Crikey, a Douchebag on Flickr

Blacknell says:

Maybe they can use that dollar to pay their taxes.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Caroline Knecht says:

I would have done the same thing if I couldn't have ordered an iced espresso.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

shinypenny says:

No, that would be Murky Coffee and their bizarre pretensions.

It's. Just. Coffee.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

combray says:

Is this from the store that busted on a customer for wanting an iced coffee? I can't believe he left a dollar.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

I assume that sign says "Don't write on money please:) It's very rude". Writing on money is NOT rude. The behavior that caused this particular dollar to be written on was VERY rude and unprofessional. www.andiamnotlying.com/2008/murky-coffee-arli ngton-hold-t... A different take on the same incident here www.welovedc.com/2008/07/13/welcome-to-murky- you-dont-get... Snobbish people irritate the crap out of me, especially in customer service positions. The jerk is lucky he got a tip at all (other than "find a line of work where you don't have to deal with people who offend you by wanting something you don't approve of").
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

joelhousman says:

I will never patronize Murky with my business. Granted, I live in Alexandria & do not get to Arlington that much, but if I'm ever in their neighborhood & want coffee, I wont be going there.

If you're against ice, explain to the customer that if they want better flavor that they really should order it x or y way. You are allowed to be an ass. But I'm allowed to be an ass right back. When you're a business, it isn't very smart to be an ass to your customers. Your customers can make it so you do not get to be a business anymore.

Also - pay your DC taxes.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Don Whiteside says:

I'm pretty sure that's their "don't be on the cellphone when you're ordering" sign.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Mike's Car Pix says:

I see, thanks for clarifying that. Makes much more sense than my initial interpretation. Much as I hate that big national chain, I'd go there before Murky.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

diversionmary says:

I agree, the barista was a total douche.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

JookyG says:

Wow, even in Seattle, where coffee snobbery reaches stratospheric heights, I never heard anything this ridiculous... except in cases where the cafe wanted to make sure the customer purchased the more expensive iced latte, instead of taking an iced espresso and adding lots of milk at the condiment station. But at least they're honest about it and tell you why.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

D. Harland Harris says:

yes it's totally stupid policy, but OTOH their espresso is really better than any other shop in Arlington.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

dalasv says:

Barista obviously should have explained the concept behind an iced americano if he wanted to be a snob. You can't expect everyone to worship coffee voodoo.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

standard | grey says:

Just a reminder from a fellow barista: Your barista gig is a crappy wage-slave job. You are not doing god's work.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

mgabrys says:

Coffee Douches - on ice! Fuck the east coast up the ass. You deserve each other.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Fex Worldwide says:

Just to add a counter note to all the people who are saying they'll never go to Murky because they have a policy against serving bad coffee: I'm not usually in the area, but if I ever am, I will make a point of going to Murky.

Good coffee is almost impossible to find in the USA and anywhere that cares about quality is worth checking out.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

peripathetic says:

I'd say the guy's dollar doesn't make him god, the shop isn't obliged to serve him, and if he wanted something the shop didn't serve he should have gone elsewhere rather than pushing the issue. The barista pointing out the policy was doing just that - pointing out the policy. And actually *not* rudely either! Who said 'fuck you' first? ;o)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

prodigal_0ne says:

It's one thing to explain why you have a policy against serving something that a customer wants to pay you money for. It's another thing to lecture a customer for having the gall to want something that they enjoy consuming, especially if you do it in a way that causes your establishment to lose business from people who hear about you copping an attitude and decide that they don't ever want to spend money on anything you'd be willing to sell them.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

michaelk42 says:

Pointing out something that's stupid and arbitrary is still stupid and arbitrary. Be prepared to take flak for it, counterperson... I mean, "barista."
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

DJVelveteen says:

Word to Fex, a person who actually appreciates something about coffee besides that it's served by wage slaves.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Bloot Pooner says:

I am SO paying with ass pennies tomorrow.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

kalindashepard says:

Yeah, I'm thinking that the barista passed up a perfectly good "teaching moment" in favor of being a snob. What's wrong with saying "We don't do that because it damages the flavor, but I can make you an Americano, which is basically the same thing but much better tasting." (I actually had a barista do this when I has a similar request and the Americano was very good.)

