Skip to main content

Dumb day at Starbucks

I hate complaining about Starbucks, but today I'm going to.

At 10am today, while the store at the entrance-way to the Sacramento Amtrak station had customers aplenty sipping and chewing, the staff decided it was a good time to dust the ceiling and overhead light fixtures.

They started in the area behind the counter (where food and coffee were being prepared) and then stepped out into the restaurant, proper.

One customer walked over to the fellow with the long-handled duster and said "I don't think you should be doing this," but the fellow pictured at right continued with his tasks. Another person sitting near me complained, out of earshot of the dusting fellow.

I don't mean to be self-righteous about this. I do dumb things all the time. But when you are in a customer-service role, you have to get your priorities straight and know what is most important. It is vitally important, in the restaurant business, not to gain the reputation of failing to provide clean food in a clean environment. Getting bits of dirt on people's food and coffee isn't clean; it's dirty.

Bits of the multicolored duster were on the floor in the wake of where "work" had been completed.
The people at this Amtrak Starbucks all seem like excellent people, very much including the guy pictured holding the long-handled duster. But a refresher course in Customer Service 101 seems in order.

Comments

Unknown said…
Starbucks is one of the most Homeless friendly establishments I frequent on my travels throughout the Central Valley. Free wifi and staff that have never harrassed or profiled me for beinging homeless toting a huge backpack.

Spent a fair amount of time in the Starbucks mentioned in this article when I was in Sacramento. Stellar.

Cheers and Blessings,

Bill Mash
woaroof.posterous.com
Unknown said…
What you write is true, Bill. Very true.

It was mean of me to post this item, but it all was very bizarre that they were dusting while we were eating -- even as there were customer complaints.

This particular Starbucks does, indeed, put up with homeless nonsense from my friends (and from me on more-rare occasions).

Popular posts from this blog

More obstacles revealed in effort to make Mather cottages habitable

Mold, asbestos and lead paint, oh my! The 35 cottages out at Mather Community Campus seem closer to being condemned today than ever again being inhabited. But the expectation that some of the cottages can and will be restored to house homeless families before spring abides. A report in the Sacramento Bee tells us ... Some [of the cottages] have extensive mold, a county analysis showed. It's not clear how the county planned to deal with lead paint and asbestos, [Rancho Cordova] Councilwoman Linda Budge said. Still, hope of getting some of the cottages in shape such that homeless families can move in is in play, though not before New Year's day.  Word of where the money might come from to make needed restorations has not been forthcoming, though it is known that the Winter Shelter Task Force hopes to hold a fundraiser to boost the pool of funds to meet the need to keep homeless people warm and safe. At the end of October, placing families, totalling 105 individuals, was

Ron Russell and Summerhills Realty

Readers of this blog should be aware that I am receiving some information that Summerhills Realty and someone named Ron E. Russell is using this blog as a reference in an effort to scam homeless people.  Be aware that Mr. Russell and his business is cited as a possible perpetrator of fraud by a website called Ripoff Report .  See this webpage .  Also, there is this claim of fraud against Ron Russell Properties at the website BizClaims - Latest scams, frauds and complaints . Please be aware that the information of being 'ripped off'' may be coming from only one source is coming from multiple sources, with perhaps as many as twelve persons/couples now pursuing legal action after paying thousands of dollars for services and receiving none of the services that were promised/contracted. While I know neither Mr. Russell nor Summerhills, I do know that an inordinate number of “in links” from readers of this blog have come via summerhillsrealestate.com for quite some time.  I

Loaves & Fishes implicates Buddhism and Jack Kornfield in its June Donations Plea.

The Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha was found in a clay-and-plaster overlaid buddha statue in 1959, after laying in wait for 500 years. It's huge and heavy: just under 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons. At the beginning of their June newsletter , Loaves and Fishes relates a story, taken from the beginning of renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's 2008 book The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology . The first part and first chapter in Kornfield's book is "Part I: Who are you really?" and chapter 1 is called "Nobility: Our Original Goodness," which ought to serve as a clue to what the beginning of the book is about, not that that sentiment isn't strewn through-out the chapter, section and book such that what Kornfield is telling us should be crystal clear. Somehow, the not-ready-for-primetime management at Loaves & Fishes have managed to use Kornfield's wise and kindly words in a way that mangles th