UK coffee chains - what do you think?

Depressing

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Ellie said:
This was a Trip Advisor review a friend of mine left with Caffe Concerto last year:

Hello,

I have frequented your establishments many times over the years, in particular the Piccadilly branch. I, like many, enjoy the food offered, especially the cakes that are served. However, in the last few months the service at your branches has been completely unsatisfactory. Every Caffe Concerto branch show various cakes in their displays, yet when I go inside I am asked if I am there for hot food or cake. If I am there for cake, I am turned away. Why have cakes in your display- and only cakes- if you do not want customers to go in and order cakes? This is false advertising. I understand that more money is made from hot food, but there is nothing to suggest that is the primary food Caffe Concerto serves and not cake- it is the exact opposite. This was not always the case. Many times in the past I had gone in and just ordered cake with no issues. Now, after your branches opened again after the last lockdown, Caffe Concerto has this attitude that it is doing the customer a favour and that it can choose which customers can dine with it.

I would have thought that after months of no business due to lockdowns, businesses would be grateful to have customers again, rather than take them for granted. The exact opposite has happened. The first example of this is what I have explained above, but secondly, the service from staff is beyond awful. The attitude from staff at all branches is that customers are bothering them, simply by being there. Smiling and greeting are unheard of concepts at Caffe Concerto. The greeting customers get instead is a scowl and an accusatory “what do you want?”- and that is if you could get service in the first place.

The worst staff behaviour was at the Covent Garden branch. I was there with a friend on Saturday January 15, 2022 in the afternoon. Even though there were many empty tables, customers were lined up and kept waiting unnecessarily. Eventually, someone sauntered over slowly, with the usual scowl, asked if we were here for cake or hot food (waiting to turn us away if we gave the wrong answer) and then finally seated- without menus. My friend had to go and get them himself. Then we were waiting for quite a while and no staff member was available to take our order- deliberately. We called and signalled every staff member that dared look our way and they all ignored us: one was too busy displaying cakes at the front window (the same cakes customers are not allowed to order), another was cleaning a table extremely slowly, even though there were many other tables free, two staff members were talking with each other and taking their time in what actual job they were supposed to do, etc. The worst was a staff member that literally walked past us whilst we called, hollered, waved and signalled to him. Instead of acknowledging our existence, he deliberately looked the other way, pretending not to see or hear us. This is disgusting behaviour. We were so upset by this rude conduct that we left and even told a member of staff on our way out how badly we had been treated. I am sure that staff member did not care and so did nothing about it.

Your website for the Covent Garden branch has the audacity to state "Known for its dedication to fine food, excellence in service and a love of the art of patisserie…” The service was appalling and customers are not even allowed to enjoy the “art of patisserie”. I am sure you will file this email into your junk mail and not care about customer experience, as there will always be other customers for the cakes (if they are allowed to have them), but I am hoping this feedback will be passed to all branch managers of Caffe Concerto to improve their service. Money may be more important to Caffe Concerto than customer service, but if it treats customers with disdain, it will not get any money from repeat business due to previous bad experiences.
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This would never have happened in (generally filthy it must be said) Patisserie Valerie and is yet one more reason for Italy to be banned from the Eurovision :disco:
 
Darlings
why would I go into one of these establishments when I have my own bean to cup machine which I load up with FORTNUM & MASON beans :)

Honestly though - best £300 I ever spent.
(The machine, not the beans)
 
Suedey said:
Darlings
why would I go into one of these establishments when I have my own bean to cup machine which I load up with FORTNUM & MASON beans :)

Honestly though - best £300 I ever spent.
(The machine, not the beans)
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Ooo what’s the machine? I’ve got a (not bean to cup - gracious how high end) Gaggia which does the job very pleasantly :disco:
 
Oooh - it's PAYDAY tomorrow and we've got a payrise backdated to last April coming through.

Should I spend some on an essential bean to cup machine, or something FRIVOLOUS like having the radiators on for a few hours of an evening?
 
@lolly Farro in the centre are VERY PRICEY but really QUITE GOOD on the pastel de nata and coffee front. Also was a BIG FAN of the Orchard bakery/café's wares next time you're en routé to Kingswood
 
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Penelope said:
@lolly Farro in the centre are VERY PRICEY but really QUITE GOOD on the pastel de nata and coffee front. Also was a BIG FAN of the Orchard bakery/café''s wares next time you're en routé to Kingswood
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I know Farro very well as my office is behind it. A cortado and a kouign-amann (no idea before I first went there) is my standard Wednesday morning treat.

And The Orchard is just down the road from my mother, so I know that rather well too :disco:
 
Currently in the Nero in House Of Fraser as it's invariably a lot less busy than the other branches, and their toasted teacake is hitting the spot.
 
lolly said:
Currently in the Nero in House Of Fraser as it's invariably a lot less busy than the other branches, and their toasted teacake is hitting the spot.
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I do this here, the one in our Frasers isn't bad at all and definitely a lot quieter as it's a bit tucked away.
 
Of course now being the owner of a VERY FANCY coffee machine (entry level cheapest price obviously :disco:) I now BREW MY OWN*


*stick in those FRESH ORGANIC plastic Costa pods
 
I only drink straight black coffee, and I can't stand the taste of Starbucks. Costa is ok, but quite harsh, so I think Cafe Nero is my favourite.
 
Starbucks is ok, but when I went to one in London, it was the worst coffee I've ever had

We have a Costa, but I've never been.

I prefer to go to local places, but I'll go to starbucks if thats all thats around
 
I never go to Starbucks these days as I only went when I worked in the office and I had that loyalty card where I got syrups, non-dairy milk and extra shots for free. Most of the time was the 99p filter coffee from Pret as it was next to the office. With a 50p discount for bringing your own cup.

These days I only really buy coffee when I’m out with my mum. Most of the time is either Greggs or McDonalds, or a local place, the latter especially if we want a decent bit of cake. Greggs and McDonalds coffee is alright for what you pay for.
 
If I have to get coffee from a coffee chain, I think I would choose Dunkin' Donuts, it's surprisingly AVERAGE and better than some.
 
I'm not a fan of Dunkin'. There are almost as many here as Starbucks and the coffee is bad. the donuts are ok but Krispy Kreme and local places are so much better
 
I liked Dunkin Donuts when I visited the US, but that might have been due to the novelty because we don’t have them here.

I’m not really a coffee snob though. I drink Millicano at home.
 
The first time I visited a Dunkin' Donuts was the one at Piccadilly Circus in the very early 90s. I remember being very disappointed by the experience. I thought there would be a range of things you could dunk donuts in, but no, it was just different flavoured donuts. I've rarely felt so conned.
 
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