While in Hitchin today my husband and I decided to get lunch of sandwiches and coffee from Taste Buds.
In recent years and before lockdown we were regular visitors to the cafe for lunch on Saturdays, at this time we were usually looked after by...the same waitress. It was a pleasure to be served by her and food was excellent. We went back again when the first lockdown was lifted and were happy to see she was still there but unfortunately after a very few weeks she left.
On our next visit we were served by a person who we have always thought of as the owner but the experience was very different. No smiles and to us what seemed to be a very stroppy attitude. Thinking she may have just been having a bad day we visited again a couple of weeks later but this time it was even worse, same stroppy attitude with food and drinks just banged down on the table. We vowed not to visit again as, with an attitude like this she certainly didn't deserve the business and as customers we didn't feel we should be treated this way.
Today however, we relented, the sandwiches have always been enjoyable and we thought we would give it a try for a takeaway. Once again, there were no welcoming smiles and our sandwiches were prepared under the owners supervision by a young girl who was being trained. The problem came when I requested coffee. The board behind the counter offered drinks in regular or large size, I asked for a regular latte and was immediately snapped at and told that the only size available for takeaway is large. I'm not a fan of large drinks, would spend the afternoon looking for a loo and they are mostly closed in Hitchin. The owner then pointed out that her takeaway cups were only a large size. I suggested that she could still use that cup but only fill it with a regular size coffee, I didn't think it would be too much to ask. She clearly wasn't happy with this but snapped that she would do it just this one time. The late was for my husband, so in order to appease her I said, look, ok, make the latte large and I'll have the smaller one as a cappuccino which was for me. At this point, the owner just glared at me with fury and disdain, my request was obviously too much trouble.
My decision was made, as a customer I don't need to be treated in this stroppy way by someone who is extremely rude and has no customer service skills whatever. I left the shop, deciding not to buy either the sandwiches or the coffee. It really is a shame as the food is very good but customers deserve to be treated with respect and not just as a nuisance. Further down the road I brought food from the Caffe Elite, the experience could not have been more different. Greeted with a smile, food efficiently prepared and nothing was too much trouble.More
