Friday, June 18, 2010

quicko: lost my business

So as much as I love Max Brenner chocolate, I'd like to reiterate that they have consistently terrible service. And not only them -- quite frankly, most retailers I've come across. Take the other day for example. I would have been an easy sell -- a chocolate marketer's dream! -- all I wanted was one milk hot chocolate with crunchy waffle balls to go before my ferry, which left in twelve minutes. (Max Brenner, FYI, is situated approximately an 18-second walk away from the ferry ticket gates.) I ordered and specified this to the cashier. To his credit, he both smiled and spoke enough English to understand me on my first attempt; however, he also shook his head and told me that, really, that could not guarantee it would be ready in less than 15 minutes. One cup of hot chocolate! From a shop that specializes in hot chocolate! And is in a busy, time-oriented location that presumably has lent itself to similar situations in the past. But no. No sale for them. No chocolate for Kim. No happy camper for the people next to me on the ferry. I was distressed for days until I made it back and got myself a peanut butter iced chockie to soothe my shattered nerves.

Now my only question is how to best define my relationship with Max: love-hate or on-again-off-again? In the meantime, you'll find me at San Churros.

1 comment:

Rachel Aubrey, formerly Miss Borycz said...

My goodness - They can't guarantee a hot chocolate in 15 minutes?! If you said, 30 seconds, I might feel their pain, but 15 minutes!? Oy vey, not a happy camper is right. Does the service really usually take that long? As in, do they expect you to sit down and chat for a half hour with your friends before you get anything? Are they really a sit-down sort of place?