I just yelled at the coffee cart girl!

[sheffy4]

I feel so bad! I was at the coffee cart outside the library at my university, and I ordered a cappuccino and paid the guy at the register, then I went around the corner to where they put the newly-made drinks. The girl making the drinks was doing fine, until she gave this guy his two drinks and they started talking.
Two other girls and myself were waiting for our drinks to be made.
She continued talking with the guy, not even trying to make drinks at the same time. It might have been only a minute or two, but it seemed like eternity, and I started fuming inside! I think what irritated me the most is that she didn't seem to care that other people might be waiting for the coffee. It just seemed inconsiderate (not to mention bad customer service).
Plus, I work at a coffee shop, so I know the importance of getting people's drinks made quickly!
Arg! So finally I yelled to her, "I'm Sorry! Can you please make our coffees now?" It might sound not that bad in type, but it sounded mean when I said it.
I'm sure I embarrassed her, and I felt bad. So, after that she made our coffees and I slinked away, also embarrassed.
Should I apologize to her if I see her again? I don't want to be that "mean" customer that she hates. But then again, I feel justified in what I said. I just wish I hadn't said it the way I did.

[Jennihul]

Yipes! I guess you needed that caffeine badly...

I just accept that good coffee takes a long time to make. Good coffee is the only kind I ingest. Consequently, through my joyous mood and anticipation of the best coffee I can get, and in good support for the law of attraction, Starbucks makes mine so fast, it's ready when I walk in the door, providing that they see me park my car....

That kind of service doesn't come from being a poopyhead, though.

I would not only apologize, I would lick her shoes and buy her a present.

Jennifer

[Plato]

LOLOLOL, oh dear!

If it was me I'd probably do it again.

[garentee]

The customer is always right even when they are wrong..... They are the reason that the business is there in the first place.

[Steve Pavlina]

Perhaps if you're yelling at people who get in the way of your fix, it might be time to break the addiction.

You'll probably be less violent when you aren't doing drugs.

[PianoManGidley]

Originally Posted by garentee

The customer is always right even when they are wrong..... They are the reason that the business is there in the first place.

That's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard. I've been working in retail for almost a year and a half now, and I can tell you that the customer is NOT always right. In fact, I find it's maybe a 50/50 chance of them being right about any given thing. And just because they're wrong doesn't necessarily mean they should be made to feel right. But maybe part of this is because I've been working in a pet store, where we employees (and the owner especially) are more concerned with the well-being of the animals with which we deal than the customers themselves (even though we ARE concerned a good deal about the customers). If a customer comes up to me and starts telling me about how their Graceful Chameleon is from a desert climate and doesn't need to be misted down and never needs a fluorescent UVB light, I'm NOT just going to go along with it so that they feel "right." What's more, I decided a long time ago that if I'm ever in a position where I feel I have to choose between my dignity and my job, then I'll choose my dignity, even if it means ripping into the most self-righteous idiot of a customer imaginable.

But to take your argument to its logical extreme, say I'm a customer--doesn't matter where, just pick a place--and I'm buying something. So, I'm at the register, and the item is scanned, displaying the total I need to pay. I say to the employee "That price is wrong--this item is FREE! In fact, YOU are gonna pay ME $50 just to take it off your hands! And your nametag is wrong--your name is Steve!" (when I can clearly see the employee's name is Charlotte). And hey, the store has to honor me, right, because the customer is ALWAYS right, even when they are wrong.

As for the original poster here: I'd say go ahead and apologize next time you see her.

...I feel justified in what I said. I just wish I hadn't said it the way I did.

That's the key thing here, I think.

[garentee]

The person who was "making " the coffee had no right whatsoever to ignore the customer who is the sole purpose that she is there in the first place. if I ignored the customer like that I would not have to worry about them after a while because there would be no more customers. It is just plain rude to ignore someone while you are being paid by someone else to provide a service. I do not think for a second that you would see this the same way if you owned your own business. They call it Customer service for a reason.
Your extreme case is unlikely to happen,and like everything in life there are exceptions to rules....in that case I would have set my boundaries with said customer and if they did not agree with my set of rules I would refuse to sell to that person. I have done it before... but certainly not if they were being ignored. It is vastly important to remember who pays you when you are in a situation where you are waiting on people. Perhaps Pianoman the retail world is not your calling.

[robc]

Yes she was very lax in her attitude & work but it is just coffee, yelling at someone for not getting a coffee in under 5min. just seems to be wrong.
Plus instead of yelling, how about just asking the question, "Excuse me miss, I ordered a coffee 3 min. ago, is it ready yet?", if anything that would just as effectively interrupt her discussion with her friend and get her back to the task at hand without involving yelling, arguing and bad feelings.

No matter how good the coffee is, it's never worth yelling at someone for.

