One Reason Businesses Fail

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I get so frustrated sometimes when businesses screw up easy tasks. Today it is the bagel shop I decide to stop at for coffee and a sundried tomato bagel.

The store is not busy. I am the second person in line and noone is behind me. I get asked my order. I say I want the bagel with regular cream cheese. Not toasted. I stress the NOT toasted part.

“Is this for here or to go?” I get asked.

“To go,” I reply and move on down the line.

At the register I am asked what I ordered.

I explain, “bagel with cream cheese and a medium coffee.”

“For here or to go,” the cashier asks.

“To go,” I say, getting frustrated for the repeated question.

As I am paying, a third employee asks me what I ordered.

Are you kidding me? I think. “Sundried bagel, regular cream cheese, not toasted.”

I finish paying, get my receipt and am handed my bagel in a small brown bag. I inspect the bagel and realize it’s toasted.

Three employees asked me my order, three times I said exactly what I ordered.

I don’t get what I order.

One of the employees takes my bag back and quickly replaces it with the correct, non-toasted bagel without an “I’m sorry.” No words said at all.

I say, “thank you” and move on.

It’s simple things like these that can make or break a company. Customers end up leaving frustrated and may not return the next time. If this were the first time this had happened I probably wouldn’t be writing about it now, but it happens again and again. I’m going to have to look for a new bagel shop the next time I want my bagel, not toasted.