[Closed] Large companies crap ideas..

Possibly apocryphal story, when that policy was first introduced in the UK:

A hapless Starbucks employee asked a customer his name, and a voice from further back in the queue shouted "Don't tell him, Pike!"

Might have been chatting you up?

it can be quite amusing;

[url= http://starbucksspelling.tumblr.com/ ]http://starbucksspelling.tumblr.com/[/url]

Barclays: If you make another automated junk call to me (I'm not one of your customers) the frayed threads restraining my rage will snap and I will do something that you will regret, with pain, for the rest of your miserable life.

Anger management? I've got plenty of anger to spare! I don't need to ration it!

Any company whose advert revolves around some wispy ballad, a bloke with a ukulele and washed out Summer sunshine happiness.
Oh, and any car advert that promotes their product as some sort of lifestyle choice instead of telling me what the thing actually does (that is just about all of them though).

Don't knock them for trying to add a personal touch and increase their appeal, they desperately need to do something - they haven't made a profit in the UK for 3 years !

Yep, none of their business. If it's something so they can do multiple orders in parallel, then they need better staff.

On a name theme... Coke and stupid names on bottles. If I see that, I pick another drink. I don't want coke with someone else's name written on it that's been rummaged about in the fridge.

My local Starbucks (for when I can't get a nice coffee at my usual place) has pretty much stopped asking for my name. Mind you, it may have been because I kept giving them my surname and they then had to call me "Mr. ..." rather than be fake chummy and call out my first name.

I'm currently very annoyed with drinks companies telling me that I could enhance my summer if I a) drank their piss-weak rubbish lager/cider from Australia/Belgium* but that I should also b) drink it responsibly.

Drinking crap beer/cider, hell, drinking alcohol full stop, will not enhance my summer. It will make me fat, feel hungover and ruin my fitness.

* All made in west London by the A4. Another lie.

Starbucks, asking my name when I order coffee.

Generally that's so that everyone knows which drink is theirs, and it's also quite useful if you are having to wait and you get chatting because you pick your name out of the background noise quite easily.

Most of them don't bother asking me if it's quiet.

rather than be fake chummy and call out my first name.

That really boils my piss. Call centre operatives saying "Is it OK if I call you Andrew?" No, it's not. You can call me Dr RBIT.

On a par with cold callers ringing up and asking to speak to Mr (Mrs RBIT's surname). No, you can't. My father in law doesn't live here.

piss-weak rubbish lager/cider from Australia/

Well, we certainly don't want it here!

No, it's not. You can call me Dr RBIT.

Yeah, but then they'd just call you Mr Rabbit, which probably wouldn't help much

A lot of people here living with dangerously volatile wee, I think 🙂

Are these First World Problems or Middle Class Angst? I find it so hard to tell them apart these days.

LloydsTSB - if they suspect fraudulent activity on your account they ring you with an automated voice asking you to confirm certain aspects of your account.

Haven't we been told time and time again never to confirm any personal details unless you know for sure who is calling and you can't verify an automated system...

RBS do that too - random phone calls from an Indian call centre, with the script "Hello, I'm calling about charges on your business Mastercard - for security could you please give me your business name and address, your personal address, your date of birth, and your mother's maiden name?"

"No" seems to surprise them. I always hang up and call them back.

Are these First World Problems or Middle Class Angst? I find it so hard to tell them apart these days.

Not sure it either. It's just people on the Internet doing bad Charlie Brooker impressions 😉

Children in bog roll adverts.... I cannot see the point. Lets be honest all we really care about is its ability to wipe without breaking and in as few sheets as possible. I'm not fussed if kiddies think it's all lovely and soft.

Generally that's so that everyone knows which drink is theirs, and it's also quite useful if you are having to wait and you get chatting because you pick your name out of the background noise quite easily.

They don't do it if you're "having in". Don't want to felt tip on the porcelain probably, which is why it falls within "gimmick" to me.

I like telling the Starbucks people that my name is Spartacus.

I tried telling them my name was Batman. The polite waitress smiled and asked nothing. My dim-witted friend got her attention and told her my name wasn't really Batman. She laughed 😀

They don't do it if you're "having in". Don't want to felt tip on the porcelain probably, which is why it falls within "gimmick" to me.

i thought this was a hoover thread

They don't do it if you're "having in". Don't want to felt tip on the porcelain probably, which is why it falls within "gimmick" to me.

