I don’t work for the Bux anymore, but this customer just broke my heart.

He was young, maybe 13-14. He would come in after school, find an isolated table and watch anime on his laptop until he fell asleep. He would sleep for hours and sometimes not wake up until one of us gently tapped his shoulder and let him know we were closing.

He had a home. He lived at an apartment complex next door. (One of my partners kinda watched him a few times and he always went there) whenever we spoke to him he never said much, but there was a sadness and sometimes a fear, like when we woke him, in his eyes. I suspected abuse and this was his only safe haven. I tried to get him to tell me what drinks he liked, but he’d always turn me down, so I started making random Frappuccinos and saying “whoops. I made too many” or “hey. I just created this drink. Will you try it for me?” And I could tell it gave him a little ray of happiness.

I’ve since moved away. I still think about him sometimes and hope he’s doing okay.

How much time do you have

the one this past week was a woman who just seemed determined to take up as much time at my window as possible, looking in a mirror touching her makeup while I stood their trying to give her beverage and card to her, went back to her mirror, then asked me for a PAPER STRAW! We had just got the plastic ones back so I told her they were gone but she insisted on a manager, my SM was there and found one for her, this was out of left field because we're in the SE and our customers HATE paper straws, I feel like she was just enjoying being diva-ish and demanding the way she sat there and fussed with her make up before asking

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One time a dude wanted me to spread cream cheese on his bagel for him. During COVID. We aren't allowed to do that in any case, so my shift manager told him as much. I handed him the bag with his bagel, cream cheese, and knife, and he immediately chucked it straight into the trash and stormed out.

He had already paid for the bagel 🤷‍♂️

We had a lady come in 3 separate times right in the morning. The first time she came she was very nice and just asked for a hot coffee and we provided. 2nd day she comes and asks for the same thing but says that last time she was here we gave her decaf and she wants us to show her the cup before we pour the coffee because apparently other coffee shops have tried to put stuff in her coffee before. Ok…a little weird but we showed her the cup before we pulled the coffee out of the normal urn. She then walks back to her spot and a couple seconds later comes up to us and says “this is decaf and I️ can taste it. Every coffee shop I️ go to does this and I’m sick of it.” We’re like ma’am we didn’t give you decaf and even if it was there’d be no way you could taste it. I️ showed her the urn I️ pulled it out of and explained that we only do decaf in an air pot and not the urn and that I️ just brewed this. She continued to get mad and say she can taste that it’s decaf, and calls us all racist and says she’s sick of dealing with this racism from Starbucks. We’re like???? Lady we are literally giving you exactly what you want, and not saying anything more. She eventually leaves, and we’re just stunned. She clearly had issues mentally and we were just happy she left. Next day, she comes before we even open and the opener sees her standing at the door trying to open it and it’s like 10 minutes before we open and she didn’t know about the lady. So once we open she lets her in and she starts yelling again about how we keep giving her decaf and this and that, same shit as the other day. We end up calling the police and they tell her to leave and we never saw her again lol.

i don’t work at starbucks anymore but i visit all the time because i was a regular before i got hired and i’m a regular again now that i left. i walked in to say hi the other day and everyone was evacuating the store and i saw the ASM on the phone with the cops. i asked her what was going on and she told me this drunk homeless guy came in and asked to borrow one of the barista’s phone. she said no and he got so mad he pushed mastrena 2 off the bar. i was in shock and when i went in to look the espresso machine was on the GROUND and the wires were out. the barista on bar was fine thank god but i remember walking out and thinking “if i still worked here that would’ve been me.” my store is super high risk and we had incidents all the time but a guy shoving mastrena at a barista is definitely the craziest thing i’ve seen

one of my baristas called out a drink in the middle of a 2 hour rush, but didn't directly give the drink to the customer so it sat for about a minute. the customer asked to speak to a manager and threatened that they'd throw hands if it was the 80s. the yelp review stated that the drink was 'basically thrown at them'

I once had a middle aged woman come in, and she already seemed to be in a pissy mood. Being purposely short with her answers, rolling her eyes etc. She ordered a grande caramel frap with specifically a "tall scoop of ice". A lot of people don't realize our fraps are blended and think they're just asking for light ice in an iced latte or something. So, I explained to her that it'll make the consistency a little watery, and is she ok with that. She rolled her eyes, "why would I order it if I wasn't ok with that??". I hit the light ice button. We had a lineup out the door and there was mass of people waiting for drinks, with only two people on the floor. She then proceeded to watch the bar person make it, and shouted across at him that he didn't use the tall scoop to scoop her ice. He explained that he didn't fill the grande scoop all the way, she still insisted that he remake it. I quickly jumped in, since we were already in the weeds, apologized and started to remake her drink. She shouts at me "and if I could get it sometime this century that would be nice". I apologized again, and explained we're only two people at the moment. "I'm a manager at another store, I know how it works". She did not use a partner card to pay, nor did she ask for a discount. I handed her the remade drink, gave her the biggest smile possible and wished a lovely day. She rolled her eyes, snatched the drink from my hand and stormed out.

Not crazy, more wholesome.

Before covid was a thing everyday at around 2 pm we used to have a city bus driver come in. We were the only food/drink type place near where his route was. He is an older gentleman around his 70’s and had a Spanish accent. He would come in every day at the same time and we would always see his big bus pull up nearby and know he was on his way in. He always walked in with the biggest smile on his face and just BEAMED positivity. I can’t say I’ve ever met a nicer person than him. He would switch up his drink order quite a bit but normally kept it pretty straight forward to iced teas / brewed teas with no modifications. For the last Christmas before covid hit us here, he brought all the usual baristas he would see a card and chocolate bar. Although after covid started to be quite a big problem here he stopped coming in. I of course assumed the worst in that he got covid, especially being a bus driver he had to see all sorts of people all day long. Luckily though he came in about 3 weeks ago for the first time in months! He retired and is doing well and focusing on him and his family’s health! I’ve never been so relieved to see someone walk through the cafe doors. He is and was the best customer we will ever have at our store

TLDR: IDEAL customer, older bus driver, thought he got covid and died. He didn’t.

We have a regular who is a sex offender and he has gotten in trouble multiple times for going behind the counters and groping baristas at different stores. He now usually comes through the drive thru and will make uncomfortable and inappropriate comments to whoever is on window. IT IS TERRIBLE

People are assholes