We just came back from a popular bakery, soup, and sandwich chain.  In many ways, decor-wise, it is a Starbucks knockoff, with comfortable seating, WiFi, etc.  The place where you could go, anytime, be comfortable and stay awhile.

The last time I was there the service was awful.

The problem at that time was focus.  It was difficult to get anyone’s attention to take our order and when they finally came over, the two cashiers, a male and female, were busy flirting instead of serving us.

I wrote an email to the corporate management that followed up and the local restaurant manager followed up.

We’ve been back once before: the service wasn’t exceptional, but it wasn’t bad.

Tonight we were back.  The cashier who I reported for her flirting transactions took our order.  She was FABULOUS!  Engaging, polite, one couldn’t ask for more.  I was impressed: the manager turned the place around.

Then I waited for the food to be prepared and my name be called out.  The food prep person stopped working on preparing our meal (or any meal, for that matter) and spent time talking with an employee who had concluded her shift.  There was discussion of how her cell phone had run out of minutes.  The on-duty food prep person actually reached across the food serving bar to “high-five” the departing employee.

During this exchange another two workers were cleaning items… and apparently both were having difficulties, because I heard a loud “SH*T!” out of both of them.

Sigh.  Madeline was better… other members of the staff were now “broke.”

I complained to the on-duty manager, who brought over bakery items to make amends.

Here’s an observation: companies need to make a decision about customer experiences and not send two signals.  A nice warm inviting decor with awful employees is still an awful experience.

What confuses me is this: with so many people out of work, why is still difficult to find quality employees that can provide a quality customer experience?