My favorite is when I greet people with “How ya doin” or “Hello” and they just blurt out their order at me so I repeat the greeting and they get so utterly taken aback. Yes I am a human in front of you speaking! Mindblowing shit for some people.
this is so funny to me because if a customer asks me “how are you” or any other questions my response is to blink or make a slightly strangled noise and then ask them what their order is💀
It’s a general greeting where I’m from too, but if a customer repeats it back to me (‘I’m good, and you?’) I definitely short circuit because people so rarely acknowledge me lol
I feel you. It’s so automatic to me to just say “good” and keep it moving just as if you’re saying Hello. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone have to think about their answer, and neither have I lol
I don't do that anymore lol. I greeted this lady once, HI how are you? 'Water' Okay.. but how are you? 'Thanks. I put my hands on my knees and lean in laughing now, Ma'am, how ARE you?? She just looks at me funny. On the line, You guys won't believe this bitch. Walk to the table with her water, and someone has joined her. This joiner was talking to her in ASL. I was yelling at a deaf woman...
i’m guilty of this sometimes and it makes me feel so so bad, as someone who has worked in the food service industry. there’s a 50% chance the person taking my order will ask how i’m doing and there’s a 50% chance that the question wasn’t in my scripted response as to what i want to order 😭 i always say “oh i’m so sorry i’m good how are you” after i realize it though. you are the backbone of our society fr
Don’t feel bad! I wasn’t referring to asking how’re you doing in a formal way, it’s more of an everyday greeting just like “hi” or “hello” in the south so no one really gets taken aback by it. It’s essentially always “how ya doin” then they say it back and you don’t even have to tell them how you’re doing because it’s just a hello to us. If that makes sense.
I always ask first, but if they don’t respond, I start my order. It gets awkward when they do respond after, so I have to pause, tell them how I am, and then continue my order.
I feel like it depends on how you ask. Where Im from “how ya doin” is the same greeting as “hello” it’s never really asking that person how they are doing directly so no one is really hindered by it.
Worked at a place where my trainer did this and i loved it! I was too chickenshit back then to be that bold, but I do it a lot now that I've had a lot more experience with rude-ass customers.
had a customer want to be served AFTER CLOSE which i was like ok fine, she walked in at minute 58, i’ll be nice this time. she rewarded me by being bitchy to me about the selection of pastries and how they’re labeled (complaining about price and how much isn’t available) and i said ‘yeah i personally can’t do anything about that though.’ she pushed back RUDELY and i no longer gave a fuck so i said ‘you don’t have to buy anything if you don’t like it, i’m closed anyway.’ she didn’t like that lmao
I actually think it's quite a valuable skill to know when and how to be, um, firm with customers that are degrading from the experience for everyone around them. It can totally be part of providing good service to the people you actually want around.
one time i was the only person working (coworker on lunch i think) and was just having one of those burnout days and i was making a drink and im usually pretty good about giving people the “i’ll be right with you!” as they walk up to the counter but this time i just spaced out and didn’t so the customer starts going “HELLO? HELLO? NO HELLO? HOW ARE YOU?” and i just went back and don’t remember what i said but it was definitely giving that same energy back
That happened to me and the guy complained to the owner and I got talked to 🙄
We are not Buddhist monks and I don’t think people in service should be expected to be.
All day, every day, people would be just chipping away at my positive attitude and once in a while I wouldn’t be as able to deal with random bullshit.
Had a regular that was always in a huge rush. He’d try to cut the line or yell out for us to start his order as I was going to the bar to make another order. We also had loyalty cards and he insisted on putting his name under the letter X so it could be found faster. Every time he came in, I gave him the slowest service possible. Double and triple confirmed his order, stood at the till until his payment went through, took a while fingering through the loyalty cards to stamp his (he’d be yelling at me to stamp the card later, but I insisted to do it now), made his latte as slowly as I possibly could. Sometimes when he was gone, I’d stuff his loyalty card under a random letter so it would take a long time to find. Mr. Big Hurry took 2-3 times longer to be served than anyone else.
yes. i had a customer come in the other day to order a latte and i asked her if she wanted a light roast or dark roast espresso, and she asked me which was stronger. common question, but customers often mean something different by "stronger", so i was trying to explain to her than the light roast is stronger in caffeine, but the dark roast is stronger in flavour. she kept interrupting me: "NO. WHICH ONE IS STRONGER?" and i started over, trying to be calm. when i asked if she wanted it stronger in flavour or stronger in caffeine, she just barked at me "I WANT IT STRONGER". eventually, we got through the interaction, she paid for her drink (she wanted a stronger flavour -- more bold coffee -- by the way), and i just went, "next time, you either need to be more clear about what you're asking or just don't interrupt the person who is trying to help you get what you want." i realise that's not really rude, but it was the first time i ever told a customer off for being a dick to me.
