Why you didn’t get your free sub from Quiznos

by Briana Carter on March 9, 2009

creative commons bw Why you didnt get your free sub from Quiznos

I received this email from a reader in response to the new coupon deal from Quiznos:

I appreciate the deal but my local Quizno’s would not honor my coupon for a free sub last month. Therefore, they have lost my business forever – even if it was just to purchase a side & drink.

Were you one of the people who was not able to redeem their sub from the 1,000,000 sub promotion Quiznos was offering? If you were not able to redeem it, you are not alone. As always in the fine print was the wording at participating locations. It is unclear on which locations are participating so how is one to tell besides the white paper towel with black marker on the window saying this store is not participating? (True story.)

Here’s why you did not get your sub – corporate office decided to offer this promotion and have their franchise owners foot the bill instead of including it in their 7% of advertisting fees or spliting the costs of the promotion like other franchises such as Arby’s or Denny’s. You can read more about how Quizno’s franchise works in this post at bizzia.com.

What I’m reading between the lines is some franchise owners did not want to participate because of loss of revenue to them, there was a dispute for a couple of months, then corporate decided to go ahead with the promotion.

Walletpop has a great interview with the Chief Marketing Officer, that trys to assure us this issue will not happen in the future. Email any unresolved issues to millionsubs@quiznos.com.

As a consumer, I know it is hard to rush out to participate in future offers with a company after you’ve already been burned and waste your time or risk the humiliation of your coupon not working….so….

Did you get your free sub?

Tagged as: consumer issues, quiznos

comments { 22 Comments }

sarah - March 09, 2009 @ 6:51 pm 1

I think I was one of the lucky few. But be assured they were checking ID’s and keeping a running list of those who had already turned in a coupon for a free sub. Real hospitable! (roll eyes)

sarahs last blog post..My Penny Pinching at Giant
Kelly - March 09, 2009 @ 7:00 pm 2

I know that each Quiznos could be different but, my Quiznos honored my coupon and I thought they were the most professional, friendly people I had come across in years. So friendly and great that they now have our forever business. The food was fantastic and the help was tremendous. We would never have gone there if not for the free sub. I understand some franchises not wanting to participate because they are probably already struggling financially and it could be the last straw that pushed them under. But, I think if you have a great product like they do, then the return would be great. I love the marketing and everything about this promotion except for corporate. They are the ones who should have stood by their products and honored all franchise coupons at corporate’s expense. Anyway, my Quiznos in my little-neck-of-the-woods, Indiana definitely has my business!
Danika - March 09, 2009 @ 7:16 pm 3

We got ours – no problems. They did check ID and type each bar code # into a special machine before they gave them to us, though. I understand the individual franchise owners not wanting to participate. It should have been included in their franchise fees (I used to work at a corporate franchise headquarters). But maybe they could have posted a list of participating (and not participating) locations on their website before you signed up and printed the coupon?!?
Corrie @ "Cents"able Momma - March 09, 2009 @ 7:33 pm 4

I also got my free sub. They did check my ID, but I already had it out and handed it to them with the coupon, since it stated ID needed on the coupon. I was being friendly and asked if they had redeemed a lot of the coupons, and the employee didn’t seem enthusiastic when he answered yes. I hadn’t been to Quiznos in a really long time, so I was reminded how good their subs are.

Corrie @ “Cents”able Mommas last blog post.."Cents"able Momma now on Frugal Focus
Frugal s! - March 09, 2009 @ 7:42 pm 5

Great post Briana! My hubby and I went on our date to our Quiznos to get our subs, and once we got up to check out, we were told we HAD to also each purchase a medium drink and a side (chips or cookie). So our freebies cost about $5 or so, but at least it was still a pretty thrifty lunch date! :)
Chhud - March 09, 2009 @ 7:43 pm 6

I used mine and they picked up a customer! I never would have tried it but we’ve already been back and I’m sure I’ll be back this week :)
bekah - March 09, 2009 @ 7:44 pm 7

My husband and I both got our free subs. They didn’t hassle us, check id’s or anything. They were very polite and friendly and the food was incredible.
Bargain Briana - March 09, 2009 @ 7:47 pm 8

I’m glad to hear most of my readers have had a good experience! I usually have a good experience with my coupons wherever I go, though, there are times when the employees want to give you a hard time…but usually it is not the norm.
Tracy - March 09, 2009 @ 7:48 pm 9

Thanks for the info. I was quite annoyed when I went through the line and they would not honor my coupon. I emailed Quizo’s immediately to let them know. Even though I live 2 blocks from Quiznos, this promotion made it less likely that I will go again from how the situation was handled by the franchise.
DebbieLynne - March 09, 2009 @ 8:31 pm 10

My husband and I got ours and didn’t need to show ID. My dad reports that he and my mom got theirs and he went to pick them up so he had two coupons which they accepted with no problem. This was at the Emporia, VA location.
Laura - March 09, 2009 @ 8:38 pm 11

Like everyone else, I was annoyed that I didn’t get my free sub – and I thought it was just an NYC thing. I was so annoyed that I just yelled out that I was going to Subway and stormed out of the restaurant. What made it worse was the sign that they didn’t accept the coupon – it was all the way in the store at the counter. I even tried to use Twitter to ask why my coupon wasn’t accepted, but I didn’t get a response.

