WORST customer care ever - Am I being unreasonable?

[dollybird1000]

Hello fellow MumsNetters,

I rarely post on her but I have experienced the most most outrageous customer care from a cafe. I'm still in disbelief.

Bear with me - its a long one -

Scenario:
So I regularly visited X cafe as lovely coffee/food and quiet ( so you'd think they would want to keep customers ) either just before I collect my 3yr daughter or after I drop her at nursery school.

So I would imagine I have spent at least £100 in there since the beginning of Term. Visting 2 to 3 times a week.

Yesterday I collected my daughter and 3 year olds being as they are .. as we got to the top of the road - near the cafe - she announced she needed a wee and was desperate.

I thought - no worries " quick we will just nip in my fav cafe and you can go and then maybe we will stay for a treat "

I went into the cafe and just happened to say " oo do you mind if she quickly nips to the toilet"

For the sake of clarity - I will be DD and the cafe BH:

The member of Staff I asked turned and said bluntly
BH: " No you have to be a customer"

DD: " But I am a customer , I come here regularly .. pls can she just go to the toilet shes desperate"

BH: " Well you will have to buy something then "

DD: " Are you serious ?"

BH: " Yes you have to buy something the toilet is only for customers now " again - NO sorry our any notion of understanding..

DD: " Are you telling me my 3 year old cannot use the toilet .. really ??.. I think your attitude is disgusting, I am shocked .. I am a customer.... er"

By the time I had to leave as my daughter HAD to go. I left saying

DD: " I want to speak to the manager"

BH: " Hes not here, he will be in the morning"

DD: " I am totally disgusted by your attitude and I will be back to complain"

BH : " you do that "

The staff was rude, blunt and totally got my back up - I was so so so angry on behalf of my daughter.

I had to take her out to wee on the street ( which is ok as Im not uptight about those things ) and would have just done that in the first place.

SO I went back this morning and spoke to the manager. I AM ASTOUNDED this place has ANY customers still- really-

me DD: " Hi , Im sure you have heard about an incident that happened yesterday regarding my daughter needing to use the toilet quickly - and the response I got and gave "

BH Manger : Bluntly " Its not a public toilet and yes I heard about it "

DD : shocked " um seriously you treat your cutomers like this ? Also this lady was quite rude in her mannner .. instead of saying " im really sorry my manager has told us strictly we cant allow non-current customers to use the toilet "

BH Manager : " well apparently YOU were rude and aggressive "

DD: " Yes I said the attitude was disgusting as I was furious , and your member of staffs manner was so abrasive "

BH Manager : " well its your word against hers "

DD: " I cant believe it, well you have definitely lost a customer "

Where upon the Manager just shrugged..

I am SO shocked. I have never in my life experienced such appalling attitudes towards customers or children.

If they had a sign up stating toilets for customers only OR if I kept going in after school and letting my daughter use the toilet and not buying anything OR if I had never been/use the cafe. Or if it was for me.. not a 3 year old.
I might ( might ) feel differently.

I am also very sad as I loved going there and was planning to take my mum there today to show how fab I thought it was.

I would also like to add - they only take cash , I had none on me but had planned to go to a cash point and return for a treat... although the staff did not know this.

I am posting on here for many reasons :

1. Am I going mad ? Was I wrong to think I could nip in for my daughter to use the toilet??
2. Has anyone else experienced this in cafes - and how did you feel ??

Comments / Replys Please .. !!

It is just soooooo over the top, the post above has been amended slightly but Nappy Valley still has the original. Words such as outrageous, astounded, disbelief, shell shocked....Oh please, as I said upthread, you need to get out more if you really think like this.
When I first clicked on the thread I thought it was going to be some horrific tale, not an entitled whinge where clearly you were not all that polite yourself.

Furthermore, you clearly ask for comments/replies. You got them.

If your child genuinely can't make it all the way home without a pit stop, OP, have her use the loo before leaving nursery next time. That's what almost everybody else does, why is it beyond you?

