A Tale Of Two Williams

A man comes into my well-known coffee shop and walks up to the mobile order pickup side.

Me: “Hi! Are you here to pick up a mobile order?”

Man: “Yes.”

Me: “What’s the name on your order?”

Man: “William.”

I check the mobile orders and find one hot blonde roast for that name.

Me: “Here you go!”

Man: “I didn’t order anything hot. It should be two cold drinks and a food item.”

Me: “Huh, that’s weird.”

The man is obviously starting to get irritated. I check the mobile order screen and find nothing under “William” matching that description.

Me: “I don’t see that on my end. Do you have your phone to check? Sometimes weird things happen.”

The man pulls out his phone, pulls up the order, and shoves it in my face.

Me: “Ah, I see the problem. Your order was sent to the store at [Next Block Over] and [Twenty Blocks Down].”

Man: “That’s f****** r*****ed. I’m sorry to use that word, but that’s f****** stupid. I ordered from your parking lot and gave it access to my location. How is it sending my order to another store?”

Me: *Putting on a very bland customer service face* “I’m sorry, sir—”

Man: “I bet you hear a lot of this, huh?”

Me: “Yes, our app isn’t the greatest at locations and it is a problem. I’m very sorry. Would you like to pick up your order at the other store, or we could make it here for you?”

Man: “Well, obviously I want to get it from here!”

Me: “Of course. What was on your order?”

I grab two cups and scribble his order on them and then hand them off to a barista. The other barista gets his food order started while I walk to the back to tell the manager in frustration about the man who apparently couldn’t check where his order was being sent at any of the steps in the process, where it straight-up asks you where to send it at least once.

When I come out from the back, William is still standing at the counter with both his drinks and his food.

Man: “Hey, I wanted to apologize for being short with you. None of this was in any way your fault.”

Me: “Thank you, sir. I’m just glad we could get everything together for you quickly.”

Man: “I appreciate it. Have a good day.”

Me: “You, too.”

As he walks away, another man walks up to the counter.

Man #2: “Hi, I’m here to pick up for William?”

Me: “Ah. Here’s your hot blonde roast, William.”