The Boiler Room is the worst coffee shop in Minneapolis
The Boiler Room is the worst coffee shop in Minneapolis.
This is because the staff treats the customers like dirt, and verbally abuses them. It betrays an attitude about customers that penetrates everything else they do. It will never be more than a single mom-and-pop-shop coffee hole for this reason. About a year ago a friend of mine remarked that they're technically not supposed to impose a minimum charge on credit card purchases. (they're not) The woman behind the counter called her a bitch and told her to leave. Needless to say, she did. Every time I've suggested buying a cup of coffee there since the answer has been a definite no. Today was different, though--with some cajoling, I convinced her this morning to come with me to the Boiler Room for a cup of coffee. We were nearby and didn't really want to ride to the other side of town.
Seemed like a good idea at the time, but we forgot one important thing.
The first thing I noticed was that the prices had been steeply marked up since the last time I was there. I don't know if it changed ownership, but I haven't seen Ann for quite some time. The coffee was burned and old--I had to put cream in it to make it palatable. And the music was loud and awful. Basically, I'm of the mind that people pay coffee shops for coffee and a quiet-ish place to talk. We don't pay to participate in the musical tastes of the employees. If the environment is distracting, it's within a customer's rights to bring up the subject. And if they don't want customers, it's well within a merchant's rights to refuse to accommodate.
So here's the story. I didn't like the music--nobody at my table did. I asked the guy behind the counter--what's with the music? He asked me if I had a problem with it. I told him "well, sort of", in as noncommittal a way as I could. At another time, perhaps not. At that particular moment, yes... What happened next was really unnerving. The jerk told me to "get the #$@^ out, then. It's my shop and I'll listen to any #$%@ing music I want."
So I did. My friend was right about that place. The Boiler Room is the worst coffee shop in Minneapolis, based on my numerous experiences of their customer service and hostility towards patrons.
Barring an apology, I'm never going back.
Comments
hi,
i agree with your negative assessment of the boiler room. i am a former employee. ann was the reason that place was so awful - it is currently under new ownership and i'm unsure if it's any better now.
issues: she told all of the employees they would be making at least ten dollars an hour with tips. base rate pay was about five dollars an hour. however, customers rarely tipped. when you are a janitor, therapist to the whiny customers, barista, and short-order cook all for 5 bucks an hour, you lose patience fast.
it was also dangerous, since we were held up several times at gunpoint.
she fired people left and right over bizarre, obscure reasons (one was fired after his wife was fired over a scheduling mix-up, because ann didn't want to be reminded of her, leaving them with kids to feed and no jobs.
stuff like this created an atmosphere of mistrust. on one occasion, i came in to work to fill in for a sick employee at 5 am after being up all night traveling home from a funeral - got a frantic call from ann, went in to help, only to find she had called four other people as well so there was no need for me to be there. she actually hit me, and berated me, in front of a crowd of customers when i entered something wrong on the cash register - my first error, and an easy one to fix!
she also made a lot of the food at her house, which seems...unclean, illegal?
Posted by: s m | March 12, 2009 1:24 PM