No, It’s Okay, It’s Not Like I Was Standing There or Anything

I’m at the point where I’m starting to think that no matter how long I work customer service, I will never understand people. It’s as if the moment I put on that green apron, I become invisible outside the field of serving people. I was cleaning the doors the other night, okay. And it was pretty obvious what I was doing; I had the bottle of glass cleaner and was spraying the glass and wiping it down. We have two doors at my store, and I was cleaning them one at a time, inside the store, then outside the store.

So of course, what does this mean? People constantly chose the door I was cleaning to enter/exit the store. Seriously? And it’s not just that they were on the same side of the door as I was, which is mildly more acceptable than what else was happening: they were literally pushing the door into my face!! Or they would have, had I not moved out of the way. They also pulled the door away from me, but I can’t get over the fact that people were actually unobservant/uncaring enough to push the doors into me as I was cleaning it!!

They just completely ignored me, I didn’t even get apologies. Please, try to be aware of what people are doing. Just because we’re in service, doesn’t mean we’re servants. I’m working my way through college, but that doesn’t really matter. Have some respect and care towards people around you, and pay attention. At the very least, we deserve to be treated as people, not furniture. Next time don’t be surprised if I “accidentally” spray you with the windex when you’re walking through the door.

On How Customers Presume We Can’t Do Our Job

At my store, we have our cups sitting in between the registers. This makes it quicker and easier to write orders and send them to bar than walking all over the back of the register station fetching different cups. These cups are for us, the baristas, not you, the customers. I’ve posted before about things behind the bar being for barista use and not customer use, due to general politeness and sanitation issues. But this is a slightly different issue, as these are more in view, and reach, of customers.

Customers at my store have developed this really aggravating and condescending habit of grabbing a cup when I ask them what size they want! Or they start by grabbing a cup from the container and handing it over with a patronizing little smile when I greet them and then ask to take their order. Or take cups and compare before making their decision!
I don’t think I can properly articulate how annoyed I get when this happens. I understand how maybe they think they’re being helpful or nice by grabbing a cup for me, but all it is is unsanitary, rude, condescending, and quite frankly, slowing me down.

I know how to do my job, that’s why it is my job and not yours. So don’t try to do it. You ‘helping me out’ is just slowing me down and stressing me out—not conducive to you having a quick and pleasant coffee stop.

Sure, you might think customers handing me cups would speed things up, but now instead of me taking a cup and getting the drink or writing it down, it then has to be handed back to me after being taken and I have to set it up after that (getting a sleeve, turning it to the cup markers; things that I already do efficiently with less time and prep). So do us all a favor, and stop helping. You’re the customers, not the baristas. Don’t try to do our job unless you’re wearing that apron.

On a side note, we are now wearing bright red holiday aprons!! I am very excited and wear it every shift I work, mainly because firstly it’s a nice change and secondly red is my favorite color. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there!

A Few Notes On Drink Ordering

Please, use correct terminology when ordering. No, I am not referring to ‘tall, grande, and venti’; I could care less if you say ‘medium’.

But it is absolutely necessary to use the correct terms for ingredients when ordering, in order to insure no confusion between you and the barista.

If you are unsure as to how to properly refer to something…as always, ask!

In all espresso drinks, ‘shots’ refers to espresso, not milk, not powders, and certainly not syrups (as many customers seem to think).

The other day I had a customer asking me how many shots (no modifier added, just the word ‘shots’) come in a grande mocha. Well tumblrettes, the answer is two. She only wanted half, so I asked if that was because of caffeine or taste (reason? all coffee drinks can come half-caffeine, half-decaffeine: half-caf). Then ensued a most confusing conversation about why she would want half-caf to how she was paying for both shots etc etc before I realized a critical component of the conversation: I was talking about espresso while she was talking about chocolate.

This can be a common problem, like when matcha was promoted as a ‘shot’ when all baristas refer to it in terms of ‘scoops’.

