucky position to be able many times to save a Team Member’s job when I learned that the manager wanted to let them go. I would put in a word for them asking for them to be under my wing in the shop. Fortunately at times managers listened and the TM bloomed in the shop where they struggled in the kitchen, or they did better in the kitchen after having struggled in the shop.
Sergio was treated differently, he worked Monday to Friday with the weekends off which is very unusual, unless you are a parent and stand up for your rights in regards to flexible working hours protected by law. But every staff member that I worked with, including myself, HAD TO be flexible and work on weekend, except if they really fought it through to be off on weekends. Even getting rotating shifts every other weekend off was often a struggle as managers are not disciplined in the rota setting and just want staff to be available non-stop.
I have a feeling that he would have eventually realized a different Pret than he experienced and there was no room for him there, no matter how well he worked. Not fast enough despite his excellent working ethics. It was a perfect way for Pret to show a front for him to share how wonderful Pret is. And then they add insult to injury by calling him “one of our own”. His contract was discontinued after his trial period, and yet they call him of their own. A typical “sweet-talk” in Pret of how they fool people into believing Pret cares, while not caring in reality, except when people play their games and for PR. And he certainly receives free coffees as a customer to keep him sharing “happy” moments with Pret.
Thus Pret indirectly, with sweet-talk and free products (and probably a big donation for Mosaic Clubhouse) shows that there is NO room for people with mental or physical disabilities in shops, as they cannot keep up the horrendous pace in shops. There is no room for people who suffer or struggle in any way that would hinder Pret to pressure them into high productivity. Pret being “careful to integrate” former homeless people into shops as Clive Schlee worded it, as they won’t last under the burden of management. Regular staff are bullied and pressured that after a while they break and either leave or get fired, putting them into mental health issues.
I keep linking to the staff complaints that I collected unto one page, as this shows again and again how pressured and stressful it is and if staff are not fast enough, they don’t have much of a chance. One example that I know only too well about messed up pays and other issues I am sure Sergio did not experience as Pret was careful to treat him different for PR:
Also, Sergio didn’t get taken on after the 3 months trial as Pret would have had to pay him the £1000 that the CEO promised via Twitter. This would be paid after already one year of service.
And Pret announced that they will bring a report on the Rising Stars soon, and of course as I have confronted them with my “Fallen Stars” post, knowing Pret they like to counter this with slick videos and interview those who have had a great experience being invited to the CEO’s PRivate PRoperty in Austria and other places. As they are not pressured like the mainstream staff to cover up how horrible working there is. I responded with a Tweet myself, even though this is silly.
Being involved with the PFT and working with former homeless people, who have their story and reason why they were homeless, looks good from the outside and I’m sure a lot is meant well and fun. Oftentimes homeless people have lost someone, couldn’t cope with the trauma, and through various events ended up on the street. At the time I worked in Pret 7+ years and was bereaved and on top of that I was bullied during this horrific time. OPs managers who did the grievance hearings pretended that I wasn’t bullied. Grievances were not substantiated and in the appeals were partially substantiated, but just for tiny unimportant issues to keep up appearances. I was denied that I was bullied, and yet your lawyers mentioned that I was bullied in their reply to the Tribunal.
Everyone who knows my blog knows the story, and I will not go into further detail again. As a Team Leader I performed very well, helped bring success to every single shop I worked in, and then having lost my brother and on top of it being bullied from line managers under the watchful eye and guidance of HR. I approached HR early on since May 2015, but they ignored my efforts to bring suggestions in how to support bereaved employees, and just “sweet-talked” while behind the scenes pulling the strings as I could see in my file later.
And yet, all this time there was the Pret Foundation Trust that helps former homeless people back into work.
In a recent Tweet your PFT Director speaks about how she is supportive of people with mental health issues, and yet I was bereaved, bullied, became ill and you had no concerns whatsoever about staff whose “stars” are starting to fall right in front of you! I also keep confronting Pret on a suicide of an AMK last year. Of course you would want this under the carpet as well. But the person in the photo even came to my shop several times, but never ever even gave as little as a hello or good bye, let alone “How are you, my name is so-and-so I work with PFT and we care for people with mental health issues, bereavement and help them find back into work…”
To see how former (mainly young) homeless people are being used for PR while regular staff suffer in bereavement, a bullying work environment, and become an inconvenience, turns my stomach!
One of the rare persons on Facebook was thinking further than just from 12 to noon and asked Pret underneath their Promo video about the Christmas Ads on the “Rising Stars” program, quote:
“this is great, but 450 in 10 years in really not much given pret have 12k staff this year alone? why so few?”
Link (to be able to read, need to be logged into FB)
Screenshot in case her comment will be deleted, as mine disappear regularly:
In the 10 years since the Rising Stars program exists, out of 12K employees only 450 came through the program. It does not take much to use people for PR, that is all I can say, dear Pret Foundation Trust. And the public falls for it, and only very few take a closer look.
I wrote extensively in “Pret Being Careful to Integrate” why Pret is careful to integrate former homeless people into regular shops, and that the idea came for them to run an entire shop by themselves. Clive Schlee wrote in his blog, quote: “People pointed out that we didn’t have enough Rising Stars at a management level to actually run the shop. Others felt we might be leaving them too exposed, as we are usually careful to integrate Rising Stars into our shop teams.””
And this is the big give away that Clive Schlee is very very aware and as the CEO indeed the leading force behind how shop staff are treated. I explain in my blog entry as to why they would be “too exposed” and therefore great care is being taken to not integrate them into regular shops. They would be too exposed to the harsh treatment of managers who are tasked by this same CEO for targets and profits. Rarely does a GM step back from that for the sake of the teams:
So, in order for the Mosaic Clubhouse member to not see the reality, he was not taken on as he was too slow, not even taken on in the shop as he would see reality after a while and that wouldn’t be good for PR[et]!
And just one of the press reports where journalists are starting to wake up. Everything this article says I could have told him years and months ago incl. the class suit by staff in the U.S. on unpaid wages! Once the public started to see how appalling Pret’s senior leadership dealt with two customer deaths and kept it quiet until it became public, only then does the press wake up to how it really is behind the facade. And at least plenty of people, Unions etc. have an eye on you now! Don’t be fooled by the few followers I have. I keep it low on purpose! And I know you have people keeping an eye on my posts and automated bookmarking systems are used to register every blog post I publish. Be my guest!
Link to the article where the reader needs to register to read, but I gave my two cents to it in “Sliced Pret“. Sathnam Sanghera woke up so clearly that he even liked a Tweet I posted, one of many on his article that I linked to on Twitter:
So, you bet your former homeless people would be too exposed and you want to be careful to integrate them into regular shops as they may not last long like the above Mosaic Clubhouse member, who despite being such a good asset didn’t get the job! You let “Rising Stars” work together in one shop incl. management, make it easier on them and thus you show to the public what a lovely company you are, while your regular shop staff are suffering greatly. Instead of making it easier across the company, you create clusters of shops for PR. Again, my stomach turns.
The Head of HR and Recruitment who was tasked to speak with me once I contacted the CEO after being bullied and sent away by your toxic HR department for almost a year, he could have very easily placed me in another area of the business or introduced me to the PFT to help me recuperate from my trauma. But the plan was to place and keep me under suppressive management in the hopes I resign. Thus this whole PFT is not just hypocritical, it’s a scheme for marketing.
Well I didn’t. I rejected 4 settlement offers that were peanuts anyway if I resign. You don’t understand that a person who becomes bereaved has no interest in money nor do you realize that to mess with a bereaved person, you don’t know what you are getting yourself into! I wouldn’t budge because I have strong principles and values that cannot be polluted with money. Money comes and goes, but I don’t prostitute my values and convictions.
I kept going and then your company fired me while my dad was in intensive care, just out of a coma. You used your Development Manager who supposedly also lost her brother and didn’t know for days that he was dead like my brother. You stepped on her and my dignity by using her personal tragedy against mine to sanction me, instead of supporting me and her in our common grief. How perverse and corrupt does it get, Pret?!
I buried my dad a few months after losing my job, but I never told him that I was fired. In and out of dementia and being clear at times, surprised to see me again so soon, where I just left him a week before. I lied to him and said that my company gave me extra time off to be with him, while in reality I was fired three days after Christmas 2017, no job in sight, my father just out of a coma, money running out, a complete breakdown and suicidal. My dad was pleased that I seemed to work for such a great company. And thus I have the opportunity now to tell the public what a careless and corrupt company Pret A Manger is, that just likes to cater to PR.
It hurts me for people who continue to suffer under this greed-ridden corporate bully, disguised behind sweet-talk and fake smiles. And as a former IT Analyst reviewed the company and Head Office:
Even the £1000 announcement to all staff came in the night from 28th to 29th May 2018 when Pret became aware of my blog here. Quick PR RE-action, while not being bothered at all that customers died until this also became public.
I’ve written many times on Twitter and here in my blog that it is my biggest regret to have wasted 10 years of my life on a company that wasn’t worth my while at all. I struggled so much but kept giving Pret the benefit of the doubt while deeply traumatized and becoming ill. I never worked in such a hurtful place and had to learn my lesson hard.
You use former homeless people for your PR, giving them patronizing labels of “Rising Stars”, which is your CEO’s “trademark” suffering from “foot-in-mouth disease” to give people patronizing and disrespectful labels, like calling me his “late night girl” while pretending that my emails were wrong. Yes, take disadvantaged people to Austria and all over the world, I would even donate to that, treat them well, but to not soften the approach to all staff across the board, some of whose lives have been and are being destroyed by your company, THAT is my disgust of your lies, tricks and exploitation of hard working people. Once they become bereaved, unwell mentally they become an inconvenience for you.
And my experience that Pret never cared for bereaved staff, have absolutely nothing in place to protect and support them, and worse even bully bereaved staff that I have survived under a discriminating HR department. It is still going on and will not change unless the law here also changes and protects bereaved employees from bullying and toxic management and companies.
To end this “letter” that you don’t care about anyway, Pret you step on people, including from HQ. I regret not having reached out to the AMK I was told about who later ended her life. And someday, someone, somewhere will pick this and other things up again.
I am a member of the Mosaic Clubhouse that you try to insinuate fishing for staff as Brexit is close. I am seriously considering cancelling my membership at the Clubhouse. I cannot be in a mental health facility that just cares for support from toxic companies who put people in mental ill-health in the first place.
I am proud to have made many Unions and other important people aware of you, and more and more people as well as your staff will rise and tell their story.
My tribute to the “Fallen Stars” who were trampled upon, some who became homeless, and God knows how many more suicides are under the carpet, when Pret can hide two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal, several hospitalized… how many staff found no way out then to go over the edge, as I almost did as well.
Pret, you are dangerous to people’s lives and health!
Sparked by my blog Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror went undercover in Pret. I added some comments to her findings in more detail from my 10 years in Pret in “Undercover Under Pressure“.
Other example on the “Rising Stars” Tweet where my Tweets are hidden from the public:
Tweet visible to me only while logged in:
My Tweet NOT visible to the public when I’m logged out:
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in —> Pret Staff Complaints
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather starve and speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote 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.
The Fallen Stars of Pret A Manger which is their true “labelling commitment”
… or how about some nutty fruitcakes with “natural” labels like this? I certainly survived a near fatal reaction to these:
Freshly prepared in kitchens where they handle allergens … so eat responsibly as it is solely your and shop staff’s responsibility to find out what is in the products.
Just a few of the fun games with the colourful labels. It’s also called “Pret A Guess The Product”. The winner gets a cheap coffee on the house with the wrong milk of course.
Rules: none, you just get fired or killed at your own fault.
Playing Fields:
The Hot Chef’s playing field where they “play” so fast under immense pressure in tiny work spaces that it turns into fun having to figure out which surprise is in a soup cup… After all, they love to play Russian Roulette.
The Customer’s Playing Field
The winner is ALWAYS the customer risking their lives and health. And the “Fallen Stars” just disappear as quickly as they came, if the blaming game on them is successful.
To concentrate on the project, this is about the Fallen Stars that they don’t like to advertise, like they do with the “Rising Stars” that really help PR[et]. They don’t want to integrate former homeless people into shop teams as the harsh work environment would turn them also into Fallen Stars (again!).
But for the sake of the ever so Pret-onizing labelling commitment (by the way, CEO Clive Schlee labeled me his “late night girl” after the trauma Pret put me through… but that story is spread like butter on my website and can fill a dozen books).
CAUTION: There is nothing gluten free, dairy free, nut free on my side, just the blank ingredients loaded with calories of the reality on how I survived Pret A Manger. Read responsibly.
So, who are the “Fallen Stars”?
Here are the winners, who after they won their spot on the streets, go to places where Pret never tread before:
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in → Pret Staff Complaints
And many, many, many more of the wonderful Fallen Stars who “really matter”, those struggling Poets who tell it like it is, the true Captains some who were thrown over board, each with their own genre, shortened in Quotes of the Day.
And Pret’s “Plastic Pledge” will be the next project that will be covered. Watch this space!
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Okay okay, I know, I keep butchering Pret A Manger’s name, and it’s silly, I just like to return the favour after having been emotionally and mentally dismantled.
I don’t do much advertisement but I want to point out an article. It is disappointing that the Press only now starts to wake up. If any occupation should know about PR facades, than it should be the Press, but not even reporters catch on until catastrophic events happen and they start to take a closer look.
But regardless, I want to point to a brilliant Times UK article by Sathnam Sanghera and just quote a few things that are worth repeating. Some of my readers may not be on Twitter where I re-posted this article all over the place after I found it first on 03. Nov. 2018, so you can go straight to the link to read. Unfortunately you need to register with The Times to read, but it’s very simple and fast.
The only little “house keeping” I want to mention for your own inbox, that I already posted in the summer, read the small print carefully otherwise you find yourself with junk mail very quick. It really annoyed me and I ended up not registering at the time. I just registered on 3rd Nov. when I discovered Mr. Sanghera’s well worth article to register.
When you sign up, be careful how to click:
First box:
“We’ll send you information on products and services from The Times and The Sunday Times that you may be interested in. If you would prefer not to receive these then click here. ”
The little word “not” is here.
Second box:
“We would like to send you exclusive promotions, competitions, and content from selected partners. If you would like to receive these then please click here.”
The little word “not” is NOT here.
In short, if you do NOT want to receive any junk mail whatsoever, CLICK the first box and leave the second box UNclicked. Pretty naughty what The Times is doing here, as many people are in a hurry and assume after they clicked the first box, the second applies to the same 😉 But other than that registering is quite simple and fast.
“Pret was the best thing since sliced bread but private equity ruined it”
— Sathnam Sanghera
First of all, Pret was always difficult. I started in Pret in 2008 just when Bridgepoint purchased and set a high target to open all over the place, especially on seemingly every corner in London. But former colleagues, including one former manager who worked with the competition next door to the Pret I worked in, told me that it was always a “club” at the top where you only were part of if you played the game well, and the hard workers at the bottom did all the work. But since 2008 it became hellish as I collected many staff complaints from various Employment Review sites, Twitter, YouTube etc. as well as my own traumatic experience in Pret.
I also cleaned up the comprehensive list and explained the positions in the recent post I wrote “Pret Poets Society“, as writing helps me cope.
Briefly, three of the many reviews that I can underline all the way. The first comes from a New York City former Pret employee just “freshly” reviewed on 30. Oct. 2018 and hits this home again what I have experienced and survived:
“I’d like to say I’ve not been influenced by what other people have been saying, but I have: the fallout from the death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after a severe allergic reaction to one of the company’s baguettes, and the company’s woeful response, has brought home just how much Pret has changed under private equity owners, the most recent of which is JAB Holdings, which also owns Krispy Kreme. More specifically, all the things I once admired Pret for are no longer true.”
My response to this is, that the truth only now comes out but it has been like this for years. And devastatingly it takes deaths for the public to drop their jaw in disbelief. I was writing since May 2018 about Pret and how poorly their top leadership is dealing with serious issues. I have at times written all over the place, addressed all kinds of people especially when I was extremely distressed and virtually crying out for the public to open their eyes as people are getting hurt, especially staff.
But the majority of the time I was met with silence, sometimes with anger because people just don’t want to know that their beloved Pret is not what they thought it is. The only people who believed me immediately and were/are supportive are of course the Unions and activists in general, people who deal with dishonest companies and organizations on a daily basis and are not surprised anymore.
One person’s support helped me greatly, just in the fact that she believed me and gave me a dose of reality that most people don’t give a toss. Thank you to Rebecca again:
But it is sad that even the Press is not interested to look deeper until the ultimate catastrophic event happens: death prematurely and unnecessarily. And if the press gets interested, they are intimidated, fearing by legal ramifications. I don’t blame them. But at the end of the day no one who read my publications will be able to say they didn’t know how it is in Pret. I’m satisfied that even 1 person reads and believes me.
Quote:
“Depressingly, this weekend The Sunday Times reported that Pret had been hit with a bill of almost $1 million (£780,000) to settle claims that it underpaid staff in its New York sandwich bars.”
Again, I posted this all over the place already back in August (in red at the start of this post) where I was even followed on Twitter by several news reporters including one from the Guardian. I have since kicked everyone off my following, that I did at times in a drunken stupor and distress. For the reader to understand I became like this since the traumatic death of my brother added with what I went through in Pret. But I am slowly recovering and working hard, including with Therapy not to act on impulse. But I keep writing about how staff in the UK are not paid accordingly, which I also have experienced countless times having to chase my correct pay.
Quote:
“…in recent years the company has been attacked as a prominent proponent of “affective labour”, aimed at giving customers a positive feeling, with the British journalist Paul Myerscough reporting in The London Review of Books that staff are required to master…”
This article can be found here and speaks about Andrej who was fired from Pret after he started a Union. I gave Andrej his own spot on my website: Andrej Stopa Ex-Pret.
And I will add again and again that this affective emotional labour hurts people to the point of suicide. And for those who know my story and keep reading this repeat, I’m sorry, but new readers find my website every day and I have to repeat over and over that I was bullied during bereavement with all the manipulative traumas that happened to me under Pret’s toxic HR department. My website/blog is filled with the majority of the story and will eventually turn into a chronological book.
But because I became suicidal, I had to just write as much as possible in case I wouldn’t survive. And if this is all that I had left to do, and no matter what Pret does to me again, my story is out and I hope people open their eyes. Last year an assistant manager died by suicide and I keep confronting Pret about it. Of course they wouldn’t respond. But again, the truth will one day always come out!
Quote:
“The recent claim made by chief executive Clive Schlee that “Pret looks like a huge company but in fact it’s 500 little kitchens”, and marketing material that implies that Pret is still a local store selling healthy products to customers it knows intimately, just doesn’t wash anymore. It’s obvious what the owners are trying to do. As one veteran private equity investor put it recently: “We buy a business, work out how many restaurants you can get away with in an area until it’s become saturated, then try to convince a new buyer that there is plenty more runway”.”
Yes, I started to be bothered with the amount of Prets popping up all over the place since 2008, and while working in Pret then I felt “invaded” even in my private time when mingling around London that in my personal time I couldn’t escape the view of a Pret.
Quote:
“There has been a barrage of negative stories in recent years: tabloid claims that Pret’s “freshly baked bread” is in fact imported part-baked and frozen from France; tales of a vegetarian customer finding sausages in their breakfast pot…”
It’s not just “tales” it’s fact, and in my 10 years the amount of complaints I had to deal with in shops and had to refund and fix mistake is a book on its own. Several serious issues from just recently: Meat soup for vegetarian, dairy instead of soya in coffee, plastic socket cover in a wrap, metal piece in a wrap, piece of ham in veggie sandwich, repeatedly wrong soups / wrong labels…
Quote:
“It’s ironic that when the founders sold a third of the business to McDonald’s for £50 million in 2001 it was deemed a disaster but nowadays McDonald’s feels like it is trying harder to change than Pret.”
I am a permanent and life-long “boycotter” or avoider of McDonald’s and the like, but this is a great statement! It always bothered me when I first learned that Pret did this marriage of convenience to McD to get their foot into the U.S. I learned this in my first year in Pret and couldn’t believe how a food company that prides itself in freshness and paying staff better, then teaming up with McDonald’s. That already is a dead give away what’s behind the motive anyway.
Yes, a star may have been fallen while Pret painstakingly keeps up the smile and now push hard with patronizing former homeless people as “Rising Stars” … and what is behind this I wrote in this article… But PR[et} keeps shouting loud and diverting away from its troubles and readjusts its make up for the public.
I hope more quality journalists like Sathnam Sanghera will take a closer look and interest into the facade of Pret and also staff treatment. Pret deserves a host of undercover reporters on different locations/countries invading them and reporting from the inside, like James Bloodworth did with Amazon. But I guess, even deaths in Pret are falling on the wayside again now and the public woohoos about free coffees and cookies. Just business as usual …
My thoughts are often with the Ednan-Laperouse and Marsh families. I cannot stop thinking about their trauma. The first couple of years are the worst, and now especially during Christmas, the first Christmas that 5 daughters and a widow will be without their mum and wife…
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, 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.
Five weeks before he died he replied to my email inviting him to a gig close to his town. An artist I knew for a long time and had the privilege to work together would play there. I invited him, backstage and stuff, I wanted to make my big brother proud. But he couldn’t make it and I never responded back.
5 weeks after he died I found out that he is dead, cremated, gone.
What is the difference between the Takeaway managers who were sentenced to prison and Pret A Manger’s repeated deaths and injuries of customers?
BBC Report:(Judge’s verdict) “Neither of you actually foresaw the death of anyone. It never occurred to you that you would be responsible for the death of a young girl. Quite simply, you never gave the risk of a customer dying because of an allergy a moment’s thought.
“You must now live with the guilt of what you have done and the suffering you have caused Megan’s family and to your own families. All of this is a tragedy that could so easily have been avoided had you exercised the proper care to be expected of those who serve food to the public.”
How is that different to Pret that had TWO customers die (that the public knows about), a third almost fatal, several in hospital and repeated ignored warnings from customers?
Judge: “Neither of you actually foresaw the death of anyone.” – Neither did Pret, even though they received repeated warnings especially regarding sesame where a 17 year old teenager was hospitalized before Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died.
Judge: “It never occurred to you that you would be responsible for the death of a young girl.” – And yet, it may have occurred to Pret as they were warned, including Clive Schlee’s poor response to an open letter before Natasha died.
Judge: “Quite simply, you never gave the risk of a customer dying because of an allergy a moment’s thought.”
– Just like Pret that was warned repeatedly and even now still has issues with wrong labelling and just blames downward, while labelling every product, every night since a few years for charity.
BBC report: The judge said: “The Royal Spice had no systems or processes to manage allergen control. The menu contained no information about allergens. No record was kept of the ingredients used in dishes.
“In short, it appears that no one at the takeaway had any way of knowing what allergens were in the food supplied.”
The sentencing of the two take away managers may be as an example for small businesses that often do lack in hygiene and training. I am very fortunate to not have any allergies whatsoever, but the first thing I do when I walk into a restaurant to wash my hands before the meal, I check the toilets. Whatever I find in the back gives me a good idea what I will get in the front! Food poisoning is no respecter of persons! I have walked out of restaurants many times based on the toilets. I have a zero tolerance on the lack of hygiene.
BBC report: “Those who fail to heed the warnings and who continue to flout food safety regulations may find the courts taking a harsher view in the future.”
Which takes me back to the question why Pret keeps getting away with repeated incidences? Does it really always boil down to money and is the public so lulled in to the shiny facade Pret polished for years, covering up what’s really behind it?
BBC: The two-week trial heard there was a “litany of failings” in the kitchen, including poor hygiene and no records of ingredients kept.
Pret A Mice and the Company’s Procrastination
Pest and poor hygiene issues were rampant in Pret years ago. I worked in one particular mice infested shop in around 2010/11 and asked for a transfer to a pest-free shop, as I couldn’t take working in this shop anymore. Usually mice, rats etc. come out of hiding when the shop is closed, quiet and dark. But in this particular shop that was very old before the refurbishments Pret did throughout the company, the mice were so bold they strolled along under the barista cupboard during the busy and loud morning coffee rush. As staff we saw the critters and just held our breath not knowing what to do. I requested to be transferred out from this shop.
Pret used to have internal pest control people who regularly came in to do proofing when there were issues, and we had to constantly call them, but they were unable to tackle the issue and were just fixing holes. They and we all were literally playing a cat and mouse game where the mice won. As a Team Member I even suggested to the pest control person if we couldn’t just close the shop for a few days and solve the issue head on, and I remember very very well him saying that he kept talking to Pret but they did not see any urgency to resolve this. I was appalled because it was getting worse. Once a pair of mice is in they multiply in no time.
Only after an EHO closed a Pret shop after a routine check, finding evidence of pest, did Pret react and commissioned an outside pest control company to take over. Pret went from complete apathy into complete panic mode. Managers were blamed even though there was no clear procedure and training in place as I was a leader already and received no training on pest control at the time. Some managers were fired, other managers were reduced back to assistant manager roles, even though they had no to little training. The blame was always on the shops.
After my transferal to another shop we had one mouse appear and the reaction from Pret suddenly was very very quick after the EHO’s closure. And rightly so. They employed a former EHO to help who was extremely strict and almost on OCD level pressuring us on the tiniest issues. This of course helped, but was extremely stressful compared to our call for help before and being ignored. I and colleagues were summoned to an “informal” meeting where the area manager questioned us on how we dealt with the mouse issue (while not having been trained).
