Interesting: our choices on the menu card were simply not there, and the staff didn't seem to care.
So out we walked, to our `good old' coffee day a few yards away.
A man in his mid-40s was perched on the sofa by the counter, and got busy writing a report on plain paper, as his wife watched bored.
We settled down, in spite of my friend's anxiety to rush home to her baby. ``God knows how long it's gonna be before we catch up again...''
Five minutes. Ten minutes. The boys wouldn't turn up. We tried catching their eye. And they tried avoiding eye contact. When we did manage, my friend gestured to ask how long it would take...the staffer, instead of hurrying up requested for more time! Whew! It never never happened at Coffee Day before!
My friend was prompted to walk out. We wondered aloud who the guy there was. `Some big shot or their big boss I guess..' Speculation time. Was he `the great Siddhartha' who owned the Coffee Day chain? Am sure we'd not have been so unsure if the real Siddhartha (Buddha) was around. A few more minutes flew by. The staffers still didn't care. `It's probably their appraisal...pay hike or not kinds...' we continued speculating.
I mean, why would they be bothered if their customer was a mother wanting to rush home, and still hoping to catch up with a friend over coffee? Even if they didn't, they should have bothered to take an order.
``You know what, let's just leave. I am in a hurry,'' my friend decided finally. We walked out and noticed that those insensitive guys blankly watched us leave. It just did not seem to bother them! We were shocked. ``Look how nasty! I am not going to come back here,'' my friend declared, hurt like crazy by this.
I was undecided. A week later, am in Chennai, reading the Business Today cover piece on Coffee Day Siddhartha. It says he plans to become the market leader and add many many outlets more globally. Sigh! My friend who's seen the cover too swears it WAS Siddhartha at Cunningham Road Coffee Day. Am still not sure.
I've been a Coffee Day patron for ages and a loyalist specially when out of Bangalore. Does the man really care? I stuck on to Coffee Day despite the deteriorating service attitude over years. Call it that Namma Mannina Maga (our son of soil) sentiment. Looks like CCD just lost a customer though. (Or is it more?)
PS: Watch the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Rocket Singh once, for lessons on service in the market.
Pic Courtesy: CCD website
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