The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I have been going to Coffee Bean for over 20 years and have considered myself very loyal. Had this location on Sepulveda in Torrance been my introduction to Coffee Bean, I would've never gone back.

Per the General Manager, Raymond, I am now being profiled due to 2 incidents with the same employee, Crystal, in a 2 week span. He was condescending, patronizing, and passively aggressively dismissive about the issues I had with her. Instead of listening to understand & realizing there was an issue, he immediately tried to gaslight and delegitimize what I presented, even with visual proof. It was astonishing.

About 2 weeks ago, Crystal made my drink & the cup was half full. I initially went through the drive-thru, but to address the problem with how she made my drink, I went inside. Crystal was saying that's how she always made the drink, but I have never complained before, never got it half full like that, so something was wrong. She ended up filling it with more coffee & when I went to the register to purchase something else, the girl at the counter said she heard what happened & apologized. That incident I did not report.

This second incident just a few days ago was another drive-thru encounter; Crystal first made my drink the wrong size & tried to argue with me about what I ordered. The other employee told her it was, in fact, the wrong size. So I offered to go around the drive-thru because there were 4 cars behind me & I didn't want them to wait longer. I came back around, got my drink & left (it was a split 32 oz). I left & while drinking it I tasted that it was off; it was nighttime so I didn't initially pay attention to the color. But when I did look, it was much lighter than the dark chocolate I usually get. I went back to the drive-thru, waited behind 1 car for 10 minutes. I finally got to the window & addressed the poor quality with Crystal, yet she claimed it was fine. It wasn't. She then said she's only going to remake one of the split cups because I drank some. Then she tried to blame me for coming through the drive-thru twice and said they were being patient with me! This was after her error! The supervisor (who I later found out via Raymond had claimed I come complaining & asking for my drinks to be remade) remade the drink perfectly & I graciously thanked him.

This morning, I went in to the store for what I thought would be a quick 5 minute chat about Crystal & it turned into 40 minutes because Raymond was very dismissive resulting in me repeating my concern for the umpteenth time. If I have gotten the same drink about 20 or more times since last year, & then the 2 recent problems I had were because of 1 employee, what is the common denominator? I wasn't asking for anything free, just to address this issue with his employee. However, instead of Raymond listening to this as I showed him pictures of my drinks & being an emphatic host, he insults me. He initially told me because I got whipped cream (a light dollop) it resulted in the drink being diluted despite him earlier saying their whipped cream is very thick. So how would a spoonful of very thick whipped cream melt in a cold drink in 20 minutes to completely change the color & taste? He claimed he would've made the drink the same as Crystal did. I challenged him on that because why in the prior 20 or so times was it fine, but the way it was made recently by Crystal was poor? Also, in this exchange, it's revealed that the supervisor lied on me, insinuating that I regularly cause problems rather than admitting that this particular employee, Crystal, is doing something wrong and clearly needs retraining in customer service. Sadly, Raymond needs retraining as he had a similar condescending, poor customer service like his employee. He then was being arrogant & dismissive at my concern with my reputation at his store. Patrons who frequent an establishment, esp wherein they consume beverages & food, would want to ensure the employees don't have disdain for them. Since I'm profiled instead of appreciated as a regular patron don't feel safe...

this is my "Home" coffee bean. I have never experienced customer service as poor as today. I am even more appalled that my mistreatment came from the "management". the customer service rep at the drive through already had a tone of arrogance . Regardless I thanked him for taking my order and pulled up to the window. Upon arriving at the window i offered cash and asked if he could load my coffeebean rewards with $13, while holding up my phone coffee bean barcode. He took my $20 bill, and came back moments later with my change. I asked him about my rewards. he said "oh you should have done that first".I let him know that I did request to do it first, and he said "I cant hear from that far". He clearly did not want to help. He told me that i can still get my rewards through a code on the receipt. I asked him to point out where or how, as I had never got my rewards through my receipt after my transaction before. He then called the "manager" "jasmine" ( I do not know if this is her name, as she was not wearing a name tag). When the manager finally came to the window, I could instantly tell she had an attitude, but nonetheless, i still took the time to try and explain the issue. She cut me off midway and said that I could not load my card through cash, that the only way to get my points is to load it through a debit card or gift card via the app. .

Now I knew this wasn't true. I was aware that I can scan my rewards and pay in cash... She told me , that process is no longer applicable . I asked her since when? She told me "I havent been able to do it that way in a while"... mind you i visited their store earlier in the week and got my rewards that way, so I knew that was not true. She then told me to lower my voice, when i was not even yelling. This is where she overstepped her boundaries. I am a grown woman and a patron, i will not be told to lower my voice as if i am her child, when i was not being rude or raising my voice.. Also keep in mind her previous employee said they couldn't hear from that far away, so I was simply making sure she could hear me this time. However, I did not need the situation to escalate, so i asked her how this can be resolved. She said she needed to process a refund. She did so quickly, handed me my drinks that had been sitting on their counter in hot 85 degree weather for over 5 minutes, and told me "Have a better day " again over stepping her boundaries and trying to imply that i was having a bad day and somehow taking it out on her. No. I was receiving horrible customer service which was clearly irritating me. I asked for her name and the name of the previous employee since they didnt have on name tags. She just stood there smiling at me, so i told her I would not be leaving the drive through until I got their names to report them to corporate. Thats when she gave me her name Jasmine, the regional or store manager , Raymond, and the prior employees name that was rude, Alex or Alec. unfortunately she was more focused on coming up with snappy rude remarks rather than being focused on her job, which prompted her to forget my bakery item. I realized after driving away and had to come back, this time inside the store.. I told her she forgot my item.she said nothing and tried to toss my the bag. I refused to take it and told her no, it had been sitting 10 minutes, i wanted a new one. She continued to be condescending and passive aggressive, which prompted an argument between the two of us in front of many customers. I was appalled that a manager of a store would insist on going back and forth with a customer and create a scene rather than rectify the situation..At this point she told me she has the right to refuse my service and threatened to do so. I told her she was MORE than welcome to issue me my refund. She continued to be condescending asking me if I was "Done talking" since i was "getting the whole order for free anyway during our back and forth, alex or alec is in the corner laughing at us, clearly didnt care that he caused his manager a...

I had some time to kill, was feeling a bit hungry, and needed a restroom after an appointment on a late Saturday morning. I was driving around the area when we spotted this Coffee Bean.

The service was a bit awkward. Almost unfriendly. Overall, there just seemed like a disconnect and unclear communication.

I had a question about whether the alternative milks were unsweetened and the cashier told me that if I wasn't getting flavor then the drink wasn't sweetened. It was a slight difference, but I felt misunderstood, so I ordered a medium drip coffee with room for half and half. She nodded and then poured my coffee and added the half and half. I guess it's COVID rules, but I probably go a little heavier on the cream than she gave me, so I basically didn't like it. Why nod when I asked for "room" rather than clarifying that she would add the cream herself?

I also bought overnight oats and after I paid and walked away, I realized that I didn't have a spoon. When one of the baristas dropped off a bag on the counter in front of me, as I was placing my order, I figured that it was for someone else because I hadn't ordered any pastries. In hindsight, I guess I should have known it was for me, because the pick up area was at the other end of the counter, but perhaps saying, "here's your spoon" would have been more direct. Finally, when I went to pay with my card, the transaction was also awkward.

All in all, the oats were good, the coffee was not, and the service was mediocre.

Maybe the cashier was having an off day. Maybe I was having an off...