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Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind

r/starbucksbaristas

Full History - 2021 - 05 - 07 - ID#n6zhpq

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did you know chai tea is coffee (self.starbucksbaristas)

submitted by jilessio

a woman came in yesterday and ordered a grande chai tea latte with almond milk. i make her latte and she looks at me like im crazy. she lifts up the lid and points at the steamed milk on top, “what is THIS?” i tell her it’s steamed almond milk, because it’s a latte, it’s topped with steamed milk. she continues looking at me like im stupid.
me: “is this not what you wanted? we also have chai tea bags we steep in hot water, if you didn’t want a latte.” she’s laughing at me, looking at my coworkers like im just a helpless case and she’s sorry they have to put up with me.
her: “i wanted like, coffee”
me: “you didn’t want chai tea at all? ok i can remake your drink and we can refund you whatever difference”
her: “no i don’t want a coffee, I ordered a chai tea?????”
me: “that is a chai tea. did you want an espresso shot in it??”
her: “i guess that’s fine”
*confused barista noises*

Anxious_Database 378 points 2y ago

Customers never actually know what they want.

philosopher_cat_lady 121 points 2y ago

'I want that thing I drank that one time!'

D73548 76 points 2y ago

"Ok what it look like?"
"I dont remember"
"Ok... What it taste like?"
"I dont remember"
🙃🙃🙃

olivinemultichrome 51 points 2y ago

“It was, like, light brown?”

LeiyoZynne 40 points 2y ago

"I remember it was delicious." "Was it hot or iced?" "I don't remember." "Was it sweet?" "I don't remember."

shutupsav 11 points 2y ago

they must not want it that bad if they can’t remember anything about it 😂

chaddybabydaddy28 9 points 2y ago

“Oh yes, that drink I remember so vividly, clear and haunts my dreams yet I have not a single clue wtf it was”

whataretheysellin 160 points 2y ago

this is a prime example of the customer being always wrong

sydbey_ 158 points 2y ago

seriously what????
“I wanted like a coffee”
“no I don’t want coffee I want chai tea,”
LADY you’re directly contradicting yourself which one do you want??

jilessio [OP] 41 points 2y ago

part of me thinks it was just a weird display she put on because she wanted a free espresso shot but forgot the word for espresso LMAO

sydbey_ 9 points 2y ago

Hahaha that’s a possibility!

[deleted] 1 points 2y ago

[deleted]

raychelelaina 71 points 2y ago

I was confused reading the title and thought you meant is has caffeine? 😂 but it made me think about how so many customers would be absolutely floored to discover that refreshers do in fact contain coffee 👀

JeanLucPicardsAss 20 points 2y ago

Everyone orders "le thé rafraichissement" because the "tea and refreshers" sign confuses the hell out of them and they think its tea. Every customer I've told about the caffeine has been surprised, and I've even had people ask for it without caffeine... whenever someone gives one to a little kid I feel bad

Digitalwitness23 19 points 2y ago

I remember all the parents giving refreshers to their kids and I would tell them it has caffeine and they were *shook*

Shayy1248 16 points 2y ago

Oh my god, and then orders a frap with coffee and then proceeds to hand off to a CHILD

Kritter82 14 points 2y ago

I had a customer do that (it was a relative) and ordered a mocha Frappuccino for a young kid (3-6 maybe). When I asked if it was ok that it had coffee, she said “oh that’s his moms problem not mine”

the42ndfl00r 6 points 2y ago

I've had little 8 year old looking girls come in with their parents and get the TikTok iced white mocha. I was like, you know that has coffee, right? They were all very aware.

doodlebug72898 1 points 2y ago

Wait, really? No they don't. Really? Do they? (Idiot customer here, I really don't know if you're joking or not!)

the_coffeegirl 2 points 2y ago

Depending on the kid, coffee is probably ok. My doc prescribed coffee to help control my ADHD as a kid so that I wouldn't be on Ritalin. It worked for me. But a frappuccino, no way the sugar would have had me at insane levels of childhood energy.

