May I help you? Are you finding everything you need? It looks like the tag was marked wrong, but I can go ahead and honor the lower price anyway. Statements like these are what attract people to a business. Most national chains have very specific guidelines for customer service, but those guidelines are not always sufficient to compensate for every arrogant teenager who dons their cap. If a business really could anticipate what every teenage employee was going to do, they could start a new business selling their secret.
Last night my wife and I stopped by a widely recognized nationally branded coffee shop that for some reason thinks the terms small, medium, and large are inadequate, so they coined new phrases that mean exactly the same thing, but confuse those of us who don’t drink coffee.
In an effort to keep our marriage strong, we go out on a date once a week. In an effort to keep our dates cheap, we use gift cards that we have collected for various reasons whenever possible.
Last night happened to be a gift card night, so we ended up at a coffee shop and ordered some kind of tall venti hot chocolate. (Whatever that means.) As we sat down in one of the overtly trendy lounge chairs I noticed that, with the exception of one other couple, we were the only customers in the store. The drive-thru line was even quiet, so in my head, I envisioned excellent customer service. Then came the bearded high school barista. Shortly after we were nestled into the enveloping cushions of the overtly trendy lounge chairs, our order was ready. Given the sparse clientele, I assumed that the bearded high school wonder would either bring us our drinks, or at the very least, say something like, “Sir, your drinks are ready.”
Apparently, company protocol trumped common sense for the moment and I heard someone call out something about a grande venti hot chocolate or something along those lines. Whatever it was that he said, it was clear that he was describing the drink he was setting on the counter at the opposite end of the store from where we were sitting. After placing the hot beverage on the counter and shouting out its name, he walked back toward the counter area next to us and began to wipe off some imaginary coffee drips from some sort of silvery looking apparatus.
“I think that must be ours way down there,” I said to my wife.
“Must be,” she said looking around to see who else could have ordered something with a concocted name that involves a vent. After the long walk right past the helpful barista, to retrieve our drinks, we once again settled in for some quality time together. After I had sipped my drink down to about a tall status, I glanced out the window and saw a car drive up and park in the closest spot to the door.
Must be a customer, I thought to myself. As she walked through the door, I expected to see her step up to the counter and order some sort of exotic coffee-type beverage with a shot of grape soda, but she had other plans. Stepping behind the counter, she squealed and giggled as she hugged each of the three male baristas before donning a green apron and acting like she was going to do some kind of work. “Did that employee just take the closest parking spot to to the front door? I asked myself in disbelief.
Now granted, I’ve never worked in a coffee shop, but shouldn’t common sense dictate that employees not park in the best spot? That should be saved for the paying customers. Maybe the reason so many of their ubiquitous stores are closing has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with a lack of common sense among giddy, self-absorbed teenagers who do their bosses a disservice by showing up to work each day.
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