Nells Kings Road

Popped into Nells with my laptop to get some work done on a Sunday afternoon. The man at the counter was extremely friendly and patient with me as I decided what to order. I went with the sweet potato quiche and the green bean salad which they kindly warmed up for me and brought to me at my table downstairs. The portion was MASSIVE and was more than enough for two meals. The crustless-​quiche was light, fluffy and flavorful and the green bean salad had a nice asian-​y taste. The wifi was great and I was able to get a lot of work done in a quiet, secluded space. I would recommend Nells to anyone who needs to get some work done and wants a nice lunch while at it!

So I am willing to give a place 2 shots to prove they get how to treat a customer, especially if there are good aspects about a company.
This place should be great. The food is fresh, beautifully displayed and really tasty. The coffee is not bad at all. They’ve also done the décor pretty well and it comes across as a potentially great little spot. They are impressively pricey, but it is on the Kings Road, so if it is excellent, I’d likely put up with that.
Last weekend I orders a cake to go. The guy working was clearly very busy and looked a bit glazed over, so I made it very clear. However, I didn’t check in Nells to confirm he got it right. I mean it’s a slice of cake and blueberry and coconut is a very specific flavour. It’s not hard. So anyway they screwed up. Still as mentioned before I’m willing to give ONE second chance.
So this Saturday I go in again and order a very tasty, but pricey main, a slice of the (correct) cake and a coffee. All good until, I come to pay. (Well I had to repeat my original request for the cake to be takeaway, but I can live with that).
So the lady on the till appears a bit grumpy, but the other waiting staff had been great. Anyway I pull out my coffee loyalty card — she looks disdainfully at it as says «Oh no, that’s only for takeaway coffee».
What? You have to be kidding me. Are you insane? If you give me a coffee loyalty card, then mark it every time I have a coffee. Not least, when there are about 15 options for really good coffee in a half mile radius. This is a great example of dumbass customer management. You want to incentivise me to buy coffee from you, likely especially when I walk to the Tube past the store in the morning — you then make some weird distinction about where I drink the coffee when I buy it. Myopic customer mindset.
I gave her the chance to remedy this by mentioning that this didn’t seem a logical loyalty policy. The response was a blank face.
So that was it. Weak customer service twice in two weekends… and the second time that showed lack of concern about customer satisfaction. I’m done with this place. There are more than enough spots in the area that get how to treat customers with common sense.