Port City Java - Hampstead

Arrived at PCJ before posted closing time, Open sign was illuminated, but the staff informed me they wouldn’t serve me as they were closing soon. Don’t let the Open sign and posted hours of operation fool you into thinking you’ll get served. Drive the extra mile and try Matter More Coffee. Excellent coffee, better value, and they’re actually open when their hours indicate such.

We pulled up at 2p today—2 cars ahead of us and 1 car in the parking lot. We pulled up to the speaker and waited 5 minutes without even being acknowledged. After 5 minutes I said ‘hey there, we’re ready whenever you are’, thinking maybe there was a sensor not working. The lady said ‘ok and I only have 2 hands.’ Get a grip, lady.

We went through drive through. It was difficult ordering because the menu is broken. It wasn’t lighted and part of it was coming down so the words weren’t visible. I was in the passenger side and leaned over boyfriend’s lap to read the menu and then made my order. Then boyfriend ordered. After placing the attendant complained that I ordered from the passenger seat. He said “for further reference, it’s hard to hear you when you order from the passenger seat. Don’t do that again.” Boyfriend said that he wasn’t in passenger, (because why wait till the end after you got my order to say you could t hear me? . And also, I didn’t actually speak from the passenger side since I had to lean over my boyfriend to see what I wanted because the menu wasn’t properly working. Okay fine. No worries, we don’t have to return. But I realized I ordered a hot coffee and wanted an iced. Concerned that the employee already sounded annoyed, my boyfriend tapped on the window to let them know before they made the coffee. They didn’t acknowledge him. After more waiting they came to give us the food and we asked for the coffee change. The facial expression on the employee was not a happy one. Next, the older woman came to the window and said, “you changed your order?!” I said yeah, I just wanted an ice coffee instead of hot. She picked up the hot and said that had to throw it away. I didn’t respond and thanked her. She was still complaining so I thanked her again. I’m not arguing about this. If you don’t want to deal with the nuances of “people”, don’t be in the service industry. This is basic stuff and sometimes people might need to change a thing on their order. It’s not personal. And honestly, she could have given the coffee away instead of wasted it. The exchange was entirely unnecessary. Short staffed or anything else, its really not hard to be decent to people. And it’s obvious this is the standard here and it’s a tone set by leadership/management.

I hate giving bad reviews but I hope maybe someone will change the experience for others. We waited for more than 15 minutes in the drive-thru line after ordering and I didn’t mind going inside as I watched many people walk inside and get their drinks before me. When I went inside I was told by the lady making our coffee “if you are in a hurry don’t go thru the drive-thru” she seemed not very happy with me. I just smiled and said I don’t mind. She continued to mumble under her breath. She seemed to be the only one working. This place might need more workers.

Loved this place!!! The staff is super friendly and my coffee was spectacular. I will stop in every opportunity I have.