They do in the one I use, and they put it on a little sticker/post it type thing and stick it to the cup.

It all seems perfectly sensible to me.

Maybe I need to pretend to be angry for effect more often 😉

Hoover? Is that a reference to their "buy a £80 vacuum and get £300 of flights free" wheeze a few years ago?

DOn't see why there's any need to. You order a coffee, the guy makes it, then charges you for it. And if there are several of you in one group ordering together, well thousands and thousands of restaurants and coffee shops and customers have been more than capable of handling multiple item orders and getting the right items to the right customer, for decades.

Wouldn't use the term "Barista" in Starbucks or Costa, etc.

bencooper - Member
random phone calls from an Indian call centre.....

....[i]I always hang up and call them back.[/i]

Hoover? Is that a reference to their "buy a £80 vacuum and get £300 of flights free" wheeze a few years ago?

aye

well thousands and thousands of restaurants and coffee shops and customers have been more than capable of ordering some items and getting those items to the right customer, for decades.

Not 100% right.

Maybe I need to pretend to be angry for effect more often

or maybe Starbuck staff are moer forgetful than the kids who work in McDonalds... and they can handle multiple orders in parallel, and drinks that look identical (eg diet/non-diet coke) ?
And I'd hope any waiter/waitress and fastfood attendant can remember who they are currently serving

[i]Children in bog roll adverts.... I cannot see the point. Lets be honest all we really care about is its ability to wipe without breaking and in as few sheets as possible. I'm not fussed if kiddies think it's all lovely and soft. [/i]

This. In fact if a company said 'our bogroll isn't soft but it's hard as nails' and showed a dock worker grimacing as he scrubbed his backside, I'd buy that one.

Bad company decisions? I'd like to think that the Budweiser what'sup advertising campaign lost them many millions but the sad truth is that people are so stupid, I think it worked.

If I ever get desperate enough for a coffee that i'm willing to spend 3 and a half quid on a cup then the server asking for my name will be the thing i'm least pissed off about.

You order a coffee, the guy makes it, then charges you for it.

Or, how it actually happens.

You order your drink, one guy charges you for it.
Passes the order to a couple of other guys, one of which will make it.
Or they may make different bits of it each possibly.
In the time it's taken him to make it, the first guy has taken loads more order for similar or totally different drinks and passed them on too.
The second (or third) guy has a drink ready, and a hoard of people waiting around for drinks, a few of them have ordered the same thing and nobody can remember who's next in line.
The guy who made them doesn't know either because he's never seen any of you before.
So nobody knows who's drink it is until the pushy **** at the back grabs it and wanders off.

Here's an idea, they could put your name on it maybe, safe any confusion ?

Here's an idea, they could put your name on it maybe, safe any confusion ?

It's the only reason I go to Starbucks.

If I go anywhere else I can never find my coffee.

andytherocketeer, I hope you pay in cash - they can easily read your name from your card y'know, or maybe get you to sign a bit of paper if the chip and pin machine is down... In those cases it's [i]very much[/i] their business to know your name.

Or go to a proper coffee bar.

they haven't made a profit in the UK for 3 years

GRRRRRR

And breathe.

Breweries importing beers brewed abroad (usually lager) and once finding they're a success, forget that the reason they were ever a hit might have been down to taste rather than marketing and then brew them to an "authentic" recipe in the UK.

I bought a four pack of Brahma recently for a barbecue in the sun - thought "Hmm, this doesn't taste as nice as I was expecting" only to find the familiar "Brewed in the UK to an authentic Brazilian recipe" on the label. Bah! 😐

Or go to a proper coffee bar

Find me one in Cardiff with better coffee and cakes.

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23869462 ]turn the tables[/url]

lloyds tsb (and other credit card people) now requiring you to declare that you'll be overseas, and where exactly, and for how long, when using your credit card overseas. where I am when I use this thing is my business - c*ck off!

cold calling, any of it, full stop. "would you like a conservatory?" "I'm sitting in one right now, where do you suggest I put this new conservatory, on top this one that I already have?"

for some reason, charities employing agencies to beg for them annoys me - as for every £1 donated, about half* goes to the begging agency (*actually I don't know the exact percentage)

"diet" versions of food, cereals especially, e.g. "special" K. However, I suspect that's a different thread right there.