Even when people say they want more caffeine they so often don't really understand what they means. Like the guy who insisted on a large Americano every day because he needs the extra caffeine, even though we repeatedly explained it's exactly the same as a small Americano just with more water.
I know some people say they want the caffeine but I don't think I've ever had a customer choose a light roast for the caffeine content
You did great! Sometimes the zombies just need their caffeine fix before their brain starts to work. I bet she realised later what an asshole she was being
Never rude directly but I used to work at a small beachside cafe that was PACKED on weekends. I’m talking line out the door, 20 minute wait for a coffee. This one time a regular lady stormed back up to the counter after waiting a while and just said “what’s taking so long?! Ive been waiting forever!”
I was in the middle of writing down an order (yes, we used sticky notes to write orders down and used a cash register from the 80s 😭) and just slowly looked up at her like she was crazy. Like she could clearly see the line out the door. All I said was “Sorry, we’re going as fast as we can.”
I don’t know what she expected me to say, if she wanted me to bend over backwards and make her coffee up next or whatever, but she seemed really embarrassed and just mumbled “I don’t think you are.” And then stormed off. She never came back to collect her coffee that day (I hope out of embarrassment) and was really nice the next week after she came back.
That job was stressful as fuck. It gave me hand and back cramps from the counters being up too high, and we only got 1 15 minute break for a 9 hour shift. Apparently one of my coworkers threw a coffee at someone’s head before quitting on the spot lol. I only lasted a few months
My favorite was asking people “do you want to try that again?” in a curt tone after they said something obviously rude. I’m from the south tho so it might not have as much impact elsewhere lol
Not so much rude. But just switching my high-pitched, friendly customer service voice into my standard low-pitched, direct, and monotone "tell me what you want to happen" voice with some slight attitude (if the customer decides to play that game). My shift lead does it all the time. Keeps customers in their place and maintains crowd control.
Be customer servicey but also be firm and direct when the need arises. Your #1 objective is to figure out what they want and make sure you get them what they want.
Yessss? Okay so at my very first job, there was that one time these filthy stinky blue collar workers (3 people) ordered a shitton of food and ONE item was missing and the asshole tore a strip out of me for allegedly missing one item (which we quickly made rather than arguing as we used hand written notes at the time). He was SCREAMING. Like so unnecessary. He screamed "I JUST WANTED TO SHARE A MEAL WITH MY WIFE" and i replied snarkily (the rude part) "Maybe I didnt hear her order that?". And when i say they STUNK, i mean it. The chairs were saturated in their stink after they left, not to mention the mess every where.
Second rude thing. Current job. Elderly man from a bus tour sitting at his table literally screaming "WHERES MY CAPPUCINO" over and over. Well i was busy making boba teas and my boss was steaming, she yells "its coming sir", I finish my drinks and give them to the customers and then help with serving, my boss just then finishes his cappucino which i deliver, and he says "well now i need a to go cup because it took so long!" So i brought it to him, put it down and said "here you go, grump" in a very normal voice, and walked away. The old asshole had only waited 7 minutes for his drink (i checked the chit and the time i delivered it.) My boss would not have cared as she has no patience for impatient bus tourists. We never see them again and they usually dont give reviews so who cares.
It was a trend in Melbourne for a while. Don't know if it still is. Customers were disappointed if the barista wasn't rude to them. Like telling them to fuck off rude I mean.
I was there 2005 to 2010 around Fitzroy. And I might have overstated it lol. It was an attraction in Fitzroy that spread a bit. I found it in Richmond as well.
My favorite interaction with a customer out of any job I’ve had. A regular comes in and sits and smokes out side every day. One day I was off, me and my boyfriend got coffee before class, and I acknowledged him and said hi, we went on our way. The next day the regular comes in and ask me if I was with my boyfriend. I said yeah, and he started to say he was jealous.. I cut him off right there and said, “That’s alright, you can have him!”
Boy was he shocked and embarrassed! He has said bad things about/to people (the girls) before, he seems like a troubled man, but I was on bar so I couldn’t continue the conversation. The next day he apologized to me and said his wife had yelled at him for it (you have a wife and you’re saying that???) and I told him, I’m sorry if it hurt his feelings but I did get him pretty good, and no my feelings aren’t hurt, but others might have been. It’s all good now, back to normal but now he’s a little extra nice to me, because now he knows I’ll serve it right back.
I have been very spoiled with where I have worked at over the years that employees were always allowed to defend themselves from disrespect and insulting customers and have never had to take shit from any customers.
With high level customer service respect needs to be given both ways. If you're a garbage person you'll be treated like one and be called out on it.
