Who’s ready for a TRENTA sized chaotic story that ends in a shift supervisor (me) crying?(self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by Which_Airport
Throw away account for obvious reasons
I’d like to start off by saying that I don’t really care to hear about what YOU think policy says or whatever cause in the moment I handled the situation the way I thought was best. Also some prior information: my store was recently under cash investigation because our last store manager “might” have been stealing. But we were instructed to not give cash refunds out under any circumstances UNLESS the original payment method was cash. And without further ado; the shit show that was my shift today: (Also sorry for format I’m on mobile)
Ok so these two girls come to pick up a mobile order of two caramel crunch frappuccinos with almond milk. Since we can't confirm over a mobile order we always make non dairy drinks without whip to avoid issues with dairy allergies. But we still put the other toppings on it like the caramel drizzle and the crunch topping. So when one of the baristas went to give them their drinks they were like "there's no whip" and She told them it'd be no problem and we could add the whip for them. So she added the whip and put more toppings on top and gave them their drinks and they took them to their car no problem. A few minutes pass and they ring the doorbell again and so they sent me, shift supervisor, up there since there had already been an issue with the drinks and I was like "hey what's up" and she was saying they couldn't taste the crunch and I was explaining to her that the crunch goes on top not mixed in the beverage so you wouldn't be able to taste it but that we could get them remade or whatever but before I went and had them completely remade I took a full ass short cup of the crunch topping outside and asked if they just wanted the extra crunch and that's where the real story begins.
So now the second girl in the passengers seat goes back to complaining about how there was no whip on them to begin with and I explain the dairy allergy thing to her and she gets mad that there's no way for us to know they want whip without them verbally telling us after the fact and I'm like "yeah sorry unfortunately there's no way for us to KNOW you want the whip still when you order non dairy milk but we had no problem adding that and the extra toppings after the fact" and then they start like yelling and saying they came yesterday through the drive thru and didn't have this problem and I'm like "yes again, when you tell us verbally we can confirm if you want whip or not but on the mobile app we can't" and then they're mad cause I brought them extra crunch topping instead of remaking them even though I offered to remake them and they said they want a refund. WELL our cafe is closed and for liability reasons I didn’t want to take their phone in through the cafe, which is against policy either way, so I tell them if they want a refund they have to go through the drive thru and then they ask for a supervisor and I tell them I'm a supervisor and she asks if there's anyone above me here and I say no cause I'm the highest ranking person in the store at the moment so THEN she asks for the district managers number because apparently even though I'm being incredibly polite and professional this is terrible customer service SO I'm like yeah I'll get you his card and then I go inside to search for his card which takes a second to find and while I'm looking she comes up and rings the doorbell AGAIN and I go out there and she's complaining about how to get a refund when she paid on the mobile app and I told her I'd have to refund it back onto the app where she paid because we don't do any other form of refund when you pay via the mobile app and she doesn't really explain what kind of refund she wants instead just that she has a problem with getting the refund on the app and I was trying to tell her that since they paid with the app I'm only allowed to give them a refund the same way they paid and then she just goes "well I still want your district managers number" and I was like "yeah no problem that's what I was grabbing before you wanted to talk again I'll go get it" so I go get it and give it to her and they get in the drive thru line to get their refund. So I call my store manager to just warn them about the email she's probably gonna get from our district manager and see what they have to say and they agreed that I've done all I can and the only other option is store credit and while I'm on the phone with them the ladies pull up to the drive thru window and so I hand the phone off to another barista to explain to the SM what's happening as I'm talking to these women in the drive thru. They're still saying they don't want an app refund cause she paid with her google pay account or some shit so I told them the only other option is store credit and I have confirmation from my store manager that that's all I can offer and she starts screaming that I said I was the store manager and I'm like "no you asked for a supervisor and I'm the supervisor on site" and she keeps yelling that I lied to her, meanwhile her friend is gesturing towards her phone like she's trying to make sure the convo is being recorded which is stupid cause I'm being professional and calm the entire time and I basically tell her I can only give her store credit and then they ask why I never offered to remake the drinks and I was like well we had already fixed your original issue and the drink had all the components so I was trying to offer you more toppings but I have no problem making those for you now if you would like and then this bitch goes off on some tangent about how "you're being very aggressive and I don't feel comfortable accepting any drinks from you because there's no telling what you're going to do with our drinks and I don't feel safe drinking anything you make at this point" and by now I've just given up and I’m holding back tears cause I hate confrontation and they literally aren't accepting any solution I give and at this point they just want to scream and yell and try and get me to say something incriminating on tape, which haha wrong person to try that shit with. So they are calling the district manager and get ahold of him and as soon as he answers the phone they literally speed out of the drive way without another word and I walk away from the window and essentially break down crying cause you know I can't handle getting in trouble especially when I've done absolutely nothing wrong. So then the district manager calls me and I was trying to explain to him what happened and he cut me off and told me to give them a cash refund and emphasized several times that he wanted me to APOLOGIZE to them. And when I went out there after hanging up with him they were back on the phone with them so i literally had to hand them the cash and apologize for their experience even though I literally did everything according to policy and the SM stood up for me to DM on the phone after saying I did everything exactly the way they would have done it and offered to remake their drink multiple times and he said he didn't disagree that I did everything right but that once it started escalating I should have just broken the policy and given them the cash refund to get them out of the store even though we've been specifically instructed not to give cash refunds because we were under investigation for cash problems from when our last SM was leaving. So basically the DM agreed with them that I was in the wrong to them but still told me I did nothing wrong and didn't stand up for me and reinforced their behavior by giving them what they wanted in the end even though there's video evidence of them screaming and yelling at me and making me cry 👍🏼
Anyways thanks for making it this far. Also sorry for the run on sentences I was very emotional when writing this. Have a nice day
TL;DR Some ladies basically verbally assaulted me at work and my DM made me apologize to them and give them a cash refund even though we were instructed to not give anyone a cash refund unless they paid in cash, which these women had not.
