Here's Adamatic550's recent experience with an Arby's promo:

Thought you might be interested to hear that KFC isn't the only chain with franchisees not honoring free food promotions. Today my brother told me about a deal where I could text 'roastburger' to ARBYS (27297). Despite my questions about what makes the Roastburgers 'burgers' rather than just roast beef sandwiches with lettuce and tomato on them, I decided to give it a shot because, hey, free sandwich. I text the number and get a text back that I'm supposed to show to my local Arby's for my free burger-like sandwich. Anyway, I head over to Arby's to be told that the manager has informed the employees that they can't accept the phone coupons.

You realize you're doing long-term damage to any trust consumers may have with you, right? Every time I hear about a "free" offer from a fast food chain now I dismiss it immediately, because I figure the offer will be more trouble than it's worth as I try to track down a participating location. Instead of getting excited about the offer, I squint my eyes and think the fast food chain is trying to secure some unearned publicity by extending an offer it has no intention of honoring—either among customers or its own franchisees.

According to her source,

What's happening is that the franchised stores are not being reimbursed for the coupons. I was told that Oprah is backing corporate for the costs of the free chicken; franchise stores, if they participate at all, are simply giving away food and losing the money.

This is the third KFC I've checked in the city, and the third with signs stating their lack of participation. It was apparently poorly planned on corporate's part. This particular manager didn't even know of the promotion beforehand, but she's working to find a compromise, such as a day where the specific store will accept the coupon.

Maybe KFC should have called Quiznos for advice before planning a massive giveaway without reimbursing franchise owners.

UPDATE: An admin on the Oprah.com messageboards (yes, there are Oprah.com messageboards) posted a contact address for coupon issues.

Please email KFC.PublicRelations@KFC.com with any problems concerning your KFC coupon.

Thank you,
-HarpoBear, Oprah.com Community Producer

Check out these signs from DB in Dallas and Casey in South Carolina. I give creative spelling bonus points.

PREVIOUSLY:
Going to KFC For Free Chicken? You've Got A Long Wait
Some KFCs Are Already Out Of Free Chicken

(Photo: Morton Fox)

PREVIOUSLY:
Why The Quiznos Free Sandwich Promo Burnt Some Customers
Troubles With Redeeming Quiznos Free Sandwich Coupons
Free Quiznos Subs

(Photo: Ben Popken)

We know commercials have to be edgy and all to get noticed these days, but this one just sort of falls off the edge into Makes No Sense land—unless some consultant figured out that equating toasted sandwiches with Scott bangin' the oven somehow increases sales.

Update: Here's the Schick Quattro commercial for ladyparts that someone mentions in the comments below, courtesy of Mark.

Update 2: Laura pointed us to this blog, where a guy estimates that the $4 toasty torpedo is approximately 75% smaller than the $5 Subway sandwich it's intended to compete against. We hope Quizno's next ad for the toasty torpedo argues that size doesn't matter—it's how good it tastes.

Rich Piotrowski writes:

The reason so many Franchisees are not honoring this coupon is that the company delayed this promo TWICE, as many of the Franchisees said they would not go along unless Quiznos Corporate (which makes about a hundred million a year selling food to its franchisees, and prohibits them from buying food from anyone else) paid for the food in this promotion. Late last week, Quiznos decided to roll it out anyhow saying no, franchisees would have to pay the entire cost. Every other system (such as Denny's Arby's etc) the cost of the promo was shared by both parties. In addition, most of those system sell food at cost to Franchisees. Like those other systems, Quiznos makes money by collecting a 7% royalty and 4% from franchisees which they say is for advertising. Unlike those other system however, on top of those fees, Quiznos makes that hundred million IN ADDITION by selling food to them. And you wonder why Franchisees are not honoring the coupon?

Internal memo:
We also received the original instruction memo sent out to franchises on Feb 20. It makes no mention of how many coupons Quiznos will pay for.