There is a difference between being dedicated to providing all your customers with a great coffee experience and only wanting to serve other coffee snobs.

Having said that, the dollar bill was way out of line, particularly give that the barista did provide him with an Americano when approached "properly"
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Numan says:

I'm from MD, and this is just another reason for me not to go into VA (except for the beach, which I wish was in MD), where logic and reason seem to disappear.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

TownHallCoffee says:

This over a $3 coffee drink? First, you're all making wild-ass assumptions. Secondly, if any of you owned your own business, you'd appreciate the fact of doing shit as you want.
Now, Espresso pulled over ice tastes like ash in comparison to hot, all things being equal. Murky is hard core about the quality of their product. Respect a person's craft, for F#$%'s sake. Even the dude with the issue said the coffee was great.
The guy was pissed because he had to wait for his girlfriend for an HOUR, and he took it out on the help, who wanted him to enjoy his drink and not steal $2 worth of milk. Just as plausible.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

GreggFuller says:

Coffee pretension does not equal quality of product.

By not telling him why it wasn't okay they've ruined their customer service image and I hope the public catches wind of this so the coffee snobs can just sit in that store all by themselves with no actual business from the average consumer to burden them.

You're behind a counter being paid a wage to perform a service. The customer may not always be right, but you can always try to make them happy with what is possible. This is about 3 shots of espresso. Make the dude the drink. If you're worried about them putting milk and making a "ghetto latte" don't work in the coffee industry. There will always be the customer who tries to get more for less and you do your best to dissuade them, but there's not a whole lot you can do without alienating your customers.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

carolefun904 says:

Gee, I'd better not tell ask the McDonald's help (hamburgistas?) to put mustard on my Big Mac.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

dcecil805 says:

Nice!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

The_Pirate_King says:

This particular story makes me want to get a few aluminum tokens imprinted with "Here's your tip: YOU SUCK" just so I can leave them in places with spectacularly bad "service" like Murky.

Preferably under an inverted, full water glass, so the douche who condescended to wait on me has no way of lifting it off the table without making a wet mess.

Service with holier-than-thou attitude really chaps my drawers, especially when it's clear that the attitude is allowed and even encouraged by the corporate culture.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

akm_2_go says:

Espresso over ice?! Everyone knows us sophistacates would shun such an abomination!

Face it. "Barista" is a fancy word for coffee jockey. Get over it, it's not rocket science, it's coffee.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Chris Farrugia (chrisfarrugia.net) says:

Well done! Incredible shot!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

` ®© ROBERTO CARBONI says:

wow great one.congrats
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

MikeJonesPhoto says:

Carboni thinks you have a nice pic, please submit it to the commented or blocked by ®© ROBERTO CARBONI's robot group! Carboni uses a script to comment on thousands of photos without ever looking at them.

Congrats
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

bloomgal says:

Love the story - I'm glad I don't drink coffee.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

David A Kearns IV says:

Numan, I feel that the MD and DE beaches are much better than the VA ones. If you are going that far, you might as well go on to NC...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Luĭs Eduardo says:

Really cool
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

mme janvier says:

Okay

This just has to be stated.

Skilled career/competition barista staff dedicate their lives to coffee. There is so much more to this industry than just putting stuff in a cup. Agriculture. Ecology. Socioeconomics. The science of coffee is fascinating. To me coffee is an approachable cultural and culinary experience. It's truly what we're passionate about doing every day. We understand that most people will not appreciate the end result of our dedication. That's fine. We don't do it for you.

But when you belittle what we do, it's a slap in the face to every person involved in the specialty coffee industry. Please open your mind to the concept that a barista can be a skilled, passionate and yes, even friendly individual. Narrow minded, classist comments like these are disgusting
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

krullulon says:

"But when you belittle what we do, it's a slap in the face to every person involved in the specialty coffee industry. Please open your mind to the concept that a barista can be a skilled, passionate and yes, even friendly individual. Narrow minded, classist comments like these are disgusting "

LOL. This was the funniest thing I've read all week, bar none.

Last time I checked, it took about... a week to teach a barista everything he or she needed to know about how to make a good cuppa joe. That's compared with... 15 years for a brain surgeon? Yeah. It's coffee, get over yourself.

