Nobody At the Register

Today I went to get a cup of coffee from a local establishment that provides self-service coffee (once the empty paper coffee cup is bought at the cash register). Only one problem: nobody is at the register. This place serves bagels and other breakfast items. Many people come here, and there is usually a long line in the morning of customers with their breakfast orders. And the workers are scurrying around, preparing food. Sometimes someone is at the register, sometimes a long period of time goes by before someone shows up. Not ordering any food, I just want a cup of coffee, so I walk past those waiting for their orders, to the empty register. But the person who should be there is helping with the food preparation, so it looks as if I am cutting in line ahead of everyone else! If I have to wait until everyone else has their breakfast prepared before I can shell out my buck and some change for an empty cup that I have to then go and fill myself, I’m going elsewhere (the elsewhere in this case being the customer service-oriented Starbucks on NW 16th Avenue and US 441).

This isn’t the only instance of an establishment where the cashier is forced by management to leave their post for the sake of “productivity”. A bookstore not far from here has a café that serves coffee. But I hardly ever go there anymore because the employee supposedly attending that café is usually far off in another part of the (large) store performing stock work. I have to leave my place in line to look for an employee to begrudgingly call someone to the café, as if I am some kind of irritant to their jobs there. A local bakery very close to my home prepares lunches for the many workers who stop by there in the morning. They sure do work hard there making those sandwiches! But this place also has a section with doughnuts and pastries, already prepared and ready for sale. I especially like their cream-filled doughnuts. But when I go there, no one mans the cash register. I must wait until every customer in front of me has their (sometimes lengthy) order taken, prepared, and paid for. Needless to say, I don’t frequent this place either (although they have the best doughnuts in town).

I don’t mind waiting in line one bit (I just waited in one here at Starbucks). But I am tired of the foolish notion that cashiers must be excessed out to do other duties when there is obviously a steady flow of customers passing through. Hey, I realize that cashiers can’t just stayed glued to the floor behind the register. Sometimes they have to do something that momentarily requires them to leave the area. But if a business has enough employees to have a division of labor, then the cashier position needs to have a high priority. After all, that’s the bottom line job where the business gets its revenue!

These three aforementioned establishments have lost my business. I had money to give them and they already had the product prepared to sell me. But they wouldn’t put an employee behind the register to complete the transaction. How foolish can management get?!

By contrast, Starbucks understands the need to make quick contact with the customer and complete the transaction with as little fuss as possible. That’s why I keep coming back here. If some local businesses are so concerned about Starbucks coming into town and driving them off, they may just want to consider the option of COPYING their attitude toward customers. And putting and KEEPING someone at the register, especially during busy times, for crying out loud! Duhhh!