Rebecca C.
Yelp
This is a review of my experience today at the new branch of Shea Butter Smoothies in Jamaica Plain. In a nutshell, my impression is that customer service is severely lacking, and that basic aspects of the business, such as inventory and work flow, have not been well attended to. We watched them get three orders wrong, and the wait time was unacceptably long. Based on the many positive reviews of the Dorchester location, I am surprised by these circumstances.
I ordered a Nipsey Lemonade for my son and a Get Well shot for myself. The cashier seemed inexperienced, though her manicure was outstanding. She did not ask me what size lemonade I wanted, she seemed awkward with the interface, and she didn't have use basic cashier vocabulary such as thank you. I did not think she was intentionally rude, just lacking in experience. I paid and we began to wait.
After about ten minutes, the employee who seemed to be in charge of things called my name and we walked up to the counter. Without apology, she told us that they cannot make us a lemonade because they don't have any juice. She said the only juice they had were the three bottles in the counter-top fridge. Did we want one of those? We hesitated, thinking we could have gone anywhere else for previously pressed juice. We wanted something fresh.
So we returned to browse the menu, and I asked for clarification--Which menu items are not available? She repeated that they did not have any juice, so I asked if we should then limit our browsing to the smoothie menu, and she said yes. She never smiled. My son chose a Bad and Bougie smoothie. No one asked us what size.
She told her co-worker to tell any future customers that there would be at least a 20 minute wait because she had four smoothie orders to fill. A new mom who had ordered herself a smoothie while we waited seemed quietly alarmed at this announcement, and politely asked about the ETA of her order. They told her 10 minutes. So she went for a walk and came back after ten minutes.
The smoothie was not ready after ten minutes, so she chose to wait outside. We were also waiting outside because the music in the PA system (Female vocals, Gospel?) was punishingly loud. The mom shared with us that she had popped in to treat herself to a smoothie to enjoy while she walked around the pond while her baby slept. Now, she was disappointed at having to spend those precious moments of the baby sleeping waiting for a smoothie on Centre Street.
Before we had retreated to the sidewalk, they called out "Ginger Shot!" I asked if that was for me and they said yes. I said thanks but I ordered a Get Well shot. She asked, "So you want a Get Well shot?" I replied that yes, that was what I had ordered. In a quick moment, they served me a Get Well shot in a cup that could have held at least 8 shots. It looked so diminutive. I would have been happier if the shot had been served in a smaller vessel.
Back on the sidewalk, they brought out my son's smoothie. Yay! It was tasty. And it appeared to be a large, which surprised me, because based on the pricing, I believe we had paid for a small.
A few minutes later, they delivered the smoothie to the mom. It was clearly much smaller than my son's, and she asked if it was a small. Affirmative. She said that she had ordered a large (it had cost $14!), and that she wasn't sure what to do because she really wanted the smoothie that she had ordered, but the baby would be waking up soon so she was reluctant to wait.
The employee said she would take the smoothie inside for her, not addressing the mom's concerns directly. To me it seemed that there were two options the employee could have offered: either offer a refund for the cost difference between large and small, or offer to make her a large right away, skipping the 20-minute + wait. We stayed and chatted with the mom for a few minutes and said goodbye and went on our way. When we left, she was still waiting for her large smoothie.