@deadlydarcy

Breweries importing beers brewed abroad

easy solution, buy british beer, we make a lot of it here and its often jolly pleasant

I like telling the Starbucks people that my name is Spartacus.

Amateur...

Really test them.

'My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.'

cold calling, any of it, full stop. "would you like a conservatory?" "I'm sitting in one right now, where do you suggest I put this new conservatory, on top this one that I already have?"

easy solution, buy british beer, we make a lot of it here and its often jolly pleasant

😆

I'd say the majority of beer I buy is British - I'm an ale person most of the time but sometimes, you can't beat a cold bottle of lager brewed in some exotic country to go with your half cooked sausage in the sunshine. I love, no really really love British beers - but I don't allow that to stop me trying beers made in lots of other places too.

lloyds tsb (and other credit card people) now requiring you to declare that you'll be overseas, and where exactly, and for how long, when using your credit card overseas

That's in your own interests.

PJM 😀

The Co-operative going into banking and buying a building society! Oops.

BA' tail fins - there was always something about seeing the Union Jack as you arrived at a distant airport that made you feel almost at home. The fancy tail fins just didn't do that! Crap idea.

We got a few calls when I was a kid;

Caller: "Can I speak to Mr Walls, please?"

My Dad: "No, I'm sorry he doesn't live here"

Caller: "Is Mrs Walls there?"

MD "No, she doesn't live here either."

C: "Are there any Walls there?"

MD: "No"

C: "Well how do you hold your roof up then?"

The fact he had exactly the same conversation twice over the space of a fortnight was a bit worrying.

Old Simpsons episodes are good for Starbucks names, Amanda Huggenqis etc.

or maybe Starbuck staff are moer forgetful than the kids who work in McDonalds... and they can handle multiple orders in parallel, and drinks that look identical (eg diet/non-diet coke) ?

Not really. The McDonalds kids have a screen in front of them on the till that tells them what is in the order.

And I'd hope any waiter/waitress and fastfood attendant can remember who they are currently serving

Despite the fact the person who took your order in Starbucks probably not going to be the person serving you the coffee? Most places I've eaten / drank in have a 'system' of some sort if there is a delay between ordering and serving. Like recording a table number, or even a name - or does that not happen on Planet Angst?

I don't really get all the angst about the name thing. Baristas were doing this for years before Starbucks came up with it. But because they're a small friendly local coffee shop, it was ok. (They really do serve the most excellent coffee btw.)

I just tell the people in Starbucks (when I ask if I can get an americano) that my name is Jon, because they haven't a chance of spelling my name correctly and I can't be doing with the "How are you spelling that?" and I feel just for a microsecond like I'm sticking it to the man, man. 🙂

Sounds like starbucks is like a vending machine with human disorganistion behind the counter. Do they not have touch screens for orders like McD's?

Plus iirc you still have to do all the sprinkle stuff yourself? Or is that Costa? (not been in a real Starbucks/Costa etc. for ages, only small ones in book shops etc., where they may have one person operating till and sorting cake while a 2nd one makes the requested "coffee").

tomhoward - Member
I like telling the Starbucks people that my name is Spartacus.
Amateur...

Really test them.

'My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.'

I used Inigo Montoya instead. 🙂

Most Starbucks, apart from the motorway services ones, are actually pretty well run, and the staff seem to like working there. A properly organised one at a busy time is quite impressive actually - that goes for all coffee shops of course, but 'bucks seem to be particularly good at it.

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next

"I'll just put Max down then"

"I'll just put Max down then"

Hehehehe 😀

not been in a real Starbucks/Costa etc. for ages, only small ones in book shops etc

You are so niche.

The Co-operative going into banking and buying a building society! Oops.

Beg to differ. ([url= http://www.smile.co.uk ]Smile[/url] FTW).
Buying a dodgy building society, yes, daft idea.
.
Big companies poor ideas?
[img] [/img]

I seem to be missing out on all this. I've never been in a Starbucks, or any of the other coffee places.

Lots of people here seem to use Starbucks.

