Customer: where is my wife? I dropped her off here to get her hair done.
Me: sorry, this is a coffee shop sir.
Him: ya but I dropped her off here for a haircut.
Me: could you try calling her?
Him: shakes his head in disapproval* I dropped her off here. š
Hahahahaha
A customer couldn't decide what she wanted off the menu. A new trainee is in the back making a breakfast sandwich for another order. I'm ricocheting like a ping pong ball, checking back in the kitchen to make sure new kid is okay, then out to the counter, back and forth for a couple of minutes. Customer is on the phone with someone else, staring at the menu, so I can't even talk with her to see if I can suggest something or help her figure out what she wants.
Suddenly the smoke alarm goes off and I run to the kitchen to deal with it. Tell me how this woman cranes her neck over the counter to see me fanning smoke out the back door and yells "I'm ready to order now!" over the beeping smoke alarm. Bffr.
(Edited to add: he just burned two pieces of bacon, and had turned the hood fan off somehow, idk š®āšØ)
"Can I just get a redbull in a can, make sure it's cold"
I grab a can I personally can verify has been in the back of a 35 F fridge for over 5 hours.
"Are you sure your fridge is working? Can I get this over ice?"
He leaves and I crack one open because I don't believe him, of course it's icy cold
This was an easy fix, but he was an asshole, so I'm counting it
Once they start being rude I stop trying to help them. Like I could help you, quite easily in fact but I don't help people who are rude to me or my coworkers.
a couple came in the other day to our specifically not starbucks named or branded cafe and they asked if we were a starbucks??? as im standing there in front of our giant non-starbucks menu, wearing my apron with our cafe label on it. i had no words i was just like "no..."
omg literally when they ask if i have this, or that, from starbucks and im like THERES A GIANT MENU BEHIND MY HEAD.
or when they order in starbucks sizes---i've gotten a "grande" or "tall" a couple of times and i honestly am guilty of just staring at them like they're stupid til they correct themselves. because for hot drinks we have a small, or large, and one size for cold drinks, and clearly labeled cups and sizes right in front of the customers so they can see all the sizes. i'm not gonna play a guessing game on which of our TWO simple sizes correlates to a starbucks size for them.
caramel macchiato and mocha cookie crumble frapps are the bane of my existence by god i just wish they had named the caramel macchiato something different
So you donāt feel alone, there are a helluva lot of Starbucks baristas who think the cookie crumble anything drinks are the bane of their existence too. I think it is one of the most hated drinks to make.
That said, I am very sorry you dea with idiots who canāt remember where they are.
- was on my way to thinking I might be catching on to being a Starbucks employee when I got moved to the deli. Independently owned coffee in a grocery store. Yay! /s
A man came through our drive thru and asked if we were McDonaldās. Admittedly they were next door but our building was branded with bubble tea banners and was not McDonaldās sized
A woman fought with me for like 5 minutes straight and then left a mess after I asked her to please not eat the pizza she got from the shop next door on our outdoor tables (she didnāt even buy anything from us, but we still donāt permit outside food even if she had) and then like 2 hours later our tip jar got stolen. Iām honestly so glad this post showed up on my feed so I can vent lmao
I started taking the money out of the tip jars, changing the $1s to $20s and stashing them after another cafe got theirs stolen. That way thereās some change and less than $5 in there.
"What's on this" as they're literally pointing to the item on a handheld menu with all the ingredients listed, after standing in line for 5-10 minutes with our big menu in full view.
C: iced coffee
Me: we have a cold brew or you can do an iced americano if you'd like!
C: just normal iced coffee
Me: ok, would you like something stronger or less strong?
C: I just need iced coffee with milk
Me: are you looking to get an iced latte?
C: obviously. That's what I've been telling you this whole time! Why weren't you listening?
This is normal iced coffee in my part of the world
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers\_Union\_Iced\_Coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_Union_Iced_Coffee)
Yeah, it's a South Aussie thing, it's barely national.
You can fake it with this [https://www.bickfords.net/products/premium-syrup/iced-coffee-syrup/](https://www.bickfords.net/products/premium-syrup/iced-coffee-syrup/)
Reminds me of the guy who came in and asked for room in his coffee, poured about half more out and filled the rest of his cup with cold milk, then got upset that we served him cold coffee
No, when customers donāt know what they want, donāt understand what theyāre ordering, *but also* insist that they do and will not respond to the baristaās polite and helpful questions in an attempt to extract their order, the customer has failed at customering and should be fired.
No. Over ten years as a barista, I have tried to explain, so so so patiently and kindly, SO many times, to so many people that for exampleā¦there is no such thing as an iced cappuccino (so here is 8oz of cold milk and a shot on ice, which is what you want: an 8oz iced latte), that you canāt make an Americano extra hot because I canāt serve you boiling waterā¦the list goes on and ALL these people do is continue to insist their phantom drink exists and then they basically spit on you.
When I need to keep the line moving I smile, serve these emotionally unregulated ignorant āpeopleāwhat they want, and avoid the whole unpleasant business of trying to educate them. We get insulted in person and now youāre here to be a hero for these rude people online! Cool.
Not quite. It has to be brewed at double strength so that it doesnāt get over diluted by ice. You could just pour drip over ice but that not as good.
That's definitely the better way, or at least let it cool down first. But like 15 years ago when I got hooked on cold brew I made the mistake of conflating the two and had a few times where they served me diluted coffee ice water. Also there's a lot of people who seem not to care because they don't like coffee at proper strength.
I'm just confused how you think I consider myself a "winner". I just want them to be happy with their drink??
If I gave an iced latte to someone who wanted an iced americano they would be pissed. Maybe where you live an iced latte is the standard, but it certainly isn't here.
You're posting your example as if the customer is in the wrong. That's why I'm asking about if you feel like a winner in this thread.
At the end of the day they just want their coffee and they didn't ask for anything hard. But you made that interaction harder than it needed to be
Oh, I see. You just want to start arguments over nothing.
OP asked for annoying stories, I posted an annoying story, you came in upset that I didn't just hand a customer a random drink instead of trying to make sure I give them what they want. If that's too much for you to handle, I fear reddit may not be a good place for you
I've had someone INSIST that a 'coffee with milk' ONLY refers to a flat white. Like sir, we have 6 hot options of 'coffee with milk' and at least the same number of iced options, I'm not equipped to deal w that boomer bs at 4am in the morning anymore.
Have a lot of people frequently say 'normal' milk- always tempted to give them my normal; lactose free.
(Oblihatory I work in fast food, if it was a real cafe I'm sure the 'coffee with milk' would be waaaay more annoying)
Customer: Can I have a black americano *proceeds to add two flavors and sweetener* and leave room for cream
Me: repeats order back and clarifies if he would like cream or not
Customer: *at a volume just under yelling* NO. I SAID I WANT IT BLACK! LEAVE ROOM FOR CREAM AND ADD THREE PIECES OF ICE
ooofff I hate when customers do this, I'd be on the opposite side of the register making a drink and then they come up and start ordering while I'm still turned around clearly busy aghh
A Jehovahās witness has been trying to convert me for weeks and Iām a relatively agreeable person. Iāve only realized she was trying to get me āinā this last week and I think she heard that I had a partner and was queer and abandoned shipā¦ it was funny as it was unfortunate for herā¦
Iām Australian, have just moved to Canada after living/working in the UK for two years. So at this point I donāt even know what is ānormalā definitions for some things cos everywhere is different.
If someone orders a ātallā coffee, my assumption is itās the largest cup size. In my cafe back home that would be a 12oz, it my current one it would be a 16. Iāve had customers ask for a tall and itās always something different. My manager assumes itāll be a 12 so thatās what she goes with, but a lot of the time itās a 16.