How about if she had a horrible day after that, was it worth the coffee.
Did the coffee make you feel that much better after you rec'd it? I doubt it, after yelling at someone I'm sure you weren't feeling that great either, how enjoyable could a good cup of coffee be if you just yell at someone before drinking it?

All you're doing is setting up a pattern of behavior, yelling for something that you want and in this case a coffee that was maybe worth a couple of bucks.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I agree that you had every right to say something to her. Of course you already know you could have done it a better way. Just apologize sincerely the next time you go get coffee. Hopefully she won't spit in your cappuccinos from now on...

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by sheffy4

But then again, I feel justified in what I said.

Why is that? What is so terribly unjust about her two minute chat with a friend? If you were her friend, would you not have liked her to strike a conversation with you? Even if it had to be brief because there were other customers...

You reap what you sow (tired old adage, I know, but it's true). If you want to be treated with kindness and respect, treat others with that same kindness and respect.

[Rose of Cairo]

JIM!!!!


Glad to see you.

[PianoManGidley]

Originally Posted by garentee

The person who was "making " the coffee had no right whatsoever to ignore the customer who is the sole purpose that she is there in the first place. if I ignored the customer like that I would not have to worry about them after a while because there would be no more customers. It is just plain rude to ignore someone while you are being paid by someone else to provide a service. I do not think for a second that you would see this the same way if you owned your own business. They call it Customer service for a reason.
Your extreme case is unlikely to happen,and like everything in life there are exceptions to rules....in that case I would have set my boundaries with said customer and if they did not agree with my set of rules I would refuse to sell to that person. I have done it before... but certainly not if they were being ignored. It is vastly important to remember who pays you when you are in a situation where you are waiting on people. Perhaps Pianoman the retail world is not your calling.

You're damn right it's not my calling. But I have a Bachelor of Music in Composition, no one's interested in my music, and I don't wanna teach...so what am I supposed to do about money? I have bills to pay and groceries to buy. But I can't stand working there anymore...so I put in my two weeks' notice at the pet store a week ago...so I only have one week left there. Still looking for a better-paying job, though.

And I agree with you on the fact that the girl shouldn't have been neglecting the customer--even though I don't want to do customer service myself anymore, it's still important to me that it's done right. I meant to say that in my earlier post in this thread. But at the same time, doing a good job of customer service doesn't mean you allow the customer to treat you like a doormat, talk down to you, etc. There's a balance there, because we're all human beings, regardless of our roles in our jobs, so we all deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect and dignity.

[sheffy4]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, and I probably should work on breaking my caffeine addiction.
I can't believe I was such an ass!

Why is that? What is so terribly unjust about her two minute chat with a friend? If you were her friend, would you not have liked her to strike a conversation with you? Even if it had to be brief because there were other customers...

Yeah, she has every right to talk to people, but I wish she would have kept working at the same time, instead of just putting everything on hold to chat with someone.

[Jim11]

I don't agree that it's "just a couple of minutes" and you should just wait. It should have just been said in a nicer manner.

People who make others wait unnecessarily seem ridiculous to me.

Example: someone holds up a plane for 5 minutes getting settled or for whatever reason. seems like no big deal, what's 5 minutes?

240 people on the plane x 5 = 1,200 minutes, or 20 hours. Good job wasting 20 hours.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by sheffy4

I feel so bad! I was at the coffee cart outside the library at my university, and I ordered a cappuccino and paid the guy at the register, then I went around the corner to where they put the newly-made drinks. The girl making the drinks was doing fine, until she gave this guy his two drinks and they started talking.
Two other girls and myself were waiting for our drinks to be made.
She continued talking with the guy, not even trying to make drinks at the same time. It might have been only a minute or two, but it seemed like eternity, and I started fuming inside! I think what irritated me the most is that she didn't seem to care that other people might be waiting for the coffee. It just seemed inconsiderate (not to mention bad customer service).
Plus, I work at a coffee shop, so I know the importance of getting people's drinks made quickly!
Arg! So finally I yelled to her, "I'm Sorry! Can you please make our coffees now?" It might sound not that bad in type, but it sounded mean when I said it.
I'm sure I embarrassed her, and I felt bad. So, after that she made our coffees and I slinked away, also embarrassed.
Should I apologize to her if I see her again? I don't want to be that "mean" customer that she hates. But then again, I feel justified in what I said. I just wish I hadn't said it the way I did.

Yeah. I wouldnt have yelled. But I would have told her that I didnt have all day to wait

[garentee]

Piano man,
You are absolutely right the customer has no right to be belligerent it certainly works both ways..in this case. But... we are all human and we all have our moments where things of this nature happen. Congrats on leaving your job.. You WILL find something else that suits you more. Just keep positive and it will show up. G

[jaamkie]

"break the addiction" aw cmon Steve!!! ok I'm a silly IT consultant, I live on judicious use of caffine (but not when I don't need it- need it to be effective for the all-nighters when the client changes their mind!)... I'd almost argue impatience comes from not managing caffine/time well enough to relax and be patient/enjoy the inevitable slow moments in life.

