Good call Quiznos, but I think you should reimburse all coupons . . .

Quiznos in DC on F Street near Union Station gladly accepted mine today, though they are hard-core about checking the IDs.

"handful of people who have reported some problem redeeming their free sandwich"

Methinks its more than a handful.

am i reading this right? they're reimbursing the stores $1.33 for each coupon?

wow. jerks.

Mine didn't get accepted. There was no notes anywhere on the doors and I was told at checkout it was 2 dollars off. I just left. They should reimburse all of them. I almost feel bad even trying to use coupons at local Quiznos becuase I've read of their business practices before. Thought maybe it would've been different for this promo though. Anyways I just don't think I'll ever go to Quiznos again until corporate changes how they do things.

If the total reimbursement now available for 700 coupons is $525, then each sandwich costs 75 cents.

Not a bad profit.

Man, have I heard some horror stories about Quiznos franchises. In fact, there's a This American Life episode about them that must be heard to be believed.

Well I printed off a copy of the memo on here and am going to take it to my Quizno's that denied me yesterday for dinner...

We'll see how they play this time...

I was able to use mine today after being turned away yesterday due to the store reaching it's 50 per day sandwhich quota. I also bought chips out of guilt.

@noone1569: You'd think it would come out of the corporate advertising budget.

@mac-phisto: They're reimbursing them at cost, not retail.

I personally don't like Quiznos so I didn't try a coupon but I am not surprised many were refused. These aren't special magic sandwiches that the sandwich fairy makes from dewdrops and smiles. Someone has to pay for it and I can see why the franchise owners wouldn't want to take that hit, especially if they feel they are already being screwed by corporate.

I love the snarky comment about not denying the coupons as it hurts all Quiznos stores and the brand as a whole. If they were worried about that, they should have thought about it before forcing this coupon on the franchises. Maybe next time they do this, corporate will support the coupons upfront and avoid this type of PR nightmare.

@mac-phisto: Math error.

$525 total reimbursement / 700 coupons = 75 cents.

So even if the stores find 75 cents acceptable and take the coupons, it would seem they are supposed to stop taking them after 700 coupons are redeemed per store. So the policy is first 700 people per store with a coupon get a free sub. They should probably change their promotion to reflect that.

If they do as Quiznos says and they don't turn down any coupons, then they could end up accepting more than 700 and their reimbursement amount per coupon will be less than 75 cents.

@Blueskylaw: Odds are that is not the full amount. Probably 50% or less. And a restaurant is not free. Utility bills and labor are probably not factored in to this.

@mac-phisto: No, you're not reading it right. They're reimbursing the stores $.75 per coupon ($525.00 / 700 coupons = $.75/coupon). Sounds crappy to me; I know there's a high markup in restaurants, but the ingredients must cost more than that...

@Its_Miller_Time: Be sure to ask if they got the memo.

@Its_Miller_Time: Well played, sir! Definitely want to hear the results.

@Corporate_guy: No Joke. That's how we do things where I work . . .

Subway should come to the rescue and put out an ad saying they will accept quiznos coupons for a free six inch. That would really put a nail in the coffin.

In a franchise organization, one would think there would need to be superb levels of communications to essentially manage tens of thousands of businesses at the same time(through your proxy licensee). And yet...the franchises didn't know about it, had never heard about the promotion, some accepted it, some refused it. Is it really that hard, if you're omnipotent central office, to send out an "Oh by the way you're going to have 3,000 extra people coming to your store this week" email?

If corporate is concerned about their brand, maybe they should get everyone on the same page before they launch to avoid such possibly damaging PR fiascos?

Systemic: FAIL

@Corporate_guy:

It doesn't mean that corporate wants them to be counting coupons received and stop exactly at 700. In the memo, Quizno's said that this was a low cost initiative that will have rewards in the future. The tone of the email reads that franchises should be happy for the reimbursementthey are getting. They will be raking in the dough for all those return customers who loved their free sub so much they will now pay 5-7 dollars, right????

Not going to quiznos until quiznos sends a letter to the Consumerist saying that they are reimbursing franchises for actual cost of the sub's ingredients. Stores can foot the bill of the labor cause they are going to be there anyway. But I don't think 75 cents in the cost (maybe it is) but also they should reimburse however many the store gets in. No way should this be the franchises responsibility.

I'm boycotting Quiznos especially considering their large turkey sandwich, which you think would be healthy, is 100% of the salt you need in a day in one sandwich. Geez....

@Corporate_guy: Right up until the customers actually tasted the Subway sub. Taste wise Subway can't really compete with Quiznos in the same way dog shit can't really compete with fillet Mignon. Of course that's just my opinion.

@Corporate_guy: That's a really good idea, actually.

This tells me that:
700 sandwiches = $525, it costs less than $1 each in ingredients.
any devious franchise simply has to sit there and print out 700 coupon him/herself and collect their $525, no need to make a sandwich.

@mac-phisto: no you're just bad at math, it's 75 cents each

@AirIntake: Not just yours. Subway in general sucks compared to Quiznos, or at least compared to the better-run Quizno's franchises (I've found they vary a good bit on how fresh things are, etc).

Corporate vs. franchise. Not my problem.

All I know is I went out of my way to go to two different Quiznos on two different days and was rejected at both. The first store at least had a sign. The second store refused me *after* I waited in line for 10 mins (they had no sign). I've thrown away my coupon. Wanna guess if I'm going to a Quizno's any time soon?

