Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Problem customer, is there anyone above my sm/dm that can help? (Venti rant) (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by Ricepaper97
So theres a regular at my store, I personally have only seen her a few times but other partners who've been at that store awhile know her. Everytime she comes in, orders a croissant, then when we hand it out she gets angry and says no she wanted the chocolate croissant (but never says chocolate. Never.) Now the first time i dealt with her i very happily grabbed a chocolate one and gave it to her and let her keep the other one without thinking twice about it. She gave me a huge attitude during all of this. A real Karen. The next time i saw her she did the same thing (Didnt remember who she was so i didnt ask) and again, happily got her the chocolate. When i gave it to her i very politely explained like "hey! Im so sorry, but please make sure you do say chocolate croissant. I will remember the next time you come in that you want the chocolate, but not all of us will know! Here at starbucks we always make it right, but we love to get it right the first time around." I had the biggest smile on my face too. Customer connections and all that.
Fast forward to yesterday, our SM informed us that this same lady had complained to coorprate 3 TIMES that week saying that the baristas were being so rude and disrespectful and yada yada. 3 times in a week. So of course all of us are getting a harsh talking to by our SM on why we are being so rude and what not. All of us were so confused. And of course coorprate is giving her free stuff ALL the time because of it. Shes lying and treating us all like garbage when we treat her with kindness and WE are getting in trouble for it. I love this job, but i hate it when someone lies and puts my own job on the line.
Is there any way i can contact coorprate about this? my SM and DM wont do anything, just rewarding her terrible behavior so she keeps coming back and doing it the same thing. Like i said, I LOVE working with Starbucks and my customer connections are ALWAYS on point, so when someone like her comes in and damages that i want to do something about it. Its unfair to the baristas who work so hard, they want something done about this too.
Fast forward to yesterday, our SM informed us that this same lady had complained to coorprate 3 TIMES that week saying that the baristas were being so rude and disrespectful and yada yada. 3 times in a week. So of course all of us are getting a harsh talking to by our SM on why we are being so rude and what not. All of us were so confused. And of course coorprate is giving her free stuff ALL the time because of it. Shes lying and treating us all like garbage when we treat her with kindness and WE are getting in trouble for it. I love this job, but i hate it when someone lies and puts my own job on the line.
Is there any way i can contact coorprate about this? my SM and DM wont do anything, just rewarding her terrible behavior so she keeps coming back and doing it the same thing. Like i said, I LOVE working with Starbucks and my customer connections are ALWAYS on point, so when someone like her comes in and damages that i want to do something about it. Its unfair to the baristas who work so hard, they want something done about this too.
Jagarbomb1989 55 points 3y ago
I worked at Starbucks for just under 10 years before I threw in the towel. Stuff like this happened all the time. It's unfortunate to see that nothing has changed.
I'm sorry that you and your partners are having to deal with a customer like this! Hopefully things improve!
I'm sorry that you and your partners are having to deal with a customer like this! Hopefully things improve!
onawitch 40 points 3y ago
You and your team can call the partner contact center to report customer incidents. It may take a few times calling them, but eventually they will stop giving her stuff and threaten to ban her from your store. I know this because my SM started reporting issues with one of our problem customers and eventually corporate told her she wasn’t getting free stuff because she’d already gotten so much/had been reported being rude. According to the SM she was also told that if she continued to be an issue she’d be banned from our store. I believe him because this woman isn’t rude or problematic anymore.
GoldTurds- 1 points 3y ago
They no longer accept phone calls unless it is a injury. You'll be told to go on the iPad.
onawitch 1 points 3y ago
Oh my bad! Thanks for telling me!
GoldTurds- 27 points 3y ago
Customer incident report her EVERY TIME she is rude. Thats your paper trail.
closingshiftbarista 11 points 3y ago
Yes! File an incident report every single time she pulls this with you or gets upset with you all. You can access incident reporting on the store iPads and, idk if this comes into play or not, but you do not have to be a SSV, anyone can do it.
cabbagescraps 16 points 3y ago
yikes, as much as i don’t want to believe customers could be like this, it’s not surprising. if you and multiple other partners have had this experience with her and have witnessed this ordeal once or multiple times, tell your SM and your DM. have a SS back you up if they can, the more the better. if they know that everyone knows the bullshit she’s slinging every time she orders, hopefully something will be done about it
hope this helps and works out for you, screw that karen!
hope this helps and works out for you, screw that karen!
NOTcreative- 9 points 3y ago
I mean you can try PRSC but there are no ethical violations here nor is she an abusive customer to justify banning from the store. She sounds like she’s older and probably set in her ways and to her the chocolate croissant is the only one that matters, for all we know she may suffer from early onset dementia. When we can’t change other people, and we can’t get rid of them, there is only one thing left to do. Adapt your approach to fit the interaction and you sound like you’ve tried to do it.
Truth be told if she orders a “croissant” that doesn’t mean butter croissant any more than it does chocolate or almond. They are all equally in the croissant family. My advice? Next time she comes in and orders a croissant, use that same friendly voice, smile, and ask “absolutely, which croissant would you like today? Butter, chocolate, or almond?”
