Yikes, what a mess.
So the first thing we noticed about this place is that it was PACKED during our recent visit. In the past, it's had good business, but this time, it was crammed to the max. You'd think they were giving away free smoothies or something, but maybe it was just the unusually warm weather they were having in the Bay Area this week, which might be Spring Break for some.
I can totally vouch for the 1-star reviews that I read here on Yelp. The four female employees really do seem to be in over their heads. Not sure if it's from lack of training or from just trying to deal with the constant flow of customers or what, but management needs to do something about this. Hire more employees or put in better protocols to have the line flow more efficiently.
I gave two stars because the employees really are very friendly and they seem like they're doing their best. It just seems like they're not as well-trained as other Jamba Juice employees. I did notice what another Yelper had mentioned--that one girl had unusually long hair that was not tied back. I would think that if you're constantly reaching into a freezer to scoop frozen fruit, it's a must to at least tie your hair in a ponytail. And even just from a practical standpoint--I can't imagine working a full day with my hair all over the place.
So I was feeling a little sniffly this morning so we stopped by to get an Orange C-Booster, which is basically a smoothie with tons of vitamin C, zinc, echinacea. I asked for fresh-squeezed OJ, instead of the concentrate, which they'll do for no charge. I also subbed the bananas for blueberries. The smoothie is pricey (almost $8) but it's seemed to help me fend off colds for a few years now. My husband ordered his favorite, the Banana Berry.
We stood in the little establishment that was crammed with people and watched with quiet interest at how there weren't any smoothies being made while more and more customers were filing in. Not sure where the employees all went at that time, but later one employee came back with a stack of cleaned pitchers.
It was somewhat odd to watch the employees ask each other, "What is this?" and "Did I give you the Mango A Go Go?" My husband and I concluded later that there was a problem with the printer, and the slips of paper that are normally stuck onto the pitchers were not there, so they had to identify the smoothies by memory or by staring at a monitor.
Then a few minutes later, about 20 slips of paper printed out, which was somewhat amusing. Kinda made me think of that Lucille Ball episode where the chocolate assembly line goes out of control. Then the employees started asking each other questions like, "Did we make the __ yet?" "So you're making the __ now?" It was very chaotic.
But we figured we just needed to be patient during a busy time. I then noticed one employee take out a container that had about one tablespoon of blueberries left. I had never seen them take it out of the fridge before; usually it's scooped out of the freezer.
They then called my husband and said that they had run out of blueberries. At the same time, they were calling another customer who had ordered the same smoothie. So then there was a bit of confusion as to what to substitute in place of blueberries.
They gave me my drink, which tasted like watered down OJ. I was so disappointed. :( I mean, it's one thing if it's a free drink, but another (at least for me) when I'm paying $8 and getting a sub-par smoothie. I decided to ask the employee if perhaps they had left out sherbert or fruit or what. She said she had put in one scoop of blueberries (the fresh kind, not frozen, because they had run out), but she could add something else to it, if I wanted. So I figured I'd just get some strawberries thrown in, which she did for me. I was appreciative that she was at least friendly and willing to do that, despite being totally swamped with so many people waiting.
In the meantime, another customer came in and said that she had ordered several customers ago and had not gotten her drink and pretzel. So then we had to watch them hurriedly get that order prepared.
It was probably the longest I've ever waited for a JJ and with the most inefficient process. Hopefully management will help these ladies out by hiring more employees, making sure they have enough ingredients on hand everyday, having someone in the back to restock clean pitchers, check printer paper, and making sure this JJ lives up to everyone's expectations. At least the employees are friendly. :) read more