Tactically he was taking notes and let me sign each note. He did that as a typical Pret fear management thing, but at one point I refused to sign if he doesn’t add that the shop I worked in previously that had the mice infestation in the same area where he himself was the area manager at the time, but didn’t act. He quickly realised that this stunt doesn’t work as we had plenty of evidence in the other shop of the amount of times we did a call out for the internal pest control people who couldn’t tackle the issue. After many months of training. and most importantly, the external pest control company doing regular checks, Pret finally got on top of the problem.
Pest is rampant especially in a city like London. It is completely normal that a restaurant or any place will have pest issues from time to time, even when they are squeaky clean hygienically, but with a prompt and professional approach it can be tackled fast. But as usual for Pret it took a major happening, an EHO closing a shop before they reacted while ignoring staff’s and internal pest control people’s concerns.
So, Pret can do it if they want to! And do it prompt and fast! … If they want to!
Once Pret makes up their mind and finally “re”acts after a catastrophic and public event, they employ the best of the best and the most experienced, but it takes shop closures (= loss of money), deaths and this becoming public (= reputation, loss of profit) before this giant wakes from its slumber and complacency where the blaming downwards doesn’t work anymore as the top got caught out being the ones not taking responsibility!
So Pret does a smart thing, an EHO closes down at least one shop due to pest issues, and Pret employs a former EHO because they know what to look for and how an EHO thinks. Customers die and get injured, but no concern there at all for at least two years, but only since the inquest and it becoming public, Pret does the smart thing again to get the ex-CEO from the FSA.
Both very good moves as they know exactly how to improve, the problem is, mice have to multiply NOT to the point that staff get disgusted working there and food is compromised for customers (I won’t go into detail), but only after a shop closure is Pret going into full gear. Two deaths becoming public, no not, 1 death happened and Pret put on the brakes, it had to become public with an inquest. And people get excited about Christmas sandwiches and are bribed with free cookies. Sad and scary world we live in, where people willingly prostitute their principles and values for occasional free and colourful food.
Pret A Monopoly
Pret has drawn the Get-out-of-jail-card and will get away with two deaths and several injuries, or at “worst” get fined, while two small fish will serve as an example to smaller businesses and the big guns get away with “murder”.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I want to shorten some reviews here from the “Pret Poets Society” post to only link to Assistant Managers, General Managers and HQ Staff reviews.
The poor management style that so many Team Members complain about in Pret is enabled from the very top senior leadership and HR, who know exactly how their leaders are. If there is no clear leadership strategy in place, a zero tolerance on bullying and when a large part of Managers are poorly trained, discriminating and especially profit driven, than it becomes very clear that the fish stinks from its head. No company’s top boss can close their eyes and play innocent.
CEO Clive Schlee prides himself on how well he knows his people in this video, and that is why he has no excuse on how the Team Members, as well as Managers are treated!He is not able to say that he doesn’t know as he also visits shops regularly and makes himself approachable to TMs, who often complain directly to him or via his Twitter, risking getting fired for publicly outing their distress. But he does not change the terrible culture as the money keeps pouring in and he pockets £30 Million from the JAB take-over.
Because Pret’s CEO presents himself as this approachable top boss which impresses many, especially young shop based staff, it is like Clive Schlee plays the “good cop” while Managers are the “bad cop”. But both have one goal, make as much money as possible that they can squeeze out of their workers.
When I was going through the darkest, most hellish time in grief and on top being bullied by superiors, I was continuously being placed under bullying managers who supposedly cared. When the shouting didn’t work, they turned their bullying more subtle, by withholding information that I needed as a leader, not inviting me to leaders’ meetings and even Christmas dinner, holding me low with menial tasks, giving me the minimum hours even though I asked for more hours etc. In my traumatic state it took me many months to realize that this was on purpose.Clive Schlee and HR know their managers and placed me accordingly in hopes I would resign, as I was offered four settlements if I resign.There was no care nor interest to have me under empathetic or skilled leadership.
This leadership style is then continued, trickling down through the ranks. So, TMs try to rise up the ladder to escape the horrendous pressure and stress, because they see how managers and even Team Leaders sit in the office. And the incentive of managers getting huge bonuses paid while stressing their staff.
I have seen it countless times how good TMs who were very passionate, kind and hard working changed and got corrupted, once they started moving into management levels and attached themselves to this crowd of “leaders”.
I never wanted to be a manager even though I applied for Assistant Manager roles, but only to escape the bullying culture in shops. I was often asked through the years by many TMs why I wasn’t a manager, as I worked professionally, with skill and knowledge, and many customers often approached me with a query thinking that I was the manager until I pointed them to the plain clothes GM or AM. But I answered the question of why I was not a manager, very simple because I could not do what managers are pressured to do, cut hours and squeeze everything out of teams to maximize profit. And my TMs agreed and understood, as I was always helping my teams, encouraging them, supporting them, even when I was hectic myself at times.
I am glad to not be under such toxic “leadership” anymore!
The worst management often are Managers who come from the outside, from other places like Costa or Nero. They then start straight away as Assistant Managers for a few weeks before being “graduated” as GMs. They work a few weeks or months in the kitchen and do various jobs, but this does not help as they have not been at the very bottom level as a Team Member. But even Managers who started as TMs often turn very sour as I worked with two GMs who were some of the most difficult Managers I had.
The different job roles and how to progress on the ladder I cover in detail in the Pret Poets Society post. But as a short cut briefly:
The hierarchic order to rise up
Starting as TM
then HFC, Barista or TMT (or any other new job role Pret comes up with)
then as FL or KL
then as AMF or AMK
and finally on shop level as the GM.
Beyond this and outside of the shop it goes into area management levels / Operations Manager (OPs).
There are two types of Assistant Managers, as the shop in itself is like a business, and so is the kitchen. In larger busy shops there is the Assistant Manager for the shop floor (AMF), and the Assistant Manager for the kitchen (AMK). Smaller, less busy shops don’t have an AMF and sometimes not even an AMK to save on payroll costs. But this burdens down the Team Leaders as GMs often don’t care, are incapable to even do the ordering. When I returned from holiday many times, the shop stock room was a complete mess, over-ordered or missing stock because the GM filled in for my role and couldn’t do the ordering properly. Initially this was very shocking but also seems the norm. But when I as the Team Leader made a mistake on the ordering, there was immediate trouble from the Manager. No mercy while they themselves couldn’t even do the ordering.
Regarding the Operations Managers (OPs) for the areas, I am not concerned with them whose job it is to pressure the shop GMs, to pressure the FLs/KLs, to pressure the Teams. The typical pyramid of hierarchy trickling down with this “leadership” of fear management to reach higher “productivity” and profit. OPs like to sit in the pub during lunch time, visit some shops here and there to intimidate the hard working teams. They fly out to Dubai or if in the USA to Las Vegas, and throw their parties and receive their immense bonuses. So, I am not concerned with OPs managers who mostly don’t give a toss.
The following Reviews are just those who outed themselves as Assistant Manager, GM, HQ staff and who give an insight into upper and senior management from OPs to HQ.
The Reviews / Complaints
Leaving all mistakes in the reviews to keep it in their own words
and starting with the most recent reviews.
In each job role I highlight a few reviews that really hit the nail on the head.
AMF / AMK
20. Dec. 2017 London “Avoid working there – Too much pressure working there , company expects you to do all your job within the time you are schedule but it is impossible , you will end up working hours for free, no work life balance at all , they have he mistery shipper but it is all a fake thing you can not control , the standards are so high the only thing it will drive is you stress everyday . Don’t work there . Cons: Extra hours not paid”
26. May 2017 NYC “Pure Misery – 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. Quit your jobs and go back to England and stay there.”
11. Dec. 2013 NYC “Promotions bases on politics, inconsistency In polices , long hours”
09. Oct 2012 London“Too much pressure and managers with poor interpersonal skills. Respect your team, be patient and keep cool under pressure. Be fair to your team members.”
Highlighted Review:
19. Nov. 2014 London “Worst company to work for – Pret was the best company 10 years ago, they were more about the people and it was beat place to work. now the company is just about the profit also it is run like mafia organisation where it is about who you know, the team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear, the way the company is going it will not last long.
Get back to basic, care about the team and always listen to the little people, also be open and get rid of some top management who are so corrupt.”
GM
07. Juny 2018 A former Senior Manager’s response to my review:
03. Feb. 2018 “High demands not in line with pay, lack of support, inconsistent training, stressful/poor work life balance”
Highlighted Review:
11. Mar. 2017 “Pret A Manger Reality – Long hours, inexperience Operation Managers.
Companhy values have been lost along do way, bonus scheme not very fair.
Pay raises no fair either, You don’t get reward for results and work ethic, just if you have a close relationship with your Operation Manager, you are the new hot of the month.
Listen to your people more closely, massive turnover on Pret Managers at the moment and everyone just ignoring the reality, huge unhappiness amoung the managers.
Create and fair and competive process for development.
Opportunity Network for Pret employees, just another flawless (meant flawed) tool at pret, most of the vacancies have people already for them, they want to create an illusion you can develop yourself.
Focus on team members it’s essential, but managers dictated the success on your shops, and drive passion to the team.
HR doesn’t protect the managers.
PIP, pret Partners only people, whom have friends already in, not related if you can contribute to the company, just based on relationships.”
(NOTE: HR doesn’t protect anyone unless it suits Pret’s business.)
15. Nov. 2016 NYC “Toxic, low class, unprofessional culture – Racist, non-inclusive environment that upper management and hr are fully aware of but ignore.” (NOTE: worth reading this review in full!)
Highlighted Review:
25. May 2016 USA “Very racist upper management. They make you work 60 hours per week and they don’t pay you for it (just basic salary). They don’t appreciate your work no matter how good you are. Tendency to promote british managers than american ones.
Advise to Management: Open your mind towards american managers. stop racism that is happening to workers. Get involved with the employees and don’t let the operational managers act as they own the people.”
Highlighted Review:
31. Oct. 2015 NYC “Horrible training, too many lies. Training sucks, people are treated like crap. Upper management do not care about you, will never recommend this company. Bottom line as a British company they treat employees as machines, they don’t care about how they feel, expect too much for too little. Horrible environment. Treat people with respect and appreciate their hard work. Stop using your British mentality when it comes to deal with people. You’re people are horrible at this.”
20. Apr. 2015 Chicago, IL “Manager- horrible upper management, unrealistic goals, promotions based on politics. Favoritism with management – Hiring is based on looks – All push with no support – No integrity – A lot of show and dance for support center and president/ceo Your employees will respect you if you offer genuine support. It is all about what your shop looks like when the CEO is in town. Stop favoriting managers, no one respects you for it.”
01. Feb. 2014 “Great company in risk of ruin! Please get the bullies out and revive Pret to its former glory. Used to be the most amazing company to work for, a job to be proud of. Now your people work in fear…..its time to listen!”
19. Dec. 2017 London Former IT Analyst: “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.”
28. Feb. 2017 NYC Former Purchasing Director: “One of the oddest work experiences. Worked their during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.”
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Clive Schlee, I am glad that you are not my captain anymore!
Okay, a rather silly “poem” and start into a host of serious concerns from current and former Pret Employees. But in a more humorous and creative way, I decided to clean up the cluttered “Pret Staff Complaints” that has become like “poetry” to me, confirming the terrible work environment throughout the company, even beyond borders, that I survived. A “Club” of people hidden behind the PR[et] facade in the Pret-entious “Happy Factory”, who in their own distress can only out themselves anonymously in public via Employment Review sites and other online platforms. And even when they complain openly on Twitter, they risk their jobs as to publicly post online is not allowed in Pret since recent times. But when they do, they already tried to go via the appropriate channels without success, as the below Tweet so painfully shows.
I aim to categorize reviews into each job role for an easier overview. As I used to be a Team Leader of the shop floor, also called Floor Leader (FL) and had my team’s welfare in mind, I start the categories from the bottom up in positions. I start the links to the reviews with team members, including those who did not specify their job role and continue through the “ranks” up until HQ reviews. The different job roles will be clearly marked and separated as well as briefly explained.
Yes, to some readers my repeated writing about Pret seems obsessive, and maybe it is, but after knowing my story for one I am not apologizing for being out-of-sync like this. And as I read through these staff complaints again, it becomes clear again how systemic and carefully thought out this is from the top leadership of Pret down to the shop floor, as the fish stinks from its head. Working on this again helps me understand what happened to me and why, as I still go through traumatic experience, anxiety, triggers etc.
My hope is that more staff become bold and speak out without fear, and especially join a Union. I was not in a Union as I never had problems at work anywhere until working in Pret. Having been bullied during bereavement and all the toxic things that happened, I was like a lamb amongst wolves, up for “slaughter”. I had to learn my lesson very hard, and will never work anywhere again without being in a Union!
But my public writing has gotten me in touch with a lot of amazing people in the background, from Union leaders to the press, former and current Pret employees and others. And I can only stress for anyone no matter where you work, join a Union even if your company is the best company, things change with time, new leadership, a bully boss entering the scene, company taking different direction, getting sold etc. Don’t stay alone. I had to learn this lesson very hard as I never had issues before I worked in Pret. And I gave Pret the benefit of the doubt way too long almost losing my life. But the time of being generous towards manipulative and exploitative employers and others is over. I survived to write about my ordeal as well as others, and it is my time to not hold back anymore.
Thank you for reading.
Brief explanation on each role:
Team Member (TM) or Team Member Star (TM*) which just means a TM “graduated” after a few weeks to be a TM*, as Pret has a lot of complex procedures and patronizing graduations in place that is supposed to make TMs feel like they achieved something. That way they stay longer after having gone through many micromanaging levels that are actually completely unnecessary. But it’s very clever psychology.
TMs/TM*s have a burgundy belt and a white name badge. General Managers (GMs) and Assistant Managers (AMs) don’t wear uniform but their own chosen business clothes, initially paid for by Pret when they become AMs/GMs.
In order to rise through the ranks to eventually become Assistant Managers, General Managers and beyond, TMs have to go through the channels of becoming a Barista via being a Coffee Maker (Assistant to Baristas) with a black belt, shirt and name badge or a Hot Chef also called Hot Food Chef (HFC) with a red belt and name badge, or any other job role Pret creates. Of course this is a good idea, but the “graduation” process can often take way too long, as managers tend to procrastinate giving the appropriate pay-rise for each position, so they drag out the graduation process where the TM isn’t even trained properly while still doing that positions job for longer than required, still on TM pay.
One staff member makes this clear in a review and I myself had to draw the line when my then line manager kept postponing my graduation as a Team Leader, I said that I would quit if I am not graduated ASAP, which then happened that day when I drew the line. Part of the review which is very very common in Pret:
There used to be the job role of the Shift Runner, but that was discontinued, because Shift Runners weren’t as responsible as Team Leaders had to be. And Shift Runners were paid less than Leaders, so they didn’t care as much and the Team Leaders had to pick up the pieces.
On a side note, the HFC is the hardest job on Team Member level on the shop floor. They are often not well trained, thrust into the job, over worked and they never stop, whereas the Barista has the coffee rush in the morning for about 2 hours and a quieter lunch time on the coffee machines. The Hot Chef goes from stress level to stress level throughout their whole shift. It’s a back breaking job.
In the kitchen to climb through the ranks, a TM must become a Team Member Trainer (TMT) with the blue belt and name badge.
Only after they went through any or even all of these positions (as there is often a lack of the job role after staff leave) they can move further to become a Team Leader with a green belt and name badge.
There are two types of Team Leaders as well as two types of Assistant Managers, as the shop is like a separate business in itself, and so is the kitchen.
There is the Team Leader for the shop floor, also called Floor Leader (FL) and the Team Leader for the kitchen or also called Kitchen Leader (KL). But both wear green belts and name badges. Speaking as a former FL, knowing the responsibilities and having worked with many leaders, it becomes quickly clear if a leader is genuinely a good leader or if they take advantage of the role and teams, which unfortunately is the norm in Pret.
Team Leaders are often at polar opposites, rarely anything in between, they are either very hard working to breaking point where they deeply care, or they like to follow the example of bad management and sit in the office, shout at the team and rise up fast through favouritism, by equally flawed managers. Unfortunately the latter is the case in most shops. But rarely is there anything in between. And teams will know very quickly which “extreme” a Team Leader belongs to.
In larger busy shops there are two kind of Assistant Managers, for the shop floor (AMF) and for the kitchen (AMK). Smaller, less busy shops don’t have an AMF and sometimes not even an AMK to save on payroll costs, burdening down the Team Leaders as GMs often don’t care, are incapable to even do the ordering. When I returned from holiday many times the shop stock room was a complete mess, over-ordered or missing stock because the GM filled in for my role and couldn’t do the ordering properly. Initially this was very shocking but also seems the norm.
The FL and KL are the workers that really put in the hard work. They are like mini managers who do almost everything except hiring, firing and the rota. They do the ordering, often set the production, are responsible for health and safety and look after the team. They are overworked, underpaid and mostly blamed when things go wrong. Their job is so hard and they often don’t have help from the AMs and GMs, as most Managers like to “look” busy and important, but love to sit in the office, kiss up to senior management and kick down on staff. That’s why many Team Leaders are in a hurry to get promoted away from this stress.
One of the very rare customer comments on behalf of TMs:
This poor management style in Pret is enabled from the very top senior leadership in HQ, who know exactly how their leaders are.CEO Clive Schlee himself brags about how well he knows his managers in this video, and that is why he has no excuse on how the team members are treated! He is not able to say that he doesn’t know as he also visits shops regularly and makes himself approachable to TMs, who often complain directly to him or via his Twitter, risking getting fired for publicly outing their distress. But he does not change the terrible culture as the money keeps pouring in and he pockets £30 Million from the JAB take-over.
When I was going through the darkest, most hellish time in grief and on top being bullied by superiors, I was continuously being placed under bullying managers who supposedly cared. When the shouting didn’t work, they turned their bullying more subtle, by withholding information that I needed as a leader, not inviting me to leaders’ meetings and even Christmas dinner, holding me low with menial tasks, giving me the minimum hours even though I asked for more hours etc. In my traumatic state it took me many months to realize that this was on purpose.Clive Schlee and HR know their managers and placed me accordingly in hopes I would resign, as I was offered four settlements if I resign. There was no care nor interest to have me under empathetic or skilled leadership, or indeed away from the stressful shop atmosphere.
When I complaint to the CEO directly after not getting anywhere with managers and HR for almost a year, the Head of HR and Recruitment dealt with my situation a few times. He could have easily placed me in a quieter job anywhere in the company or under the Pret Foundation Trust, until I recuperated from my trauma. But he kept me with suppressing “leaders”, and only after much distance can I see how calculated this was.
This leadership style is then continued, trickling down through the ranks. So, TMs try to rise up the ladder to escape the horrendous pressure and stress, because they see how managers and even Team Leaders sit in the office. And the incentive of managers getting huge bonuses paid while stressing their staff.
I have seen countless times how good TMs who were very passionate, kind and hard working changed and got corrupted once they started growing into management levels, and attached themselves to this crowd of “leaders”.
I never wanted to be a manager even though I applied for Assistant Manager roles, but only to escape the bullying culture in shops. I was often asked through the years by many TMs why I wasn’t a manager, as I worked professionally, with skill and knowledge, and many customers often approached me with a query thinking that I was the manager until I pointed them to the plain clothes GM or AM. But I answered the question of why I was not a manager, very simple because I could not do what managers are pressured to do, cut hours and squeeze everything out of teams to maximize profit. And my TMs agreed and understood, as I was always helping my teams, encouraging them, supporting them, even when I was hectic myself at times.
So, this is the hierarchic order to rise up:
Starting as TM
then HFC, Barista or TMT (or any other new job role Pret comes up with)
then as FL or KL
then as AMF or AMK
and finally on shop level as the GM.
Beyond this and outside of the shop it goes into area management levels / Operations Manager (OPs).
But I am not concerned with those whose job it is to pressure the shop GMs to pressure the FLs/KLs to pressure the Teams, trickling down this hierarchy of fear management to reach higher “productivity” and profit which many of the below reviews mention as “modern day slavery”. OPs like to sit in the pub during lunch time, visit some shops here and there to intimidate the hard working teams. They fly out to Dubai or if in the USA to Las Vegas, and throw their parties and receive their immense bonuses. So, I am not concerned with OPs managers who most of them don’t give a toss.
Even though I want to start from the bottom up with TM reviews, I want to kick off with one former GMs review that makes it very clear how the “happy factory” really works. I really respect this person, as this is extremely rare that a GM leaves for the sake of the teams and their own integrity:
Leaving all mistakes in the reviews to keep it in their own words
and starting with the most recent reviews.
In each job role I highlight a few reviews that really hit the nail on the head.
TM/TM* or unspecified and mixed job roles
30. Oct. 2018 NYC “Go back to the UK, Pret – I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience, HR was mostly a joke, ‘leaders’ displayed zero initiative in mentorship of their teams…”
July 2018 Review on YouTube towards the bottom from Branzinotito:
08. Feb. 2019 Facebook comment on Pret’s House for the Homeless and PR. Need to be logged in to read, but here’s a screenshot:
January 2019 From YouTube: “Horrible place to be , pret a manger looks brilliant to the outsider but poor workers are inslaved … they work hard and they always on edge and being told to be fake and be extra nice and sweet”
23. Jan. 2019 Office: “Poor management resulting in poor decisions. Office culture is working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever and constant office politics.”
27. June 2018 London “I have worked there just 2 weeks and left. Horrible place they shout at you all the time for any little mistake.”
25. June 2018 London “Bad management and not taking care about people – do not give power to irresponsible people”
13. June 2018 “Hellhole – … you treat people like they’re useless and worthless … get down from that high horse you’re on.”
21. May 2018 London “People will dominate you until you feel like resigning the job.
Supervisors/Team Leaders treat you like a slave.”
15. May 2018 “you are not seen as human – even when you are having a bad day you must smile – fake atmosphereThey treat you like a smiling robot slave that has no life outside of pret. People have come in for a coffee and a sandwich, not a 5 star Michelin restaurant experience, if thats what your going for pay your staff better.”
18. Apr. 2018 “lack of good organisation – management is a joke – numbers are more important than people”
13. Mar. 2018 “The management is terrible. Thassit.”
21. Jan. 2018 London “We have to be smiling a being polite to a bunch of unpolite people. At least give us the London Minimum Wage”
12. Jan. 2018 London “Never ever! I like Pret just because of people – colleges and because of free food, on the other hand most of the customers was rude and absolutely not thankful for service. I hate all managers,what work for Pret”
23. Dec. 2017 “high rated company – low salary, too much pressure”
10. Dec. 2017 “super biased managers most of the girls in my store are from the same place even the assistant manager and FOH so they tend to group together against people they don’t like… horrible training and won’t listen to employees – Advise to Management: make sure the store isn’t just a bunch of biased friends that if you aren’t part of their group they’ll make your life hell”
25. Oct. 2017 London “Will be leaving soon – Always messing up pay
– If you’re even 2mins late, ITS A BIG ISSUE! (& you will miss out on weekly bonus)
– Expect too much from you (work you like a slave)
– Everyone speaks their own languages
– Be more understand to staff needs
– Train managers regularly (especially with confidentiality)
– Employ more staff”
Highlighted Review:
18. Oct. 2017 London “Overworked environment – Cons: Many of them. People are treated inhuman way in terms of sickness and work load. Employees are being treated more like robots than human beings so all the company values presented in academy are just crap. Whats more they promote you for more advanced roles without paying you for that. So you become a barista or a hot chef and they delay sending you for a training to save money.
tart treating people like people.”
10. Oct. 2017 London “rude behaviour at the workplace (kitchen manager shouting at everybody) … The training should be more about encouraging people than about shouting and shaming them.”
06. Oct. 2017 NYC “Lack of communication b/t managers and staff.
– Immature workers
– Slave-like environment
– Biased behavior
– Too strict on simple task
Work on communication and stop treating co-workers like robots.”
Highlighted Review:
03. Oct. 2017 NYC “my location had a rude manager who cleaned up her act after I tried relocating. There is no HR, just a recruitment team who will give you phone numbers to where you wanna go. Overworked for sure; management expects perfection for their weekly (Mystery) shopper.
Welcome your employees, request a bigger staff…
Also, managers shouldn’t be rude. If someone knocks on your door, answer politely and return the courtesy. Don’t leave your new team member working extra hours since the schedule wasn’t fully explained to them.”
Highlighted Review:
11. Sep. 2017“Not kitchen, food factory – Sometimes the leaders forget that the team members are persons, not machines. Some leaders are lacking politeness, consistency and character. Not everybody has to be a leader who works long enough for Pret and shouts loud enough. Management should assess the personality, the leadership skills and the interpersonal skills before making someone a leader.”
06. Sep. 2017 Birmingham, England “Not sticking to contracted hours- giving you more when it suits them and giving u less when it suits them
Not sticking to actual job roles
You are a full time cleaner part time what you actually applied for putting rotas up literally days before changing rotas without informing you had me working as a barista for two years would not give me training so they do not have to pay me correctly Advise to Management: quit”
28. Aug. 2017 “extremely rude co workers, unprofessional management, not properly trained however expected to know what you’re doing and smile while doing it.”
