Costa Cafe - Assignment Example

Service quality at Costa Café al affiliation Service quality at Costa Café Established in 1971, Costa Café is one of the leading coffee brand shops in the UK. Selling an array of roasted coffee, Costa Café is a chain coffee shop with over 300 outlets in the UK alone and many other branches and subsidiaries around the globe (Motorway services online, 2012). Costa Café prides itself as being the most preferred coffee shop in the UK, amidst stiff competition from Starbucks. Over the years, Costa Café has tried to deliver on their slogan “saving the world from mediocre coffee” (ibid).

For such a large enterprise, service quality is essential in ensuring customer satisfaction and subsequent loyalty. The first issue that comes up when reviewing service quality at Costa Café is staff efficiency and competency. According to Rajul (2010) the staff at most outlets are not very friendly. The staffs rarely engage the customer, do not smile, and in most cases, the baristas operate like robots (ibid). In addition, there have been complaints that the staffs sometimes disregard the customer order and give the latter something totally different.

For example one person complains on Review center (2012) that they made an order for a small latte, yet they were offered a medium and charged the price for a medium. However, another blogger writes that they always go to Costa café every morning, where the staffs are always friendly (ibid). The blogger goes on to write that the staffs always greet them and seem to have mastered the bloggers order, thus ensuring quick and good service. Another blogger writes about the girls at the North Yorkshire outlet who are always chatty and give great service to customers.

One blogger on Review center (2012) complains that the level of cleanliness and safety at a Costa Café outlet at Teesside Retail Park is wanting, considering that most tables are left dirty and cluttered. Similarly, the outlet at Northumberland has been reported to be characterized by dirty tables covered with cups and trays, with no one in sight to clean up the mess. Another blogger complains about the dirty jugs that used to pour coffee as well as the spills on the coffee cups. Yet another blogger writes about the slippery floors covered with spilt coffee that are hazardous for the customer (ibid).

Costa Café deserves credit for its efforts to keep the customer entertained while waiting on their order at their shops. For example Rajul (2010) writes that most Costa café outlets have magazines that customers can browse as their orders are being prepared. The ambience is good for customer relaxation and the furniture is comfortable enough (ibid). However, for people waiting in queues, it was an ordeal for one blogger on Review center (2012) who writes that they had to wait for fifteen minutes to be served, as the staff did not seem to be in a hurry to serve.

There are many other bloggers who complain about ordering hot coffee and being offered ice-cold or lukewarm coffee in most Costa Café outlets, which forces the customers either take the coffee cold or order for it to be heated. It is undeniable that when Costa café came up with the loyalty cards, they were meant to be used often in order to reward customers for their loyalty. Nonetheless, Rajul (2010) complains that since receiving their loyalty card, it has only been swiped once on three occasions.

Amazingly, no one cares to ask whether the customer wants to pay in cash or to swipe the loyalty card. Despite being a market leader in the UK coffee industry, Costa café has evident issues concerning service provision. While most people are satisfied with the quality of coffee and other products, the area of service delivery is below par in most cases. The most pressing issue stems from incompetent staff members who lack customer service skills. Although not all outlets give mediocre services, the ones that do spoil the good name of Costa coffee.

The solution to improving the quality of service at all Costa café outlets is by ensuring that the staff members are well trained to serve customers. References Motorway Services Online. 2012. Costa. Available at http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk. [Accessed November 30th 2012] Rajul, M. 2010. Starbucks Vs. Caffe Nero Vs. Costa: Who Wins? Available at http://londonhotelsinsight.com [Accessed November 30th 2012] Review Center., 2012. Costa Reviews. Available at http://www.reviewcentre.com.

[Accessed November 30 2012].