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Permalink Reply by Keith Eckert on March 7, 2011 at 9:05am

cost of doing business my friend.  charge them and they will likely never give you repeat business or tell all their friends how whacked your shop is. 

 

if if they 'forget' regularly, then i would probably do something.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin DeMers on March 7, 2011 at 6:15pm

I think one remake is ok, but if theres a second "oh ya i forgot to tell you..." then make them pay.

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Permalink Reply by Alun Evans on March 7, 2011 at 6:52pm

The customer is always right ... in their own mind that is! Customers ordering wrong, and how we deal with it, crosses a pretty tricky line. If a customer offered to pay for their mistake, like Jared mentioned, I would not charge them but chalk it up to reinforcing my faith in human nature. If they didnt offer to pay- it just shows us the other side of people I guess. I would in no circumstances try and make them pay. Being an owner I would rather wear the small cost of wrong orders than risk someones perception become a widespread reality about my business.

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Permalink Reply by sage on March 7, 2011 at 8:25pm

i agree with the general consensus here...it happens to us all, but i think attempting to charge a customer for an ordering error possibly leaves more of a sting with that customer than its worth trying to charge for.  we are conducting a "feel good" business, and charging for an omission like this just doesn't feel good.  i really think its one of those opportunities that at first looks like a loss, but in reality if done properly...can be turned into positive way to maintain a solid, repeat customer.

 

sage

the coffee hound

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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on March 7, 2011 at 8:42pm

yeah i'm not advocating charging, i was just curious what policies other shops had. i would definitely say something if i noticed a trend with a particular customer. 

 

although the whole idea seems like a vegetarian ordering a cheeseburger and then, after the plate is in front of them, exclaiming "i wanted a veggie burger!"

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Permalink Reply by Alun Evans on March 8, 2011 at 12:23am

Or worse...after the cheeseburger has actually been polished off entirely!!

Jared Rutledge said:

yeah i'm not advocating charging, i was just curious what policies other shops had. i would definitely say something if i noticed a trend with a particular customer. 

 

although the whole idea seems like a vegetarian ordering a cheeseburger and then, after the plate is in front of them, exclaiming "i wanted a veggie burger!"

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Permalink Reply by Tom Mohr on March 8, 2011 at 12:14pm

Its Customer service I give a free drink and remake it

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Permalink Reply by Mitch Buckner - Bella Caffe on March 8, 2011 at 7:27pm

I once had a customer drop a quarter in their drink & asked for a new one. I made them the new one & went to had it to them, the took it, turned around & walked off. Didnt say a word, no thanks for any offer to pay for it. Acted like it was my fault they dropped a quarter in their drink. This was also a 40 something year old woman driving a 70000.00 vehicle. I wouldnt have charged her for the drink even if she offered to pay for it but the fact that I didnt even get a Thank you, but instead was treated like it was my fault...Im just glad she didnt come back. I've also had a customer that has ordered a sandwich a certain way once in the past get mad at me for not making it the same way 2 weeks later & ask for it to be redone. Again, no charge...and no Thank you. So, as a rule, I wouldnt charge for someones mistake but dangit people, at least offer to pay for at least give them a Thank you! If I screwed up ordering something, I would just eat it! Or drink it as it may be.

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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on March 8, 2011 at 11:34pm

Yup, when customers are idiots us owners take it in the shorts as usual.

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Permalink Reply by Sandy Hon on March 9, 2011 at 1:08pm

and be certain that whoever is taking orders, is REPEATING the order back to the customer (with eye contact).

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Permalink Reply by Louise on March 10, 2011 at 4:15am

does it really happen everyday? in my case i found it rare maybe once a week or in a rush time only. I think the cashier or barista should ask every customer with the detail question to prevent some loss like that. Its people who we served anyway, whenever the customer feel we are unable to give them what they want, they will mark us 'bad services' coffee shop or even worse.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Meece on March 10, 2011 at 6:02am

I was a barista in a coffee shop located way to close to a campus so I got to see this trick in action daily. Customers would come in and they would order a drink and pay. Then like magic as soon as that money has changed hands they would start throwing the modifiers on it. Oh can you add this or that (all of which cost extra). They first time I always tried to let it slide and just let them know to please tell me when I was ringing them up. After that I would watch those same people try to pull it again and again so I started telling them if I did that I would have to charge them the extra amount for the modifiers and run there card again or take more cash. That usually put a stop to it.

 

My adivce is that the best thing you can do is remember these people who try this remember there drink, preferences, and face. Then when your ringing them up for the same thing next time and they don't ask for these modifiers ask them if they want it. I would always say something like "You normally get this with soy right?" just because it would make them feel remembered and important and not screw my shop out of money daily. 

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