Hopefully nobody minds me posting things about customer service or the hospitality realm in general.
I regularly buy coffee from International Coffee Traders (ICT) since I live a few blocks away and it's on my way to campus. Their coffee and baked goods are perfect. They're the only place that has bran and zucchini muffins, at least that I know of. I'd say I buy two drinks per week for about last seven months. Needless to say, I've spent possibly too much money on soy lattes.
Today after class I felt like treating myself since it was a busy week and a soy chai sounded delightful. I walk in and the barista doesn't say hi to me when I walk up to the counter, nor did she even say thank you after I paid. I felt myself get a little annoyed. How can I be a semi-regular and someone who more than likely recognizes my face can't put the tiniest bit of effort into her service?
I've come to think that this "no service kind of service" is deemed to be cool. Not cool in my standpoint though, and here's why: we live in a country that being independent is how we live. Hence, tipping is a large part of our culture. Did I ever tip in Finland? Nope. It's not the way things work there and service was quite a bit less than it normally is here in the U.S.. There isn't an incentive to go above and beyond for one customer. So, when you're working for tips, wouldn't you want to be, at the very least, a little charming or nice? Since I'm not someone to stiff, unless they make me angry, I will always tip at least 15% even for coffee. And the person has to be pretty bad to not get 20%. Nova has the same kind of service, I'm frequently disappointed in it, but go back because the food is outstanding.
On another note, I also like to go to City Brew to study since it's open a bit later and has space to spread out. I might go in two to three times per month. And they always remember me, by name might I add. They even notice that my hair's grown out a little bit. Their service usually wow's me and they're consistently just kind. If I lived out that way, I'd definitely go there more often.
I'm tired of being annoyed with the lack of service at ICT that I'm trying to avoid it, unless I really want a bran or zucchini muffin. I'm starting to question my motives though. Did I create expectations based upon how I am? Did I make these up because of my hospitality experiences? I have worked in a restaurant since I was 16, so maybe I do expect a little too much. But on the other hand, I'm still able to be blown away by another place. And that's where competition takes a huge role in our society: I'm most likely going to go to City Brew whenever I can instead of ICT. Is this fair? Or am I just not ICT's "type" of customer?
No comments:
Post a Comment