'Go Ahead, Complain': Manner Coffee clashes brew online storm
Videos of two dramatic incidents at Manner Coffee outlets in Shanghai have set social media ablaze since Thursday.
In one instance, a male staff member physically clashed with a customer, while a female staff member at a different location poured coffee grounds on a patron. Both happened on Monday.
In the video where the coffee grounds were poured, the customer expressed her dissatisfaction with a staff member's service and threatened to file a complaint. The female staff member, seemingly overwhelmed, lost her composure and poured coffee grounds on the customer while shouting, "Go ahead, complain!"
An online-circulated video shows a staff member at a Manner Coffee outlet pouring coffee grounds on a customer, and shouting, "Go ahead and complain!"
On Thursday, the brand's headquarters confirmed that the female employee involved in the incident had been dismissed.
According to the video, the dispute stemmed from the customer's request to have her coffee made ahead of other orders, citing that she was running late. The barista responded by offering to cancel the order, which the customer perceived as a poor attitude, leading to the altercation.
On the same day, another surveillance video from a separate Manner Coffee outlet revealed a similar scenario. A customer complained about the long wait time for their order, and when the staff member suggested canceling the order, it ignited dissatisfaction among patrons, culminating in a verbal dispute and even a physical altercation.
The police intervened, the staff member has apologized to the customer, and they have reached a settlement.
A surveillance video shows a male staff member of another Manner Coffee outlet scuffling with a customer.
These two incidents have ignited a firestorm of debate on the internet, with netizens expressing diverse opinions.
Relavant topics on Weibo have garnered billions of views.
Some called for calm and rational communication, warning against escalating disagreements into personal attacks or violence, which could potentially cross legal boundaries.
Others expressed concern for the mental well-being of employees, noting that working individuals face many challenges and deserve more understanding and support. They also called on the public to take into account the working conditions of baristas.
There have been many complaints about the workload intensity of Manner baristas on social media platforms. Some customers have also said that there are fewer baristas in Manner stores and that, even during peak hours, there is only one staff member in a store, resulting in extremely low service efficiency.
"Manner allocates staff based on store performance," a Manner Coffee barista in East China told Jiemian News. "For stores with daily revenue below 5,000 yuan (US$688.61), only one person is assigned to the store. It's only when the daily revenue reaches 6,000 yuan or above that two people will be assigned."
That means, if a Manner store only has one barista, he has to make up to 333 cups of coffee a day while also handling all other tasks, including inventory management, order and payment taking, and cleaning.
Additionally, the standard working hours for Manner's baristas are from 7am to 10pm. However, Manner's backend mini-program remains active outside of the regular business hours. If customers place orders during the non-business hours, Manner's baristas might even find a pile of orders scattered on the floor as soon as the store opens in the morning.
"If there are orders coming in during lunchtime, I have to deal with the orders first instead of eating," the barista added.
