Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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It’s 2:31 pm. A customer pulls up to the speaker box and says, “Hi, I placed a mobile order.” The sticker for the drink is pulled and it says 2:31pm. How do you react? (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by cheesestickjimmy
With the increase in mobile orders lately, I’ve noticed that my partners get pretty pissed when someone places a mobile order then immediately pulls into the drive thru to tell us it’s just been submitted.
I’ve even had some of my bar partners like jump on the headset and rudely be like “Um it just came through we need more time than that, pull around and we’ll give it to you when it’s ready.”
I just don’t understand the animosity. If someone literally says, “I JUST placed a mobile order,” what’s the big deal? I get there are scenarios where customers think we pull the drinks out of our asses and expect them to be ready instantly, but most of the time for what I’m referring to they realize they’ve just sent it and are willing to happily wait if we need more time to prepare the order.
If I’m not mistaken, this is the way you’re SUPPOSED to use the mobile order system at Taco Bell. You put it in, you tell them at the box that you just put it in—they start to make it.
I need to talk to the individual partners to figure out what specifically is making them feel upset about it so I know how to coach, but I wanted some feedback from y’all.
Does this sort of thing grind your gears?
Why or why not?
$1
I’ve even had some of my bar partners like jump on the headset and rudely be like “Um it just came through we need more time than that, pull around and we’ll give it to you when it’s ready.”
I just don’t understand the animosity. If someone literally says, “I JUST placed a mobile order,” what’s the big deal? I get there are scenarios where customers think we pull the drinks out of our asses and expect them to be ready instantly, but most of the time for what I’m referring to they realize they’ve just sent it and are willing to happily wait if we need more time to prepare the order.
If I’m not mistaken, this is the way you’re SUPPOSED to use the mobile order system at Taco Bell. You put it in, you tell them at the box that you just put it in—they start to make it.
I need to talk to the individual partners to figure out what specifically is making them feel upset about it so I know how to coach, but I wanted some feedback from y’all.
Does this sort of thing grind your gears?
Why or why not?
$1
glittterturtles 13 points 3y ago
It depends. If someone’s got an iced coffee and that sticker pops out at the same time they’re telling me they placed it, it’s whatever. It’ll be done by the time they’re up here.
What I get annoyed by is the person whose order comes through as soon as they’re telling me they placed it, and it’s like 5-6 items or something that has like 12 mods and they get upset when it doesn’t just pop out the window as soon as they get there. Like, the convenience of mobile order is great, but it still takes time.
What I get annoyed by is the person whose order comes through as soon as they’re telling me they placed it, and it’s like 5-6 items or something that has like 12 mods and they get upset when it doesn’t just pop out the window as soon as they get there. Like, the convenience of mobile order is great, but it still takes time.
notwoke 5 points 3y ago
It’s EXTREMELY frustrating when it’s an order with several drinks & food items. Bc now there’s this big order to make ASAP and the following cars build up.
I’ve placed a mobile order for Del Taco once and was confused on how their system works. Which is similar to Taco Bell’s. But on the Starbucks app it tells you your order should be ready in a few minutes. That’s why I don’t understand why people place just as they’re pulling up to the speaker.
I’ve placed a mobile order for Del Taco once and was confused on how their system works. Which is similar to Taco Bell’s. But on the Starbucks app it tells you your order should be ready in a few minutes. That’s why I don’t understand why people place just as they’re pulling up to the speaker.
asphyxiat3xx 3 points 3y ago
People literally just dont read things. Like when we had the store closed for our store meeting with a HUGE sign on the door saying we were closed. We still had people trying to viciously pry open the door.
rachmANGSTinoff 4 points 3y ago
I get annoyed because it messes with my queue on bar. Especially if it’s normal times (not COVID) and it’s busy, and doubly so if it’s a large or complicated order, and even more so when they’ve ordered too many of something or something that we forgot to mark as unavailable.