lrdz212417 points3y ago
Fuck man I read all of this and I’m so sorry. I hate confrontation as well and I’m strong, but I cry when I’m stressed or anxious. I’m not a supervisor but I’m so sorry this happened to you. Some people just LOVE TO BE DIFFICULT. You could have done everything under the sun for them and they would’ve still bitched about it. People are so mean to essential workers. I could never ever be so rude to someone who is just trying to fix an issue. And the whole no whip on the almond milk frap makes so much sense. Now imagine if they didn’t want whip and you put whip? That would be a whole other BITCH FEST.... people are crazy. I’m glad your manager backed you up though
Which_Airport [OP]5 points3y ago
Yeah honestly idk what else I possibly could have done anyways other than breaking the policy without permission which obviously I wasn’t going to do given the circumstances but I’m just mind blown that they really did all that over some Frappuccino’s
ahbeeceeess8 points3y ago
I’m so sorry you went through that stress. No one deserves to be talked to that way. You seem to be an excellent leader and I would have handled the situation the same way. What really sucks is when upper management doesn’t stand behind employees who follow the rules and cow tow to every customers request regardless of policy, because it makes you look bad and undermines your authority. So I’m also sorry your DM is a pushover. You rock.
perstephonee8 points3y ago
Customer service shouldn’t mean having to deal with abuse, I’m sorry for your experience
JCaligirl4203 points3y ago
I’m so sorry. I was crying as I was reading this because this has happened more than once in the last 3 weeks we’ve been opened. Not the having to give money back, but the part of having to back track on what was said or being told you did it right but yet you did it wrong. A few weeks ago 3 cars cut in line in the dt and I apologized profusely and was in the phone, during a rush for over 10 mins, well the lady didn’t like how I handled it and called the dm who then called the sm, I was told if someone cuts the line give all the cars behind them their order for free?!? Like what?!? Ok so I said fine, and I was also told by the customer I need to have someone outside directing traffic and taking orders like Chick-Fil-A, I advised the customer I didn’t have that ability right now because it’s not how we are set up, I was told I shuouldnt tell the customer I can’t have someone outside directing traffic or taking orders. Ok so I’m supposed to ignore her? Like idk what to do anymore at this point. I’m done, frustrated, tired, anxious, angry, and overworked.
Hang in there my dude.
sloveniie3 points3y ago
Omg Im so sorry. :((( this sounds so horrible!!! I have no clue what I would do as an ssv. 😨😨😨I probably would have started crying wayyyy earlier than you thats so awful!! :(((
Which_Airport [OP]2 points3y ago
Thanks 😞 I try not to be emotional at work but sometimes I just can’t hold it in when it comes to stuff like this. It was very overwhelming
sloveniie2 points3y ago
People can be so mean and unforgiving. :(( I had a lady literally yelling at me earlier saying I charged her sb card when I hadnt. Then she found out that she had two sb cards one of which had a greater sum than the other and she didnt even apologize. :,)
Which_Airport [OP]3 points3y ago
All over some coffee you know? People really have no respect for others. It’s so sad
Momisnotmyname2 points3y ago
Major kudos for staying professional. I don't have that kind of tolerance.
Which_Airport [OP]3 points3y ago
I’m pretty good at keeping my cool I don’t really have a temper but like it’s because I hold a lot in and don’t share any emotions 😂 so that comes in handy I guess.
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