raychelelaina 2 points 2y ago

They do! It’s called “green coffee extract” and as the name suggests it’s extracted from coffee beans when they’re raw (and green) before they’re roasted to produce the coffee beans you’re familiar with! So yes, they contain coffee, but they do not contain the coffee *flavor*, and that confusion is why I can’t tell customers that refreshers contain coffee. I just tell them that they contain caffeine, if they ask or if they’re obviously going to give it to a literal baby and might not know. That’s probably not my place but I really don’t care 😀

doodlebug72898 1 points 2y ago

I literally had no idea the refreshers had green coffee extract \*facepalm\*

raychelelaina 1 points 2y ago

Not many people do! And I think that’s kinda dangerous :/

LatterRooster 59 points 2y ago

Kinda like... customer: “i said I want a dragon drink!!! “
Me: “Miss, this is a dragon drink with no dragon fruit like you asked....😷“
customer : “it’s not pink/ purple!! That’s not right!” Me:” The fruit makes the color, do you want the fruit ? To make it purple?”
Customer: “ ummmmm no, I wanted no fruit!”
Me: “sorry, the fruit is what makes it purple....” awkward silence is now getting us nowhere and then they decide...
customer: “can I get a pink drink ?” 🤣🤣🤣

snowflakenecklace 56 points 2y ago

when i was a green bean i was on register and a woman walked up, said she wasnt totally sure what she wants but knows it’s chai and soy milk. i’m like “ok, so did you want the chai latte?” assuming if i say the name it’ll trigger her memory. she goes “oh no i don’t want coffee!” i’m like. ok then. probably just brewed chai? with a splash of soy? i ring her up for that. she goes “oh no that’s not right it’s usually more than that.” i pause, confused, because, well, those are her two options. brewed chai tea bags, or a chai latte. i finally go “the latte doesn’t have any coffee in it; is that okay?” she finally agrees but also leans in a bit closer and almost whispers “are you new here?”

Fraudu-Kun 23 points 2y ago

this hurts my soul

snowflakenecklace 22 points 2y ago

i mean like. i was new there. but i was still pretty good at taking people’s orders when they actually knew what they frikken wanted

sweetyang 31 points 2y ago

Do live in a backwater country town. Idk how many times I had to say "yes we serve brewed coffee, not just as you say that fancy crap."

PrisonRiz 34 points 2y ago

Ohhhhhh my gooooosh this is so annoying I've had so many older men order like "im just lookin fer black coffee i don't want none of them frappu-whatnots or vanilla whosie-whatsits i just like plain ol coffee nothin in it"

Just tell me what size you want and leave ffs

googlewhatisreddit 26 points 2y ago

“But I do want extra cream and 7 packets of Splenda”

romanianhopscotch 3 points 2y ago

Or the old dudes who come in like “This is gonna be a really really complicated order…….. one black drip coffee” like sir am I a fucking joke to you.

sweetyang 3 points 2y ago

I know

Elisphian 8 points 2y ago

Sir there is a Dunkin down the street. Go there.

sweetyang 2 points 2y ago

I wish we have mcdonalds or burger King

lycorisette 25 points 2y ago

Sometimes i do wonder if they’re having some kind of episode like a stroke.

G37_is_numberletter 22 points 2y ago

Dirty chais have been real popular lately. I blame tiktok. It gives people crazy ideas on what they want but doesn’t educate them on what is actually in the drinks (assumption)

SillyD19 2 points 2y ago

When they order a dirty chai I love to ask them "How dirty do you want it?"

lea-oppalove 19 points 2y ago

Reminds me of how new partners sometimes make the mistake of putting espresso into a chai latte because of the word "latte" lol

sopholophie 17 points 2y ago

I did that with a green tea tea latte when I was first training 😪🤚🏻

FfierceLaw 9 points 2y ago

Maybe that’s how Dirty Chai got started

infatuationrain 19 points 2y ago

Why do customers often have a better than attitude it’s terrible

hopelovepeace33 13 points 2y ago

I love how now a days everyone’s a fucking coffee barista and knows hot drinks are made at Starbucks simply because they’ve seen a fucking TikTok. The word chai is literally TEA in Hindi which was derived from the word cha that is the Chinese word for tea. I really don’t fucking understand what people don’t get about the chai tea when they order it because chai tea is literally translates to TEA TEA! You’re ordering a damn tea people there is ZERO coffee in it & the only caffeine in it comes from the tea itself! Like my god if you order something know what the fuck it actually fucking consist of 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️😤

Torminatorii 11 points 2y ago

The amount of times people are like “no I don’t want a chai, I don’t drink coffee” like...

SuperSmashMyButtHole 10 points 2y ago

Customers just like to make it hard for us, all of a sudden I've had people asking for "iced caramel frappuchinos" which means I have to then clarify their drink and explain the difference between a drink with ice cubes floating in it, or one blended with ice like a milkshake and they give me the dumbest look possible, even had a customer ask for a caramel frap and I asked is that with cream or coffee, she said what? I told her I have to ask if she would like caffeine in that drink "I've never been asked that before" was her reply.

Agartha33 1 points 2y ago

I mean, the caramel frappuccino comes default with coffee. I doubt most people have ever been asked that.

