As Pret do what they do best, use the press to impress the public with profits, being in the black with higher profits since 2018, I want to magnify why that is.
First of all it’s interesting that Pret compare the profit rise to 2018, not 2019 just before the pandemic losses. The two customers who have died and over 20 who got injured (that we know of) which came to light in September 2018, may have been a factor that Pret compares to 2018 instead of 2019.
In early 2022 I wrote a reddit post on how Pret make profit through their coffee subscription. This year reddit hid my post, while I can still see it when logged in, others can’t. The typical reddit over-extreme censorship by power-tripping moderators of subreddits who can’t stand when people write with extensive knowledge. Their insecure little selfs need to silence anyone for no reason while putting complicated “rules” in place that are easy to break. Or even when rules are not broken,they just come up with reasons why they ban people. It’s become so normal that I always expect being banned, therefore I don’t even read the rules anymore. 😀
Just move on to the next. I copied my post into my own reddit profile to link to it again as it is too long for a Twitter thread.
In this post how Pret A Manger make PROFIT from their Coffee Subscription, I go into detail after a Times journalist asked on Twitter on Pret can make profit with such a “generous” subscription deal. I replied briefly and he started following me and ask questions. Later his boss also started following, but in my usual drunken stupor I kicked all journalists off incl. from the Guardian, BBC etc. It is what is it.
This is when Pret started the subscription at £20.
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But this led me to write the following post on reddit:
“How Pret make PROFIT from their Coffee Subscription“.
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Click above link to post.
I basically listed on reddit how Pret cheat, take, steal from customers, delay service, refuse expensive items, make it hard to cancel … all to avoid people using the subscription.
A BBC report also came from my tweets explaining how Pret keep scamming customers: “Pret customers complain over drinks subscription deal“. Journalist Mike Powell mentioned my blog as I kept updating issues on the subscription and other things.
So, Pret now boast that the subscription is the reason for the profit jump, and it’s true because the subscription is THE fastest money AND data grab while avoiding to deliver on the advertised T&Cs.
Meanwhile, quality suffers. Food and coffee quality down. Service quality down etc.
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For a more extensive, but not updated, list on Pret’s expired, stale and mouldy food with pictures, please see Pret’s Food isn’t Fresh.
Many complaints on Pret’s coffee, even before the pandemic. This is just the tip of the iceberg:
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The Spectator: How the Coffee Subscription Ruined Pret.
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And 61% of customer on Trustpilot give one star reviews, 11% two stars and only 19% approve of Pret. It’s actually 72% who are very unhappy customers with the 1 and 2 stars combined. Many having vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. The complaints are on a variety of issues, the main issues being higher prices for lesser quality products, the coffee subscription has a lot of complaints, and dirty shops, rude staff etc.
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As of 21.07.2023
My “favourite” review is form 01. May 2023 in a short and sweet sentence, quote:
“Why Pet deserves to fail
The Pret on Marylebone St, literally closed the door in my face.
Said they were closing, still staff working the counters.
Pret deserves to fail. From a once customer focused company its now a brand which needs to go“
End of quote.
Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe said to me on Twitter when I linked him itsu staff reviews where staff were calling Metcalfe a liar, sexist, racist etc. Metcalfe said that these reviews are biased as anyone can just anonymously leave a review. Of course he has a point, but 1. why would anyone make the effort to leave a “fake” review. 2. Then the positive reviews are also biased and fake. 3. The Trustpilot reviews are done by mainly people with their names and many having a history of many other reviews.
Most are NOT anonymous, no-name one-off reviews.
What Metcalfe said, I’ve put on YouTube after I chased him off Twitter when he deleted his tweets and then Twitter account after just 2 days on there. But I screenshot his tweets when he kept RT’ing my tweets. He certainly wasn’t media savvy there:
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The Office of National Statistic, that seems to be obsessed with Pret, has tweeted several times over the last few months that Pret sales have decreased in MOST locations. I believe this is also due to Pret pushing the subscription too aggressively to make FAST money and to collect data quicker.
June:
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July
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Some of the MANY staff reviews
Glassdoor: “Coffee subcription ruined work morale completely.”
Indeed (verbatim, I leave mistakes in):
“they’re pushing their subscription harder than ever (Head office peope going around central london stores complaining that we’re not pushing the “New club pret subscription” to every single customer in the middle of morning coffee or lunch rush times to people who don’t want yet another subscription…).”
Indeed: “Coffee subscription makes peak hours a nightmare.”
Indeed: “Since the subscription service was introduced, the queue is non-stop but doesn’t bring any additional cash to the shop to hire new staff with. This results in the shop being understaffed, so you are expected to do the job of 3 people at twice the normal speed.”
And many more on reddit, Facebook, Twitter etc.
Increased customer complaints on rude and aggressive staff as unfortunately customers want their “free” subscription coffee, not seeing how burnt out staff are. I worked at Pret before the pandemic, and it was already hell to work there, but I can’t even imagine working there now with the subscription and the extra abuse by Pret head office. I KNOW how psychological abusive Pret executives/leaders are behind that mystery shopper enforced smile.
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So a PR move via the press to say their profits are up due to the subscription sounds like a call to ignore that shops are in shambles.
Another issue that was briefly reported on was that Pret’s donation increased by 122%. Again, misleading success because the donations came in many times due to the donation devices being VERY close, right next to the payment devices. Many customers by accident and in the noisy rush tapped the donation devices to pay for their food/drink and then donated £5 to the Pret Foundation (for tax breaks and brownie points with the public).
Customers where then prompted again to pay. Some have pointed out correctly that this is very psychological, customers who donate feel embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”. Pret now that psychology very well. Pret also kept and still now keep ignoring customer contacts about the refund in hopes they will just give up.
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And further issue how Pret scam customers via the coffee subscription which is the reason for the high profit jump:
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago.
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 on my work with the press.
NEW LinkTree
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Thank you for reading/listening.
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Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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