- would you like coffee with your coffee?
GRADE: 
I get it. Sometimes people can be talked into buying things impulsively. But when did Starbucks Baristas become used car salesmen?
“Would you like a scone with your latte?”
“No. If I had wanted a scone with my latte I probably would have said ‘I’d like a latte and a scone’ as opposed to the scone-less request I made just seconds ago.”
True story: I once ordered a medium soda at a fast food restaurant. The counter lady’s reply was “Would you like a large?”
As if she expected me to reply “Yes. As a matter o’ fact I would like a large. I thought ‘medium’ was your largest size. Have you always had this size of ‘large’ you speak of — or is this something your people back at the Del Taco laboratories have been developing?”
Upselling is one thing. But sometimes it feels more like “not listening to a word I’m saying.”
Next time a waitress makes her initial approach to me and five seconds later goes right into her hard sell, asking if I want to start off with a plate of sliders and a two gallon vat of guacamole I’m swear I’m going to order a small iced tea and stay in her booth for seven hours.
See servers and servettes (or whatever you’re called these days: coffee specialists, meal negotiators, dining influx engineers) having a menu in front of me, or up on a board behind the counter, gives me a pretty good sense of the options. I have rarely been talked into buying a scone because someone suggests I should have one.
And by the way, what is it with all the scone selling? People are always asking me if I “want a scone with that.” Do I fall into some sort of scone profiling niche? If so, Starbucks, you should know this about me: I’ve eaten three scones in my entire life and each time I pro-actively asked for a scone. I was never beaten into submission with suggestive sconing. It’s just not how I roll. Or “scone,” as the case may be. <groan> (Really? That’s the joke you’re ending your blog entry with, Dave?)
"Would you like a scone with your Prius?"
You soooooo look like a scone eater.
I’ve actually gone to McDonald’s to get apple pies (don’t ask, my wife was craving something bland, warm and likely to send her to the toilet) and had a cashier ask me “Do you want an…” then stopped short.
Ohhh I totally forgot about McDonald’s apple pies. I feel like they might have INVENTED upselling with that one. (I dont eat meat so McDonalds is no longer on my radar)
I have a feeling in certain countries like Scotland and Australia “scone eater” is a euphemism for gay.
I worked in a steak house where they thaught us how to do this. They said the key to upselling is to keep them talking. If they’re interested in talking, they’ll buy something out of gratitude. As for the remaining 90% they’ll buy something just to get the server to leave
Would you like to Supersize that?
While, thanks to a certain movie, that’s disappeared, I still was annoyed by the offer.
SAdly Topdawn, I usually fall for it for the very reasons you give. To get the server to leave.