Bad faith
-I visited this coffee shop for the first time. Sadly, my experience was disappointing.
None of the baked goods in the display case were labeled or priced, leaving me confused about what was being offered. I had to ask the cashier about four different items. I couldn't tell what some of the baked goods were- what flavor is that loaf, croissant, muffin, etc? I settled on ordering the cinnamon role for $6.
When I got home, I cut the cinnamon roll in half since I didn't intend to eat it all in one sitting and was going to share it with someone. I took a few bites and it tasted great, but there were crunchy bits in it. I peeled it apart and noticed that it had NUTS in it! I was shocked. I have someone in my family who is deathly allergic. This disappointed me. If they had taken a bite, it would have resulted in a medical emergency.
Then , I noticed a piece of white substance inside the dough of the second half. This wasn't icing, since I ran it under water and it didn't dissolve. It was HARD. Could it be PLASTIC? Or an EGG SHELL?
I called the store. I wanted to gently encourage them to consider labeling items with major allergens like nuts in the future. Faith answered the phone. I later discovered that she was the manager. I mentioned that today was my first time coming there, and since someone had an allergy to nuts in my household, that I wanted to find out if that was an ingredient in the cinnamon roll. She said "I have NO IDEA if it has nuts or not . We get it from an outside source. And I don't know if it its prepared in an environment that has nuts or not."
I clarified that I wasn't asking about the cooking environment or cross contamination. That's a different question. I wanted to know if the product ITSELD included nuts in the ingredient. I was clearly tasting walnuts or something in the cinnamon sugar mixture. She continued to state that SHE HAD NO IDEA ABOUT ANY OF THE INGREDIENTS. She shared the name of the company and where it's located and passed blame onto them. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. I finally said, "ok, that's deeply concerning."
Well, Faith, I have another issue. When I cut the roll in half, there was a small white substance sticking out of the dough. It appears to be a small piece of PLASTIC or an EGG SHELL. Faith quickly said there are no egg-shells in the product, and we didn't use eggs in it. I was confused. A few seconds earlier she couldn't take ANY responsibility for the ingredients since she said it came from an outside source, but now she's saying it didn't have egg shells in it. I was confused and asked her how could she BE CLUELESS about whether it had nuts or not, BUT THEN BE SO CONFIDENT that it didn't have eggs/ an egg shell in it? She continued to tell me that her store didn't put egg shells in it. I wasn't accusing her store of sprinkling eggs shells on the product, this was obviously a mistake, but she kept asserting that it didn't have eggs shells in it, because they use a different egg product at the store.
I asked her to confirm again if her store baked the product. She said they did not. So it was strange that she would go into detail about explaining how they bake goods in house with an egg substitute, but had no idea about how external products brought in by other bakeries are prepared.
This back and forth went on for 5 minutes, and I finally just said, "Faith, I'm disappointed that we are on the phone for 5 minutes now, going back and forth, and that you've been so defensive this entire time. This wasn't a personal attack. I won't share a Thanksgiving table with you, so why are you unwilling to even kindly apologize, ask what to do to make it better, and encourage me to come back in the hopes that I would have a better experience.
Faith, as mentioned, IS THE STORE MANAGER, but sadly, has VERY POOR customer service skills. The conversation could have ended in 2 minutes if she apologized, offered to call their supplier about whether they included nuts in the product and get back to men, and then offered me another baked good (and maybe a free cup of coffee) if I returned one day. Simple!
When I said all this, She finally said "Ok, do you want me to give you a refund?" Oh Faith, it's much bigger than a $6 refund at this point, I said. Your attitude speaks volumes.
Faith's poor attitude and lack of customer service skills reflect poorly on the shop, especially since she's the manager. This entire situation could have been handled with empathy, kindness and professionalism. She's clearly not passionate about this business, winning over customers, or making this coffee shop a highlight in the neighborhood. It's sad that this is the example being set for the staff, but hope she will use this as a learning opportunity. read more