Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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can we sell someone just a cup of cold foam? (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by lanceofruin
basically title. a newer partner was on register and let someone purchase just a cup of vanilla sweet cream cold foam. based on what i heard/remembered, we’re not allowed to do that. so i mentioned it to the customer and of course they got mad and said that every other starbucks does it for them and the ssv in charge was like “i think we can do that. i don’t see why we can’t” and just gave it to the customer. i spoke with another shift and they said that we’re NOT allowed to do that. i’d really appreciate some clarification and if possible where i can find it in writing saying what the official policy is. thanks
edit: i really appreciate everyone’s insights. i couldn’t care less about starbucks as a company, so i wasn’t really searching for an answer to determine how to like maximize profits and upcharge and whatnot. my stupid neurodivergent ass gets held up on “rules” sometimes, especially when a place like starbucks really pushes the idea of having standards and ensuring things are consistent across locations, so when there isn’t a clearly defined standard for something, i get a little too invested in it lol. especially because my SM is the type to tell us to do something a certain way one day and then next week he’ll criticize you for doing it the way he told you lmao. but really, thanks everyone!
edit: i really appreciate everyone’s insights. i couldn’t care less about starbucks as a company, so i wasn’t really searching for an answer to determine how to like maximize profits and upcharge and whatnot. my stupid neurodivergent ass gets held up on “rules” sometimes, especially when a place like starbucks really pushes the idea of having standards and ensuring things are consistent across locations, so when there isn’t a clearly defined standard for something, i get a little too invested in it lol. especially because my SM is the type to tell us to do something a certain way one day and then next week he’ll criticize you for doing it the way he told you lmao. but really, thanks everyone!
dazedandconfusedhere 195 points 10m ago
I agree I’d charge for a cold milk, sub vanilla sweet cream, and probably click blended instead of vsccf for the more accurate charge
pinkjortz 43 points 10m ago
Now that we have the buttons, I’d do it like this
mylegalusername 5 points 10m ago
I like this.
Intelligent-Hunt-906 2 points 10m ago
Curious as to why “Blended”?
sidneyistrash 5 points 10m ago
since they're charging just for the vanilla sweet cream itself not the foam they'll ring it in as blended so it's vsccf not just vsc
Intelligent-Hunt-906 1 points 10m ago
Interesting, it should be 1.25$ depending on location. No extra charges
[deleted] 1 points 10m ago
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piratedashel 162 points 10m ago
I would charge for a cup of milk and then up charge for VSC
CBukowski808 156 points 10m ago
Why not? Charge for a cup of cold milk and up charge for the cold foam. If the customer wants to pay for stupid, I’ll let them buy it.
bitternpc 39 points 10m ago
I asked a manager this question before out of curiosity and she said she’d celebrate such an easy order lol
darkwolf523 37 points 10m ago
Uh I think we sell that as milk? Plus sweet cream cold form button?
QueenOfTypos337 30 points 10m ago
with sweet cream now being a milk option, charge for a cold milk/sweet cream and add cold foam i guess
JibJab1994 1 points 10m ago
That’s what I do.
Easy_Appointment_828 18 points 10m ago
i would just sell the ingredient for $1.25 and not give af LOL
Arevrec 1 points 10m ago
Nah it’s people like you that annoy other stores
[deleted] -1 points 10m ago
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Apprehensive_Flow219 16 points 10m ago
From what I understand you can’t sell just modifiers/ingredients, they must be added to a base beverage. i’m kind of hazy on what that qualifications are for a base drink, but i think it depends on the request. for a cup of cold foam, i’d probably ring in a cold milk and specify the ingredients in the foam. sbux will be adding vsc as a milk option soon, so maybe a short vsc, blended? maybe reach out to your manager about the standard if there is one.
PoppyPancakes 3 points 10m ago
A base drink is just something that they have to pay for. So like water wouldn’t be a base drink since it’s free or just adding the modifications to a “[grande]” isn’t a correct charge
The main thing Starbucks has coached on is ringing people up for a custom iced tea when they just want a modifier, but in this case it makes more sense to use the cold milk as a base drink
The main thing Starbucks has coached on is ringing people up for a custom iced tea when they just want a modifier, but in this case it makes more sense to use the cold milk as a base drink
FireDragonSabo 10 points 10m ago
We have a guy who does this at our store. We charge a cold milk and then sweet cream cold foam.