Good luck to you with your crazy hubris, though -- hope it gets you where you want to go.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

isobot says:

wait a second Jason, Why such a personal attack? why not state how you feel about the incident and leave the belittling out of it. people can have as much passion for anything they choose. You come across as a very narrow minded individual or just a bully by such comments, which I , since I do not know you personally, would never presume you to be.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

mme janvier says:

You can LOL and roll your eyes all you want krullulon.

But you just proved my point.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

krullulon says:

"wait a second Jason, Why such a personal attack? why not state how you feel about the incident and leave the belittling out of it. people can have as much passion for anything they choose. You come across as a very narrow minded individual or just a bully by such comments, which I , since I do not know you personally, would never presume you to be."

By all means, I would never belittle someone's passion -- until it directly impacts the relationship between customer and service provider. I have a zero-tolerance policy for service providers who arrogate themselves to a position where they believe it's OK to belittle the customers who keep them in business. Don't want to serve something in a particular way? Well then, you better be really careful about how you deliver that message to the people who keep you in business.

I have no problem with someone having passion for coffee, or anything else -- but that passion ends from the customer standpoint the second cash changes hands. You sell product x and the purchaser does what he or she chooses to do with it -- if you don't like it then don't sell it.

I could also argue until the cows come home in this particular case about why barista hubris is a direct result of my gen-x contemporaries back in the day who, frustrated with their lack of ability to find meaning in the meaningful, injected meaning into the meaningless to make themselves feel less empty. That's another argument, however.

Call it classist if you wish -- I call it a sure-fire way to watch your business fail.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

gigantor919 says:

First and foremost I would like to say that I'm a fan of Murky Coffee. They have great coffee and I've never had a problem with the service there. That said, maybe it's just me but...

If I get service I'm not happy with a coffee shop, I'm not going to bother to argue with the employees or leave a tip with a hastily written note on it. I'm probably just going to leave and not come back.

I'm not going to waste my time arguing with someone who MAKES COFFEE FOR A LIVING! You really think someone who makes minimum wage putting foam on your latte is worth arguing with?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Anthony's stalker central says:

Guys, the policy isn't because they think it degrades the quality of the product - THEY HAVE THAT POLICY TO PREVENT THE INFAMOUS "GHETTO LATTE". What the heck is a Ghetto late???

A Ghetto Latte is where someone orders 3 or 4 shots of espresso in a large cup of ice. Then they walk over to the condiments station and fill up the rest of the cup with 12 to 15oz of milk or half and half . That very same drink on the menu costs about double what the customer just paid.

Granted, you can do whatever you want to your drink once its in your hands, but at the point that 7/8 of your beverage is from the condiment station, there's really no denying that you're trying to beat the system.

Oh by the way, if I liked coffee I'd totally do the Ghetto latte thing too.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Dana Seilhan says:

If any of you ever come to Columbus, Ohio, I highly recommend Crimson Cup on High Street and Weisenheimer, up in Clintonville. OMFG. Not only is the coffee yummy, the people are so frigging NICE.

srsly... I understand that we Americans know exactly jack and s..t about good food and drink... but bad customer service sucks.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Dana Seilhan says:

And you know what else sucks? You're just as much a snob as that barista if you think you are better than someone because they make minimum wage and you make more money. Wages are pretty much arbitrarily set once you adjust for the economic situation. They are not commentary on what a person is worth.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

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Crikey, a Douchebag

Comments

Blacknell says:

Caroline Knecht says:

shinypenny says:

combray says:

Mike's Car Pix says:

joelhousman says:

Don Whiteside says:

Mike's Car Pix says:

diversionmary says:

JookyG says:

D. Harland Harris says:

dalasv says:

standard | grey says:

mgabrys says:

Fex Worldwide says:

peripathetic says:

prodigal_0ne says:

michaelk42 says:

DJVelveteen says:

Bloot Pooner says:

kalindashepard says:

Numan says:

TownHallCoffee says:

GreggFuller says:

carolefun904 says:

dcecil805 says:

The_Pirate_King says:

akm_2_go says:

Chris Farrugia (chrisfarrugia.net) says:

` ®© ROBERTO CARBONI says:

MikeJonesPhoto says:

bloomgal says:

David A Kearns IV says:

Luĭs Eduardo says:

mme janvier says:

krullulon says:

isobot says:

mme janvier says:

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