I took the kids to Baskin Robbins last night. Anna liked having her own chocolate cone while Luca wanted rainbow sherbet. When we walked into the store there was a young man behind the counter with his back to us. As we approached the counter he didn’t turn around. He just kept cleaning the stainless steel counter. I wondered for a second if they were closing and checked the sign on the door to make sure. It was 8:30 pm and the store closed at 10 pm so we were fine.
I didn’t think much of it until we sat down to eat our ice cream and another couple entered the store. It was pretty clear they knew what they wanted as they walked right up the counter to order. The young man continued to clean the counter. The couple was getting antsy. Finally the young man turned his head and said, “I’ll be with you in a minute” and immediately went back to his cleaning. He then started to organize the cups and cartons. I could not believe what I was seeing.
The couple waited another 2-3 minutes. The entire time this employee had his back turned to them. He couldn’t see how frustrated they had become. The couple turned around and walked out the store. Funny thing is it wasn’t for another minute or so before this employee noticed they had left the store. At which time he pulled out a broom and began sweeping the floors.
Two younger kids entered the store shortly after the couple left. They too went right to the counter to order. But it wasn’t’ going to be so easy. There was sweeping to be done! This Baskin Robbins employee made them wait another few minutes while he swept around the counter before he took their order.
I’ll bet this Baskin Robbins has some of the cleanest counters and floors around.
Unbelievable.
Update Feb 26: I’ve been back to the same store twice and was treated well both visits. The last visit we were helped by the young man in question and he was nice. I’ll chalk it up him having a tough day on that first visit to the store.
Nordquist Blog 
Mr. Nordquist, with this posting you have officially reached new heights of disingenuous outrage and blogger entitlement, to you sir, my commendations.
First off, let’s begin with a reminder that there are different kinds of consumer archetypes out there other than the mold you were cast from. For instance, by indications in some of your earlier postings I gather that you are typically the type of shopper that expects to be waited on hand and foot the minute you walk in the door of an establishment, though you go back and forth on the level of lap-doggedness you expect/pursue (Eddie Bauer posting vs. Fry’s postings are a good comparisons). Contrary to your personal service expectations, there are other kinds of people that just want to be left the heck alone for a bit to decide on what they want. In the case of a Baskin Robbins, the second type is probably the safer bet with regard to expected customer type, after all there are 31 flavors not to mention the choice of waffle cone, suger cone, shake, bowl or cup (in waffle or paper form), smoothie, yogurt, cake, creepy clown ice cream cone thing, scoop quantity, mixed flavor scoop choice, dietary regiment considerations, etc, etc, to choose from. It would seem given the amount of choices they offer the clerk behind the counter is either damned if they do immediately initiate the sales pitch, lest they appear like some overeager Chachki’s employee, or damned if they don’t, lest they appear like some apathetic teenage hire, an uncaring pawn in the corporate machine of Burton and Irvine’s ice cream behemoth.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s another explanation for this youngster’s delayed serving response. Based off of the details you disclosed, it would seem neither you, the following couple, or the two young kids that followed gave verbal indication that you were ready to order, ala “Ok, I think we’re set”, one of the standard indicators to politely say “Hey, serve me now”. By this non-verbal customer approach, it is likely that you and the other 2 customer groups belong in archetype A, the group that expected to be waited on. By not asserting vocally that you want to be served NOW, it is unreasonable to expect that the clerk should stand there behind the counter staring down your every move waiting to jump at the chance to take your order. Hard as it may be to believe, an ice cream parlor does get messy and needs cleaning throughout the evening, otherwise a dirty establishment could just as easily turn away customers or worse yet attract rats.
Outside of customer initiation, there is the possibility that maybe this guy was just having a bad day. Maybe he got a phone call with some really bad news, or his manager just chewed him out for the sloppy state the shop was in, and he set about cleaning up, even if it might cost him a customer or two. Additionally, scrubbing, stacking, and sweeping are not exactly the works of a rebellious teenage miscreant, maybe the kid’s got OCD, and given the choice between repetitive comfort actions and stopping that process altogether, the brain is going to choose to keep cleaning, business be damned.
Since you were simply in a state of disbelief about the experience, and did not call your 83 readers to action or make any note about contacting the manager or Baskin/Robbins HQ, you owe it to yourself and the clerk in question to give that place another shot. Retreating to the high castle of your blog to complain may provide personal relief, but it doesn’t solve anything. If your aim is truly to be a crusader of customer service, spend equal amounts of typing time notifying company parties about your sour experience and who knows, the next time you go there the clerk might be more proactive…or maybe those cold hearted ice-cream barons will just fire him.
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Professor Counterpoint,
You win the award for the longest, most thoughtful comment someone has ever left on my blog. I must admit that I’m impressed that you recall some of my past posts and use them to keep me honest.
A few comments to what you wrote would be in order. When I walked into the Baskin Robbins, the door triggers a buzzer of sorts that anyone in the store could hear. It would be impossible, even from the back room, for anyone to sneak into the business without this notification. I would think this young man could, at the very least, turn around, acknowledge the customer and say , “Let me know when you’re ready to order”.
You got me thinking about whether or not I expect to be waited on hand and foot. In some instances, that’s probably the case. Then again, I work in the service industry and spend most of my time making sure our customers are happy. I guess shopping at Nordstrom and Kiehls has increased my customer service expectations.
I don’t hold this single instance against Baskin Robbins or even this young man. You’re right, maybe he was having a bad day. In fact, I returned the next day with my four year old son and was treated well by a young women. And yesterday I went back with the whole family and was treated very well by the young man in question.
We like Baskin Robbins ice cream too much. It would take a much bigger offense to keep us from going. At this point, our last two visits went well and I don’t feel I need to make a big deal of it with his boss.
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