I think the problem here is that the OP's reaction to the issue is completely disproportionate. If this was an AIBU about the cafe not letting her DD use the toilet then I think most people would agree that it was a bit off, especially as the cafe worker was supposedly rude. I could even understand going in the next day at a push, but to start two threads here, and one on another site seems over the top to me.

I wonder if this is, literally, the worst customer care ever.

I wonder how OP would react if she ordered a medium rare steak and it came and it was MEDIUM!!!!!!!

She'd go fucking postal man.

I'm going to hazard a guess that the café possibly aren't that gutted to be losing this lady as a customer.

ODFOD. Here's a

Imagine if OP went out for dinner and they gave her unsalted butter with the complimentary bread and she asked for salted and they didn't have any?????!!?!?!?!?!

Yes I bet they won't be heartbroken if she never goes back.

Picture the scene: OP orders an americano and asks for skimmed milk, and the waiter tells her that they only have semi-skimmed!!!!!!

Is this the new 'inch of milk' thread.

Storm in a teacup, if you ask me.

Who could be arsed to get so riled up about this?

YANBU

It is mean not to let a child use the toilet, especially a child of a regular customer.

Yes - it was a bit off for the cafe not to let her little girl use the loo.

But does it really warrant:

*Naming and shaming the cafe on several websites

*Declaring that you're going to tell all the mothers and staff of local schools not to use it

*Ranting that its the "WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER" (it's not, by a long shot)

Interestingly, the OP herself says that the manager had heard from his staff that she was rude and aggressive. I strongly suspect that's the root of all this. Most people are nice and there are very few who would refuse to let a toddler use a toilet when it's no skin off their nose. Makes me wonder why they would in this case (although could just be a jobsworth).

And why do all the most bonkers posters have numbers in their user names?

I didnt read the thread that was deleted.

In your position, i would of been fuming too.

I dont think you are being unreasonable at all.

Their loss. They dont deserve loyal customers

Well, in my case usual because the name without the numbers was taken. With them, it wasn't

Declaring that you're going to tell all the mothers and staff of local schools not to use it

Nothing makes you look like more of a dickhead than actually telling people IRL not to go to a particular cafe.

Who the fuck holds a grudge against a coffee shop?

Of course yanbu op. I'm confused as to why there are so many rude posts aimed at you...
The woman who served you sounds like a moron. Obviously you make a judgement call on every situation, I have worked in customer services and you adapt to help any customer.
Losing future custom is always a bad thing! Repeat custom is worth so much more than one off purchases. If they continue being so rude they will lose more customers and then maybe will learn.

Can someone explain the difference between the post the other week talking about a bad experience someone had at Boots Opticians and the thread about Very.co.uk and the thread where this OP named the cafe?

They were left to stand. Why was the OP not allowed to name the cafe?

What is the difference?

The latest reviews on trip advisor also have two people saying the staff were rude at this café.

However the ones before were good. Wonder if the yave employed new staff recently who maybe, erm, shouldn't be doing a customer facing role. Or something has happened to effect staff morale making the staff more despondent.

I think the café worker was rude and judging by trip advisor it seems to a problem for them there.

I am not Bonkers!!

Well, maybe a little.

Trip adviser is full of idiots though.

I said this on the milk thread as well, I'd love to hear the woman in the cafe's version of events.

YANBU.

Another one confused about why there are so many rude posts aimed at you.

If I lived in your area, I'd like to know which cafes wouldn't let a small child use the loo (although I also understand why MNHQ deleted it).

It does feel like a bit of a blow when you think you've found a place where you're a regular, then they turn on you like that. Admittedly it's small stuff in the greater scheme of things, but when you're juggling work & kids, and lose a small pleasure like that, it leaves a little hole in your life.

Good luck finding another cafe that works for you, for those few minutes' respite, a couple of times a week.

The latest reviews on trip advisor also have two people saying the staff were rude at this café

Yes because TripAdvisor is 100% reliable.