Caribou Coffee — Restaurant in Woodbury

Visited this Caribou on Saturday, May 11, 2019, roughly 2:00PM. Went through drive-thru, my order was taken. When I pulled up the window, I waited at least 7-10 minutes before a worker came to assist me. The whole time I was waiting, there was a worker (her name tag was “Bella”) who was standing at the drive-thru cashier, holding cash, doing whatever on the cashier machine (maybe taking orders, maybe not). She can clearly see me at the window, yet did not bother once to open the window to ask me to hold or apologize for the wait. While waiting, I could also see the male worker in the kitchen prepping whatever bagel sandwich or whatever. This worker’s name was “Edwin.” When he finished, HE came to the window, and did NOT greet me, but instead said “Were you trying to add something or what?” (THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME A WORKER CAME TO THE WINDOW AND ACTUALLY SPOKE TO ME.) I replied with “Uh, no, I am trying to pay for my order, I ordered at the speaker already.” Edwin then turns to his cashier screen and goes “Oh $11.76.” He swipes my card and hangs it back without giving me any notification of how long it would be when my drinks come or an apology for the confusion. On top of this he had left so quickly, I couldn’t even ask for a receipt.

Another 3-5 minutes later, the female worker, Bella, opens the window and hands me my first drink. She responds with “Sorry we just had a huge rush,” in which I respond with “Okay, Is my other drink coming, and can I please have my receipt as well.” She answers yes, closes the window and goes back to grab my second drink. When the second drink comes, the male worker, Edwin, hands me the second drink, where I repeat myself “Can I get my receipt.” He then prints off a copy of my receipt, and I drive off.

As I drive off, I drive off slowly to verify this so called “rush” that they had… I drive off slowly, look inside the store, and THERE IS NO CUSTOMER IN SIGHT. This was by far, the worse encounter I’ve ever experienced at a Caribou Coffee. It is so unfortunate that the workers had to justify their lack of customer courtesy to due to a “sudden rush,” which clearly there was NONE; as their were no customers in the store or any cars behind me in the drive thru. Additionally, the male worker, Edwin, approached me at the window in a rude-manner, unaware I had been sitting at the window waiting to finish my transaction. (The least he could’ve done was ask politely “What can I help you with?” versus the assumption that I was trying to add something; as if they did not know I had already been sitting there for the last 10 minutes.

I will definitely not be returning to that Caribou and I highly recommend management to retrain their staff on how to speak to their customers, additionally, don’t make up lies about your poor service. Be honest...

I walked in, hoping for a warm cup and a welcoming environment to get some work done. What I encountered instead was a lesson in exclusion, a sense of not belonging that was both unsettling and all too familiar.

Today I went into a Caribou Coffee, the one located at 185 Century Ave S, Woodbury, MN 55125, with the manager on duty, Marnie. When I arrived after a 30 minute drive from Minneapolis, there was a customer at the counter ordering. I waited patiently for the cashier to complete the order. Then, I asked the unthinkable;...May I have the code to the restroom?

Are you gonna order something? Yes, do you mind if I get the code to the restroom first? I can put your order in right now. I’m sorry, is there a problem with giving out the code to the restroom? Let’s get your manager involved!

Manager Marnie: “I heard him ask you if you were planning on ordering something.” Me: “Okay!” Did you see the laptop backpack on my shoulder indicating that maybe I was at a coffee shop to work? Did you see my dog tags around my neck indicating that I am a veteran? The very same one that you will offer a free hot brewed coffee to on Veterans Day, November 11? Or did you see something else?”

That’s okay, Manager Marnie. I’ve learned to recognize when I am not welcomed, when I am being excluded, and I’m good with that. But I will keep my promise to you. I am going to give you some free advertising. Don’t go to the Caribou Coffee located at 185 Century Ave S, Woodbury, MN 55125 unless you want to feel less than human, as if you are not valued and as if you don’t belong. Unless you agree that coffee should be best served after removing...

I went to this caribou this morning and ordered two drinks a lumberjack sandwich and a blueberry cream cheese croissant at the drive thru. They read back my order as they should and I paid. When I got to work 8 minutes or so later I found that they gave me a wrong item. I called the store and explained to them they gave me a buttered croissant and not the blueberry cream cheese one I ordered. I am very specific when I order this because they haven’t listened to my order before.

They looked up my order and said oh it was rung up wrong. I explained to them that this morning is the last time I am tolerating the mistakes. I told them I will be visiting the one in 10th street from now on. The employee said if your that upset you should go to the other one. Oh and they also said that they have been having issues with the drive thru speaker and headsets. Well get your equipment fixed and don’t encourage me to visit another store. I was tired of the excuses and was offered no solution for my problem. At that point I hung up.

Now I have been visiting this caribou since 2019 have tried to stay loyal. But when you have a revolving door of staff who act like they hate their job but once in a while get that one staff member who acknowledges you like they should you give them another chance, well these chances are over and I will visit another caribou per the employees recommendation to me or I’ll go...