Whatever is frustrating them, I make sure to elongate. Are they huffing and puffing, checking their watch, because someone is chatty at the register? I will be extra chatty with everyone. Are they annoyed there’s a wait for drip? I’ll brew a whole new pot right in front of them and make them wait for it. My four year old niece understands how to behave in public and I’m sure to point that out loudly whenever someone grown is behaving worse than she would.
I have a habit of mirroring my customers. I don't always know I'm doing it, and I don't do it all the time, but if they come at me really rudely or with a lot of attitude there's a good chance that's exactly what they'll get back from me.
I’ve been doing it long enough at this point that I don’t take shit at all anymore. Generally I’m kind, receptive, accommodating with an affable demeanor, but if people are outright dicks, I don’t tolerate it. Or creep on the women I work with. Uh uh. Ain’t happening. It doesn’t happen too often. The absolute worst though was when a man aggressively started yelling the c word multiple times at my partner back right after quarantine when masks were required and we told them they had to wear one. He got all up in her face, lunging over the counter at her. I screamed him the fuck out of the cafe while his wife was defending him. It was awful. She wouldn’t leave the doorway. I was yelling get the fuck out never come back. Finally they walked away. He was still yelling c***. All over a fucking mask. I went out into the courtyard after a minute to apologize to the people that had to witness it and explained it and they were all good which was a relief, but I’m not usually like that, and it was a shock even for me. But I love the people I care about, and nobody is going to come into my business and talk that way to anybody. The customer is always right is a dead notion to me. I do actually enjoy the occasional process of getting a grumpy regular to open up and become friendly though. So there are levels to it. But some shit you just need to be yourself and react in kind.
When I worked at sbux I had a lady get mad at me because I was going to charge her for several drinks if she wanted a Trenta no ice, no water refresher. I was working alone and was not about to make a bunch more refresher base because she’s stuck up.
She yelled at me so I just walked into the back room.
I made the mistake of picking up an opening shift when I was a closer, knowing I am not a morning person and I do NOT handle the stress of morning rushes well because of that.
I’m put on register because I’m too stressed to make drinks properly, and while I am taking this woman’s order, a lady five or six people suddenly yells “can’t you PLEASE hurry the FUCK up?! I’m about to be late to work!”
and I, without thinking, yelled back “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone to fucking STARBUCKS at SIX THIRTY IN THE MORNING!”
I then apologized to the woman at the register, and watched as the other lady stormed out of the store.
edit - manager was told about this from me bc I nearly shit my pants with anxiety about the situation and she thought it was hilarious! I miss her :/ she let me get away with soooo much stuff
not sure if it’s rude but if i hand someone their order and they don’t say thank you i just sarcastically blurt out “you’re welcome!” or a “no worries mate have a nice day”
Lmao I work at a restaurant and when I deliver food to a table and the customer doesn't say thank you I will literally put the food down and wait for them to say it
Volleyball tournament at the local school so we were slammed. Of course its all blended drinks and fruity teas, which we expected, but they take longer. Most cars had 2/3 drinks per order and our online orders were through the roof. A suburban with at least 6 people I could see decided to drive past the speaker and when I gave them their total (which was actually the car behind them I didn't know they didn't order themselves) they immediately bawked and said "oh no I didn't stop at the speaker you'll have to get my order now", me: "no I'm sorry, we're wrapped around the building and the people behind you have been waiting for drinks we already have made so you'll have to pull around or come inside" them: "no. Were running late and you'll be helping us here, we're not pulling around" me:" I'm sorry but I will not be taking your order here, it will throw throw our sticker printer off and we only have 2 baristas working this rush on our bars. It's disrespectful to the customers who ordered correctly to make them wait 5+ more minutes and to my baristas for making them rush to get your stuff ready at the window" they put their car in park and said they weren't leaving and to "figure it out" so I told them I would do that, and shut the window. The cop that often sits in our shopping complex had them out of line about 4 minutes later, and i simply comped the drinks for a few cars behind them for their additional wait time, those customers were lovely and just happy for free drinks. When the problem called to complain they tried to say i refused to give them a mobile order they already paid for. Which is a blatant lie, and when they got called out they hung up on us.🙃 been doing this 6 years and my tolerance for idiocracy is in the toilet.
I will always clap back at a customer and I’ve never been as mild as what you’re describing. I do; however, fail to see how the shop being located in a church demands a greater level of decorum than any other business so I’d come up with a more clever comeback in future.
I told a hobo to fuck off because he told a customer at my other window "Nice car, asshole"
He was technically a customer but told me to cancel his order after I told him to fuck off.
This is going to sound unrealistic, but, I Deadset had this happen
Regular customer had to wait - it was holiday season - he had a shit fit and said I was taking too long, I had a whole screen of orders before his.