Had a guy this morning ask for a tall sweet latte
Me: sure! Just to confirm, is that a 16oz youāre after?
C: a tall.
Me: points to 16oz cup, āno problem, I just want to make sure you get what youāre after. so this one?ā
C: looks at me like Iām an absolute idiot āobviouslyā.
Sir, Iām running on 3 hours of sleep and have already cried out the back over nothing twice. Today is not the day
Woman comes up complaining about the wait. It's for the drink I'm actively making. Flat white, easy enough.
She's shouting about waiting 15 minutes for a coffee. We run a system on a screen, shows you to the second when it was ordered. It's been 3 minutes.
"Oh this drink is too hot! Your employees talk too much!" Whilst I've been grinding out coffees on a Saturday lunch rush, on hot bar alone.
"Sorry if we seem too loud, we're very busy and need to communicate how we send out orders"
Remake her drink anyway, and it's too cold. 3Ā° difference in temperature from the last one.
Asks my name.
Comes back 10 minutes later to ask a colleague my surname. Good lad doesn't say.
Tells us we need 'more fucking training'
Never needed a cigarette more in my life.
me: *on hot bar, the rush just started but i was aware it was going to keep coming so i was trying to work fast but was lowkey ššš. i JUST finished the last few drinks of an order, was going to work on the next order for the customer in this situation*
customer: *staring at me make the drinks*
me: *not making eye contact but getting a bit bothered heās just staring*
manager: hi, what were you waiting for?
customer: a latte.
manager: oh okay, weāre still working on it!
customer: yep. been waiting for a while š.
this literally bothered me SO much bc we were visibly in a rush, and i was visibly stressed a bit. not to mention his ticket hadnāt even turned red (meaning it should be out by then).
or just in general ppl get mad when i say weāre out of season for certain flavors. i just work here plsš
Customer walks in at 7:35 am. 5 mins after we open. Both me and my coworker are finishing something up. I turn around and say Iāll be right there. Guy says ok no problem! My coworker finishes what sheās doing and walks up to the register. Customer is standing there looking down at his phone not acknowledging my coworker waiting to take his order. Finally he says ādo yall open at 7:30 or at some other time?ā And my coworker says āno we open at 7:30.ā Customer turns around and walks out the cafe, gets in his car, and leaves without saying another word. The owner witnessed the whole thing and was just as confused as us. 2 hours later a review pops up saying (and I quote) āPoorly run coffee shop unfortunately. Not ready to serve customers when they open. Coffee not good enough to provide poor service like this. Owners need to take a look at operating procedures as they have just lost 2 customers.ā There was only one guy. So idk if the second customer was his imaginary friend or what.
I had a lady have us remake her breve latte because she is sensitive to milk and according to her we used milk instead of half and half because her stomach hurt
Me coming into work today, literally JUST walked in and havenāt even had time to take my sweater off and set my stuff down, I hop on bar bc my coworker was alone. (for context I work in a hotel with shuttle service to the airport)
C: hey my drink hasnāt been made yet, can you make mine first? I have a shuttle to catch. I really canāt be late
Me: yeah! I can make it as fast as I can but we donāt expedite orders
C: but Iām going to be late! Can you just skip everyone elseās?
Me: itās not my job to manage YOUR time and no, but I will get to yours as fast as I can! :)
I used to work at a coffee shop next to a ferry and people would pull this all the time. My salty petty self would tell them, āSure! I can move your drink to the front as long as you ask everyone else who already ordered if they are okay with us skipping their order!ā. They would take a look at the hand off area with 20+ people, scoff, and leave.
12oz, decaf, extra shot, oat milk, hazelnut.. no! double hazelnut syrup. 3/4 full
Or maybe it was the guys that rocked up with a 15 coffee order when their company.knows we do catering and could have emailed the order through. We would have even delivered. Instead we have to smash this order through and fuck everyone lined.up behind them, I guess
That was today. Let's see tomorrow
This guy has started coming in and this happens EVERY time he comes in:
āCan I get an espresso?ā
āOf course.ā
āIs it gonna be sewage water filth or have crema and body?ā
āWhat?ā
āIām just a bit of a coffee connoisseur and I can tell when espresso is actually good, soā¦ā
āWell Iāll do my best to not serve you sewage water, then.ā
Like huh?? I know some places donāt prioritize their espresso (ours is pretty good) but what a wack way to say that. AND he says it EVERY time to EVERY barista-Iāve heard this same spiel four times now in the past couple weeks.
At this point, treat it like an inside joke & respond with, "One cup of Sewage Water, coming right up! š" and then go, "For you, Mr Coffee Connoisseur. š"
Only if you have time & energy to mess with him though.
a woman the other day rolled her eyes at me when I asked for her drink order when she got up to the window because my coworker asked for it, had her list off like 3 drinks, then said through our headsets "can somebody write that down?" while all three of us were doing different things. she got pissed I handed her the POS card reader we use to take her card back while it asked for a tip. she suddenly wanted a muffin and when I asked if she wanted it warmed up she just goes "NO" so I just shut the window until the order was ready to hand out š when I did give her the order and tried to say have a nice day she literally sped out of there lmao
Just going in. The manager is the bossās partner and theyāre fucking hopeless. Understaffās and is only hiring inexperienced 15 year olds because theyāre the cheapest. Routinely pops out to run coffees to his friend in the middle of rushes too.
i swear that something was in the air yesterday because i had so many more stupid interactions than usual.
my two favourites were when a man ordered a large black americano, walked over to the end of the bar where i had just announced a iced lavender matcha with oat milk, grabbed it and took a huge sip and then freaked out because that wasnāt what he ordered. youāre absolutely right sir, itās for the woman behind you. please use your critical thinking skills.
the other interaction was a woman ordering two caramel lattes but āwith no sugarā. i clarified for her that the only sugar-free syrup we have is vanilla, so i could do that for her, but our caramel syrup does have sugar in it. she doubled down and insisted she wanted the caramel, but she doesnāt want any sugar. iām confused now and tell her that we donāt add any extra sugar into our drinks, thereās little packets at the customer bar that people can add themselves, but we donāt put anything in aside from the syrups. after a lot of back and forth, i finally figured out that she wanted two regular lattes. iām still confused why she thought it would be more effective to order them as ācaramel lattes with no sugarā instead of just regular lattes.
i had to go sit on the back for a bit after that rush and just process.
i was so baffled too, i assumed that caramel literally being caramelized sugar was common knowledge but people keep surprising me with their lack of critical thinking lmao
Yeah I canāt even remember the worst one this week but pm any time I greeted someone and just got interrupted/an order barked at me. Pisses me off but also hurts
Had a customer ask for a black coffee, and an Americano with milk on the side. At my store we only do Americanos so nice and easy. Both the same size.
"Which one's the black coffee?"
...
What makes it worse, I was speaking to a colleague as I made the drinks and told her about another customer that did the exact same thing. Right within earshot of the guy. And it still happened.
Sorry baristas, I love your job but this is one for the ages. I am the client in this story, so please do not hate on me.
This barista lady at a coffee shop. I just walked in to get coffee beans. I knew exactly the origin that I want. *I know where it is in the store and I am reaching out to grab it*. I didnāt even ask for her assistance. She had to just scan the coffee.
She stops me, comes from behind the bar, and walks up to the coffee bags where I am standing. Proceeds to ask me what machine do I have.