It’s good to get into the habit of asking clarifying questions to ensure order accuracy, we know all we have to offer, customers don’t. I always ask several questions depending on the order, number one being “hot or iced” and I’m sure everyone here is used to asking “what size” as well. Give it a shot, I’m willing to bet it helps and moves past the semi confrontational nature of the interaction and then you can move on to really connecting with and getting to know her. That’s the fun part, for me anyways.
Truth be told if she orders a “croissant” that doesn’t mean butter croissant any more than it does chocolate or almond. They are all equally in the croissant family. My advice? Next time she comes in and orders a croissant, use that same friendly voice, smile, and ask “absolutely, which croissant would you like today? Butter, chocolate, or almond?”
It’s good to get into the habit of asking clarifying questions to ensure order accuracy, we know all we have to offer, customers don’t. I always ask several questions depending on the order, number one being “hot or iced” and I’m sure everyone here is used to asking “what size” as well. Give it a shot, I’m willing to bet it helps and moves past the semi confrontational nature of the interaction and then you can move on to really connecting with and getting to know her. That’s the fun part, for me anyways.
MajesticAioli 3 points 3y ago
Ooh, do this! When you see her, ask of she wants the buttered croissant or chocolate croissant. If she complains about that, then start reporting her.
flwhrsss 7 points 3y ago
Er, am I the only one who suspects the customer intentionally was vague about the specific type of croissant, to get a free extra?
Not an SB employee but I worked churro stand @ an amusement park, and dealt with customers like that before. Wouldn’t be specific about what flavor churro they wanted, so I’d give them a regular churro...ofc once I put it in their hand, I couldn’t return it to the case & the customer would end up with 2 churros.
Not an SB employee but I worked churro stand @ an amusement park, and dealt with customers like that before. Wouldn’t be specific about what flavor churro they wanted, so I’d give them a regular churro...ofc once I put it in their hand, I couldn’t return it to the case & the customer would end up with 2 churros.
colonade17 3 points 3y ago
We have some of the most entitled customers because our company philosophy is to cave in to people who abuse the system.
Every time this customer comes in you need to make an incident report under 'social engineering scam' and report it. The SM and DM see those, and they'll see them before they get the complaint from the customer, that way they'll know it's a scammer and not a legit complaint.
Every time this customer comes in you need to make an incident report under 'social engineering scam' and report it. The SM and DM see those, and they'll see them before they get the complaint from the customer, that way they'll know it's a scammer and not a legit complaint.
pittiepie 3 points 3y ago
This doesn’t entirely solve your problem, but if I know a regular gets a drink a certain way or a specific food item, I will generally double check with them if I see the ticket says differently.
“Hey Karen, you want your usual chocolate croissant right? Or are you switching it up today and getting a regular croissant? Just checking to make sure we get it right!”
She might still have an attitude, but at least that way you’re not unnecessarily giving her free stuff or having to remake something for her.
“Hey Karen, you want your usual chocolate croissant right? Or are you switching it up today and getting a regular croissant? Just checking to make sure we get it right!”
She might still have an attitude, but at least that way you’re not unnecessarily giving her free stuff or having to remake something for her.
travelerthroughbooks 2 points 3y ago
Hey, I’m not siding with her because I truly find this customer annoying and I don’t even deal with her but if a customer asked for a croissant, I’d ask which one she was referring to or is that just me?
mykotman12 1 points 3y ago
If partners at the store know her, you should just charge her and give her chocolate croissant even if she orders regular one. If she bitches about the price, just tell her that you know her order now and that you know she likes the chocolate one. If she says she wants regular one, just give her regular one. And if she birches after that and wants chocolate one, tell her you would happily give it to her, but she needs to come to the register and pay for it.
coffeesparklez 1 points 3y ago
You manager should be handling this woman. Like, I had this guy who always wanted a pike and a refill at the same time. He didn't want to get back up for the refill (half the time he walked out with both coffees.) I made the moment right, explained the policy. 2 days in a row he fought me and I caved. The 3rd day I met him at the registers with the printed policy and let him know he is more than welcome to a refill after he finishes that first cup as long as he stays in the lobby. I even offered to let him flag me down and I'd use the drive thru gun to scan his app. He called me an idiot and said he would have my job. The manager got a complaint with my name that day that a barista was discriminating against an old man and refusing him service. It was a 3 page email listing all sorts of made up bullshit. She took my word on what happened. The 4th day SHE met him at the registers with the policy and told him we are happy to serve him as long as he treats the partners with respect, but if he ever speaks like that about her baristas again she will ban him from the store.
Guess which asshat is nice as fuck to me every day. He still tries to get new partners to give him refills (that he leaves the store with) but he gives no push back when confronted with the policy.
So yeah, this is a manager problem, not a customer problem.
Guess which asshat is nice as fuck to me every day. He still tries to get new partners to give him refills (that he leaves the store with) but he gives no push back when confronted with the policy.
So yeah, this is a manager problem, not a customer problem.
[deleted] 1 points 3y ago
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