I had a customer come through the driver thru and asked for an ice coffee because she was a frontline worker. I let her know I wasn't sure if iced coffee counted, along with the syrup in the drink she asked for, and that I would double check just to make sure. I didn't work at the time that they offered this so I was unaware of what was free and what wasn't. I also didn't have time to read the weekly updates that week. I wasn't aware of the size either or the code. She got snappy and replied, "Isn't iced coffee brewed??" Yessss...but usually when we offer free coffee, it doesn't include iced coffee. It's usually the hot brewed coffee because we toss that pretty often anyways. I didn't bother explains because customers don't usually care.

It's not like I said I wasn't going to give her the drink, or said anything to her in a bad tone, I just wanted to confirm before I misinformed her. I hate customers like this because sometimes they haunt me for days with how rude they were. After working at Starbucks for almost a year, it still surprises me how entitled people are and mean, especially when you're being nice.

On the bright side, I had a customer who came through the driver thru and she asked for the smallest cup of chestnut praline latte we had. She wanted the smallest cup, right. 🤣 so, of course, I asked her if she wanted a tall or a short to clarify. She proceeds to tell me she wants the smallest cup we have. I decide not to explain and just give her the smallest cup. I hand her the cup and she doesn't respond or react the way I expected, so I assumed this was what she wanted, until I took another order and saw she was still sitting there afterward. I asked her if everything was okay. She apologized and said she thought the tall was the smallest cup we had, and that she knew next time to not make the same mistake. I told her it was fine and I would gladly have the barista make her a tall latte. And that she could keep the short cup because we do not take back drinks once they are made due to covid.

I don't think customers realize how far we will go just to make them happy and all they have to do is be nice. I bought a customer her coffee and banana loaf because her card declined. She apologized profusely, tried to transfer money and scrape up change. The drink was already made and it seemed like a waste when we're just going to toss it anyway. Plus, she judt seemed like she was having a bad day. And I know some people might say the woman who got snappy with me was probably having a bad day, but I don't think that's an excuse for treating a nice worker like crap or like they're incompetent. It's just downright rude and inhumane.