Now, in the situation above, with the lady’s mocha, was it possible for me to clarify from the get-go? Yes. But be aware, we baristas assume you know what you’re ordering and what you’re asking for unless otherwise strongly indicated. So when you apply a term that is used to the wrong component, we often won’t catch it or ask to specify; we would like to think customers actually know what they want and are capable of ordering it.

I have been gone for a while and I apologize—RL is a stern taskmaster and in between 30 hrs of work, being a full time student, being involved on campus, and getting bronchitis (again) I have not had a lot of spare time, but I will get back to a regular posting schedule.

On another note, I now open AND close, so fun times abound at my Bux.

To get us back on track…

http://buxybarista.tumblr.com/ask

http://buxybarista.tumblr.com/ask

http://buxybarista.tumblr.com/ask

http://buxybarista.tumblr.com/ask

Give me questions! I will give you answers. :)

Go forth, enjoy your coffee!

My Deepest Apologies + I Am Not An Interior Decorator; I Make Coffee

There is not really an excuse for my prolonged absence.

Mostly my personal life has been a little crazy, between family and school. Work has also been very stressful. We lost our District Manager, had an interim DM, just got a new one, I got promoted (I am now a shift supervisor. Joy), people left and we had to hire and train new people, everyone was sick so I worked overtime for a month more or less, everything just kinda happened at once!

I suppose it’s true what ‘they’ say: When it rains, it pours.

So I am very sorry and will try very hard to resume posting at least on a semi-regular basis.

I’ll try to make it up a little right now with the most recently prominent customer aggravation: Customers who think they own/run/live in the store.

I’m not honestly sure whether other stores have this problem, but customers at my store act like it’s their house. I’ve touched on this subject before, between how they treat baristas, take things (we actually had a customer steal sugars, straws, and a milk carafe from our condiment bar last week. Seriously?!), etc.

But this is something a little different. We recently got some new furniture in my store. It didn’t replace the old furniture, it’s in addition to our already full lobby. So we had a few days where we were trying to figure out where to put it all and how to situate it. I spent an entire weekend listening to customers complain and give their ideas on where we should put the tables and chairs! I couldn’t believe the presumptuousness. Yes, customers come first. Yes, I want my customers to feel welcome and happy.

But things got a little out of control with this. It was as if customers who either spent hours a day at the store or came in every day thought they had the right to decide and dictate our interior decorating!!

A small list of some of my favorite things customers did:

• Draw schematics on their iPads. Please note, dear Tumblr users, that customers routinely rearrange tables and chairs to suit computer use, party size, etc. So no lay out stays constant beside general proximity to a certain area. But, my store is open 18 hrs. So in one day tables and chairs can and do literally move to the other side of our admittedly generous lobby.
• Suggest a timer system/time limit! Certain tables (or all tables) would have a time limit, complete with timer and sign in sheet. I don’t believe I can fully express how ridiculous this is. First, how are we supposed to monitor it? Second, what customer would want to stay when knowing they would be asked to leave 30 minutes later? We don’t have authority, besides, to kick people out or anything like that for these sorts of reasons as per company code. The reason was to free up tables and ensure an equal chance so people would feel ‘welcome’…but a sign in sheet/time limit isn’t welcoming either.
• Have a webcam and a live stream linked to our website so people could check online if there were spots in the lobby!!! I kid you not, my readers, someone actually suggested this. I was torn between staring open-mouthed in shock at the outrageous audacity of that suggestion and laughing uproariously at the thought. Beyond the logistics of it, ie getting a webcam, streaming it, etc, it’s not our jobs to provide seating. It’s our job to make coffee. Ignoring those reasons, let’s go to the most obvious objection. I won’t even touch on the creepiness/stalking factor, or the potential dangers regarding robbery. We don’t have customers’ permission to do that, put them on the web like that. They’re not in public, but in ‘private’, since it’s a business establishment. Having minors in the lobby especially would preclude this being an option. The legal clusterfuck that could occur from this is huge and one I certainly don’t even want to come close to touching.

