Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
48
↓
“I’ll have a blonde medium roast coffee.” (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by AuntieRia1128
What?! I asked all of the usual questions to clarify and then he went off. Yelling about how I must be the girl from yesterday who also didn’t know what then heck he wanted (I am not), how I must be new, how “I’ve been coming here for over 10 years and have never had Any problem getting this drink!!!” He then proceeded to tell me I was obnoxious, hoped the conversation had been recorded and that he would be contacting management and that we lost a customer…
I say good riddance.
I am a shift supervisor I take de-escalation training, I know how to handle situations like this, and all of my baristas told me I was nothing but polite and calm, yet after that interaction I shook for about an hour and just wanted to cry.
He did call the store to complain. My SM, of course offered him the world, and he said he’ll come back, so great… we get to deal with him again… fun. My SM also said to file an incident report for yesterday and today, so we can track it and if it happens again that we can tell him that his “behavior doesn’t align with our third place promise, and I need to ask you to leave. You can come back tomorrow and we will try to better serve you then” or something like that.
What are your thoughts? I am still pretty shook, but I mean I understand these things happen and some people just want to ruin your day, I just have a hard time moving past and not dwelling and obsessing, especially over what I did or didn’t do in the situation.
I say good riddance.
I am a shift supervisor I take de-escalation training, I know how to handle situations like this, and all of my baristas told me I was nothing but polite and calm, yet after that interaction I shook for about an hour and just wanted to cry.
He did call the store to complain. My SM, of course offered him the world, and he said he’ll come back, so great… we get to deal with him again… fun. My SM also said to file an incident report for yesterday and today, so we can track it and if it happens again that we can tell him that his “behavior doesn’t align with our third place promise, and I need to ask you to leave. You can come back tomorrow and we will try to better serve you then” or something like that.
What are your thoughts? I am still pretty shook, but I mean I understand these things happen and some people just want to ruin your day, I just have a hard time moving past and not dwelling and obsessing, especially over what I did or didn’t do in the situation.
leeblissy 51 points 11m ago
honestly our policy of bowing down to the most ridiculously obnoxious and rude customers is awful. i hate that part of the policy and i really wish starbucks as a company encouraged baristas to put their foot down instead of getting walked all over like this.
I'm so sorry you had to deal with that, like even as a shift I'm sure its not easy to just let someone who's CLEARLY in the wrong just yell in your face like that. he should have been banned from the store as soon as he raised his voice at you.
I'm so sorry you had to deal with that, like even as a shift I'm sure its not easy to just let someone who's CLEARLY in the wrong just yell in your face like that. he should have been banned from the store as soon as he raised his voice at you.
starfire03 15 points 11m ago
Starbucks corporate enables bad behavior from customers. I said for years before I quit what's the point of written policy if we're just gonna say yes to everything customers request?
That DM hated me 😈
That DM hated me 😈
Chemical-Less 4 points 11m ago
IM SAYING!!!! it is absolutely insane to me that my shifts want us to simply take abuse and serve these shitty people day after day. idgaf im not letting someone speak to me that way
starfire03 4 points 11m ago
My favorite thing to do as a professional customer is call other people out for their bs. I'm the person going to the manager like, look your baristas were awesome this person was a jerk.
Responsible_Snow7109 12 points 11m ago
No fck that. This makes me so mad. Whenever us baristas try to clarify shit with a customer, they get so damn irate and irrationally angry. "Oh im guna call ur manager and im never coming back!!! U must be new and u must be the person that didnt kno what they were doing yesterday🤬😡" ....ok sir i was just trying to make sure if u want medium or blond roast...?? Like do they not realize how ridiculous that makes them sound to say all that shit after just a fckin question? He probably got embarrassed because whenever people say something and we ask what they mean, they get so mad because they start to feel incompetent and embarrassed when we ask em a question cuz they start to feel insecure about not knowing how to order....like dude im jus trynna make sure u get the correct drink cuz its pricey. Like wtf is wrong with people? Can anybody answer a question without yelling and calling a manager??? Big babies..
dregonzz 10 points 11m ago
This is wild to me. At the same time though, my little psychology degree brain is wondering what else in life he cannot communicate properly, leaving him misunderstood.
If he can't listen to a barista explain and understand the difference between two kinda of coffees, imagine his lack of understanding about the world, and romance, and parenting, etc.... so unfortunate especially having such a meltdown over it.
It's sad. I commend you on your work. We've all been chewed out by their kind.
If he can't listen to a barista explain and understand the difference between two kinda of coffees, imagine his lack of understanding about the world, and romance, and parenting, etc.... so unfortunate especially having such a meltdown over it.
It's sad. I commend you on your work. We've all been chewed out by their kind.
jazzysoranio 3 points 11m ago
Ugh, in my opinion if a customer doesn’t want to come back then let them go away and never come back. What that manager doesn’t seem to understand is that customers likes that also REPEL away the good customers. They do a lot of damage to the 3rd place environment and fill the space with negative energy. They also suck out all the resources because rather than focusing on the customers that want to actually have a good time we have to focus all our energy on these bad ones and then have no time or energy left afterwards. Bowing down to the worst customers IS also sacrificing the best ones.
nonogender 3 points 11m ago
this man has probably been like this for 10 years and people stopped questioning him. he either wants blonde and medium roast together or just wants blonde and thinks he's right. if it were me i'd just give up and give him one of those two options and not question him again because he sounds awful
HiiAlberta 2 points 11m ago
The third place policy is corporate bs, dont get me wrong we need to be polite to the customers. That said in this instance I dont feel as if it’s necessary to ensure this one is compensated
awkward_cat_man_ 2 points 11m ago
I would have gave him a decaf americano lol “decaffing” rude customers is my favorite.
hotlinee 2 points 11m ago
Fuck those kinds of customers. So rude. I would have given him a half pike, half blonde and called it a day.
ockaners 1 points 10m ago
To me a blonde is a medium roast the way Starbucks roasts.
Necessary_Low939 1 points 11m ago
Honestly I’ll just give him a pike if he tries to start an argument. If it’s early, I’ll give him half pike half blonde.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.