Second Cup
Second Cup Employee Reviews
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Initially intimidating, ultimately enjoyable
The people are the best part of this job; awesome staff/coworkers, loved seeing the regulars, and the location meant that I quickly made friends with other workers within the mall.
Enjoyed learning new skills--although the owners are extremely strict and intimidating.
Enjoyed learning new skills--although the owners are extremely strict and intimidating.
Worked every weekend and long hours,no raises or benefits
I was assistant manager then became the manager there,served coffee and food,performed interviews,did the hiring and firing of staff.Placed orders,did inventory,did up the petty cash nightly.Closed and opened the store daily.
Typical customer service job
As the title says, this is your typical customer service job. There is nothing particularly special about it other than the product you are selling. Don't expect to move up in the company since it's franchised. It's good if you're in school and trying to make money on the side.
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Every location I was at were great
I have been to about 5 locations of Second Cup across Montreal, Ottawa and London ON. Each one I always enjoyed working and got along with all the employees and management. Their are times where I miss working with the company and would feel like I should re-apply. But I always suggest to my friends to go to Second Cup. Best experience.
Horrible Management
Overall, I loved the barista work in general, I would absolutely do it again at a smaller local independent cafe. The biggest issue with this place was the manager/owner. She was disorganized, didn't know how to do any of the work, always scheduled at horrible times, and would scream at her employees in front of guests. I had to train her to do drive thru after only working there for maybe a month? Positions were not organized, it was absolute chaos running between cash, barista, and drive thru. Not to mention I was doing upper position work without the higher pay. I will say the people I worked with were great, and we all got along well enough to have the shifts go by with no issues between us. Learned a lot about coffee and it's definitely been beneficial even now. Basically being a barista is lovely, but working at the specific location was not and I wouldn't recommend it if you're from here. Other locations I can't speak on.
Pros
free drink, good coworkers
Cons
bad management, chaotic, stressful
Great Employess and very social atmosphere, horrible manager
While I enjoyed gaining experience and working for Second Cup, My biggest concern was the manager. At the Church Street location in Toronto, the manager had many questionable instances of behaviour. For starters he employed me for training and insisted he pay me half wages which is technically illegal. He would micromanage each employee and ring their ear about company standards however would fail to follow these procedures himself. It was after an incident where he had me selling canned pop on the streets of a busy festival with many intoxicated individuals and not listening to my safety concerns that I had enough and decided to leave the coffee shop. Otherwise It was a wonderful experience and I made some good friends with my other coworkers.
Don't work here
My overall experience was bad. The environment is stressfull and dangerous depending on the location because lots of homeless and drug users often come in and you're expected to kick them out. There's no recognition, but the manager will tell you when you did something wrong or not to her standards. She grabbed my arm once. The manager schedules you to her needs even if it's just for three hours. She never works weekends or busy days.
Fast Paced, Stressful, and Only Worth Doing If You Have No Other Option
I worked at 4 different Second Cup locations, and each and everyone of them was very stressful. The first shop was very well managed, but the supervisors were unwilling to listen when I needed to speak my mind about an issue I had with they way I was being treated as an employee. I was not allowed to make a mistake and learn from it.
All the other locations were very poorly managed, under staffed, and physically exhausting. The final location I was employed at, the manager was demanding that I simultaneously take orders, prepare food and drinks, and keep up with all the daily chores. This was difficult to do, as I often worked alone, and there was always a minimum of 3 customers in line.
In the morning before the store opened, I was only given 15 minutes to brew 6 pots of coffee in only 2 machines, put out all the baked goods, that were often a day old and stale, set out all the refrigerated items such as bottled water, to-go sandwiches, and juice. I eventually got in the habit of asking customers to complain to the manager about slow service in the morning so that he would see how difficult it was to open the store by myself in the morning in only 15 minutes.
I did like all of my regular customers, and making the lattes was fun, but it was not enough to make my work life at all enjoyable. I got to the point where I no longer let the stress of the job get to me. I couldn't. Stress takes a very physical tole on the body, and it was too much to handle any more. If there was a large line of customers, (there usually was) only the one at the front of the line - more...
All the other locations were very poorly managed, under staffed, and physically exhausting. The final location I was employed at, the manager was demanding that I simultaneously take orders, prepare food and drinks, and keep up with all the daily chores. This was difficult to do, as I often worked alone, and there was always a minimum of 3 customers in line.
In the morning before the store opened, I was only given 15 minutes to brew 6 pots of coffee in only 2 machines, put out all the baked goods, that were often a day old and stale, set out all the refrigerated items such as bottled water, to-go sandwiches, and juice. I eventually got in the habit of asking customers to complain to the manager about slow service in the morning so that he would see how difficult it was to open the store by myself in the morning in only 15 minutes.
I did like all of my regular customers, and making the lattes was fun, but it was not enough to make my work life at all enjoyable. I got to the point where I no longer let the stress of the job get to me. I couldn't. Stress takes a very physical tole on the body, and it was too much to handle any more. If there was a large line of customers, (there usually was) only the one at the front of the line - more...
Enjoyed the Work Environment
Overall, I loved being a barista, the attitude and environment was great. When I first got hired, the manager was someone who owner multiple locations and knew how to run things smoothly. He was very good at training me, we all worked efficiently but in a non stressful way. Later, that location was bought by someone with no barista or business experience. It became more disorganized and stressful, and eventually (after I left) that location closed. I loved being a barista at Second Cup, it was my first real job and I would definitely recommend it to friends!
Good company, bad management
The store was almost constantly understaffed, the day to day was barely controlled chaos. Scheduling was very inconsistent, I could never be certain whether or not I'd be asked to switch to a closing shift. Short notice shift changes, ETC
Second Cup Yorkdale
I worked 1 and a half "training shifts", where i wasn't really valued. The first day was OK, but the second day, This 1 girl was a serious nightmare from the moment i met her. They expected me to know how to do everything, even though i wasn't really taught a whole lot. Most of the people were nice but the owner refused to say more than three words to me. I was given NO notice of what I did wrong. I was punctual, and presentable. I find it to be extremely disrespectful and unprofessional, and will never drink, eat or work at another second cup. Specifically the one situated in Yorkdale mall. How can i go from "doing great" to "No need to come back" . I made no major mess ups. I don't think I've ever been so angry before. I wasn't even paid for the almost 10 hours i worked