“how is it outside?” is so funny to me “please mr coffee won’t let me leave i just want to know what the outside is lik

I WORK at Starbucks and even I will mobile order at other stores when I don’t want to talk to the partners there 😂

Update orders out loud? WTF. Keep them in loop? Ummmm hell no. How about I just make their drink without announcing what I’m doing and then call out their name when it’s ready, what a radical idea!!

I can’t imagine the kind of looks we’d get if we’re saying out loud who’s order we’re working on. I truly think customers would think we’d lost our minds if we did that. Even the thought of doing that makes me feel embarrassed for everyone involved. I couldn’t be more against doing that lol

the whole point of mobile is that they don't wanna talk to us 😭

I think it’s more of the DMs pushing SMs to do that. Those metrics are pretty arbitrary—how do you put a numerical value on “did I feel welcome? Throughout my studies I’ve been told to explicitly avoid using data/surveys that do this because it’s just too biased (on behalf of the author) or completely inaccurate (if its don’t in a manner like Sbux). So don’t take anything about the CC score as any indication as how your store is actually doing.

Even in sales, Sbux is the second most profitable fast food chain and is only behind McDonald’s. It has this market pretty much completely captured, so there’s not really a way to “grow” sales either. Again, don’t use that as an indication (unless there’s an obvious drop/increase that occurs simultaneously as a major event in your store/are).

DMs don’t spend most of their times in the stores nor with customers, so they generally don’t know what they’re talking about (my experience with the four DMs I’ve had). If your SM or DM starts telling you about not connecting with mobile order customers, tell them “I’ve had many that tell me that they just want to come in and get their order without talking to us” or “I’ve had many tell me that if I wanted to talk, I’d have ordered in-person.” What’re they gonna do, ask for those people’s contact info? Also, bring up how that’ll increase wait times since the baristas on bar will be distracted by talking to customers and not making drinks, and customers think it’s rude when we turn around in the middle of a conversation to finish making a beverage and other customers don’t feel comfortable approaching us for questions if they see that we’re in the middle of a conversation with another customer.

Play Devil’s Advocate here if your SM or DMs get too pushy on this. Make them admit that they don’t have a logical point.

Yea that’s it, share a joke that gets taken the wrong way and get fired for it.

Starbucks corporate has become so drastically detached from the laborers that they have lost all sense of practicality and that’s what is slowly ruining their business from the inside out.

y’all have to call out names as you’re making the drinks? there’s no time or room in anyones sanity for that

Just for shits and giggles at my store we dont have a lot of traffic so when theres like nobody in the lobby we scream everyone’s mobile order name

My lord that’s miserable.
Half of the people we get for mobiles don’t even want to acknowledge us or will be on their phones in conversation. The fact “connections” are kept track and scored is a fatal flaw with this company. A natural coffee shop house vibe will come with that. Forcing it is insufferable on employees and guests.
We only call out names of mobiles we’re working on if we’re busy and backed up with a full lobby.

As someone who comes in to get a mobile order, this is absolutely not what I want. I don’t even take out my headphones.

i don’t get paid enough to do thst

I only "keep them in the loop" if its packed during peak. Then I do that to differentiate whos waiting, whi isn't and whsts going on. Because we usuallu don't have enough for a hand out. And If I'm mobile, no offense, but I refuse to make the people that order their franken-drinks and then come in two minutes after ordering feel welcome.

ok but until i get the staff to make mobile orders fast enough for ppl to just pick them up and go, ima waste as much time as i can chatting it up w all the MOP customers on cafe bar 🤡

If a human acted like this just naturally without being forced to by their employer you’d probably assume they were a real sad fuck.

Being polite and friendly is one thing but telling them to order different things, sharing jokes and asking what it’s like to be allowed to leave the premises is just the behavior of a really sad desperate loser.

Haven't worked for sbux in years. I very specifically do mobile so that no one will speak to me.

When I do go to Starbucks, I'm likely not in the mood to talk about anything, let alone entertain a forced conversation with a stranger.

This is why I left Starbucks lol.. so out of touch with their customer base.. no one goes there as a “third place” anymore its way too busy for that

Obviously I appreciate good conversation like anyone else, but the way Starbucks has been pushing customers connections like crazy it’s honestly just been eating into our productivity. And if I were a customer I would find it frustrating that instead of focusing on getting my mobile order finished the barista was instead just trying to make conversation with me about what my favorite flower is. Like, yes, I like flowers, but can we please focus on the actual reason I’m here?

