hands off my cups and passive/aggressive accusations

[chainedbarista]

this weekend produced a pair of sc moments (one that could have some repercussions) that i probably won't forget any time soon.

friday, act I:

i've written about cups and why i don't like them being touched by customers, but this guy took the cake (and whipped cream).

he comes in, i can barely understand him through what he called speech: slurred mumblings that i had to decipher into "i spoke to you the other day about this...cold blended cappucinos."

um, no you didn't; i'm sure i'd remember something like that, since cappucinos are a HOT drink and are not blended. i'd also remember having a converstation with someone who's vocally challenged.

after we figure out what he's after (mocha frappucinos), he decides to show me what size he wants, instead of telling me...by touching the cups (OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!).

he puts his filthy, nasty ass hands on my cups. i get annoyed by this because it makes them unusable; i won't risk someone getting sick because some asshat couldn't simply TELL me what size they want.

i tell him, 'sir, don't touch the cups.'

he gets pissy and stomps out, baby tantrum style. no loss there.

saturday, act II:

guy comes in, orders two frappucinos, then makes a big deal about getting sugar free vanilla syrup in them (i'm thinking to myself, what's the point? you just ordered two drinks that are pretty much pure sugar to begin with...sugar free syrup saves you squat), but i start the order anyway.

he then proceeds to tell us that he wants shots added in and any extra to be put in a cup (important, because it's what triggers the passive/aggressive in this assboil). i make the drinks, put them in cups then put the blender in the sink for a rinse.

wherein cometh the suckage:

he then throws a semi-controlled hissy fit about the 'extra' (of which there was maybe a tablespoon) and tells me that he wanted it in a cup.

i tell him, 'there was nothing but a trickle left...' (basically, not even enough to fill a sample cup, 1 oz, and takes more effort to remove than is worth).

he starts to get pissy and goes passive/aggressive: 'it LOOKED like more than a trickle!' (with the tone of 'YOU'RE A LYING SACK OF CRAP, but without the actual cajones to fully say it).

i simply look at him, surprised at the level of pettiness it takes to get worked up over an amount that was not enough to get worried over. he grabs his drinks and leaves.

but wait, it's not over until the coward cries foul play:

his WIFE calls our store, to complain, demand a refund and inform us that they're 'filing a corporate complaint' over this issue.

all this...for less than a sample sized serving of frappucino.

[scary cary]

OH HELL NO! When people ask for shots in their frappucino we put a tiny bit of base in the blender, add however many shots, and then put more base in. NO EXTRA! I've had a woman ask me if she could see the blender and i held it up and she was just pissy and walked away. What a douchebag.
This goes right along with people wanting foam on their iced lattes

on a second note, how do your customers have access to cups? we keep ours in those dispenser things under the front counter.

[Tutorgal]

Most stores keep stacks of cups currently for use somewhere near the bar, so that the barista can grab them quickly and write down drink orders on them. Due to store design, this means that those stacks are within the reach of customers, who can lean over the counters to touch them.

[Sofar]

Ah yes, frequently when I get asked to make a milkshake, people say, ". . . and put anything extra in another cup." We of course make our milkshakes in these large metal cups which look much bigger than the paper cups in which we serve the milkshake, so people assume there must be a lot left over. Firstly, there's usually not that much left, and secondly, you paid for as much milkshake as would fit in a twenty ounce paper cup. If I accidently make more than twenty ounces of milkshake then I'm drinking the rest. You are not entitled to more than twenty ounces of milkshake just because I made too much.

And we got a pile of plastic forks on the counter, (used to have shiney steel ones with pretty curly-cues on, but people kept nicking them or throwing them out,) and people is always getting their grubby hands all over them, and I'm all like, W.T.F.? It is possible to remove one fork from the pile without touching every other fork.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't imagine anyone with any amount of experience is likely to make extra...(though when I made milkshakes at my college job I "accidentally" made extra just for me) - you learn pretty quick how much of each ingredient to use, and most cups have some kind of measuring marks anyway. I know at BN cafe they pour the frap mix into the cup, add ice, then pour it all into the blender, so there's never extra.

[Phone Jockey]

Extra? People are freaking about about not getting EXTRA for FREE? What a bunch of petty-ass idiots. You get what you pay for. Want more? Pay for more, freak!

