Back at the Bou...

[EmilyRose1982]

Hey all, I'm back! And I'm also back at the coffee shop. I did my student teaching last fall and received my teaching license in December, but life happened, and I haven't had the time nor energy to do any serious job hunting.
So to make some money in the meantime, I've returned the the insanity that is retail.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I've already had a handful of SC's.

Here are a few tidbits I had recently.


Um, what?

Two ladies came in and ordered bakery items and two drinks. One of them ordered a large caramel cappuccino.
Everything was fine, they sat down for a bit, ate their bakery items, etc.
When they stood to leave, cappuccino lady came back to the counter, holding her drink in that way.
SC: This tastes funny.
Me: Oh! I'm so sorry about that, what's wrong with it? (I have to know this, so know how to fix it of course!)
SC: It tastes like [I]coffee.[I]
Me: .....................Well....it should, there's four shots of espresso in there.
SC: There is?
Me: Yup! A large cappuccino has four shots, plus steamed milk and a bunch of froth.
SC: Oh.....okay.
And she left. I was standing there scratching my head for a few minutes. Who orders a cappuccino, thinking there's no coffee in it?


More information please...

As I said in the above story, if someone wants their drink remade, I MUST know what's wrong with it! Sigh.

I made this particular SC a medium vanilla latte. She comes back a few minutes later with the catbutt face.
Me: Can I help you?
SC: This tastes funny.
Me: Oh gosh, I'm sorry. Well I can remake it for you. What's wrong with it?
SC: It tastes funny!
Me: Ok...is it bitter? Is it too sweet?
SC: I don't know, it just tastes wrong!
Me: *rinse, repeat previous questions*
SC: *tastes it again, even more catbutt face, smacking her lips* It's not sweet enough.
---At last! I get an answer!
Me: Ok, not a problem! *I take the latte from her, squirt some more flavoring in, stir it up with a straw and hand it back to her* How's that?
SC: *sips it suspiciously* Oh that's MUCH better! The full amount of vanilla wasn't in there!
--It was. She left, finally. Why must I pull teeth to get customers to give me more descriptive adjectives about their drinks?!?


I am not "they"

A woman comes in today, who doesn't speak English as her first language. I only mention that, because she refused to elaborate on her order due to discomfort with her second language. That being said...

Me: Hi! What can I get for you today?
SC: I need a chocolate caramel mocha.
---She said it so quickly the first time, I didn't catch it, so she had to repeat it.
Me: So you'd like a hot mocha?
SC: No, cold.
Me: So an iced mocha with a shot of caramel? Would you like the Turtle Mocha iced?
SC: I don't know, they always make it for me. They know what I get.
Me: But it has chocolate and caramel in it?
SC: Yes.
Me: Is it a cooler?
SC: I don't know! They always just make it for me!
Me: Well, is it over ice or is it blended?
SC: I don't know!

*So...you don't even know what your drink is???*

Me: Is it slushie, like a smoothie, or liquid?
SC: Slushie.
Me: Ok, so it sounds like a Turtle Mocha cooler.
SC: What's that?
Me: It's a blended coffee drink with chocolate, caramel, and it's topped with whipped cream and snickers.
SC: I don't like snickers!
Me: Oh, we can leave those off.
SC: That's not what they make for me.
*WHO THE F*** IS THEY?!?!?!??!?*
Me: *gritting my teeth* Ok, so we'll do a chocolate cooler with a shot of caramel?
SC: Okay.
*Alleluia!*

I make the drink, she tastes it.
SC: *smiles* Yes this is what they make me!
Me: Oh good, I'm glad *forced smile*

I went in the back and hit my head on the desk after that one. Sidenote: I was trying to save her some money by doing a no snickers turtle, but oh well!


Those are the only ones I can recall for the moment. More to come, I'm sure!

[Kheldarson]

Me: Yup! A large cappuccino has four shots, plus steamed milk and a bunch of froth.
SC: Oh.....okay.
And she left. I was standing there scratching my head for a few minutes. Who orders a cappuccino, thinking there's no coffee in it?

To be fair, depends on how often you go to coffee places, and if you really know the terms. Like I've learned that even frappuccino's are supposed to have coffee. But every time I went to my nearby Starbucks and ordered the one's I like, no coffee. Go to a new one and order...it has coffee. And then the barista got snippy with me when I came up all confused.

Don't know if she's a regular, but maybe she just didn't know what cappuccino meant?

[kpzra]

I had someone order a dry cappuccino before and then complain that there was only "lots of foam, and WHERE'S MY MILK!!!!!"

Please, know what you actually want when you order.