What a mess, the Q should have learned from Denny's. Regardless what you you think of Denny's they pulled off their free grand slam promo flawlessly. The super bowl as, the rain checks for guests who did not want to wait, they gave all the food to the stores for free, just flawless execution. Now Denny's is reaping the benefits of a promotion done right, sales are way up at Denny's since the super Tuesday promotion. Quiznos and every other restaurant should take a page from Denny's and learn to do this the right way.

@AirIntake: I usually prefer Subway to Quizno's, mainly because I'm not wild about toasted sandwiches in the first place (but IMO their bread tastes HORRIBLE without being toasted). I usually go to Quizno's 4-5 times a month for lunch though, since there's right across the street from my work, and the nearest subway is around 8 blocks away.

As far as the 700 coupons per store goes, If you break up 1,000,000 subs by 700 coupons per store, that means that in order to honor ALL coupons, there would have to be 1,429 stores taking the coupons in order to get maximum compensation ($764,285.71). Does Quizno's even HAVE that many stores, let alone that many taking the coupons?

However, after reading that memo, and getting the general attitude that Quizno's corporate has for its franchisees, I can't help but feel sorry for anyone that enters into that franchise. I will no longer be supporting them, even though I'm aware that this will only hurt the franchisee, not corporate. Not many other options, though.

@Corporate_guy: I agree, it would probably be relatively cheap marketing for subway

@AirIntake: Uhh, Subway's subs taste a lot better than the meat bread and cheese lumped into a sorry excuse for a sandwich that Quiznos will sell you...

@AirIntake: Dude. Neither is close to filet mignon. I think you'd be better with "Taste wise Subway can't really compete with Quiznos in the same way old, generic canned ravioli can't really compete with a new can of Chef Boyardee."

@MBEmom: "These aren't special magic sandwiches that the sandwich fairy makes from dewdrops and smiles."

So, anyone who attempted to use the coupon is a delusional idiot?

@INsano: In every place I've worked, it never fails: the quality of the organization reflects the quality of the management.

Quizno's used to be a good place to get a sub, about 5-10 years ago. When the franchise was new to my area in the late 90's, the sandwiches were large and reasonably priced. At first I loved going there; a large Italian was roughly about $6-$7. I've noticed over the years that the bread has shrunk (wdth-wise) and is lighter, the portions are much smaller and the topping/condiment amounts reduced. Now a large sub runs about $10-$13, depending on which one you buy and the $5 subs are a complete joke-there's virtually nothing on them. I actually ate 2 whole large $5 subs at once and was hungry 3 hours later, whereas I was stuffed after eating one of the older large sandwiches. After that I just stopped going there altogether.

@indydrew: Yeah, they did do a really good job with this. I didn't hear of anyone who was denied the food. Those that didn't get their food were given rainchecks, it just worked perfectly. Since they did it right now sales are up.

@AirIntake: Not that big of a difference taste-wise between the two.

@Corporate_guy (et al): wow, yeah. even shittier than i thought.

@digitalbuilt:
Good luck with establishing 700 distinct email addresses and different names. The coupons print with name and email on them.

@tc4b: Yes, that's exactly what he said...

I don't think I will support Quiznos either, they are essentially screwing their franchise owners. Their subs also have loads of fat and calories, while Subway makes an attempt to make healthy subs and is very successful with that depending on what you order of course.

With Quiznos I cannot find anything that has a reasonable amount of fat and calories and when I do it comes down to just bread and chicken with nothing else on it. I have compared both menu's nutritional information. With Subway you can have a decent sub with a low fat, low calorie and in some cases 0 calorie dressing. Quiznos likes to load their dressings up with hidden calories and fat, so you either have to eat a sub with no dressing at all, or just not go there.

Customers don't care about corporate vs. franchise, they just know that they didn't get their free sub. In most cases the workers were extremely rude about it too, which was very uncalled for. Rude workers will not bring in customers. A simple I am sorry we are not honoring that coupon would have done it just fine. It will be interesting to see if Quiznos sales fall after this promotion.

@justrick: Yeah, and it's too bad because they have some good sandwiches.

@wallspray: sad part is i used a calculator for that...

Had no issue redeeming in Kaysville, Utah. Then again I also bought a large sub to go along with the free small one. Work friends also got the small subs no problem though.

They didnt even bother to check ID if paying with credit card/debit card. Anyone that paid in cash they would card.

Quizno's has good sandwiches, but I can get better at local sub places. I always feel terrible walking out of Quizno's after paying something like 10 bucks for a sub.

I hear these franchise owners are trying to get Obama's blackberry number to say they need a taxpayer funded, welfare bailout check.

@Pylon83:

Since I had two e-mail accounts, I took advantage and got two.

The first place had no problem with it and didn't even check my ID.

The second place tried to deny the guy in front of me, saying they don't accept printed coupons. Both of us pointed out that it was the only way to get them, and they honored them. They did check ID though.

@CaseyEpimetheus: right, see my comment below. I was floored when I got to the cash register and the lady said $9.20. Give me a 5 dollar footlong anyday (actually they're 4 dollars in my area now).

@Outrun1986: "With Quiznos I cannot find anything that has a reasonable amount of fat and calories"

What is this reasonable amount of fat and calories of which you speak?