Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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can you get fired for being an asshole (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by blueteas
i’m at my wits end and need validation/insight outside of my store. so a partner whom i used to be very close with has always been and still a major asshole who is moody and consistently retaliates any instruction given to him by joking or defensiveness. After becoming more confident in my job and self in general, I have realized now that the fact that he’s disrespectful needs to stop being laughed off as “oh yeah that’s just how he is.” He’s very confrontational and will talk back on almost anything told to him including being downright rude to our manager. He’s gotten to the point where he has an attitude with pretty much every customer who isn’t a regular i.e. that tone of voice teenagers get when their parents ask them something and they’re annoyed. His moods get so bad sometimes that he has thrown a fit and clocked out early during closing and sat in a chair waiting for the other closers even though more work was needed to be done. It’s frustrating bc our manager doesn’t do anything more than a slap on the wrist and it’s clear that he doesn’t really try anymore. He also always makes others feel shitty about their job performance and gets off on making people mad. I’m really tired of this and have already requested to not work with him to my manager but it sucks bc he’s friends with my close friends at work and i’m tired of his behavior being overlooked as if his whole attitude and tone everyday is the opposite of what’s expected in this job. A borrowed partner sent him home bc she said just this, that his rude defensiveness isn’t acceptable but, again, our shifts and managers don’t know what to do so he gets off the hook. He recently has asked to promote to shift lead and i’m gonna lose my mind if anything’s comes of that. Idk what to do and it bothers me that someone who doesn’t even try with basic customer service is a partner.
deerfreckles 3 points 3y ago
I'm a former partner and part of the reason I left was a coworker like this. She had serious issues, but my manager just kept saying, "she's just misunderstood!!" Uhm... She poured hot coffee on my hand because she didn't think I made it right. Customer asked for extra room, then my coworker came over, SCREAMED that I left too much room, grabbed it and poured some on my hand pretending it was an accident, and then refilled it to the top. The customer just stared, whispered an apology to me and left. I went to my manager to report it and she just gave me the bs of, "ohhh we just need to work harder to understand \[coworker\]!" Coworker had also hit me in the past and screamed at me in front of customers because I wasn't stirring the mocha "just right."
Same manager also did nothing after I was cornered by a male manager in training with him putting his arms on each side of me, leaning in so his face was maybe 2 cm from me while he screamed and degraded me against a sink while I sobbed... Yeah she said it must have been a "misunderstanding" while he stood there smiling and she refused to do anything. Ok, she did do something, she cut me to 4 hours a week and refused to let me transfer stores. He continued to degrade me, touch me, and call me poor for those 4 hours a week so I just quit lmao. His issue was that I was almost kidnapped outside of our store so I needed to park on the street and pay parking since I felt unsafe walking. Something about me "having it coming" or something and I was a bad employee for leaving for 2-5 minutes with manager approval to pay parking, since parking didn't always line up with my break.
(kidnapping story is long but tl;dr someone tried to shove me in a car while I waited for our shift to arrive to open the store. I did end up OK since the shift did show up and chased the guy off. I loved that shift... Him and some of the others were the reason I stayed as long as I did.)
And overall tl;dr: Some managers just suck and hate confrontation so they just bow to the horrible people and don't do anything. If reporting even higher up doesn't work and you can't get transferred remember that YOU are the most important person to look out for. Either try to transfer with someone above your manager or find somewhere new...
Same manager also did nothing after I was cornered by a male manager in training with him putting his arms on each side of me, leaning in so his face was maybe 2 cm from me while he screamed and degraded me against a sink while I sobbed... Yeah she said it must have been a "misunderstanding" while he stood there smiling and she refused to do anything. Ok, she did do something, she cut me to 4 hours a week and refused to let me transfer stores. He continued to degrade me, touch me, and call me poor for those 4 hours a week so I just quit lmao. His issue was that I was almost kidnapped outside of our store so I needed to park on the street and pay parking since I felt unsafe walking. Something about me "having it coming" or something and I was a bad employee for leaving for 2-5 minutes with manager approval to pay parking, since parking didn't always line up with my break.