There were a few other, I’m sure, along with both complaints and compliments in general. Either way, customers were obsessing about it a little too much in my opinion; it’s not their house, they don’t get a say, quite frankly. A smaller example of this unfounded proprietary feeling customers get is the regular customer who ripped a sign from our doors that stated an hours change for Easter Sunday.

I almost wish we didn’t have a lobby so that people wouldn’t act like they could do anything they wanted just because they spend so much time there. On the other hand, maybe if they paid rent, I would be willing to reconsider and maybe give them all a vote….hmm….ideas to ponder………..

Crazies Like Their Coffee; Or, On The Merits Of Semantics In A Coffee Shop

The other morning at work we noticed a customer sleeping in the lobby.

Sadly, this happens a little more than we would prefer and this particular customer had been acting a little strange when he ordered and paid. My shift got the impression he was under the influence. So when we noticed him passed out in the lobby at 6 something am, we had to do something. My shift does not hold with people using our store as a hotel.

Thus, I was dispatched to wake him up and kick him out, if necessary. I asked, by the way. I wanted the somewhat visceral thrill of the illusion of power in my job. I freely admit it. Anyway. I head into the lobby and into the back of it, over to his chair. I lean over a little, and say “Excuse me, sir. Sir, Sir. Excuse me. Sir!”. He starts awake, cheap Ray Bans sliding down his nose. “Wh-what?” he stutters.

I then explain he’s not allowed to sleep in the lobby, that people have to be awake/conscious to be in our store. His indignant, defensive response? “I wasn’t sleeping, I was napping. It wasn’t like I was staying over night. I was just a little tired” and at this point, I cut him off. “Well, sir, it doesn’t matter if you’re ‘sleeping’ or ‘napping’, you have to be awake to be in here. If not, you’ll have to leave and go somewhere else”.

Next, he yells something unintelligible, probably about the cops or napping or rainbows for all I care, jumps out the seat, and proceeds to scatter newspapers all over that section of the lobby in his desperation to escape the chair. He then runs out of the lobby, and hits the front doors, unable to open them for a second or two, pulling futilely where it says ‘push’. Once he finally comprehends the door mechanisms, he yanks one open and rushes into the parking lot.

Where he proceeds to run around in circles before disappearing to thankfully-someplace-that-wasn’t-my-store.

In conclusion?

1. All the crazies come to my store

2. Coffee isn’t the only drug people apparently consume at Starbucks.

So kiddies, be careful!

Calls of Nature

Okay, so bathrooms. Rather important things, or so I like to think. I don’t have a problem with customers coming in solely to use the restroom, seriously. I do it too. But please at least acknowledge the baristas when doing so.

Stomping by to reach the bathroom without responding to a ‘Good evening, how are you?’ or some variant….RUDE. And then you come back out and walk out the door without saying a word? Really now? Please don’t. If you are just using the restroom, talk a little to the baristas; ‘I’m fine, how are you?’, ‘Just going to use the restroom’, ‘Thank you guys’.

Those little phrases go a loooooong way.

Also, as to the bathrooms being locked…it means there’s someone in there!!! If you needed a key to get in, there would be a sign posted. I promise. It’s like that everywhere; a sign means you need a key or token or make a purchase while no sign means if it’s locked…..SOMEONE IS IN THERE.

Why is this such a hard concept to grasp? I get asked numerous times a shift if the bathrooms need a key (or am outright told to get the key *eye roll*). Come on, people. Use your brains, think a little. Surely you don’t think you’re the only person who needs to use the bathrooms, do you? What does the door being locked typically mean? Someone is using it.

If you are desperate to use the bathrooms, by the way, you can use the other gendered bathroom. My store has two, a male and a female. Both lock, the female has two stalls. But people are oddly hesitant to use the other restroom. Even when our male one was out of order, guys didn’t want to use the female one, lock-capability and all. They complained endlessly! It’s just a bathroom!!!

ps: If you’re in the bathroom, and hear someone knock, then try the door….you might want to consider saying something. Either it’s a fellow customer whom you can keep from bothering the baristas about the non-existent key, or it’s a barista attempting to clean and you’re wasting their time. Also, lock the damn door. If you don’t, it’s especially necessary to say something in case of a knock or the doorknob turning….because yes, I have walked in on people.

