Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Birmingham

Your experience will really depend on who is working on a particular day. I’ve been there when the wait was unbelievable for the amount of customers there (25+ minutes for a smoothie, with one person ahead of me?!), with mostly teenage staff, some of whom simply stared blankly at the blenders, waiting for them to spring to life. I’ve heard young staff, (plenty of times!) exclaiming that they don’t know what they’re doing, mismeasuring ingredients like add-ins, forgetting ingredients, not understanding what to charge for and how, and being confused on how to manage time between taking orders and preparing them. It is clear that the training here for those entering the workforce for the first time, is severely lacking. Then I have had times (generally when there is older staff), that my smoothie is ready within minutes, as it should be, and of consistent quality.** Be advised that if you have any food sensitivities or allergies, you will NOT get accurate information from staff members. I have had young ladies tell me items were absolutely gluten free or vegan, only to receive conflicting information from the website or other workers This is something that should really be addressed with management, as they could potentially make patrons extremely ill. If you decide to visit this place, your best bet is to call ahead at least 15 minutes, and your order will (hopefully) be waiting for you upon your arrival. If you simply show up, you never know whether you’ll be there 10...

Here’s a professional email addressing your concerns:

Subject: Urgent Complaint Regarding Discriminatory Incident at Birmingham, MI Branch

Dear Tropical Smoothie Corporate Office,

I am writing to formally report a deeply concerning incident involving one of your employees, identified as MJ, at the Birmingham, Michigan branch. It has been reported that MJ engaged in harassing behavior toward Black students, including racially misspelling their names, and went so far as to call the police on them.

This conduct is unacceptable and goes against basic principles of respect, fairness, and inclusivity. No customer should ever face such treatment at your establishment, and incidents like this tarnish the reputation of your brand within the community.

I strongly urge Tropical Smoothie to take immediate action by: Investigating the incident thoroughly. Ensuring accountability for any misconduct. Implementing mandatory diversity and sensitivity training for all staff members to prevent such occurrences in the future.

I trust that your organization will treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Please provide a response outlining the steps being taken to address the situation and ensure the safety and dignity of all customers.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely, Your Full Name

Feel free to adjust any details to reflect additional specifics about...

Very poor service from this location. I used to frequent the location at Telegraph and Square Lake and I may consider the extra 15 minute drive next time. I ordered curbside, where the instructions were to call the phone number on the sign. I did so, it rang for like 2 minutes, and then I heard someone on the other end of the line pick up the phone and immediately hang up. Maybe if you’d answer the phone, it would stop ringing? After that, I called again when it was past my order pickup time and a very crabby older woman brought me my smoothie and I had to tell her that there was also a sandwich on the order to which she did not look at me or reply to me whatsoever other than sticking her finger up at me possibly telling me to wait? Came back out and muttered something about it not being a drive though. I’m parked in a parking lot, clearly I am well aware it’s not a drive through. To top it all off, I drove back to work to eat my lunch and she gave me someone else’s food.

Working tip for the crotchety RUDE old woman working at this location, if you can’t handle working customer service after I did nothing but ordered online and followed clear instructions in front of me, DON’T work...