Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
17
↓
CrossPost from the main page about a customer I had yesterday at my DT only store (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by Tidal_wavves
Customer didn’t understand why I couldn’t grind beans he brought from home
He had already been going back and forth with one of the baristas on DTO angry and unsure why we wouldn’t grind beans that he brought from home. Tbh i don’t know or care what corporate has to say about this specifically but if we can’t take personal cups I sure as hell am not taking in beans to grind. She gave me the headset and this was our convo (sorry for format, am on mobile)
Me: hello sir, this is the supervisor on duty, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately do to the current conditions I can’t take any items in through the window.
Him: I don’t understand why you can’t just grind the beans for me, I bought them here!
Me: yes sir, I understand, but since you left the store with them and took them home I can no longer grind them for you as of right now. Once the store is back to regular business functions feel free to bring both these bags back to be ground. If you’d like to purchase a new bag now we can grind it for you before we hand it out
Him: can I get a refund on these bags then? (Trying to trick me into taking the bags back anyways???)
Me: do you have the receipt still?
Him: no not with me but I can get it
Me: great, just hold onto that receipt and as soon as the store is open again we can get you that refund but again, I can’t currently accept those bags back
Him: when will you be open again?
Me: well as I’m sure you’re aware, due to the current issues, no one knows exactly when we’ll be open again unfortunately. We’re just figuring out this business model one day at a time
Him: (sits in silence for legitimately almost 30 seconds)
Me: well sir is there anything I can do for you?
Him: grind these beans for me! I don’t understand why you can’t!
Me: unfortunately sir I just don’t feel comfortable letting the partners bring beans into the store when you’ve already taken them home and we don’t know where they’ve been
Him: well now I feel uncomfortable getting anything from here
Me: (highly confused and frustrated at this point) I’m sorry? Did you no longer want to order anything then?
Him: NO I want you to grind these beans. I’m uncomfortable that YOU’RE uncomfortable now!
Me: sir, I can’t keep going back and forth with you. I’m sorry there’s nothing else I can do for you but I can’t grind the beans, we have a line behind you of customers that need help. If you’d like to speak to my district manager, I can give you his card so he can explain this policy to you as well please pull up to the window so we can help the customers behind you.
He then pulled up to the window and spent like 5 minutes having me spell my name for him several times so he could write it on the business card. I haven’t heard anything from my DM so I’m assuming I’m not in any trouble and that I made the right move but who knows. It’s really frustrating to be open when we have people like this who are entitled and don’t care about anyone but themselves. I honestly don’t mind being at work but I’m not going to put any of the partners at risk to make customers like this happy
He had already been going back and forth with one of the baristas on DTO angry and unsure why we wouldn’t grind beans that he brought from home. Tbh i don’t know or care what corporate has to say about this specifically but if we can’t take personal cups I sure as hell am not taking in beans to grind. She gave me the headset and this was our convo (sorry for format, am on mobile)
Me: hello sir, this is the supervisor on duty, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately do to the current conditions I can’t take any items in through the window.
Him: I don’t understand why you can’t just grind the beans for me, I bought them here!
Me: yes sir, I understand, but since you left the store with them and took them home I can no longer grind them for you as of right now. Once the store is back to regular business functions feel free to bring both these bags back to be ground. If you’d like to purchase a new bag now we can grind it for you before we hand it out
Him: can I get a refund on these bags then? (Trying to trick me into taking the bags back anyways???)
Me: do you have the receipt still?
Him: no not with me but I can get it
Me: great, just hold onto that receipt and as soon as the store is open again we can get you that refund but again, I can’t currently accept those bags back
Him: when will you be open again?
Me: well as I’m sure you’re aware, due to the current issues, no one knows exactly when we’ll be open again unfortunately. We’re just figuring out this business model one day at a time
Him: (sits in silence for legitimately almost 30 seconds)
Me: well sir is there anything I can do for you?
Him: grind these beans for me! I don’t understand why you can’t!
Me: unfortunately sir I just don’t feel comfortable letting the partners bring beans into the store when you’ve already taken them home and we don’t know where they’ve been
Him: well now I feel uncomfortable getting anything from here
Me: (highly confused and frustrated at this point) I’m sorry? Did you no longer want to order anything then?
Him: NO I want you to grind these beans. I’m uncomfortable that YOU’RE uncomfortable now!
Me: sir, I can’t keep going back and forth with you. I’m sorry there’s nothing else I can do for you but I can’t grind the beans, we have a line behind you of customers that need help. If you’d like to speak to my district manager, I can give you his card so he can explain this policy to you as well please pull up to the window so we can help the customers behind you.
He then pulled up to the window and spent like 5 minutes having me spell my name for him several times so he could write it on the business card. I haven’t heard anything from my DM so I’m assuming I’m not in any trouble and that I made the right move but who knows. It’s really frustrating to be open when we have people like this who are entitled and don’t care about anyone but themselves. I honestly don’t mind being at work but I’m not going to put any of the partners at risk to make customers like this happy
greener-bean 8 points 3y ago
Thank you for putting the safety of your partners first. The conversation I had with my GM was pretty similar. Originally when it was just Togo only, lobby open to grab and go, she said that corporate wanted us to continue grinding customer beans from home as long as they were sealed. She says that it makes sense not to take the beans in through DT but hasn’t had further clarifications yet. I also appreciate the trouble you put yourself through with the card for the complaint. I think you will be fine
Tidal_wavves [OP] 5 points 3y ago
I don’t mind taking responsibility for the decisions I make. If I have to explain myself to my DM I will but I think given the situation I definitely made the right decision. The partners didn’t feel comfortable with it and with him being so odd and insistent it just wasn’t something I was willing to risk. If we stay open and partners want to keep coming to work I’m going to continue to do my best to help everyone stay safe
SbuxSolidarityMvmnt 5 points 3y ago
I'm sure your DM will give him a big fat gift card. I really hope you don't get into any trouble for this because it sounds like you handled it really well.
Tidal_wavves [OP] 5 points 3y ago
Even if I do for some reason get in trouble I stand by my decision 🤷🏻♀️
nando409 4 points 3y ago
I feel that frustration! I a girl yesterday wanted to redeem her 400 stars for a cup and had us bring a bunch to the window bc she didn’t know which one she wanted and was so picky and rude. I was screaming internally
Tidal_wavves [OP] 5 points 3y ago
This lady literally had us do the same and wanted to hold all of them and the partner at the window gave her one to look at without thinking and I basically had to convince her to purchase THAT one so I wouldn’t have to take it back
nando409 4 points 3y ago
Oh man what a nightmare. Yeah this girl was like I want that black tumbler I saw it through the window on the other side of the store so we brought it to the window. Wrong one. She wanted matte black. Brought a Matt black hot drink tumbler. But I wanted one with a straw! Had to go grab THAT one and finally she was like yeah that’s it! All while doing this from the passenger seat in her boyfriends camo truck. I was like really? We are open to provide services to emergency workers? It’s just entitled Assholes getting free cups on the window and buying no ice no water trenta refreshers and cold brews?
kvllifornia 3 points 3y ago
I would agree with your decision based on the fact that the baristas were uncomfortable. My manager said that she would support our decision to the DM if it ever came up to be a problem with a customer. We’re choosing to be here right now so if we don’t feel comfortable doing something because of everything going on then it’s the same fact of us not feeling comfortable working with the lobby open ect.
Obvious-Aioli 1 points 3y ago
My store manager accepted tumblrs that customer returned.... I didn't agree with it
Tidal_wavves [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Yeah I told people to bring the items back with a receipt when we re open for regular business
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.