details? who needs details?

this story comes way of a fellow barista buddy at a different bux.

often bux will get phone orders from customers that want their drinks ready as soon as they walk in the door. other phone in orders are from movie sets, corporations, business meetings, cheerleaders, etc.
when a large phone order comes in, any barista worth their salt will verify the location with the customer because more than once an order has been placed at one bux, only to have the customer arrive at a bux three blocks away. also, an experienced barista will jot down the customer's phone number.
i actually know a partner that received a phone order for twenty bone dry soy cappuccinos. figuring it was someone's idea of a joke, the barista asked for a phone number. at first the customer on the telephone balked and tried to refuse giving out their number. when realizing the barista wouldn't start making the drinks unless he gave her his phone number, he relented. not two seconds after the barista hung up, she called the number the customer gave her only to be greeted with a "dominos, can you hold please?".

but i digress...

yesterday my fellow barista buddy was the leading the shift at his bux. the phone rang while they were in the middle of a rush and when he picked it up he found it was a customer wanting to order over thirty drinks for a commercial shoot. he handed the phone over to a newbie who's shift was just about over to write down the drinks so he could finish helping the customers that were actually in his store.

well, not only did newbie neglect to verify the location, she forgot to get a phone number. she just handed the list over to my buddy and punched out for the day.

the drinks were made and placed in boxes - waiting for the person who ordered them to come pay and pick them up. twenty minutes pass and no one came to claim the drinks. thirty minutes pass and no one came to claim the drinks. mind you, the frappuccinos were liquefied and the lattes were tepid by this point. my fellow barista buddy figured the phone order was meant for a different store and dumped all the drinks.

cue to this morning: bright and early a customer walks in and informs my fellow barista buddy that he's there to pick up the order.
"um, what order?" my buddy asked the customer.
"the large order for the commercial shoot. there was like over thirty drinks! i called yesterday and specifically told the girl they needed to be ready first thing this morning!"

that's right, folks.
newbie neglected to tell my buddy that the order was for the NEXT DAY!
let's just say she'll be cleaning the drains for the next week or so.

customer rant: dude! you close at midnight! i know it sucks to be at work so late but those are your hours of operation. so why the hell are you flicking the lights on and off at 11:30?!? a full half hour before you lock your doors and your trying to chase the customers out of the store! if you really hate closing that much - change your availability, but don't make your customers experience suck for the last half hour.