Large company = crap idea - to not allow fund raising for the good people in the armed forces. This means they'll never get any of my money, no matter how nice their coffee is.

Shell Drivers points - Why? There seems to be no benefit unless you spend about £1 million a year on fuel.

Lots of people here seem to use Starbucks.

I used Inigo Montoya instead.

Do you then ask them how many fingers they have on their left hand ?

Nothing they do annoys me, everything they do is for my benefit and customer led such as 650 b

You bunch of ungrateful commies

Lack of standards in MTB is begining to grate. i used to be able to swap all the parts on my bikes now its tapered forks, some OS bars some not, square taper BB, Hollowtech etc

do they have nicer toilets than Mc Donalds?

LloydsTSB - if they suspect fraudulent activity on your account they ring you with an automated voice asking you to confirm certain aspects of your account.

Haven't we been told time and time again never to confirm any personal details unless you know for sure who is calling and you can't verify an automated system...

Possible genius solution to the cold calling ....

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23869462 ]0871[/url]

Large company = crap idea - to not allow fund raising for the good people in the armed forces. This means they'll never get any of my money, no matter how nice their coffee is.

I seem to be missing out on all this. I've never been in a Starbucks, or any of the other coffee places.

Yup, you've certainly missed out.

There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in front of an overpriced pretentiously named pint-size cup of slightly coffee favoured hot watery milk.

to not allow fund raising for the good people in the armed forces

Moleskin trousers are made from real moleskins and if you eat an apple seed, an apple tree will grow in your tummy.

(I just wanted to mess with his troubled mind a little further 😈 )

There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in front of an overpriced pretentiously named pint-size cup of slightly coffee favoured hot watery milk.

If you can't select a beverage that pleases you from the menu they offer, get someone else to order for you.

HTH

@ Molgrips

"There is a patisserie called cocorico on whitchurch road that has amazing cakes! it doesn't look like much from the outside really but worth a visit. run by a proper french patisserie. its a bit out of town though.

in town there is pettigrews. it can be a bit pricey but they have massive portions of cake and more tea than anyone could drink.

theres a fairly new creperie called sophies which do nice crepes but not so much cake, but they're good, there's also a place called 'the plan' and a deli called 'wally's' which has a cafe upstairs - mostly german foods i think, and good savoury stuff too.

think that's about it really. there's always costa, neros, john lewis and other more generic places too.
hope this helps. "

I asked the foremost tea, coffee and cake taster in Cardiff for you, my friend the Dr. - I trust her advice implicitly
🙂 🙂 🙂

slightly coffee favoured hot watery milk.

There's a way around this:

"Can I get an extra shot in that please."

"And your name please sir?"

"Che...
...with a 'C'"

😀

pete68 - Member

I seem to be missing out on all this. I've never been in a Starbucks, or any of the other coffee places.

Me neither, if I'm out shopping I have a very limited amount of time available. the rest of my day seems to shoot past with coffee or tea getting scant time too (water at work/wine at home)

There's a way around this:

"Can I get an extra shot in that please."

Why would I want to spoil my half a bucket of watery milk by overloading it with coffee flavour ?

Just been across the road to a Barclays cash machine - one of those with a big LCD screen which advertises various bank services in between making itself useful and giving out cash.

Today it had three or four screens worth of gumph (gumf?) explaining how they had received a commendation from the RNIB for making their cash machines accessible to the blind etc and then finished off with a screen explaining that to use the service all you needed to do was put your headphones into the socket and press 5 to get the audio instructions...

Why would I want to spoil my half a bucket of watery milk by overloading it with coffee flavour ?

It sounded from your post that you didn't really like it only tasting slightly of coffee. My bad.

There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in front of an overpriced pretentiously named pint-size cup of slightly coffee favoured hot watery milk

There's another way around the coffee flavoured milk thing. "Double espresso please"

No idea why people love to spout on about how much they hate something that they needn't ever buy. It makes you sound like a bell end.

Molgrips - have you seen the last post on page 2 of this thread?

Also: Flat White>Americano

[img] [/img]

I love the fern too, it's a Kiwi thing, and a great addition to the types of coffee available in chain coffee-houses.

Yes, ta, will try some of those. Generally we have coffee when out and about in town.

🙂