In Via Lactea

Happened upon this place while out and really glad to have made the discovery. Lovely little cafe with a great selection of paninis, wraps and sandwiches. Staff were all great and the wifi was fast.

My favourite place to work :) The relaxed atmosphere, delicious food/drink and often a great selection Triphop playing in the background cements this as my favourite cafe to do work in. Couldn’t ask for more!

Friendly thoughtful staff, great place to do some work, and even better coffee. Definitely stop by.

Fantastic place to settle down and have a product study session. The atmosphere has a good buzz and positive energy, one that isn't distracting whilst working which is perfect for anyone who doesn't like working in silence and wants some background noise.

The staff is incredible: they are nice, helpful, quick at making orders and keep your table and the restaurant clean. The coffee and brownie cheese cake are fantastic! Definitely try the cheesecake.

Overall a great place to enjoy the company of others, get some work done and enjoy the little things in life that a cafe shop offers.

Really great little cafe. Very bright, open and comfortable and lovely staff. The food was perfect and there's lots of choice and options for vegan and veggie. I've seen people with laptops working in here too. There's also an amazing smoothie menu.

Usually when I come here I have a wonderful experience and the waitress is so lovely . But the manager of this cafe is quite rude and makes offensive comments. I would typically sit down and get my laptop open and study for a little bit and order a dirty chai. The manager came up to me and assumed I wasn’t going to buy anything and said that this café isn’t a place to wait for your next bus. I found that comment quite racist to be honest as he assumed I was taking advantage and he didn’t do this to any other customer. I explained that I am a regular customer as I have been here 4 times in the last month. It’s just quite rude to assume something negative about any guest at your cafe.

Response:

Despite attempts to invalidate my experience, it remains valid and deserving of consideration.
- Firstly, just because you did not recognise me as a customer before doesn’t not mean that I am not. It is plausible that our routines just didn’t cross, but that doesn't negate my experience. In fact, I have a card that was stamped multiple times (shown in the picture attached) within a few weeks, indicating my visits. I did visit a two more times after that picture was taken.
- Secondly, the act of settling in before ordering is a completely normal and not something to use against a customer, especially for someone like myself who typically spends hours studying with a laptop - I just needed a moment to organise myself. I did not want to order too soon as my latte would’ve been cold before I delved into my readings/studies. So, any insinuation that I lacked intent to order is baseless. I do not know if you helped me pack my bag but I did in fact have my laptop with me so I do not know how you are so sure that I didn’t. This just shows how presumptive and opinion based your argument is.
- Also, the judgmental and unwelcoming tone you created during the interaction, highlighted by your comment "this is not a pit stop for you to wait for your next bus," felt targeted and racially micro-aggressive. To me, you just made this assumption without me mentioning anything of that sort and it felt like you singled me. Making micro aggressive comments is racial profiling as your tone was very hostile and offensive.
- While I understand the need to enforce policies, assuming I was freeloading was unwarranted. I was made unaware that there was a timer on for how long a customer should order after arriving. I did not look at the menu in the table because I knew what I was going to order. You did not give me the benefit of the doubt only judge and assume.

- Attempting to discredit my experience by implying that I was being overly dramatic only reflects on how poor your customer service skills are. A lack of accountability does not help to repair anything. Rather than dismissing valid customer experiences, acknowledgment and accountability would be more respectful and reputable form of response.
- Also what do I have to be embarrassed about? I did not feel embarrassed for forgetting my water bottle nor for leaving. I stood up for myself and writing a review about the poor quality of customer service is not something I should be embarrassed about rather yourself as someone that manages a coffee shop. I felt so uncomfortable due to the atmosphere you created, I wanted to leave as soon as possible. Maybe next time you make an assumption about a customer based off the way you perceived them, being more mindful and considerate of the way they might feel would go a long way.
- To add on, you are still making inaccurate claims about me. I have attached evidence to show that I have paid for my coffee.
-Finally, standing up against poor treatment and voicing dissatisfaction through a review is justified and indicative of a need for improvement in the way you speak to customers. This only highlights the importance of fostering a welcoming environment in a coffee shop setting for all customers regardless of any baseless presumption you may have. It is unfortunate because the waitresses that have previously taken my order were polite and helpful.