Downtown Disney - Earl of Sandwich

 http://www.earlofsandwichusa.com/

You may notice a surprising lack of pictures for this review. Even the photo that is included was not intentionally a photo of the Earl Of Sandwich sign; it is a photo of the Christmas tree and ice rink that happened to include the sign. (The sandwich shop is right by the ice rink.) The reason for this is that I was very unhappy with my experience there, and so by the time I got my sandwich I had no interest in taking a photo of it.

The sandwich was not bad. I had the Original 1762, and it was okay, though having had similar sandwiches at Canter's Deli and at Flo's V-8 Cafe (which I will get to in a different post), if I were to rank them, this would come in third. So it was a good sandwich, but I had better on the same trip. My real problem was with the service.

We got in line. Our friends ordered together and my sisters ordered together and I ordered separately. I did not really think about that at the time, but at the end of the line I noticed that they had both been given buzzers, and I only had my receipt. I guess that could have been because they both had multiple people on their orders, or it could have been because they both ordered sides and I did not. It only sticks out to me now because it took so long to get my sandwich.

I was in the middle of the orders. They all had their food long before I did. People who entered after us had their food before I did. I eventually asked, because I thought I must be missing something, and the person just said it was going to be a while. He didn't check or ask - he just seemed to know that my order was going to take longer - but their was no explanation for it.

I feel that if it was a known thing that my order would take longer, I should have been told that. I didn't ask for anything to be kept off or added extra. I did say "wheat" when asked if I wanted it on white or wheat bread, and that was the only thing that I could think of that might have slowed it down, but again, if wheat is something that makes it take longer, they should have mentioned that. I have been trying to eat more whole grains, but I was not so committed to it that I would have chosen to wait longer.

My other thought was that maybe they made some mistake and had to start over, but again, that would be a good time to give a heads up to the customer, apologize, give an estimated time, and just provide basic communication as a key component of good customer service. I have had places offer free stuff, which is not expected or required, but it shows that they care and want you to have a good experience.

This was a bad experience. The great customer service that is experienced inside the park has not been the rule for Downtown Disney, and I had already known that, but usually it is just normal, and this was worse than normal.

Due to that, my impression of Earl of Sandwich is bad, and I cannot recommend them. I was the only one who had that bad of an experience, but that means that I know that it is possible, and that they don't care when it does happen.

Disappointing.