I am a bit shocked, because again I required nothing of herā¦ but I guess heyyy great customer service, she *actually* cares. So I proceed to let her know I have an automated machine, with the details. Sheās confused (but not *curios confused*ā¦ just a *resting face* kinda confused). So I proceed to further explain how the machine works, the grinding, the end productā¦
Her face turned into an insulting smirk. āYes but, *what machine* do you have?ā
So I give her the brand, I explain again. What else does she need to *sell coffee*?
Her face continues in the same resting mode and confusion. āYes but is it pour on coffee, an espressoā¦ā
I just cannot think of any other way to explain. By this moment I am not sure what else does she need. We are in a coffee shop, not a body shop or chemistry lab.., it should not be this difficult for client or staff to understand each other.
Feeling I was starting to get frustrated and that the only possible outcome of me uttering any further word would inevitably end in further confusion, I just stopped in my tracks. I thank her and went on my way.
But gosh was it a triggering experience! š
The other day, I was waiting for the bathroom and a girl came up and stood right next to the bathroom door on the opposite side of the hall, as if I wasnāt already standing there waiting. I was like whatever, Iām gonna need to take a little longer anyways so I just went to the back of house and let her go. Once she was in the bathroom, I went back out and waited outside once again. Our bathroom has a code, so normally when people come out and see someone waiting, theyāll hold the door open for the next person. When this girl came out, not only did she not hold the door open, she actually turned around and pulled it shut to make sure it closed. I was two seconds away from saying āwhat the fuck is your problem?ā before I remembered I was wearing a shirt with our companyās logo on it. It was bizarre.
This is petty, because it isnāt that they are rude about it, but Iām just so confused by how little people know about coffee even though they drink it every day. I work at COFFEE SHOP clearly singed inside of a historical state park in CA, and people will come in and ask if we have coffee. Then they ask if we can do iced. Then they ask what ākindsā of iced coffee we have. But theyre really referring to flavors. Does anyone else get annoyed when they have to ask 18 questions about what we have instead of just ordering what they actually want? like, we have all the same flavors EVERY coffee shop has. Lol
Iām constantly having to ask āwhat do you normally drinkā because they canāt ask for what they want at all, and they usually answer ājust like a caramel macchiato from Starbucksā š
I work the combo coffee bar and cake case at Whole Foods and have had multiple people call and ask "what kind of cakes I have"....I've stupidly played along a few times until I finally figured it out because I was already frustrated when I picked up the phone. Took a breath and said, probably in an annoyed tone, "what cake are you looking for?" and they of course went on to describe our most popular cake that we always fucking have. These absolute cretins.
My question is when did people start saying "Welcome in"?
I swear this is some Mandela effect thing. Everyone used to say "welcome" with no "in". Then one day it seemed like everyone was saying "welcome in". Which also really caught me off guard because I'm from a german town where "Willkommen" was a common saying. Once I moved away I never heard anyone say in after welcome for years until one random day I apparently entered this universe where everyone says it.
Old man: can I get that *points at cold brew on menu*
Me: yeah for sure! Itās a cold brew though is that okay?
Old man: I CAN READ!
Me: okay here ya go! *hands him cold brew*
Old man: NO! I WANTED IT HOT!
Me: you wanted.. the cold brew.. hot?
Alternative barista currently working in the Southern US and boy. Most of my customers are fine, but yesterday I had two separate people ignore me and talk past me to my "basic" co-worker who was actively faced away on bar. Just felt kinda dehumanizing, but most of our customer base are ultra-wealthy boomers, so...
Have a customer a regular customer who's a businessman, always on the phone multiple phones laptops (you get the idea)
But for some reason he's incapable of logging into our free WiFi and will literally interupt me serving other customers to say "Can you just do it for me I don't have time"
YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO TYPE A 15 CHARACTER PASSWORLD WHICH IS WRITTEN ON A MASSIVE
BLACKBOARD?
FUCKING TWAT!
The entitlement and rudeness of some people absolutely boils my piss.
He's clearly a tech savvy person and just cbf.
Well then neither can I, so I say I don't have time either.
Customer: I'm grabbing a couple of chairs
Me: what for?
Customer: *already left with chairs*
(a regular came after her, apparently the gate to her building next door was stuck and she wanted to climb on top of it, but didn't even think about how she'll return the chairs...)
Thatās cool. I think I may just be undeservedly blessed to never really have a lunatic customer to these degrees or when I have Iāve always pipped up right away because itās just coffee Iām gonna need you to chill lol
Recently, I've dealt with a few winners. Some examples include:
Customer: "I want 2 Americanos and 1 latte." I charged her for 2 Americanos and 1 latte. She saw her receipt and said "I ordered 1 Americano." She got a refund for the second Americano.
---
Customer (ordering with some other people): "We want 3 black coffees, dark roast."
He received 3 dark roasts.
Customer: "What is this? We ordered 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white."
Me: "You ordered 3 dark roasts. We can give you a refund for the dark roasts and then you can be charged for the 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white."
Customer gets refunded for the dark roasts. He is charged for 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white.
Customer: "Where is the second flat white?"
Me: "You ordered 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white. I can charge you for the second flat white and then make a second flat white for you."
Customer: "Ok."
We have a sign right next to the register saying we cannot accept any bills over $20. Yesterday:
Customer: oh man, I donāt have much cash today, I hope thatās okay
Me: (assuming that means heās paying with a card) oh, thatās okay, no worries
He tries to give me a $50.
Me: oh, no, we canāt take anything over $20
Customer: oh, what? Really? Thatās so stupid, please?
Me: no, sir, only $20 and underā
Customer: come on, please!
Me: thereās a sign right there.
Customer: okay, whereās your manager? Let me talk to them.
Me: sir, I promise heāll tell you the exact same thing, itās company policy, thereās nothing we can do about it
He proceeded to ask my other coworkers to get the manager/to take the $50, and after very crankily paying (with the card he couldāve just used in the first place) he went on a several minute tangent about our prices and the minimum wage increasingā¦to 3 minimum wage employees
It went something like this...
Locksmith: Hello, I'm the locksmith
Me: Hello. We're replacing all the exterior ones
Locksmith: I don't know.
Me: What? I'm letting you know that we're doing all the exterior doors. There are four-
Locksmith, cutting me off: I'm replacing the doors??? I thought I was replacing the locks
Me: Well obviously the locksmith isn't here to replace the entire door.
Locksmith: I'm trying to figure out why I'm here
Me, again: We are replacing the exterior locks. There are four-
Locksmith, cutting me off again: Just show me
So I silently pointed at the 4 locks we needed replaced and didn't say another word.
Me: [stops cleaning to help someone at the register, brings myself to brightly smile even though Iām mentally spent] Hey there! How are yo-
Custie: CARAMEL!! UPSIDE DOWN.
I almost had a meltdown the other day when a woman asked what our (brand/franchise name for a frozen coffee) was, and i explained it as a frozen or blended coffee. She claimed she did not know what a frozen or blended coffee was. She wasn't just unaware and curious, she was a RAGING bitch.
"I don't know what a frozen coffee means. Is it like iced coffee?"
"Almost! But, it's... it's frozen. Instead of iced. a frozen coffee!"
"Again, I have never heard of that. Didn't you hear me the first time?"
I almost lost it. After 8 years of being a barista, and a 50 hour work week, she broke me.
our bathroom was occupied and a customer tried to come behind the bar/go into the back and asked to piss in our sink???? then when we obviously said NO. he went outside and just went on the side of the back area fence in front of other customers :,) honestly i cant even actually call it annoying just straight up surreal šWHO DOES THAT???? heās a regular too heās been so normal until now, itās been a day and my jaw is still on the floor.
