Batch Espresso — Restaurant in Melbourne

We made a reservation for an 11am breakfast. They (Christy) called at 11.15am to check for our booking. I texted back and apologised and said we will be a few minutes. We arrived at 11.25am and she proceeded to make comments about how we were extremely late and told us that she had to reset the table with a very condescending tone.

The cafe was mostly empty, and it wasn’t like loads of people were waiting.

We walked out as we were not treated like customers and made to feel like we were a second class citizens.

Unlucky as you missed out on over $500 that we gladly spent across the road.

Christy, you need to do some work on your customer service and your general people skills.

*In reference to the reply form the owner•••••

Although irrelevant to this post, Half of that is untrue. I have message evidence to prove that, hence why I was able to reference the employee “kristy”.

I sent a reply saying “sorry, class ran late I’ll be there in a few mins”. We arrived before 1130, which I apologised for in the text and in person as soon as I arrived.

The issue isn’t convenience. The issue is how rude and abrupt she was as we arrived. Her facial expressions and tone were not favourable, so why would we want to dine somewhere where this employee gave us blatant and semi aggressive attitude.

I can appreciate that you may or may not have had customers that you turned away, due to your capacity (which we we did not know about). However, I’m sure that 10 people being 25 mins late does not warrant a snooty and off-putting welcome as we entered.

Unfortunately at this point, I was only giving you what you gave me.

I stand by my rating and I would hope that Christy takes this as a learning. Perhaps she will treat ALL her customers with respect and have a little...

I regularly pick up orders from this café as a delivery driver, and the experience is always frustrating. The staff are extremely rude to delivery drivers—when you ask how long an order will take, they ignore you or say they’ll only prepare it after all in-store customers are served. Sometimes I have to wait over 30 minutes just for two coffees, while only earning $5 for the delivery. It's very disrespectful and unprofessional, especially considering we’re also helping keep their business running.

Thank you for your response.

However, I’d like to clarify that I can only speak for myself and not for other drivers. I always approach your staff respectfully, greeting them and politely saying something like, “Good morning, I have an Uber order for [customer’s name].”

I fully understand that during peak hours there can be delays. However, what is frustrating is being told “10 more minutes” repeatedly—sometimes for a single coffee—when the café is not even full. If it were a large order, that would be understandable, but even for one or two drinks, the wait can exceed 20–30 minutes.

This has resulted in several customers blaming me for delays when, in fact, I arrive on time and wait patiently. Additionally, the attitude of some staff is unnecessarily rude, which creates an uncomfortable situation for someone simply trying to do their job and represent your customer who paid and ordered online expecting timely service.

On top of that, due to long waits, I’ve had to leave the café to move my car to avoid parking fines, since the limit is only 15 minutes. All I ask is to be treated with basic respect, just like any other customer. I’m not asking for special treatment—just professionalism...

Folks, came in with my gal for my birthday brunch. My eggs benedict was fine, no problems. Her Chai was downright weak as piss water. No problems, she drank some of it, but it was not all that good. She was offered another drink but passed.

She also asked for extra harissa for her dish. The sign on the blackboard noted 'harissa', so the dish was advertised this way. It took a reminder look to get the so called harissa delivered. Once it was we noted it was not what was advertised, my gal asked about it. We were advised they order the harissa from the USA and they were having trouble with shipment. Bottom line is why advertise it as harissa if it is NOT? Besides that the dish was also greasy, but that is besides the point. My gal was offered another meal, after I had finished mine, and she said No thanks.

When it came time to pay, my gal was paying for the breakfast, and as would be per usual in a situation like this, the cost of the food would be deducted or some discount given. There was no offer to remove the cost from the bill.

Bottom line if you offer someone an extra dish and they don't accept, you remove the cost of the dish that was complained about from the bill. Hospitality 101. Really, seriously, get your s&$% together. We won't be back...and I highly advise you ask about items on your dish and they are available before ordering. Who knows what will be substuted? Mayonaisse for Hollandaise? I jest about that but come on.....times are tough but do the math....if you offered another meal, you have already taken responsibility. You simply refund, if you want to keep customers. Have...