14. Aug. 2017 Edinburgh “management have no clue how to manage people. train management team to reduce turnover.”
23. July 2017 “The environment was very stressful as you’d imagine, however it always felt like you’re doing something wrong, even when you are trying your hardest. I didn’t feel I received enough training and when I asked for some more training I was told there’s no time at the moment for that, which made it even more difficult for me to be a better employee.
Working in a high demand environment like Pret can be difficult, this on it’s own will motivate the workers, there’s no need for added stress and pressure from the management.”
22. July 2017 London “Strong favouritism – Only comfortable place to work if you belong to certain races – Should practice fair treatment to all staff… team leaders who all happened to be from the same country they came from… Team leaders act like they owe the shop and do and eat whatever they like and telling team member a list of food that not included in staff free food – Management should swap team leaders and managers to other branches”
15. Juni 2017 NYC “Very bad management. They treat you like a slave. You have zero value for them. They don’t recognize your effort. They thread us and show the door if we don’t work very fast. I wonder what kind of manager training they give that manager treats people like crap.” (Little side note from me: There is no to little training, even an OPs who was one of the rare nice OPs, confirmed this once to me when I asked the OPs, as I tried desperately to understand why management in Pret is so appalling throughout the board!)
29. May 2017 “Bad experience – Manager was rude, short tempered and enjoyed shouting at employees. Treat your employees with respect. Be polite .”
28. May 2017 “Cliquey environment… Horrible staff, didn’t care about anyone who wasn’t from the same cultural background and extremely dismissive management who were rude and unhelpful. ”
27. May 2017 “Bad managers… Learning to communicate politely is important.”
Pros: Hmmmm hard one. I would say free food. If it wasn’t for the 20 word min I wouldn’t have said anything else Cons: Multiple Supervisor – Confusing Leadership Lack of leadership
Add some structure & look for ways to encourage workers to work hard and have fun without risking their jobs”
07. May 2017 London “Management doesn’t listen or care. High staff turnover. You get paid very little for what you are expected to do. Invest more in team building and ensure proper training. Have proper career advancevent opportunities.”
Highlighted Review:
25. Apr. 2017 “Not for British people or young people. Very strict at some stores. Big divide between team leaders/managers and team members. Managers just want their massive bonus will work too like a slave. Relax it’s coffee and sandwichs”
(No it’s not coffee and sandwiches, it’s massive bonuses and huge profits)
17. Apr. 2017 “unskilled managers, racism, bad pay, they take advantage of staff”
21. Mar. 2017 London “lazy managers high demanding ops – Advise to management: take good care of the team”
10. Mar 2017 “Stress at work … poor management … Stress people less”
04. Feb. 2017 “Highly defensive personalities amongst management and very difficult to collaborate in order to improve and develop. I would advise more training for people in positions of responsibility.”
12. Jan. 2017 “strict hierarchy, …team leaders are bossing and frustrated – take it easy”
10. Oct. 2016 London “It’s a Trap – Huge stress. Never stops. Brute customers… Shouting all around. listen to your employees. Say something nice from time to time. Don’t insult them!”
10. Oct. 2016 “Stressful. It’s like a china factory. They ring a bell to tell you when they want you to clean or to go to the till, leader use to shout people.”
29. Sep. 2016 “Poorly trained management. Too much dependency on skillful employees.”
Highlighted Review:
26. Sep. 2016 London “Worst first day experience – Pros: Nothing at all….. Not even a 0.0005 star – Cons: Management don’t speak one bit of English – Staff in the kitchen don’t speak English – It’s really hard to communicate – Lies about family team vibes – They don’t recruit you for your work ethic – Ethnic and racial issues (if you don’t believe me go to few stores ask who’s a white or black British in the team) Hire British people Practice English at work rather than using your language
And stop listening to your fella country boys or girls of their stupid feed back…”
09. Sep. 2016 “Our manager sets up the rota. The only full-time person that is allowed to have a day off on weekends is her, that’s it. Very, very unfair. Weekend is the worst period of the week when we have loads of customers and complaints that we have to deal with.”
01. Sep. 2016 “If youre young and look young (im 17) they will be difficult with youre last payment They always make mistakes like ‘adjust the rota’ resulting in me not being able to work
They dont tell you what you’re entitled to food wise Some of the management are rude or never show up
The team leaders make younger employees do the worst jobs”
09. Aug. 2016 “There are no appointed qualified trainers there like you promise beforehand, why say it then? You just have to learn as you go from your colleagues”
23. Mar. 2016 “Years – Takes advantage of your kindness”
07. Mar. 2016 UK “I just feel very strongly that the general public view of this company is very far off from the truth – I want to be as loud as possible here – PRET DOESN’T CARE.”
03. Jan. 2016 USA “Slave work, they ask for a lot of work for a little bit of pay… food isn’t actually naturalBe kinder to your employees they are not slaves”
22. Dec. 2015 London “The other team members are really nice and welcoming – Managers are a pain”
11. Nov. 2015 London “they need slaves for work and they are very bad – manager was very bad he was all day on face book in his office”
16. Oct. 2015 “Bad management who talk to staff rudely, and yet don’t do their jobs properly”
Highlighted Review:
04. Dec. 2015 London “Brainwash, Control, Never stop, Last time shift – Aggressive and mortify management, brainwashing, mobbing, after working hours NON PAID, if you don’t finish YOUR DUTIES you stay after the working hours non paid… Respect people that work hard! Don’t exploit them!”
15. Oct. 2015 NYC “Great Things Preached, Not Always Practiced – Relies too heavily on UK influence, and has difficulty adjusting to American tastes and culture. If you are a Pret Person, quirky, and in with the right crowd, you’re golden. If not….good luck. Pompous and thinks too highly of itself.”
11. Oct. 2015 NYC “Sandwich artist – Terrible hours and poor management and training some people are complete jerks to the new people the expect you to know how everything is made in less than a week of starting the job” (Sandwich “artist”? Pret’s American slogans… LOL)
01. Sep. 2015 London “the good payment is not enough for getting worse my health (my back and my heart). l am with anxiety all the time, working in a tiny kitchen in a HORRIBLE atmosphere!!”
26. July 2015 London “Nothing you do there is appreciated… Horrible atmosphere and you feel too much pressure all the time. Please treat employees as humans not as robots! It seems like you enjoy making people unhappy.”
23. June 2015 Part-timer: “management talks to you with little respect.”
Highlighted Review:
20. June 2015 NYC “Pressure is crazy especially if you work in the kitchen. Sometimes they want you to do more then your job description. Paperwork is excessive at times. Reward those who work hard for you and give them a raise. Catch them doing the right thing and praise, and dont just discipline the bad”
28. May 2015 “stressful environment, too many people trying to overpower others – think like a team member and your key roles to understand success of the team and the shop to be successful, or fail in profits and likeability”
24. Mar. 2015 London “If you want to work in a happy enviroment without being bullied then whatever you do DON’T work for Pret Early hours – Being bullied – Total disregard for health and safety – Being made to feel incompetent – Worked into the ground without empathy”
18. Mar. 2015 “Lack of accountability … Poor management”
26. Dec. 2014 “Terrible experience one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had – Pretty much everything is a con -lots of stress -under payed -long hours/ short brakes –terrible management -really unflexible schedule”
25. Dec. 2015 “Long hours, unrealistic expectations, high pay – Unrealistic targets, little support, long hours – Stop changing everything all the time with poor execution”
Highlighted Review:
07. Jan. 2015 NYC “Spoiled, selfish upper management has ruined it for the rest. 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. get over yourselves.”
26. Dec. 2014 “Terrible experience one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had –Cons:Pretty much everything is a con -lots of stress -under payed -long hours/ short brakes -terrible management -really unflexible schedule”
15. Dec. 2014 London “Team Leader who was working with me during the weekends was very rude to me, calling me stupid … There is a a HUGE pressure on having a BUZZ in the shop, which made me feel like a clown and also in my opinion made very fake atmosphere in the shop.”
03. Dec. 2014 “Manager at my shop treated everyone really poorly. Expect you to stay longer to complete your job for free when not enough time is given. Constantly missing hours from extra shifts taken. Have to ask every week to see if they have repaid those hours and in some cases takes months to chase back.”
11. Nov. 2014 NYC “Horrible,OverWorked For The Pay,Bad Management And Bad Treatment Felt Like A Slave”
31. Oct. 2014 London “not a good culture. every manager dictates his values to the team.”
13. Oct. 2014 London “Abuse of power most part of the times – Incorrect wadges, my management doesn’t know what is a calculator or how to read a rota correctly – Pret does rules for itself but it doesn’t mean that you have the right to don’t follow the ones made from doctors or the state, management in my shop has a lack of professionalism.”
Highlighted Review:
11. Oct. 2014 “There’s too much pressure.They overwork their staff with little compensation.Any bad move and you lose the bonus, and the work in the kitchen is incredibly difficult and they stay past their schedule but they don’t get anything for it.Pret used to be about having a happy staff and happy costumers, now it’s just about the money. They keep feeding people this image of “happiness, good times, best place in the world!!” that when you really start working there you become very surprised and disappointed.I quit my job just after 3 weeks because I was feeling physically sick and they gave me insane shifts to do without my permission.
If you see that people are overworked and they can’t keep up with the standards, hire more staff!And there are too many irrational rules to follow.When the staff says that something is “unfair” or “impossible to do” don’t just say “that’s how things work at Pret”.”
31. Aug. 2014 NYC “the management dont really care about employees and all the things they have to do to make them happy they are always on your back about things that is usually their fault
benefits suck..take about half your paycheck
follow way too many standards get retrained”
01. Aug. 2014 London “Too much pressure… Often happen to work “unpaid” overtime to finish daily duties… In many cases I’ve weighed up a big incompetence and lack of skills between Team Leader and Assistant Manager’s position”
Highlighted Review:
30. July 2013 “Brainwashed sandwich making – The company is trying to brainwash you, they expect you to give up your life and be ready for Pret 24/7; they want to use you. There are a lot of favouritism, which leads to promoting incompetent people to more senior roles.
The salary system is completely unfair; people who work for the company for 5,6,7,etc. years get the same salary as a someone who just started a few months ago. The management expects you to do the workload of 2 or 3 people, including doing their job sometimes.
It’s not the NASA, just a sandwich shop, where human beings work, not robots.”
07. July 2014 NYC “long shifts, a lots of heavy lifting and horrible managment”
24. Apr. 2014 “Great perks that come with a price – They expect perfection
– High stress levels when understaffed … – Very little to no leniency on rules”
Highlighted Review:
18. Dec. 2013 “They will hire you even if you do not know the language – Your thoughts are worthless, you are there to keep up with the work. If you want to promote you better be ready to not have a personal life years…..55hours a week to show you are worthy.” (NOTE: Hiring people who don’t know English is so they won’t know their rights nor where to complain to)
08. Oct. 2013 NYC “Pret was a stressful and busy job that seeks perfection and expects you to actually be perfect”
29. March 2013 NYC “Heavy workload, borderline demeaning, discrimination. Maybe a bit more respect towards your employees?”
02. Oct. 2012 “hard hard working culture, to much pressure to be working 100% every sec. make it easy”
20. Apr. 2012 London “The moral is terrible and … being overworked. The idea of proper training is also rediculous – Most people are taken in under promises (including being a front of house or kitchen person but then dumped where they are needed and not where they were promised) but find that often by day 2 or 3 are thrown on a bench on their own in the kitchen and nagged at due to not being fast enough”
16. Aug. 2011 “Careless – understaffed. and unfair decisions made by management. most of your employees don’t look forward to working there because you are staring them down every second. they make one little mistake that doesn’t affect the restaurant what so ever and act like it’s the biggest deal ever. happy employees make happy customers.”
21. July 2011 “Pret doesn’t care about workers. The most important is business, profits. That’s why they cut working hours and made you work harder.”
19. July 2011 NYC “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.” (The full review says everything!)
Highlighted Review:
04. July 2011 “Poor senior leadership due to lack of experience … Promotion and staff recognition based on personal favourites rather than competence and experience. Quite clicky. Favouritism at the top has to stop and start to recognise talent at middle management. Like the social hierarchy, this sphere of the staff population seems to be the ones who get screwed over the most, often talented individuals are overlooked for promotion.”
~~~~~~~~~~
20. Apr. 2011 A woman’s review on her husband who worked in Pret:
“Interesting comments. My husband now works for pret and is being treated so badly by his area manager. I am astounded that they can get away with it. It seemed like such a nice place to work but it’s like some kind of sect… ”
My response: they get away with it because it is systemic and they are trained to treat staff like this, for more and more profit.
— 4 months later: —
“Further to my previous comment about my husband having problems with his area manager. They stitched him up good and proper and fired him…this was done in such a way that they found a couple of things to hang him on which wouldn’t normally result in him being sacked. They clearly did all of this because he was going to put in a grievance against his area manager for bullying (he was talked out of this and thought it had all smoothed over) and then wham!The company disgusts me – how they could treat an employee with a wife and 2 small children like that I don’t know. The management of this company are pure evil.”
“Regarding the area manager, yeah they just sit on their fat bums all day, and email on their phones or look at stupid graphs. End of the day its about increasing sales, meeting targets and reducing labour. They will always cover there own backs first, to watch there bonuses, and not care about the workers.
A lot of managers i have met, are complete arrogant snobs, that know nothing about even running a store, yet alone trying to explain things to you, they sit on there high throne, and blah blah blah things.”
~~~~~~~~~~
08. Jan 2011 “DISCRIMINATION in PRET A MANGER!!!!!!!!!!?”
2008 Review that shows it has always been like this in Pret!
Highlighted Review:
05. Sep. 2008 “I’m an ex-Pret employee so have direct experience of this engagement. I can vouch for the truth in Sam’s comments. The happy people philosophy was one I always adopted when recruiting new people and it made a difference to the way that we worked. The one thing that did frustrate me and ultimately caused me to leave was the way it dealt with the enthusiasm troughs. the company was not good at dealing with people’s frustrations. There was a strong message for people who were frustrated with something and couldn’t get it resolved – leave! I saw a number of people become shunned and passed over if they had feedback which wasn’t entirely positive. Often people left disgruntled having started out as the desirable happy employees. I suppose in someways it was a useful self selection process – when I became frustrated with a few things and felt threatened that my feedback would fall on highly judgemental ears I knew it was time to leave – leaving the happy people behind me. ”
NOTE:My response to this review, the person left in 2008 out of frustration, I started in Pret in May 2008 and can only say in all fairness to Pret, that it’s gotten worse.
“I knew Dante. He was an extremely nice person. That being said, Pret is a horrible company to work for.”
HFC
11. Mar. 2018 London “Hot Chef – setting up the hot food production, dealing with sales and wastage as well as taking many responsabilities. Pressure and plenty of targets.”
Highlighted Review:
21. Jan. 2018 London“Really hard work with Really bad management, it’s same in all shops, people think that a job there is a challenge making bad to the other colegue. Hot chef position has lots of stress, pressure – Be human. It’s not your own business.” (Bingo!)
31. Oct. 2016 London “Worst place – The team is nice, some team leaders are stupid and rude…! Management lives in another world. Absolutely less stress and please cut the roles because looks to work like slaves. Terrible experience.”
22. Feb. 2016 NYC “Some managers are very anal! Listen to your employers suggestions!!”
Barista / Coffee Maker
30. Jan. 2019 “Busy and stressful environment whit no support from management. Forget about contracted hours! You will be doing overtime most of the time, as there is a lack of staff nearly in every Pret”
01. Nov. 2018 NYC “horrible management – management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to a manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral.”
12. June 2018 NYC “Nothing but aggravation and a discriminating HR – fire the HR staff you have now and replace them with more educating indiviuals and ones that dont discriminate”
05. Dec. 2017 London “Dear Lord, protect me from ever need to work for Pret a Manger ever again. Amen. For this company you are numbers, robots, machines, you are no humans.”
12. July 2017 “Over worked and Aweful Mangers – *everyone complains how much they hate this job *managers dont care about standards (manager was too lazy … (he’s mostly in his office so he gets paid to sit and do nothing because he has his leaders do majority of his work)”
12. July 2017 “If you want to follow the company standards, you need to have enough labor. Do not kill your employees.”
24. June 2017 London “Poor management, really short breaks, work longer hours, not equal distribution of tasks for cleaning/closing shop.”
19. Dec. 2016 Edinburgh “Would not recommend … Managers do not care about they team. Never get 2 days off in a row. Practice favoritism”
13. Mar. 2016 “Hard work all the time and high pressure – More people-orientated management needed in the shop”
16. Nov. 2015 NYC “Act a little more like management and a little less like the employees. I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
Highlighted Review:
16. Nov. 2015 NYC “The management plays favorites more often than not. Also, if you are overweight, older, or unattractive you can forget about even getting past the interview stage (exception often made for relatives of said favorites or management). Key roles and shift leaders must have open availability, which makes it impossible to have other employment. Overtime isn’t allowed often, and managers often send employees home early if it looks like that 40 hour mark will be passed.
Act a little more like management and a little less like the employees. I worked in 4 different shops and the song and dance was the same in each one.”
Highlighted Review
29. Sep. 2015 London “The Brainwash is real. 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. managers/team leaders are not properly trained when it comes to simple communication. … (A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period). Get some proper training regarding real people skills.”
12. May 2015 Chicago, IL “just terrible – Discriminatory management
Unprofessional atmosphere
Osha standards not met
Very Low pay
Abusive staff Don’t just promote the people that you like, promote the people that are the most qualified.”
TMT
20. June 2018 London “Not for sensitive people – Very stressfull environment (especially at back of house) Come to your shop at weekends from time to time to see how it’s look like when it’s understaffed”
Highlighted Review:
13. Apr. 2018 London “Fun, but stressful and not worth it – Unattainable goals
Very short breaks / irregular – Poor management and under-trained Pret A Manger has cut down on staff so theres more a lot more of things to do and not enough staff to do everything, so employees are being worked harder. Management do not have sympathy or care for employees. Managers only focus on their goals and tasks.
27. Apr. 2017 “Work like robot, disorganisation… Listen more to your employees’ needs”
08. Sep. 2016 “Lots of pressure, and work colleagues shouting at you. Starting the shift at 5am. I haven’t got paid. There’re too many opportunities in London so don’t end up working here. They should take care a bit more of their employers.”
Highlighted Review:
20. May 2016 London “Clear talking is just marketing: if they have a bad opinion about you, forget any clear feedback.
A lot of pressure. The workload can be very challenging especially compared with the wage. With a bossy manager your life might become really hard and sickening.
The coffee calling system is messy during busy hours, I stopped thinking to step up as a barista because of that.
I do not give any advice to management, they are always right of course.”
20. Jan. 2016 London “Put same manager know how to organize the team and what you have to do”
01. Feb. 2015 London “This company pays better than most other coffee and sandwich chains, but it expects you to do a lot in return. You are supposed to be happy and smile at all times.”
12. June 2013 Washington, DC “Listen to your employees, some have great potential that needs to be channeled not blocked”
07. Dec. 2010 “Very hard work – No support and respect from Manager”
FL / KL
Highlighted Review:
06. Feb. 2018 London “- huge pressure especially on the higher positions
– working overhours without being paid, no breaks (happened to me only while working on the Team Leader position)
– lack of recognition from your own manager elimitates the opportunity of growth (basically only your own manager can push you up on the career ladder and the reasons for promotions really often seems to be based on personal preferences)”
Definetely have a deeper insght into the progression situation within the shops. You lose lts of amazing people just because they stay unrecognized due to personal preferences of manager.
29. Nov. 2017 London “Look after your people and figures will look after themselves.”
17. Oct. 2017 London “Every shop has less people than required as this affects shops profitability. …managers that come externally, as most of the time, their personality only is good for business, but not for the people that work under.”
14. Oct. 2017 “Slavery hasn’t been abolished. Early starts, rude staff. kitchen leaders are disrespectful. Improve how staff are treated.”
31. Jan. 2017 “Cut back on all the chiefs we need more indians”
13. Nov. 2016 London “Management bonuses are profit driven so hours are cut often The £1 bonus is often used as a threat to keep people in line I would recommend joining a union
Team Members deserve london living wage from a company that has the means to supply it.”
02. Nov. 2016 “Promotion can be down to who you know not what you know.”
06. Aug. 2016 London “Most of the managers are really difficult, they forgot where they come from, please treat the people as human beings, We know the profit and your career are important but you don’t have to be rude.”
19. Mar. 2016 “Bad management – Rotas never placed in advance – Treat people like human beings”
Highlighted Review:
08. Sep 2015 NYC Shift Leader: “hours are constantly changing
pay doesn’t match time sheet
a lot of call outs
team members are constantly training themselfs
train team members longer make sure they are avail to handle the rush”
15. Nov. 2014 NYC Shift Runner: “Your subjected to emotional blackmail and serious labor issues with Most shops being run by Unprofessional and Bias Managerial staff backed by a corrupted HR Dept. I strongly suggest a Labor Union!, so employees that are treated unfair have a platform for their voice to be heard without resentment or the sinuous backlash from your Inadequate Managerial staff & Flout HR Dept.!!!! who support them.”
27. June 2013 Kingston upon Thames, England “Tends to get very stressfull during busy periods with lots of pressure from the management … sometimes late payment of the over time, working 8days in a row according the rota, calls to come to work on your day off … it would be great if employees wont be treated only as a work force that helps make money” (Side-note, this Team Leader sounds like one of the hard working ones who cares a lot and is always called and overworked.)
AMF / AMK
20. Dec. 2017 London “Avoid working there – Too much pressure working there , company expects you to do all your job within the time you are schedule but it is impossible , you will end up working hours for free, no work life balance at all , they have he mistery shipper but it is all a fake thing you can not control , the standards are so high the only thing it will drive is you stress everyday . Don’t work there . Cons: Extra hours not paid”
26. May 2017 NYC “Pure Misery – 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. Quit your jobs and go back to England and stay there.”
11. Dec. 2013 NYC “Promotions bases on politics, inconsistency In polices , long hours”
09. Oct 2012 London“Too much pressure and managers with poor interpersonal skills. Respect your team, be patient and keep cool under pressure. Be fair to your team members.”
Highlighted Review:
19. Nov. 2014 London “Worst company to work for – Pret was the best company 10 years ago, they were more about the people and it was beat place to work. now the company is just about the profit also it is run like mafia organisation where it is about who you know, the team member are over worked and managers are always working with fear, the way the company is going it will not last long.
Get back to basic, care about the team and always listen to the little people, also be open and get rid of some top management who are so corrupt.”
GM
07. Juny 2018 A former Senior Manager’s response to my review:
03. Feb. 2018 “High demands not in line with pay, lack of support, inconsistent training, stressful/poor work life balance”
Highlighted Review:
11. Mar. 2017 “Pret A Manger Reality – Long hours, inexperience Operation Managers.
Companhy values have been lost along do way, bonus scheme not very fair.
Pay raises no fair either, You don’t get reward for results and work ethic, just if you have a close relationship with your Operation Manager, you are the new hot of the month.
Listen to your people more closely, massive turnover on Pret Managers at the moment and everyone just ignoring the reality, huge unhappiness amoung the managers.
Create and fair and competive process for development.
Opportunity Network for Pret employees, just another flawless (meant flawed) tool at pret, most of the vacancies have people already for them, they want to create an illusion you can develop yourself.
Focus on team members it’s essential, but managers dictated the success on your shops, and drive passion to the team.
HR doesn’t protect the managers.
PIP, pret Partners only people, whom have friends already in, not related if you can contribute to the company, just based on relationships.”
(NOTE: HR doesn’t protect anyone unless it suits Pret’s business.)
15. Nov. 2016 NYC “Toxic, low class, unprofessional culture – Racist, non-inclusive environment that upper management and hr are fully aware of but ignore.” (NOTE: worth reading this review in full!)
Highlighted Review:
25. May 2016 USA “Very racist upper management. They make you work 60 hours per week and they don’t pay you for it (just basic salary). They don’t appreciate your work no matter how good you are. Tendency to promote british managers than american ones.
Advise to Management: Open your mind towards american managers. stop racism that is happening to workers. Get involved with the employees and don’t let the operational managers act as they own the people.”
Highlighted Review:
31. Oct. 2015 NYC “Horrible training, too many lies. Training sucks, people are treated like crap. Upper management do not care about you, will never recommend this company. Bottom line as a British company they treat employees as machines, they don’t care about how they feel, expect too much for too little. Horrible environment. Treat people with respect and appreciate their hard work. Stop using your British mentality when it comes to deal with people. You’re people are horrible at this.”
20. Apr. 2015 Chicago, IL “Manager- horrible upper management, unrealistic goals, promotions based on politics. Favoritism with management – Hiring is based on looks – All push with no support – No integrity – A lot of show and dance for support center and president/ceo Your employees will respect you if you offer genuine support. It is all about what your shop looks like when the CEO is in town. Stop favoriting managers, no one respects you for it.”
01. Feb. 2014 “Great company in risk of ruin! Please get the bullies out and revive Pret to its former glory. Used to be the most amazing company to work for, a job to be proud of. Now your people work in fear…..its time to listen!”
23. July 2012 “I am an ex GM (10 years service) I walked out last year as I couldn’t take the way we had to treat TMs to achieve ever increasing demands for profit and efficiencies.”
HQ London or Offices in other countries
19. Dec. 2017 London Former IT Analyst: “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.”
28. Feb. 2017 NYC Former Purchasing Director: “One of the oddest work experiences. Worked their during a transition period – so company going in one direction and then the opposite.”