It’s like corporate is pushing “connections” without even knowing what connections means.

Would love the number to your store just to call and yell at your manager that the baristas were trying to connect with me when I mobile order for a reason, I don’t have time to talk and don’t want the connection

I only "keep them in the loop" if its packed during peak. Then I do that to differentiate whos waiting, whi isn't and whsts going on. Because we usuallu don't have enough for a hand out. And If I'm mobile, no offense, but I refuse to make the people that order their franken-drinks and then come in two minutes after ordering feel welcome.

Ew

Barf

I will chat when it’s slow, but I flat out refuse to chat during peak. I’ll have like ten drinks to make and still have stickers to pull. I have to focus on multitasking properly so I can make the drinks correctly and efficiently. Maybe keep a CS staffed to chat with the customers when the barista on mobile/cafe (ours is both) is balls deep in orders. We don’t have CS for every day of the week, so I’ll be damned if I’m told to be more sociable while on bar.

I can't even imagine the look i'd have on my face if a barista "shared a joke" with me

Respectfully. I work for the Bux. I know it’s their weird wet dream that we connect with customers. However - as a longtime customer I find it so inherently creepy. Especially when you can tell it’s forced.

I am not an outgoing person naturally. In no other circumstance would I strike up a casual conversation with a stranger. And I abhor when strangers try to talk to me. My answers will be short and to the point and I KNOW I come across as rude. However I have no interest in surface level ‘connection’. That’s not a connection to me. It’s intrusive and forced.

I personally try to remember our customers and customize my interactions with them. But I refuse to strike up meaningless conversations with people like myself who I can tell have ZERO interest in false niceties.

Or with customers who view me as less than human simply because of where I work. (A lot of these happen to be people I work with at my FT job and it’s disgusting to me the way they treat my fellow baristas).

I as a partner mobile order because I just want the coffee not the connection

My store’s customers have learned to respect estimated ready time. Before that I would have to constantly call out mobil orders/cafe I was working on. I would call out 8 drink/customer names at a time. The only time this happens now is on the rare Saturday when a ton of non regulars would visit. Even then I call out what I’m working on but don’t try to make conversation. My customers want their drinks not a chat hotline. I still connect when they pick up with eye contact, huge smile, and a thank you.

I've never bothered with mobile orders anywhere, but I can say with 100% certainty that if i did, it would have a lot more to do with not wanting to talk to anyone than it would with trying to save any time.

my store has a group chat and it got busted, which i didn’t agree with bc it was pretty much just a friends group chat because my store is extremely close-knit.
but THIS is unpaid labor… updating standards for people to read??? this is misuse of a store group chat and does fall under the standard of not having store group chats..

I hate talking to customers because of my anxiety and I just hate conversations in general. When a custome sense I'm not a talker, they exert themselves even more by asking ME questions which I hate having to answer and my one word answer apparently aren't enough because they go and ask MORE questions and want to know about my life,etc.


I just want them gone... I've stated I'm not really comfortable conversing with them but they chalk it up to "oh, a little conversation won't hurt"... yes it will and it's not only bring me pain but to the other customers who want their drinsk as well. Sometimes I do get into a conversation but it's rare and mostly with my co-workers.

The only valid reason I see to talk to mobile order people is bc a lot of the will stick their grody fingers into the drink holes on lids to turn and see the name of the drink and then you need to replace the lid and crap. But otherwise, I think we should just leave them be.

Talking is not the only way to make someone feel welcomed. I think whoever put this out needs to convey that point more clearly. Just a little acknowledgement goes a long way.
Look on page 18 of our ops excellence guide. "Create an infectious energy". The energy you are giving off can create a welcoming or hostile environment. By the tone of your post, you are probably giving off a pretty bad vibe while on bar, even for just a few moments of the customer picking up their order.

And yes, updating customers on their order status will kill a lot of anticipation and tension. It's like putting your name down on a list at a restaurant. You know your name is likely still on the list, yet after a while you still go back and ask the host/hostess where you are at on the list. If you were 5 down and now 2 down, you feel like "oh ok, it's moving along"

Posts and comments like this is why we don't promote from within. All these I been here for blah blah blah years and they hire an external SM. Well yeah, because you been here for blah blah blah years and don't understand what customer connection is.