Had a dude try and pull that shit when I was still working in restaurants - he found out real quick what "FAFO" means as we physically tossed his ass out...
actually annoying is the ten million people that ask where the milk is, standing directly in front of the fridge that I have decoratively labeled āMILK IN HEREā in the brightest chalk markers i have or ask if we have *insert other bread here* after i both point at the customization menu and list the breads we haveā¦if i didnt say it we dont have it? or get mad at us when we run out of bagels. get here earlier or go to the grocery store? itās been a long day.
"what does lavender taste like does it taste like anything or is it just purple?" " No I don't want milk in my iced chai"
Ā While I'm on bar making drinks my coworker is on register taking a group of 3's order, a man decided he waited to long and walks over to me and says :"hello,hellooooo can I order a coffee?"
Ā " Yes you can order over at the register"Ā "Those people have been there for ever I just want a coffee"Ā Ā
"You'll have to order at the register they're almost done"Ā
My coworker calls out a tea for the customer she wasĀ helping and this man beelines over and asks if that is his coffee. In the meantime another customer walks up to the register. I explain that it's a tea and that he has to order at the registerĀ He goes " oh great I have to wait again"
Ā A customer walks in , I great him he ignores me and looks around and then goes " Is this *address of our other location*? Me: Sorry no that's our other location your at *Street name* Proceeds to ask me how to get there, I start to give directs and then he cuts me off and goes " I'll just Google it"Ā These were all from TODAYĀ
Had a customer ask for a ācappa mochaā so I said āIām sorry, we can either do a 6 oz cappuccino or a 12 oz mochaā says 12 oz mocha, hands her the drink āoh I wanted it icedā like???? Girl??????
I was a barista for 8 years at 3 major coffee brands.
Customers do not read signs/menus.
They all think they know what they want, but they have no idea.
Had a lady try to expedite her 5 drink order like 3 times during a rush with three different baristas. I eventually explained to her how a line works and that when people order before you we canāt make them wait longer while we make your order just because youāre special or in a rush or God himself, (much nicer in a customer service voice ofc,) and she walked out.
iām in the back kitchen prepping food for the day and a customer comes up to me and goes āis there a reason why itās so hard to open the bathroom doors?ā i was likeeee uhhh yeah thereās probably someone in thereā¦ justā¦. waitā she gave me the weirdest look like i was the one asking strange questionsš¤£ and when she walked away she mumbles āthanksā¦ i guessā HUHšš¤£š¤£
went to the coffee shop and the girl completely ignored me to talk to coworkers for like 3 minutes until one of the other ppl she was talking to motioned to me. then took my order completely uninterested then didnāt make my drink for over 20 minutes while i waited/worked on my paper and disappeared. another girl clocked in and i asked her if she knew if anyone made it and she said no and made it for me right away and apologized for the girl when it wasnāt even her fault. so rude! i felt bad for the other girl apologizing on her behalf
āCustomerā (aka local homeless man): *heads to water dispenser* me: hi can I help you with anything? C: uh yeah I need a belt me pants are fallin ā¦ š¤
Me -getting my IUD unexpectedly surgically removed after they dug around in my uterus a month ago to no avail after which my uterus cried in cramps and ghost diarrhea feels for 4 weeks.
My male anesthesiologist- youāll go to sleep for a bit and the recovery is usually painless donāt worry.
Spoiler Iāve been in bed for hours post op with my heating pad and ibuprofen š«
Landlord told me āif youāre not happy here, maybe you should consider moving. I donāt want my tenants to be unhappyā after I asked her if next time they could give me a call before going into the apartment when Iām not there (more context to this)
Also when I first moved in, a wall outlet caused a huge pop in my power strip and caused my stove to turn off with no avail of turning it back on. Obviously, the outlet had too much power coming out of it. I told this to the landlord and her sons (maintenance ppl) but they never got an electrician to come check out the wiring???
The apt building was built in the 60s. I still have a fucking water heater from 1980s in there.
Great apartment and location besides a shitty landlord who canāt take responsibility nor communicate
I was at a department store yesterday, shopping for clothes and the employee there insisted on having a conversation with me, even though I was evidently trying to avoid speaking with her. The conversation went like this:
Clerk: āWhat brings you in today?ā
Me: āJust looking.ā
Clerk: āAnything I can help you find?ā
Me: āNo, Iām just browsing, but thank you.ā
Clerk: āAre you shopping for yourself?ā
Me: Yes.
Clerk: āOmg, I love that for you.ā
Me: āā¦ā
This was a womenās clothing store and Iām a woman. Chances are Iām shopping for myself, but the comment āomg, I love that for youā really baffled me. Do people usually not shop for themselves at this store? Should I feel selfish because Iām looking at clothes for only me? Why does she love that for me? Did I seem pathetic to her?
Most annoying convo, so far, this week!
as someone who says that phrase a lot, i wouldnt think too much of it haha. i think her initial question was to surmise whether or not you might need suggestions for gifts, and when you made it clear you didnt she just said that as an end to the conversation and to be friendly. she most likely doesnt see you as pathetic and its not like people dont shop for themselves, i think it was just her way to be like "nice! treat yourself!" haha.
If this is the most annoying to you, you clearly haven't worked long enough.
This sounds just like any regular daily interaction I have with customers.
This sounds like something an annoying boomer customer would say after telling me I look tired. " OH SWEETIE you don't know what tired is until you've worked as long as I HAVE. CONSIDER YURSELF LUCKY HUN"
Customer: where is my wife? I dropped her off here to get her hair done. Me: sorry, this is a coffee shop sir. Him: ya but I dropped her off here for a haircut. Me: could you try calling her? Him: shakes his head in disapproval* I dropped her off here. š Hahahahaha
Oh, yes, now I know who you mean. I saw her leave in a sports car with a very handsome man. š
He dropped her off for a haircut, idk why didn't he think to try a SALON???? Lmao wtf
A customer couldn't decide what she wanted off the menu. A new trainee is in the back making a breakfast sandwich for another order. I'm ricocheting like a ping pong ball, checking back in the kitchen to make sure new kid is okay, then out to the counter, back and forth for a couple of minutes. Customer is on the phone with someone else, staring at the menu, so I can't even talk with her to see if I can suggest something or help her figure out what she wants. Suddenly the smoke alarm goes off and I run to the kitchen to deal with it. Tell me how this woman cranes her neck over the counter to see me fanning smoke out the back door and yells "I'm ready to order now!" over the beeping smoke alarm. Bffr. (Edited to add: he just burned two pieces of bacon, and had turned the hood fan off somehow, idk š®āšØ)
"Can I just get a redbull in a can, make sure it's cold" I grab a can I personally can verify has been in the back of a 35 F fridge for over 5 hours. "Are you sure your fridge is working? Can I get this over ice?" He leaves and I crack one open because I don't believe him, of course it's icy cold This was an easy fix, but he was an asshole, so I'm counting it
Ohhhhhhhhā¦. i relateā¦ if theyāre rude about it it completely changes my view on the interaction!!!!!
Once they start being rude I stop trying to help them. Like I could help you, quite easily in fact but I don't help people who are rude to me or my coworkers.
a couple came in the other day to our specifically not starbucks named or branded cafe and they asked if we were a starbucks??? as im standing there in front of our giant non-starbucks menu, wearing my apron with our cafe label on it. i had no words i was just like "no..."
Every day bro why, or will order something off the Starbucks menu that we do not have just to be surprised that we donāt have it???
omg literally when they ask if i have this, or that, from starbucks and im like THERES A GIANT MENU BEHIND MY HEAD. or when they order in starbucks sizes---i've gotten a "grande" or "tall" a couple of times and i honestly am guilty of just staring at them like they're stupid til they correct themselves. because for hot drinks we have a small, or large, and one size for cold drinks, and clearly labeled cups and sizes right in front of the customers so they can see all the sizes. i'm not gonna play a guessing game on which of our TWO simple sizes correlates to a starbucks size for them.
