I was down in Kings Lynn visiting my family over the New Year period and being the darn mental caffeine addict that I am I was desperate for a nice, non-instant coffee. Off we popped into town and not having tried this Costa before & being in dire need of some liquid refreshment we decided to pop in. I have to say this rating does not reflect the coffee I had or the cake my boyfriend had as they were both lovely, the reason this is only 3-stars is because of the other things that make up a drinking/dining out experience.
Firstly when we arrived there were no tables free & all that was available seating-wise was the window stool seats - I didn't mind this as I was just happy at this point to get ANY seat (all that retail therapy takes it outta ya!) so off my boyfriend toddled while I joined the (quite long) queue to get served. I couldn't say if this Costa is always busy or usually busy at this particular time/day as this was my first visit, but it was exceptionally busy & I was glad we spotted the seats we managed to nab. I eventually got my order taken and have to say the service was pretty dire; the guy taking the orders seemed to be somewhat distracted throughout me giving my order - I was convinced he would get something wrong & it turns out I was right - I asked for a medium soya cappuccino with a touch of caramel syrup ~ at first I though they might forget the soya part but turns out it was the caramel bit they forgot...oh well, as long as I hadn't paid for it.
Not only was the guy serving on another planet but the young girl making the drinks was as miserable as sin & only interested in chatting to her pal about the upcoming weekend. Great. I thought seens as there was a large queue & I was sitting in they might say to me to sit down as they would bring it to me...nope. Obviously this doesn't happen here. So I waited...and waited...eventually I was given my coffee without a word so I double-checked with Happy Larry the coffee was indeed mine, she acted as if I had spoke an alien language but eventually after repeating my question she said 'Uh, yeah' Charmed was I.
I seriously question how a lot of people in retail/service jobs actually manage to keep their jobs nowadays as I often come across miserable/uninterested staff who have no desire to make the customer feel satisfied or help them in any way. I have worked in both areas & there is NO WAY I would've ever treated customers the way some of them do. It's shocking. Yes, I know the customer ISN'T always right but if a customer is polite & courteous to you then the least you can do in return is be polite/civil back to them. Not too much to ask.
Anyway, I digress...The other reason for this being only 3 stars is the customer toilets were a complete state and the one toilet that was in use (the disabled toilet) wasn't even flushing. Brilliant.
Would I go back? Yes, because I am a fair person who realises that everyone has their off days and this particular day was very busy, so I would go back but on a much quieter day hopefully.
When it comes to the big name coffee shops in Kings Lynn there isn't much choice so I have a feeling this coffee shop will always do good in this area. Out of all the big names in the coffee shop world I do like Costa unlike some of the others, I especially like their loyalty/points card system & the fact they now serve cortado.
If this particular shop had better customer service then my experience here would've been 10 times better. Sometimes it's the little things that count. read more
