Working in a setting like food service means one needs to have a lot of patience.
A food service job is very different from a retail job or any other job solely because of the way the customers act towards you. Here at GCU, I work at Jamba Juice, and this is my third job so I think I have pretty good customer service, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get irritated at the little things.
After consulting with my fellow employees, I realized that I was not the only one to get bothered by certain behaviors.
1. Do not walk up to the register and start ordering.
We have a system. You walk up to the register and we ask for your name and we may also engage in a bit of small talk. Only after we ask for your name, should you order. This is not our preference, this is literally the cashiering system that is in front of us. If we don’t put the name in first, your order does not get a name which causes all sorts of problems, like someone taking your drink thinking it is theirs.
2. Do not complain about us not having the energy bowls.
We pre-make all of the bowls except for one which is done to order. Once we run out of bowl base, we are out of bowls until we are able to make more. When that will end up being is based upon when people stop showing up to order smoothies. This is because there may seem like a lot of us behind the counter, but there really isn’t and we would rather get all of the smoothies out fast than have you guys wait 10 minutes for a smoothie. Also, we usually stop serving bowls at 8:30pm to 9:00pm. This is because first, it is 8:30 at night. You shouldn’t order a bowl anyway, and second, this allows us enough time to have the bowl station cleaned before we close. We do not need your comments like “What!? No bowls?” or that really over-dramatic sigh and eye roll. It is just annoying at that point.
3. Do not order drinks that you can't have.
If you are allergic to any fruit or if you cannot have dairy, do not order a drink that has that ingredient in it. For example, if you order a Peanut Butter Chocolate Love but then tell me you are allergic to banana, I will probably suggest a different drink because guess what the PB Chocolate Love is made up of; ALL BANANAS. Sure, you can substitute for a different fruit, but you might as well just order a different drink to ensure you won’t be going to the emergency room later. That is just for your safety.
4. Do not get upset when we do not know certain nutrition information.
If you come in and ask us how many calories are in a smoothie, chances are we will not be able to tell you because we don’t know. Usually, the calories are included on the menu but if you want to know other information like grams of fat, we don’t have that information unless you want us to look through a nutrition book, in which case, there goes 10 minutes and the line is already out the door. To avoid this, just google it. Google the name of the smoothie along with the words “nutrition facts” and I am positive something will pop up.
5. Do not have us re-make your smoothie because it is not up to your "standards".
I understand asking for your smoothie to be thick, extra blended, or chunky, but do not ask us to re-make it because it is not "thick enough". It is a smoothie, not a milkshake. Smoothies are not made to be super thick. Vice versa, do not ask us to re-make it because there are not enough fruit chunks in your smoothie. If you wanted fruit chunks, you should have just bought a fruit cup. We have set programs for the blenders, it is not really up to us how thick or chunky a smoothie turns out to be. We are really good at making them extra blended though! (That is supposed to be funny, so que the laughter here).
6. If we close at 10:00pm, do not come in at 9:59pm to order.
If you are in Jamba Juice before 9:55pm, we will take your order. We usually lock the doors around 9:55pm because that gives us approximately a 5 minute gap to ensure that all ordered smoothies are made. We start closing right after the last smoothie is made, so chances are if you walk in at 9:59pm, most of the utensils are already cleaned and put away. However, do not worry because we open at 7:00am the next morning!
7. When waiting for your order, do not stand at the counter.
You may not realize this, but when you do that, all you are doing is showing how impatient and disrespectful you are. There are other people waiting for their orders that are behind you and now when their name is called, they have to move around you to get their order. Also, we don’t like it when you stare anyway. We are not caged animals.
8. Do not ask for a larger cup than what you bought.
Yes, there may be extra smoothie in the blender. No, if you ask, I will not put it in a large cup if you bought a medium cup. It is not because I don’t like you, it is because that puts my job at risk. However, if you purchase a smoothie and add protein to it, you automatically get a size larger. For example, a very popular protein smoothie we sell is the Cookies and Cream. If you buy a medium, you will receive a large. This is because the protein makes the smoothie larger.
9. Do not be on the phone while ordering.
If you are on the phone, all we ask is for you to tell the person on the line to hold and then order. That way you are not being disrespectful to both the person on the phone as well as the person at the register. We are trying to ask you questions about your order and you talking on the phone while we just stand there is a waste of our time.
10. When giving your student ID, just give the ID.
A lot of you give the cashier your entire lanyard with all your keys and your keychains and so we have to maneuver everything just to slide your card. There is no reason for this. Just take your ID off of your lanyard so we can be efficient, slide it, and give you your receipt so we can move on to the next person in line. If this sounds like too much for you, download the GCU student app and use the electronic ID.
11. If you have worked at a Jamba Juice off campus, do not try to tell us how to do our job or order drinks only you know how to make.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. The Jamba Juice here on campus runs differently and does not have a lot of the materials that off campus Jamba Juices have. If you have worked at a Jamba Juice, then that is great for you but you don’t work at this one, so do not try to tell us that we are doing something wrong. GCU/Sodexo has a different way of doing things and us workers go by what GCU/Sodexo wants us to do. Also, do not come in asking if we can make a drink that isn’t on our menu. We will not be able to ring it up on the register nor will we know how to make it. If you got creative and made up your own drink, then look at our menu and find a smoothie that is most close to it, then add whatever is missing or remove whatever you don’t want.
12. After ordering a bowl, do not go to the person making it and ask for extra toppings.
If you order a Chunky Strawberry bowl and want honey, you need to tell the cashier because there is a charge for it. This bowl is the only bowl that does not come with honey. If you order any of the bowls, do not go wait for your bowl and then ask “Oh, is that for (insert your name here)” and then ask for extra granola or ask to add extra fruit. All of that is an extra charge so we can get in trouble for giving it to you. Just go to the register and pay the extra $0.50.
13. Once you have paid for your drink, do not ask to change it.
There are so many times where someone has ordered a drink, paid for it, walked away from the register, and then come back asking if he/she can change it to something else. The answer to that question will always be no! Just look at the entire menu and order the smoothie that you want. That way, it makes it quick and easy for all of us.
14. Have your payment method ready.
If you are paying with a credit/debit card or your student ID, you should already have the card out while you're ordering. Both the cashier and those in line should not have to wait for you to dig through your bag, wallet, or card holder to get your card. If you have your card out, then it makes the ordering process faster, which allows the cashier to get through the line of people behind you.
15. Say "thank you" when you receive your order.
A good 90% of those who order something from Jamba, do not say "thank you" once they receive it. It may not seem like much, but we do actually work hard to make sure that the smoothie is correctly made and blended so let us know that you appreciate us by saying “thank you”. Plus, it is just common courtesy to say “please” and “thank you”.