PoppyPancakes 6 points 10m ago
You can’t sell cold foam at its modifier charge (just $1.25 where I am) but like others are saying you can charge for a cold milk and then substitute cold foam
Starbucks has made multiple announcements about us not being allowed to sell just modifications. So when people were trying to buy water with matcha and water with strawberry pieces they put in the hub that we are to charge them for a custom iced tea as their base drink and then add those modifications
Starbucks has made multiple announcements about us not being allowed to sell just modifications. So when people were trying to buy water with matcha and water with strawberry pieces they put in the hub that we are to charge them for a custom iced tea as their base drink and then add those modifications
wok3less 6 points 10m ago
why not?
lanceofruin [OP] 14 points 10m ago
because i had been taught that we’re not allowed to sell beverage components on their own. vanilla sweet cream cold foam is not a beverage itself, it’s something that you have to add to a base beverage, so i assumed that selling it on its own would fall under this description and thus it would be against policy to do it
wok3less 6 points 10m ago
i get that. i think at this point theyve accepted ppl will drink that shit raw considering its under the milk options now
stringtherapy321 4 points 10m ago
Your neurodivergent ass is NOT stupid. This kind of shit has made me infuriated and exhausted at every job I’ve worked at. (So far that I became a trainer to try to deal and make sure it didn’t happen to other people but that was its own special hell). Anyway, I understand! Hang in there with your cool AF brain! It’s easy to get down about it especially after dealing with this kind of stuff all day everyday. And thanks for sharing what it’s like because I wish more people got this!
lanceofruin [OP] 3 points 10m ago
ah thanks for your kind words! i appreciate it :)
Have_Donut 4 points 10m ago
Seems like a dumb way to get a stomach ache
Beneficial-Weird-817 2 points 10m ago
I think we would just ring it up either as a cold milk made with vsc, or just as a custom tea latte. I see no real reason why we couldn't sell it at all, but it definitely would cost more than 1.25. It's the same with waters with strawberries added and such, if people are really willing to pay 4-6 dollars for a grande cup of strawberry water, or foam in this place, they can have it ¯\_('-' )_/¯
Myebix 2 points 10m ago
lmao I actually sold this last night. cup of water, no water, add vsccf. the guy was nice so my shift and I agreed to give it to him like that, otherwise I would've done a custom iced tea or smth.
Intelligent-Hunt-906 1 points 10m ago
My manager & SBUX Policy is make the moment right! Even to the point where we get repeat people who make up random stories to get free drinks. Why because he’s like get it to them make them happy! :/ Lady orders the same drink every time and there’s always a mistake and she asks for a remake every time so we started taking the old one back and now she doesn’t as for one anymore
Garrickrelentless 1 points 10m ago
I'm kind, and have only run into this a few times. But I just ring up a Tall [Drink] with whatever foam they want. It's $1.25 for like five ounces of foam (which isn't a real drink IMO), so I don't see a reason not to ring it like that. On a tangentially related note, I've been really enjoying blonde shots with just salted caramel foam on them. Gives me buttered popcorn vibes.
Arevrec 2 points 10m ago
People like you are the reason they say “well they do it at the other stores” and it’s the most annoying thing
Garrickrelentless 1 points 10m ago
I don't think a cup of cold foam is a big ask. It's like a side of cream that they have to pay for in exchange for it being a little more labor intensive. My policy is that customers are not the enemy; corporate is. What would your protocol be for someone asking for a cup of cold foam?
Arevrec 1 points 10m ago
Because it’s not the same as cream you have to make the foam with a blender and make more sweet cream the more you give out so you are basically making more work for yourself. I would charge them a cup of milk because if they really want it they’ll pay for it.
Garrickrelentless 1 points 10m ago
That's the thing, though. They're not getting a cup of milk. They're getting a cup of foam. 100ml of sweet cream is 3.81 oz, which is less than the minimum of 4 oz. we're supposed to charge for when they ask for a side of cream. A cup of water is free, so a cup of foam should be, in essence, a cup of water with no ice and no water, plus foam. $1.25. I'm not in the practice of charging customers for stuff they're not getting. The wholesale costs of things sold in the store are sufficient to make corporate billions every year, at the expense of us (labor) and customers (money). So the way I see it, I'm on the same side as the customers.
