Dear readers, I was out to take away lunch in recent days from a popular coffeeshop chain.
I had the membership card from the coffeeshop chain and with this card, I would be able to save 10% from my purchase of meals.
Knowing that the stored value in my card was low, I went to top up my card at the one and only card machine. To my surprise, the card machine was faulty and I signalled to a coffeeshop assistant to look into it.
When she returned, she did not say anything and when I asked her, she replied that someone would be coming out (from somewhere in the coffeeshop) to look into the issue soon.
That “soon” soon became 5 minutes and then I went to check in with her once more when will that “someone” come to resolve the issue. She did not give a firmed answer and exasperated, I proceed to order my meal, paying with cash which did not allow me to enjoy the 10% discount. Before that, I told the stall assistant that the card machine was spoilt and could not top up my card, to this she also said she could not help much as the 10% discount applied to only payment via card.
In these days of high inflation, every little cent savings count. What’s an unnecessary waste of my dollars! And it is not just about me. Imagine if 1,000 customers are affected until the resolving of the card machine issue, the amount will translate to more than $700!
That $700 could have been collectively be used to create more value to the society e.g. through donations to charities or paying for other meals in the future.
It is an unnecessary waste of everyone’s money! True, machines can fail but the coffeeshop chain should try their very best to resolve the issue or at the very least, arrange for the stalls to apply the 10% discount during the affected hours for affected customers who presented their cards.