[AquaGirl]

I get the non description when I ask what's wrong with ny customer's water cooler. "What's wrong with it?" "It doesn't work?" "Is it not cooling the water?" "It doesn't work?" And to the above-no coffee in a frappucino? What the heck? I thought they all had coffee so now I'm confused too!

[Kheldarson]

Creme frappucino's don't have coffee. That's what I like. But I didn't realize there was a difference when they were first being made at Starbucks.

[Hyndis]

Ugh, I get this all the time where I work.

If its broke we can replace it for you, but I need to know what its doing first.

How is it broke? Whats it doing? Whats it not doing?

I don't need you to diagnose whats wrong with it, that is my job, I just need you describe what it is or isn't doing.

Its often times frustratingly difficult to pry this information out of people.

[Nyoibo]

Is it wrong I have this sudden urge to watch tourists in Italian cafes and laugh at the barristas reactions to their orders?

Or tourists reactions when they get their orders?

[Nayeli_Sabia]

I tend to avoid the Bou of Cara when I lived in that area, because I found the drinks too sweet(Either that, or I'd ask for less sugar/more espresso when we did stop there ^_^). I've found that, of course, some stores are sweeter than others with their coffees. With lady number one maybe she's used to a super sweet store? Still never an excuse for SC behavior.

[EmilyRose1982]

Ideally your drink would taste exactly the same at every Bou. Some stores may be guilty of not sticking with SOP (such as one new supervisor at my store, who used to be a manager. She was told to step down after they found out she was changing recipes and SOP left and right).

With regard to the creme frappuccino, that's crapbux weirdness. A cappuccino is the same wherever you go (in the USA at least) with exception being those cheap water + powdered coffee mix at gas stations.

Plus, that lady ordered her drink with such confidence, I was sure she knew exactly what she was getting.

[XCashier]

I wonder if any of these people are even reading the menu, or just spouting off some lingo they'd heard. When they order a capuccino and are shocked that it tastes like coffee, seriously, what the hell did you expect, gummi bears?

[dragon_wings]

I love my coffee. I just prefer lots of sugar and possibly lot of chocolate with it. Mocha all the way.

[Nayeli_Sabia]

EmilyRose1982, in full disclosure my preferred caffeine stop is the Brothers of Dunn. My sister in law is just as loyal to the Bou, and actually yelled at me one Christmas about how horrible the Brothers of Dunn is, all because otherSIL gave me a Brothers of Dunn giftcard. Of course, this in no way reflects on the Bou, my SIL is just crazy O_o.

[BrenDAnn]

This thread reminds me of the guy that came into the c-store once and complained about a cappuccino he'd gotten at a place such as where you work, EmilyRose. He was all upset cause the cappuccino had been mostly foam and he really didn't think it was cappuccino. "Not like this!" he claimed as he got the cheap stuff out of our dispenser. Amazing, isn't it?

[EmilyRose1982]

This thread reminds me of the guy that came into the c-store once and complained about a cappuccino he'd gotten at a place such as where you work, EmilyRose. He was all upset cause the cappuccino had been mostly foam and he really didn't think it was cappuccino. "Not like this!" he claimed as he got the cheap stuff out of our dispenser. Amazing, isn't it?

OMG I had a customer once in our drive thru who was confused such as your customer. It went something like this:

Me: *greeting spiel*
SC: Yeah, can I get a Large vanilla cappuccino?
Me: Sure thing, *repeats order* Can I get you anything else today?
SC: *long pause* Now, that's like the one at the gas station, right?
Me: Pardon?
SC: You make the cappuccinos just like the gas station?
Me: *hitting myself to make the mental pain physical* No, actually, we make real cappuccinos---shots of espresso, steamed milk and a good amount of frothed milk on top.
SC: So what do they make at the gas station!?!? Those are called cappuccinos!
Me: Those are actually hot water with a powder mixture added. It's just a type of instant coffee.
SC: Oh.....so can you make it like they do?
Me:

I don't remember how that ended, but I think we just made it the traditional way with less froth.


As for the Bros of Dunn, I've only had a drink there once, as there aren't any shops near my house. But I loved it! Unlike the few times I've been to Crapbux and wanted to ask for my money back every time.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I admit I am a total dork when it comes to ordering fancy coffee in a coffee shop, so I stick to the menu items and try not to go up to the counter till I've made my decision In this SC's case I think I would have been compelled to ask who she meant by "they"...as in, someone in this particular store, or somewhere else? If she said somewhere else I'd have cheerfully (at least outwardly, lol) asked if we could go through what she wanted step by step and then I'd write it down for her for next time.