Sometimes I’ve actually pointed out that the app says it’ll be ready in 5-7 minutes and they should be prepared to wait that long. Worth getting chewed out a bit for that.
I’ve had one awful instance where someone mobiled two travelers then immediately pulled into the DT. Please. No. It doesn’t work like that. We parked them for about 20 minutes. Sorry!
Sometimes I’ve actually pointed out that the app says it’ll be ready in 5-7 minutes and they should be prepared to wait that long. Worth getting chewed out a bit for that.
I’ve had one awful instance where someone mobiled two travelers then immediately pulled into the DT. Please. No. It doesn’t work like that. We parked them for about 20 minutes. Sorry!
tempting_cattitude 3 points 3y ago
What is most frustrating to me about this situation is that lately we have been getting so many mobile orders that this person’s order is buried under multiple other orders and we have to go searching for their order in order to make it ahead of the others. It ends up creating a mess of so many drinks that it can be pretty overwhelming
sinisterbird420 3 points 3y ago
Here's the big point i want to make:
This means they are using their phone behind the wheel. which is really fucked up, UNLESS they park in a parking spot before getting into the drive-thru line--call it unconscious bias, i say it's unlikely.
you're going to hit another customer in the parking lot bc you're trying to mobile order a smore frappuccino w/ 2 blonde shots and matcha powder???? fuck off.
This means they are using their phone behind the wheel. which is really fucked up, UNLESS they park in a parking spot before getting into the drive-thru line--call it unconscious bias, i say it's unlikely.
you're going to hit another customer in the parking lot bc you're trying to mobile order a smore frappuccino w/ 2 blonde shots and matcha powder???? fuck off.
dancing_durian 3 points 3y ago
It’s case by case for sure. My cafe only store reopened for MOP and delivery only. A lot of customers are new to the app so sometimes they would come in to check if the orders had come through or to ask questions. That I don’t mind so much. Some of them do expect their drinks like a second after they place the order and that’s just annoying.
cheesestickjimmy [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Thanks for all the discussion, guys! <3
MatchingColors 1 points 3y ago
I don’t really mind, unless it’s a larger order.
asphyxiat3xx 1 points 3y ago
Honestly it used to get under my skin when people would do this, especially since the app tells people a time frame that it should be ready (which is never just "immediately"), but now I just take it in stride. If it's not ready when they pull up to the window, then they get to park and wait. 🤷♀️
astivana 0 points 3y ago
I guess it depends on how your store’s set up, but here is why it’s different: drive through and mobile go to different queues. If there are mobile orders ahead of them in the queue, then it’s going to be mildly-to-significantly more irritating to get their drink made on time, with the possibility of having to manually write out a cup and the risk of the other bar person making the drink anyway because if it’s heavily buried then they might just forget which stickers to ignore.
This isn’t a hypothetical, btw, this exact situation has happened at my store. So yeah, it actually does make a difference that you order at the box.
This isn’t a hypothetical, btw, this exact situation has happened at my store. So yeah, it actually does make a difference that you order at the box.
watszittooyah 0 points 3y ago
It does bother only because otw time is non negotiable, so if drive time is more than 60 seconds it’s bad. Hella ppl have already gotten written up for bad times even with a skeleton crew of 3-4. If you wait after ordering, it makes a world of difference
_Pulltab_ 0 points 3y ago
I have to admit, I do get annoyed. But you’re right, it’s no different than ordering at the box.
The only thing is 1) if they put in a huge order and throw a hissy when it’s not immediately handed out the window and 2) when we have stickers split during rush and one partner dedicated to mobile and one to DT it tends to gum up the works a bit.
But you’re right, it really isn’t that big of a deal if I think about it.
The only thing is 1) if they put in a huge order and throw a hissy when it’s not immediately handed out the window and 2) when we have stickers split during rush and one partner dedicated to mobile and one to DT it tends to gum up the works a bit.
But you’re right, it really isn’t that big of a deal if I think about it.
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