Message to us from Quiznos:

The response to the Quiznos Millions Subs Giveaway has been nothing short of overwhelming. That's great, right? Right... but given that we have had over a million consumers respond in only three days, there are a handful of people who have reported some problem redeeming their free sandwich. If you're one of them, please let us know right away by emailing millionsubs@quiznos.com. We're working hard to address every issue very quickly.

When asked about Rich's comments, Quiznos responded:

In this current economic environment, Quiznos is continually working to develop new products that offer great food at a great value for its guests, while still helping its franchisees control costs. America's response to our offer to get a high quality great tasting Quiznos sub for free has been nothing short of overwhelming. In light of this, Quiznos is reimbursing it's franchisees for the cost of all of the free subs.

PREVIOUSLY:
Troubles With Redeeming Quiznos Free Sandwich Coupons
Free Quiznos Subs
(Photo: Ben Popken)

John blogs:

"Fake!" I says, "Fake!"

E and I diligently signed up for the email list at quiznos.com yesterday and happily printed our coupons a few hours ago.

We walk into Quiznos store #2129
Mid-Pike Plaza
11802D Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

Only to find:

The cashier-girl is sitting at one of the dining room tables hamming it up with her gentleman friend. There are no workers to be seen behind the counter. I ask distracted cashier-girl what's going on with the coupons she says, "the best we can do is give you $2 off." THAT'S WHACK!
Take what you can get right? There's a reason why the NO COUPONS SIGN is posted inside the restaurant and not on the glass door.

The two sandwich makers are rude.

Upon checkout, cashier-girl forgets she offered a $2.00 discount. I remind her that we have coupons, she scans one and gives us $1.00 off and claims it's only one discount coupon per purchase. I suppose I could have made a fuss and separated our sandwiches to make two transactions at this point, but I didn't want to keep her from her gentleman visitor any longer, she was clearly irritated with the concept of customers in her workplace.

Of course, E. called Quiznos customer service - no answer. Call Quiznos customer service if you want to listen to an automated voice leading to an automated directory of extension numbers to strangers.

Evan B. writes:

The proprietor posted a sign on the door saying that they would only honor the Million Quiznos' small subway offer was if I purchased a drink and bag of chips. I verified with the proprietor that her posted sign was in effect and there'd be no "free" subway without a purchase of a drink and chips. I had no desire to eat in the store and intended to make a to-go order, and I had no wish for a corn-syrup laden beverage or grease-packed bag of crispy wafers, so I decided to forget about this supposed "free" subway deal.

Jay writes:

I've taken advantage (as countless other readers I'm sure) of the Quiznos "Free Sub" you posted about… except it's proven to be a tough one to use in my area.

"We do not except coupon in this store"

The picture below is from the La Quinta, Calif. franchisee, taken over lunch today;another one in Palm Desert (different owner) had a similar sign a few weeks ago about when Quiznos announced "new lower prices". I stopped eating there when the sign went up – now the one I've been going to instead is doing it as well.

Quiznos seems to like keeping a tight leash on its franchisees, but its more aggressive handing out of coupons coupled with lower prices seems to be causing some of its owners to "revolt".

Thought I'd bring this to your attention. Seems to me that as the corporate office is passing out the discounts and freebies, I can't be the only one witnessing some store owners snubbing all offers.

-Jay
Palm Desert, Calif.

Brent writes:

I went to Quizno's tonight to redeem my free coupon and to pick up another sub for my wife. I showed the coupon to the kid behind the counter (couldn't have been older than 16). He told me rudely, "Every Day Value only." I pointed out that the coupon said that it could be used for a small Every Day Value OR Signature Sub. He told me that he didn't care what the coupon said, the owner of this Quizno's told him that it was only for the Every Day Value. I chuckled, honestly thinking he was joking. Then he said, "If you don't like it, there's the door." I couldn't believe how I was being treated and headed out the door. I saw on the door that there was a phone number that one could call with comments. Unfortunately, the middle number had been scratched out (1-866-?-TOASTED). I popped back in and asked what the missing number was. He said, "It's right there. Just dial 866-TOASTED." (The correct number is actually 1-866-4-TOASTED but it's currently not connecting when dialed.)

