Reb S.
Yelp
Okay, look, I like this place. I go here at least three times a week. Drinks are great, menu is restricted, but sandwiches are good and I live down the street.
Most of the staff is super friendly. I just REALLY need to get this off my chest:
Today, I ordered online, took a sip of what was meant to be an iced chai, and immediately could taste it was an iced latte with... almond milk? (Two drinks which are... quite easy to distinguish.) No big deal, happens!
I saunter over to the counter, explaining the mix up, and the cashier hands it to the barista. I'm expecting a... normal exchange, where the barista is like "Oh no let me remake that," and the customer restrains themselves from saying "if you're going to just pour that out, I *would* take it..." (Lest they lose credibility in asking for the drink to be remade, of course.)
But, no! Instead, the barista looks at the lid, and goes "We mark the lids of the drinks we make, and this is marked as a chai. So, no, this is indeed a chai."
As I am about to speak, she cuts me off: "I can remake this for you, but it will taste exactly the same."
"Uh... Do you want to take a sip of that? It's clearly --"
"I will not do that," she scoffs (fair -- not sanitary). "This is a chai. As I said, we mark the lids as we make the drinks. 'CH' -- it's a chai. "
"Uhh... I swear on my life this is an iced latte, with what *tastes* like almond--"
"I will make this for you again, but it will taste exactly the same." I make another move to speak, before she preempts with, "It will taste exactly the same."
She remakes the drink and thrusts it toward me, a bemused condescension in her expression that seems to communicate she's waiting for me to put on a performance about how the drink tastes different, even though we both know it doesn't.
Needless to say... it did not taste the same... because... it was a different drink...
(Again, I like this place, and this was but one interaction in what must be 50+ times I've been here.)
I am just... *mystified* by the intense confidence in the infallibility of the lid-notating-drink-making process.
Also, for real, what is the incentive for a customer to ask for a drink be remade? As mentioned, customers are bound by the incentive-compatibility mechanism of letting the original drink get tossed down the drain!
I am not from a competing establishment trying to bleed you of your milk products!(!!!) I am in fact strongly invested in your financial health, as I would love to continue eating here!(!!!)
That is all!