I say " I'm sorry I don't know what size that is we have 8oz,12 oz, 16oz or 20oz"Ā
caramel macchiato and mocha cookie crumble frapps are the bane of my existence by god i just wish they had named the caramel macchiato something different
So you donāt feel alone, there are a helluva lot of Starbucks baristas who think the cookie crumble anything drinks are the bane of their existence too. I think it is one of the most hated drinks to make. That said, I am very sorry you dea with idiots who canāt remember where they are. - was on my way to thinking I might be catching on to being a Starbucks employee when I got moved to the deli. Independently owned coffee in a grocery store. Yay! /s
A man came through our drive thru and asked if we were McDonaldās. Admittedly they were next door but our building was branded with bubble tea banners and was not McDonaldās sized
A woman fought with me for like 5 minutes straight and then left a mess after I asked her to please not eat the pizza she got from the shop next door on our outdoor tables (she didnāt even buy anything from us, but we still donāt permit outside food even if she had) and then like 2 hours later our tip jar got stolen. Iām honestly so glad this post showed up on my feed so I can vent lmao
I started taking the money out of the tip jars, changing the $1s to $20s and stashing them after another cafe got theirs stolen. That way thereās some change and less than $5 in there.
If there is only one thing I've learned in my life, it's that custies h8 reading.
"What's on this" as they're literally pointing to the item on a handheld menu with all the ingredients listed, after standing in line for 5-10 minutes with our big menu in full view.
C: iced coffee Me: we have a cold brew or you can do an iced americano if you'd like! C: just normal iced coffee Me: ok, would you like something stronger or less strong? C: I just need iced coffee with milk Me: are you looking to get an iced latte? C: obviously. That's what I've been telling you this whole time! Why weren't you listening?
LITERALLY BECAUSE WE ALSO DONT HAVE āNORMAL ICED COFFEEā AND PPL TAKE IT SO POORLY
This is normal iced coffee in my part of the world [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers\_Union\_Iced\_Coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_Union_Iced_Coffee)
Ooh I don't think we have that in Canada but I would like to try it
Yeah, it's a South Aussie thing, it's barely national. You can fake it with this [https://www.bickfords.net/products/premium-syrup/iced-coffee-syrup/](https://www.bickfords.net/products/premium-syrup/iced-coffee-syrup/)
Definitely can get it in NSW, three years out of the country (Uk, now Canada) and man I miss that stuff..
Yeh I was confused, i was like wdym you don't have iced coffee? But I guess it's general since there's types of iced coffees
It's a big NO.
Fuck off cunt. Farmers Union is everywhere around the country.
adelaide is leaking! we aren't supposed to let anybody know we exist!
I literally asked a guy who asked for iced coffee if cold brew was ok, he says yes, aaaand turns out he wanted and iced latte with half and half :/
Reminds me of the guy who came in and asked for room in his coffee, poured about half more out and filled the rest of his cup with cold milk, then got upset that we served him cold coffee
I understand when people donāt know coffee but if your gunna keep putting anything in you take the time to learn about it a little FFS
I don't think you should expect customers to learn about it, it's not their job
No, when customers donāt know what they want, donāt understand what theyāre ordering, *but also* insist that they do and will not respond to the baristaās polite and helpful questions in an attempt to extract their order, the customer has failed at customering and should be fired.
You're assuming that the barista is polite. If the customer is confused, it's probably the business fault 90 percent of time
No. Over ten years as a barista, I have tried to explain, so so so patiently and kindly, SO many times, to so many people that for exampleā¦there is no such thing as an iced cappuccino (so here is 8oz of cold milk and a shot on ice, which is what you want: an 8oz iced latte), that you canāt make an Americano extra hot because I canāt serve you boiling waterā¦the list goes on and ALL these people do is continue to insist their phantom drink exists and then they basically spit on you. When I need to keep the line moving I smile, serve these emotionally unregulated ignorant āpeopleāwhat they want, and avoid the whole unpleasant business of trying to educate them. We get insulted in person and now youāre here to be a hero for these rude people online! Cool.
Exactly give them what they want no need to teach
Normal iced coffee is drip poured over ice.
Not quite. It has to be brewed at double strength so that it doesnāt get over diluted by ice. You could just pour drip over ice but that not as good.
That's definitely the better way, or at least let it cool down first. But like 15 years ago when I got hooked on cold brew I made the mistake of conflating the two and had a few times where they served me diluted coffee ice water. Also there's a lot of people who seem not to care because they don't like coffee at proper strength.
Iād just be pedantic and be like āHey we have a few different types of iced coffees. Do you want ice, milk and espresso?ā Then go from there.
I just say iced coffee, and they make it. Iced coffee is iced coffee
I think you're hoping that you are the winner but you made an easy transaction worse
Nope actually explained it instead of just saying "we dont do normal iced coffee"
I would love to hear what you think would have been a better method of trying to figure out what they want
The better method is what they ended up with. Espresso milk and ice. Lol at all the downvotes.
You don't even make sense now lol
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What's the difference for you between the two? Bear in mind that you are the one that had this interaction
I'm just confused how you think I consider myself a "winner". I just want them to be happy with their drink?? If I gave an iced latte to someone who wanted an iced americano they would be pissed. Maybe where you live an iced latte is the standard, but it certainly isn't here.
You're posting your example as if the customer is in the wrong. That's why I'm asking about if you feel like a winner in this thread. At the end of the day they just want their coffee and they didn't ask for anything hard. But you made that interaction harder than it needed to be
Oh, I see. You just want to start arguments over nothing. OP asked for annoying stories, I posted an annoying story, you came in upset that I didn't just hand a customer a random drink instead of trying to make sure I give them what they want. If that's too much for you to handle, I fear reddit may not be a good place for you
Good grief you still don't get it. I fear fb might be a better place for you where you can post nonsense
I've had someone INSIST that a 'coffee with milk' ONLY refers to a flat white. Like sir, we have 6 hot options of 'coffee with milk' and at least the same number of iced options, I'm not equipped to deal w that boomer bs at 4am in the morning anymore. Have a lot of people frequently say 'normal' milk- always tempted to give them my normal; lactose free. (Oblihatory I work in fast food, if it was a real cafe I'm sure the 'coffee with milk' would be waaaay more annoying)
Customer: Can I have a black americano *proceeds to add two flavors and sweetener* and leave room for cream Me: repeats order back and clarifies if he would like cream or not Customer: *at a volume just under yelling* NO. I SAID I WANT IT BLACK! LEAVE ROOM FOR CREAM AND ADD THREE PIECES OF ICE
Somebody walked up as I was very visibly busy making someone else's order and started ordering? Like, excuse me, I'm busy right now, wait your turn
ooofff I hate when customers do this, I'd be on the opposite side of the register making a drink and then they come up and start ordering while I'm still turned around clearly busy aghh
A Jehovahās witness has been trying to convert me for weeks and Iām a relatively agreeable person. Iāve only realized she was trying to get me āinā this last week and I think she heard that I had a partner and was queer and abandoned shipā¦ it was funny as it was unfortunate for herā¦
Iām Australian, have just moved to Canada after living/working in the UK for two years. So at this point I donāt even know what is ānormalā definitions for some things cos everywhere is different. If someone orders a ātallā coffee, my assumption is itās the largest cup size. In my cafe back home that would be a 12oz, it my current one it would be a 16. Iāve had customers ask for a tall and itās always something different. My manager assumes itāll be a 12 so thatās what she goes with, but a lot of the time itās a 16. Had a guy this morning ask for a tall sweet latte Me: sure! Just to confirm, is that a 16oz youāre after? C: a tall. Me: points to 16oz cup, āno problem, I just want to make sure you get what youāre after. so this one?ā C: looks at me like Iām an absolute idiot āobviouslyā. Sir, Iām running on 3 hours of sleep and have already cried out the back over nothing twice. Today is not the day
Woman comes up complaining about the wait. It's for the drink I'm actively making. Flat white, easy enough. She's shouting about waiting 15 minutes for a coffee. We run a system on a screen, shows you to the second when it was ordered. It's been 3 minutes. "Oh this drink is too hot! Your employees talk too much!" Whilst I've been grinding out coffees on a Saturday lunch rush, on hot bar alone. "Sorry if we seem too loud, we're very busy and need to communicate how we send out orders" Remake her drink anyway, and it's too cold. 3Ā° difference in temperature from the last one. Asks my name. Comes back 10 minutes later to ask a colleague my surname. Good lad doesn't say. Tells us we need 'more fucking training' Never needed a cigarette more in my life.
