Manner Coffee, one of China's most popular domestic coffee brands, apologized on Friday night after a series of conflicts involving baristas and customers whose patience waned after waiting too long for their orders. The coffee chain vowed to reduce the waiting time and pay more attention to its baristas after overwhelming criticism over its intense workload placed on its employees.
"We are deeply sorry for the recently conflict between our baristas and clients…the company is highly concerned about those incidents and apologized to our customers as soon as possible in addition to speaking to the barista," Manner Coffee said in a statement on Friday.
The statement came after three fights between baristas and impatient clients in recent weeks. In one of its outlets in coffee-addicted Shanghai on Monday, a customer expressed her dissatisfaction with waiting for too long and threatened to file a complaint. The female staff member, seemingly overwhelmed, lost her composure and poured coffee grounds on the face of the customer while shouting, "Go ahead, complain!"
Manner Coffee later confirmed that the female employee involved in the incident had been dismissed.
In a separate incident on the same day, a customer complained about the long wait time for their order, and when the staff member suggested canceling the order, it ignited dissatisfaction among customers, culminating in a verbal dispute and a physical altercation.
The police intervened, the staff member has apologized to the customer, and they have reached a settlement.
