I advised the customer of a 10 minute delay in ordering due to a till changeover. It doesn't take 10 minutes but a 5 minute timescale is often interpreted as 30 seconds. The idea is if they are able to wait.. when it actually ends up being 3 minutes due to no distractions - the customer is happy. This had already began prior to the customer reaching the till area and the customer responded consciously positive.

Oh we really appreciate these customers that can see the bigger picture and can understand our intent is never to delay, frustrate them or waste their time - with them also understanding we would rather not the hassle of dealing with problems outside our control which makes our everyday tasks more difficult and more stressful.

Sometimes the second till isn't working so when a shift finishes the next barista has to wait for the current barista to count the till before they can take over and accept orders. We communicate this clearly with a timescale. If this isn't satisfactory, the customer is free to leave. It is regrettable and we try to undertake this outside of a busy period to minimise trade disruption.

By the time I could take a relaxing breath after returning back to continue the task after speaking with the customer, not 10 seconds later, this same, previously reasonable and understanding customer is shouting out orders, the changeover not yet completed. There are seats he could have sat on to wait.

No manners. "I want this croissant ..." Gets handed croissant by my colleague. "I want latte..." Fortunately the count was being done before closing the session, so the customer paying card could still get his order processed and my colleague was ready for their shift by this point.

"I.. Need a bag..". The bags are the opposite end to coffee machine, so customer advised he will get a bag once drink is made, but he kept asking for a bag. I'm handling coins so cannot help. He only ordered a croissant he has no reason for a bag, but ask for bag, get bag.

Blimey, a latte and a croissant. Last of the big spenders, this guy was shouting orders as if he was someone important. What was most strange was the initial warm friendly understanding charismatic person, ended up being anything but. Not everyone has a good sense of time outside the actual monitoring of a clock, but he must have known 10 minutes hasn't passed by and would have clearly been able to see that we were busy with tasks.