Am I an unreasonable person?

This morning I went into my local coffee spot, picked up 2 lbs of beans and ordered a large Costa Rican drip. After 9 minutes I inquired about the ETA on the drip, as I had not received it and knew that they had a fresh batch brewing when I placed my order. 28 minutes later, 37 minutes after purchase, I left, intentionally leaving the 2lb of whole bean coffee that I had purchased on the table. Then left them the following note on social media: 

"After waiting over 20 minutes for a large hot Costa Rican, I'm leaving the 2 lbs of coffee that I purchased when ordering it on the table. I'll be disputing the charge on the debit card that was used. I've been a regular customer for over 6 years and the product is fantastic, but over the past several months the service outside of the farmer's market has been lacking at best, abissmal would be an accurate assessment. I'll continue to purchase your coffee by the pound in local grocery stores and wish you luck in the new location, which I was looking forward to visiting, however I won't plan on stopping by after the last several trips." 

with the accompanied photo:

After having given it a few hours, I'm not going to purchase their coffee in the store. There's nothing available that comes close to it, they have several roast that are incredibly smooth, even darker roast that have a velvety finish, but screw it, I'm done with them, though I'll miss their brew. We have 2 refillable growlers for their cold brew as well that we'd get filled weekly or at least bi-weekly, and would even take filled growlers out of town when traveling. If it weren't for the fact that it'd likely result in a divorce, I would've already returned the empty growlers this afternoon. It's put me in a E36 M3ty mood for the entire day. I was going to attempt an oil change on the xb, nope that's not being done. I'm debating unloading the mazda project to the first person who can pick it up and am beyond pissed to the level of being indifferent. I have a list of businesses, mostly local, and mostly food related, that I say never disappoint. The coffee roaster used to be at the top, now though the product isn't lacking, I'm writing them off, and the fact that frustration with their service is the culprit and not a lapse in quality of their offerings, possibly makes it even more frustrating. There's very little that I'm able to enjoy anymore that I used to be able to enjoy and indulge in, good coffee was one of them, and now the best local source with no fewer than 9 blends that I absolutely adore is off of the list. 

Sometimes problems like this come down to individuals, not the company. There are places I won't shop in the afternoon because the staff at that time is terrible, while the morning people are great. 

I don't think you're out of line. I'd have gotten my coffee for free though, after complaining to the manager. Was it super busy? Because even if it was, that isn't bad service, it is just not doing any work. Even a pour over only takes about 4 minutes.

I doubt that you're by nature any more unreasonable than most people, but I do think that there may be more going on here than just a bunch of well-meaning incompetents at the coffee place.  Yes, almost half an hour for a cup of coffee is ridiculous, even if Juan Valdez himself signs the cup.  But leaving the beans and walking away, and abandoning from any source the brew you enjoy because of this incident, and saying that you're "beyond pissed to the level of being indifferent" about a car project sounds like your current reactions to ordinary events may be more extreme than they deserve.  You might want to get a read on how you're doing from somebody you trust who sees you face to face.

In reply to mtn :

I was one of 4 people in there in the nearly 40 minutes.

In reply to Stealthtercel :

I'm a bit off of of late. I haven't been able to take part in my usual indulgences, coping mechanisms and hobbies. Swimming got me by when I became unable to take part in motorsport, athletic competition, projects around the house and playing guitar. Now, at least currently, swimming is off the table. Listening to music, enjoying food and beverage is about it. There's been frustration mounting for weeks regarding initial medical victories and successes being overshadowed by recurrences, which though not grave in nature, affect quality of life, outlook, affect what I'm able to do and enjoy and what I feel that I can realistically be able to look forward to ahead. 

berkeleying up my coffee consumption in the morning turns me into an shiny happy person.

Seriously, I will end you if you screw my coffee up or I'm not able to get some.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me 

Not unreasobnable, but possibly unresonably draconian in your response.  I probably would have kept my coffee beans, walked out and then simply flamed the heck out of them on social media.  I would probably boycot them too if I got mad enough.

Keep in mind though, I am a person who called Kroger corporate customer service and filed a complaint and have been boycotting that market for over ten years because a cashier took away my six pack of microbrew because my wife was standing in line with me and had not brought her driver's license with her to the store.  So...  

Unreasonable, no, but there's something funny about getting this upset at a coffee shop

I woulda just left with the beans I bought, mentally noted that buying there could take aeons so that I can adjust my future plans to suit, and carried on with my day. Getting upset and protesting with a chargeback and social media shaming takes more effort than it's worth IMO.

In reply to captdownshift :

If quasi mofo cuts the dash in his new olds, you can join me for a road trip nut-punching session.  It's not Motorsports or even swimming, but it's something.

I definitely would have just talked to someone after 30 minutes waiting on a pour-over instead of walking out and spending even more time dealing with my bank to dispute a charge. So, I'd say a bit unreasonable, but hey we're talking about coffee here. And if you're buying 2 lbs at a time, you probably don't berkeley around when it comes to your caffeine. So I understand, I get it, but maybe not the best course of action.

*comment typed while happily caffienated. Response may vary if I did not have my coffee yet.

In reply to captdownshift :

You need a Snickers. 

No coffee makes people angry!  

I would have kept the beans--- because you paid for them, and enjoy them.  I would have then sent a message to their HQ letting them know how poor the service was.  You were certainly justified in getting upset to begin with, but let it slide now---- the more you focus on it,  the more miserable it will make you.  Chances are they had a new kid who didn't know what he was doing, or they had a manager who was in the back texting his girlfriend or something.  I'm sure the folks running this business would like to hear from you.  