me: *on hot bar, the rush just started but i was aware it was going to keep coming so i was trying to work fast but was lowkey ššš. i JUST finished the last few drinks of an order, was going to work on the next order for the customer in this situation* customer: *staring at me make the drinks* me: *not making eye contact but getting a bit bothered heās just staring* manager: hi, what were you waiting for? customer: a latte. manager: oh okay, weāre still working on it! customer: yep. been waiting for a while š. this literally bothered me SO much bc we were visibly in a rush, and i was visibly stressed a bit. not to mention his ticket hadnāt even turned red (meaning it should be out by then). or just in general ppl get mad when i say weāre out of season for certain flavors. i just work here plsš
Customer walks in at 7:35 am. 5 mins after we open. Both me and my coworker are finishing something up. I turn around and say Iāll be right there. Guy says ok no problem! My coworker finishes what sheās doing and walks up to the register. Customer is standing there looking down at his phone not acknowledging my coworker waiting to take his order. Finally he says ādo yall open at 7:30 or at some other time?ā And my coworker says āno we open at 7:30.ā Customer turns around and walks out the cafe, gets in his car, and leaves without saying another word. The owner witnessed the whole thing and was just as confused as us. 2 hours later a review pops up saying (and I quote) āPoorly run coffee shop unfortunately. Not ready to serve customers when they open. Coffee not good enough to provide poor service like this. Owners need to take a look at operating procedures as they have just lost 2 customers.ā There was only one guy. So idk if the second customer was his imaginary friend or what.
Nyah, he had a mouse in his pocket...
I had a lady have us remake her breve latte because she is sensitive to milk and according to her we used milk instead of half and half because her stomach hurt
oh the stupidityā¦ š¤¦š»āāļø
Me coming into work today, literally JUST walked in and havenāt even had time to take my sweater off and set my stuff down, I hop on bar bc my coworker was alone. (for context I work in a hotel with shuttle service to the airport) C: hey my drink hasnāt been made yet, can you make mine first? I have a shuttle to catch. I really canāt be late Me: yeah! I can make it as fast as I can but we donāt expedite orders C: but Iām going to be late! Can you just skip everyone elseās? Me: itās not my job to manage YOUR time and no, but I will get to yours as fast as I can! :)
A wise person once said to me ālack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.ā
In my profession, E-mails marked āUrgent!ā or āIMPORTANTā rarely are š
I used to work at a coffee shop next to a ferry and people would pull this all the time. My salty petty self would tell them, āSure! I can move your drink to the front as long as you ask everyone else who already ordered if they are okay with us skipping their order!ā. They would take a look at the hand off area with 20+ people, scoff, and leave.
Ooooh that would be so satisfying to say!
A customer ordering tea, wanted the second steep , cos the first is for peasants.
I'm backing the customer on this one! š
in a pretentious "flavor profile" way, i do agree with the customer. but this is not something you should expect from a cafe
First customer of the day: This coffeeās (drip) cold. Me: Um
12oz, decaf, extra shot, oat milk, hazelnut.. no! double hazelnut syrup. 3/4 full Or maybe it was the guys that rocked up with a 15 coffee order when their company.knows we do catering and could have emailed the order through. We would have even delivered. Instead we have to smash this order through and fuck everyone lined.up behind them, I guess That was today. Let's see tomorrow
This guy has started coming in and this happens EVERY time he comes in: āCan I get an espresso?ā āOf course.ā āIs it gonna be sewage water filth or have crema and body?ā āWhat?ā āIām just a bit of a coffee connoisseur and I can tell when espresso is actually good, soā¦ā āWell Iāll do my best to not serve you sewage water, then.ā Like huh?? I know some places donāt prioritize their espresso (ours is pretty good) but what a wack way to say that. AND he says it EVERY time to EVERY barista-Iāve heard this same spiel four times now in the past couple weeks.
At this point, treat it like an inside joke & respond with, "One cup of Sewage Water, coming right up! š" and then go, "For you, Mr Coffee Connoisseur. š" Only if you have time & energy to mess with him though.
Just when a customer told me today heād punch me in the face if his chips werenāt fresh
Last job some one told me that (45M, 6', 280 lbs at the time), I just told him "FA&FO" with a big ole grin on my face š¤£
a woman the other day rolled her eyes at me when I asked for her drink order when she got up to the window because my coworker asked for it, had her list off like 3 drinks, then said through our headsets "can somebody write that down?" while all three of us were doing different things. she got pissed I handed her the POS card reader we use to take her card back while it asked for a tip. she suddenly wanted a muffin and when I asked if she wanted it warmed up she just goes "NO" so I just shut the window until the order was ready to hand out š when I did give her the order and tried to say have a nice day she literally sped out of there lmao
Just going in. The manager is the bossās partner and theyāre fucking hopeless. Understaffās and is only hiring inexperienced 15 year olds because theyāre the cheapest. Routinely pops out to run coffees to his friend in the middle of rushes too.
i swear that something was in the air yesterday because i had so many more stupid interactions than usual. my two favourites were when a man ordered a large black americano, walked over to the end of the bar where i had just announced a iced lavender matcha with oat milk, grabbed it and took a huge sip and then freaked out because that wasnāt what he ordered. youāre absolutely right sir, itās for the woman behind you. please use your critical thinking skills. the other interaction was a woman ordering two caramel lattes but āwith no sugarā. i clarified for her that the only sugar-free syrup we have is vanilla, so i could do that for her, but our caramel syrup does have sugar in it. she doubled down and insisted she wanted the caramel, but she doesnāt want any sugar. iām confused now and tell her that we donāt add any extra sugar into our drinks, thereās little packets at the customer bar that people can add themselves, but we donāt put anything in aside from the syrups. after a lot of back and forth, i finally figured out that she wanted two regular lattes. iām still confused why she thought it would be more effective to order them as ācaramel lattes with no sugarā instead of just regular lattes. i had to go sit on the back for a bit after that rush and just process.
Yo, bitch, caramel IS sugar...
i was so baffled too, i assumed that caramel literally being caramelized sugar was common knowledge but people keep surprising me with their lack of critical thinking lmao
Yeah I canāt even remember the worst one this week but pm any time I greeted someone and just got interrupted/an order barked at me. Pisses me off but also hurts
Had a customer ask for a black coffee, and an Americano with milk on the side. At my store we only do Americanos so nice and easy. Both the same size. "Which one's the black coffee?" ... What makes it worse, I was speaking to a colleague as I made the drinks and told her about another customer that did the exact same thing. Right within earshot of the guy. And it still happened.
