The CCD Horror! - A lot can happen over coffee?
Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 10:15 PM
After a lot of thought, I am recounting a very bad experience I had at Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) in the Bangalore airport (BIAL). Honestly, I've been a big fan of CCD for all the coffee, free wifi and unlimited time spent with friends over interesting discussions.
The horror started when I ordered 2 regular coffees. We were 4 people and since we did not want to drink so much coffee late in the evening, I asked for 2 extra cups for sharing the coffee between 4 of us. By-two-kaapi is such a culturally accepted thing in Bangalore. To my surprise and dismay, the person in the counter (Manish - name unchanged) refused to give me to 2 extra cups, rather very impolitely.
When I offered to pay for the cups, he demanded that I pay 50 bucks (the price of coffee - anyway marked up 10 times from cost price) for an empty cup!So much for "offering the best coffee experience in the world at affordable prices". A cup of coffee costs less than 5 bucks to make, CCD sells it for 50 bucks - they don't just sell you coffee, they claim to sell you the "cafe experience".
I am not sure if they refuse an extra paper cup as a policy, or if this is a one off incident based on the whims and fancies of the employee managing the cafe. To me, it is a real shame that CCD employees behaved in such a cheap fashion.
The employee also rudely suggested that we go to the other corner of the airport to get a paper cup from the water cooler. After this disgusting experience, we finally had to just do that - get a cup from the water cooler.
As a loyal customer, will I forget this one bad experience? Never
Will this experience overshadow all the good times and things I recall of the CCD brand? Definitely yes!
Will my parents, who were with me that day ever think that its justified to spend 50 bucks for a 'cafe experience' as bitter as this one? Not at all
Will I ever go back to CCD? I am not too sure!
Comment if you've had bad experiences like this with CCD anytime in the past.
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4 comments: Responses to “ The CCD Horror! - A lot can happen over coffee? ”
By Unknown on September 18, 2009 at 11:04 AM
I faced a similar experience at the CCD outside the BIAL terminal. The staff are pretty rude as well. They charge you Rs 50 for an empty cup saying thats the price they pay for their coffee.
I have never again visited the CCD at BIAL again and never intend to do so either.
By Prashanth Padmanabhan on October 4, 2009 at 1:11 PM
50 rupees for a coffee in the airport is already a rip off. Is their CEO or VP of marketing on on twitter. Let's tweet about these guys and make them change their policy.
By Prashanth Padmanabhan on October 4, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Great. You even got a picture of the rude guy. Time for him to get some customer service training. And time for the CCD guys to change their policy. I understand they cannot keep giving out cups. But what is wrong in giving a cup to a customer who just bought a coffee and who is willing to pay for the same.
By Bala Chandra on November 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM
I had a similar experience in Anna Nagar CCD, Chennai. I asked for a Cafe latte. He said there is no cafe latte. I asked if the espresso machine is broken and he said no. He suggested I try some flavored Cafe latte (I think Grand latte). I asked him if he can prepare the Grand latte using the same machine, why can't he make regular latte. It turns out he was just trying to force sell the expensive coffee!
I guess these guys may have some sales target!!