Customer service can definitely be different depending on where you live or visit during a trip. If you just moved abroad, interactions with employees at a restaurant, bar, store, or coffee shop can result in a complete culture shock.
Sometimes, the service industry is just so different between countries that people find the comparisons hilarious.
TikTok user Andrea Celeste (@anndreacelleste) is a Californian living in London and recently posted a video showing the differences between coffee shops in the United States and the United Kingdom.
When imitating an interaction between a customer and a barista in the American coffee place, the employee greets the client in a friendly manner and proceeds to ask how the patron is doing and for the order.
Once the customer places the order, the barista asks to follow the instructions on the card machine, says the coffee order will be ready in a few minutes, and wishes the client a wonderful day…all while smiling the entire time.
Contrary to the service you get in the U.S., Celeste also impersonates a visit to a coffee shop in the U.K., and the customer-worker interaction is just so different and way shorter.
In the clip, the customer —again mimicked by the content creator — gets into a coffeehouse, greets the employee, and immediately asks for a soy milk latte. The barista replies with a short "yes" and nods while the patron pays for the drink. Once the order is placed, the worker just shows the client a thumbs up.
Part of the comment section of Celeste's viral TikTok post.anndreacelleste | TikTok
Various TikTok users have flooded the comment section of Celeste’s post, which has gained over six million views, mainly supporting the U.K. customer service.
"After a year in the U.S., I almost cried happy tears when I landed in London. Went to Starbucks and finally got treated coldly," a person wrote.
"It’s either extremely friendly or weirdly passive-aggressive," another user chimed in, referring to the U.S. service you receive when visiting a coffee shop.
"I went for a coffee. I got my coffee. Done. The U.K. is simple. No need to complicate things with all the unnecessary pleasantries," someone else shared.