I would have just stopped talking and had a staring match

i would sass the fuck out of him. and decaf him.

I mean if you know where he works one phonecall or visit would probably get him regretting his choices very quickly. I'd probably only do that if the situation escalates tho.
In that moment if it were me tho? Stare right at him and say very seriously "excuse me?" It's super simple but they'll stop very quickly once they realize you won't let em get away w it. We may be behind the counter but sometimes a little reminder on how human we really are can make them rethink on their stupidity ☺️💖

I have had the same exact thing happen to meany times as a gay man who also wears makeup and such. I just pretend like they aren't mocking me and respond to whatever they said. So if I say "Hi!" And they repeat "Hi" back in a mocking tone, I just say "yeah, hi! How's it going?" And keep going like that. Eventually that person comes in and sees you and walks out or better yet they never come in again. But you gotta be confident and loud through the whole interaction.

We were very packed both in drive and lobby. Some woman comes in with her husband and asks me if she can take her mask off. I’m vaccinated and said, “Unless you are vaccinated, we need you to keep your mask on.” She took it off and said, “well you’re not wearing a mask.” And I said, “I’m vaccinated.” She replied, “I am too.” And I apologized for the miscommunication.

Took her and her husbands order. She repeats her order to me 3 or 4 times, an iced mocha with an alternative milk NO whip. I repeated it back each time, reassuring her. They ordered egg bites and a cheese danish warmed. Our bar was good— got their drinks out quickly. Warming was hectic and backed up; a stuffed lobby AND drive who are constantly ordering food was not great; didn’t help that we shut an oven down pre-rush to clean it. She said to me, over the counter, that they’re still waiting for their food. I apologized for the wait and said it would be just another moment. When I went to hand her the egg bites, she asked why it was taking so long for a cheese danish to be warmed. She was not kind and was very demanding. I, instinctively, pulled my arm away, still holding her egg bites. She mocked my movement and said not to “play that game.” I set her egg bites down and my manager took over. I turned around to get some guess brewed coffee and started to cry silently before my assistant manager told me to go in the back.

I cried for 5-10 minutes. My grandmother is dying of two different cancers and I needed to leave the next day to visit her and I had been under a lot of stress. She obviously didn’t give two fucks about me or my life— she just wanted that warm cheese danish. :-)

TLDR; customer verbally mocked an arm movement while complaining about the wait time of her cheese danish.

“I’m not serving you because of how you spoke to me, please leave.”

End it there. If they want to make an issue of it, call the police and have them removed.

decapitate him

Did you give him decaf? Customers that need to learn better social skills get decaf until they behave!

Edit: I’m an illiterate doofus.

He’s clearly getting coffee at the wrong establishment with that homophobic gross behaviour. Does he not realize how inclusive Starbucks is of all people? He can take his nasty self else where

I answered “sure” a few too many times to a rude customer who was asking for things at the window, and when I said the third “sure” when she asked for a straw, she took the straw from me, looked me in the eye, made a stupid face and started yelling “sure, sure, sure!” at me, kinda like how kids make fun of challenged people. Then she drove away. I was stunned. Just turned around to my partner at drivethru and said, “I think she was making fun of me..”

this literally happened the other day someone was waiting for their drink and asked me to do something else and i said “of course” i’m gay and don’t have a very masculine voice and she responded “oh make your voice go high again that’s so funny” and i just stopped and was like what did she actually say that

I had one I thought I was cool with say "boy you just think you're pretty special don't you?" In a very condescending and serious way. Not sure what I did, always try to be nice and make small talk so idk. Just looked over at my fellow partner who just kinda shrugged. I just kinda awkwardly laughed and tried play it off.

The one time a customer mocked me, I said “ Um, excuse me?” They mocked me and said the same thing. At the time I was the shift manager and called him out on it. I asked him if he would like to order something or continue to mock me? He ordered then later I come to find out he had a mental disability. Kind of feel like a bitch but still doesn’t make me feel any better.

That’s when my customer service voice goes away.
I go from “Hi! 😊 What can I get for you today!🌟” to “what do you want 😑”

“You want a latte. Size?! What else? 5.99 your total. Next!”

Usually when shit like that happens if you say “excuse me?” And make them repeat it they usually get uncomfortable and then if your coworkers are cool they’ll decaf them hopefully cause f that

Gay male here too. Happens to me sometimes... some people can just pick up on the fact that I/ we are gay. I wouldn’t say my voice is high pitched but I have been told I talk very proper. NEVER let them get to you, play it off as you aren’t even bothered by it. Turn the tables and make them feel small and insignificant. Especially at Starbucks correct them if they pronounce something wrong or something of that nature. Clearly you are 100% better than him. Sorry you have to deal with it, but unfortunately we all do, it’s the world we live in.

i’m really passive aggressive so i probably would’ve said “i’m sorry im pretty positive i understood what you just said but just in case could you please repeat that for me?” in a really nice tone :]

As a former 16 year partner myself, the best advice I can give you is to not take those shitty customer interactions personally.