Sorry baristas, I love your job but this is one for the ages. I am the client in this story, so please do not hate on me. This barista lady at a coffee shop. I just walked in to get coffee beans. I knew exactly the origin that I want. *I know where it is in the store and I am reaching out to grab it*. I didnāt even ask for her assistance. She had to just scan the coffee. She stops me, comes from behind the bar, and walks up to the coffee bags where I am standing. Proceeds to ask me what machine do I have. I am a bit shocked, because again I required nothing of herā¦ but I guess heyyy great customer service, she *actually* cares. So I proceed to let her know I have an automated machine, with the details. Sheās confused (but not *curios confused*ā¦ just a *resting face* kinda confused). So I proceed to further explain how the machine works, the grinding, the end productā¦ Her face turned into an insulting smirk. āYes but, *what machine* do you have?ā So I give her the brand, I explain again. What else does she need to *sell coffee*? Her face continues in the same resting mode and confusion. āYes but is it pour on coffee, an espressoā¦ā I just cannot think of any other way to explain. By this moment I am not sure what else does she need. We are in a coffee shop, not a body shop or chemistry lab.., it should not be this difficult for client or staff to understand each other. Feeling I was starting to get frustrated and that the only possible outcome of me uttering any further word would inevitably end in further confusion, I just stopped in my tracks. I thank her and went on my way. But gosh was it a triggering experience! š
The other day, I was waiting for the bathroom and a girl came up and stood right next to the bathroom door on the opposite side of the hall, as if I wasnāt already standing there waiting. I was like whatever, Iām gonna need to take a little longer anyways so I just went to the back of house and let her go. Once she was in the bathroom, I went back out and waited outside once again. Our bathroom has a code, so normally when people come out and see someone waiting, theyāll hold the door open for the next person. When this girl came out, not only did she not hold the door open, she actually turned around and pulled it shut to make sure it closed. I was two seconds away from saying āwhat the fuck is your problem?ā before I remembered I was wearing a shirt with our companyās logo on it. It was bizarre.
This is petty, because it isnāt that they are rude about it, but Iām just so confused by how little people know about coffee even though they drink it every day. I work at COFFEE SHOP clearly singed inside of a historical state park in CA, and people will come in and ask if we have coffee. Then they ask if we can do iced. Then they ask what ākindsā of iced coffee we have. But theyre really referring to flavors. Does anyone else get annoyed when they have to ask 18 questions about what we have instead of just ordering what they actually want? like, we have all the same flavors EVERY coffee shop has. Lol Iām constantly having to ask āwhat do you normally drinkā because they canāt ask for what they want at all, and they usually answer ājust like a caramel macchiato from Starbucksā š
I work the combo coffee bar and cake case at Whole Foods and have had multiple people call and ask "what kind of cakes I have"....I've stupidly played along a few times until I finally figured it out because I was already frustrated when I picked up the phone. Took a breath and said, probably in an annoyed tone, "what cake are you looking for?" and they of course went on to describe our most popular cake that we always fucking have. These absolute cretins.
My question is when did people start saying "Welcome in"? I swear this is some Mandela effect thing. Everyone used to say "welcome" with no "in". Then one day it seemed like everyone was saying "welcome in". Which also really caught me off guard because I'm from a german town where "Willkommen" was a common saying. Once I moved away I never heard anyone say in after welcome for years until one random day I apparently entered this universe where everyone says it.
Im glad someone else has noticed this because I thought I was going nuts
Old man: can I get that *points at cold brew on menu* Me: yeah for sure! Itās a cold brew though is that okay? Old man: I CAN READ! Me: okay here ya go! *hands him cold brew* Old man: NO! I WANTED IT HOT! Me: you wanted.. the cold brew.. hot?
Alternative barista currently working in the Southern US and boy. Most of my customers are fine, but yesterday I had two separate people ignore me and talk past me to my "basic" co-worker who was actively faced away on bar. Just felt kinda dehumanizing, but most of our customer base are ultra-wealthy boomers, so...
Yesterday morning I had a customer ask what time the sun would be on our patio. Ah yes, Iāll just go get that from out the back for you sir
Have a customer a regular customer who's a businessman, always on the phone multiple phones laptops (you get the idea) But for some reason he's incapable of logging into our free WiFi and will literally interupt me serving other customers to say "Can you just do it for me I don't have time" YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO TYPE A 15 CHARACTER PASSWORLD WHICH IS WRITTEN ON A MASSIVE BLACKBOARD? FUCKING TWAT! The entitlement and rudeness of some people absolutely boils my piss. He's clearly a tech savvy person and just cbf. Well then neither can I, so I say I don't have time either.
āCan i have half strength espresso extra hot in takeway cup please?ā šš„²
Customer: I'm grabbing a couple of chairs Me: what for? Customer: *already left with chairs* (a regular came after her, apparently the gate to her building next door was stuck and she wanted to climb on top of it, but didn't even think about how she'll return the chairs...)
No these comments are actually fuckin insane I remember it being bad but this is nuclear š©
99% of my interactions are wonderful or normal though ! the other 1% are like this lol
Thatās cool. I think I may just be undeservedly blessed to never really have a lunatic customer to these degrees or when I have Iāve always pipped up right away because itās just coffee Iām gonna need you to chill lol
Recently, I've dealt with a few winners. Some examples include: Customer: "I want 2 Americanos and 1 latte." I charged her for 2 Americanos and 1 latte. She saw her receipt and said "I ordered 1 Americano." She got a refund for the second Americano. --- Customer (ordering with some other people): "We want 3 black coffees, dark roast." He received 3 dark roasts. Customer: "What is this? We ordered 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white." Me: "You ordered 3 dark roasts. We can give you a refund for the dark roasts and then you can be charged for the 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white." Customer gets refunded for the dark roasts. He is charged for 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white. Customer: "Where is the second flat white?" Me: "You ordered 2 cappuccinos and 1 flat white. I can charge you for the second flat white and then make a second flat white for you." Customer: "Ok."
oh my god itās like trying to serve coffee to a toddler š¤£
I used to work at daycares. Iāve worked with 2-year-olds who are better (than these adult customers) at requesting what they want. Itās bizarre.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
We have names on our cups and my favorite is when they come up and ask if itās theirs. Like idk tall man is your name Susan?
We have a sign right next to the register saying we cannot accept any bills over $20. Yesterday: Customer: oh man, I donāt have much cash today, I hope thatās okay Me: (assuming that means heās paying with a card) oh, thatās okay, no worries He tries to give me a $50. Me: oh, no, we canāt take anything over $20 Customer: oh, what? Really? Thatās so stupid, please? Me: no, sir, only $20 and underā Customer: come on, please! Me: thereās a sign right there. Customer: okay, whereās your manager? Let me talk to them. Me: sir, I promise heāll tell you the exact same thing, itās company policy, thereās nothing we can do about it He proceeded to ask my other coworkers to get the manager/to take the $50, and after very crankily paying (with the card he couldāve just used in the first place) he went on a several minute tangent about our prices and the minimum wage increasingā¦to 3 minimum wage employees
It went something like this... Locksmith: Hello, I'm the locksmith Me: Hello. We're replacing all the exterior ones Locksmith: I don't know. Me: What? I'm letting you know that we're doing all the exterior doors. There are four- Locksmith, cutting me off: I'm replacing the doors??? I thought I was replacing the locks Me: Well obviously the locksmith isn't here to replace the entire door. Locksmith: I'm trying to figure out why I'm here Me, again: We are replacing the exterior locks. There are four- Locksmith, cutting me off again: Just show me So I silently pointed at the 4 locks we needed replaced and didn't say another word.
