What just happened here? Was I bad? ( Coffee house experience)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Last night I went to my guitar class at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. For those who don’t know the stretch of Pico Boulevard where the store is located, for some reason it has suddenly gone all Lower Manhattan, and finding a parking place is just about impossible. Didn’t use to be that way.

However, I digress. So I park about a block away from the shop, across the street from a a very cool coffeehouse where they serve food. It’s about 7:20, or 40 minutes to class time. I go in and wait to order. The kid at the counter says, “yeah?”, and I order a Caesar salad with chicken, and hot green tea. The way they do it there is, you pay for your food at the counter and then they bring it to you. So I tell him I’m sitting in the back part of the coffeehouse.

I sip my tea and wait. About 10 minutes later, he comes in bearing a bowl. I look up the way my cats do when they hear the snap and crackle of the treat bag, but he says it’s chili for someone else. (There are very few people in the place to begin with). I wait about 10 more minutes, and now time is getting tight. Lesson time is only 20 minutes away, so I go up front to ask if my salad will be ready soon. He says “yeah”–might have been an impatient spin there but I wasn’t paying that much attention. But I figured that it normally doesn’t take 20 minutes to get a salad, and I was worried lest my order had been forgotten. It’s been known to happen.

A few minutes later he comes out bearing my salad and says, "here’s your salad! and hands it to me rather than setting it in front of me.

And the salad in front of me turns out to be tuna, not chicken…fortunately OK for me since I like one as well as the other.

What do you all think of this?

2

Kid was a jerk. I hope you complained to the manager. It doesn’t take 20+ minutes to make a salad.

3

Yeah, the kid was being a jerk. Likely, the salads were already made, and all he had to do was grab one from the cooler.

I’d say he’s probably one of those passive-aggressive types. People have been nasty to him before, so he takes his revenge when he thinks he can get away with it. He probably decided to “punish” you after you asked the first time.

4

I think he probably forgot to put your order in, and out of embarassment went on the defensive. It happens, it’s not unforgivable, but it isin my opinion, not acceptable. Of course, if you’ve read my contribution to the “cheese” thread in the pit, you know I’m not a pillar of acceptance when it comes to food. I certainly would have demanded (in a nice way) my money back.

5

Yeah, the kid was being a cock. I don’t think it was a simple case of forgetfulness, especially since he addressed you with nothing other than “yeah”.

6

It made me feel unwelcome. I wondered at the time if that was what it was like to be a person of color in the old days, when restaurants might be legally compelled to be open to all races, but they couldn’t be compelled to make everyone feel wanted and welcome. Not that that was an issue here, since the server and I are both of the same race.

7

Well, now you know which coffeehouse to avoid.

8

See, you are FAR too nice. I would have verbally ripped that kid a new one…and I would have found the manager.

By letting him get away with his rudeness and smart-ass attitude, he thinks he can treat all customers that way.

You did nothing wrong, and if there was a problem in the kitchen or whatever, he should have apologized for making you wait.

9

I go in and wait to order. The kid at the counter says, “yeah?”…

Kid is not properly trained, not properly supervised, and has no business pretending to serve the public if that’s his approach to a customer. Red flag. Advising the manager might help, but a good manager would have previously taken steps to assure that his customers weren’t greeted that way.

About 10 minutes later, he comes in bearing a bowl…for someone else.

This is the time to take action. “I expected to have my order by now. I have to be somewhere soon. If can’t be served by 3 minutes from now, we need to cancel it and give me a refund.”

(There are very few people in the place to begin with).

The above expectation and demand is reasonable.

I wait about 10 more minutes, and now time is getting tight.

Sorry, S of P, but I think this was way too long to wait in this situation. You goofed in doing so.

…he comes out bearing my salad and says, “here’s your salad!” and hands it to me rather than setting it in front of me…[and it turns out to be wrong]

Now’s the time to insist on seeing the manager, and insist on a refund, complaining civilly but pointedly about the rude greeting, excessively slow service, snotty and dismissive attitude, and incompetence – or deliberate malfeasance – in filling your order.

Seriously, the kid shouldn’t be allowed to have that job; and you were way too tolerant.

10

No, you weren’t bad. He was.

I’m not confrontational but I am firm. I would probably have gone to the front when time was getting tight and told him, “Hey, sorry about this, but I have a class soon and I expected to get my salad before this. Since I don’t have time to eat it now, I need to cancel my order and get my money back.” I don’t like being accusatory or pushy, but I will let them know what they did wrong. Politely. I hate being rude, and a side benefit of being polite is that it seems to sting worse.

11

What is this place? I’ll go over there an pee on them for you.

12

Really? You’d go pee on them? We’re going to need pictures. :smiley:

I think Gary T got it just right - the kid was rude to you the first time when he greeted you with, “Yeah?” Let’s go over that - I enter your business to give you some of my money so that you as an employee can make money, and I expect to be treated with basic courtesy, and “Yeah?” doesn’t cut it. “Yeah?” implies that I am taking you away from something that you would rather be doing other than taking my money, and even though I have worked enough minimum wage jobs to know that absolutely, the kid would rather be doing something else, I don’t want to get a sniff of that attitude.

And the rest of it was inexcusably rude, too.

13

Guitar class? Classical, rock or jazz?

I miss my lessons…

14

Swing. Old jazz tunes, like Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Satin Doll.

I do play some classical and blues, too.

15

I’ve managed retail. Just one thing to add: if you were going to complain to the manager with the intent of getting anything (even an apology) complain only about facts: 1. the excessive wait (and let them know that you know the actual amount of time, because you were worried about being late for an appointment), and 2. receiving the incorrect order.

Don’t make the staff’s attitude the center of your complaint – that just means the manager has to decide who was the real jerk in the interaction, and he might well decide it’s you. Believe me, for every snotty counterperson there’s more than one overly-snotty customer with a way too active entitlement gland and way too fragile self-image. I’m not saying you are that kind of customer – 20 minutes wait for the wrong salad is clearly a problem – just that a manager might perceive that.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with letting the manager know, as a favor to them, that you’ve noticed one of their staff being rude. Just have the attitude of ‘I’m a grown-up myself and can deal with it, but I thought you’d like to know that the staffperson of yours is kind of rude and might be costing you some customers.’