A coffee drinker’s challenge
I am a fan of good coffee and Portland is a great city for it. I don’t go to Starbucks or Seattle’s Best as I just think their coffee doesn’t taste good. Also, they are so automated, I feel my coffee wasn’t actually brewed here, but in some factory in Texas where the automated espresso machine is from. But this isn’t about Starbucks or corporate coffee, it is about smaller locally owned coffee shops adopting that type of culture.
I visit a coffee shop by my building almost daily. They brew a great espresso, their prices are right and they are convenient. Definitely locally owned and almost all of my coworkers believe it is like a second home. Lately thought, they have been leaving a sour taste in my mouth (figuratively.) One new practice they have begun to employ is taking your coffee order when you are 5th or even 8th in line. I hate this. Starbucks does it and more often than not, my drink has been sitting for a little bit once I have paid. At this local coffee shop I go to, they have begun forgetting or just not getting my drink done. I stand there in the rather small space having paid waiting while my co-workers have their drinks. I have had to ask a few times and the Barista gives me that look - “oh, yeah, it is right here” when it actually isn’t, but he’s covering his butt. It is an Americano, one if the easier espresso drinks around. Oh, and I’m not the only one who has experienced this.
I guess I wonder what the tipping point is in customer service. I understand a shop gets busy and they want to be efficient in order to server everyone promptly, but at what cost? I’m a serious regular and now I am ready to skip their shop and walk the few extra blocks to Coffee Crutch instead. I haven’t had a chance to talk with the owner (who is always there,) so I am not going to divulge the name of the coffee shop. I want to give her a chance to know that this issue has arisen. Ok, enough ranting, off for my morning Americano.
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The problems you are experiencing are due in fact to the American workplace in general. Sure, you want to support the local business but the owner has caught on to the same tricks that large corporations such as Starbucks employ to increase productivity and profit and as a result, you the consumer suffers.
Personally, I go to Starbucks out of habit and because the local one I go to has good coffee and always gets my order right. They know me so I usually get prompt service. I am with you on wanting to support the little guy who is homegrown and I try to as much as possible.
But this is America and regardless of where you go, with some exceptions of course, profit ultimately triumphs.
C’est vrai. I’d rather support a neighborhood coffee shop. On the other hand, I like decent service (I’m looking at you, Three Lions), and Starbucks and Seattle’s Best usually have pleasant, professional people working there.
I don’t know what the tipping point is, either.
Aye… I have found that in Portland, going to an indie coffeeshop that you have never been to before is much riskier than going to a Starbucks. Case in point, I really like the porch and the house at anna bananas, but their coffee machine, shot glasses, counter, etc are all verrrrry dirty, to the point of me never wanting to get coffee there. I am always surprised how most people tolerate this kind of stuff… I’ll avoid corporate coffee in most circumstances, but when I’m working out in the Beav, the non-starbucks coffee shops are mostly drive-thru coffee carts or funky independent shops, and what I find is that despite having some good beans (Longbottom for example) they can’t pour a shot worth a damn, don’t know how to leave room in an americano, have dirty shops, and terrible pastries! Starbucks has strict rules and training policies that keep things in line to a point where it puts most indie shops to shame, but I still don’t like their politics, their manifest destiny attitude, or their coffee :)
Truth, you have a point. I wouldn’t be complaining if I were in Yakima or Walla Walla or the beach. Outside of Starbucks and a few choice indie shops, there are few in each city that know the game. I have to say, when travelling, when push comes to shove, I usually pick Starbucks first as I know what I’m in for.
That said, I’m not in the land where coffee forgot. I’m in downtown Portland. Aren’t we a coffee mecca? Also, in cases like this, if they don’t figure it out, they will lose a customer. Let’s do the math: $2/day, sometimes $4. 5 days a week for probably 45 weeks. Let’s average out to $3/day. That is $675 they won’t be getting from me. Starbucks wouldn’t miss that, but I do think a local shop would.
The only solution to your problem, Dieselboi, is to either complain or go elsewhere. Until enough people do so, the situation will not change. And Truth is right about Anna Bananas. I LOVE their porch, and I want to go there since the place feels so perfectly part of the neighborhood… But my impression of the place is that it’s really dirty, and I feel icky about that.
I have a general feel for the area you work, and therefore am rather certain I know the coffee shop as well. I used to go there often myself. I am rather certain Starbucks bought them two or three years ago…maybe they are now implementing some of Starbucks’ practices.