I'd then let it go and move on.  Life is too short to dwell on coffee shop incompetence.

Sounds like it wasn't the first time their service had lapsed. Sometimes E36 M3 hits a tipping point. We have a local drivethrough hot dog/Italian beef joint. One location screwed up orders like 4 times in a row. On number four the manager and corporate folks had an unpleasant chat with me. They were at least interested in making it right.

Yep, you are. I don't understand the desire to put people "on blast" online when you should have just spoken to an employee or manager there.

Also, abissmal, when you rant online and can't spell the words you intend to insult someone with.....................well, lol.

You coffee drinker are crazy 

In reply to captdownshift :

I am a little worried about you.  Seriously!!!!  People screw up or the help is bad.  They have no clue as to how "important" your coffee is to you.  After reading your initial post I took away that yes you are being a shiny happy person.  You are hurting you more than you are them.  A proper response would have been to post to social media with a photo at the time you were waiting saying something about 30 min to get a cup of joe and you are going to have to take it up with the management.  Then later come back or call ahead and ask if you could speak with a manager and go back and lay out your problem.  Then and only then should you react. If they value as a customer I am sure they would have made it right or at least apologized if they told you to pound sand then and only then is a full on rant warranted.  And even then this is just a cut of coffee.  Go look at some people that have real problems and put this in to perspective.  

And that brings me back to me being worried about you.  If you get this bent about a cup of coffee I think you really need to step back and evaluate things.  It really is not healthy to have this kind of reaction.  How you reacted to this was self destructive and just compounded your situation (now you have to call the credit card company and go through all that).  You purposefully made your life even more miserable and made the original slow service into something that is exponentially bigger and more importantly is not the result of anything they did.  They did not do that to you.  You did that to you.  Again, I really mean this, I am a little worried about you.

From a guy who drinks gas station coffee but works in a customer service environment:

The phrase "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" comes to mind here.  

I'd encourage a less public conversation with someone who has the power (and desire) to DO something about the problem.  

I wouldn't say this if you had not mentioned how much you appreciate the PRODUCT.  But since you do...might as well help them help you, you know?

To me, the response is a bit extreme.  Maybe not counter productive, but what I read is that you're letting your anger for what happened get the better of you.

And don't get me wrong...I get angry about stuff too.  Last week I had several newspapers in my car that I was planning to hurl onto the front steps of the publisher who litters my driveway with them.  I still WANT to do that...but know it's really only feeding my anger.

I would have been more ticked off much faster, but I would have taken my already purchased stuff with me. Sure as hell am not waiting 10 minutes for a friggin' cup of coffee, so I'm with you there. People have bad days and things go wrong. Happens again, I don't go back, or at the very least go back later and hopefully new employees are in charge.   I also understand that I have less and less patience the older I get, but It does no good at all to take it out on anyone else. The girl at the parts store this morning was next to useless from what I could see, but giving her attitude wasn't going to get my parts any faster.  I've got one parts store I do 85% to 90% of my business with, but not too long ago they had a clown in there that ticked me off bad enough, I did my business elsewhere for 6 months.  As far as being unreasonable, I'd say close but no cigar. I get how one stupid thing can just piss someone off and cause that dumb snowball effect that ruins the day, but being able to just laugh it off and move on is an art form some people employ well. I'm still learning. 

There is nothing in a fast food environment that I'm going to wait more then a few minutes for. Certainly not for a cup of coffee. 

That said, I an more than willing to demand my money back and walk out of a place with exceptionally bad service. The manager is going to know exactly what the problem is while I'm there.

Nah. You're fine. I never went back to a *bux again because of how awful they were. Local safeway started to allow their security bums to close the 24hr garage - hello Walmart. CVS employee accused me of stuffing merchandise under my clothing - gave someone else my money for damn near ten years. Mickey D's gave me something gloopy instead of a milkshake recently - put in on the counter and nicely told them it was awful then left. In the service industry the worst complaint you can get is the one you don't get - the best places drill that into their staff. That coffee house took you for granted and you got a massive dose of not-giving-a-E36 M3-itis. 

If it helps, as a former coffee shop owner, you are exactly the type of customer I valued the most. I would have bent over backwards for a customer like you. 

However, I would have been very disappointed that you never gave me a chance to make it right, and chose instead to try to cause harm to my business and my employees by taking it to social media in a manner that seems vindictive. 

If if you never had a calm conversation with the owner or manager, then you are contributing to the bad experience other customers may be having. 

And I agree with Dean. I'm concerned for you. A cup of coffee should not make you that angry. 

Captain,

The signature in your profile talks about the importance of being able to laugh.  Would it be possible to sit down with some Marx Bros. movies, or W. C. Fields, or whatever gets you going, and just immerse yourself for a few hours?  Hanging out with kids between 12 and 15 is good too – nothing's ever quite as hysterically funny as it is when you're that age.  (By 16, everybody's too cool to laugh like crazy.)  Or spend some time with something uncomplicatedly happy like a puppy.

It just sounds as though you could use a distraction.

Another question...

Did you ever put 10% as much energy into spreading the word through social media about the things you loved about that place when things were going well?  

I make no excuses for the poor service you recieved.  It was wrong. But you really reacted badly.

Did some worker just come along and put the coffee bags back on the shelf?

Or will they lie and say you didn't leave the coffee?  I would have taken the coffee home and talked to the manager before leaving about the cup of coffee.