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 are prohibited.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
The second quote also from NY crushes me, as I have been through this and it almost ended my life. My regular readers know my story, but for new readers the below review of a former NY employee from days ago does not surprise me, even while I tear up when reading this review as it brings back traumatic memories. I was bullied during bereavement, and even while completely traumatized I was still trying to bring suggestions via HR for Pret to have support for bereaved employees in place. But unbeknown to me at the time, and in a complete fogged up state on autopilot, my approaching HR put a target on my back, which I write on my blog extensively.
As I tried to come to terms about my brother’s death and on top of that the turmoil at work, I applied for my file as I wanted to understand what was happening and why? I didn’t realize when I applied for my file under the Data Protection Act 1998, that this also involved emails between HR and managers about me. I assumed my employee file just involved regular notes that a line manager might have made about employees, to pass information on to another line manager when the employee gets transferred or promoted. I had a very difficult manager before my brother died, who would even sabotage me when I tried to transfer away from her shop. I had this thought that she may have written something detrimental about me that made the following managers dis-favourable towards me.
But that wasn’t the case and what I was confronted with, apart from the sheer size of approximately over 1000 pages, which included many repeats, were emails between HR and managers who were stumbling around without clear direction, no steady leadership, no policy on how to support bereaved employees. One email that struck me was from a People Business Partner (PBP) who responded to an email from an HR advisor who was the note taker of my first grievance appeal’s hearing against a line manager who bullied me openly. The HR advisor brought my concerns forward and the PBP even agreed that Pret could improve on supporting bereaved employees. This and other emails often were written to just have a paper trail of supposedly being supportive, anything else was communicated on the phone or in person.
But this HR advisor was the most professional HR person I have come across in Pret. In the hearing she was completely quiet and just took the notes, but I could see in her face that she cared when I described my turmoil with the line manager who bullied me. She cared enough to pass my concerns on to this PBP and in all her dealings with me after the hearing I felt she was extremely professional and cared. I learned later that she left Pret, and I was crushed that all the good people seemed to be leaving. Of course people move on, but with the top leadership of HR I constantly felt with my back against the wall and like in a Twilight Zone.
The email, I added the pink description on who’s who and underlined in yellow:
This PBP (#2) several months later was the note taker of an appeal’s hearing I raised against another PBP (#1) who was in the background advising the area manager who targeted me. I raised the grievance based on the evidence of the emails from my file. Of course raising a grievance against anyone from HR, especially a PBP is a waste of time, but I was just out-of-sync trying to go through the right channels to not only improve my situation, but that of all employees. In the appeal’s hearing I confronted this PBP (#2) about the above email, where he agreed that Pret could improve on supporting employees who suffer loss, but he then said that in hindsight he could have made a mistake! For the sake of his colleague PBP (#1), he changed his mind and the game continued… I wrote an open letter to him as well, which was a waste of time as well of course, but this needs to be in the open.
Today’s 2nd quote of the day from a former NY employee makes it clear to me again that Pret not only doesn’t learn its lessons, but Pret does not care whatsoever about employees, unless it serves PR. And even while I am not surprised anymore, this review has me in tears and my heart racing from remembering my ordeal.
I confronted Clive Schlee, CEO again on this with a tweet where he tweeted about plastic issues another Twitter person raised. But the CEO then deleted his tweet minutes after I tweeted. I know I tweet a lot, but people suffer and become suicidal and Pret under the leadership of Clive Schlee does business as usual and goes full steam ahead.
“management is disrespectful, they fire people when they are having rough times in life even if they talk to manager about it , i was penalized for calling out for a funeral people who were stealing still work there but call out & youre fired”
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I decided to do two “quotes of the day” today as they are both from New York within days of each other.
Full review as Quote of the Day:
“Go back to the UK, Pret I have never worked in such a toxic, unprofessional corporate environment. Employees relocating from UK were given preferential treatment, better salaries for equal experience, 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.”
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
His name is Thomas, he isn’t with us anymore, but his name is still Thomas, that will never change.
When I started this website and blog I started it as poetrasblok.com, which still runs under this name as well as now also under LateNightGirl.org
Initially I only wrote about my brother as only poetrasblok with poems and videos I made for him and posted on this site. But after my ordeal with Pret A Manger, having also lost my father in March 2018 as well, I started to add the latenightgirl URL to write about my traumatic experience in Pret and show another side behind the PR[et] facade that almost ended my life.
Even while I dislike having my brother’s memory share one website with my Pret ordeal, I will eventually turn this site back to re-upload some of the poems and videos, and solely write about my brother as well as life in general. As this site has become quite large I periodically hide post entries that don’t seem important at a certain time, so that readers won’t be cluttered with too many blog entries to sieve through, and are lead to posts faster that I find important to share.
I currently don’t have the finances to start a second website for solely my Pret experience, and don’t have the strength to work on two website simultaneously at the moment. But in time I will separate the two sites, as my brother deserves his own space and website in his memory, and not share space with this toxic, greedy and dishonest company that is Pret A Manger.
At times my writings seem angry or bitter to the reader, that may be, but I am not apologizing for it. I almost lost my life in Pret after having worked with integrity, care and skill for almost 10 years. And all that happened to me was that my brother died, and I then became an inconvenience to Pret. My writing helps me overcome this trauma, and at the same time expose this company for what they really are.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
… and how it poisoned me. What I have survived in a workplace that only cares for profit and the rest is just PR, has traumatized me so much on top of going through personal loss already. I have not dealt with this how I wished I would have, but I had no tools and am still learning how best to deal with this. I haven’t even started to come to terms about my brother and have lost myself in darkness and fear where I couldn’t see right from left.
Even with all the distance now to Pret and a lot of thoughts in hindsight, if I wouldn’t have all this in writing I would still shake my head in disbelief as if I just came out of a long and twisted Hollywood movie.
Regular readers know the story, so this will be a repeat, sorry for this, but I am still recovering and working through it all with the help of Therapy as well as sieving through the writings, emails etc. But I want to move away from writing in metaphors. I used metaphors a lot like the “Pret A Monkey Business” post to help me cope with the blunt memory of this “experience” that had me almost killed and try to make sense what happened and why.
I want to describe what to me was the greatest perversion I have experienced in Pret (or anywhere at that), twisted chain of events I have never experienced in my life anywhere. I lived and worked in three countries, traveled in more, lived and worked with countless people from all walks of life, from various countries, of different ages. I worked in several companies, mostly in the hospitality and service industry, had relationships, friendships, colleagues, bosses and had my share of betrayal and disappointments, like everyone. But I have never ever experienced the level of trauma, intrigue and viciousness that I experienced in Pret A Manger.
This is something I would expect in a law firm and certainly in politics, but a sandwich chain?? Maybe because I never experienced such dishonesty and trickery, I fell for it so easily. But I need to be kinder with myself and not keep blaming myself. Even if I would have experienced anything close to it, I was so traumatized already with the loss of my brother, which in itself was so out of this world, weird, unclear, with puzzle pieces I still have to put together.
Not having known for 5 weeks that he has died and was completely gone, already cremated without our consent in a country as efficient as Germany with its ID system. For us not being found still has me paralyzed how this could even happen. I recently found a video on YouTube where a family in the U.S. went through a similar event, losing a family member, not knowing that he died and was already cremated! I am not consoled that this happened to this family, but not feeling alone in a nightmare like this does help a little.
From the get go of my loss and all the terrible circumstances around it, I had not only no support in Pret apart from the basic stuff the company offers and then later when I contacted the CEO, but I was bullied in shop after shop as this is an issue with leadership which I also listed on one page from other current and former staff members. If a company does not have a clear policy for bereaved employees in place, like it has for pregnant women’s health and safety, a clear stand on homophobic and other discrimination issues, than managers are left to themselves. They have to figure out what to do, and most managers are overwhelmed, not trained, have no confidence which then manifests in leadership avoiding the bereaved at best and get angry at worst, or both. I went through it all.
Early on I approached HR informally to “help” them, where in reality I desperately needed help! I gave suggestions, even looked online for material and passed it on to HR, to managers and to area managers. But in my naive attempt to help them help me, I did not realize how uncomfortable the subject of death and grief is. A bereaved employee, especially if the loss is traumatic, quickly becomes an inconvenience.
Jimmy Edmonds from The Good Grief Project earlier this year shared in a Q&A in cinema where his film about grief was shown, that in Victorian times people frequently spoke about death, dying and grief. It was completely acceptable and normal to talk about death. But it was taboo to talk about sex. And today it’s the complete opposite. With the Good Grief Project they produce films, and travel to share and hear experiences of grief. They make the subject of death, dying and grief accessible in this day and age where we hide from this subject that will come to us all sooner or later. But they don’t do this in a gloomy way, I for one find it very relieving, and paradoxically lively the way they deal with this. It takes the sting out of this inevitable issue.
I wish I’d known their project early on in my own grief and in trying to find my way around the Pret maze where it felt like I was going through a war zone emotionally, and every step I took in a mine field could have been explosive, as it was many times.
I shared in several posts the different situations and bullying I went through. In a nutshell it was everything except physical and sexual violence. But I was shouted at repeatedly by different managers, as this is very common in Pret. I was avoided, not invited to leaders’ meetings, even a leader’s Christmas dinner days after my dad woke from his coma and I returned to London to earn money to visit him again, I wasn’t invited to the dinner. I wasn’t given information that I needed to do my job and when I made a mistake I was solely blamed. I was told off in front of my team as well as in group emails where the area manager was constantly copied in. It didn’t matter how I turned, it was always wrong and I felt with my back against the wall.
In all this I kept blaming myself mixed with the guilt of having let my brother down and silly things like not having replied to his last email to me five weeks before he died. The regret of not having emailed him back, and then five weeks after he died having received the news of his death via an email, all the group emails that my then line manager sent where he told me off several times or blamed me, and then later the emails I read between HR and managers about me. With all these email incidences I started to spiral into an ill emailing sprint that lasted many months.
It became so out of hand that I cried out to a line manager who just shrugged it off and even laughed with the leadership team. I brainstormed with therapist after therapist on how to stop this sickness, they couldn’t even diagnose what this is. Clive Schlee, CEO would later label me his “late night girl” to the Director of HR, due to late night emails to Pret (as well as my friends, therapists, anyone). He had a laugh two months before I was dismissed for emailing. I couldn’t stop, I went into a writing cramp again with my dad in a coma, coming to terms with another blow. I only started to come out of this writing cramp when I started this blog.
But the perversion I am speaking about really got to its peak when HR tasked a Development Manager from HQ to give me a disciplinary for the emailing. Up until then the Head of HR & Recruitment would deal a lot with my situation, after I contacted the CEO who then put the Head of HR on my case, as the bullying increased and no manager knew how to be normal, let alone empathetic. I approached HR and managers for almost a year, but was constantly sent away. One particular People Business Partner was heavily involved and already part from the beginning in my first approach to make suggestions to HR. I later raised a grievance against him after I read his emails and his involvement when I applied for my file. But of course it was a waste of time. I was just extremely out-of-sync.
I even apologized for a nervous breakdown I had two days before the first anniversary of my brother’s death, where the same line manager who would tell me off in the group emails and blame me constantly, rebuked me again in front of my team, and I just broke down.
But approaching HR and any leader didn’t help, I was sweet-talked and sent away … again. And I kept apologizing even though I had nothing to apologize for but needed an apology from those who targeted me for months under the guidance of HR. This was then when I finally contacted the CEO, something by the way one can see on Twitter keeps happening where employees contact Pret openly because they don’t get help from their managers or HR.
— & — Pret’s generic response because it’s public:
I know, I know, I tweet a lot 😉 But the reason for this is that most people still don’t understand the turmoil and because I gave Pret the benefit of the doubt time and time again while they had a laugh and I almost killed myself! The tweeting will eventually cease.
But because my concerns and trauma with the managers where constantly ignored or I was sent away, I went into extensive emailing which increased when I drank as I couldn’t cope with the grief and what happened at work. Later I applied for my file as I tried to understand why this happened to me, and one email had me shocked, one of many emails that had me shocked, but this one was from an HR Advisor who was at first involved in trying to put me on performance targets that would lead to disciplinaries, and a disciplinary quickly leads to dismissal, even though I performed extremely well, especially under traumatic bereavement on autopilot. This among the other emails between HR and managers, the email bringing me the news of my brother’s death and the group emails from a line manager had me spiral into emailing, which I explain extensively in another blog entry.
In this email from the HR Advisor to the area manager, the HR person is trying to come up with a plan but wants to first liaise with the PBP who was involved from the beginning and was present in the first informal meeting where I approached HR with suggestions. The HR Advisor even writes that she thinks that my “case” is going to be “very complicated”, meaning because I am bereaved they cannot just get rid of me, at least cut me down from my leadership position, as this would be blunt discrimination and would not look good on the company.
Side note, this HR Advisor later changed direction when she heard MY side for the first time and raised my experience as a grievance against this area manager to whom she wrote that my case would be complicated. But in the grievance hearing she wasn’t present even though she said she would be, which started a whole host of confusion and deeper trauma. This email is a response from the HR person to the area manager who forwarded my email, where I asked for a meeting with my line manager and area manager as the bullying got worse. But not only were they never willing to sit down and speak openly to clear up any misunderstanding there may have been, but they were then even advised by HR to not have any meetings with me until further notice:
Quote for larger print: “Thanks for sending this (my email asking for a meeting) through. I have a few ideas of how to proceed but as I think this is going to be a very complicated case I’ll pick up with XXXX (the PBP involved since the beginning) tomorrow and will get back to you very soon. In the meantime, please can you and XXX (line manager) avoid having any formal/informal meeting with XXX (me) until I get back to you with a plan of how to proceed with this.”
This area manager who targeted me for months, using this line manager and other leaders from the area, would not meet with me, even before this HR person’s request to avoid any meeting with me. She only had one meeting where she held an “informal” meeting while taking notes that she emailed me after the meeting, and in the meeting gave me a list of things that she wasn’t happy with. But this list was completely banal and it looked very obvious that she was targeting me for the tiniest thing, whereas my colleagues made much bigger and more serious mistakes. It was ridiculous, but it traumatized me further because I felt like no matter how I turned, there was a trap laid out. And up until that time the HR Advisor only had the PBP and the area manager’s version of events, until she heard my side and then raised it as a grievance against these managers. But the grievance hearing, the first of many, was a joke, which I cover partly in other blog posts in a sarcastic way where Pret has all these “How To Cards” for every peep and poop micromanaging the staff. I just turned it around.
Fasting forward, after all my emailing and the continued bullying where I continued to be avoided, not given important info, not invited to meetings, my hours cut to minimum, even though I was desperate to work more as my finances were low since my brother died. I used all my savings for travel, bills etc. I became suicidal and had several close calls where I would leave work to go home but headed straight for the bridge.
HR then came up with the most perverse “plan” that I still have to get my head around. I scratched on this and wrote extensively, but more in metaphors to come to terms. Using a Development Manager to give me a disciplinary, she told me in the hearing that she also had a brother who died in his flat and was not discovered until days later. Just like my brother. Our stories are so similar that I broke and embraced the disciplinary assuming Pret now really supports me. I was so ill with the emailing and wanted to get away from this writing cramp, that I felt supported after all the pretense support since involving the CEO. I even improved and moved away from emailing for a while as I bought this trick thinking they supported me. But in reality they stepped on her and my dignity, using a bereaved employee against another bereaved employee, especially with such similar stories (if it’s true, I don’t even know anymore). Instead of getting us connected to support each other in our common grief which they could have easily done, they just used her against me. I still feel sick to my stomach even while writing this.
She gave me the disciplinary for my emailing but the next day entered into secret contact with me, even though HR of course knew as this was the plan, not to support me (and her) but to get rid of me as a disciplinary is the first step towards dismissal. And not only did she enter into private contact, she did solely via text message and email for which she sanctioned me in the first place! Hello??!! I don’t have to explain how confusing and distressing the following weeks and months became. To make it worse, she allowed Pret to use her personal loss and went further by manipulating me and what a Psychologist assessing me labeled as her “abusing” me. This Development Manager is a Hypnotherapist (registered under the National Hypnotherapy Society), an NLP practitioner (as several managers in Pret are) and in 2017 studied to become a Psychotherapist. Hypnotherapy and NLP can easily be used to manipulate people, and they did that well.
Early on in our secret contact, as she wasn’t allowed to be in private communication as the hearing manager (but Pret of course knew unofficially), she wanted to meet up and interview me for an Essay on anger that she wrote for her university studies. She thought it would be great to have my input as I was very angry because of how my brother died and all the mystery about it, and the added turmoil with Pret. Of course I was angry! But I declined being interviewed as I didn’t know her and didn’t want to be her guinea pig. And from the beginning all of this was confusing, but I was so traumatized, in dark grief, anxiety, confusion, I couldn’t put two and two together, like I can now in hindsight and distance.
I did file a tribunal claim but withdrew which I explain in this post. And that is one reason why Pret does not block me on Twitter, so they can use all my Tweets in court should I file a second time. I have declined four settlement offers in turn to be silent and never go to court, including going to court against the Development Manager who is protected in her job regardless what she has done and allowed them to do through her.
But most every leader, HR person, this Development Manager while not having a clear policy to protect bereaved employees against discrimination, most of them were picking and choosing what for them was “useful”. The Head of HR met with me after I contacted the CEO for help (before I realized the game they were all playing) and in the first meeting he asked me to score on a scale of 1 – 10 how it was meeting with him. Again, confused about a question like this I wasn’t impressed to meet with a “big gun” as I just wanted my line managers to be confident and normal with me, not bullying and avoiding me. I wasn’t interested in scratching his ego because he is wohooo a big gun meeting with a “plastic pistol”! And the first time he offered me a settlement, when he left he wanted a “cuddle”, and again I just thought what does he want? Does he want me to leave or does he want a cuddle?! He can’t have both!
Or an area manager who after she got to know me wanted to stay in contact even if I left Pret as she said I have so much insight into many things. And yet this area manager held a dodgy grievance hearing where I met her initially and later forwarded my emails to my line manager who also held me low.
Or the Development Manager wanting my input for her Psychotherapy studies.
Or a line manager who would not let me leave his shop because I worked so well and helped bring success to his shop, he would not let me leave even after I raised a grievance against him. I had to firmly beg to get a transfer as I couldn’t work under his manipulative ways anymore.
I was like a supermarket for them where these “leaders” just helped themselves! My confidence was completely lost with the death of my brother and what happened in Pret. Anyone who has gone through loss, especially a traumatic loss will have the ground pulled from underneath their feet. You feel like you are on an emotional free-fall and never hit the ground. Everything is insecure, existential fears, even if irrational, are magnified ten times over. One of my line managers would laugh when I had a minor panic attack in the shop. He just laughed and said “Haha, I never saw you that scared” laughing further… Sure it was his insecurity, but what the f***!!!! They used my vulnerability well and trampled on my dignity repeatedly! I even would apologize where I had nothing to apologize for. I was just on constant electricity, hyper vigilant and in a panic mode.
This is why at times I have completely wiped out my Facebook and Twitter followers, because I fell into this paranoia of fear, thinking what the heck do people want from me. Of course it is stupid and irrational, but it’s my only explanation why I act like this at times, especially when I drank something. So, that’s another thing I’m working on, but it is much better. To all who have been “kicked out” from Twitter and / or Facebook, it’s not you, it’s me! Apologies again! Of course some people I have blocked consciously as they were either trolls or disrespectful.
This perversion of this toxic HR department using a Development Manager, who isn’t even an HR personnel, who lost her brother like I lost mine in such similar circumstances, has topped everything they have done. It is beyond me how educated, elitist people, from wealthy to middle class backgrounds with university degrees and even Therapists backgrounds, can stoop so low to use and be used in such undignified ways. It is amazing. The Development Manager could and should have declined doing the disciplinary and instead offered to support me outside the sanction. But she chose to play their game, maybe out of fear, maybe she got a promotion, a pay-rise, she certainly has gotten the protection of the Head of HR. But whatever her reason, she should have been woman enough to respectfully decline and asked to not be the hearing manager as she had personal conflict.
Pret will find a way to get back at me for making this public. So be it! I neither fear them, nor have anything to lose anymore, and any job reference they will do to my disadvantage, I am not in the slightest bothered anymore. And they will come with another trick in the future, @ Pret I wholeheartedly don’t care whatsoever.
People get hurt in such traumatic and dishonest ways. I have lived long enough to know that corrupt people and companies will get their fair share of exposure sooner or later. I am not worried about that at all. Even hiding two customers deaths under the carpet and not dealing with the allergen label promptly says it all!
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
― Anne Lamott
This is my story and I take the liberty to share it with the world after having given 10 years of my life to a company that was not worth my while. The last three year in Pret where so traumatic and surreal like living in Twilight Zone! I still don’t know how I survived this and am still recovering. Pret and any company or person forgets that when you don’t support the vulnerable, be it children, the elderly, sick people or traumatized and bereaved people, when you step on them while they are already on the ground, the time will come where children grow up and the vulnerable will become strong again if they survive. And then they will share their experience and/or retaliate through court or publication, standing up with other sufferers in unity. And with Pret I believe the time will come where more people will cut through the bull-crap and say enough is enough, and overcome the fear and intimidation of these giants, who in reality are dwarfs hiding behind their inflated shadow of fear management.
Anyone who has come in contact with me has also been at the receiving end of my irrational fears and paranoia, especially when I drank something. I fall into this extreme fear of not knowing who to trust, as what Pret has done has so messed with my head, that I feel like a human going through an alien zone trying to figure out who’s the human and who’s the alien masquerading as a human. Sounds whacked up I know, but this is how I can describe it. Pret’s HR department especially are so skilled in being nice on the front, while behind this is another motive. Maybe I was this dwarf that became a deflated giant scaring people unnecessarily!
And many of you are very kind and patient, and I will always be indebted to you for this, and in time I will “repay” you for your kindness!
Thank you for reading and if I can give anyone any advise, join a Union and trust yourself, no matter how messed up you feel or indeed are!
Update 10.11.2018
A review from a former Pret staff from NYC who puts it in brief and better words than my long posts:
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.
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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 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 are prohibited.
This has NOTHING to do with love and education, but has everything to do with fear, powerlessness, and a failing government and police system that only revert to ads!?!
Since two customer deaths in Pret, with a third nearly fatal, several in hospital and continued warnings regarding labelling and cross contamination, customers seem to raise more issues via Twitter, even though these issues always existed. More customers seem to feel bolder to publicly complain about poor products and service.
Understandably.
I am writing from my experience having worked in Pret for 10 years. After 7 years I lost my brother and was bullied on top of my bereavement from my line managers and area managers (OPs) under the watchful eye of HR. I was a Team Leader and a very good one. No, I’m not floating my own boat, I just know how well I performed, know the feedback I received from colleagues, customers and Mystery Shoppers on my leadership and my teams. I had to go so low to even keep Mystery Shopper reports because one area manager was targeting me for 6 months straight while I was in my first year of bereavement and in extreme trauma, but on autopilot. Even during the darkest times I received good comments from customers, while my line manager under the guidance of this area manager (and HR) tried everything to get rid of me. Every little comment on my service when it wasn’t the best was used, every tiny mistake I found myself in the office or called out via group emails… For my protection I started collecting the positive Mystery Shopper and regular customer comments. And it helped. But it was sad to have to do this.
One card I received about 9 months after my brother died and I was in hell emotionally, but the customers didn’t know the inner state I was in, this card helped me out of dark pits at times when my managers were looking for the smallest issues. This dark time felt like I was going through an emotional war zone, being shot at from different angles, stumbling through a mine field, where I would never know when the next blow comes. And then out of the blue I received this card with £20 inside, but the customers did not know my traumatic bereavement and the added ordeal in Pret.
I read the card later after closing time in the office and just sobbed:
Some excerpts from Mystery Shoppers where either I served the MS as my name was mentioned as the server, or I was the responsible Team Leader for the shift, having trained and supervised my teams when the MS visited. Every excerpt is from a different MS visit, different time/year and different shops:
~~~~~~~~~~
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Other more neutral or difficult comments:
Quote in larger print: “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.”
~~~~~~~~~~
We received a lot of good to neutral comments, and at times fair as well as unfair negative comments. But no matter how well you did, it was never good enough for the line managers. And it didn’t help me from getting more traumatized and held low by insecure “leaders” who are often not well trained, overwhelmed, don’t have people and leadership skills, and easily feel intimidated when they work with Team Members who have skills and emotional intelligence. The Mystery Shopper scores count towards the biggest chunk of the managers’ bonuses, so managers were never happy unless it was a 100% perfect score, every time. One tiny point missing and the team got a telling off in the kitchen until I drew the line and said enough is enough!
I cannot describe how discouraging it is but you just kept going until you broke and many left.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Pret Customer and Mystery Shopper,
much of the issues with the quality of products, missing ingredients, low portions, cross contamination, lack of smiles from staff and rude staff even… a lot these are boiled down to labour being cut to maximize profits, staff calling sick or leaving as they can’t take it anymore, including managers throwing in the towel and leaving without notice (or were fired).
Yes, rude service is unacceptable. But from my experience as a former Team Leader (by the way I was fired just when my dad came out of a coma still in intensive care, but I share this in another post), but as a Team Leader I have had some challenging Team Members, especially Baristas who often work with an electrified temperament, as they have to get the coffees out fast. But when you treat your team with respect, support them, encourage them as well as making clear where the boundaries are, they mirror that because they feel respected.