(kidnapping story is long but tl;dr someone tried to shove me in a car while I waited for our shift to arrive to open the store. I did end up OK since the shift did show up and chased the guy off. I loved that shift... Him and some of the others were the reason I stayed as long as I did.)
And overall tl;dr: Some managers just suck and hate confrontation so they just bow to the horrible people and don't do anything. If reporting even higher up doesn't work and you can't get transferred remember that YOU are the most important person to look out for. Either try to transfer with someone above your manager or find somewhere new...
godsandheroes 3 points 3y ago
bruh you should have gone straight to HR
deerfreckles 3 points 3y ago
I tried calling in... Got told to work it out with my manager. I thought about going one above my manager but I figured it wasn't going to work out... My manager just got announced as their kid's god mother so I decided to just cut my losses and quit since I already had another job lined up.
BUT!! The manager in training guy... I learned what store he went to, which is one I used to help out at sometimes so I learned that everyone there hated him and he got replaced in a couple months lol. Also I'm still friendly with my trainer and she gives me all the tea about my manager when I go to her store bc my (ex) manager is a hot mess, but just knows the right people so never gets in trouble even though everyone in the city knows what she does.
BUT!! The manager in training guy... I learned what store he went to, which is one I used to help out at sometimes so I learned that everyone there hated him and he got replaced in a couple months lol. Also I'm still friendly with my trainer and she gives me all the tea about my manager when I go to her store bc my (ex) manager is a hot mess, but just knows the right people so never gets in trouble even though everyone in the city knows what she does.
and-i-oooppp 2 points 3y ago
Oh my gosh that’s awful. Your manager was so fucking stupid wtf. You literally got harassed and they did nothing... wow.
deerfreckles 2 points 3y ago
Yeah, at least I know I'm not crazy lol. I don't go back to where I worked, but whenever I pay with the app in my city, the barista will ask me where I work since they'll see the apron card... "Oh I used to work at x location." Which is almost always followed up with, "oh my god I'm so sorry... I would quit, too. \[Manager\] is a mess." One sweet manager even asked if I wanted to reapply for her store LOL if I didn't already have a new job I would have accepted her offer.
Also a note, I still love Starbucks, the drinks and the atmosphere... I just got really unlucky with the store I worked at. Manager is friends with a lot of higher ups so she never got in trouble for anything. Honestly I probably would have worked for Starbucks for as long as I could if it wasn't for her, I absolutely loved the work and I was fantastic on bar so I always got stationed there which made it a ton of fun.
Also a note, I still love Starbucks, the drinks and the atmosphere... I just got really unlucky with the store I worked at. Manager is friends with a lot of higher ups so she never got in trouble for anything. Honestly I probably would have worked for Starbucks for as long as I could if it wasn't for her, I absolutely loved the work and I was fantastic on bar so I always got stationed there which made it a ton of fun.
willsephc 1 points 3y ago
honestly dude, bring it to the DM or transfer out if you can. this sounds like a disaster
espressnooo 1 points 3y ago
I have a coworker like this. She has driven me to my end as well. Im about to be shift too, which I think pisses her off even more. But I personally love it. If she quits she'll only make the atmosphere better for everyone.
dancing_durian 1 points 3y ago
If you have addressed issues personally with him AND brought up these with the store manager and they are resolved, do reach out to your DM or go directly to Partner Resource. This is incredibly frustrating but do keep a detailed record and put the issues/actions in terms that affect our business. Bad customer service to anyone who’s not a regular -> not creating that third place and a welcoming environment. Openly criticizing other partners in negative ways - not creating a welcoming environment and if possible, find instances that can be pushed to harassments. I’m sorry you have to do with it but if your store manager is not willing to do with it, there are resources out there that will. Best of luck.
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