What IRKS you while you work?
One of the things that I bugs me are customers that walk in talking on their cell phone, order while talking on the cell phone, and walk out....still on their cell phone.
What's your irk at work?
What's your irk at work?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Denise Smith on
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Paul Yates said:Customers who manage to spill a packet's worth of sugar on the coffee counter, not to mention the creamer. I mean, how hard is it to get the stuff in the cup?/div>
It's difficult to open a sugar packet and hold one of those tiny cell phones to you ear with your shoulder without hanging up... come on give 'em a break they don't care that the sanitation solution and water solution you have to use ten million times a day will wear through your marble table top in a year instead of lasting a life time. They don't read the word open on the pouring pitcher before they unscrew it completely and then pour it it so hard and fast the lid flies off and a full pitcher of half n half goes all over the sugar packets and wood floor.
Just keep repeating after me... they are my guest, I am the servant, this is a business not my home...
However! If that barefoot woman comes back with her unruly little boy who jumps on my furniture, hits my other customers and clanks my glass shakers together without a word to him I will ask them to leave!
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We always ask as we fill the cup, "would like us to leave room for cream or anything?" Some folks you just remember by sight and do it automatically... like the 200 degree woman. This Saturday I just went to the back of the kitchen and got a Pyrex pitcher and put 10 oz of coffee in it and microwaved it it until a full rolling boiling and stuck the thermometer in (it made it up to 198) her cup while pouring it in. Then I handed it to her and said "Careful it's hot." she replied , "it's okay, could be hotter."
Next Saturday I am going to wear an oven mit when I hand it too her because I burnt my hand just holding the handle.
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Amen!!! Shiney chrome and clean station....
We have one guy who fills in when the barista goes on break and always leaves a mess... it takes the barista several minutes to get things back in order when she comes back from her break because of it. I'm still trying to adjust to this piece of crap machine from Crossroads. I was trained on quality machines at ABCs and I still can't work this thing. I won't hang my certificate until I can master it because I don't want it to reflect poorly on ABCs.
Randy Harrell said:wow....i cant believe that steam wands haven't been mentioned....
I HATE when the steam wand is dirty!!! Or if the steam wand rag goes missing and I find it down at the end of the bar with syrup and chocolate powder all over it! My employees are finally coming around though.
I like for the machine and the area around the machine to be shiny and clean.
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Permalink Reply by Cedric on
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WOW!!! Seriously? You could say that your espresso has robusta beans in it =P
Denise Smith said:We have several ladies who walk in every day that way!
I often dream of having a cellular jamming device that I can push a button and it will make some horrible noise in their phone. I want one for my car too so when I see I driver on phone I push a button on my dash and it scream "Get off the phone and Drive!"
Maybe a T-shirt that says "Thank you for hanging up while you talk to me". Or maybe I'll have my employees just so "NO, its okay I can wait until you finish your call." or "It's okay, I can take the next person's order while you finish you call".
Then she steps up and orders her skinny double shot decaf with 'three Splenda in the bottom' and upsets the barista as much as she did the cashier.
Of course the man that ordered two full meals which we started to fill before he cussed at my barista because we didn't serve Robusta coffee and then stormed out was the worst!
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By far the BIGGEST IRKSOME of all time... Liars and Thieves!
Companies that I hired or ordered from who have absconded my time and money.
1) The first was a Specialty Coffee Consulting company that ripped us off! Long story... very long... a saga of a year and half of frustration and delays with very limited results and too much money spent!
2) The second a supply company that still owes us a bunch of money!
I order two cafe in a crate units two years before we opened and when they finally arrived they did not have all the things I paid for.
The single group head machine had a boiler that wasn't even welded closed yet they said it had been tested. They still have not sent anyone to fix it... that was several months ago! They still have not sent my 4, K-10 Conical grinders that I have proof they sold to me (and I paid for) and they still have all our money for a separate order for over 50 cream pitches that they tried to do a bait and switch order on... and we still don't have the order or the money!!!
None of the thermometers they sent can be calibrated they are all high temp only.
The tampers in the kit don't even fit the machine portafilter size that comes with the kit.
