A Panera Bread Sip Club member says she wonders whether the workers think she is “a thief” or “a member” in a now-viral TikTok video, sparking debate about enforcing the semi-unlimited beverage subscription offered by the company.
In the video posted by TikToker Isabella (@isabella_1355) on June 8, the creator walks into Panera Bread, grabs a cup, and fills it with “charged lemonade” without interacting with a worker.
“I just have to know what the Panera Bread workers think when I come in every day,” Isabella wrote in the text overlay, expressing a similar worry as another Sip Club member. “Do they think I’m a thief or do they just assume that I’m a member of the sip [club]? Is it bad that I just walk in and grab my cup without talking to anyone? I guess I will never know, but I made sure to mobile order ahead of time.”
Several Sip Club members appear to feel this way, as another creator shared a rather similar worry when grabbing her coffee from the chain on June 1.
@isabella_1355 I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing… #panerabread #panerasipclub #PepsiApplePieChallenge ♬ Music For a Sushi Restaurant – Harry Styles
Isabella’s video has amassed over 117,000 views as of Monday, with several alleged Panera Bread workers in the comments explaining how they handle Sip Club orders.
“Where I [work], if you mobile ordered a drink we put the empty cup on mobile shelf w receipt,” one user said.
“As someone who works at Panera, most people do come up to the counter or order cup as rapid go… but I’ve seen a few people just go through lol,” another wrote.
As part of Panera’s Sip Club policy, members are supposed to mobile order ahead of pick-up, but other alleged workers admit to “not paying attention” to who grabs a cup.
“As an employee, I have stopped caring if people have placed an order or not. I probably see someone take a cup 30 times a day,” one commenter wrote.
“I worked at Panera and we truly did not pay attention to anything like that, if you asked for a cup we just handed you one,” another said.
“As a Panera worker, we do not care,” a third added.
However, other users are frustrated with the lack of enforcement, fearing that Panera will end the program if too many people grab drinks without a Sip Club membership.
“And now people will just walk in and take without actually having sip club they will cancel it for everyone… thanks,” a commenter said.
The Daily Dot reached out to both Isabella and Panera Bread via email.
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