Starbucks customers can be the worst types of customers. If anybody talks down to you or ever mocks you, that is in no way shape or form a reflection of yourself. Those kinds of people act that way due to their own insecurities.

I’m proud of you for taking the highroad today. That takes a lot of self-restraint.
Believe me, it’s not worth stooping to their level.
Don’t stop being you. Never let other people prevent you from being you. Ever.

i’ve had this happen to me a handful of times, but the most recent a teenage boy kept mocking me as i called out his friends drinks. i stared at him dead in the eye for a good 20 seconds before going back to making drinks. he stopped. :)

“Sorry, can you repeat that?” With a dead stare.

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I haven't had that happen to me at work before but when I'm made to feel uncomfortable I just stone face ask them to repeat what they said. I'll ask again, I'll ask them to repeat it a little louder because I can't hear them very well, or I'll just say I'm sorry I don't understand can you explain that to me. Stone faced. Usually it's enough to shame themselves.

I have told people before in some situations that they are way too comfortable disrespecting me and that I am not comfortable with that.

“Here at Starbucks we ask that all customers and partners communicate with respect, so I’d like to politely request that you do not mock me. If you choose to continue, I’d have to ask you to leave, but I don’t want to have to do that :)”

…but I do want to kick them out and a lot of cishet men would have the audacity to escalate and I’d enjoy nothing more than to be able to refuse to serve them. Some will wise up when they get called out though

After leaving Starbucks and going to a Call Center I was actually taught how to respectfully tell people how they needed to treat me. Days where people would yell, mock, or demean, I would have to say something along the lines of “I’m willing to continue to to work with you, but I need to be respected just like I’m respecting you.” If they refused to respect me I would refuse service and hang up. You obviously can’t hang up on them, but you still can refuse to serve them and get your shift/store manager to replace you or have them ask the customer to leave.

I no longer work for the siren, but when I did, I didn’t tolerate any of this abuse to my partners. I’ve been known to treat others how they treat others. Fortunately, these type of interactions didn’t happen often, but when they did…my DM got a call lol

To this guy I would have stopped everything and said “hey partners the guy with the biggest di*! on the planet is here and he wants everyone to know about it” 😀

I called the customer out and was shaking the whole time and almost had an anxiety attack. but i am glad i stood up for myself, since he was the second or third person that day to do it.

Hey! Shift supervisor here. File an incident report. Basically the customer harassed you because of your “perceived or actual sexual orientation” and/or gender identity. After you file the incident report if he does it again file another this will allow starbucks to document the harassment and ban him! let me know if you have any questions or concerns about filing an incident report.

I’m the type of person who calls customers out on that type of stuff. I would’ve slid up beside you and been all “excuse me? Is there a problem here? While aggressively staring said customer down”. I have no problem doing it either because this is not my primary job. I work at the Siren for fun.

So, a month or so ago we had a van with a mom and her kids come through drive, probably 15 or so mins before close. Relatively busy night. We didn't immediately answer them at the speaker, because we were finishing drinks/my order taker went to the bathroom.

One of the kids in the backseat yelled, *"answer, bitch".* The voice sounded like a child, maybe 10 or 11 at the oldest. My coworkers stop and we all look at each other, bewildered. We hear the mom telling her kid off. I take their order of like 5-6 Frapps and the three of us on headset discussed what to do, whether we should pretend we didn't hear it or not. My shift mentioned, "we can technically deny service for things like that, but I don't want to rock the boat too much". I decide to bring them their order.

"Hi! Just letting you know we heard what was yelled in the speaker a few minutes ago. I wanted to say that in situations like this, we're allowed to deny service. We decided not to because we could tell the person who yelled it probably didn't know that our speaker is on at all times and records everything, and we didn't want to disappoint everyone else in the car."

The mom was mortified; I didn't want to make her feel bad by saying that to her, but I wanted her kids to overhear from me as the person serving them that it isn't ok behaviour towards others, and to be careful what you blurt out loud.

My advice to you is to keep an eye on this person and tell your shifts about your interaction with him, as he seems to be a regular. If it escalates, you have a right to stand up for yourself. No one deserves to be degraded like that.