And to top it off the employee that is still part of the scam is on this sight and her boss is well know in the specialty coffee industry and has been a guest speaker at Coffee Fest.
I think liars and thieves like that should be kicked out of SCAA and other organizations that others in the industry look up to for guidance and credible, honest help!
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Oh the group of people that would come in for a meeting, pull tables together, stay for 2 hours, having 2 of 8 people ordering a latte while the rest get water. Oh and if the others do decide to order, they look over the menu to try to find the cheapest drink they can get. The dissapointent on their face when they realize that espresso isn't as big as they thought is was going to be. Of course to top it all off, they never put anything back....BOOOOOOO!!!
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Kosky on
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Brilliant advice! haha -- That is my biggest complaint at work as well. Some customers just interrupt you in the middle of your greeting and bark out their orders.
How many customers have you all had that actually say please after their order? I get about 1 a week, haha.
Cedric said:Nice tip. I don't know why I never thought of that.
january vawter said:I have this conversation with friends and staff quite a bit. If you want people to see you as a person you have to act like a person. If they seem terse or dismissive, ask them if they're having a bad day. Or crack jokes. Humor is a great ice breaker.
Me: Hello
Customer: Non-fat latte
Me: Well non-fat latte to you to sir!
or
Me: How's your day?
Customer: Could you make it extra hot?
Me: No sorry ma'am. I don't control the weather. But it's supposed to be in the mid 80s this weekend.
I've never had anyone take offense to this. Make them laugh. Once you share laughter, it's all over. They love you and are a customer for life. And you never know what happened before they walked through that door. Or they may have been scarred by a thousand snarky servers before you and approach your counter expecting the sort of shitty service that has become all too common in our industry.
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Haha -- I have to admit, than when I was first being trained, I did this quite often and it would really upset my fellow baristas --- I like clean surfaces and counter tops, and so I would grab the first rag I saw to clean them off.... But now that I work on bar more than register, I see how annoying it is!!!
Randy Harrell said:wow....i cant believe that steam wands haven't been mentioned....
I HATE when the steam wand is dirty!!! Or if the steam wand rag goes missing and I find it down at the end of the bar with syrup and chocolate powder all over it! My employees are finally coming around though.
I like for the machine and the area around the machine to be shiny and clean.
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Besides rude customers, it definitely has to be the owner!!!
His lack of business sense and care about his product infuriates me..... he had no problem microwaving cold coffee, serving lattees from machines that give me brown water as an excuse for espresso, or resteaming leftover milk until I had him taste what he was serving compared to what he could be serving.
His big idea of advertising, (he's been in business less than a year) is giving away coupons for free cookies (even though there is a bakery right across the street, that bakes fresh cookies every day)
He keeps no track of his inventory, and has no idea how old his coffees are.
He has a 16 year old, the youngest employee, do the schedule.
When something goes wrong, we will "monitor the situation" instead of fix it.
Thank god I am leaving Green Bay in 3 weeks!! I am by no means a coffee god, (I have TONS to learn) but I take more pride in my work than he does in his business. And that really bugs me.
Thanks for letting me rant.
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Permalink Reply by Thea Petrigac on
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When customers come in and there is a line and they order their drink, and yes, that's fine that is what they are supposed to do; however, after I have finished making their drink, they then bring out a list of what everyone else at work wants. Can't you just order everything at once and then pay for it separately instead of taking up more time than is necessary?
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Permalink Reply by Jesse -D-> on
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Ohh, that reminds me how much I hate it when you uellout "large vanilla latte" and then someone cups up, grabs the drink, takes a sip and says "this doesn't taste like my mocha" (of course there are many variations of this story but you get the idea) how do you not know what you ordered?
Thea Petrigac said:When customers come in and there is a line and they order their drink, and yes, that's fine that is what they are supposed to do; however, after I have finished making their drink, they then bring out a list of what everyone else at work wants. Can't you just order everything at once and then pay for it separately instead of taking up more time than is necessary?
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Permalink Reply by Tyler Stevens on
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When people come up to the counter and ask, "Do you like make Frappucinos here?" I cry a little every time.
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