Starbucks has an attitude of letting customers do whatever they want.

It's definitely true that coffee tastes different based on the brewing method. I love my French press.

Apologies in advance for a sort of long, rambly reply...

I'm going to pass along the best advice I've ever been given from a manager in a previous job (not MY manager, she was a manager from another state): "stop giving a fuck." Meaning don't let their sour grapes attitude get to you, it has nothing to do with you, anyway.

I know it's easier said than done, and it sounds rude and dismissive, but it's not. It's self preservation. It's also not something that can be taught, nor is it something we can usually choose. It just happens one day. But if you're able to stop caring so much, you'll be a lot less affected by the bad customers!

Basically if someone is having such a bad day that they have to take it out on a barista, I just... don't care. Except in my case, I simply can't take them seriously anymore and I'm glad to be wearing a mask because they can't see me stifling laughter. They look like cartoon characters when they get angry. It's clearly not about me, even if I made a mistake. Did I make their drink wrong? "Oh, my bad, I guess my own caffeine hasn't kicked in yet! Here, let me remake that for you." And I remake it right away, usually asking them for clarity each step of the way even to the point of sounding like I can't think for myself.

Usually though, what they're actually angry about is out of my control, so I'll just let them rant, smile and nod, and say something like "yeah, it's so frustrating!" And then try to redirect them so they realize they're being unreasonable, or are angry at the wrong people.

Example: we had a customer just yesterday start yelling about having waited for a mobile order for a little while (I think it was like 10 minutes during peak and she had placed the order from the parking lot...) The barista on mobile bar was swamped and there were already 3 other people helping her. I was on ovens, periodically helping with some refreshers when I didn't have food orders. The customer picked up her order and continued to make a scene as she started to leave, and then approached the person on register to complain about how long she waited. The person working register had no idea what to say and looked really nervous, so I hopped in and said "I get you! It's so frustrating! The limiting factor with cafe and drive-thru orders is the number of orders one person on register can take and type in, but when 500 people all decide to go through the app at once, nothing prevents all 500 orders from coming through, and then unfortunately EVERYONE has to wait! Maybe we all need to contact corporate to ask them to limit the number of mobile orders that can be placed at the same time, or at least give people an estimated wait time." It didn't make her any happier, but it shut her up and seemed to make her realize we can't just magically conjure drinks as soon as orders come in. Or maybe she realized she was mad at the wrong people, or that she wasn't going to be getting anything for free from us that day. At any rate, she made one more comment about a 10 minute wait for a couple lattes being ridiculous, and she left.

Another example that has come up a few times recently: customer starts to get angry about the prices going up, I respond with "I know, it's crazy! Our pay is still the same, and yet prices are so high that it takes me over 30 minutes of work just to make enough to pay for a single drink!" So far no one has pressed the issue because that makes it pretty clear that we have nothing to do with the price increase.

TLDR: stop "giving a fuck" by not letting their bad mood affect you (I'm naturally very empathetic, so it took me a while, but it is possible!) From there, let them know you understand why they're angry, you've been there, but [insert reason this happens without blaming anyone].

I get it! I used to feel that way. No when they get rude yell at me I low key feel sorry for them bc it’s so embarrassing to treat people that way. Plus I know it pisses them off more when they don’t get a reaction. People who yell want a fight . Don’t give it to them . Hang in there friend