Brooke N.
Yelp
I was in Carson City for work and my employer rented out the space for a continental breakfast banquet for 120 people. For this, Comma Coffee gave us ONE coffee carafe for 120 people. When it ran out (which was almost immediately), the employee suggested "try ordering coffee at the counter like a paying customer."
Um, okay. About five of us got in line right away at the counter to order coffee. Keep in mind that we are now purchasing our own coffee, as if we had not already rented out the space and prepaid for catering (which included coffee for 120 people). I was third in line. There were three employees. Each employee skipped over me and took orders from the other people in line. I continued to wait at the counter, making eye contact with each employee, as one does when trying to place an order.
Then, two other customers (not from our banquet) walked in from outside. They employees immediately served them, bypassing the growing line inside, telling them that, "Ugh, it's hard to serve real customers when we have a huge party in here."
I stood at the counter in line, and each employee ignored me, serving the people behind and around me. Once I started counting, I counted that they served eight people after I had reached the front of the line. The difference? I am a person of color and the other people they were serving were all white folks. I told the employee that I had been passed over for the last time and would get my coffee elsewhere.
I sat down at a table with some of my coworkers, including another woman of color. Moments later, the owner comes over and starts talking to my coworker, trying to take her order. Note: my coworker and I do NOT look anything alike other than the fact that we are both Asian. My coworker is confused, as she had been seated the entire time and had not been standing at the counter for fifteen minutes, as I had. So I ask the owner, "Do we all look the same to you?" To which she replies, "Actually, yes."
Then, the owner goes on to justify the poor customer service/racism by saying that they are overwhelmed because of the banquet. Like, aren't you running a restaurant?
I should also add that the breakfast pastries were either dry/stale or underbaked. They should not rent out their facility if they can't accommodate/serve food. The fact that we paid for coffee for 120 people and they literally provided us with ONE carafe was absurd. Perhaps they hoped they could then sell food to us at the counter in addition to the breakfast banquet we had already paid for?