Team Members are over stressed by team leaders and managers who often prefer to sit in the office having a chat while the teams sweat it out in the kitchen and shop floor. As a Team Leader I was out with my team helping them, encouraging them, while also working to the highest standards. But I didn’t leave them abandoned while sitting unnecessarily in the office as many “leaders” like to do.
During my traumatic bereavement, trying to improve work conditions I would write in to Pret repeatedly, which later turned into ill emailing which I explain extensively why this happened in this blog entry. But I’d write in to Clive Schlee, CEO if he could do what Pret calls a “Buddy Day” where staff from HQ work for 1 day per year in a Pret shop in order to get a glimpse on how stressful working in shops is. The idea is great on paper, but HQ staff mostly come in at 8 or 9am, start their “shift” with breakfast, fiddle around on their mobile phones during the shift, especially if they are higher up in their positions. Managers and Leaders kiss their butt and don’t dare to ask them to leave their phones in the locker like all the other staff are required to. The Manager and Team Members behave very well, suddenly treat all staff respectfully and calm until the HQ staff is gone. And then the usual stress continues.
I suggested to the CEO for the HQ staff to come in and start their shift at 5am ready in uniform like the rest of the team. Pret A Traviller, ready to get their hands dirty, their fingernails cracked and their backs broken, just like the regular shop staff. And I suggested for Clive Schlee to do a Buddy-Day himself, preferably in a shop where no-one knows that he is the CEO, except of course the GM knows.
Schlee likes to do his rounds in the shops and all the staff and managers get nervous and who-haa around him and his delegate, because the big boss is around. I asked myself often how much Schlee and the senior leadership enjoy staff ducking down like this, and kissing butt. I always cringed when the big bosses were around and the managers were suddenly super nice. I usually went the other way not wanting to be part in this hypocritical game. I preferred to stay with my team with whom I worked shoulder to shoulder from early morning on. What do I want with the big bosses who make their millions on our backs, walking around like celebrities! Give me a break!
Before and after the big bosses and “Buddies” were around the usual tone was this: “The training should be more about encouraging people than shouting and shaming them. … it has been the most stressful job I have had in a couple of years.” (Staff Review)
My own story is spread throughout this website and will turn into a chronological book as it is quite complex and has involved the heart of Pret, HQ, HR, the CEO, and most disgracefully, a Development Manager who was used to manipulate and gaslight me. She was used because she supposedly had a brother who died alone in his flat and was not discovered until days later, just like my brother was. But this complex story is in several other blog posts.
But I want to share again about my former colleagues and how much they struggle and suffer under immense pressure, underpaid, “motivated” under fear management, openly or subtly threatened with their job security etc. I’ve been through it all and more, and have seen this countless times. Sure, the pay is a little more and some other perks are thrown in than in competitive companies, but that is because the work in Pret is hellish! And Pret cannot afford to pay minimum wage as staff would not stay long.
Some customers are quick to tweet, quick to come to conclusion, quick to judge, but have no clue how hellish it is behind the scenes, especially before opening time while the teams get the shops ready in a very short amount of time and little manpower. And not to mention the coffee and lunch rushes that are visible, and all the pressures in-between that the customers don’t see. They work like for 2 or 3 people as Pret loves to cut staff to increase profits. The pressure is on managers to make sure the targets are reached, so they can get their huge bonuses and slaps on the back in huge managers’ meetings.
CEO, Clive Schlee’s special technique for these managers’ meetings, from 0:39 on, is to recognize a few out of hundreds of managers by making sure they are aware he knows them, a clever strategy to keep his managers in check, so they always feel watched, not only from the hidden camera in the offices. They are all nervous to see if they will be picked!
And that is why he has no excuse on how the shops are run by harsh managers and the teams that struggle and suffer under immense stress and mistreatment. He knows, he is aware, but he is not concerned to have a truly “happy” workforce, but only the facade of a smiley culture to have rising profits under what many experience as “Modern-day Slavery“. He also knew about two customer deaths and plenty of allergy reactions and complaints, but no concern there.
Managers and Leaders love to sit in the office and just come out to shout at Team Members. Sure, you will think that you are a paying customer, and yes you deserve the best product, the best service, a safe environment and just plainly a good time. But why would you expect from others what you could and never would give yourself. Smiling for 8, 9, 12+ hours straight in a high intense, ungrateful and unrealistic environment. I wrote it in another blog post, breaking it down for the reader, that I myself easily dealt with around 800-1000+ people EVERY DAY from customers on the tills, by the fridges, on the phone, even during my break and my teams and bosses.
And customers want to believe the facade that staff are happy. And dare they not smile after having just come out of the coffee rush where they may have served around 300 people within 2 – 3 hours straight! In the heat, where the air conditioning doesn’t work well! Without being allowed to drink water behind the counter and during service! Where they have to listen with a smile, small-talk, complimenting customers while also listening to the barista behind them shouting at them to grab the coffee! Where Team Members have the task via the Mystery Shopper to have the coffee ready in a minute from the time the customer orders, serve the customer within 1 minute of them joining the queue, clear and clean tables within a minute of customers leaving their seats! Checking the toilets, checking the fridges that no items are missing for the Mystery Shopper so as not to lose bonus and get in trouble with the boss!
Team Members who often have to chase their pay as the managers often “forget” to pay them the correct amount of hours worked…
Yes, you can easily say why they do this job and should find another one. I used to think like this when I experienced bad customer service or saw unhappy faces of restaurant staff. But it isn’t that simple just because I may be in a pleasant job with a good reward at that time. Many customers look down at the Teams, because they are fast-food workers. First of all this arrogance will eventually catch up on people. Secondly, many staff members in the kitchens and shops have degrees.
I worked with a person from Finland who has a PhD, another from Spain who is a lawyer but her degree was not accepted of course as British law is different. I worked with a colleague who is from a small town in Brazil and used to be the secretary to the mayor of that town. Another Brazilian lady was a bank manager in her town. Many are artists, musicians, IT people. I myself am a writer and have published a book in 2013 etc. etc. etc.
Whatever the reason is that people work in these stressful jobs, one thing is reality, that many have to feed kids, pay bills, University or plainly need a fast job to concentrate on their real passion in life, be it art, studying, writing etc.
And even just working and going home to watch TV all night, to shrug the shoulder and say that people should just leave if it’s so hard is very ignorant and arrogant to be blunt! Because most people don’t give a toss how employees are treated until they themselves are treated like crap! My approach is for the employers to change their attitude and greed and really be fair in the light where Clive Schlee pockets £30 Million. I’ve been writing about this since May 2018, before the press got interested because of the deaths.
Staff get their peanuts and get broken. I already confronted Pret on this and will continue to confront them on a staff suicide last year. I almost ended my life, others become depressed if not suicidal and the mental, emotional and physical strain is immense.
My plea dear Pret Customer is for you to pause and think if this is really such a “happy” environment. And I only scratched the surface. Maybe one day I will go hour by hour to talk you through an average day in a shop and kitchen. But I’m sure most people don’t want to know.
~~~~~~~~~~
Some of your Tweets, dear customers.
Most of you customers who quickly tweet publicly without having spoken to the shop staff first, don’t know how many times I at least left work, especially during bereavement being bullied and went straight to the bridge. And I know others who have become suicidal, depressed, discouraged and don’t care anymore.
UPDATE 31.12.2018 Another customer who just runs to Twitter naming the staff member. I have no respect for these kinds of people anymore. They don’t even give a reason for the complaint and can’t get their spell check and hashtags right, but naming hardworking people in public. God knows what the staff member is going through…
A customer who has no boundaries to call hard-working people the C-Word:
A customer, instead of asking shop staff if they could turn down the volume has to tweet his annoyance publicly in a tone where Pret even apologizes regardless:
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I saw this film in the U.S. when I lived in Florida in the Noughties. I remember so well that I strolled into the living room where my house mates were watching a film, and I just joined them. The film was already quite a bit in, at least 30 minutes or so. And as the theme of the movie was very familiar to me, I just watched.
I grew up with documentaries on Hitler, Nazis, the Holocaust, crimes that humanity will not forget. So, seeing the familiar pictures just let me sit and watch if there was any new thing unfolding.
And it was.
The fictional, yet beautiful story of a father who promised his little son a tank when he wins a game they were playing.
The catch was, the son had to play-pretend a hide and seek game during WWII after being captured by the Nazis. In order to win, the main rule of the “game” was that he had to hid and be silent. What the son didn’t know was that he had to play being silent in order to survive. And if he won the game of being the most silent player, he’d see a tank as a reward!
He lost his dad, though, but as the writer and director (main character) wanted, the little kid at least saw a tank.
For all of you who are reading this, you go like wtf…
I got it…
So, I spare you with explaining my education in history in front of a TV watching what Germany’s crime was and why the world keeps using this as an example of evil, and how all the other nations closed their eyes to it. And I’m proud that my dad forced us to watch the atrocities and not close our eyes.
But rewinding back to the movie “Life is Beautiful” … there is one scene that I always think of when I think of this movie. Before being captured, the father tried to get a job in a nightmare situation during occupation, he was being trained as a waiter, and his superior who trained him said an unforgettable thing about humility, dignity, self-respect and strength: “God serves men but he’s not a servant to men“.
This is what I always tried to portrait to my teams when I was a team leader in Pret and saw their frustration with customers that at times were rude and disrespectful. I’d remember this scene and also told my team that they serve customers but they are not their servants when my colleagues felt humiliated by them.
When hard-working people are called the C-word, the loud music makes a customer tweet instead of asking the shop staff politely to turn down the volume, a customer who wants a fuzzy warm feeling and staff to smile to all customers … and Pret does the thing they do, “prostituting” their values while claiming of “doing the right thing naturally“.
In the service industry, people serve people, but they are not their servants.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
(From experience with Pret soups, this looks like Pulled Pork to me)
This could have been another death, hospitalization, allergic reaction… certainly an unpleasant experience for a vegetarian. Multiple warnings not taken seriously.
As I want to move away from my Pret outcry because I have said enough to give a good idea what really is going on behind the facade, but I keep seeing these complaints.
A tweet with the typical response from Pret that has me shake my head again and again, even though I shouldn’t be surprised.
A vegetarian customer got a meaty soup instead of what was labelled as a vegetarian Tuscan Bean Soup that even has the green veggie sticker on the soup cup. A meaty soup has a red sticker with the soup name, a veggie soup has a green sticker, plus the label on the Hot Cabinet with the ingredients (hopefully with full allergen info).
Pret’s response is to blame downwards as usual, making the Hot Chef (the person who is preparing all hot food) responsible. The OPs manager (operations manager = area manager) who often is quite stern, with an intimidating “bossy” attitude, visits the shop. The OPs then speaks to the General Manager (GM) or maybe even to the Hot Chef or person who prepared the soup.
On a side note, the Hot Chef has the most difficult and stressful job on the shop floor. They never stop. Often they don’t get help except on paper, but in reality they are so stressed for time and often have tiny work benches, if at all, and if they are not organized naturally and not trained properly, they struggle a great deal. I mention the different job roles and stress factors in my Open Letter to Pret Customers.
So, the Hot Chef now gets even more stress and may not even get help, but will be blamed, no matter if the team may have been understaffed, or the Hot Chef may not have received proper training as I used to work as a HC and was thrust into it with little training and have seen this with other HCs again and again.
It is a lose-lose situation. The typical scenario is that staff are not trained properly, overworked, underpaid, stressed to the max, not helped and then blamed when things go wrong. Apart from my experience this can be seen in the countless staff complaints that I collected from other websites. A very typical Pret situation on a daily basis. Of course there are trained staff and good shops, but my 10 years in Pret mainly involved training myself, trying to help my colleagues as best as I was able to under intensely stressful circumstances.
Pret’s response to the customer who was sold the wrong soup is again typical for how Pret responds to this:
If the text is too small: Ctrl & + or direct Link to Tweet
So, the customer read the labels on the hot cabinet and the soup cup, and yet still got the wrong item and ingredients! If the customer would have been allergic to any of the ingredients in the wrong soup, having believed to have bought the correct item, scrutinized the labels, double checked everything … but still got the wrong item, this could have been another death… The Toscan Bean soup does also look like this meat soup in the photo above. So, often customers open the lid and the similarity of the soups visually could still mislead them. And Pret responds in this indifferent way and just blames the Hot Chef who most likely is already over stressed as it is.
The (real) veggie Tuscan Bean Soup
The generic response that is so typical for Pret still amazes me. But the blaming is typical. Quote:
“The hot chef in charge failed the Pret standard for soup preparation…”
No, the Hot Chef most likely was overworked, stressed, had no help and was pressured by the GM or Team Leader to quickly get the soups out for selection so in case the Mystery Shopper comes, they won’t be marked down for missing items on the shelves.
UPDATE: 12.11.2018
No idea how a customer got a hold of this photo. If the customer lets Pret know which shop it is, the person who took and then leaked the photo will have an appointment with the Job-center soon. But this is a very common view I found in my 10 years in Pret. And this is then no wonder that serious mistakes keep happening: tiny work spaces especially for Hot Chefs who have the hardest job on shop level. This photo is a very familiar sight. Hot Chefs balancing act to have proper work benches. Very dehumanizing and disrespectful towards hardworking people to not give them the right space as well as time to prepare in a safe way.
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:
I keep repeating myself that Starbucks closed 8000 shops in the USA to train staff for an afternoon after a racial incident in one of their stores. They closed for a few hours to train their staff and then even remained closed for the rest of the day after the training. This has cost Starbucks an estimated $12 Million+ for that ONE day. Starbucks did that a few years ago already in the UK to retrain staff on coffee quality.
But in Pret customers die, repeated complaints keep coming in on wrong and inadequate labelling, and worse even, products are wrongly labelled or put into wrong vessels like this soup … And those are only the complaints that are public.
And Pret A Manger does business as usual. Full steam ahead. Let the slogans and generic cut and paste responses do their work. I still cannot believe that Pret is still not putting on the brakes here, and gets away with “murder” so to speak.
I wanted to move away from my Pret outcry, but these incidences which are only public, there is much more going on which is not seen, but how people are being treated, how staff suffer… and how I survived Pret, I cannot be silent.
BEFORE Natasha’s and Ms. Marsh’s deaths became public:
05. June 2018 Quote: “Can you start labelling individual wraps?”
And the typical Pret “Oh gosh…” response veering away from the public into DM and just blaming “someone” for having placed item behind the wrong label. But no priority on labelling, no “meaningful” change, just full steam ahead doing business as usual. As a Team Leader I had to fix issues like this on a daily basis.
I just added one “before” example, but there are countless more. Also from my own experience having worked in Pret with staff on high pace and stress, understaffed to maximize profits, running non-stop with no time to oversee careful labelling and placing items on correct shelves…
AFTER Natasha’s and Ms. Marsh’s deaths became public, issues continue:
24.10.2018 Another soup issue. In the U.S. this time:
28.10.2018 A piece of Ham in a Veggie Cheese Sandwich (clear sign of cross contamination, not cleaned properly, especially on weekends where staff are cut and struggle more than they already do during the week. Managers mostly at home enjoying their weekends off while staff struggle. Hence too many shortfalls and quality issues.)
29.10.2018 This is either the Ham Mac&Cheese or Proscioutto, but looks like the Ham Mac with a green Veggie Kale & Cauli label instead of the red Meaty sticker:
Also 29.10.2018 response to a 26.10. complaint, after three days asking if she was okay. Pret may even be understaffed on their USA Twitter feed. A dish that contains at least enough “iron” supply for the day. The Pret A Metal-Wrap (Allergen Info: Contains metal, eat responsibly)
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
A very warm Thank You to Paul for nominating me. Your poems make my brain cells think around several corners! And your tireless support puts a smile in my heart… and then I think what’s wrong with you!? 😀 — Thank you.
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
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Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice for new bloggers.
Select 15 or more bloggers for this award.
Let each nominee know that you have nominated them and leave a link to your post.
Brief Story How My Blog Started
I limit myself to a 99 word challenge, because I cannot keep it short. I don’t see myself as a blogger, because I never felt I had anything to say each day. I love to write, it was in my dreams at nights for years, just as a passion. Those who know my story, I initially started this as poetrasblok.com as I wanted to create a platform for my brother who died almost 4 years ago. But this turned into LateNightGirl.org because I was bullied during bereavement at work in Pret A Manger. I survived to tell my story.
My 2 Pieces of Advice for new Bloggers:
1. Stand up for what you are passionate about; it may be a cause, an injustice, a love for unpopular art, rescuing cats in Istanbul, creating an unforgettable vegan recipe on a high street in America surrounded by fast food giants, holding the hand of a dying patient in a hospice, standing in the streets with fellow demonstrators for what you believe needs to change, collecting metal lunch boxes … whatever. And then write your heart out about it! Whatever it may be, stand your ground no matter how little support you’ll have initially. And maybe you will never have the support that you wish for or need, and silence often is the loudest motivator to keep going.
Just know who you are, and stand.
2. Don’t follow rules if they are damaging, flawed or limit creativity. Reinvent, even if your knees are shaking, as long as you don’t hurt people or break the law.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
My 10 years in Pret A Manger which has always been stressful, trying to figure out why it felt so toxic and negative in this company, and this long road in hardship at work has taught me to not give Pret the benefit of the doubt anymore, as I did too many times. The last three years have been extremely traumatic after I lost my brother and on top of this being bullied in Pret, which I explain extensively on this blog and which will turn into a chronological book, as the story is very complex. But it was important for me to put the story out in creative writing as best as it comes out, and to do it publicly as I was in these last years balancing on the edge of life. Even if life ends prematurely due to illness, accident, while my suicidal thoughts will be left behind, I want the public to know what happened to me in Pret, and not take my ordeal to the grave, apart from what my friends know and witnessed through my distress. I also collected numerous staff reviews on the bullying culture in Pret and listed them onto one page for easy access to each review.
When people learn of my experience, the question comes up if I went to court against Pret. I explain that I did and then withdrew for these reasons in this blog entry.
The other question that comes up is why on earth I stayed so long in this environment that almost killed me. I scratch on this in several blog posts but will write an extra blog entry on this in more detail. Watch this space.
Many people who read my story don’t know what to do with it, let alone what to say. Understandably. My writings sound angry at times, and they are, but I am not the “monster” that people may view me from afar with my loud and public outcry. I am actually a very peaceful person who loves and cares deeply about people, even if this doesn’t look like it. This probably was one reason why I struggled so long in Pret and approached them internally, even in ill emailing out of trauma and a drunken stupor later on. But my integrity and my honest, even if weird approach was to my disadvantage. And yet integrity and honesty is what I am proud of, it didn’t make me rich, but it makes me sleep at nights.
I don’t have a nice front to show you, I don’t plaster my life with a nice facade while rotten inside. I show you ‘my’ back first (this website picture is not me of course). For 10 years I was forced to smile in Pret, even during traumatic bereavement. There was no mercy from my line managers. The Mystery Shopper, who is sent weekly to each store with the assignment to let the shops know if the Team Member smiled, made eye-contact, made some small-talk even during extreme busy times, is the main contributor to the “friendly” hell that I and all shop staff went and go through. Of course I would have loved to wear a badge one can apply for to use the public transport in London. A badge like pregnant women or people with a disability wear that says, “Baby on board” or “Please offer me a seat”, as the pregnancy or disability is not always or immediately visible to assist the person who may be in pain or uncomfortable in general.
In my trauma and bereavement I wish I could have worn a badge that said, “Please offer me a smile for a change” or “Abnormal load on board” or “In grief, please be kind” or “Please help me I want to die” …
I collected a list of Staff Complaints from external Employment Review sites as well as YouTube, Twitter and other websites. I did an extra category on the forced happiness and another on the fake smiles that Team Members are tasked to perform. And customers are so impressed with the service, not knowing what is the driving “force” behind the happiness con. The amount of times I and team members were summoned into the office or kitchen, away from the customers, and then told off when we didn’t smile.
I had a good telling off in the office after the Mystery Shopper (I call them Misery Shopper) commented that I should stay home when sick as I couldn’t smile because I was coughing. Mystery Shoppers either don’t know or don’t care that weekly paid staff are not paid sick-leave the first 2 or 3 days (depending which age) when sick, no matter if they have a sick note from the GP. Sure, there are what Pret calls “well-being days” depending how long you worked in Pret and other times at the discretion of the GM, but for things like having a cold or illnesses that take 2 or 3 days to recover, you have to make a choice if you want to stay in bed to recover and lose income, or drag yourself to work and then be told off for not smiling because you coughed!
Excerpt of the Mystery Shopper’s comment after I served the MS and coughed:
Quote in larger print: “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.”
It was also impossible to “feel cheerful” when my boss was constantly telling me off for the smallest issues and then ordered me to go out to the shop floor and smile. It was even more impossible to “feel cheerful” when I just buried my brother and there was no mercy from my superiors nor from HR. And the line manager who warned me verbally in the office after the above comment on my coughing, countless times being told off, never once asked “how are you, are you ok?” And I did it, I smiled again and again and again and again and again and again…, and received many compliments from customers as well as Mystery Shoppers, while neither of them knew what turmoil and trauma was raging inside me. No customer would have guessed that I left work after my shift and walked towards a bridge, wrestling with life.
I even received a thank you card with a £20 note inside from a customer pair whom I served in a shop where I helped out for a week. This card I received WHILE in the middle of the darkest time, it was about 8 or 9 months after the news of my brother’s death AND the middle of being bullied by my superiors. I didn’t let it show and have to say as well that these two customers, who sat in that shop every day working on their laptops as they were graphic designers, were extremely pleasant. They made my job very very easy and cheered me up the best I was able to relax during trauma. They were a fantastic distraction and kind people. In my ten years in Pret, these two people come to mind immediately when I think of a nice customer experience. This exchange was brief but very organic.
We chatted every day as they sat in the shop for hours using the Wifi for their work. And they spent quite some money everyday, buying food and coffee, work some hours, buying some sweets and another coffee, work more hours, buying another drink etc. Every day they spent a good amount, not like some students on a budged who would buy the cheapest item just to use the free Wifi for hours. On my last day for that week I told them that it was my last day and where my usual shop is so that they won’t be surprised why I wasn’t there anymore as we had lots of conversations and laughs in-between.
They never knew my loss and the added turmoil I went through in Pret. As sad as it is, but this card was my life-line for a while. I put it on my desk at home to remind me that my service wasn’t as bad as my superiors tried to make me believe. I knew how good I was at my job and with my teams, with all my mistakes, flaws and shortcomings as well. But when you go through loss AND bullying on top of it, you lose the floor underneath your feet and all, absolutely all self-esteem and self-confidence disappears. So, as sad as it is, but this simple card heaved me out of a black hole many a times, and I wish I had a way to let the customer know what a small gesture like this did to me, I didn’t care for the money, but his words were life to me as I became increasingly suicidal! When they learned that it was my last day, he briefly left the shop, returned and gave me this card. Later in the office when reading this after closing time, I broke down and sobbed:
It is an extremely rare occasion for customers to go out of their way to acknowledge staff like this. I’ve seen customers giving gifts to my colleagues as well throughout the years, but it is extremely rare and mostly happens around Christmas time.
And with the Mystery Shoppers, I kept these MS comments because of that same area manager who targeted me during the darkest time, saying that I didn’t engage my teams, and yet countless MS comments as well as regular customers said otherwise:
Another year, different MS:
These two and much more MS reports were my protection as my name was on them, and even if my name wasn’t mentioned, I was on the shift the days of these and other comments as the responsible Team Leader running the shifts. Again, it is sad that I had to keep those for my protection against bullying superiors who tried to look for the smallest issue to get rid of (for them) inconvenient staff.
Of course there is some true smiling going on as well, especially within the teams who often work very well together, trying to protect each other from the line managers who tend to kiss upward and kick downward. But the job in Pret involves having to smile no matter what, or as one of my GMs (General Manager) once told us off in the kitchen saying that, “Your smile is part of your uniform” while he never smiled when serving customers.
This is the reality behind the smiles of team members where even during bereavement, depression, illness and a personality that may not be naturally cheerful, you have to smile. You either develop superhuman capabilities or mental illness. And I’m sure you’ll figure which one of the two is more likely. Anyone would know that no-one can smile and be happy for 8 hours straight, let alone in a high stress, fast-paced, brutal work environment; LET ALONE during bereavement and mental strain! But the public loves to buy this facade, because it is so easy to be lulled in. So easy.
And just when I finished the majority text of this draft today, I see this Tweet from a customer who is appalled at the poor service and lack of smile, even naming the Team Member, and Pret of course in a generic cut & paste response will pass this on to the GM in that shop. And Adil S. will find himself in the office today or tomorrow depending on when he is in the shop. The GM or even AM will most likely not ask Adil how he is doing, if he has any problems or issues, if everything okay? Adil might have just buried a loved-one and his boss is even aware of this, or certainly he might have just been in the middle or just finished an extremely busy coffee morning, or he might have just come out of the office where his line manager had a go at him. And there certainly is no guarantee that he will find any mercy or empathy from his boss after this Tweet below where he is named publicly!
The customer does not give a second’s thought on why Adil was rushing and not smiling and not giving the customer a “warm feeling” and “naturally smiling” to ALL customers. And why should he, he paid a lot of money for cheap coffee. The customer will most likely also respond to my comment angrily, as my pointing out that Adil, or any staff member at that, might be going through hell. It may burst his bubble and that it may be too much to give a warm feeling to a staff member who cannot share what may be going on in his life.
