The other night we went out to eat for dinner. I am fairly diverse in different cuisines so I have a good idea how something should taste. We were driving down Ventura looking for a restaurant and came across one at the cross streets of Ventura and Balboa in Woodland hills. It was a Creole restaurant, one of my favorite cuisines and I have traveled the world sampling multiple cuisines.
Ambiance was ok (Music was a bit loud), for entertainment they had movies playing on some large plasmas throughout the restaurant.
So I order something I have ordered in the Creole capital of the US (Louisiana), Jambalaya! Food finally comes and it was the worst jambalaya I have ever had. As we were finishing our meal a friend and his girl walked in to be seated. We briefly chatted and he asked how the food was? I was honest with him and told him that it is the worst jambalaya I have ever had. Could some of the other entrees have been great? Sure, but if you can’t get jambalaya correct at a Creole restaurant, I wouldn’t count on the other entrees to be good. So he and his girlfriend left after hearing this.
I did tell the server about the dissatisfaction and she just looked at me and said ohh ok, sorry. I also told her she lost two customers because I told my friends not to eat here. This got me thinking, should the hostess get spiffed on increase business? I think so... It would have definitely put the hostess in a different mindset to ensure I was satisfied. What are your thoughts? Remember word of mouth can make or break a business! Fact: Word of mouth marketing is a $1.56 billion business.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Mike Williams - Starbuck Squatters
Have you ever gone to Starbucks and realized everything that takes place around you? Some people are students, just trying to get away and study. Other people are there for business meetings and then you have the average Joe who is just trying to get out of the house and hang out in a real life social networking location: Starbucks!
My Condo was flooded last week because of my upstairs neighbor’s defective washer. Approximately 100 gallons of water flowed into our wonderful two bedroom condo on a 105 degree afternoon. As the days go by and we argue with the insurance company, I realized I can’t work in this damp carpet stench. I did what any other person would do when looking for somewhere to work, I went to Starbucks. Good thing I have AT&T U-verse for my home internet. Starbucks has teamed up with AT&T which means I get free internet.
4 hours and two Iced Tea drinks later… I decide to leave my little niche at Starbucks and grab lunch. I head back to “my” starbucks (I’ve taken ownership of the location after being there the whole morning)... and wham! All the seats were taken!! I had no choice but to look for another location... fortunately there were dozens of Starbucks in my location... 4 coffee shops later I finally found one that was not full.
I make the usual scan of my enviorment to pick the best place to sit and see this interesting guy... He was literally set up a whole editing studio. I walk over to take a peek (pretending like I am looking at the seats around him) and see that he is in fact editing movies. Looking around his table, I also noticed he had BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Robitussin cough syrup and a box from 7-11 with some left over fast food. At this point, my curiosity was piqued... have I seen my first actual Starbucks squatter???
I head over to the barista and politely inquire if the gentleman is here every day. She confirmed my assumption. Now I’m thinking... you at least have to purchase something from the store to stay there right? So I ask the barista if he ever buys anything. She tells me no! He’s already got his set up, so he doesn’t really buy anything! My next question was why not ask him to leave? The barista lady said, per their district manager... as long as he’s not bothering anyone... they can’t ask him to leave.
Here is the question of the day. Do you have a Starbucks squatter near you? Please share your story! What crazy or unusual things have you ran into at Starbucks? How long is too long at Starbucks?
Blogger.com: http://therealmikewilliams.blogspot.com/
Linked In:http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=34234174&trk=tab_pro
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeWilliams562
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealMikeWilliams
Email: therealmikewilliams@gmail.com
My Condo was flooded last week because of my upstairs neighbor’s defective washer. Approximately 100 gallons of water flowed into our wonderful two bedroom condo on a 105 degree afternoon. As the days go by and we argue with the insurance company, I realized I can’t work in this damp carpet stench. I did what any other person would do when looking for somewhere to work, I went to Starbucks. Good thing I have AT&T U-verse for my home internet. Starbucks has teamed up with AT&T which means I get free internet.
4 hours and two Iced Tea drinks later… I decide to leave my little niche at Starbucks and grab lunch. I head back to “my” starbucks (I’ve taken ownership of the location after being there the whole morning)... and wham! All the seats were taken!! I had no choice but to look for another location... fortunately there were dozens of Starbucks in my location... 4 coffee shops later I finally found one that was not full.
I make the usual scan of my enviorment to pick the best place to sit and see this interesting guy... He was literally set up a whole editing studio. I walk over to take a peek (pretending like I am looking at the seats around him) and see that he is in fact editing movies. Looking around his table, I also noticed he had BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Robitussin cough syrup and a box from 7-11 with some left over fast food. At this point, my curiosity was piqued... have I seen my first actual Starbucks squatter???
I head over to the barista and politely inquire if the gentleman is here every day. She confirmed my assumption. Now I’m thinking... you at least have to purchase something from the store to stay there right? So I ask the barista if he ever buys anything. She tells me no! He’s already got his set up, so he doesn’t really buy anything! My next question was why not ask him to leave? The barista lady said, per their district manager... as long as he’s not bothering anyone... they can’t ask him to leave.
Here is the question of the day. Do you have a Starbucks squatter near you? Please share your story! What crazy or unusual things have you ran into at Starbucks? How long is too long at Starbucks?
Blogger.com: http://therealmikewilliams.blogspot.com/
Linked In:http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=34234174&trk=tab_pro
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeWilliams562
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealMikeWilliams
Email: therealmikewilliams@gmail.com
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