About 4 years ago I used to study in this iCafe all the time - it was my go to hide away where I could get work done and no one would bother me. Free WiFi, good coffee, good food, plenty of space, light and bright. It was the perfect work space for when my flat or the library just weren't doing it.
This is the first time I've returned to this iCafe branch since then. They've spruced it up a bit and have moved some things around and I was very excited to see that they're now selling ice cream. However, today being a bit chilly, I decided to give it a miss. I ordered a coffee and a sandwich, remembering that iCafe has more interesting sandwiches than are usually offered by cafes such as this. They do lots of wonderful things with chicken (including the peanut chilli chicken baguette I ordered) and a fair few veggie options.
I settled down to work while I waited for my food. Now, I'd say that the iCafe's unique selling point was its focus on being a great place to work due to its connectivity. The WiFi is always free and they have several desktops you can pay to use. They actively encourage people to come here to work or to browse the web.
I also recognise that my laptop (Samsung, Windows 7, for my sins) can be a bit awkward when it comes to connecting to certain WiFi networks. I'm fairly tech savvy, though, so if it's something wrong with the laptop I can usually sort it out. If I can't, then the next thing to check is whether I can connect with me phone, or with my Kindle. If three different devices with three different operating systems can't connect, then there's a chance that it isn't just a problem with my awkward laptop.
So when I mentioned I was having connection issues, and the staff member came to see what was up and couldn't figure it out and said he'd "go see if there was anything he could do" I was quite surprised that he never came back. If you've got free WiFi but it's down, that's fine, just say so. If you've got free WiFi but it doesn't play well with anything but Mac OS, whatever, that's kind of annoying and weird but just say so. If you've got free WiFi and it's working, and it's your business's USP, and a customer can't connect, then you should at least be prepared with a few routine suggestions for fixes. What you shouldn't do is offer to help and then wander off, because if you do that I'll knock points off for not providing what you promise and I'll knock more points off for bad customer service.
Now in the past all my interactions with the staff have been extremely positive, so maybe this guy was new, or maybe he was having an off day. Who knows? My coffee was perfect and my sandwich was delicious and, even without internet access it's still a nice place to work - so I will be back to give it another chance. However, until I've seen evidence of this improving I can't possibly give my old favourite 5 stars, so it'll have to settle for 3. Sorry, iCafe, up your game and then we'll talk. read more