We were finally heading back to Texas when we needed to stop for gas. I had never heard of Busy Bee and from the road thought we were pulling in to any other gas station/convenience store.
As we pulled into the entry way, both my husband and I noticed all the bells and whistles and simultaneously said "What's Busy Bee?"
Well, in a nutshell, Busy Bee is a smaller version of a Buc-ee's, but with less helpful employees.
For those of you who are still confused, the best description for what we're talking about here is a travel center on steroids.
The first thing I noticed, and I have to give BIG props for this, is that the space between the gas pumps is huge!!!
It's amazing, you could easily fit three cars between each pump. Considering you'll have people leave their car at a pump and essentially hold cars in line behind them hostage at some places, this is genius and much appreciated! There's ample room for vehicles to move about *safely* and there were plenty of open pumps.
Another thing you can count on with a travel center on steroids is that the restrooms are super clean! Seriously, extremely clean. Yay!! This one did not disappoint. There are tons of fully stocked stalls and lines are very unlikely.
Also, it wouldn't be a self respecting travel center on steroids unless there was an entire aisle devoted to beef jerky. Yep, they got that here!
They also have several food options (donuts, burgers, fudge, pre packaged food) and an array of Busy Bee snacks, candy, syrup, mustard and all sorts of other food products with a Busy Bee stamp.
Then we come to all the extras! It's basically a little store with groceries, lots of regional gifts, clothing, jewelry, etc. Lots of stuffed gators too... and gator heads, gator stickers, gator key chains- you're in Florida.
It really is a great place to stop and rest and stretch your legs. You can easily get lunch from several options, frozen yogurt, a ton of different drinks and do some shopping while you're at it. These types of concepts are great and I'm all for them!
Where does this one need to improve? The training of their employees, or perhaps just better hiring guidelines. Not everyone is cut out for customer service.
The first thing that made a weird impression was before I went inside. It's minor and doesn't affect the rating, but I'll mention it because perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised by what happened later.
While my husband ran in to use the restroom and pay cash for the pump, I was gathering the kind of garbage that builds up on a road trip to throw away in a trash can. As I was walking towards the trash can, an employee pulled out the bag, but before he put in the new one in his hand, turned around and had a really long conversation with the lady at a pump on the back row.
Now initially I assumed she asked him a question and he was doing his job, so I stood there waiting. Around the three minute mark I heard a few words and realized the conversation had turned towards weather and less relevant topics and by this time there were two additional people juggling various refuse and also waiting for the trash can.
I finally just hiked to the next trash can. I'm used to there being one per pump, but this was one in the middle of four. With the distance between the pumps, the walk was a bit far. He was still talking to the lady when I came back.
Again, that was super minor, not really worth mentioning, but in retrospect, a sign of their customer service training. He was aware of the three people waiting, but didn't prioritize or multitask.
When I entered, my husband was waiting in line to pay for some merchandise and the gas. I didn't witness the first interaction, because I went to use the clean restrooms and browse the products, but my husband later told me that the guy at the counter didn't even acknowledge his hello or say a single word to him during the transaction.
The next part I witnessed because I'm me, so I had stopped to stare at the bakery display case next to the register, lol!
My husband walked back in and told the gentleman that he did not put the money on the right pump and repeated the pump number again and the amount he had paid him.
This guy actually sighs and mumbles what sounds like 'alllright.' However, he makes zero eye contact with my husband because he's carrying on with a personal, and fairly animated conversation with the staff member next to him.
He was so indifferent to the customers, and friendly to the employees, it was downright rude. No apology for the inconvenience, no acknowledgement he made a mistake, no eye contact, no smile, no greeting, no thank you- none of the bare minimum attributes you expect in an interaction with a human being when you are handing them money, smh.
Anyway, there's bad customer service all over the place, the gas pumps, restrooms and goodies still make this a good stop! read more