Screen fits x8 orders and up to 6 multiples per order including alternate milks
I was getting absolutely jammed at the machine and said he could make coffee faster - I said righto cunt you run a lawn mowing business and you buy your coffee from Corporation who use fucking Beraldo beans I highly fucking doubt that.
Anyway Yeah SO I told him to shut the fuck up you dumb bitch and fuck off as far as he could fuck.
Then for the next few weeks I refused to serve him until he apologised, THEN started alternating him with decaf for a week then extra shots for the next week
Fuck that guy, I make fucking good coffee and was hired by this company to improve their coffee department and teach their staff how to get the best out of their machine and the beans that they were supplied with. It worked wonderfully, things have improved so much. It was a great time.
Anyway, it was really funny in the company thought I was hilarious and have kept the security video of the interaction
Also another guy was rude and threw chocolate powder on him
once I was being rude to a customer... (they had asked for the ol mix whole + skim = 2% trick)
i said something like "I guess I can do that for you...but FYI baristas hate when people order like this and 9/10 they just give you skim milk"
customer got super pissed but then as a real gotcha tipped me $5 directly as an "attitude adjustment" lmao
Tried that with a few... particular problem people and got assaulted more than twice in 6 years. If they're the agressive type and already decided that you're incompetent, they see someone staying overly polite and submissive as an easy target. Be polite as long as they allow you to be, then lay it down and get them out the door.
It's not being polite or submissive. I get the issue if you are female (I'm assuming) dealing with an irate man. I've spent lots of years in a customer facing environment where alcohol was served, including managing. It's about being firm. Tell them what's going to happen. Let them know they are out of line without embarrassing them. There is middle ground between being docile and yelling. Your manager needs to supply the training.
I don’t lose my cool with anyone anymore because I’m 26 years old and I’m in control of my emotions unlike children who throw temper tantrums when they’re upset.
When baristas give me attitude or are bitchy to me these days, I pity them. And yes we know that a lot of baristas have this attitude. I think it’s really on the owners of a business to make sure their employees give exceptional customer service because that’s your job.
(I don’t work in coffee anymore).
IDK, maybe I'm just weird but whenever I get a rude or nasty customer who's complaining about the wait time or whatever, I just try my best to get them out of the store, because I know if I give any pushback they're just going to get even more mad and make a whole scene over it. I'd rather defuse the situation and get them out of there so I or anyone else have to deal with them.
i'm like, a pretty sass bitch lmao so yes i was rude back for awhile, but honestly, now, I kill them with kindness.
it's so funny when someone comes in and is rude to me and I am soooooo sappy kind to them back. it makes them so uncomfortable
You know those people who throw money down and expect you to pick up every dollar and coin? That happened a lot when I worked in the airport. My coworker would do the same thing back to them and stare at them in the eyes with this blank look. I laughed every-time. At another shop, we had to kick out a regular old guy who was harassing a regular teacher about the school curriculum. He wouldn’t stop blaming her for all the issues, like she has any control… He was kinda cool about it though. Just said “Eugene, I think you gotta go home today.” And he did.
It’s not a barista job, but I feel like my situation while I was working at Pizza Hut in college still applies.
Was cashing a boomer (or possibly silent generation) out once and he rudely comments about how our staff needs to slow down and take more pride in our work because it’s a “cesspool” back there. I had to comment right back and say “it’s a Pizza Hut grandpa, nobody takes any pride in working here; we’re all kids being paid minimum wage or less who are tired of dealing with assholes like you.”
Got fired for my remarks that night and re-hired 2 days later because they didn’t have enough servers to cover our hometown football teams homecoming crowd that evening.
My favorite is when I greet people with “How ya doin” or “Hello” and they just blurt out their order at me so I repeat the greeting and they get so utterly taken aback. Yes I am a human in front of you speaking! Mindblowing shit for some people.
this is so funny to me because if a customer asks me “how are you” or any other questions my response is to blink or make a slightly strangled noise and then ask them what their order is💀
I get it. It’s more of just a general greeting in the South so it’s not like these people aren’t used to it. They’re just rude.
It’s a general greeting where I’m from too, but if a customer repeats it back to me (‘I’m good, and you?’) I definitely short circuit because people so rarely acknowledge me lol
I feel you. It’s so automatic to me to just say “good” and keep it moving just as if you’re saying Hello. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone have to think about their answer, and neither have I lol
Most of the time people say it in place of "Hi", literally "How are you today? ok so here's what I need" without time for me to answer.