Torirock10 1 points 10m ago
i think it has to be charged as a cup of milk and then charge for cold foam but idk..
smoolbeean 1 points 10m ago
depends. some just want extra in like a short cup i would just charge that as the $1.25 but anything bigger i would charge as a cold milk and make it with the sweet cream mod
mylegalusername 1 points 10m ago
As for Starbucks’ policy, we cannot sell beverage components by themselves. We’d have to charge for a drink and then for the foam. We had a customer like this for awhile and generally, we’d change for lower priced drink then charge for VSCCF. I’d usually charge twice since it’s double to fill a grande, but I was pretty much the only one not just charging her the VSCCF by itself smh.
DuctTapeDildo 0 points 10m ago
I be selling just ingredients. Not yelled at about it yet. If they do, I'll sell a tall water with vscf and just make it myself for them with no water. What they gon do? Fire me for 1.25?
Enough_Raise_7167 1 points 10m ago
At least that customer wanted to pay for it. I had one throw a fit because they got a grande in a venti cold brew and didn't want to pay for the extra vsc. 😑
chemicalkitties 1 points 10m ago
It was a whole saga at my store but the tldr was our DM told our SM no, because it’s a “drink component”, not a “drink”. In other words a modifier. If there was no drink defined (ex [venti] add cold foam), we were not supposed to sell it. So you could theoretically do something like Venti cold milk, sub vsc, ex vsccf, but the whole reason we got to that conclusion was because we were trying to basically refuse service to a group of problem regulars we had so f that lol
_hippocat 1 points 10m ago
At our store, we charge for cold milk and then charge for cold foam in the milk
Impressive_Yellow_86 1 points 10m ago
Honestly idk. I do custom latte or tea but no one usually comes in for just that, maybe once or twice in my entire time working. If we aren't suppose to, I wouldn't do it. I've never heard anything about this so I don't 100%.
Ok_Beautiful_4056 1 points 10m ago
My manager told us to ring it up as custom tea/latte 🤷🏻♀️
veggiemans 1 points 10m ago
someone tried to order this at the window the other day and my shift rang it up for them so i guess
Traditional-Emu-1403 0 points 10m ago
It’s not that deep. Just charge for milk.
PoppyPancakes 0 points 10m ago
It can be that deep though. Especially with unionizing, Starbucks is looking for the tiniest of ways to separate partners. The company has rules and expectations laid out for selling modifiers, and they can and will fire you for not doing what they want.
I’m not saying this in a shitty way but if you- the whole- want to keep working for Starbucks then right now it is that deep. But if this job is just a stepping stone or a way to make some money right now then yeah it’s not that deep
I’m not saying this in a shitty way but if you- the whole- want to keep working for Starbucks then right now it is that deep. But if this job is just a stepping stone or a way to make some money right now then yeah it’s not that deep
Traditional-Emu-1403 -1 points 10m ago
No, you’re getting upset over cream. If someone says you can sell it, what do you care if the company that often exploits us is losing any money? The amount of waste we have… it literally doesn’t matter. Arguing over it is too much. You weren’t the one to do it so what do you care if someone else did? It’s her job and her choice.
junetheeggth -2 points 10m ago
lmao why do you care?
Affectionate_Fart -16 points 10m ago
So honestly I’ll upcharge THE SHIT out of it.
I’ll only do a tall or short and then do VSC and add dairy for the upcharge (it’s like an extra $2.00)
Or I’ll do VSC with Vsccf add dairy , if they want foam.
I have no problem selling it because it’s better then them bitching at me about how they get a venti latte with 3/4 HWC, 1/4 2% and 13 pumps of vanilla….and whatever else modifiers.
Besides. We make it by the batch…
What you could likely do, to deter them from ordering it is do a small milk, add all modifiers (dairy, VSC, Vsccf, no ice) and it’ll likely be a $5-6 drink…
I’ll only do a tall or short and then do VSC and add dairy for the upcharge (it’s like an extra $2.00)
Or I’ll do VSC with Vsccf add dairy , if they want foam.
I have no problem selling it because it’s better then them bitching at me about how they get a venti latte with 3/4 HWC, 1/4 2% and 13 pumps of vanilla….and whatever else modifiers.
Besides. We make it by the batch…
What you could likely do, to deter them from ordering it is do a small milk, add all modifiers (dairy, VSC, Vsccf, no ice) and it’ll likely be a $5-6 drink…
Jewicer 14 points 10m ago
this is so…🫠
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