Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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A customer stood up for me today (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by jademerr
Not super crazy or super gushy but today during a peak I was working on cafe and mobile orders and there was a bunch of people standing in the cafe. I’m relatively new (296) but I’m used to working in fast paced environments and I’ve had a pretty good amount of practice on bar. Today I was pushing out drinks faster than I ever have, normally some of my more experienced coworkers are faster than me. I was trying to take my time so I didn’t miss anything but I was so overwhelmed that I made a hot drink iced of course. He was pretty nice about it and I remade it for the customer immediately. Then I moved on to another mobile that someone was waiting on in the cafe and she had stopped me multiple times while making the drink to remind me that she was still waiting and what she ordered and her name and everything.... I just told her I was finishing it and I was super backed up and I asked her to be patient with us. I finally finished this monstrosity of a caramel macchiato with a bunch of shots and then she said “ugh that’s supposed to be hot”.
I wasn’t fazed by it, I just did the same thing before. It was my mistake for not catching it. I just said “okay, I’m sorry I’ll redo that as fast as I can” and then when the drink was done again, I said “thank you for being patient with us we’re pretty slammed right now. Have a good day!” and I didn’t get a response. Again, I don’t really care, way worse has happened. But one of the other customers waiting saw this happen and stepped in and said,
“Oh yeah you have a GREAT FUCKING DAY, I hope you just have the best of the best and just really thrive” or something super sarcastic like that. The woman just walked away which was probably best because I really didn’t have the time to try to get ahold of someone to diffuse the situation like a manager or SS.
But then after saying that, she walked up to me and said “I know it’s really crazy, I’m picking up a mobile too, I don’t want you to be anymore overwhelmed than you already are, but fuck that lady that was shitty”
I had a really big smile on my face and I just thanked her for being patient too and I just said “I’m kinda used to it stuff like that happens a lot” and she was still fired up. She said “I’m really sorry that happens so much but she was so SHITTY” and then she started talking to the other customers about the last woman’s attitude.
It made me happy to know that some people just won’t tolerate behavior like that when it seems that lots of people are fine with acting like that or watching other people act up.
So if there’s any chance Aly in AL sees or hears about this, thank you for making my day better.
TLDR: a woman was being kinda obnoxious during a peak and another customer sarcastically wished her a great day and then talked shit to everyone about her behavior
I wasn’t fazed by it, I just did the same thing before. It was my mistake for not catching it. I just said “okay, I’m sorry I’ll redo that as fast as I can” and then when the drink was done again, I said “thank you for being patient with us we’re pretty slammed right now. Have a good day!” and I didn’t get a response. Again, I don’t really care, way worse has happened. But one of the other customers waiting saw this happen and stepped in and said,
“Oh yeah you have a GREAT FUCKING DAY, I hope you just have the best of the best and just really thrive” or something super sarcastic like that. The woman just walked away which was probably best because I really didn’t have the time to try to get ahold of someone to diffuse the situation like a manager or SS.
But then after saying that, she walked up to me and said “I know it’s really crazy, I’m picking up a mobile too, I don’t want you to be anymore overwhelmed than you already are, but fuck that lady that was shitty”
I had a really big smile on my face and I just thanked her for being patient too and I just said “I’m kinda used to it stuff like that happens a lot” and she was still fired up. She said “I’m really sorry that happens so much but she was so SHITTY” and then she started talking to the other customers about the last woman’s attitude.
It made me happy to know that some people just won’t tolerate behavior like that when it seems that lots of people are fine with acting like that or watching other people act up.
So if there’s any chance Aly in AL sees or hears about this, thank you for making my day better.
TLDR: a woman was being kinda obnoxious during a peak and another customer sarcastically wished her a great day and then talked shit to everyone about her behavior
kayleeispunk 63 points 2y ago
I love when customers step up for us. This happened to me a bit ago, too. I was on cold bar and this lady was rude, snappy, she wanted to add sugar sprinkles on top of her frap, but wouldn’t say what it was, instead she goes “I want those” and pointed, but I still had no idea what she wanted. So she went over to hot bar, grabbed it from behind the bar and went to hand it to me. I go, “excuse me, you cannot grab anything from being the bar.” Looked to my partner next to me, “can you sanitize this for me? This woman touched it.” Woman shouts “yes tell everyone I touched your shit”. I ignored her, put the sprinkles on top, go to put the lid back on but she snaps “more” at me. This lady literally was acting childish, a lady behind her went “some people think being a bitch is quirky I guess” to her friend. I laughed, the lady got even more mad, said “fuck all y’all” and as she was leaving, the lady from before goes “stupid fucking bitch” loudly too. I looked at her and went “thanks for reading my mind.” She goes “I can say what I want, but you guys can’t. It’s what I live for.”
I’m the same way too. If I go somewhere I’ll correct people, shit I’ve even pulled a manager to the side (I have restaurant manager experience) and I go “I just wanted to let you know that you did a shit job at handling that issue. Never do it in front of guests, you take your employee to the back and then discuss what you need to.”
