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Food/Meal Exchanges at the Pub
I've been frustrated most recently by Sodexo workers having different variations on what equals a meal exchange and what constitutes a meal exchange. After 3 years at this school I still have no idea what I can get at what times. I don't understand why my options change according to the time of day. I want to eat a small salad with my lunch, but I can't because it's classified as "lunch" time, which means I have to wait until dinner to get that salad. Every option for sides should be available during lunch and dinner.
Getting to the register and finding out what's covered in the exchange is always a shot in the dark. All of these new things for meals that happen periodically don't interest me at all, because their not covered with a meal exchange.
I was at lunch today with a friend and he got the chicken tenders and I got the chicken bites. Mine was a meal exchange but his was not and he paid 8 dollars for the tenders, fries and a drink. That makes absolutely no sense to me, both should be covered. Why is 3-5 tenders not covered but 5-7 chicken bites are? Why is one burger covered, but two burgers is not? And why do I have to pay the full price for both and not just the difference of one patty?
My last point is whatever the policy is, your employees have to actually all be on the same page with it. If the cashier has no idea if my meal is covered and has to check a sheet to find out points clearly to a broken system
Getting to the register and finding out what's covered in the exchange is always a shot in the dark. All of these new things for meals that happen periodically don't interest me at all, because their not covered with a meal exchange.
I was at lunch today with a friend and he got the chicken tenders and I got the chicken bites. Mine was a meal exchange but his was not and he paid 8 dollars for the tenders, fries and a drink. That makes absolutely no sense to me, both should be covered. Why is 3-5 tenders not covered but 5-7 chicken bites are? Why is one burger covered, but two burgers is not? And why do I have to pay the full price for both and not just the difference of one patty?
My last point is whatever the policy is, your employees have to actually all be on the same page with it. If the cashier has no idea if my meal is covered and has to check a sheet to find out points clearly to a broken system
Customer support service by UserEcho
I referred to our retail manager, Linda Lasure to comment on this. She gave me the below response. I hope that it helps.
Charles
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Hi Brian,
thank you for taking the time to write about the Meal Exchange program. We try to find balance between making it simple and giving guests as many options as possible.
There are six Meal Exchange Menus and each one is unique. Three of the Menus are in The Pub. I'm guessing that you know there's a Grill Meal Exchange Menu posted at the Grill, one at Rappz and one in the Pub Simply to Go cooler for your use. The meal times and menu details are listed on each Menu. The Menus are generally updated each August and occasionally throughout the Academic Year.
The Meal Exchange program is broken into 3 "dayparts" -- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, with Breakfast being the lightest meal and Dinner the heaviest. Dinner receives the highest percentage of meal plan funding with Lunch being second and Breakfast a distance third. That is why Dinner offers more options than Lunch, hence the Side Salad is available during Dinner and not Lunch.
We keep copies of the Meal Exchange Menus at the Pub registers to help maintain consistency and answer questions. I may have been the person who took care of you and your friend at the register. I often check the Menus to be sure the guest has not only the correct items, but also all of the items he/she is entitled to during that meal period. I do not require the Cashiers to memorize the 3 Pub Meal Exchange Menus and, in fact, encourage them to refer to the menus if they are unsure so we have consistency.
Regarding Chicken Tenders vs Chicken Bites -- the Tenders are larger than the Bites and cost significantly more per pound. Both are solid white meat. Tenders do not fit "financially speaking" into the Meal Exchange program, whereas Chicken Bites do.
You are correct that the Grill LTO's (Limited Time Offers) are not a part of the Meal Exchange; however, most of the Simply to Go LTO's are. The Grill LTO's offer a change of pace and variety to those who want to go outside the Meal Exchange program or who do not have a Meal Plan.
You mention paying the difference for a second beef patty for the double cheeseburger. I understand your thinking but where would that concept stop? In order to keep the program as simple as possible, yet offer variety, we cannot have everything on the Meal Exchange Menus. The Double Cheeseburger does not fit into the pricing perameters of the program.
Brian, i hope this helps and if you have any further questions, please be sure to reply back or ask for me at The Pub.
Thank you Brian,
Linda Lasure
Retail Mgr.