Coffee Shop Accidentally Forwards Embarassing Internal Emails To Customer
Reader X sends us an internal email chain that was accidentally forwarded by some executives at Beaner's Coffee.
The customer was writing in to inquire as to when trans fats would be eliminated from Beaner's products. In addition to a cheerful reply, said customer was also treated to the internal email chain instructing the Vice President of Operations on how to "sidestep the question."
Well, that's embarrassing.
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DOH.... I do believe Jeremy is now in the look for a new job for being a complete moron on the understanding that you NEVER REPLY ALL....
All I can say is that the e-mail ended up in the right place :) Here, on Consumerist.
It's not surprising at all that a company would do this. They can't answer the reader's question outright so spin control dictates that they put the best face on it they can. However, I wouldn't go to this coffee shop again if I got an answer like that...with or without the e-mail trail.
LOL: Tom Butz.
Bet going through school with a name like that sucked pretty bad.
I suppose that about sums it up. I was heartbroken when Beaners bought out my favorite local coffee shop in my hometown of Toledo (Sufficient Grounds). Their attitude about everything was just much more corporate, their coffee wasn't as good, and the live music went the way of the dodo.
@Falconfire:
I don't thing Jeremy hit "reply all". I think Tom Butz didn't remove the previous comments before sending the e-mail to the customer.
@Falconfire:
It's not Jeremy who farked up. It was Thomas, who sent the final response to the customer while leaving the email tail wagging behind.
Unfortunate for them that they don't know how to use email.
I guess they have larger problems, like trying to get to the copier while hopelessly mired in partially hydrogenated oil. Talk about a crappy place to work.
Do you really think that every other company out there isn't saying the same thing when they answer customer inquiries? You just got a glimpse of what goes into running customer service is all.
The silver lining? That they consider themselves 'hopelessly mired' as opposed to 'we love the stuff but don't tell the customer that.' It appears to me that they can't seem to find a way to NOT use the stuff without sacrificing the taste of their product.
@friendlynerd: Sufficient Grounds is a Beaners now? Leave the Toledo area for a few years and this is what happens!
and if anyone thinks they are the only company that does this, I have 1000 shares of a worthless gold mining company I'd be interested in selling you.
At the most, I find this humorous, but I don't buy my coffee at $4 a cup either
I can't help but see the positive in this - especially since I run my own business. Many companies would have just ignored the inquiry and the issue would have been forgotten. Reader X would have continued to be a "mostly-satisfied" customer and life would have gone on.
In this case, the company truly did value their customer's feedback - enough for the VP of operations to read the e-mail, and even more so for that same executive to reach out to his staff for a proper answer. Again, it would have been easier to ignore it, but instead this executive cared enough about the relationship with and the business of this customer to respond.
Trans-fats are a hot button issue today, and while large chains like Starbucks or McDonalds can throw their weight around with suppliers to make changes quickly within drastically affecting the bottom line, many smaller businesses mostly likely cannot flip a switch that easily.
Kudos for the effort and the best intentions to get back to someone who cared enough to right in... but I give them a C for letting the side-stepping secrets out of the back.
@Hon. Rev. Dr. Jerkwheat, Esq.:
Yeah, that happened a while ago, I think while I was in college. I hung out there a lot in high school.
You've also unintentionally summed up what's wrong with Toledo - everyone our age left if they didn't get knocked up first.
Actually, the fact that this made Consumerist most likley gives Jeremysome job security.
ROFL! How'd that get by 3 people?
Again, I plead with you people to leave the trans fat in my junk food alone. Still missing the days of yummy girl scout cookies...
Haha, good stuff. I hope he replied back with something clever. "Reader X," that is.
Classic! :-)
poor handling but if you look at the situation the fact is they dont have an answer. You dont send a letter telling the cutomer "Well I dont know and we dont know when" not good business so you would send a response such as they did.
What they did wrong was not make sure they didnt fwd the mail to the customer, its called not clicking the relpy all button.
Seriously people I wouldnt read into this too much. They didnt do anything wrong they just didnt have any answer to the cutomers question.
Still he should reply back with a history and say hey why you guys letting me know you will side step my question.
Maybe he will get a gift card or something.
Actually, Beaners had to change their name due to the growing anti-Hispanic culture that is growing in our society. They are changing to Bigby's
I just surprised that people with those titles were actually discussing a customer service email.
Time for the business colleges to include a basic email course. Followed by a chapter in the business ethics course titled "Is Sidestepping the Question Good Business Practice?"