I’m the same way too. If I go somewhere I’ll correct people, shit I’ve even pulled a manager to the side (I have restaurant manager experience) and I go “I just wanted to let you know that you did a shit job at handling that issue. Never do it in front of guests, you take your employee to the back and then discuss what you need to.”
jademerr [OP] 14 points 2y ago
She’s a fucking hero, so are you. This is a great thing to do. I wish I had more confidence or at least less anxiety when it comes to speaking up about stuff like that. My last job was a family owned restaurant in town and it was a fucking nightmare. Constant verbal and mental abuse from customers and even the management and I wish you were around for it. We need more people like you!
kayleeispunk 5 points 2y ago
It took me years to get this way! I used to have major social anxiety, still have generalized anxiety, and was so shy and quiet, but working with people got me to open up. Every time I’d go somewhere and see anything like this, I’d be quiet. I got more comfortable with speaking up, in general with work and private life, and I can honestly say it’s the best thing I could’ve done for myself and others. The manager I pulled aside and said that to was so shocked, he didn’t say anything to me but went back to the employee and took them to the back. Damage was already done, but at least he tried and I’m hoping what i said stuck to him.
I was at a smoothie place one time and the person in front of me was giving this 16 year old the hardest time, was being rude af too, so I snapped “hey dude it’s just a smoothie. You’re verbally abusing a literal teenager. Grow up, it’s not cute.” Person finished their order and walked away so fast. People are assholes but 90% of the time they get scared and taken back when someone says something. All it takes is that one time saying something, which isn’t easy, but once you do step up, it gets easier each time. I get all shaky still confronting people. I do agree tho, we need more people who can step up but it’s a scary thing cuz you don’t know how another person will react
I was at a smoothie place one time and the person in front of me was giving this 16 year old the hardest time, was being rude af too, so I snapped “hey dude it’s just a smoothie. You’re verbally abusing a literal teenager. Grow up, it’s not cute.” Person finished their order and walked away so fast. People are assholes but 90% of the time they get scared and taken back when someone says something. All it takes is that one time saying something, which isn’t easy, but once you do step up, it gets easier each time. I get all shaky still confronting people. I do agree tho, we need more people who can step up but it’s a scary thing cuz you don’t know how another person will react
medicinexx 7 points 2y ago
omg stop what a queen i would give her 5 recovery cards
moon_light523 7 points 2y ago
I had something like this happen a few weeks ago. Some lady got yogurt on a mobile order and we didn’t have the flavor she ordered but we had the other one so we just put that one with her order. She came in, and then said something about how she wanted the other one (while we were having a slight rush) and I told her I’d check the back to see if we had one back there. We didn’t, so she said she wanted to return them, BUT she didn’t have her original payment.
So, I told her that she needed the og payment for the return (which I think is a pretty common practice) and she started to get really mad at me that she needed to get her Starbucks app to return it.
I got a shift at that point and explained the situation to him, and he was about to step in when she said really angrily “this girl OBVIOUSLY wasn’t trained right and doesn’t know how to do her job” and things along those lines, and the guy behind her immediately said to her “you should never treat someone like that or say things like that to service workers, ESPECIALLY when they’re not the issue” and she got all defensive and tried to justify her saying that and he shut her down. I appreciated it a lot, and we ended up giving him one of his drinks for free cause we all really appreciate people like that.
I also have another instance where today actually, someone was ordering in drive, and for some reason our computer glitched out and wouldn’t let the guy on DTO put in a drink size. He told the person to wait a moment while he put it in, and he commented on how he was having a hard time changing the size, and the guy immediately went to say “how can you have a hard time putting in the right size?!? You should have been trained to do your job better” or something kinda snotty along those lines. The kid on DTO immediately apologized and i could hear the guy getting huffy, and then I stepped in and said “ thank you for your patience, our computer system is glitching out right now so he will have your order in when we fix it in a moment” and then the guy ordering just said “oh” how people do when they know they shouldn’t have been acting how they were.
So, I told her that she needed the og payment for the return (which I think is a pretty common practice) and she started to get really mad at me that she needed to get her Starbucks app to return it.
I got a shift at that point and explained the situation to him, and he was about to step in when she said really angrily “this girl OBVIOUSLY wasn’t trained right and doesn’t know how to do her job” and things along those lines, and the guy behind her immediately said to her “you should never treat someone like that or say things like that to service workers, ESPECIALLY when they’re not the issue” and she got all defensive and tried to justify her saying that and he shut her down. I appreciated it a lot, and we ended up giving him one of his drinks for free cause we all really appreciate people like that.
I also have another instance where today actually, someone was ordering in drive, and for some reason our computer glitched out and wouldn’t let the guy on DTO put in a drink size. He told the person to wait a moment while he put it in, and he commented on how he was having a hard time changing the size, and the guy immediately went to say “how can you have a hard time putting in the right size?!? You should have been trained to do your job better” or something kinda snotty along those lines. The kid on DTO immediately apologized and i could hear the guy getting huffy, and then I stepped in and said “ thank you for your patience, our computer system is glitching out right now so he will have your order in when we fix it in a moment” and then the guy ordering just said “oh” how people do when they know they shouldn’t have been acting how they were.
jademerr [OP] 5 points 2y ago
I hate how people just assume we’re the idiots who don’t know what’s going on when there is a completely different world going on behind the bar or order screen. It absolutely baffles me that someone could’ve gone however long without ever being in our shoes.
moon_light523 5 points 2y ago
Honestly though! I also find it ironic that they think getting mad will make us move quicker for whatever they want or have an issue with
jademerr [OP] 3 points 2y ago
Right, they either want more out of us in terms of completing all of their dumb requests or they just want a reaction of some sort.
NervosaNervous 5 points 2y ago
I loooooove when customers stand up for us.
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