I went to a different, nearby Quizno's and was treated very well - with no issues regarding the coupon.

I've sent a comment to Quizno's but honestly don't expect to hear back

Kentaro writes:

I headed out to the nearest Quiznos in Brighton, MI (store number 2116). Upon arrival I walked inside with a couple friends I had brought, showed the woman at the counter our coupons, and she said I should buy something. I told her I was a musician and college student and that with the $2 a week I must live off of, I would rather receive just the free sub. She then said that I was required to buy something. I showed her the coupon and told her that I should be receiving a free sandwich. Nowhere on the coupon does it say that a purchase must be made in order to receive the free sub.

She persisted in her stance and, as two other buddies of mine were there, we ended up having to give her a couple bucks each to buy a drink in order to receive the "free" sub. I asked her again before I was about to pay and asked her to show me where on the coupon it said that a purchase must be made. She said it's not on the coupon, but a separate purchase must be made. I asked if the manager was in, and she told me she was the manager. We gave her our money and left the store.

I am not upset that I had to give up two dollars for a sub. I am upset that Quiznos didn't keep their word for their own coupon. It is as if I went up to some friends and said, "Hey guys, let's go out for lunch. I'll buy." and upon seeing the tab, following up with "Oh by the way, I'll buy, but you each need to give me five bucks." This "campaign" has lost Quiznos my business for at least a very long time, and I am pretty dissatisfied with what happened there today. I do not think I am being irrational, but please let me know if I am missing something.

Thank you.

Regards,
Kentaro R.
Michigan

Rusty writes:

Tell me you guys are on top of this one - I saw that you guys posted something yesterday - but here in Washington, DC no Quiznos are honoring the coupons - the front desk person calls the manager who bascially says no way - "and who is supposed to pay for the subs" - what a scam - then they try and get you to order something else. I can't believe that Quiznos would embark on such a huge campaign without communicating the scope of the give away to its stores- that's why it seems like such a scam - I wonder if other parts of the country are being shown the door when they go in for their free subs - this may go down as the worst promotion since New Coke.

Frank writes:

The lady behind the counter actually wrote down my driver's id number which scares me as an invasion of privacy and could possibly cause identity theft. When asked about the reason she needed the number she said they were for"resource management" whatever that means.

PREVIOUSLY: Free Quiznos Subs
RELATED: Slickdeals forum members describe their experiences with the coupon

MillionSubs [Quiznos] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

Get this emailed to your inbox weekly by signing up here.

Tipster Alexander writes:

These were in plain view at the Warren NJ Quiznos. It's one of those creepy bug zapper raquets with the dirty rag the guy used to pick up hot things with on top of it. This is taken with my iphone from right where you stand when you order a sandwich. I am never eating there again.

Whatever is up there, it's not artisan bread.

Here is my recent experience with Quiznos. Beware of their online ordering option. My husband and I are fed up and not going back any time soon, if at all.

My husband and I have partaken in the Subway “$5 foot long” sale enough times now that if I never see black olives again on a sub, it will be too soon. So we were pleased to see that our favorite sandwich chain, Quiznos, was offering a similar deal. Last Thursday night (May 8) we decided to have Quiznos for dinner. My husband agreed to go pick up the food and bring it home, so I logged onto the Quiznos web site to look at the menu. While there, I discovered that they now offer online ordering. How convenient, I thought. We could place our order and pay online, so all hubby would have to do it run in and out to pick up the toasty deliciousness. I was so very wrong.

We created an account on the site, selected our local Quiznos, placed the order (one sandwich, two “sammies” and a bag of chips totaling a whopping $11.99) and paid with hubby’s credit card. The transaction went through and a message said that a confirmation email would be sent to his email address within a few minutes. At no point did the web site indicate that our local Quiznos (#6112 in Milwaukee, WI) could not accept online orders.