Mock them back. F customer connections

I'm old AF so it may not work for non-geriatric baristas. I always waited a good loooooong silent minute, looked them dead in the eye and said "You are not allowed to speak to me like that". If they kept it up? I walked away and got a shift or the SM. When I heard any of the other baristas being harassed, etc. I would intervene. "You are not allowed to treat anyone here that way". People may have assumed I was a manager because of my age? Bottom line, you don't have to tolerate it.

Cry at them. Make them feel like absolute shit.

This has worked for me in the past. But I was an 18 year old girl and a grown man made me cry at work.

I know you are but what am I?

In all seriousness though, I’d just lol and say yeah, I’m not serving you. Next! And totally ignore them. Then they can get a manager and explain how they mocked me or GTFO.

Reminder that *they* are the ones who fucked up here, not you. You did what you could & what made you feel the most safe in the moment. I’m sorry it happened.

That's horrible. We had a customer mock a partner who had a stutter, it wasn't wasn't bad and I occasionally stutter myself especially when stressed and/or tired. I didn't hear the interaction but if I did I would have told her off. That is unacceptable. Our SM of course went above and beyond for her, personally bringing her drink and food for her to her table

No, but as a customer I've had someone mock me.

What an asshole. It's best you didn't waste any energy on responding to his pathetic nature. I'd say make it known to your other partners and shift that he makes you uncomfortable and ask them to take over for you. If there is another incident, make an incident report.
People are so rude, especially if they have their own insecurities.
Bitterness is a choice.

Do not take my advice at all, but with how done with this job I am, I'd just take the firing and curse them out

I think taking the high road here was the best thing to do. you shouldn’t feed into his negative energy, it only makes his ego grow like cancer.

now, if he continues doing it you could tell a supervisor or manager and get him kicked out. or you could be petty like me, but only if he continuously ridicules you. hope this helps and i’m sorry this happened 🥺

They can leave if they can't be respectful.

Say I'm sorry someone else is going to have to take your order today, and when he asks why just say you make many of us uncomfortable servicing you so someone else can help you out.

There was a usual who would often mock and belittle every partner she came across, especially towards the female and non-binary staff. For me, she would often get upset with me about the cold foam on her cold brew. That I put too much on it.

On one particular day, I was working DT and Bar by myself, since it was slow enough to do so. She came in to the drive thru and it was Pumpkin CF season, so she asked for that. Knowing her stance on cold form, I did my absolute best making the foam as minimal as I could. I think I did well, given the fact the was soloing bar and drive-thru on my own.

About a day or two after, I’m working on bar and another partner is on drive-thru. The usual came on drive-thru again and, to the other partner, expressed how frustrated she was about the last Pumpkin CF Cold Brew she got (oh no). She said, *and I quote*:

“[The drink] was so bad, it wasn’t even Intern Quality!”

🙃 I’ve never been directly mad at a guest before, but I was ready to give her a piece of my mind right then and there. Luckily, I kept a cool head and just didn’t bother making her Pumpkin CF drink right, which she still ordered. Gosh, she always made baristas mad, at whatever Starbucks she went to. Glad I’m not working in that district anymore.

I’d have complimented his feminine voice 💜 plus decaf espresso for sure. That or Id straight up confront him and ask why he was mocking me. So many people don’t expect you to directly address their attitude. Remember though, they are a pos and you’re just doing your job.

Say "I do apologize that you're having a bad day. Some advice? Don't treat people like that, it's poor taste."

Not a green bean anymore, managing a women’s clothing line now…If you are rude, mistreat my employees or myself, I will stop the transaction, set the clothing behind the counter and tell them to place their order online as I will not tolerate the behavior or abuse. Sorry ma’am order your $200 jeans at home and stare in a mirror while doing so to enjoy your ugly personality alone.

I'd ask if everything is OK? Does he need help? Just be extra and kill him with kindness

If a customer mistreats me I'll drop some of the things I say to brighten a customers day or if it gets worse ill just have my shift take care of it because I have 2 leads regularly on my shift and neither of them take crap from anyone

Kill them with kindness and give them decaf.

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Just keep being professional. Don't lower yourself anyones level or play retaliate. The sooner you learn to brush off the customers testosterone level, the better for you. The next time you see him come into the store have someone else ring him up, and you can do bar for the moment he's in the store. That way you can stay away from him without looking perturbed. Some people feed off of that. You don't want him think you are weak, or easy to be bullied if you said something to him about how you felt about the mocking. It's not right, but there are crazies out there. Let it go.

Did you see/read the news this week about McD employee dealing with customer complaining about salt on fries? Wasn't worth dealing with a salty customer.