To hate the spiel at the Costa drive through?

[FreakinScaryCaaw]

I know the lad who did it has been told to. He'll have a script no doubt. But my teeth were grinding listening to it.

I couldn't drive away as I was there with a client. Have never been to one before.

Is this common practice?

Yes please, can we have more spiel free zones? All I ask for is a cheerful smile and (optional) a few words of small talk - then silence!

Biggest culprits are taxi drivers -
"How was your holiday? I've been there and did you do/see?"
"Where are you from?"
"I have a sister/brother/parent/cousin who lives there"
"My sister is a high flying consultant at the XX hospital"
"I'm really a part-qualified lawyer but I had to suspend uni & took up as a taxi driver because my father was ill and the family needed income ..." (just in case you thought this was all I can do)
"I really love my job and always aim to give customers a really top-rate service and believe we are the best" (from s/employed driver who went on and on in this vein for about an hour - needless to say never used him again)

Ditto anywhere where you get asked questions (the supermarket till, the bank) -
"How are you today?"
"Is it your day off / is this your lunch hour"
"Treating yourself today?"
I wish to respond - "It's none of your business!"

My DH suggested a solution though - esp for cab drivers - take a pair of ear plugs so it looks like you're listening to an ipod - which may solve the problem.

YY Flogging. Bloody irritating. A lot of companies make the checkout person make a positive comment about purchases. In M&S they'll say something like 'that's a lovely colour' about a top

Actually sometimes it's quite funny. I bought some underwear in M&S sale at the weekend. The till girl made a comment about how good it was to get them in the sale. Poor girl, she must have really struggled to be enthusiastic about a pack of knickers.

ooh!

I thought it was a cooncidence that the macdonalds drive thru always 'mishear'

I've even said to dd - you'd think they'd have better quality audio their end

At my local costa drive through I just get a 'what can I get you? Want sugar with that?'. Not sure whether to feel hard done by...

Oh I forgot the excellent choice bit. He said that after everything we ordered.

I just don't think that fake cheeriness stuff works in this country.

Amen to that. I don't think american parent companies get just how we revel in our own surliness. Bastarding forced happiness types.

I always say I'm called Doris in starbucks, it makes me laugh to myself

I just look blank if asked random shit by the checkout lady

in fact in Asda once she was asking me questions and I saw she had a thing pinned to the till telling her what order to ask the questions in so I said 'you really don't have to bother, im in a hurry anyway'

MY ABSOLUTE BUGBEAR is when you walk away with your supermarket purchases and they say to the next person 'sorry about the wait'

I always want to go back and say 'why? were you sorry that you had to serve me??' Its so rude

Talking of McDonalds , apparently in Peckham I believe, they are trialling home deliveries.

Drive through Costa . Amazing. (Not that I have had a Costa coffee but the mere fact drive ins exist for them now)

Our Costa drivethru isnt like that at all. I have used it many times and had no spiel, it could be that you just got a very enthusiastic server!

All the fella said to me on Sunday was 'what can I get you?' And 'what size latte?'

But then this was 1659 so maybe he was trying to get rid of me.

I went inside at the Starbucks M6 drive in last week, I needed the loo, and ordered a take away coffee while there, it was interesting that I got out with my coffee quicker than people in the drive in queue. It could have been all the wittering that went on!

Sadly, I can't use the McDonalds touch screens because my usual breakfast order isn't standard so I have to go to the counter - I have a wrap or a sausage bagel without cheese because cheese, especially crappy McDonalds cheese, does not belong in breakfast sandwiches.

I also tend to pay cash too, as to me it's always seemed to be A Bad Thing to pay for little purchases on cards.

Another load of jobs I thankfully couldnt do then. I have foot in mouth disease (social awkwardness I think brings it on) and would say something really stupid "those pants are nice they make your bum look smaller" or something euqally hideous

Drive thrus annoy me. Why do we even need them? Can't people leave there cars anymore?

The drive thru here I park my car and walk inside with the dc, straight to the counter for my order. Meanwhile 8-10 cars are queung for the drive thru why? Surely they'd all be quicker if they left the car, makes no sense to me

I can't stand drive thrus, I can never hear the person talking on the silly speaker, they put the speaker before the menu and on the 1 time I insisted me and dh had to try it as I'd never been to a drive thru it took forever, seriously it would of been quicker to leave my bloody car!

Needless to say i learnt my lesson and stick to the old fashioned way of actually leaving my car and actually going in, it's always been quicker

I don't mind other people using the drive through, it makes it more likely that I can get parked. I usually go inside, because I nearly always need the toilet anyway.

I actually left a job where I was forced to be perky. Every customer had to be greeted with 'good morning (or afternoon), welcome to X'. Then they brought out a new initiative where we had to introduce ourselves to every customer by name AND ask for theirs . Added to the A4 list of things we were supposed to do and say with every single customer and the morning role play, the minimum wage I was earning was no where near enough!

Me too RedGrape The first shop I worked in while at uni wanted you to be all over the customer

Good morning my name is sparkle
Make conversation
Did you find everything you were looking for? Can I help you? Let me know if you need anything?
Would you like to buy x special offer? ( just as they are paying)
Do you want your receipt stapled or folded?
Can I take your postcode for marketing?

That to every single customer. Every single shift. I know sales assistant need to be nice but that was way over the top

I am just not very friendly I think! I lasted 1 month before I go a bar job instead which suited me and people just want alcohol not a conversation

We're getting a costa drive thru! I cringe when shop assistants try to make small talk. I don't like it. I told the Apple online support person that I'd be laying a place at the table for my new computer when he asked me what plans I had for it .

MiaowTheCat same, I used to go about three times a week when DD1 would only nap in the car and DD2 was tiny. It's 10 mins drive so usually worked out as 10 mins there, 10 back and 25 mins blissfully drinking coffee on the drive in peace before they woke up!

@juneybean there is a drive through Costa just outside Darlington if you want to listen to the cringe worthy conversation

Our Costa drive through isn't like that, might just be yours. The ones at ours are miserable.

There is a Starbucks and a Krispy Creme locally next to each other, both have drive throughs. I've never used them though.

I guess I'd better stop finding trivial things to comment on when I'm at my barista job! Sometimes I do it for conversation beyond "cappuccino? Cinnamon or chocolate? £1.95 then, thanks, bye". Sometimes I do it because I have had hoards of grumpy buggers difficult customers in the hours before hand and need to get into a friendly mood where my face doesn't show my hatred of them.

I didn't realise forcing "so, the brownie? That's a great choice, one of my favourites!" Caused such a problem!

(This is the most British thread I've ever seen )