I love Peet's. There is no other brand to which I am more loyal. The quality of my Peet's experience is informed primarily by two things: first, get my order right (it's the same every time), and second, remember that your customers love you; love them back.
When I come in before work in the morning, I am just praying that they'll come through for me. They get my order, medium iced tea in a large cup, wrong about once each week.
On a particularly sultry afternoon, I came in with my two non-coffee-drinking friends (I know...I couldn't believe it either). I asked for my usual medium iced tea in a large cup, and also a medium-sized vanilla/caramel freddo, but with no coffee, which the young guy at the register says they'll be happy to make. There are two other customers in the store ahead of us.
A girl who is impossibly slow with every movement is making the freddo-sans-coffee, and as she pours it into the cup (ever so slowly), she discovers that the cup is not full. She hands it to me and says, "without the coffee it made it a little short, is that okay?"
I charged you $4, but I only have half of a freddo here for you...is that okay? If you just pay for it but then just drink half? Would that be cool?
Six more customer have now entered the store, and each one has ordered a fancy blender drink, each a different flavor, with special instructions. Slow-motion girl is the only person attempting to fill these orders; cheerful register guy is ringing orders, and two other staffers are milling around by the bean counter looking intellectual.
When I explain that when I order a medium, I'm really expecting the entire 12 ounces, she sighs heavily and turns back to the blender at the speed of plant growth, reaches out and drops the half-full cup into a garbage can, and begins again. A coworker who has happened by on his way to the Customer Service Hall of Fame induction ceremony mentions that she might consider adding a little more milk to make up for the absence of coffee. She looks at him blankly and continues at her task at glacial speed.
She presents a cup mostly full of chunky ice with swirls of caramel on one side, not having been blended enough to make it all the way through to the other end of the blender cup. She calls out, "thank yeeew" and turns away.
I take my $4 iced milk slush over to the condiment counter for a lid and straw. There are no straws.
Why do I keep going back, when Novato Peet's, the Rolls Royce of Peet's stores, is mere minutes from my house? Because I wake up too late, and can't stop or I'll be stuck in traffic for an extra 20 minutes. The real pain is that I have only myself to blame for my misery. Myself and Glacier Girl. read more