Last week a cyber battle broke out between what sounds to me like a hypersensitive haughty elitist ninny and a clueless rigid anal muttonhead. All of it over a cup of joe.The ninny is one Jeff Simmermon, a Brooklynite who was visiting the Washington DC area this past weekend. The muttonhead, Nicholas Cho, is the owner of a coffee shop in Arlington, VA.
Simmermon has a blog, And I Am Not Lying, Cho’s coffee place is Murky Coffee. His site is essentially a blog surrounded by store info. Decent idea. There’s another character here, Murky Coffee employee David Flynn, who must not be overlooked. He played a central role in the controversy.
So here’s what happened… Simmermon, in town for the weekend, wandered into Murky Coffee to order his drink of choice, a triple espresso over ice. Sounds reasonable.
But noooooo. Flynn told him that that wasn’t kosher, that it was against store policy to served iced espresso because it seemingly violates the integrity of the coffee. Baffled and a bit irked, Simmermon then ordered a triple espresso and a cup of ice on the side. Flynn served him this, but did it with disapproval, telling Simmermon that it really wasn’t OK.
WTF?
Okay, I fully understand how a company would want to maintain some sense of quality control over its products. But this is extremist. And employee shouldn’t chastise a customer over a simple preference. I’ve worked in coffee stores and as a waiter. Sometimes you get customers that are unreasonable. They’ll want to completely create a new entree or something ridiculous like that. Having an iced espresso doesn’t qualify for that.
Simmermon got pissed and argued back, saying that he’s got his own personal policy about having his coffee – something he’s paid for – the way he wants it.
But Simmermon didn’t stop there. He then apparently returned an hour later to ask for “your strongest iced beverage your policy would allow”. He got an Americano with four shots and light on water, which he enjoyed. And then left a dollar tip with the following note scrawled on it:
“FUCK YOU AND YOUR PRECIOUS COFFEE POLICY”
Now think about this. Simmermon actually planned to go back, to write a vicious note. He didn’t let it go, a shitty experience at a coffee place 200 miles from home. And then he went to his blog. This is how he started out his entry:
Maybe condescending service from a patronizing millenial at a DC coffee shop isn’t news to anyone else. But the only way I’m ever coming back to Murky Coffee in Arlington is if I’m carrying matches and a can of kerosene.
At some point you would have figured he’d let it go, but he obviously didn’t. no. He then goes on to give his side of the story.
Enter Nichoas Cho. Cho goes onto defend the policy and the attitude behind it. He then lists a series of rules he has for his store:
No modifications to the Classic Cappuccino. No questions will be answered about the $5 Hot Chocolate (during the months we offer it). No espresso in a to-go cup. No espresso over ice. These are our policies. We have our reasons, and we’re happy to share them.
WTF. No. No. No. No.
He also mentions, in retaliation to Simmermon’s tongue-in-cheek comment that he’d burn down the place by saying that he’d punch Simmermon “in the dick”.
Cho also defends the barista, saying that Flynn showed disapproval not at the fact that Simmermon was going to mix espresso and ice, but at the attitude – and the note on the dollar bill. That makes sense.
Two more points.
Simmermon admitted to acting like, well, “a dick”, but says he had just cause. Sorry, pal, but you were a dick, plain an simple.
And on Murky Coffee’s site it says, regarding the company and the owner, “…coffee is a people business…and he’s a people person.” Sorry, pal, but you really aren’t a people person if you have rules that prevent people from getting what they want to purchase. They’re paying for it.
But the real story here is that these two blogs that usually get less than then comments now have hundreds. Many of them, from what I’ve seen, quite negative. They’ve both gotten significant press – obviously not all of it good.
Morales of the story, in these days of a very active blogosphere, don’t be a dick and put your customers needs first.
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