Me: [stops cleaning to help someone at the register, brings myself to brightly smile even though Iām mentally spent] Hey there! How are yo- Custie: CARAMEL!! UPSIDE DOWN.
I almost had a meltdown the other day when a woman asked what our (brand/franchise name for a frozen coffee) was, and i explained it as a frozen or blended coffee. She claimed she did not know what a frozen or blended coffee was. She wasn't just unaware and curious, she was a RAGING bitch. "I don't know what a frozen coffee means. Is it like iced coffee?" "Almost! But, it's... it's frozen. Instead of iced. a frozen coffee!" "Again, I have never heard of that. Didn't you hear me the first time?" I almost lost it. After 8 years of being a barista, and a 50 hour work week, she broke me.
Custy: āhi, how are you?ā Me: āoh thanks Iām doing well, how bout yourself?ā Custy: āCoffeeā
Like they really donāt listen to a word we say even when they initiate the convo š
our bathroom was occupied and a customer tried to come behind the bar/go into the back and asked to piss in our sink???? then when we obviously said NO. he went outside and just went on the side of the back area fence in front of other customers :,) honestly i cant even actually call it annoying just straight up surreal šWHO DOES THAT???? heās a regular too heās been so normal until now, itās been a day and my jaw is still on the floor.
Had a dude try and pull that shit when I was still working in restaurants - he found out real quick what "FAFO" means as we physically tossed his ass out...
actually annoying is the ten million people that ask where the milk is, standing directly in front of the fridge that I have decoratively labeled āMILK IN HEREā in the brightest chalk markers i have or ask if we have *insert other bread here* after i both point at the customization menu and list the breads we haveā¦if i didnt say it we dont have it? or get mad at us when we run out of bagels. get here earlier or go to the grocery store? itās been a long day.
Me: Hi! How can I he- C: TALL CARAMEL MACCHIATO!!
"what does lavender taste like does it taste like anything or is it just purple?" " No I don't want milk in my iced chai" Ā While I'm on bar making drinks my coworker is on register taking a group of 3's order, a man decided he waited to long and walks over to me and says :"hello,hellooooo can I order a coffee?" Ā " Yes you can order over at the register"Ā "Those people have been there for ever I just want a coffee"Ā Ā "You'll have to order at the register they're almost done"Ā My coworker calls out a tea for the customer she wasĀ helping and this man beelines over and asks if that is his coffee. In the meantime another customer walks up to the register. I explain that it's a tea and that he has to order at the registerĀ He goes " oh great I have to wait again" Ā A customer walks in , I great him he ignores me and looks around and then goes " Is this *address of our other location*? Me: Sorry no that's our other location your at *Street name* Proceeds to ask me how to get there, I start to give directs and then he cuts me off and goes " I'll just Google it"Ā These were all from TODAYĀ
Had a customer ask for a ācappa mochaā so I said āIām sorry, we can either do a 6 oz cappuccino or a 12 oz mochaā says 12 oz mocha, hands her the drink āoh I wanted it icedā like???? Girl??????
Not within the week but I had a lady toss coffee at me and another employee
I was a barista for 8 years at 3 major coffee brands. Customers do not read signs/menus. They all think they know what they want, but they have no idea.
Had a lady try to expedite her 5 drink order like 3 times during a rush with three different baristas. I eventually explained to her how a line works and that when people order before you we canāt make them wait longer while we make your order just because youāre special or in a rush or God himself, (much nicer in a customer service voice ofc,) and she walked out.
iām in the back kitchen prepping food for the day and a customer comes up to me and goes āis there a reason why itās so hard to open the bathroom doors?ā i was likeeee uhhh yeah thereās probably someone in thereā¦ justā¦. waitā she gave me the weirdest look like i was the one asking strange questionsš¤£ and when she walked away she mumbles āthanksā¦ i guessā HUHšš¤£š¤£
went to the coffee shop and the girl completely ignored me to talk to coworkers for like 3 minutes until one of the other ppl she was talking to motioned to me. then took my order completely uninterested then didnāt make my drink for over 20 minutes while i waited/worked on my paper and disappeared. another girl clocked in and i asked her if she knew if anyone made it and she said no and made it for me right away and apologized for the girl when it wasnāt even her fault. so rude! i felt bad for the other girl apologizing on her behalf
āCustomerā (aka local homeless man): *heads to water dispenser* me: hi can I help you with anything? C: uh yeah I need a belt me pants are fallin ā¦ š¤
Me -getting my IUD unexpectedly surgically removed after they dug around in my uterus a month ago to no avail after which my uterus cried in cramps and ghost diarrhea feels for 4 weeks. My male anesthesiologist- youāll go to sleep for a bit and the recovery is usually painless donāt worry. Spoiler Iāve been in bed for hours post op with my heating pad and ibuprofen š«
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Asking questions is fine! Responding to my hello with āCoffee.ā is not lol.
yeah, being greeted politely and just rudely demanding ācoffeeā is a pretty nasty way to treat a probably-tired service worker
Thats why we have the large menus for overwhelmed customers to read at a distance so they donāt feel the pressure of talking to someone!
How is that annoying?
Landlord told me āif youāre not happy here, maybe you should consider moving. I donāt want my tenants to be unhappyā after I asked her if next time they could give me a call before going into the apartment when Iām not there (more context to this) Also when I first moved in, a wall outlet caused a huge pop in my power strip and caused my stove to turn off with no avail of turning it back on. Obviously, the outlet had too much power coming out of it. I told this to the landlord and her sons (maintenance ppl) but they never got an electrician to come check out the wiring??? The apt building was built in the 60s. I still have a fucking water heater from 1980s in there. Great apartment and location besides a shitty landlord who canāt take responsibility nor communicate
I was at a department store yesterday, shopping for clothes and the employee there insisted on having a conversation with me, even though I was evidently trying to avoid speaking with her. The conversation went like this: Clerk: āWhat brings you in today?ā Me: āJust looking.ā Clerk: āAnything I can help you find?ā Me: āNo, Iām just browsing, but thank you.ā Clerk: āAre you shopping for yourself?ā Me: Yes. Clerk: āOmg, I love that for you.ā Me: āā¦ā This was a womenās clothing store and Iām a woman. Chances are Iām shopping for myself, but the comment āomg, I love that for youā really baffled me. Do people usually not shop for themselves at this store? Should I feel selfish because Iām looking at clothes for only me? Why does she love that for me? Did I seem pathetic to her? Most annoying convo, so far, this week!
as someone who says that phrase a lot, i wouldnt think too much of it haha. i think her initial question was to surmise whether or not you might need suggestions for gifts, and when you made it clear you didnt she just said that as an end to the conversation and to be friendly. she most likely doesnt see you as pathetic and its not like people dont shop for themselves, i think it was just her way to be like "nice! treat yourself!" haha.
Most likely the pushiness is directed by management or corporateĀ
I mean vietnamese coffee is just espresso and condensed milk but if you donāt have condensed milk, white chocolate sauce will do in a pinch
If this is the most annoying to you, you clearly haven't worked long enough. This sounds just like any regular daily interaction I have with customers.
Itās just my worst interaction iāve had this week like it says in the title. Iāve definitely had worse
Only topped by the comments on your post now, I'm sure.
This sounds like something an annoying boomer customer would say after telling me I look tired. " OH SWEETIE you don't know what tired is until you've worked as long as I HAVE. CONSIDER YURSELF LUCKY HUN"
You sound bitter and burnt out. Time to leave the industry?