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| A train station coffee kiosk |
I was working in a downtown bank in Chicago many years ago, and as many others before or since, I took a local commuter train to work every morning. Upon reaching the final stop, all passengers are instructed to pick up their personal belongings and exit the train into the station. The train station has a food court in the lower level. It also has a strategically placed coffee bar or kiosk on the upper floor, for those riders needing a jolt of caffeine to start their day. There was no escape from the intoxicating coffee aroma emanating from that kiosk as you entered the station. In the early morning hours, there is generally a crowd of people standing in line to get their daily fix of caffeine, this particular day was no exception. I took my place in line and waited my turn. Nearing the front of the counter to place my order, I could see that I was next in line for my least favorite server. There must be an invisible sign that flashes over my head that reads 'all morons follow me.' I say this because I always seem to attract the worst or rudest waitperson possible.
Unfortunately, it was not the plain bagel and plain cream cheese that I had ordered or expected. It was an onion bagel with a veggie spread. I handed the bag back to Suzie and repeated my order to her. She rolled her eyes at me, took the paper sack, and walked away. After a few minutes, good old Suzie came back with another bag. This one contained a toasted raisin bagel with melted butter. It was tossed into the bag without ceremony or any additional protective paper around it to prevent the oily mess from seeping through the bottom.
I called my "favorite" server over again and reminded her of my order for the second time. She snatched the greasy bag out of my hand and walked away. A few minutes later, Surly Suzie was back with yet another mystery bag. I was beginning to feel like I was on a game show trying to guess what was behind door number three. Not knowing what I would find this go-round, I carefully opened this bag, to find that the bagel it contained was listed on the menu board as an 'everything' bagel. There were no spreads of any kind included this time...just a single sheet of bakery tissue.
At this point, I had had about as much as I could take of this nitwit. I dropped the bag on the counter with a slight thud and called Suzie over once again. I told her that she had gotten my order wrong for the third time. She said to me in her usual gruff tone, "don't be so rough with the bagels." If I hadn't been so annoyed, I would have laughed. Instead of being apologetic for her repeated bungling of my order, Suzie grabbed the bag from me (roughly, I might add), and walked away. Before correcting her mistake, she decided to hold a sidebar conversation with one of her coworkers about the situation. Standing a mere six feet away, I could hear the entire discussion. I was quickly running out of patience and decided to interrupt the character-assault on my personality. I not so gently reminded Suzie that instead of talking about me, her time would be better spent getting my order right. If not, I would be speaking to the manager. After another minute or so, and a couple of scoffs and smirks later… Suzie was back with yet another bag. A miracle of miracles, this bag contained my original and finally correct order. The only problem now was that my coffee was cold.
I wasn't in the mood to go another round with Suzie, and have her possibly spit in my cup. I grabbed my bag, cold coffee, and what was left of my dignity and started to leave. Usually, I let stuff like this go. On this particular morning, however, this rude and incompetent person behind the counter had tap-danced on my last nerve. I stepped over to the side of the kiosk to talk to the manager about my experience. I suggested that service with a smile might be a better approach from his waitstaff than eye rolls, snarky attitudes, and blatant incompetence. From the expression on his face, I suspect that I wasn't the first person to complain about his stellar employee. He apologized and promised to address the situation.
After that day, I never saw Surly Suzie again, so perhaps the manager was a man of his word. It was never my intention to get her fired, and maybe she wasn't. I will never know. I do believe, however, that when you work with the public, you should strive to provide excellent service, and when you don't …you should be held accountable. I also believe that companies should be held responsible for the way that their employees treat their customers, that is…if they want to retain them. Service with a smile is not that difficult of a concept and should be practiced regularly.
At this point, I had had about as much as I could take of this nitwit. I dropped the bag on the counter with a slight thud and called Suzie over once again. I told her that she had gotten my order wrong for the third time. She said to me in her usual gruff tone, "don't be so rough with the bagels." If I hadn't been so annoyed, I would have laughed. Instead of being apologetic for her repeated bungling of my order, Suzie grabbed the bag from me (roughly, I might add), and walked away. Before correcting her mistake, she decided to hold a sidebar conversation with one of her coworkers about the situation. Standing a mere six feet away, I could hear the entire discussion. I was quickly running out of patience and decided to interrupt the character-assault on my personality. I not so gently reminded Suzie that instead of talking about me, her time would be better spent getting my order right. If not, I would be speaking to the manager. After another minute or so, and a couple of scoffs and smirks later… Suzie was back with yet another bag. A miracle of miracles, this bag contained my original and finally correct order. The only problem now was that my coffee was cold.
I wasn't in the mood to go another round with Suzie, and have her possibly spit in my cup. I grabbed my bag, cold coffee, and what was left of my dignity and started to leave. Usually, I let stuff like this go. On this particular morning, however, this rude and incompetent person behind the counter had tap-danced on my last nerve. I stepped over to the side of the kiosk to talk to the manager about my experience. I suggested that service with a smile might be a better approach from his waitstaff than eye rolls, snarky attitudes, and blatant incompetence. From the expression on his face, I suspect that I wasn't the first person to complain about his stellar employee. He apologized and promised to address the situation.
After that day, I never saw Surly Suzie again, so perhaps the manager was a man of his word. It was never my intention to get her fired, and maybe she wasn't. I will never know. I do believe, however, that when you work with the public, you should strive to provide excellent service, and when you don't …you should be held accountable. I also believe that companies should be held responsible for the way that their employees treat their customers, that is…if they want to retain them. Service with a smile is not that difficult of a concept and should be practiced regularly.
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| Definitely Not Suzie! |
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Rolleyes emoji - mondspeer on DevianArt
What a great story! I have unfortunately run into a lot of "Surly Susie's" in my day. I don't think I could have lasted till the fourth try!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, Susie was a pip, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be a video for employee training on what NOT to do.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Or maybe a t-shirt with Susie's face on it with a warning label...'don't let this happen to you!'
Delete