6.25.2006

guest rant

tom wrote:

This is just the thing you started a blog for--an ONLINE CUSTOMER RANT!

Yesterday I was in a Starbucks that I know wasn't yours because I don't think you work in the dim feral branch in the American Airlines terminal at Los Angeles airport. And maybe they make a special kind of dim feral sandwich just for that branch. At any rate, the sandwich in question was a pesto chicken salad sandwich and I am scratching my head wondering how it is possible to make a lump of food so completely absent of flavor or texture. I kept taking bites of the puffy grey-green filling and the puffy grey-beige "bread", straining my tastebuds to pick up anything, anything at all, but all I got was the vaguest hint of freezer burn. And the best part was, it cost me $8.99! As a representative of the Company that sold me this item, I just have to ask you: What up?


two things -
1) bux in airports are not REAL bux. they are what we call 'licensee stores', stores that pay a fee to use the name and coffee, and that's about it. there is a bux representative that periodically goes from licensee store to licensee store, trying to ensure the quality and culture of bux remain intact, but of course that's mostly just for show. the airports are willing to pay the money because they know customers will line up for a cup of bux coffee. (same goes for the 'bux' in albertsons, vons, barnes & noble, etc.). i've only been to one airport bux that was even somewhat decent - and that was in heathrow.

2) the sandwich from airport bux most likely has been sitting in their freezer, then thawed, which accounts for the extreme bland taste. i've actually seen their croissants sitting on the counter defrosting! i'm not surprised at the cost because the airport bux is seriously overpriced. but hey, if you're ever stuck there again, stick with the a.m. pastries instead of a sandwich. you're tastebuds will thank you.

barista rant: please. are SEVEN sweet & lows really needed in your latte? is it truly impossible to settle for FIVE? and was it totally necessary for you to ask me to show you the seven empty wrappers as proof that all that artificial sweetener actually made it into your drink? honestly, i think the real sugar would be a relief to your system.

4 comments:

Bravemonkey said...

as a diabetic, I've come to prefer it in my coffee now to real sugar - but 1 in a vente only (and less in smaller sizes). 7 in any drink is just absolutely disgusting!

Cup said...

Seven packets would turn that latte into a carcinogen, wouldn't it?

Shannon said...

Ooo... Ooo... May I have a swing at the Customer Rant?

Here goes: Although my rant is rather trivial in comparison to my fellow customer's sandwich grievance, I am curious as to why 'Bux lingo isn't taught throughout the organization. While on a jaunt through California this past week I decide I needed a caffinated fix so I went to a local small town 'Bux. I ordered my usual and requested that it be melted. This stumped the Barstonian Barista so much that I - the customer - had to tell the employee what I was referring to. This isn't the first time this has happened, so... what gives?

Evan said...

The bux at Osaka Itami domestic airport is quite good also. But I think that might have to do more with the service culture in Japan than with anything else.