When my husband arrived at the store 15 minutes later and said he was picking up an online order, the two staff informed him that their location did not accept online orders. He calmly explained that he had been able to place the order online and had already paid with a credit card, so they would either need to give him his food or provide a refund. The two staff members continued to claim ignorance and offered absolutely no solutions, even after my husband pulled up the confirmation email on his iPhone (the iPhone to the rescue again!). He even confirmed that it was the correct location. My husband is normally very reserved, but at this point he raised his voice and said, “You need to step up and provide me with some customer service!”

The “manager on duty” called the franchise owner, who eventually got on the phone with my husband and continued the argument that they did not accept online orders! Finally, after my husband agreed to email the confirmation to the franchise owner, he gave the go ahead to let the staff make our food.

This was a totally unacceptable way for the Quiznos staff to handle the situation. The employees should have made my husband our order as soon as he provided proof of the online transaction, and just figured it out later. The owner should be aware of programs offered by the corporate website, and it would be his responsibility to opt out if he wished; clearly he did not.

In the past, we ordered from that particular Quiznos a couple times a month. My friends and I always called it the “goon squad” because of the inept staff, but we kept going back because the sandwiches are so darn tasty. After this experience we will not be going back to that location ever again. Not only are we fed up with the lack of decent customer service, my husband was treated like a liar, all for just $12.

I haven’t been able to find a corporate email address for Quiznos. The web site offers a tool for complaining to the individual store, but I’m not sure if that will help since the owner wasn't very helpful in the first place. Any recommendations from Consumerist or your readers would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Nora
Milwaukee, WI

Congrats on making Quiznos see it your way, and nice use of the iPhone! We are baffled as to why their web site would accept online orders for a store that doesn't take them. Quiznos' web site has a customer service link, as you already mentioned, to enter complaints. This would be a good place to start. The site also contains the corporate office's address and phone number which is 720-359-3300. A tactful phone call and a nicely written letter may convince Quiznos to straighten up their act.

(Photo: Getty)

Of course, it's a bit odd that a coyote would seek refuge in a Quiznos sandwich, but that's what Adrian did, strolling east on Adams in the post-lunch crowd. He walked in the front door that had been propped open because of the warm weather. He settled into the beverage cooler after unsuccessfully trying to vault the counter.

"It did not growl. It did not make any sounds. It just tried to get in. Apparently it was scared and tried to shelter itself," said Ray Zavalas, Quiznos employee.

For 40 minutes, he sat there quite passive — next to the Gatorade — a sort of odd celebrity, as dozens of passersby came to see the coyote who came to dinner and take pictures with their cell phones. Imagine what Mr. Coyote thought about all this attention.

Coyote captured in Loop to be set free (With Video and Slide Show) [ABC7Chicago]

Things like, if there's a customers dispute with a lack of evidence, decide in favor of the customer, always be polite, and make sure your workers completely cover all their open sores...

Click to enlarge.

Try to please the customer. When in doubt and in a dispute, decide in favor of the customer. Looks good.

Make stores accountable to customer complaint line and establish metrics. Highly advisable.

Ah yes, the "Golden Rule" of fast food. Hear hear.

Cleanliness is next to godliness. And God doesn't have any open sores. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:
Did Quiznos Even Read Book Included In Their Training Kit?
Quiznos Manual: An Answer For Everything
Quiznos Manual: Natural Disasters Are Good PR Opps

We stumbled over this passage on page 43 (emphasis added):

In all other food franchising schemes, franchisers made their profits before their franchisees did, either by selling franchise territories to investors for huge up-front fees or by supplying franchisees with food, paper, and equipment—typically at markups that were higher than they would pay on the open market.... Kroc instinctively knew that making an easy killing at the expense of his franchisees would not produce anything that would last...as a veteran salesman Kroc knew he was also in business to serve his franchisees and build loyalty with them. They were his customers, too, and if they failed, he failed.