SuperSmashMyButtHole 1 points 2y ago

Oh at my store we are taught to ask as default as with the whipped cream.

Agartha33 1 points 2y ago

Huh, interesting. Different protocols for different regions I suppose.

YellowSphinx 9 points 2y ago

Yes! I handed off a chai tea once and accidentally misspoke. I meant to say tea but I said coffee. The lady took a sip and was like no I didn’t want coffee! There’s coffee in here! So I remade the chai tea. Which was “soo much better”

InfiniteFriez 8 points 2y ago

We have a lady come through almost every single day. She orders the same drink, which is an espresso Frappuccino. When she gets it she complains that it’s too bitter. If you don’t know her, and don’t remember when she comes through the drive-through, you have to add an extra five pumps of vanilla, to make it not better. I have explained this to her on two separate occasions, yet she still does not order the drink that she needs when she comes through. It’s not just that, she becomes quite brash with our employees who are unfamiliar with her and her drink order.

I have also tried to convince her to try cream frappe’s instead of coffee frappe’s. To which she has replied “No, I want the coffee”.

And I’m over here like thinking to myself “Mam are you unfamiliar with how coffee tastes?”

the42ndfl00r 1 points 2y ago

I'd work on training her to order the frap with the vanilla so as not to get it fucked up whenever an unknowing barista takes her order.

oldmansbelt 8 points 2y ago

My Jedi master once told me something I think could also help you...

She said...

..I hope you remembered to bring the flame thrower..

No? Well at least it's Friday!

ChemicalBarnacle 8 points 2y ago

This gave me second-hand frustration, I hate when customers do this lol

Month_Puzzleheaded 7 points 2y ago

Someone came to my store and ordered a “quad mocha frappe” no whipped and extra mocha syrup. My SM was at the bar and made his drink. When he gave it to him the guy said is this a quad mocha frappe? Isn’t supposed to be hot?

xcanIclockoutx 6 points 2y ago

This just makes me think of the many customers who think cold brew is made with espresso shots. Darlings that’s called an Americano please just learn some basic coffee terms please

creatorofstuffn 5 points 2y ago

Can I get that hot drink you made for me last week?

iStealSharpies 4 points 2y ago

Listen to this one!! A man came in and ordered a Venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew and when I was making it he didn’t practically YELLED across the store “HEY THATS SUPPOSED TO BE BLACK” I looked at him so confused. I asked him what he ordered and he repeated “vanilla sweet cream cold brew”.
I had to explain to this grown man that sweet CREAM is MILK.

aiwaifu 3 points 2y ago

That reminds me of this one time I had a girl order the Tiktok drink, I confirmed with her that it was an iced white mocha w caramel drizzle and vanilla sweet cream cold foam, go to hand it to her and she is visibly confused and says she wanted a “frozen milkshake” like ma’am 🤦🏻‍♀️

VVITCH_13 2 points 2y ago

I feel this, this morning a customer was ordering a drink for someone else. He couldn’t remember what was said but he tried ordering a skinny iced caramel macchiato with matcha added to it. Thankfully he was nice and kind of knew it was wrong when we explained no every really ordered it with matcha.

My bet is he misheard mocha as matcha.

Khmera 2 points 2y ago

After reading a lot of comments, is there a lot of waste because customers complain that they didn’t order what they ordered and you have to try again? How often do you remake their drinks before you just throw it at them? (/s)

chestpubesinvestor 2 points 2y ago

I’ve been a barista for 4 years now and I’m studying psychology. Lately I’ve been noticing that mosh of the people that do this is actually suffering from some sort of mental illness. If not then stress. A few people that show this behavior are actually assholes. Remember to never take anything personally. You never know what people are going through. That being said, it’s still annoying. Sorry you have to go through that :/

LeiyoZynne 2 points 2y ago

With tea in the name youd think she would understand like what?

SaltyN0sh 1 points 1y ago

This sounds like the human version of a dog who wants you to throw the ball without taking it

Papasmurf10111 1 points 2y ago

Oh I guess she wanted a dirty chai. She should have just said she wanted a chai tea latte with a shot of espresso, or a dirty chai tea latte. It’s weird she just assumed that a chai tea latte naturally has a shot of espresso without her asking to add one in.

amatoav 1 points 2y ago

Chai means tea so when you say chai tea you're really just saying tea tea. It's just chai latte. 😄

papayaushuaia 1 points 2y ago

Had you asked … A dirty chai?
Barista down! Call 911. Customer in a rage.

[deleted] 1 points 2y ago

[deleted]

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