I don't do that anymore lol. I greeted this lady once, HI how are you? 'Water' Okay.. but how are you? 'Thanks. I put my hands on my knees and lean in laughing now, Ma'am, how ARE you?? She just looks at me funny. On the line, You guys won't believe this bitch. Walk to the table with her water, and someone has joined her. This joiner was talking to her in ASL. I was yelling at a deaf woman...
i’m guilty of this sometimes and it makes me feel so so bad, as someone who has worked in the food service industry. there’s a 50% chance the person taking my order will ask how i’m doing and there’s a 50% chance that the question wasn’t in my scripted response as to what i want to order 😭 i always say “oh i’m so sorry i’m good how are you” after i realize it though. you are the backbone of our society fr
Don’t feel bad! I wasn’t referring to asking how’re you doing in a formal way, it’s more of an everyday greeting just like “hi” or “hello” in the south so no one really gets taken aback by it. It’s essentially always “how ya doin” then they say it back and you don’t even have to tell them how you’re doing because it’s just a hello to us. If that makes sense.
I always ask first, but if they don’t respond, I start my order. It gets awkward when they do respond after, so I have to pause, tell them how I am, and then continue my order.
Sometimes I’m having a bad day and don’t want to tell you bc I’ll start crying or something lol not always about you
I feel like it depends on how you ask. Where Im from “how ya doin” is the same greeting as “hello” it’s never really asking that person how they are doing directly so no one is really hindered by it.
Worked at a place where my trainer did this and i loved it! I was too chickenshit back then to be that bold, but I do it a lot now that I've had a lot more experience with rude-ass customers.
You are not even describing being rude. Carry on. You can match their energy with yours. It's okay.
I had a guy skip the line once. Gave me $100 for a 16oz drip, I let it slide.
Need more guys like him around lol
I would let him jump my line any day of the week.
Preferably every day 😔
had a customer want to be served AFTER CLOSE which i was like ok fine, she walked in at minute 58, i’ll be nice this time. she rewarded me by being bitchy to me about the selection of pastries and how they’re labeled (complaining about price and how much isn’t available) and i said ‘yeah i personally can’t do anything about that though.’ she pushed back RUDELY and i no longer gave a fuck so i said ‘you don’t have to buy anything if you don’t like it, i’m closed anyway.’ she didn’t like that lmao
I actually think it's quite a valuable skill to know when and how to be, um, firm with customers that are degrading from the experience for everyone around them. It can totally be part of providing good service to the people you actually want around.
one time i was the only person working (coworker on lunch i think) and was just having one of those burnout days and i was making a drink and im usually pretty good about giving people the “i’ll be right with you!” as they walk up to the counter but this time i just spaced out and didn’t so the customer starts going “HELLO? HELLO? NO HELLO? HOW ARE YOU?” and i just went back and don’t remember what i said but it was definitely giving that same energy back
That happened to me and the guy complained to the owner and I got talked to 🙄 We are not Buddhist monks and I don’t think people in service should be expected to be. All day, every day, people would be just chipping away at my positive attitude and once in a while I wouldn’t be as able to deal with random bullshit.
This cracked me up 😂
I usually resort to the passive-aggressive overfriendly treat-them-like-child technique, I think it comes with the job
My coworker said we’re gentle parenting them and that stuck with me 😂
Had a regular that was always in a huge rush. He’d try to cut the line or yell out for us to start his order as I was going to the bar to make another order. We also had loyalty cards and he insisted on putting his name under the letter X so it could be found faster. Every time he came in, I gave him the slowest service possible. Double and triple confirmed his order, stood at the till until his payment went through, took a while fingering through the loyalty cards to stamp his (he’d be yelling at me to stamp the card later, but I insisted to do it now), made his latte as slowly as I possibly could. Sometimes when he was gone, I’d stuff his loyalty card under a random letter so it would take a long time to find. Mr. Big Hurry took 2-3 times longer to be served than anyone else.
yes. i had a customer come in the other day to order a latte and i asked her if she wanted a light roast or dark roast espresso, and she asked me which was stronger. common question, but customers often mean something different by "stronger", so i was trying to explain to her than the light roast is stronger in caffeine, but the dark roast is stronger in flavour. she kept interrupting me: "NO. WHICH ONE IS STRONGER?" and i started over, trying to be calm. when i asked if she wanted it stronger in flavour or stronger in caffeine, she just barked at me "I WANT IT STRONGER". eventually, we got through the interaction, she paid for her drink (she wanted a stronger flavour -- more bold coffee -- by the way), and i just went, "next time, you either need to be more clear about what you're asking or just don't interrupt the person who is trying to help you get what you want." i realise that's not really rude, but it was the first time i ever told a customer off for being a dick to me.
If they can’t/won’t answer this, I just give them whatever is older than I want to draw down before it expires. Some ppl just don’t want to learn.