"@friendlynerd: Well, I have to admit that I have never heard of this chain before, and my first thought at reading this article was, "They're called Beaner's??!" I get that it refers to coffee beans. But being a "beaner" myself, I suppose I would be more prone to noticing something like that.
In my various jobs, I've been asked to help formulate customer-facing responses to questions without pretty answers. This exchange might be embarrasing for Beaner's, but I don't think it's atypical of any business that responds to consumer inquiries.
Beaner's customers must not be beating down their doors asking for non-hydrogenated fats. Otherwise, the CSR wouldn't have had to ask for guidance from management. On some level it's comforting to know such inquiries are routinely put in front of company executives, instead of passing silently through the PR office.
Fair enough. I guess I'm especially shocked because I've never heard that as a disrespectful term, only as a place to get coffee.
BTW, I love Dr. Girlfriend.
The only faux pas here is the accidental "reply to all". The jist of the reply is standard in most businesses. "We know this is a concern and could affect our customers and our bottom line, but we don't have a solid answer yet. Please figure out a way to mollify this person."
Besides, millions of food products contain trans fats (and who knows what else) and every week, some study tells us that XYZ isn't safe anymore (hence the 'hopelessly mired...') No one holds a gun to your head to buy this coffee or any other food product for that matter.
@homerjay: I don't think it's a question of "taste", but of cost. Butter and cream taste better (and, believe it or not, are more healthful) than their hydrogenated oil counterparts, but are more expensive, because they don't have as long a shelf life, for one thing.
What kind of company is it where the VP of Operations can't answer a customer's question about the future plans for a product that he manufactures, and asks the Director of Training to send the guy a response?
In most companies, the training director is the person who oversees the internal training that employees receive (or frequently, don't) to do their jobs. Usually has nothing to do with customer relations.
This is one seriously disfunctional corporate family!
@dorianh49: But on a large scale (I'm assuming Beaner's is relatively large somewhere, I don't know them), aren't butter and cream just totally impractical?
It MAY be an issue of cost, but if its impractical at their scale, they may just be pricing themselves out of business if they tried to do it that way.
@scoosdad:
Often in the cutomer service world, the Director of Training is more knowledgeable about how to respond to a customer than a VP of operations. Many places trainers and upper managment in the training department was brought in to answer questions that were not common.
This reminded me ...
A few years back I was accidentally sent an internal email exchange between executives at a mortgage company that was laying off a bunch of employees. They were candidly discussing implementation of some meaningless policies meant to distract the remaining employees from the fact that there was no real belt-tightening beyond the job cuts. Management had decided to ask workers to conserve office supplies and other consumables, turn off lights in empty rooms, and so-forth. It was very revealing.
(Said company is no longer in business.)
@scoosdad: depends on how this company defines it's roles and departments. Titles are really subjective in some corporations.
@friendlynerd: You've never heard of hispanics being referred to as beaners? Shit I've been hearing that since elementary school...
@arch05:
No, honestly I had never. There's a lot you don't hear at Catholic school in Toledo I guess.
I believe they have changed their name to Bigbee's Coffee (at least in East Lansing, MI).
@homerjay: I guess it comes down to a business decision. Many business have decided to get themselves "mired in hydrogenated oils" because it's supposedly "cost-effective", but not all have taken this route. I think it's sad when business DECIDE to sacrifice quality and health to save themselves a few pennies here and there.
I guess some arent educated on the internets yet.
lol
@friendlynerd: and they're so god damned perky! augh do not force cheer down my throat on my way to work, just hand me the coffee and step down.
I think beaner is (or at least started out as) a southwest thing, just like most anti-hispanic sentiments.
Oh so proud of our little racist corner I am. Not.
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LOL! funny!
Too bad most companies have to lie, spin & bullshit the customer on a daily basis.
I also am suprised that "Beaner's coffe" hasnt been sued by hispanics. Bad choice of a name IMO.
From my experience, I've noticed that people don't read/think before they hit the send button. Plus, some e-mail programs hide or collapse the previous e-mail trail. This makes it very easy for a clueless/multitasking sales rep to respond directly to the end customer by CC'ing them on the original e-mail. Bad.
Sued for what exactly? It clearly refers to coffee beans. Besides, the PC police already won, they're changing their name.
Reminded me of that line in Down Periscope where Rob Scheinder asks "you think we're all going to jump out of bed in the morning and have a big, tall, steaming cup of PIGFAT?" I thought someone was questioning about trans fats IN coffee