Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andy Atkinson on September 19, 2010 at 5:46pm

Joseph, I was completely agreeing with you, just taking the point to a ridiculous sarcastic extreme for humor's sake. I think we have all been there at some point, and felt like that was what we "had to do" because of pressure from the boss.

Joseph Robertson said:

Any,
Nice Shot. I wish I could do it to myself. So to speak. I said what I said because I know how many Baristas out there suffer with a boss from hell that does not have a clue as to what is being discussed here. I empathize. I have had my share of those bosses. I hope one day to be the boss I always wish I had.
What I forgot to mention is as a shop owner and one who hires, I will be requiring the reading of these threads on BX. In fact membership to BX is not an option here at my store. Oh God what am I saying am I starting to sound like a BX Nazi? ;^)
Many don't have the money up front for Matt's ABC school but this site is here for all of us to learn from.
Brandi, thanks for this topic before it gets too morphed out there.
Cheers,
Joseph


Andy Atkinson said:

- Matthew the customer asked for a 20oz 6 pump vanilla caramel dry capp please make it for them and charge accordingly. - How many times do you have to be told, we are in the people business. This whole coffee thing is just a byproduct of our true goal of bending over and dropping our pants for $3.65. You should also begin serving hot dogs, cause that's what they asked for.

PS Sorry Joseph for hijacking your line, it was to good to pass up.

Matthew Gasaway said:

I wouldn't say the customer is always right.
20oz 6 pump vanilla carmel dry capp
If someone told me that I wouldn't serve it.

But thats where a smile and some customer education comes in.
It comes down to how you present it.

There are some things I'll compromise and somethings I'll stand pretty firm on.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on September 19, 2010 at 6:05pm

I totally understand and was throwing back some more humor, mostly at myself. I'm and have always been on the same page with you Andy. It was funny. I laugh every day and try and get my customers to do the same. Coffee wakes most of them up and then I see if they are really awake by throwing something at them like you just did. Most of them laugh with me. The hard part in using these posts to converse is that you can't hear me laugh or see my face when I read your post. I might be wearing a suit in my profile pic but in the real world I never wear suits.
Joe


Andy Atkinson said:

Joseph, I was completely agreeing with you, just taking the point to a ridiculous sarcastic extreme for humor's sake. I think we have all been there at some point, and felt like that was what we "had to do" because of pressure from the boss.

Joseph Robertson said:

Any,
Nice Shot. I wish I could do it to myself. So to speak. I said what I said because I know how many Baristas out there suffer with a boss from hell that does not have a clue as to what is being discussed here. I empathize. I have had my share of those bosses. I hope one day to be the boss I always wish I had.
What I forgot to mention is as a shop owner and one who hires, I will be requiring the reading of these threads on BX. In fact membership to BX is not an option here at my store. Oh God what am I saying am I starting to sound like a BX Nazi? ;^)
Many don't have the money up front for Matt's ABC school but this site is here for all of us to learn from.
Brandi, thanks for this topic before it gets too morphed out there.
Cheers,
Joseph


Andy Atkinson said:

- Matthew the customer asked for a 20oz 6 pump vanilla caramel dry capp please make it for them and charge accordingly. - How many times do you have to be told, we are in the people business. This whole coffee thing is just a byproduct of our true goal of bending over and dropping our pants for $3.65. You should also begin serving hot dogs, cause that's what they asked for.

PS Sorry Joseph for hijacking your line, it was to good to pass up.

Matthew Gasaway said:

I wouldn't say the customer is always right.
20oz 6 pump vanilla carmel dry capp
If someone told me that I wouldn't serve it.

But thats where a smile and some customer education comes in.
It comes down to how you present it.

There are some things I'll compromise and somethings I'll stand pretty firm on.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matthew Gasaway on September 19, 2010 at 9:47pm

This is when you take your Boss, grab him by the shirt collar and say "Listen up you. Stop being a douche. I will not stand for this. I will NOT abide" then you slap him for what it's worth.

Right?

Fortunately, my boss is only a slight douche.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on September 19, 2010 at 10:21pm

Forget the Borg part, where he says, resistance is futile, You will be assimilated.
<];^)

Matthew Gasaway said:

This is when you take your Boss, grab him by the shirt collar and say "Listen up you. Stop being a douche. I will not stand for this. I will NOT abide" then you slap him for what it's worth.

Right?

Fortunately, my boss is only a slight douche.

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Permalink Reply by ryan mcdougall on September 20, 2010 at 8:48am

Daniel King Pizzutti said:

I was referring to something Ryan started on.
Besides, I (and really all of us) have heard where these topics can lead to.
I just thought I would remind myself out loud, to hate the company. Not the people.

Same could be said about the customers. Education is key, if we don't always have the
patience to educate, then we can't blame them for going to SB.

eh? What did I say bad about the employees?

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Permalink Reply by Chris on September 26, 2010 at 3:48pm

Brandi Heath said:

At caffe mela we all know why we do what we do and we're all extensively trained in the art of espresso.
its a really tough thing to try to explain to people without making them feel stupid or defensive about true espresso Matthew Gasaway said:

Never underestimate the power of customer education.

If they want a "Carmel Macchiato" then simply explain to them what it really is..

Uhm before you point out the mote in someone's eye, you must first teh beam from your eye.

"Macchiato' does, indeed, mean 'marked' or 'stained' in Italian. HOWEVER, they use it for describe a latte macchiato, or a tall glass of steamed milk stained with espresso. A caramel macchiato latte would be on of those flavoured with caramel. Any Italian barista would understand that. Whether they would like it, make it, or serve it is up to the individual, but they'd at least know what their customer was ordering.
A caffe macchiatto is an espresso marked, or stained, with a bit of foamed milk.
Two different drinks, both, unfortunately, shortened to the nickname 'macchiato'.
So, when your customer comes in and simply orders a macchiato, you should find out whether they want a latte macchiato or an caffe macchiato before you turn away from the counter and head toward your machine.
Or you're the one who has screwed up.

Not that Starbucks *doesn't* suck, or anything, but there are a number of things they do poorly that you can blame them for. No reason to start making things up... Especially when they're right and you're wrong.
And it's the BGA that can catch the blame for not having an agreement as to what 'dry' and 'wet' and 'cappuccino' and such mean to American baristi. I've been pointing out issues like this for a decade, and it's just recently that folk are starting to think that maybe some sort of standard lexicon might be handy...

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Permalink Reply by Brandi Heath on September 28, 2010 at 12:37pm

who said i didn't know what a macchiato is? who said that i don't make sure people get exactly what they want every time?
you should find out whats goin on before you start throwing bible quotes at people.

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Permalink Reply by Ari Reis on October 11, 2010 at 6:56am

:)

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