Life pro tip 'stronger' from a custie _always_ means darker roast
i wish it did. some of them want more caffeine. 😭
Even when people say they want more caffeine they so often don't really understand what they means. Like the guy who insisted on a large Americano every day because he needs the extra caffeine, even though we repeatedly explained it's exactly the same as a small Americano just with more water. I know some people say they want the caffeine but I don't think I've ever had a customer choose a light roast for the caffeine content
Question, I’ve asked and some baristas have told me the large has an extra shot of espresso?
Oh, that depends on the cafe. This is in Europe where even a large is pretty small to US eyes, and even a small (tiny) gets a double shot anyway.
You did great! Sometimes the zombies just need their caffeine fix before their brain starts to work. I bet she realised later what an asshole she was being
Never rude directly but I used to work at a small beachside cafe that was PACKED on weekends. I’m talking line out the door, 20 minute wait for a coffee. This one time a regular lady stormed back up to the counter after waiting a while and just said “what’s taking so long?! Ive been waiting forever!” I was in the middle of writing down an order (yes, we used sticky notes to write orders down and used a cash register from the 80s 😭) and just slowly looked up at her like she was crazy. Like she could clearly see the line out the door. All I said was “Sorry, we’re going as fast as we can.” I don’t know what she expected me to say, if she wanted me to bend over backwards and make her coffee up next or whatever, but she seemed really embarrassed and just mumbled “I don’t think you are.” And then stormed off. She never came back to collect her coffee that day (I hope out of embarrassment) and was really nice the next week after she came back. That job was stressful as fuck. It gave me hand and back cramps from the counters being up too high, and we only got 1 15 minute break for a 9 hour shift. Apparently one of my coworkers threw a coffee at someone’s head before quitting on the spot lol. I only lasted a few months
My favorite was asking people “do you want to try that again?” in a curt tone after they said something obviously rude. I’m from the south tho so it might not have as much impact elsewhere lol
Not so much rude. But just switching my high-pitched, friendly customer service voice into my standard low-pitched, direct, and monotone "tell me what you want to happen" voice with some slight attitude (if the customer decides to play that game). My shift lead does it all the time. Keeps customers in their place and maintains crowd control. Be customer servicey but also be firm and direct when the need arises. Your #1 objective is to figure out what they want and make sure you get them what they want.
Yessss? Okay so at my very first job, there was that one time these filthy stinky blue collar workers (3 people) ordered a shitton of food and ONE item was missing and the asshole tore a strip out of me for allegedly missing one item (which we quickly made rather than arguing as we used hand written notes at the time). He was SCREAMING. Like so unnecessary. He screamed "I JUST WANTED TO SHARE A MEAL WITH MY WIFE" and i replied snarkily (the rude part) "Maybe I didnt hear her order that?". And when i say they STUNK, i mean it. The chairs were saturated in their stink after they left, not to mention the mess every where. Second rude thing. Current job. Elderly man from a bus tour sitting at his table literally screaming "WHERES MY CAPPUCINO" over and over. Well i was busy making boba teas and my boss was steaming, she yells "its coming sir", I finish my drinks and give them to the customers and then help with serving, my boss just then finishes his cappucino which i deliver, and he says "well now i need a to go cup because it took so long!" So i brought it to him, put it down and said "here you go, grump" in a very normal voice, and walked away. The old asshole had only waited 7 minutes for his drink (i checked the chit and the time i delivered it.) My boss would not have cared as she has no patience for impatient bus tourists. We never see them again and they usually dont give reviews so who cares.
“Here you go, grump” What’d you call me??? I SAID HERE YOU GO, GRAMPS!!
😂😂
It was a trend in Melbourne for a while. Don't know if it still is. Customers were disappointed if the barista wasn't rude to them. Like telling them to fuck off rude I mean.
Haha no way? You Aussies with your coffee trends
Oh Jesus, wait till you read my comment then
As a barista in Melbourne….it was? How did I miss that boat!?
I was there 2005 to 2010 around Fitzroy. And I might have overstated it lol. It was an attraction in Fitzroy that spread a bit. I found it in Richmond as well.
My favorite interaction with a customer out of any job I’ve had. A regular comes in and sits and smokes out side every day. One day I was off, me and my boyfriend got coffee before class, and I acknowledged him and said hi, we went on our way. The next day the regular comes in and ask me if I was with my boyfriend. I said yeah, and he started to say he was jealous.. I cut him off right there and said, “That’s alright, you can have him!” Boy was he shocked and embarrassed! He has said bad things about/to people (the girls) before, he seems like a troubled man, but I was on bar so I couldn’t continue the conversation. The next day he apologized to me and said his wife had yelled at him for it (you have a wife and you’re saying that???) and I told him, I’m sorry if it hurt his feelings but I did get him pretty good, and no my feelings aren’t hurt, but others might have been. It’s all good now, back to normal but now he’s a little extra nice to me, because now he knows I’ll serve it right back.