[chainedbarista]

yep, after three plus years of this brain numbing job, i can eyeball amount well enough to leave a trickle left over.

the cups are near the register, so we can write them up as we enter the orders, however, some idjits consider this a 'free access' zone or something of that nature. those with terminal intellectual deficit seem to think that they're playthings as well.

the cheapest, meanest and most petty will scream about the extra, them and ONLY them...those are the ones i take the greatest delight in 'cheating them of the extra.' *because i'm mean and cruel... *

the realism challenged powers that be not only told us to comp their drinks, but to give them two, yes two sets of freebies. with this sort of nonsense, i'm beginning to wonder how long it will take them to finally realise that empowering the selfish, stupid, rude and scamming leads to financial disaster.

if only these morons in charge actually had to work at the stores that allow them to make the 'important' decisions, they'd revamp their whole stupid system.

by their reasoning, (just say yes) we would have to give a customer a free super expensive espresso machine for free if they asked for it, and would have to back this type of stupidity because it's THEIR policy. your creation, your frankenstein, corporate.

[walking with scissors]

he then proceeds to tell us that he wants shots added in and any extra to be put in a cup .

I think it was Denny's where my son ordered a milkshake and they brought him both the shake and the metal mixer cup with the overage in it. It's that kind of unexpected niceness that that gives the entitlement whores even more ideas for their idiotic demands. I, too, was under the impression that when I paid for a certain sized drink that I was going to get enough product to fill that sized cup. Otherwise, why not order a tall and scam the extras for a venti?

[Gurndigarn]

I think it was Denny's where my son ordered a milkshake and they brought him both the shake and the metal mixer cup with the overage in it. It's that kind of unexpected niceness that that gives the entitlement whores even more ideas for their idiotic demands.

I would call that good customer service, not something that's bad. Yeah, it can be rough on the employees at places that don't do it, but that's life in the competitive business world.

Incidentally, a number of above-fast-food places do this. I've seen it at other places, too.

I, too, was under the impression that when I paid for a certain sized drink that I was going to get enough product to fill that sized cup.

So they have smaller milkshake cups than the amount of milkshake they give as a policy. Oh, well. There is a quite serious possibility that they couldn't find appropriately-sized, appropriately-themed* milkshake cups to fit the amount of product they want to give** that didn't cost too much/weren't able to fit in the dishwasher/whatever other problem they encountered.


* Probably not a problem at Dennys, admittedly, but like I said, they're not the only place I've seen the give-them-the-expected-extra at.
** Hooray for the supersizing of America (or anywhere else).

[Sofar]

It seems that a pivotal point in the business plan of your coffee shoppe relies on people not asking for free stuff.

Our metal cups are bigger than the paper cups so we don't have to fill them to the brim, which would cause the centra-figgle force to spill the milkshake everywhere. I'm usually pretty good at eyeballing it except we fill the metal cups with ice-cream beforehand and keep them in the freezer and add the flavorin's when it comes time to make the milkshake, and different flavors result in different amounts. Chocolate always comes up short and rather runny, but I always have extra Oreo.

[Deceptitech]

the realism challenged powers that be not only told us to comp their drinks, but to give them two, yes two sets of freebies. with this sort of nonsense, i'm beginning to wonder how long it will take them to finally realise that empowering the selfish, stupid, rude and scamming leads to financial disaster.

if only these morons in charge actually had to work at the stores that allow them to make the 'important' decisions, they'd revamp their whole stupid system.

by their reasoning, (just say yes) we would have to give a customer a free super expensive espresso machine for free if they asked for it, and would have to back this type of stupidity because it's THEIR policy. your creation, your frankenstein, corporate.

Where do you work? I want my free espresso machine.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I think it was Denny's where my son ordered a milkshake and they brought him both the shake and the metal mixer cup with the overage in it. It's that kind of unexpected niceness that that gives the entitlement whores even more ideas for their idiotic demands. I, too, was under the impression that when I paid for a certain sized drink that I was going to get enough product to fill that sized cup. Otherwise, why not order a tall and scam the extras for a venti?

I think a lot of sit-down places do this; generally they only have 1 size glass. If you're in a Starbucks-type place for the most part the cups are meant to be taken out of the store after they are paid for.

I can't believe they would agree to give so much free stuff just because a customer complained they didn't get MORE than they asked for and paid for. If I were the corporate person I'd have laughed them off the phone.

The only place I will reach over the counter and grab a cup is at my last store's cafe, and that's only because I know the people working there. And when I do it it's usually because the cup overflowed and it's usually just easier to slip the whole thing into a clean cup. That store has those spring-loaded cup dispensers under the counter next to the register so they can mark the cups as they take orders, but they also keep extra cups and lids piled at the end next to the espresso machine (but they are not on top of the counter, and they are upside down so at least you can take one without touching the rims).

[chainedbarista]

the worst part of it is that even more of our working space will be taken up (because workspace and storage space just aren't necessary, because supplies are held interdimensionally and product appears from the sky) by warming ovens for sandwiches.

after may, i'm really gonna hate life here...

that's just the thing; if we tried to explain anything to these types, they'd complain, saying even worse things, because the customer is always right, even when they're lying, rude, passive/aggresive, cowardly bastards who're trying to scam freebies