Lauras last blog post..Best Mexican in NYC? Not Quite, but Definitely Worth a Try
Liz - March 09, 2009 @ 8:55 pm 12

I got my free sub. There was a small sign saying a drink had to be purchased, which I found a bit rude (as the coupon made no mention of this!) but all in all, I think it was a good promotion because I hadn’t been there in ages and it made me want to go there again!!!
Mindy - March 09, 2009 @ 9:17 pm 13

Got mine in So. IN with no problem and no extra purchase, but now I feel bad that it came out of the owners’ pockets. But, my family and I are loyal Quizno’s customers.
Karrisa - March 09, 2009 @ 10:03 pm 14

We were able to get a free sub but my fiance and I each had a coupon but they would only let us use one total. I pointed out that the coupon said “one per person” not per purchase or whatever. Manager wouldn’t have it and basically told us he didn’t have to accept it at all if he didn’t want to. I was kinda peeved and he told me to use it next time. I told him I couldn’t use it next time because the coupon expired that day. He said they would honor it later, but if they were giving me such a hassle then, what would they do when I brought in an expired coupon later. It was pretty frustrating, but at least we got to use one.

Karrisas last blog post..Albertson’s Monopoly Game
Danielle - March 09, 2009 @ 10:24 pm 15

I had a hard time getting the coupon. The website wouldn’t work for me, then it finally worked and I never got the email with the coupon. I emailed the customer service at the bottom of the page and got no response after several days. Browsing the web I found another customer service email to try, so I tried that, but after emailing them I continued reading and decided that I just couldn’t honor the coupon knowing that the shop owners were potentially struggling and not in agreement with the promotional terms. Of course my coupon then was emailed to me, but oh well.
Megan - March 09, 2009 @ 10:42 pm 16

My Husband and I both got our Free Subs.. they did not check for ID and it was completely hassle free ! It made for a great date night :)
Stephanie - March 10, 2009 @ 7:29 am 17

My husband went and got his free sub. He said they didn’t give him any trouble and they didn’t ask for his ID or anything.

Stephanies last blog post..Redbox Code
Erin - March 10, 2009 @ 10:03 am 18

Neither my husband nor my sub coupon was honored. I signed up, but we never received them til several days later when we received emails stating that we hadn’t yet printed our coupons (because we hadn’t actually received them til this point). We printed them and attempted to use them that day, but they wouldn’t go through (they entered the codes through the credit card swiper). They asked if we had used them already, but we had just received them that day. The tried a few more times with no luck, so we ended up paying $14.87 for two pathetic subs and a tiny kid’s sammy meal that was barely enough for my toddler. I used to love Quiznos, but this promotion combined with the poor quality of the food will make me rethink ever going back. I called the customer service number and left my phone number, but never heard back. Big surprise.
Beth - March 10, 2009 @ 4:09 pm 19

After a marathon grocery trip in Kokomo last weekend, I pulled into Quizno’s and immediately saw a sign on their door that said they were not honoring the coupon. I pulled back out and will probably never go there again. My husband and I love Penn Station (Indy) and also Jimmy John’s. Oh well, I get enough free with coupons that this one was just par for the course.
Rachelle - March 10, 2009 @ 6:22 pm 20

We didn’t have any problems with out coupons and they didn’t check ID’s either. They weren’t overly friendly, but what the heck. At least we got our sandwiches! They didn’t tell us we had to buy sodas or anything, but we ended up getting soup for my daughter, so maybe that’s why.
Rachel - March 11, 2009 @ 10:24 am 21

I was so excited about these coupons, and it was a very frustrating experience for me and my hubby. First, mine failed to print! I had everything set up properly and clicked “Print” and nothing happened! Then the screen popped up saying “Coupon has printed successfully”. I know that my printer was working, I had been printing items all morning (and it worked just fine immediately afterwords, too). However, my hubby’s did print. We got to our local store and were getting ready to order when the (very unprofessional) cashier informed us rather rudely, “You’d better have cash. The credit card machine is broke. And we don’t accept no coupons.” We hightailed it out of there extremely quickly. (This was after a disappointing shopping trip to Target, where I had checked to see that they DO accept printable coupons, but when I went to check out the girl wouldn’t accept any printables, even the TARGET COUPONS!) Sigh.
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