Many customers do recognize how intensely busy it is during a Pret morning coffee rush. It is called a coffee “rush” for a reason. On an average busy morning, especially when the GM cut staff, I myself alone served approximately 25 – 30 people in a 15 minute period which was visible in the system for later scrutiny by managers. This means on an average I served between 80 – 100 customers within an hour during extreme busyness.
If any reader here is a regular customer in Pret and thinks I am exaggerating, do an experiment, go to any Pret, especially the really busy ones and go when you know the busiest time is in the morning or lunch time, as this varies a little bit from shop to shop. Sit close to the till area where you can easily observe the Team Members. Take a stop watch, pick the fastest Team Member and time them within a 15 minute period. It will be hard to concentrate only on one Team Member, but give it a go. Count how many customers (transactions) this TM serves in that time. And I specifically mean the busy morning coffee rush and / or the busy lunch time rush, not the more quieter afternoons and evenings or the quieter time after the morning and before the lunch rush.
One can do the math throughout the day including the busy lunch “rush”. But from the log on the system, I often did around 500 – 600 transactions (1 transaction with the minimum of 1 customer, but often serving more than 1 person per transaction, serving a family or friends, but the number showed as per transaction, not per customer) in a 6, 8 or 10+ hour shift. Every day!
PLUS all the customers that you spoke to that weren’t logged as transactions via the till system, people who approached you by the fridges with a question. PLUS customers who called in on the phone with a query. PLUS customers who knew you were staff even when you were on your break and with your Pret uniform covered up, customers still approached you with a question during your break……. and dare you decline to help them during your break, being worn out, exhausted after busy breakfast and lunch rushes!! How quickly do customers tweet to Pret about any and every peep that bothers them. It’s safe to say that I myself alone was dealing with around 1000+ people EACH DAY plus my team and bosses…………..
And you are required to smile for EACH and EVERY customer. The Mystery Shopper will make sure you do, while also making sure you keep eye contact AND have a little conversation! In all this you are expected to be natural, not robotic.
Forget the “aim” to “connect”, if you don’t smile you get into trouble. One comment here from the MS on a colleague who was a very hard working Team Leader herself in her service, but I have had similar comments on my service like this as well. And no matter how hard you worked or how good your service was before and after you happened to serve the MS, reading those comments discouraged you further, not to mention your boss telling you off later:
Quote: “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.”
I know that this team leader also had 500-600 transactions each day on top of her leadership responsibilities as we were always looking at our till reports if we were too slow or even too fast. Total nightmare and the most ungrateful, unrewarding and dehumanizing job. Autopilot happens and it turns into mental illness.
Yes, customers pay a lot of money, they deserve the minimum of a decent service, as in fact every paying customer, as well as the homeless person does who asks for a free Tea which happens all the time. Every person deserves respect and the best service possible. But again, the bullying environment in Pret, cutting staff to maximize profit, overworking and stressing staff to breaking point … no one wants to know about this. It’s all about “me, myself and I”. No thought of my fellow man and woman. Let’s just name, shame and blame them publicly, right?
I know of one suicide of a staff member, I almost ended my life as well, as my regular readers know my story by now. Others have repeatedly reviewed on the stress, depression, anxiety etc. working in Pret, and I cannot help thinking of how many more may have ended their lives or became suicidal, even after they left Pret or got fired and broke.
So, I keep my fingers crossed for Adil, and hope the feedback he receives will be constructive, not pulling him down further as GMs don’t like the “shame” of feedback like this from HQ via a public Tweet. I certainly know how it is to get pulled down in the office by my bosses because of a Tweet, or customers writing in because their day got ruined for whatever reason…
And who is the best in this smile and friendliness? Of course Clive Schlee, CEO of Pret. What Ronald McDonald is to lure kids to McDonald’s, Schlee is to Pret. His job is to present (and Pret-end) this happiness and friendliness, and portray to the public that Pret is a lovely place that provides “good jobs for good people”. And he paints this facade extremely well.
But he doesn’t stop there, he goes the “extra mile” and takes the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable and broken ones, homeless people (mainly young people) off the street, offers them jobs, flies them out to Austria where he has property, hikes with them and then making nice photos to show what a great company Pret is, and how well he and Pret cares for staff.
Some free PR on the house:
How easy it is, as a millionaire business man to take the most vulnerable people, shower them with good deeds and an overdose of luxury, and then post this on his blog and on Twitter. And the public goes ‘Aaaawww isn’t that lovely’.
In the meantime staff across the board in Pret shops and kitchens are bullied, overworked, underpaid, have to work overtime without pay. And when they complain they are being threatened with their job security; disciplinaries are handed out like napkins, hardworking and loyal staff being unfairly dismissed and put on the streets, fear management is thriving, staff becoming suicidal etc. etc. Selected quotes from the long list of staff complaints, as well as my traumatic experience that I survived.
That is why Schlee writes on his blog of the idea for the Rising Stars (well sounding slogans) to run a shop by themselves, as solely former homeless from the manager down to the kitchen and shop staff and that Pret is “careful to integrate” them into shops. I write about why Pret is careful to integrate them in this blog entry more extensively.
But in a nutshell, for people who were homeless, vulnerable, have mental challenges and traumas to overcome, for them to work in the mainstream shops could catapult them right back on the streets as the work environment in shops and kitchens is brutal. So, when these Rising Stars run shops entirely with solely former homeless people on staff, they would be treated not as harsh as mainstream shops with high targets and unrealistic expectations. These Rising Stars would get an easier ride.
Thus, the well oiled PR[et] machine puts on its famous smile and portrays to the public what a lovely company they are. And yet, reality looks very different as I share my traumatic survival of Pret and all the staff reviews I collected unto one page. I keep referencing back and forth with links so that the reader doesn’t need to take just my word for it and because many people are new readers. This is so appalling because instead of making it easier across the company, treating ALL people with respect and kindness, and in this way still be really successful, the Rising Stars are treated softer, while the mainstream shops continue to suffer, and who knows how many ended up on the streets after they broke.
The CEO is very aware of how it is in shops, as he also visits shops regularly. One approach also is that shops are named, shamed and blamed when things go wrong like poor Health & Safety results. Of course shops are also named when they do extremely well as an incentive to make shops jealous to compete and raise the profit. But the atmosphere is hellish and I was able to take it for a long time while I had a “normal” life, not taking this home too much. But when my life got turned upside down when my brother died, this became a roller coaster that I don’t know how I survived this.
Only some of the many collected “reviews” on Pret’s work conditions:
This person keeps appearing on several YouTube comments regarding Pret (like I do on Twitter). One comment from YouTube scrolling down in the comments:
… Compiled with more reviews along those lines collected on the usual page I created.
The way Pret and the CEO dealt with two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal, ignored numerous complaints and warnings regarding allergen and the lack of labelling, that only once the deaths became public and people started to boycott Pret, some even saying they will never shop there again, only then does Pret start slowly to trial labelling each product. And yet, each item has been labeled with full allergen guide for the homeless each night since years. The main characteristic in Pret is to make shop staff and customers responsible to figure out what is in the products. The homeless and / or people in need cannot check after closing time nor do many have access to the Internet to check for allergen information online. So, staff and customers while in the shops are made responsible to search for ingredient and allergen information. A typical Pret “behaviour” to blame downwards should things go wrong.
I am all for taking homeless people off the streets, please do. Please help people back into jobs and get accommodation. But please, while you are doing this, also include homeless people who are in their 40s and 50s and not just in their 20s where your investment may pay off longer! There is too much discrimination going on, and even while older people are not as easily molded and brainwashed anymore, as they have a zero-tolerance on bullshit with their life experience, your reputation would get a better shine in the long-run. And yes, take them to Austria, Stonehenge, Hawaii or to the freaking moon if you can, but to take the most vulnerable for PR while regular shop staff are suffering, is the greatest hypocrisy and self-serving thing! If I was a former homeless person, I would be ticked off being used for PR[et] like this.
The catering and hospitality industry is already stressful as it is, but the unnecessary stress is what makes this so terrible and the PR facade so ugly, once the reality behind this facade comes to light.
My story at least I will tell again and again because it took 10 years of my life to come to a point to not give Pret, and indeed any company with double-standards, the benefit of the doubt anymore. I have to say though that I never experienced this turmoil in any company until I came to Pret. Maybe this is why it took me so long and such a traumatic journey to finally conclude that Pret was not worth my while.
I want to end on a positive note this time. I was at a gig yesterday of one of my favourite artists whose music has gotten me through a lot of dark times. I used her song “The Greatest” on a ‘video’ I did for my brother shortly after I learned that he died, and which I posted at the bottom of this page for him. My website here, which started and also still goes under poetrasblok.com, used to be all about my brother with a lot of poems I wrote and videos I made in my trauma, until the LateNightGirl.org thing took over. I will eventually turn it back into my sole tribute page for my brother and re-upload all the poems and videos that I posted before, as well as now also for my father who died in March this year.
But I had a little chat with this artist two days ago at a signing she did at Rough Trade East, London. I am not a fan of getting an autograph as this doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t ask for autographs, even though I met some artists that I love. Artists scribbling their name for a stranger on something doesn’t mean anything to me. But a small conversation, as little as 2 minutes means the world to me.
But as this was specifically a signing, it would have been a little bit odd not to take some of her albums for signing. Exchanging words was more important from human to human than any autograph could have been written into stone. Yesterday in the Roundhouse the thing she said at the end resonates so much with me. It wraps up my wasted years in Pret and my aim to not waste my short life on brutal and self-serving people or companies:
“Take care of yourself and those who love you. We spent sometimes our entire life taking care of those who don’t really even give the tiniest little shit about us. Make sure you take care of yourself and those who love you.”
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Since Twitter is limited in the amount of words that can be used and on Facebook Pret tends to delete my comments, I’d just like to expand my questions here and just link to it.
I used to get told off and “corrected” from line managers in front of colleagues, one GM in particular would repeatedly do this, to which I kept asking to please give me feedback in person not in front of my team. This particular GM would say that he “feed-backs” me in front of the team for their benefit, so that they learn from my mistakes. Apart from this being complete nonsense, incapable management and plain wrong, I understood his bullying mentality and insecurity.
And I am sure Pret is not keen on answering my questions, certainly not directly, I’d like to take this “example” be it poor as it is, and do the same thing. For the sake of the public, so they learn from your mistakes, I’d like to ask you publicly again a few questions.
After I was bullied during bereavement in all its forms, shouted at, excluded from leader’s meetings as well as a leaders Christmas dinner (when my dad just woke from his coma and I returned to work and was put on late shifts to cover for them to have their dinner), information withheld that I needed in order to do my job, held low in jobs where I could not grow and thrive, hours cut to zero during Christmas time even though I was on a 35 hour contract needing money to visit my dad again, hours not paid that I had to chase, the patronizing approach from Clive Schlee, CEO who labelled me his “late night girl”, the lies and dodgy grievance hearings, after all this bullying under the guidance of HR and the Head of HR & Recruitment, after all this mistreatment you tasked one of your Development Managers to sanction me supposedly because of my emailing, for which your CEO labelled me his “late night girl” two months before you dismissed me.
Your Development Manager, who also is a Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner (as several of your leaders are) and in 2017 studied to become a Psychotherapist, was put on my case because she had a brother who died in his flat and was not discovered after days later, just like my brother died and was in his flat for days before his corpse was found.
She was put into contact with me, not so we could support each other in our common grief, but so that I would be able to receive the disciplinary as I would be more receptive since we have the same loss. This which I already put forward to your Director of HR, I called “perversion” for lack of a better word. I had to learn later that this was gaslight in its most primitive form.
Your Development Manger, who is governed under this therapy body, then entered into personal communication with me right from the next day onward which was secret, even though you all knew about it of course. This confused me further. Not only did she enter into unallowed contact, but she solely communicated with me via text messages and email, for which she sanctioned me in the first place!
Fasting forward a few months, I of course got dismissed (with my dad in intensive care just out of a coma) while she is safe in her job as she served HR well. She even at times sounded like the Head of HR, saying things only the Head of HR knew and vice versa.
Now my question is, as I am not sure anymore what to believe because there were so many lies from you from the top down, did she really have a brother who died very similar to how my brother died and the delay in her learning about his passing, like in my case as well?
If she did have a brother and all she told me about him and the situation, why did you step on her dignity by using her against me, instead of for me and her being able to have open, not in secret, support in our grief. Her brother (supposedly) died 2 months before my brother died, in his flat, alone, for days undiscovered… like a twin story. And yet your core value of “doing the right thing naturally” … NATURALLY … I still have to let that word melt on my tongue… is such a disgrace and arrogance I have rarely come across.
If she did not have a brother and made up this story to really fuel the gaslight, than she is a bad person.
But if she did have a brother and everything she told me was like it was, than she is even worse than a bad person, because she should and could have declined the task of sanctioning me to protect her as well as my dignity.
I certainly would have declined and offered instead to be available for support and open contact with respect and integrity.
What this also particularly bad is how manipulative she was. Right from the start of our secret contact she wanted to meet me to interview me for an assignment she was writing for university as she was studying to be a Psychotherapist. She was writing an essay on anger and wanted my input as I was very angry with everything surrounding my brother’s death and being bullied on top of it.
I declined being interviewed as I didn’t know her, no matter how similar our losses were, but I also didn’t want to feel like a guinea pig for someone’s projects and from the get go I was confused about her role. A friend even warned me that Pret may be using her to “spy” on me to see how best to fire me. But I was so blinded from grief and all that happened at work that I fell for this trap that sounded too good to be true that someone with such an identical loss could be even in the same company.
She later declined showing me her essay as I was interested what her take on anger was. Her reasons for not showing it to me was supposedly because she wanted to protect the volunteers who participated in the interviews. And yet, an essay or book is usually written with changed names and even if the first names were real, I wouldn’t know anyone anyway. So, from all the lies and manipulations I reckon she used my story anyway against my permission.
My aim since May 2015, when I approached HR informally to make suggestions on how to support bereaved staff not only put a target on my back. I would enter further and further into troubled waters from superiors in the years to come, but Pret’s non-existent bereavement support program involves using one bereaved employee against another in the most disgraceful way! Perhaps they bribed the Development Manager either with immunity if any future disciplinary against her would come up, or she got that promotion she had an eye on for some time, as she worked in Pret’s HQ since over 15 years. She certainly got the personal protection from the Head of HR who would manipulate and tweak my situation on several occasions, leaving me like a lamb up for slaughter under incapable management. Only she knows why she not only allowed HR to use her, and even went further to take advantage of my story in her university studies.
And that is what makes Pret, Pret:
… and HR takes this to even more lofty heights:
PR, slogans, lies, dishonesty, tricks and traps, disrespect of dignity, lack of integrity behind a facade…
So, those are my questions regarding the Development Manager, did she really have a brother whose story in death was so similar to my brother’s, and if so why did you step on her and my dignity as well as her allowing this.
As you know you got away with it from reaching court as I cannot deal with this mentally without a lawyer and having buried my dad in March. I finally completely broke down. But I can write and ask and expose and share…
The other question that keeps burning in my heart which I already addressed you while working in Pret, was the incident one of your People Business Partners told me in an appeals hearing where I raised a grievance against another PBP, which of course was a waste of time, but at least I gave it my best. The PBP in the hearing told me about an assistant manager who was bereaved and mistreated on top of this at work and raised grievances, just like I was. He had the audacity to not only compare me with her, but judging her as well as me to be bitter, because we raised grievances.
I later emailed him as I was speechless in the hearing when he told me this, and wrote that she is not bitter, but in a lot of pain as I could relate to that. I deeply regret not having tried to get in contact with her to support her. But you know, Pret, I was so traumatized, not ready to give any help or assistance to anyone, I was so lost myself, whereas you have all the money, resource and manpower including your Development Manager who is a therapist… I had no strength nor mental capacity to help.
And my question again that I raised before, is this AM the same AM who a few months later ended her life in suicide?
Dear Pret, you take former homeless staff hiking, at times your CEO is taking them to his home in Austria and this serves your PR very well as one of your former IT Analyst’s reviewed your Head Office. And yet you put people on the streets through unfair dismissals. I certainly also could have ended up on the streets and was on my way downhill. You drive hardworking staff to suicidal thoughts maybe even successfully, you bully them during bereavement and then try to get rid of them with all kinds of tricks and traps under the umbrella of “doing the right thing… naturally”.
My public outcry, no matter how creative I write to try to heal, my ordeal with your company remains traumatic and it will never go away, no matter what you try next. And having a former team leader colleague of mine whom I used to highly respect and work well together, for him to call and then text me a few weeks ago, after not having heard from him for three years doesn’t work. He lied during an investigation in favour of a line manager who bullied me. He never expected that I’d read his lies later on after I applied for my file. I immediately told him to not contact me again. Your trick-box should have been exhausted by now.
I know you are collecting and waiting for me to do the “right” wrong thing for you to take action and certainly keep my public outcry should this reach court, and I wholeheartedly tell you that I neither care nor am afraid of you. Your systemic disregard for decent and hardworking people with integrity, your lack of compassion for people who give their sweat, blood and tears so that you can count your millions, your PR that gotten more cracks in its facade after your appalling dealings with two deaths becoming public… your carelessness will not be hidden forever, no matter how many hikes you take and use former homeless people for PR and step on even their dignity.
These questions remain, and the truth will always come to light… how many more have died, be it customers from allergen reactions or staff by suicide, some even after having left Pret so that no connections can be made. And how many more keep suffering, slide into depression and suicidal thoughts, as the true staff reviews reveal on the same lines of mistreatment again and again?
The truth will always come out, no matter how long it takes.
Kind regards,
Clive Schlee’s Late Night Girl
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
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.
“If someone can’t finish job on time has to stay longer, for free. Common practise is to give someone job to do, just a couple of minutes before end of shift and after telling that “you couldn’t finish on time, because you are to slow””
Oh yes, this is absolutely a common practice. The amount of times I was given a job 15 minutes before my shift ended, a job that would take at least 30 – 45 minutes and longer. I changed this “habit” then, and left on the dot when my shift ended and also told my teams or individuals when they were given jobs by the line manager minutes before their shift ended, that I will pay them via the system, as I was authorized to do as part of my team leader responsibilities, for the extra time. When the manager objected, which happened many times, then I advised my TMs that they should leave on the dot. I let my team go home precisely when their shift ended.
This did not make me friends with my line- and OPs managers, but these kind of people are not my desired friends!
If you are a current Pret Employee, especially in the shop and / or kitchen, I advise you to not waste your time trying to change work conditions, nor “fight” this internally. Before I worked in Pret I never had any problems with a company or bosses. Of course I had the usual stresses any job brings, especially the food industry, and a boss here and there would get on our nerves from time to time, but nothing like the hell and trauma I survived in Pret! Nothing came even close!
That’s why I made the mistake to give Pret the benefit of the doubt one too many times, as this was a first, and trying to figure out why this was happening to me. In my darkest time during bereavement, when I was so traumatized I couldn’t see left from right and just went on autopilot, I was even bullied on top of this! From my experience with this company, Pret A Manger, and especially their toxic HR department, I can only urge you to join a Union! Keep on writing reviews on Employment Review and other websites, but safe yourself unnecessary pain and time, and join a Union.
In fact any employee should be a member of a Union. Period.
For Pret workers and food workers in general, I can highly recommend the Bakers Food and Allied Workers’ Union. The BFAWU was instrumental in the first ever McDonald’s workers’ strikes (McStrike) in the UK that already took place in the USA, but in the UK they are a vital force in organizing workers who suffer financially, physically and mentally.
But understand, that when you join a Union and Pret knows about it, that they will find anything against you to get rid of you. Andrej who founded the Pret A Manger Staff Union (PAMSU) was fired under the “pret”ense of allegedly having made homophobic remarks 10 months prior to getting dismissed.
Andrej confronting Pret on the real reason of dismissal.
So, join a Union but understand that once Pret knows that you joined any Union, your days in Pret are numbered. But you won’t be alone. I am recommending the BFAWU because they are very active and supportive of all workers.
President of the BFAWU, Ian Hodson’s much needed words for employees and employers alike:
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.
This happened to a family in the U.S. similar as it happened to us in Germany. Different circumstances but two same things: someone died and was cremated without finding the family first! Germany that is known for its efficiency and thoroughness has shocked me. Carelessness, indifference and sloppy police work know no boundaries.
My brother died and was found in his flat, approximate date of death six days before he was found. Police didn’t do their work properly to find us, then cremated my brother without our consent. We didn’t know for five weeks that he was dead and gone… completely gone…
A year or so later I was told by a customer who used to be a police detective after I asked him for advice, that when the police doesn’t find anything suspicious they close the case fast to avoid paper work! Of course if one of their own was found dead, they would move mountains to find the cause and family!
My life is one complete mess since then…
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
First gig this year after being tired of concerts after my dad died, the whole Pret thing, three years of survival, life in general, coming to terms, cutting out all the bs. But a friend sold some bands to me……
I went home speechless and deaf! But well worth it, also for the cause of the gig!
Full song:
Chopped parts on the drums:
Strange Cages
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
After a conversation with someone, I just remembered something that I experienced a few years ago.
In 2013 I visited some friends in the U.S. having lived in Florida a few years before, I usually visit every couple of years doing a little tour through the States where friends are scattered all over. I traveled mainly on the East Coast and going mostly by coach, train and car. I flew into JFK, stayed a night, then took a coach to New Jersey to visit friends for a few days. After that I took a train to Virginia for another set of friends and another train back to NYC for a couple more days by myself, seeing some favourite bands and music events that happened to play while I was there. I then took another bus to my favourite City in the U.S., Philadelphia, stayed a couple of days, and ended my U.S. “tour” by flying out to North Dakota for another set of friends before returning back to London.
I meticulously planned my trip from London, booked almost all tickets, hotels where I stayed alone in parts of the journey. I booked almost all train and bus tickets, where I was able to book online. I researched on cultural events and bands that I love who rarely play in Europe, and even found one of my favourite bands Over The Rhine due to play in NYC just when I planned my trip there! Perfect! I even managed to book a helicopter ride over NYC. I booked almost every journey, accommodation where needed, and cultural events. I only needed spending money and whatever else came up with trips I couldn’t book from London or anything spontaneous I decided to do. So, I was able to plan my trip around some of the events as well as how my friends where at home in their states / towns.
The only ticket I couldn’t book from London was the bus ride from NYC to New Jersey. As I had most all other things booked and paid for I didn’t worry and just planned to go straight to the coach station and buy a bus fare right then and there. I already did my homework from London on which station to go to, and as I visited NYC before, I knew roughly where to stay over night and just book accommodation in walking distance from Port Authority Bus Terminal.
So, at the second day of the trip I did exactly that. I took a nice little walk from the hotel to the Terminal, found the right bus pretty fast and started to book a one-way ticket to Atlantic City which my friends recommended me to book to, as they would pick me up from there living about one hour away.
A one way fare would have been $20 which is super cheap for a roughly 2 – 3 hour ride. I can’t remember exactly how long it took. But for some reason the salesperson at the desk would not let me book a one-way ticket and insisted that this journey can only be booked as a return ticket and that I would get my return fare back on the other side. I had a little debate as this didn’t make sense. Why should I pay $40 if I planned to only do a one-way journey? What I didn’t tell the clerk was that I did indeed plan to return to NYC about two weeks later, but wanted to take the train as I would be coming from Virginia. The one-way Amtrak journey, which I also already booked while still in London as I planned to catch the Over The Rhine concert, takes 8 hours from Blacksburg, VA to NYC. With a bus it would have been longer and much more uncomfortable. The back and forth seems complicated, but I had to book also according to how my friends were available. And as I don’t mind train journeys and traveling in general, the zik-zaking was okay for me as this also relaxes me as long as no rush is involved. And this trip was perfect in timing from beginning to end.
But I wanted to spare all the details and just wanted a blinking ONE-WAY ticket from New York City to flipping Atlantic City! Capiche?! Nopes! She wouldn’t have it. She insisted that they ONLY sell return tickets and that passengers WILL get the return fare back in Atlantic City. Annoyed, and yet needing to take the next coach as my friends would be at the other side in a few hours to pick me up, I paid the fare and soon after left for Atlantic City.
Hours later I arrived in Atlantic City in a parking area. I texted my friends roughly 30 minutes beforehand that my coach was approaching the city, and when the bus turned into the parking area they texted back that they were also already waiting on another parking lot nearby. Fantastic, I can just grab my luggage, get my return fare back and off we go.
Nopes!
I asked the bus driver to reimburse me my return fare that I didn’t need, but he directed me with my paper ticket into a building. Now guess what building it was? Yep, it was the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino! I go in, and by now quite agitated, and was directed to an automate and thought ok, finally I can put the ticket in and get my $20 back.
Nopes!
Instead of my money, a credit-card sized plastic card dropped out of the machine! By now I’m really p*ssed off! A security guard who was standing nearby, observing my frantic aim to figure out how to get my money back, chuckled and asked me where I was from as my accent gave me away again! The mix of British English with a German tone can never have me go under cover! He happened to speak some decent German as he used to be stationed with the U.S. military in Germany in the 80s. Amused, but still helpful, he pointed me where I needed to go to the cashier place to get my money back.
So, I walked through the CASINO and a maze of slot machines, but instead of coins you just needed to use your plastic card, in my case that was loaded with MY $20. Aaaahhh, now the plastic penny dropped!
