transparency

On our first morning of vacation, we were pleased to find open tables when we arrived for breakfast at a popular and highly recommended café. With several people actively filling walk-up specialty coffee orders at the counter, it took several minutes to be acknowledged: “It’ll be about five minutes for a table since the waitress needs to catch up,” a person finally called out in our direction.

Fifteen minutes later we were seated; in another hour our order arrived. What we’d planned as a quick breakfast before heading out to explore the city and its museums turned into a morning event. Our “quick breakfast” took 109 minutes, during which time we were never offered a beverage refill or given a courtesy acknowledgement about why the delays to order, receive food, get the check, and pay the bill.

Since breakfast is commonly a more speedily served and eaten meal, the slowness and customer-abandonment in this highly rated café was at first a surprise and then an annoyance. When the waitress finally brought our check, she (continue reading →)