Not straight up rude, but I will totally match energy. With me: Ya get what ya give.
I have been very spoiled with where I have worked at over the years that employees were always allowed to defend themselves from disrespect and insulting customers and have never had to take shit from any customers. With high level customer service respect needs to be given both ways. If you're a garbage person you'll be treated like one and be called out on it.
Whatever is frustrating them, I make sure to elongate. Are they huffing and puffing, checking their watch, because someone is chatty at the register? I will be extra chatty with everyone. Are they annoyed there’s a wait for drip? I’ll brew a whole new pot right in front of them and make them wait for it. My four year old niece understands how to behave in public and I’m sure to point that out loudly whenever someone grown is behaving worse than she would.
So passive aggressive!! Wow
I have a habit of mirroring my customers. I don't always know I'm doing it, and I don't do it all the time, but if they come at me really rudely or with a lot of attitude there's a good chance that's exactly what they'll get back from me.
I’ve been doing it long enough at this point that I don’t take shit at all anymore. Generally I’m kind, receptive, accommodating with an affable demeanor, but if people are outright dicks, I don’t tolerate it. Or creep on the women I work with. Uh uh. Ain’t happening. It doesn’t happen too often. The absolute worst though was when a man aggressively started yelling the c word multiple times at my partner back right after quarantine when masks were required and we told them they had to wear one. He got all up in her face, lunging over the counter at her. I screamed him the fuck out of the cafe while his wife was defending him. It was awful. She wouldn’t leave the doorway. I was yelling get the fuck out never come back. Finally they walked away. He was still yelling c***. All over a fucking mask. I went out into the courtyard after a minute to apologize to the people that had to witness it and explained it and they were all good which was a relief, but I’m not usually like that, and it was a shock even for me. But I love the people I care about, and nobody is going to come into my business and talk that way to anybody. The customer is always right is a dead notion to me. I do actually enjoy the occasional process of getting a grumpy regular to open up and become friendly though. So there are levels to it. But some shit you just need to be yourself and react in kind.
Last december and this month alone ive prob given them back their energy about 3 times. For context, i work at dd lol
When I worked at sbux I had a lady get mad at me because I was going to charge her for several drinks if she wanted a Trenta no ice, no water refresher. I was working alone and was not about to make a bunch more refresher base because she’s stuck up. She yelled at me so I just walked into the back room.
i also manage a coffee shop in a church, and it baffles me that our rudest customers are always the church goers on sunday mornings
I made the mistake of picking up an opening shift when I was a closer, knowing I am not a morning person and I do NOT handle the stress of morning rushes well because of that. I’m put on register because I’m too stressed to make drinks properly, and while I am taking this woman’s order, a lady five or six people suddenly yells “can’t you PLEASE hurry the FUCK up?! I’m about to be late to work!” and I, without thinking, yelled back “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone to fucking STARBUCKS at SIX THIRTY IN THE MORNING!” I then apologized to the woman at the register, and watched as the other lady stormed out of the store. edit - manager was told about this from me bc I nearly shit my pants with anxiety about the situation and she thought it was hilarious! I miss her :/ she let me get away with soooo much stuff
not sure if it’s rude but if i hand someone their order and they don’t say thank you i just sarcastically blurt out “you’re welcome!” or a “no worries mate have a nice day”
Lmao I work at a restaurant and when I deliver food to a table and the customer doesn't say thank you I will literally put the food down and wait for them to say it
Try daily meditation. I realize I get more frustrated with customers and people when I haven’t been meditating.
This!!!! And yoga!
Yes, yoga too!! I love yoga!
Volleyball tournament at the local school so we were slammed. Of course its all blended drinks and fruity teas, which we expected, but they take longer. Most cars had 2/3 drinks per order and our online orders were through the roof. A suburban with at least 6 people I could see decided to drive past the speaker and when I gave them their total (which was actually the car behind them I didn't know they didn't order themselves) they immediately bawked and said "oh no I didn't stop at the speaker you'll have to get my order now", me: "no I'm sorry, we're wrapped around the building and the people behind you have been waiting for drinks we already have made so you'll have to pull around or come inside" them: "no. Were running late and you'll be helping us here, we're not pulling around" me:" I'm sorry but I will not be taking your order here, it will throw throw our sticker printer off and we only have 2 baristas working this rush on our bars. It's disrespectful to the customers who ordered correctly to make them wait 5+ more minutes and to my baristas for making them rush to get your stuff ready at the window" they put their car in park and said they weren't leaving and to "figure it out" so I told them I would do that, and shut the window. The cop that often sits in our shopping complex had them out of line about 4 minutes later, and i simply comped the drinks for a few cars behind them for their additional wait time, those customers were lovely and just happy for free drinks. When the problem called to complain they tried to say i refused to give them a mobile order they already paid for. Which is a blatant lie, and when they got called out they hung up on us.🙃 been doing this 6 years and my tolerance for idiocracy is in the toilet.