Luring passengers travelling from New York and other places into the Casino for you to get tempted to use your card (your already purchased return fare that you didn’t need!) to spend it in Trump’s casino. On the initial bus fare purchase in NYC I was very naïve why all this happened. Now it all made “cents”!
By now I am really outraged, as the audacity of trying to use my money but being forced to “lend” it to them before getting it back, for me to only be tempted to leave it at the casino, and worse even to get into gambling!
Now, I don’t gamble and am not tempted at all to use any of the machines or tables, and I don’t know anyone in my circles who does and would support anyone who struggles with gambling without judgment. But apart from the waste of time debating with the sales person in New York to have to pay a double fare, and then trying to get MY money back with my friends waiting outside in the parking lot who already drove for an hour to pick me up, I was unsettled by the lure they use to FORCE you to go through the casino. If I was a person with a gambling addiction, be it active or recovering, this could have pulled me right back in. This “evil”, and I call it evil, so outraged me that I ranted in the car to my friends almost all the journey to their house!
The length these greedy hordes go through to get you to spend your hard-earned money felt like an old-school Nintendo Mario game. You purchase a one-way ticket but are forced to get a return ticket. Then the bus driver who can’t give you the money sends you into the Casino. There you somehow need to find an automate where instead of your money, you get a plastic card as they didn’t allow to get the money via the paper ticket, you NEED the plastic card, which serves like a chip for card games or roulette! With this card you then have to go through the Casino surrounded by slot machines, just like passengers in airports are lured through the luxury items of the duty-free section to reach their gates… It takes a long journey through the colourful and warm atmosphere of the slot machine area, drizzled on with soft music and a sweet smell in the air, before you find the cashier booth to finally exchange the card with your money! At least FOUR levels from purchasing the ticket to getting back your money and in-between trap after trap after trap after trap…
I should have complained to the NYC bus company or whoever is responsible regarding the ticketing for wasting my time and trying to lure customers to gamble. And of course Trump being a king in New York, he must have made many dodgy deals like this. But it’s incredible what length they go through not only to pull money out of your pocket, but what made me even more angry is, that they want people to get or remain hooked to gambling. I felt for gamblers who try to stay away from these destructive businesses that destroy lives. A recovering gambling addict could have fallen straight into their trap, and the only thing that person did was just to buy a BUS FARE!! That is the audacious and sneaky Trump trap and the money hungry deals between companies!
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Natasha’s flown across the ocean
Leaving just a memory
Snapshot in the family album
Pret-A, what else did you leave for her?
Pret-A, what’ya leave behind for her?!?
All in all it was just a lack on the label.
All in all it just leaves cracks in the wall.
“You! Yes, you! Stand still Clive!”
When she grew up and went to Pret There were certain allergen that would Hurt the children any way it could By scrutinizing on her decision Upon anything she ate And exposing every weakness
However carefully hidden by the labels
But out of the middle of a baguette When she got on a flight, the fact and anaphylactic shock would thrash her Within minutes of her life
We don’t need no execution We just need more food control No stark labelling chasm on the products Pret-A, leave them kids alive Hey! Pret-A! Leave them kids alive!
All in all you’re just another prick in the mall. All in all you’re just another prick in the mall.
“Wrong, Do it again!”
We don’t need no exploitation
“If you don’t label yer food, you can’t have any reward!”
We just need more food control
“How can you have any applause if you don’t label yer food?
No stark labelling chasm on the baguettes
“You! Yes, you behind the suit, stand still Perkins!”
Pret-A! Leave us kids alive! Hey! Perkins! Leave us kids alive!
All in all you’re just another prick in the mall. All in all you’re just another prick in the mall.
We just need more education No stark labelling chasm on the salad wraps “The Pret-Bulls are already out there” Pret: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh!” “This French Baguette bakery thought you’d like to know.”
I don’t need no charms around me And I don’t need no thugs to harm me I have seen the writing on the label Don’t think I’ll need anything at all No, don’t think I’ll need anything at all
All in all it was all just mimicks on the wall All in all you just got cracks in the wall
Goodbye, cruel Pret I’m leaving you today Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, all you people There’s nothing I can say To make you change your labels Goodbye
In memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse
(I rewrote the lyrics from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” inspired by an article of NewStatesmanAmerica covered in A Chink in the Armour of a Firm)
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
With plenty of press on Pret now this one I’d like to put my salt on in-between some sentences of this article:
“It’s difficult to say when, but at some point over the last ten years Pret A Manger became ubiquitous.”
It’s very easy to say when, it was indeed 10 years ago when Bridgepoint bought Pret and set the target of opening shops at 15% per year. I can still feel it in my bones and mental health how we were driven while staff were cut to increase profit and a 7 times return for Bridgepoint’s investment and £30 million for CEO Clive Schlee.
“Pret’s coffee is organic, its sandwiches are handmade, its marketing is self-aware and it wants you to know that doing the right thing is “what makes Pret, Pret”.”
Handmade by human machines while “doing the right thing” ignoring numerous warnings from customers regarding allergen and labelling, bullying staff to the point of suicide including bereaved staff. It what makes Pret, Pret.
“There’s never a shortage of “avo” at Pret.”
And never a shortage of complaints how hard the avos are. I only copied this complaint as an example how Pret is kissing butt while a customer offends shop staff with the C-word. But there were many complaints on hard avo. Amazing also how some people’s days are “ruined” while others lose a child and a mother to Pret products. Poor pepo!
“The people at Pret are always happy, so happy that they might give you a free sandwich if they like you”
“In fact, the staff at Pret are so happy that in 2013, the chain was accused of using “emotional labour” tactics – monitoring staff to ensure they retain a cheerful demeanour – on its own workforce.”
Correct. Staff are being bullied, ordered into the office when the Mystery Shopper, or as I call them the Misery Shopper, commented that the server didn’t smile. A good telling off in the office with plenty of fear management and fear for job security. Then the staff is send out and ordered to smile! Even during illness having a cold and during bereavement!
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 to smile that day.”
The worst telling off I experienced was when a line manager, who himself never smiled, held a sermon in the kitchen with us team and said that smiling is part of the uniform! He then finished his speech and said that if anyone wants to say anything to say it ‘now’, then and there, or otherwise we shouldn’t come to him later. I lifted my hand and mentioned that I rather want to tell him something in private as I didn’t want to confront him in front of my team as I was their team leader wanting to lead by example not embarrassing the boss in front of them. But he maintained to speak up now and that later would be no opportunity.
So, I did. I said, “So-and-so, you never smile! (when serving customers)” … At least he changed a bit, but I certainly did not make friends saying this. Neither did I care.
“…the list of “behaviours” staff must exhibit reportedly contains over 50 items.”
Correct. A list of brainwashing that some staff threw into the bin.
“Pret ran into trouble earlier this year, when the Advertising Standards Authority took issue with two ads the company had run in 2016. Pret was found to have been “misleading” in its claims that products were “good natural food”. Whilst this didn’t grab headlines, it was a chink in the armour of a firm that’s clean and ethical image has been a source of its success.”
I appreciate the writer pointing out this being the “image”. It used to be quite dirty in Pret with pest problems that turned Pret into Pret A Mice until an EHO closed a shop and Pret only RE-acted, whereas before ignored staff’s and internal pest control people’s concerns.
“It was an early caution, perhaps, to the crisis that has engulfed the firm in the last two weeks where two of its customers were believed to have died after allergic reactions to is products.”
Plus one assistant manager who died by suicide last year that is known of within Pret and my repeated approach to confront Pret internally on this when I still worked in Pret, and now publicly, as I almost ended my life as well during my ordeal in Pret.
“It follows the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who passed away in 2016 after eating a Pret baguette that did not have any allergen labelling on its packaging.”
Not only on the packaging, but the fatal Sesame Natasha died of was missing on the fridge label of the “lovingly made” PR(et) baguette that Natasha and her dad read …
(Sesame info missing)
… while each product that is given to charities for the homeless and people in need is being labeled with allergen info since years:
(Products with allergen labels for charity)
“Her father accused the chain of a “complete dereliction of duty””
“Pret CEO Schlee said that the chain would “ensure meaningful change”, and will start “trialling full ingredient labelling, including allergens, on product packaging” from November.”
Trialling from November. Starbucks closed 8000 stores in the U.S. After their incidence with racial issues, training their staff. ACTION is the best PR! But Pret is going full steam ahead doing business as usual, trialling…….! A death, let alone TWO the public knows about doesn’t mean anything to this sweet-talking company. If that doesn’t tell people something of the reality behind the “doing the right thing ” with even the arrogant slogan that Pret’s HR has of “doing the right thing naturally”, then I rest my case!
“’We cannot begin to comprehend the pain the family have felt, and the grief they will continue to feel,’ said Schlee.”
He certainly took two years to “begin” to realize that he can’t begin to imagine and finally wrote to Natasha’s family!
“Was Pret too late to act? It is not legally required for stores to put allergy labels on food made on site, but the warning signs were there. According to the Times, Pret “ignored” nine cases of allergic incidents related to sesame, including six related to its “artisan baguettes”.”
“The lawyer for the Ednan-Laperouse family told a West London court that there was a “clear concern being repeatedly raised that artisan baguettes were causing sesame seed allergy problems, which were not properly responded to by Pret”. Pret’s compliance director said the firm responded appropriately to each individual complaint at the time.”
“Schlee, who is reportedly set to pocket a £30m windfall when the JAB sale goes through, didn’t write to the bereaved relatives personally until this August, the family claims. Not a good look for a brand that trades on an image of wholesomeness and honesty.”
“Despite being undoubtedly the biggest crisis in its history, no one expects the burgundy star to vanish from the high streets anytime soon. Its ruthless expansion under private investment is widely expected to continue stateside thanks to JAB’s experience in the American market (JAB also own Douwe Egberts coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts).”
Yes, that’s true, they will not vanish and I appreciate it being coined as “ruthless” expansion. They will just go through a year of a little nose-dive in profits and will re-emerge with more bull-crap PR. But I lived long enough to know that when people are lucky enough to be on their death-bed and able to look back on their lives and “achievements”, I don’t want to be in their skin.
“If the chain loses its avocado-driven charm, no number of free coffees will pep it up.”
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
A Smoked Salmon Artisan Baguette that contains Sesame from which Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died of with the wrong label of a VEGGIE Avo & Herb Wrap…
One of the responses to this I made:
When profit counts over lives, seen repeatedly in the Pret Staff Complaints collected from various Employment Review sites, YouTube, Twitter etc. as well as my experience as a Team Leader …
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I shouldn’t be surprised nor appalled at Pret’s statement regarding Modern Slavery, and this may be concentrating more on their suppliers and farmers in other countries etc. while ignoring Modern Slavery on their doorstep in shops. Pret does what they often do, spilling the beans on something that is happening while white-washing it either in small-print or out loud through PR.
After the second customer dying due to allergy, and taking a deeper look again, I leave this without any more comments, just to say that Pret does what they do well, getting caught before getting caught.
“Good jobs for good people”, the beautiful PR(et) facade needs more fixing.
“… we remain steadfast in our commitment to eradicate modern slavery if and when identified in our business and supply chains. We know there’s a lot to do and we will continue to make our journey transparent, sharing our successes as well as the challenges we encounter along the way.”
We know there’s a lot to do?
Rephrased: “We have modern slavery in Pret, but we work on it once we get caught. We stay quiet until it becomes public and in the meantime make a statement in advance to cover our shiny PR(et) facade.”
Like the kid with the chocolate stained fingers behind his back from the cookie jar saying to his mum who hasn’t even noticed the missing cookies yet, “It wasn’t me, mum. I don’t know where the cookies are!”
I’m happy to help Pret with the “transparency” part of their statement and operations: Pret’s Staff Modern Slavery Statements and how it looks behind the facade.
Quoting further from this which appears when clicking on “Show More”, quoting including the ALL CAPS:
“DO NOT WORK THERE YOU WILL REGRET IT!! DONT LET THEM LIE TO YOU WITH THE PAY OF $10 A HOUR NOT WORTH IT
I FELT MISTREATED, FELT LIKE A SLAVE, THEY LOWERED MY SELF ESTEEM BY TELLING ME I DONT WORK HARD ENOUGH EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE FIRST ON TO FINISH.
THIS JOB SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE DEPT OF LABOR
Advice to Management
Fix Your Attitude care about your employees dont over do the staff be reasonable be fair try everybody equally and so on such a bad experience.”
“0 respect for employees
Too much stress, let’s face it pret, you’re a sandwich shop
Not that good wages anymore, everyone around you is raising the hourly wages, 10p is not enough
Communication sucks
Crazy standards impossible to follow
0 motivation for staff, if you treat people like they’re useless and worthless, they won’t work so well anymore Employees are the blood of the company, not customers, not ingredients, not the shops, TREAT PEOPLE PROPERLY!!!!
Rethink your whole policies, they sucks, get down from that high horse you’re on”
I added comments in the PDF document with more extensive thoughts on some points.
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
Note: If you prefer to read with a green background, not white, please delete the amp/ in above url and reload. Linked from Twitter, for some reason it has white background and an addition to the url.
Apart from the 9 warnings, Pret under the Director of Risk and Compliance (or more appropriate “Risk-Taking and Complacency”) has ignored, with one also almost fatal, I have started to collect customers’ responses of allergen warnings to Pret regarding the lack of labelling before AND after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died. Only this having become public now is there some slow reaction happening. But again, only a RE-action to public pressure.
Not only should Natasha’s family pursue Pret in court, but those who have had to go to hospital and those who had allergic reactions from Pret products should file a combined lawsuit against Pret. If Natasha’s death two years ago has just come to light now in 2018, how many more are there?
People asked on Twitter and other social media who should be prosecuted for “murder”, for starters I think it is for sure Jonathan Perkins who walked along the pavement after the inquest with his hands in his pockets as if taking a stroll in the park. And certainly Clive Schlee has to face the music away from his usual sweet-talk and wanting to pay people out for silence. His patronizing response in 2015 to a concerned customer has me at a loss, even though I should not be surprised at his patronizing way.
Clive Schlee in his typical patronizing and self-assured way labelled me his “late night girl” after my ordeal with Pret while he can’t label products to save a life!
The start of a list of customer concerns, warnings and complaints even before Natasha died, as well as noting that the issue has still not been taken seriously after the public inquest and outrage:
And another-one (CEO’s patronizing response not knowing what to do)
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.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
At 1:29 Natasha’s mum is absolutely right, change can come IMMEDIATELY! I worked in Pret for 10 yrs and have my own story of survival on a different matter!
On the subject of “immediately”, here are 3 “IMMEDIATES” that I have witnessed Pret implementing:
1.
The week when Brexit was voted for, within THAT week Pret implemented Brexit champions in each area to assist employees regarding how to stay in the UK, because Pret got scared to be losing many employees who mainly come from Europe, in particular Eastern European nations and are known for their hard work under immense pressure. The hardest working colleagues I have ever worked with come from Romania, Ukraine, Czech Republic etc. These people waste no time, often they don’t speak English well, so they won’t know where to complain to when they encounter problems with managers and they certainly won’t know their rights. Hence, Brexit Champions were very quickly trained to help non-British workers stay in the country and therefore in Pret to continue like “machines” to increase profits. Andrej Stopa, the first person to PUBLICLY challenge mistreatment by managers paid with his job for it. He was dismissed under the “Pret”ense of allegedly having made homophobic remarks TEN MONTHS before getting fired! But in reality he got fired for having started a Trade Union. He confronted Pret on the reason for dismissal.
2.
Within a DAY of the Grenfell Tower fire, Clive Schlee, CEO announced (or rather bragged, typical PR) that Pret is giving £100,000 to the Evening Standard Trust for Grenfell, that was decided within a 24 hour period of the tragedy when the tower was still smoking and parts burning! A typical emotional RE-action and decision Pret’s CEO makes because he had a visual and was overwhelmed for a minute. Super-fast IMMEDIATELY.
3.
And the most amusing IMMEDIATE was when Pret became aware of my blog on the night from 28th to 29th of May 2018 and Clive Schlee making a £1000 announcement for all staff where it would take 10 years of service to receive £1K, this carrot is now thrown at everyone as Brexit is advancing fast and Pret has already lost staff. Only he knows if this £1000 idea was born on that night out of becoming aware of my blog, but I am certain knowing how he RE-acts to confrontation, that the timing of the announcement in the night to 29th May was due to their discovery of my blog in that night!
So, I am delighted of having been part in staff getting a financial boost, even though this only serves as a carrot. And interesting enough, an immediate RE-action to my blog that lead to this announcement did not bring an immediate action, as employees are still waiting for the £1000 to “moneyfest” (sorry, I couldn’t resist this wordplay!) and the CEO’s premature announcement adds now to the pressure.
I could go on an on with 4. and 5. … of RE-actions to being caught like when an EHO closed down a Pret shop due to pest, whereas before this close-down Pret ignored our complaints to please solve the pest problems. Internal pest control people worked hard but could not fix the issue until an EHO closed a shop after a routine visit finding evidence of pest. ONLY THEN was an outside pest control company commissioned to tackle this.
I asked for a transferal to another shop as the mice issue in my then shop was unbearable. One person shot this video in the U.S. of mice activity and it brings back memories! It’s the night shift working in Pret A Mice! High activity when the shops were closed and quiet, but in the shop I worked in the mice were so bold, they strolled along under the barista cupboards during the busy coffee rush in broad daylight! But I couldn’t take it anymore and asked for a transferal. That was before the EHO closed a shop, and then Pret went into panic-mode sacking people, disciplining managers, reverting managers back to assistant managers even thought GMs weren’t trained properly… all that changed with a shop closure when only then a proper pest control company entered the scene!
Bottom-line why I speak out so openly whereas before I used to be very discreet and professional: it ALWAYS takes a dramatic happening before Pret responds! And with these deaths, there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE that people had to die! Absolutely unnecessary! Unacceptable! Complete negligence on Pret’s part!
(Suddenly they “matter”, hey?)
Staff are still waiting, getting confused and impatient, while Clive Schlee does the usual thing: “blaming downwards”. He makes the announcement but then refers to the shops… as usual. And the team members get more and more confused. So, I help a bit by pushing on the rusty PR(et) machine!
… while Pret customers were also still waiting for full labelling of EVERY product to safe lives! ……..
Of course by now all the staff have been briefed to please not tweet anymore as I haven’t been silent! But as soon as the £1000 is paid to all staff this will be big news! Forget labelling and customers dying, as long as the PR(et) machine keeps working, everyone’s happy!
Back to the IMMEDIATE:
Not having labels with FULL ingredients and allergen info after repeated warnings and complaints shows of the carelessness and complacency. I know Pret, they do NOT care until caught at worst, or until something is to their benefit and PR at best!
Ten months after Ms Marsh’s death, Pret makes a public statement and sues CO YO. Just after the carpet got lifted and the public is made aware of two deaths. I asked Pret on 30. Sep. 2018 after Natasha’s death became public, how many more people have died, not in my worst nightmares expecting that a second death would be revealed shortly after, and yet sadly I am not surprised at the negligence of Pret A Manger:
I still have the emails regarding Brexit and Grenfell etc. Whatever helps Pret and Clive Schlee’s PR and bragging about good deeds that are obvious and visible and self-serving, that is what Pret acts on IMMEDIATELY.
To the BBC News, PLEASE don’t let your reporters say “In the wake of Natasha’s death”… This is in the wake of Natasha’s death becoming PUBLIC! She died TWO YEARS ago and Pret didn’t care, but everyone treats this as from yesterday.
To Natasha’s parent’s her death IS as if it happened yesterday, and will be like this forever. But Pret, Clive Schlee and particularly Jonathan Perkins knew of Natasha’s death for two years, as well as all the warnings before and after, but did not do anything to change!
Absolutely nothing and even ignored repeated warnings!
The hypocrisy of the CEO on his Twitter calling this a “promise” and saying that “nothing is more important to Pret right now”.
While all the time hanging on to anti-Plastic Bottles and Straws schemes as if for dear life!
So, nothing is more important right now! After two years! What a terrible attempt to keep up the facade! Pret got caught now, and this reshuffles their priority. NOT the deaths, NOT the numerous warnings, but the public exposure.
Pret A Shame on you!
Natasha’s mum saying that “action can be immediate” @ 1:29
She further says, “You don’t have to wait for a law change to start putting stickers, listing the allergens on the food that you sell. You can just do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
versus the PR(et) blaa blaaa machine:
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 poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I commented on the Pret Modern Slavery Statement as this is the usual PR they are so well known for.
My and many other experiences on the work conditions in Pret shops I have extensively written about on this blog. But I decided to comment on their statement within the PDF document.
I understand that this looks a “messy” and it may take a “scholar” to sieve through this, but I decided to do it this way instead of creating a lengthy blog entry with quotes. For anyone who is truly interested in the subject of work conditions, how it really looks behind the PR facade, I uploaded this.
Many people in today’s society won’t bother with lengthily texts, as we are so conditioned with fast Tweets and short statements, unless we admire certain established writers or love to read in general. I am not an established writer, I just have experience that has almost cost me my life working in Pret A Manger. And regardless of the short attention span of today’s age with the overload of information, I want to emphasize what I and many others experienced in Pret.
I gave Pret the benefit of the doubt one too many times, having given my sweat, blood and tears to this company who tricked and trapped me via their toxic HR department and HQ, being bullied by immediate line managers during bereavement; there is NO clear zero tolerance on bullying or “Modern Slavery” as Pret lines out in their statement. The continued staff reviews on Employment Review sites explain this loud and clear, even now in October 2018 which I continue to collect on my blog, continuously updating the list of Staff Complaints.
Knowing Pret’s tactic, their Modern Slavery Statement at the bottom of Pret’s website could also be a clever way of subtly wanting to get people used to Modern Slavery and that Pret is not able to tackle it, but working on it. Clever psychology again and as their usual PR stunt addressing it with “groups” in place. The reality in shops and kitchens is different and the complaints on Employment Review sites continue on the same lines of “Modern-Day Slavery” as this 2nd Oct. 2018 review shows again. Yes, this Modern Slavery in shops may look different than those from the supplier in other countries, but it is nevertheless WRONG as it hurts people mentally and physically. My medical record is long since having gone through my ordeal being bullied during bereavement and the immense story I went through that sounds like out of a Psycho-Thriller!
I almost lost my life, and for many who are familiar with my blog, this is a repeat and I want to thank all the faithful readers and supporters of my blog. It is because I could be dead right now having had a close-call to end my life when I worked in Pret. I cannot be silent even if I wanted to. Others still suffer in this non-rewarding, discriminating environment.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
“I went to Pret *today* thinking you’d learned your lesson. My daughter is allergic to egg. Allergic lists were hidden away. Your staff could not confirm the ingredients on children’s products after 20 mins of online research & calls. You should be utterly and deeply ashamed.”
I shouldn’t be surprised nor appalled at Pret’s statement regarding Modern Slavery, and this may be concentrating more on their suppliers and farmers etc. while ignoring Modern Slavery on their doorstep in shops. Pret does what they often do, spilling the beans on something that is happening while white-washing it either in small-print or out loud through PR.
After the second customer dying due to allergy, and taking a deeper look again, I leave this without any more comments, just to say that Pret does what they do well, getting caught before getting caught.
“Good jobs for good people”, the beautiful PR(et) facade needs more fixing.
“… we remain steadfast in our commitment to eradicate modern slaveryif and when identified in our business and supply chains. We know there’s a lot to do and we will continue to make our journey transparent, sharing our successes as well as the challenges we encounter along the way.”
We know there’s a lot to do?
Rephrased: “We have modern slavery in Pret, but we work on it once we get caught. We stay quiet until it becomes public.”
Like the kid with the chocolate stained fingers behind his back from the cookie jar saying to his mum who hasn’t even noticed the missing cookies yet, “It wasn’t me, mum. I don’t know where the cookies are.
I’m happy to help Pret with the “transparency” part of their statement and operations: Pret’s Staff Modern Slavery Statements and how it looks behind the facade.
Quoting further from this which appears when clicking on “Show More”, quoting including the ALL CAPS:
“DO NOT WORK THERE YOU WILL REGRET IT!! DONT LET THEM LIE TO YOU WITH THE PAY OF $10 A HOUR NOT WORTH IT
I FELT MISTREATED, FELT LIKE A SLAVE, THEY LOWERED MY SELF ESTEEM BY TELLING ME I DONT WORK HARD ENOUGH EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE FIRST ON TO FINISH.
THIS JOB SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE DEPT OF LABOR
Advice to Management
Fix Your Attitude care about your employees dont over do the staff be reasonable be fair try everybody equally and so on such a bad experience.”
“0 respect for employees
Too much stress, let’s face it pret, you’re a sandwich shop
Not that good wages anymore, everyone around you is raising the hourly wages, 10p is not enough
Communication sucks
Crazy standards impossible to follow
0 motivation for staff, if you treat people like they’re useless and worthless, they won’t work so well anymore Employees are the blood of the company, not customers, not ingredients, not the shops, TREAT PEOPLE PROPERLY!!!!
Rethink your whole policies, they sucks, get down from that high horse you’re on”
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I posted this Quote of the Day which I have been doing on and off since around May 2018, but today’s “quote” I posted a few hours before I learned today’s news of a second death from a Pret A Manger product. Even though I am not surprised at Pret’s negligence and slow reaction until this became public, I am utterly shaken at these news. Devastated and shocked!