Letting franchises prosper? Not forcing franchises to purchase food from the company at a high markup? Maybe Quiznos should steal a page from its own training kit. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY: Quiznos Manual posts

The time standard for the Baser, Finisher and Wrapper positions is 20 seconds or less at each station per sub. After you slice your onions, you must verify that the lengths of the onions are no longer than 2 inches and 1/8 inch thick. Bacon should never be broken or cut in half. Never let the phone ring more than once. Don't shout across the restaurant with the phone line still open. In the event hostage taking, do not attempt to capture the abductor or free the victim.

The manual says this is to ensure the delivery of a product that confirms to official standards. Undoubtedly, it does, as well as reducing costs and making it easier for the average person to open up a Quiznos.

But maybe there's something else....

(Photo: Media Guru)

Maybe by having a numbered headline for every single movement, an answer for every decision, it makes it that much easier for the corporation to ensure the franchises' obedience. Like only buying from approved vendors selling at a markup, which are owned by The Quizno's Master LLC, as several franchise owner's lawsuits allege.

Even when Quiznos franchise owner Bhupinder Baber shot himself three times inside a Quiznos, he did it in the bathroom, away from the customers, in an easily moppable area. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:
Quiznos Manual: Natural Disasters Are Good PR Opps
How A Quiznos Owner Shot Himself 3 Times In The Chest
We Have A Quiznos University Training Kit

This directive seeks to exploit the plight of victims of natural disasters for corporate benefit. It's almost as disgusting as hot lettuce, or the lazy local press that eats up this spoonfed pablum. Barf. — BEN POPKEN

Bhupinder's suicide note [PDF] said, ""Quiznos has killed me. Destroyed my life. Destroyed my family life for the past seven years."

This note was found on his body after he walked into a Quiznos bathroom in LA and shot himself three times in the chest.

We, like some of the readers, wondered how the shots were physically possible.

One of our readers, a former 7-11 owner himself, IM'd us to shed some light...

clokergod: I just read that post about Quiznos. I read the suicide thing a few days back, but how the hell do you shoot yourself 3 times in the chest?
benpopken: Not very carefully
clokergod: In a business like this one, I know from owning a 7-eleven at one time, lemme tell you, you don't really make money on anything but coffee since they heightened the prices of cigarettes
clokergod: You make a pot of coffee that costs exactly 5-10 cents to make, you sell 3-4 20 oz. cups for 1.20, that's where your profit is
clokergod: Once a store does something like make you buy their coffee beans at something like 40% more than you could get off the market, for the same coffee, then they send in auditors each month at a random time, that get the counts of cigarettes wrong, time and time again, and fine you like 11 grand until you correct the count, the stress and bullshit adds up
clokergod: Thats how a poor bastard gets the strength to shoot himself in the chest 3 times, he wants to MAKE SURE it's over

— BEN POPKEN

How could we not? It's got manuals, laminated posters, videos, buttons, a stopwatch, and more! (Click pic to enlarge).

Now all we need to do is pay a $25,000 licensing fee, hire some staff, buy all our supplies from company mandated vendors, and we're on our way to the American Dream on a toasted bun.

We'll be going through the materials and seeing if there's anything interesting or noteworthy, like if even the managers have access to Quiznos super-secret nutritional info.

Let's hope we don't shoot ourselves in the chest three times like Bhupinder Baber, who claimed in his suicide note that owning a a Quiznos franchise ruined his life.

We particularly enjoy that Quiznos included the book, "The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What To Do About It." — BEN POPKEN

Looks delicious, doesn't it? A gastronomic orgy of the most delectable bovine, slathered in cheese and peppercorn sauce.

An actual photo (and this bears repeating) of the nine dollar and twenty nine cent sub after the jump.

Gentlemen, that's not prime rib: it's a bowel movement that has pulled half of a diseased colon away with it. How can Quiznos possibly get away with calling that prime rib?

Quiznos Prime Rib Sub [The Impulsive Buy]
Related: Quiznos stories on Consumerist

This week, the toasted sub is back and it's gonna kick your butt.

We've got the sandwich porn movie to prove it...

Back in December, the feds approved a new Quizno's promotion. Now, the meat fruits of their labors have arrived. Note the giant Beef Check logo. That means the Beef-Board and the federal government think it's a good idea for you to eat this sandwich.

