American Flatbread Scam

So I bought two flatbreads this evening that were each half and half of two different flatbreads. On each flatbread one of the halfs would normally cost $21.99 for a whole. The other halfs were $16.99 for a whole. Instead of averaging the cost of the two halves, they charge you $21.99 for what I was told was the "additional labor" to create the flatbread. What if I had put the two $21.99 pizzas halfs together and the two $16.99 pizza halfs together? Would this require any less labor? It would be slightly easier to swallow if they put something on their menu to state this, but you don't find out until it comes time to pay. Their menu isn't cheap to begin with and while I enjoy their food and respect how they patronize local farmers, this has put a bad taste in my mouth and I won't be patronizing their restaraunt anymore. That's too bad because I really like their beer selections. Sorry to rant but I thought others might appreciate knowing this information before they get scammed too...

 

We've never gotten anything but "We are American Flatbread, We're Awesome and Local!" from them. Never ever will we go there again. Their food is not THAT great and waaaaaaay overpriced, but since it's 'organic & local' we should worship them. HA!

After a VERY unpleasant encounter with them, I'd rather eat dirt, more organic than their overpriced 'flatbread'.

 

I've never had anything but a great experience at American Flatbread. I'm more than willing to pay extra to support sustainable, responsible farming practices, and try to buy local and organic whenever possible. I'm very happy that there's a restaurant in my neighborhood that shares my view (and tasty food!) and I hope they're able to stay here for a long time.

 

We have gotten 1/2 and 1/2's several times and were always told in advance that we would be charged at the higher rate.

 

Well, if nothing else, they should have seen they could have made the one flatbread with the less expensive ingredients and the other with the more expensive and charged you accordingly. It's not worth $5.00 to lose a customer.

 

A lifetime ago I waited tables and it kills me when I see servers doing the above.
It ALWAYS gets you a bigger tip to save a table money and show them their options. How annoying!!!

 

RobVT3-
Was this the response from your server or did you ask to speak to a manager?
If it was just the server, I wouldn't write the place off for that.

 

This was the manager. Can't remember her name but she has blonde hair and glasses.

 

We stopped going to Sal's for a similar reason. We don't do American Flatbread due to the price. I've eaten there three or four times but it's just too expensive for pizza...

 

Re: American Flatbread

Deeply resent the word SCAM which borders on defaming our reputation as local family business that has donated over $10,000 to local chartities over 3 years before ever taking a dime out of the business.
Our 1/2 and 1/2 policy came from regulars requests before we offered 9" flatbreads. It is very labor intensive to get it perfect as we make everything fresh to order.

 

Do you also ask for a dime discount when you ask McDonald's to hold the pickle? Domino's has just come out with a national ad program about how they have been serving inferior ingredients for years and have just seen the light - give me a break!

 

Re: American Flatbread

I'd say they crossed that border.

 

FWIW I love AMerican Flatbread- think the pizzas are awesome!

 

I love it too. I think its worth the money. And I think the word "scam" was probably just poorly chosen.

 

Another lover of American Flatbread, here!!!!! They're awesome and I'll gladly pay a few bucks more to eat their food than any other ordinary pizza. The welcoming atmosphere at AF can't be beat!

 

can't beat it, sure it's expensive, but at least it's constantly good. And the Beer is excellent!

 

Our family has patronized Flatbread regularly since it opened. The food and drinks are great, the service is top notch, and the proprietors couldn't be nicer. We knowingly pay a premium to go there and do so gladly. The topping issue is just a store policy...not a conspiracy. If you are concerned with the price of toppings there are numerous other low-cost pizza joints in the area - enjoy.

 

...yea tough choice of words because it would suggest (my interpretation) knowledge and intent to cheat people out of money.

Based on what was written, sounds like the Manager should have handled this differently. If the policy is not written on the menu or sign... and handled as a courtesy, then you have to be understanding when a customer questions the logic without understanding Flatbread's rationale.

Easy to play armchair quarterback without having been there but a good manager should sense the situation, and see that a customer made the effort to complain and that they had done so because they did not know the policy or maybe did not understand if it was mentioned. Give them the break this time and let them know that this approach to 1/2 and 1/2 is done at request and always charged at the higher price.

Seems like the message could have been thought through a little better on our local forums but that is why it helps to talk about this stuff. (2 cents)

 

Re: American Flatbread

Scam may be a little harsh, but I still don't understand the concept of "additional labor". Labor intensive? I guess the extra 15 or 20 seconds it takes to reach over and grab the different cheaper ingredients for the other half of the flatbread comes at a premium. The fact that it's completely inconsistent depending on which combination of flatbreads you order confuses me as well. I just think it would helpful if you stated this policy on your website or menu.

On another note, I never complained one bit about the flatbreads. Everything we ordered was excellent.

 

No, I love pickles.