“They expect you to follow six key points of production and have passion in making items. When you follow this they then moan that you are to slow and need to hurry up as everyone in a Pret kitchen says choppy choppy which is the worst thing because it only makes you less motivated.”
My comment: Yes, this is very true, and the reason for this is that leaders in the shop, but especially in the kitchen under harsh management are pushing people to their limits to then be promoted themselves. A typical “kissing upwards, and kicking downwards” bullying behaviour in large companies. In Pret this is rampant as can be seen in the Staff Complaints via the link on the bottom, but Pret is next to nothing when it comes to PR and the public is lulled in to believe Pret is kind to their staff. Well …
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
For my people in the shops and on the streets, being loud and clear to say that we care for more than just peanuts and we deserve better than the disrespect we encounter for too long…
I miss my colleagues, working with them shoulder to shoulder, so I march with them shoulder to shoulder…. This is for them… more to come ………
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
The more people learn about my story with Pret the more the question comes up if I went to court against Pret.
Yes I did. But I withdrew.
If you are a new reader to my ordeal with Pret A Manger, you will be confused and overwhelmed as my story is very complex and long. Those who have been following since the beginning when I started to publish on my blog in May 2018 have a good picture on what I went through.
This will eventually turn into a chronological book of events.
But to briefly answer the repeated and valid question if I sued Pret or if not, then why not, which I was just asked today again on Facebook, I decided to write this in a blog and just link to it.
When I was dismissed after being bullied, manipulated, gaslighted, held low, lied to by Pret’s toxic HR department, and continuously patronized by Pret’s CEO, Clive Schlee, who is not willing to label products for allergen information but was willing to label me his “late night girl” after the ordeal I went through… when I was dismissed three days after Christmas 2017 with my dad in intensive care just woken out of a coma, I filed a Tribunal claim as soon as I was able to in February 2018 as you have 3 months minus 1 day to file a claim.
In the meantime I was flying back and forth again between London and Germany to be with my dad (who was in hospital since 10.11.2017) as best I could on his bed side and then later in rehab. In the middle of all this I started to prepare for the Tribunal claim which would have happened in September 2018 with the first preliminary hearing in April 2018.
But I had no legal aid as I cannot afford lawyer fees. I scrapped all legal information together as best as I could, going from Citizen Advise Bureau to other free legal advisors to online researching back and forth, while also flying back and forth between London and my father’s bed side.
For people in the USA to understand, the legal system in the UK or in Europe in general is very different to the USA. Since 2015 on and off I contacted various law firms including pro-Bono, no-win no-fee firms, I even had a lawyer for a while who advised me for free. But I had to find out later again that he only wanted to make a quick buck by settling with Pret and get his 30%+ fee from the settlement. He didn’t really advise me properly anyway and even gave me some false advise at times which I later found out when I continued to do my “homework” researching online. I rejected four settlement offers from Pret, three while still working in Pret, and the fourth one via negotiating with the ACAS conciliator while withdrawing the Tribunal claim I raised and then closed. I dropped the “charitable” lawyer as soon as I found he was just looking for fast money himself.
In the USA lawyers would line up like vultures wanting to sue Pret on my behalf as the compensation can be ridiculously huge. In the UK the compensation would have maybe be maximum £10.000, maybe even more and mostly around £8000.
One former assistant manager who became homeless after being unfairly dismissed from Pret has gotten under £10K.
But 33% for the lawyer is peanuts for them to go all the way through with days and days of preliminary and then the main hearings. The free lawyer I had for a while also kept saying to me that it takes months before the hearings take place. In the UK they don’t bother for this “little” amount, while the Millions that can be won in the USA has lawyers drooling for cases like mine.
My father then died in March this year, and again I found myself crumbled under the weight of what life has thrown at me since I learned of my brother’s death in January 2015 (but he died in December 2014) and all I went through in Pret. Autopilot kicked in again, but I couldn’t cope anymore. Enough is enough. I want to die, but I want to live. I need a break.
I withdrew my claim against Pret as my father died in the middle of preparing for the court case with scraps of legal advise I stumbled through, and my mental health taking another nose dive beyond basement level. But I did my homework and asked the Tribunal for the right to file a second claim later should I decide to file again. And I was granted this request.
If I will raise a second claim or if the time limit will be over, I don’t want to talk about.
But this is the reason why I withdrew my case, as it is so complex which involved the heart of Pret, the CEO, HQ, Head of HR, a Development Manager who was used to gaslight me etc. etc. etc. Unwillingly and unprecedented I poked into the heart of Pret, and for me to go all the way through to court without a lawyer going all the way with me would be suicide, as I cannot handle even small stress mentally at this time.
So, lucky for Pret I withdrew, but lucky for me I didn’t sign my rights away for peanuts. And even if Pret had offered me a huge amount, I don’t prostitute my values nor sign my rights away for life. So, I published now.
What happened to Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and her family has utterly devastated and shaken me. I wrote it before I have learned of her death, that having worked in Pret is my biggest regret in life. And now having learned of her tragedy, I am deeply ashamed to have ever given my time, effort and skill to this company, and having tried to improve work conditions from within while extremely traumatized myself. A company’s facade that does not care for people’s lives and health will get more and more cracks in time, with a glimpse behind the scenes of their carelessness.
My heart and prayers go out to Natasha’s family and friends; her brother Alex, her mum and dad Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse.
I hope in time more people will come forward, especially on the issue of suicide in Pret as well as work conditions, bullying and customer injuries. On work conditions this former employee was the first to go public, I am the second and in time I hope more will follow. And I hope Natasha’s family pursue Pret in court as they have the finances for legal aid and the public behind them now with many warnings Pret ignored.
Thank you for reading and please open your eyes to Pret and take a closer look behind the facade, as indeed take a closer look at ANY company or organization that looks too good to be true in this profit driven society today.
If you don’t take anything away from my publications, ask yourself if anyone can really smile and be “happy” for 8+ hours DAILY in an intensely high stressed work environment out of true “happiness” or if there is anything else behind this!
And my question to Pret A Manger remains: If an assistant manager died by suicide in 2017, I almost did as well after my turmoil at work, and now Natasha’s death in 2016 is revealed, HOW MANY MORE people died and/or suffered hospitalization, depression, mental health issues, physical and mental injuries in relation to Pret.
Link to Tweet (please not that my Twitter handle was first @LateNightGirlMe, but I changed it to @expretDOTorg later).
The only way I cope is to write, and to write creatively of my ordeal. I said it to Pret while I still worked there that it is a mistake to mistreat someone who suffered loss and is a writer, as that person has nothing to lose anymore. And as Madeleine Peyroux wrote so poignantly in her song “Don’t Pick A Fight With A Poet“, Pret in their arrogance and feeling invincible, #toobigtofail, again did not heed yet another warning.
Some blog entries that give a good glance behind the shiny PR(et) facade:
Selected “Quotes of the Day“ from substantial, but not exhaustive list of Pret Staff Complaints.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather 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 & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. 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.
The difference between the USA and the UK is not only the legal system, but the hunger for justice, even if that “justice” in the U.S. is known for being so ridiculous:
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
I am “forced” to put this into a blog entry due to shadow bans happening again. Please ignore the 2nd October 2018 date on the left. I am “recycling” old unimportant blog entries, as every new blog post I publish is bookmarked by a bot in a certain country, and shortly after I am also often shadow banned as my blog is linked to Twitter, FB etc. depending on what the post is about.
The below Tweets led Twitter to shadow ban (censor) 3 accounts on behalf of Pret A Manger to avoid bad press and the truth being told.
This means that as soon as Pret gets wind of a tweet that may lift the lid on their practices, they report to Twitter for the account to be banned where the tweets are hidden from the public. To the account everything looks normal, but in reality all tweets, likes, RT’s are hidden from the public UNLESS people go directly to the Tweet itself, but who would do that without the knowledge that this tweet even exists! So people are fooled and “What the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve over” or out of sight out of mind. Simple.
It is mainly the “nitty gritty” tweets that has Pret via Twitter censor me so the public won’t find my blog here. The reason why Pret does not respond to the Tweets and let’s Twitter censor me is because I declined 4 settlement offers if I remain silent, never go to court etc. after being bullied during bereavement under Pret’s toxic HR department and CEO Clive Schlee’s leadership.
The following got Twitter to ban on behalf of Pret as a paying customer, censoring free speech to avoid the public being made aware of what is really going on behind the shiny PR[et} facade.
To Nick Honey and Clive Schlee, CEO of Pret:
Regarding separating former homeless workers into their own shop leading to blog entry of countless staff complaints. Ban mentioned in new Tweet.
This Tweet reached a person before the ban happened, and they kindly responded, even copying in the press, but not sure if he will get notified, as during a ban people are not notified of a response by the banned account. But thank you @MikeParcej
I have to say it does take a person with a certain kind of knowledge to look beyond the forced smiles of Pret staff!
So, ladies and gentlemen, this is Pret A Manger for you, hiding 2 customer deaths from the public, covering up with lots of free coffees/products and PR how it really is behind the “happy” facade, bullying staff even during bereavement. The shadow bans continue, and so will the publications.
Thank you for reading and to those of you who care, RT, stand up, speak out etc. thank you! All I ask is to please look deeper and closer like Kat Timpf did. Staff suffer but are silenced through fear management and current staff wrote to me that they will receive a disciplinary or get dismissed if they publicly speak out again as they did before.
For an overview of important blog entries of my experience in Pret A Manger, please visit“My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The arrow next to each heading will lead directly to the post. Thank you for reading.
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.
For an overview of important blog entries regarding Pret A Manger, please visit“My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The arrow next to each heading will lead directly to the post. Thank you for reading.
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 CEO. 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 also tell my story for the first time verbally in this >>> podcast interview based in California. 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.
Link (Update 2020: Alicia Turrell has deleted her Twitter account, so the link is void).
Clive Schlee’s appalling response, apart from the patronizing and self-assured tone: “I must say you do 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.” … and she’s supposed to be impressed that the CEO responded to an open letter addressed to Pret, while not having a clue what to do:
“You also make your point about the 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 still shake my head when reading this, and I read this many times now in disbelief! I worked at Pret when 2 customers died, and yet we were NEVER trained any more than a basic quick run down of things. I explain in DETAIL the chaos and mess of Pret’s labelling issues and Pret’s inability to step on the brakes to implement truly “meaningful change”: Pret’s Labelling Commitement?
If you are a new reader to my ordeal with Pret A Manger, you will be confused and overwhelmed as my story is very complex and long. Those who have been following since the beginning when I started to publish on my blog in May 2018 have a good picture on what I went through.
.
This will eventually turn into a chronological book of events.
But to briefly answer the repeated and valid question if I sued Pret or if not, then why not, which I was just asked today again on Facebook, I decided to write this in a blog and just link to it.
When I was dismissed after being bullied, manipulated, gaslighted, held low, lied to by Pret’s toxic HR department, and continuously patronized by Pret’s CEO, Clive Schlee, who is not willing to label products for allergen information but was willing to label me his “late night girl” after the ordeal I went through… when I was dismissed three days after Christmas 2017 with my dad in intensive care just woken out of a coma, I filed a Tribunal claim as soon as I was able to in February 2018 as you have 3 months minus 1 day to file a claim.
In the meantime I was flying back and forth again between London and Germany to be with my dad (who was in hospital since 10.11.2017) as best I could on his bed side and then later in rehab. In the middle of all this I started to prepare for the Tribunal claim which would have happened in September 2018 with the first preliminary hearing in April 2018.
But I had no legal aid as I cannot afford lawyer fees. I scrapped all legal information together as best as I could, going from Citizen Advise Bureau to other free legal advisors to online researching back and forth, while also flying back and forth between London and my father’s bed side.
For people in the USA to understand, the legal system in the UK or in Europe in general is very different to the USA. Since 2015 on and off I contacted various law firms including pro-Bono, no-win no-fee firms, I even had a lawyer for a while who advised me for free. But I had to find out later again that he only wanted to make a quick buck by settling with Pret and get his 30%+ fee from the settlement. He didn’t really advise me properly anyway and even gave me some false advise at times which I later found out when I continued to do my “homework” researching online. I rejected four settlement offers from Pret, three while still working in Pret, and the fourth one via negotiating with the ACAS conciliator while withdrawing the Tribunal claim I raised and then closed. I dropped the “charitable” lawyer as soon as I found he was just looking for fast money himself.
In the USA lawyers would line up like vultures wanting to sue Pret on my behalf as the compensation can be ridiculously huge. In the UK the compensation would have maybe be maximum £10.000, maybe even more and mostly around £8000.
One former assistant manager who became homeless after being unfairly dismissed from Pret has gotten under £10K.
But 33% for the lawyer is peanuts for them to go all the way through with days and days of preliminary and then the main hearings. The free lawyer I had for a while also kept saying to me that it takes months before the hearings take place. In the UK they don’t bother for this “little” amount, while the Millions that can be won in the USA has lawyers drooling for cases like mine.
My father then died in March this year, and again I found myself crumbled under the weight of what life has thrown at me since I learned of my brother’s death in January 2015 (but he died in December 2014) and all I went through in Pret. Autopilot kicked in again, but I couldn’t cope anymore. Enough is enough. I want to die, but I want to live. I need a break.
I withdrew my claim against Pret as my father died in the middle of preparing for the court case with scraps of legal advise I stumbled through, and my mental health taking another nose dive beyond basement level. But I did my homework and asked the Tribunal for the right to file a second claim later should I decide to file again. And I was granted this request.
If I will raise a second claim or if the time limit will be over, I don’t want to talk about.
But this is the reason why I withdrew my case, as it is so complex which involved the heart of Pret, the CEO, HQ, Head of HR, a Development Manager who was used to gaslight me etc. etc. etc. Unwillingly and unprecedented I poked into the heart of Pret, and for me to go all the way through to court without a lawyer going all the way with me would be suicide, as I cannot handle even small stress mentally at this time.
So, lucky for Pret I withdrew, but lucky for me I didn’t sign my rights away for peanuts. And even if Pret had offered me a huge amount, I don’t prostitute my values nor sign my rights away for life. So, I published now.
What happened to Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and her family has utterly devastated and shaken me. I wrote it before I have learned of her death, that having worked in Pret is my biggest regret in life. And now having learned of her tragedy, I am deeply ashamed to have ever given my time, effort and skill to this company, and having tried to improve work conditions from within while extremely traumatized myself. A company’s facade that does not care for people’s lives and health will get more and more cracks in time, with a glimpse behind the scenes of their carelessness.
My heart and prayers go out to Natasha’s family and friends; her brother Alex, her mum and dad Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse.
I hope in time more people will come forward, especially on the issue of suicide in Pret as well as work conditions, bullying and customer injuries. On work conditions this former employee was the first to go public, I am the second and in time I hope more will follow. And I hope Natasha’s family pursue Pret in court as they have the finances for legal aid and the public behind them now with many warnings Pret ignored.
Thank you for reading and please open your eyes to Pret and take a closer look behind the facade, as indeed take a closer look at ANY company or organization that looks too good to be true in this profit driven society today.
If you don’t take anything away from my publications, ask yourself if anyone can really smile and be “happy” for 8+ hours DAILY in an intensely high stressed work environment out of true “happiness” or if there is anything else behind this!
And my question to Pret A Manger remains: If an assistant manager died by suicide in 2017, I almost did as well after my turmoil at work, and now Natasha’s death in 2016 is revealed, HOW MANY MORE people died and/or suffered hospitalization, depression, mental health issues, physical and mental injuries in relation to Pret.
Link to Tweet (please not that my Twitter handle was first @LateNightGirlMe, but I changed it to @expretDOTorg later).
.
The only way I cope is to write, and to write creatively of my ordeal. I said it to Pret while I still worked there that it is a mistake to mistreat someone who suffered loss and is a writer, as that person has nothing to lose anymore. And as Madeleine Peyroux wrote so poignantly in her song “Don’t Pick A Fight With A Poet”, Pret in their arrogance and feeling invincible, #toobigtofail, again did not heed yet another warning.
.
Some blog entries that give a good glance behind the shiny PR(et) facade:
.
.
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 & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.
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.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
with this much money cannot realize the responsibility it has to people who are making a life or death decision every time they go into that shop, because these allergies can take your life, and it can take them in a couple of hours or in minutes.”
— Susanna Reid, Good Morning Britain 01.10.2018
Also Piers Morgan has some much needed words for Clive Schlee at the end of the interview.
Putting this again into “perspective” how Clive Schlee’s patronizing and self-assured response was to an open letter regarding allergen and labeling in 2015.
Not only resignation, but prosecution needs to happen here:
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 do 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?
Wish best wishes
Clive Schlee”
The more I read this response the more my head doesn’t stop shaking!
Is it just arrogance, feeling invincible, carelessness, what is this??! His response to me even looks stupid and foolish, like an apprentice who is trying to figure out an assignment…
The patronizing and self-assured tone of: “I must say you do 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.”
Alicia is supposed to get excited that THE CEO responded?
I could pick apart the whole response, but this sentence could be the end for him: “To be honest, I am not exactly sure how to respond.”
Hence, this second “Quote of the Day”:
“It is INEXCUSABLE that a food company of this magnitudewith this much money cannot realize the responsibility it has to people who are making a life or death decision every time they go into that shop, because these allergies can take your life, and it can take them in a couple of hours or in minutes.”
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission are prohibited.
When I wrote the first sentence that Natasha isn’t the only fatality in Pret, I did not know that a second customer, Celia Marsh had died in December 2017. I did ask Pret on 30.09.2018 how many more there are and included it here on the 30th, but with the other fatality I meant a suicide of staff I keep confronting Pret about.
Blog Entry:
Natasha’s death is not the only fatality in Pret.
Pret’s Director of Risk & Compliance, or more appropriately, Risk-Taking & Complacency, having known of 9 complaints regarding sesame in products, especially the Artisan Baguette BEFORE Natasha died from it.
…walking ahead, strolling on the pavement in this VIDEOcasually with his hands in his pockets as if nothing ever happened. Maybe the lady to the right behind him “ventriloquized” for him to take his hands out of his pockets for the cameras, as he briefly looked to his right, and then repositioning himself moving out of view of the camera. Nothing to worry about, because Clive Schlee does what he does best, sweet-talking Pret out of every mess! This one as well?! Certainly very impressive performance two years after Natasha’s death!
I find it also interesting that the CEO’s senior staff and lawyers stood far off on the other side of the street instead of close behind him, covering his back while he faces the public via the press. If Clive Schlee decided or was advised to face the press alone, while Mr. Perkins and legal advisors coward behind him out of view of the camera, with him later also walking alone through the mine field of the press, only he knows. But it shows what I experienced in Pret for 10 years, there is no “one for all and all for one” principle in Pret, the “family” illusion that Clive Schlee loves to portrait has always annoyed me, as the reality is Pret being a brutal and dishonest profit driven company, or a very dysfunctional family at best, breaking down as the mask is falling and the public starts to see the true face.
Jonathan Perkins gave a very poor response in the inquest which not only has many people perplex but angry:
Quote from this news report: “I accept that a number of individuals have had a negative experience, even a tragic experience, but thousands of customers and allergy sufferers shop with us safely.”
He might as well have said: ‘…a number of individuals have had a negative experience, even a tragic experience, but thousands of customers and allergy sufferers balance on the rope of potential allergic reactions without falling off‘.
Let’s just blame the law and the shops, shall we, and disgracefully Natasha herself? If you as the reader is blaming Natasha and her family, please go away from my website, buy yourself a coffee in Pret and stay lulled in from the PR(et) facade! Just click my website away, I don’t want your audience! I am not writing for you!
Perkins completely disregards a person’s death AND 9 previous complaints (with 1 also almost fatal) to thousands of customers who mingle their way through the dangers of allergic reactions due to lack of labeling! The lack of labeling is still happening TODAY (29.09.2018) as a friend just wrote to me having visited Pret on the weekend checking the labels.
Perkins further says after being asked what he has learned from Natasha’s death: “The father in me would want to change everything. I would give anything for this not to have happened. We try to do our best for our customers, but humans are fallible. Despite our best efforts and intentions we will get things wrong.”
This response not only angers many people including me, but it shows the core of Pret’s repeated negligence, and in my opinion plain arrogance in how they deal with many issues, not even putting on the brakes regarding life and death issues. For one, he had to admit due to Pret’s complaint logs, that he knew of the 9 previous complaints before Natasha died, but NOTHING was done! The father in him would want to change everything?? He missed a minimum of 9 opportunities to change EVERYTHING! And to excuse a death and negligence with just being human and fallible is outrageous and sickening, especially since Pret expects perfection from their shop staff and penalize employees easily for the smallest mistakes, mainly blaming downwards!! I survived being penalized and bullied even during traumatic bereavement.
Jonathan Perkins walking with his hands in his pockets, not taking responsibility, not resigning but hiding behind Clive Schlee from the camera’s view speaks volumes of Pret’s core values of “doing the right thing naturally”.
“It’s what makes Pret, Pret”!
Heartbroken for Natasha and her family!
The self-assured and patronizing response from Clive Schlee, CEO to an open letter in 2015 will also shed enough light behind the shiny PR(et) facade that gets more and more cracks by the public exposure of the fact that people, customers as well as staff, get hurt physically and mentally:
Maybe Pret can learn from London’s Royal Festival Hall café. I used to chuckle when I ordered a coffee before a concert when I saw this sign of a “Honey NUT Tart” visibly loaded with nuts and the price tag saying: “Contains Nuts”! I thought it funny and made this photo, but now I don’t laugh anymore! Apologies to all allergy sufferers! The RAH’s diligence makes sense now! And this photo I made as far back as 2013 or 2014.
Heartbroken for Natasha’s family, who like all people who have lost loved ones due to neglect in unnecessary and avoidable deaths, say that they hope Natasha’s death will lead to change and save lives.
I join that hope, but I also hope that the top leadership of Pret resign or get dismissed and prosecuted, mainly because of the high and unattainable standards they expect of their staff, while themselves hiding behind a facade and their millions and hurting people. I myself have given Pret the benefit of the doubt one too many times while I was bullied, gaslighted, manipulated and ultimately dismissed during bereavement with my dad in intensive care, just out of a coma.
Pret does NOT care for people nor the health of customers and staff alike until caught publicly. The time has to come that the top leadership are called out to take responsibility away from the sweet-talking slogans they are so effectively known for.
To quote only part of one staff review (Clicking on “Show More” to see full review): “I want to be as loud as possible here – PRET DOESN’T CARE!”… I just feel very strongly that the general public view of this company is very far off from the truth, and I believe in using my voice.”
That makes two voices already… And since news of Natasha’s death broke, more positive reviews seem to appear in support of Schlee and Pret. It doesn’t matter how many rally around the CEO and the company, a person died, others were hospitalized and suffered scary reactions to products.
How many more have died that we don’t know about if Natasha’s death that happened in 2016 just comes to light now? How many died of food allergies or staff by suicide that is under the carpet?
When is the day, Clive Schlee, when, with you being “deeply” sorry for Natasha’s death two YEARS after she died because this is public now? When is the day?
Dear Clive Schlee,
could you please stop the PR(et) machine, put on the brakes and truly live up to your slogans to do “meaningful” change? Could you please bring real change for customers’ lives as well as for staff?
Your demands and slogans towards staff to “go the extra mile”, “strive for perfection”, and the most ridiculous of all, Pret “doing the right thing naturally” will always come back to haunt you. I know neither staff nor yourself can live up to micro-managing and fear managing slogans you have had in place for too long. Changing those would be a good start.
You calling me your “late light girl” two months before I was dismissed while my dad just came out of his coma in intensive care, knowing how I suffered during bereavement under your and HR’s leadership, or the lack thereof (!), almost losing my life as well, staff suffering… and you still do business as usual!
You are no “undercover boss” who is oblivious on what’s going on in your company, you are present in Pret like no other CEO. You are very very aware of what is happening inside and outside of Pret. There is no excuse of the suffering of PEOPLE, of customers and staff alike.
Unless you truly change the slogans, the labeling and other health & safety issues, including mental health & safety not just “on paper”, starting by having enough staff on the shop floor instead of cutting labour to increase your millions, as well as having real and more than adequate training in place… until you truly live what you preach this will keep happening and the crack in your PR(et) facade will widen.
Pret is still small and intimate enough to make a real change that wouldn’t be just “meaningful” but life-saving as well as enhancing physical and mental health!
Please heed. Please change direction, sir, or resign and make way for a CEO who would truly care for all people’s lives (customer and staff alike), for their physical and mental health.
Sincerely,
Your Late Night Girl!
P.S. And dear Pret, could you please NOT task anyone to contact me, as a former team leader colleague of mine whom I used to highly respect, until I learned of his lies, called and then texted me two days ago, whereas in over three years I haven’t heard from him and him having lied in an investigation hearing that I raised because I was bullied by our then line manager. I immediately asked him to not contact me again and go back to Pret to which he replied that he contacted me “by mistake”. Of course, he did! Please, you should know by now, especially after gaslighting me via this person, that I won’t fall for your toxic and corrupt HR department’s tricks anymore. Thank you!
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.
Ok, the nervous but calculated posture of Clive Schlee versus the relaxed hands-in-pockets “Director of Risk” (whatever that means!) Jonathan Perkins (in the background) who quickly changed his posture…
Just judge for yourselves if this is truly being sorry about a person’s death (from 2 years ago) or Pret doing the PR(et) thing once again… naturally…
After the patronizing, self-assured response to an open letter in 2015:
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.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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