Manapouri Cafe & Dairy — Restaurant in Fiordland Community

Short story: RUDE. RUDE. RUDE. Bordering on hostile.

The business owners do not understand the hospitality and tourism industry. I was castigated for not ordering properly and then yelled at for asking for another cup when the first one (clearly defective) leaked all over me and the car.

If you’re staying in town and can’t find any other place to get coffee in the vicinity, don’t worry. Just buy and make instant wherever you’re staying. You’ll be happier. And, it’ll get you going enough until you drive out of town and find someplace else to get your latte, or magic, or whatever.

LONG Story: There are a million reasons why something may go wrong. And no business owner can prevent all of them. That’s NOT what makes a customer experience a bad one. It’s what happens AFTER something has gone wrong or unexpectedly. That can make the customer experience amazingly good or incredibly bad.

Here’s what COULD HAVE HAPPENED:

I’m a tourist in a place I’ve never been before. There are special names for coffee drinks here that I’ve never used before. I look unsure and tentatively order my coffee and muffin. I’ve invested about $10 at this point (btw, traveling with my family, we spent about $50 all together at this place)

The person taking my order reads back the coffee drink in a way that anyone can understand (this wouldn’t be hard since the recipes are taped to the wall next to the espresso machine) better yet, a laminated copy of the recipes is put on the counter for easy ordering.

During the drink-making process I engage the staff in friendly conversation and they look like they care. I ask about putting sugar or a splash of milk in, and they say something like “don’t worry, we’ll do that for you”.

As we walk to our car, I realize the cup is dripping on me. After trying to fix it, I realize it’s defective and go back into the store for another. They apologize for the inconvenience and give me another, along with some extra napkins for the mess. They smile and shout “come again” as I leave. I think, “WOW. I’ll come back here again tomorrow.”

Here’s what ACTUALLY HAPPENED:

I’m a tourist in a place I’ve never been before. There are special names for coffee drinks here that I’ve never used before. I look unsure and tentatively order my coffee and muffin. The person taking my order looks more unsure than I do and has clearly not been trained.

During the drink-making process I engage the staff in friendly conversation and they never look at me or respond beyond monosyllabic grunts. I ask about putting sugar or a splash of milk in, and the large man says, “If you had said that when you ordered it, I would have done it already”.

As we walk to our car, I realize the cup is dripping on me. After trying to fix it, I realize it’s defective and go back into the store for another. I have to repeat “this cup is dripping” five times and say “give me a larger cup” before the girl does anything.

Now with my new cup, I try to put the lid back on. At this point a large woman has come out and is telling the girl “the cups cost 50 cents each” then she looks at me and says “that won’t fit on that cup. You need another lid, too.” As I try to say, the cup is defective - this can happen from time to time - the girl gives me the proper lid. THIS LID ALSO BREAKS. The large woman takes my now empty cup and lid and, putting them together, holds them by the lid and accuses me with, “there’s no problem - see?!” I answer by repeating, “I didn’t say it didn’t fit. I said it was leaking!”

At this point, I leave the broken lid and storm away as far as I can; while carrying extremely hot coffee with no lid. Thinking, “I will never go back there. And I hope no one else does either.”

I didn’t want my money back. I didn’t want another coffee to replace what had leaked all over me and the car. All I wanted was to be treated with human kindness.

They don’t...

Don't hold your breath or waste your time! While they advertise everywhere that they're open until 5pm, we arrived at 4:25pm yesterday to a locked door and a closed sign. We saw a woman inside and tried to signal that we were only after a bag of crisps, which she strangely picked up then put down again, giving us a head shake and rude hand signal that she had already closed.

As we walked next door, another woman walked up looking to get some food for her kids, with equally little luck.

We sat at The Church (with great meals and drinks!) contemplating how any business could employ staff so inhospitable, and concluded that having a market monopoly has turned this shop against patrons.

We witnessed at least 6 more carloads of people hoping to spend their money here before 5pm. If you won't be open when you say you will, the least you could do is let people know before they drive all the way to Manapouri.

I wouldn't recommend this...

We spent $50.50 today for lunch was the most expensive price vs food portion ever. Very mean and miserable against the price they charged. 1 large soya latte was ok They have nice photos of the burger looks like a big one so we ordered 1 chicken burger came out very small size 1 steak burger with 3 thin dried slices of beef so no where near the photo or picture it was the worst burger I’ve had all my life. 1 muffin Total : $50.50 Told the young waitress the good was not good and not up to the price charged , she said kitchen closed a bit early sorry. What a terrible answer. We will spend our$$$...