London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Earl’s Court Pret

I was slightly humoured (it doesn’t take much if I’m being honest) when popping into this Pret this morning, next to Earl’s Court underground. I ordered a spiced pumpkin latte and with some noticeable annoyance, the staff member said they don’t sell that. I ordered something else, but then the next person ordered the same, then the next one and then the next one. One staff member was politely explaining the options, whilst the staff member who served me was busying herself being grumpy at customers.

The staff member snarled, so customers could hear, at a colleague “I don’t know why people think we sell this”. She seemed to have forgotten that the external poster board and the menu board poster above the counter are both advertising the Pumpkin Spiced Latte. It is the only drink that this Pret store is promoting.

OK, this isn’t as fascinating as Alan’s Funny Stories (from Alan Partridge, although I diminish that by having to mention that) but I suspect that the staff are fed up with this Pret subscription as the customers ordering from it seem endless. It’ll be interesting to see how Pret proceed with this coffee subscription, their stores (or the ones that I’ve seen) are clearly under some considerable stress from it at the moment. The staff used to be excellent at engaging with customers, but from my experience this week, they just don’t have the time with the size of the queues forming.