DRINK PICK UP ETIQUETTE/BAR ETIQUETTE

Please tell me, honestly, why customers seem to think that if I’m working bar, I am not that busy and am free to drop whatever I’m doing, because it’s clearly not important, and instead cater to their every desire? This will have a few points, but let me preface it with this: none of you ever stop to think that if another customer demanded I do something in the middle of making your triple venti no foam nonfat 8 pump mocha with a smidge of caramel, and I did, thereby ignoring YOUR drink, you’d be pissed. Yet you do it others…..odd that. But to the points:

a. Did I ring you up? No. Do I look like I have access to money? No. Did I take your order? No. Then do not bother me about your total!!! When I have 15 drinks to make and you were overcharged or got incorrect change….why didn’t you mention it at the register?! Coming to me will not solve your problem. When it’s slow, and/or if you’re polite, I will tell my till partner the issue, and they will help you. If it’s busy, and/or you’re rude, I will tell you this: ‘Talk to the person at register, I can’t help you’ or some variant of. And yes, it will sound curt. Because it is.

b. On that note, don’t ask me for forks. Or spoons. Or knives. Or plates. Did I hand you your coffeecake? No. Am I by the pastry case? No. So logic would dictate that I am not by any of those items. But wait, I forgot. Not only do you lack logic, you can’t function without caffeine. My bad. In this case, I will once again refer you to my till partner: ‘ask at the register, they’ll get it for you’. From me, you won’t even get a ‘nice day!’…not until you pick up your drink.

c. Further….once again I ask, did I take your order? No. Did I accept money from you? No. Then if you didn’t get your pastry, coffee, or tea…don’t ask me! That is not my current assigned job, I have other things to do. Like make your double blended light ice extra caramel light whip caramel frappuccino light. Venti, but in two tall cups. So no, I can’t get your damned croissant. Once again I say, ‘ask the person on register!!!’

d. And here we go again: do you have my sandwich? NO, I DO NOT HAVE YOUR SANDWICH. Do I look like I have a friggin oven by me? No. I don’t. How did you expect me to heat it up? Stick a steam wand in it? Please. You’ve got to be kidding me! My most common response is a hidden sigh, then ‘other counter, white bag, have a nice day’. Literally that many words.

e. NEVER slam an empty carafe on my hand off counter and stand and glare until I get you a new one. I didn’t use all the half&half….the 8 customers ahead of you did. Not saying anything will piss me off. I will finish what I’m doing and then get your damned cream. Saying ‘get more’, ‘I need half&half’, etc will get you a longer wait. If I have a floater (an unassigned partner doing miscellaneous tasks during busy periods—calling the line, rebrewing coffee, warming food, stocking, etc) I will call it to them and they will get it. If I don’t have one, but I do have ten drinks, I will prep all those drinks, then get your milk.

Very few customers are nice when asking for a new carafe, and I don’t understand why. It won’t kill you, and if you’re super polite, I’ll be either be super quick about running all the way to the backroom or pour some of whatever you need from my fridge and tell you sorry. But you’re rude and demanding and piss me off. So you get to wait. I don’t have munificent free time to get whatever you need, because while it is my job to serve you, I have to serve all the other customers too.

f. Don’t leave dirty dishes on my hand off counter!! Or in front of my Mastrenas (my espresso machines)—I can’t see that area! Actually, let’s revise that to don’t leave trash or mess of any kind there. It’s small, constantly used, etc. Also, there’s a trash can 3 ft behind you AND on your way out the door. Was the straw wrapper really that heavy, that you couldn’t carry it that far? That’s right, I didn’t think so. Pick up after yourself; I’m not your maid.