Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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[deleted by user] (self.starbucksbaristas)
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plushiequeenaspen 6 points 1y ago
It's not right, but a lot of baristas are afraid of retaliation from management if they kick a customer out or file a report or stand up for themselves. In some areas there aren't a lot of other job options, especially for those who need the insurance or tuition benefits.
I worked under one manager who outright refused to allow baristas to file incident reports when customers were violent. There was a regular who was known for screaming at people and who had thrown drinks at baristas on no less than three occasions. Manager acted like the customer's behavior was a joke, and actively prevented people from filing reports. A lot of people quit, and at least five filed complaints with ethics and compliance. Literally nothing was done to address the complaints.
My first store was great. Manager was on top of things, spent as much time on the floor as possible, stood up for baristas when customers were stupid, actually listened to and addressed concerns. After that? Absolutely awful. Closers at my NYC store had to call cops a number of times because of violent customers (at least one of them was a customer vs customer fight, not customer vs barista). That manager just generally treated baristas like shit and allowed all kinds of shitty customer behavior. At least she didn't stop the shifts from filing police and incident reports, that's only good thing I can say about her.
I worked under one manager who outright refused to allow baristas to file incident reports when customers were violent. There was a regular who was known for screaming at people and who had thrown drinks at baristas on no less than three occasions. Manager acted like the customer's behavior was a joke, and actively prevented people from filing reports. A lot of people quit, and at least five filed complaints with ethics and compliance. Literally nothing was done to address the complaints.
My first store was great. Manager was on top of things, spent as much time on the floor as possible, stood up for baristas when customers were stupid, actually listened to and addressed concerns. After that? Absolutely awful. Closers at my NYC store had to call cops a number of times because of violent customers (at least one of them was a customer vs customer fight, not customer vs barista). That manager just generally treated baristas like shit and allowed all kinds of shitty customer behavior. At least she didn't stop the shifts from filing police and incident reports, that's only good thing I can say about her.
plushiequeenaspen 3 points 1y ago
TLDR company culture effectively forces baristas and shifts to tolerate abuse. Management refuses to address the problems, refuses to stand up for employees, and refuses to enforce even a minimum standard of civility on customers. Good managers seem to be the minority, and upper management is a joke.
Sometimes leaving isn't an option for various reasons, so people end up having to deal with things that, as you mentioned, would not be tolerated in most other industries.
Sometimes leaving isn't an option for various reasons, so people end up having to deal with things that, as you mentioned, would not be tolerated in most other industries.
theycallmedoctrlve 1 points 1y ago
>. There was a regular who was known for screaming at people and who had thrown drinks at baristas on no less than three occasions. Manager acted like the customer's behavior was a joke, and actively prevented people from filing reports. A lot of people quit, and at least five filed complaints with ethics and compliance. Literally nothing was done to address the complaints.
the police were not called???
the police were not called???
plushiequeenaspen 1 points 1y ago
You'd get written up (or bitched out) just for having your cell phone in your pocket on the floor, and the SM would often keep the store phone in her pocket.
So no. No cops.
So no. No cops.
theycallmedoctrlve 0 points 1y ago
>bitched out) just for having your cell phone in your pocket on the floor, and the SM would often keep the store phone in her pocket.
>
>So no. No cops.
and you could not physically walk in to file a report after work? the lack of documentation makes it easy for people to dismiss the real struggle here.
>
>So no. No cops.
and you could not physically walk in to file a report after work? the lack of documentation makes it easy for people to dismiss the real struggle here.
plushiequeenaspen 3 points 1y ago
Complaints were made to ethics and compliance, and people tried to contact the DM but were completely ignored. The pressure from the older baristas who acted like having things thrown at you was okay was a lot for most of the newer baristas. If you have multiple people telling you that you're being stupid, it's not worth filing a report with the company, why wouldn't you think that a police report is overkill? If the cops had done anything, it would have been immediately clear who reported, and that brings us right back the problem of retaliation.
We had people with absolutely no self confidence being told that nothing wrong was happening and being shamed for trying to address a problem. That's a lot of pressure, especially for people who haven't had to deal with such situations before. Obviously the situation should have been handled better. But the fact here is that an abusive manager enabled an abusive customer, and the numerous complaints to the DM and ethics went unheard. It's easy to say "well just walk in and file a police report," but intimidation and fear of retaliation are powerful tools, which the SM and her clique knew how to use very effectively.
Like I said, at least five complaints were made to ethics and compliance. When you have that many complaints about a single manager, maybe it's time for higher management to actually do something. And that's really the point here - *nobody higher up gives a shit.* The store was still making money, so they don't care if the baristas are being abused.
.
We had people with absolutely no self confidence being told that nothing wrong was happening and being shamed for trying to address a problem. That's a lot of pressure, especially for people who haven't had to deal with such situations before. Obviously the situation should have been handled better. But the fact here is that an abusive manager enabled an abusive customer, and the numerous complaints to the DM and ethics went unheard. It's easy to say "well just walk in and file a police report," but intimidation and fear of retaliation are powerful tools, which the SM and her clique knew how to use very effectively.
Like I said, at least five complaints were made to ethics and compliance. When you have that many complaints about a single manager, maybe it's time for higher management to actually do something. And that's really the point here - *nobody higher up gives a shit.* The store was still making money, so they don't care if the baristas are being abused.
.
debreee 5 points 1y ago
My Starbucks experience is different from the average because I will NEVER in a million years tolerate abuse or tolerate abuse towards any barista on my shift. That’s bullshit. I’m glad to have a manager who backs me up when I tell a customer to fuck off
mexicanitch 2 points 1y ago
I like working at Starbucks.
mexicanitch 1 points 1y ago
But I will always support unions!
lpablito 2 points 1y ago
Cali worker here. I actually like it. Pretty easy since i already have management skills before working there and they pay me decent.
chowderchop 1 points 1y ago
Yep. The only reason I don't enjoy it as much as I could is because it's my second job, so I don't need it. Waking up to work here when I don't NEED to kind of sucks but the shift is enjoyable.
Also, I've been here a year and can thankfully say I have yet to be emotionally, mentally or physically abused so there's that. My store has amazing partners and cool customers for the most part. Very thankful for that.
Also, I've been here a year and can thankfully say I have yet to be emotionally, mentally or physically abused so there's that. My store has amazing partners and cool customers for the most part. Very thankful for that.
Necessary_Low939 1 points 1y ago
I do but I also don’t bend over backwards for the customers
Accomplished-Bad3856 1 points 1y ago
Never been kissed. 🥲
nioyakult 1 points 1y ago
lmfao kissed
[deleted] [OP] 0 points 1y ago
I use to but the bullying from other co workers literally made me leave for a better job option else where non fast food. I am really tried of it for my mental health it just wasn't good and I don't wanna ruin going to starbucks for coffee for me.
Because of this job I have received online bullying being made fun of for being a barista. I am lucky enough that I can switch to something else right now not get treated like that. The bullying ruins a lot of the experience.
There were days where at corporate I wanted to break down crying at the pos because of co workers. I quit.
Because of this job I have received online bullying being made fun of for being a barista. I am lucky enough that I can switch to something else right now not get treated like that. The bullying ruins a lot of the experience.
There were days where at corporate I wanted to break down crying at the pos because of co workers. I quit.
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