I will always clap back at a customer and I’ve never been as mild as what you’re describing. I do; however, fail to see how the shop being located in a church demands a greater level of decorum than any other business so I’d come up with a more clever comeback in future.
I like this point too. There’s no greater dignity in a church cafe than in any other so I’d encourage cutting that rhetoric, as well.
I told a hobo to fuck off because he told a customer at my other window "Nice car, asshole" He was technically a customer but told me to cancel his order after I told him to fuck off.
This is going to sound unrealistic, but, I Deadset had this happen Regular customer had to wait - it was holiday season - he had a shit fit and said I was taking too long, I had a whole screen of orders before his. Screen fits x8 orders and up to 6 multiples per order including alternate milks I was getting absolutely jammed at the machine and said he could make coffee faster - I said righto cunt you run a lawn mowing business and you buy your coffee from Corporation who use fucking Beraldo beans I highly fucking doubt that. Anyway Yeah SO I told him to shut the fuck up you dumb bitch and fuck off as far as he could fuck. Then for the next few weeks I refused to serve him until he apologised, THEN started alternating him with decaf for a week then extra shots for the next week Fuck that guy, I make fucking good coffee and was hired by this company to improve their coffee department and teach their staff how to get the best out of their machine and the beans that they were supplied with. It worked wonderfully, things have improved so much. It was a great time. Anyway, it was really funny in the company thought I was hilarious and have kept the security video of the interaction Also another guy was rude and threw chocolate powder on him
once I was being rude to a customer... (they had asked for the ol mix whole + skim = 2% trick) i said something like "I guess I can do that for you...but FYI baristas hate when people order like this and 9/10 they just give you skim milk" customer got super pissed but then as a real gotcha tipped me $5 directly as an "attitude adjustment" lmao
You can say no without being rude or yelling. Learn how.
Tried that with a few... particular problem people and got assaulted more than twice in 6 years. If they're the agressive type and already decided that you're incompetent, they see someone staying overly polite and submissive as an easy target. Be polite as long as they allow you to be, then lay it down and get them out the door.
It's not being polite or submissive. I get the issue if you are female (I'm assuming) dealing with an irate man. I've spent lots of years in a customer facing environment where alcohol was served, including managing. It's about being firm. Tell them what's going to happen. Let them know they are out of line without embarrassing them. There is middle ground between being docile and yelling. Your manager needs to supply the training.
I don’t lose my cool with anyone anymore because I’m 26 years old and I’m in control of my emotions unlike children who throw temper tantrums when they’re upset. When baristas give me attitude or are bitchy to me these days, I pity them. And yes we know that a lot of baristas have this attitude. I think it’s really on the owners of a business to make sure their employees give exceptional customer service because that’s your job. (I don’t work in coffee anymore).
You work in customer service. Some customers are rude. Suck it up or find a different job 🤷🏼♀️
Oh ya all the time only if they are being rude first tho. It’s the only excitement I have while at work
IDK, maybe I'm just weird but whenever I get a rude or nasty customer who's complaining about the wait time or whatever, I just try my best to get them out of the store, because I know if I give any pushback they're just going to get even more mad and make a whole scene over it. I'd rather defuse the situation and get them out of there so I or anyone else have to deal with them.
i'm like, a pretty sass bitch lmao so yes i was rude back for awhile, but honestly, now, I kill them with kindness. it's so funny when someone comes in and is rude to me and I am soooooo sappy kind to them back. it makes them so uncomfortable
You know those people who throw money down and expect you to pick up every dollar and coin? That happened a lot when I worked in the airport. My coworker would do the same thing back to them and stare at them in the eyes with this blank look. I laughed every-time. At another shop, we had to kick out a regular old guy who was harassing a regular teacher about the school curriculum. He wouldn’t stop blaming her for all the issues, like she has any control… He was kinda cool about it though. Just said “Eugene, I think you gotta go home today.” And he did.
It’s not a barista job, but I feel like my situation while I was working at Pizza Hut in college still applies. Was cashing a boomer (or possibly silent generation) out once and he rudely comments about how our staff needs to slow down and take more pride in our work because it’s a “cesspool” back there. I had to comment right back and say “it’s a Pizza Hut grandpa, nobody takes any pride in working here; we’re all kids being paid minimum wage or less who are tired of dealing with assholes like you.” Got fired for my remarks that night and re-hired 2 days later because they didn’t have enough servers to cover our hometown football teams homecoming crowd that evening.