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by sheffy4

Yeah, she has every right to talk to people, but I wish she would have kept working at the same time, instead of just putting everything on hold to chat with someone.

In short: you wish she behaved more like you would - but she is not you.

Originally Posted by Jim11

People who make others wait unnecessarily seem ridiculous to me.

People are people, not robots who always do everything in the most time efficient manner. It seems ridiculous to me to get worked up about that...

Why add insult to injury by wasting time being angry about a few lost minutes?

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

JIM!!!!


Glad to see you.

Thanks for the warm welcome

[Stephen]

On second thoughts, I would have returned to the cashier and demended my money back and told them to stick their latte right up their americano

[Keith]

Originally Posted by sheffy4

Should I apologize to her if I see her again? I don't want to be that "mean" customer that she hates. But then again, I feel justified in what I said. I just wish I hadn't said it the way I did.

IMO, yes. IMO, you were justified in what you said, but not in how you said it and it's appropriate to apologise for that. "I'm sorry for snapping at you the other day" should be fine.

[silicon toad2000]

I wouldn't apologise, I would start shopping elsewhere for my coffee. There is a high probability that you aren't the first and won't be the last person to tell her to stop talking and do her job.

She should have been making the coffee in the first place. Employers pay people to do their jobs the way they want the job done. There is no way she was getting paid to stand around talking while customers were waiting.
Granted she may have been waiting while the froth machine was building up steam or waiting while some other machine was doing something integral to making your coffee.

[DayInTheLife]

I don't think it matters if your yelling was justified, or if her little conversation was justified.

You should apologize. Not because you were wrong, but because you feel bad. The simple act of saying "Hey, sorry I lost my temper the other day" would relieve you both of guilt and put both of you in a great mood. And it is almost guaranteed she will be more conscious of holding up the line with her small talk.

Do it, it will feel great.

[Angela]

DayintheLife, you are so powerful. I appreciate you very much!

[Jennihul]

How about let's pretend we don't live in America, the land of spastic time-obsessed freaks.

Then we can just be nicer to each other...


Jennifer

[silicon toad2000]

For me it's not about the time. It's about the perceived effort. I'm sure I could wait easily twice as long if the staff are doing their best than I could if they were just standing around.
I've waiting what seemed like an eternity before while about three staff at a food outlet were trying to get an eftpos machine working. They restarted it, changed the paper, unplugged it a few times, each time taking a while to restart. I was quite happy to wait as the delay wasn't directly their fault and they were doing everything within their power to rectify the situation. They apologised for the delay and I quite cheerfully said said no worries, not your fault.
When the delay is quite clearly the result of the staff neglecting their duties, it should be the cause of some angst. It defeats part of the purpose of buying coffee when you can probably grind the beans and percolate your own cup in the time you have to wait.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by seeker5

However, I don't think the girl was wronged by getting yelled out. She clearly wasn't doing her job properly.

That someone is not doing their job properly is IMO not a reason for yelling at them. There is just no valid reason for doing something as disrespectful as assaulting someone by yelling at them. Just my opinion.

Maybe in some countries in Europe it's ok for the customer service representative to ignore the customers, but where I live, it's not. If you don't want to take care of your customers promptly, then you go work somewhere else.

You can tell the girl, in a calm and friendly manner "Excuse me, I'm in a hurry, would you mind making this coffee I'm waiting for?" or "Excuse me, I'm feeling a bit disrespected by your chatting while we're all waiting. Would you mind making this coffee eventually?" I'm sure she'd do so dilligently.

There's no reason for treating her like crap just because she's not a perfectly functioning slave. People are human, and it would be healthier for everybody to relax a bit. Doing one's job is not such a holy duty that we can forget about respect.

Just my european view on it

[Jennihul]

See, I disagree. This isn't about caffeine and it's not about how fast or slow someone does their job.

It's about sheffy, 100%.

It's test, sheffy. Everything that happens to you that makes you angry is a test. Designed just for you. It's about you alone.

The coffee girl could be any "life challenge" and the caffeine could be anything you desire that is temporarily withheld from you.

Let's at least call a spade a spade.

Jennifer

[garentee]

Test or not it is still the responsibility of the gal to do her job to the best of her ability AND take responsibility when she is not.

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by garentee

Test or not it is still the responsibility of the gal to do her job to the best of her ability AND take responsibility when she is not.

That is true on a different level.

But whether she does her job well, or not, is a perception that each person in line makes based on their experience with her. But I doubt that each person in line will choose to berate her publically if she falls short, nor does she deserve that regardless of her performance.

So it's still 100% about sheffy and his choice to berate her. Which is really what he is asking about in his original post. Yes she sucked. But he is upset because he yelled at her. He's not asking for our approval for his behavior nor for us to help him justify it, which is what this thread is trying to turn into.

It's about the yelling, not the service.


Jennifer