The Glass House

Hi Ksenia, Thanks for two stars and sharing your experience! Let me get this correct... - You were unhappy the hot drinks were hot - You were disappointed because you came to your own conclusion by yourself (based on a photo) that we were a specialty coffee shop even though we don't have that written anywhere, nor market ourselves as such, nor received any inquiries about or establishment (verbal or written) - You are on a holiday and had chosen to travel to try a new establishment - You were uncomfortable at check out because you had to pay for drinks you ordered... Well since you love to give your feedback so much we assume you like to receive it too: Our staff checked in to see how the coffees were going and you blatantly said "it is not good", our staff apologised it was not to your personal standard, offered to make you another or something else and you refused and your partner left. We never saw you bring out a thermometer so we find it difficult to understand your comments on temperature (in fact we know our machine cannot deliver boiling hot water - we have to whip out the kettle when we need that - so we find it hard to believe we served you an 100 degree hot americano). During conversation you focused a lot on how you are certified baristas with extensive training - that's wonderful and it's nice to meet others in the field from around the world, but it does NOT give you the right to put down others in your field. You would think such highly trained baristas would ask about the beans used to get an idea of flavor profiles, ask about methods and even watch a few coffee orders first prior to ordering in order to listen to milk steaming and watch the process (we literally have the glass box for this reason) to know if it will be to your personal standard or not, but that was not the case. At checkout you showed us a picture of the hot latte with latte art and accused us of false advertising even though you didn't even order a hot latte, you ordered a flat white. Our staff asked if you could show us this online photo of our flat white with latte art but you did not, you just kept showing lattes. Had you delved further into our online profile(s) you'll find photos of our flat whites without latte art - simply because we just don't serve it that way! We agreed with you that the steaming process is the same regardless of flat white or latte. Our barista can do latte art on all hot milk drinks but we choose not to for efficiency during rushes because we are not a specialty coffee shop - we serve food, we serve tea, we serve shakes, we serve smoothies - we are a cafe where we do not have the luxury of having specific roles for each staff member. Everyone in our team has multiple roles to play so time matters. The uncomfortable bad energy you are referring to is called fair business: paying for things YOU ordered. Imagine a business model where customers are entitled to free things just because they don't like them? Don't get me wrong, we give out plenty of freebies/discounts on orders we make mistakes on, or loyalty of kind guests. We are sorry that a lack of pretty milk bothered you so much that after our checkout conversation, where you explicitly said 'this conversation is going nowhere' to the point you didn't want to discuss anything further, you then felt the need to go online to continue it. Our staff member even tried to politely suggest a specialty coffee shop for you to try in Klong Khong which you might enjoy, but instead you were dismissive. Amidst the disappointment, we are glad that the food was good enough for you! Ksenia, our coffee is not 'bitter', our staff is not 'bitter', perhaps someone's holiday attitude is. Nonetheless, we truly hope you found a lovely specialty coffee shop on Lanta that has the perfect oat milk flat white and smooth hot, yet not too hot, americano! Best wishes, TGH Management PS Next time bring your thermometer and certificate of barista training