There's also this ad from the same campaign. We prefer the singing monkey butts.

The US Food Policy (USFP) blog writes:

"The advertising campaign...is a partnership between Quiznos and the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, a semi-governmental program to promote beef demand. The Beef Board is established by Congress, overseen by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, and funded through $46 million per year in mandatory assessments — taxes — collected from beef producers under federal government authority. The Beef Board is one of several meat and dairy commodity "checkoff" programs, which dwarf federal support promoting fruits, vegetables, or the Dietary Guidelines."

USFP attempts at learning the nutritional content of the signature sandwich were unsuccessful. The Prime Rib Sub is not listed in the CalorieKing database, either. What you got to hide, Quiznos? Don't think we don't see those white, pussy, globules dripping out your pockets.

The author notes that the Beef Board's press release reports the new Prime Rib promotion was inspired by the Steakhouse Beef Dip promotion's success.

"Feds Approve Quiznos Prime Rib Promotion" [US Food Policy Blog]

So, if you're still interested in how many calories are in the Steakhouse Beef Dip Sub... the answer is 507. The Italian with dressing? 990. These answers and more can be found here at CalorieKing, as tipster Crissy lead us to.

No word yet as to how they acquired the intel, whether it involved hacking Quizno's databases or rappelling through office window glass, or going by a more official road of inquiry than flailing wildly at customer service representatives.

Previously: Nutrition Data At Quiznos, Or Lack There Of...

As it turns out, though, they don't, and the U.S. Food Policy blog spends a healthy amount of time taking them to task for it. Not having most of the nutritional information is bad enough, but it's the nutritional information that Quiznos does present that is the real problem. It turns out that they only have readily available nutritional information for the sandwiches they market as healthy choices — asking for the content, calories and saturated fats of everything else Quiznos sells just gets you the run-around.

As Fast Food News says, it doesn't make any sense not to release this information. Most people won't care as long as it tastes good, but those who are health conscience (or just strong consumerists) will be more likely to eat at Quiznos, not less, given full transparency.

The U.S. Food Policy blog is especially irked by this lack of information given a recent Quiznos sandwich called the Steakhouse Beef Dip Sub. Sounds like a delicious artery burster, but it was promoted by the federal government's Beef Checkoff Board. The hypocrisy is stunning, although perhaps unsurprising: a government body we trust to regulate what we put into our bodies won't actually tell us what's in a sandwich they're endorsing.

Quiznos Nutrition Facts Non-Disclosure [U.S. Food Policy Blog]
Still No Nutrition Data From Quiznos [Fast Food News]

• Quizno s - if there s a more expensive sandwich run through a broiler that takes 2 months to make prepared by trainees, I haven t found it.
• Home Depot - Thank God the only entrance to their store is conveniently located. Why don t they just put the freaking entrance around the back of the building, instead of all the way over to either the right or left of their stores.
• Home Depot Part Deux - If they could have [fewer] registers open for more customers, thus clogging the center lane with contractors and their 50 sheets of plywood, that d be the icing on the cake.
• Verizon - I just need a phone, not a 21-member family plan, add-on extra-minute monthly prorated upsale to something else.
• Any software company that offers insane price cuts for educational versions. And the oil companies gouge? Here s my full-on rant about THAT sore spot with me.

Bill, the reason why it takes Quizno s so long is that all their employees are just those floating, singing rat squibs dressed up in human suits. Looking over Las Vegas shoulder, Home Depot places the entrances and exits in awkward places so as to confuse and entrap you in a desperate home improvement spiral whose only escape is the purchase of more grout sealer. Verizon, inspired by capitalism, is the worst cell phone company except for all the others. Regarding exorbitant Adobe prices let us introduce you to a little black cabal best known by its playful euphemism, file sharing.

Add your best shotgun kvetching via email or comments. If they strike a chord with us, we might even grace you with useless but amusing answers in a future edition of 'Micro Kvetch.'