Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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94
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Setting: DT during an 8hr rolling peak (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by MurToTheRay93
Had a lady order an iced coffee today thru the drive thru.
“Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get started for you?”
“I want an Iced coffee”
“What size?”
“Medium, with vanilla!”
“Would you like the classic sweetener as well?
“Uhhh, sure?”
“Ok I have a grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, anything else for you?”
“No”
“Okay your—“
“Cake pop!”
“What kind of cake pop can I get you?”
“The pink one!”
“Ok, I’ve got you down for a Grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, and a birthday cake, your total is (insert correct price here)”
They pull up and I have their drink and cake pop ready, I hold the drink out the window
“Hey i have your iced coffee and cake pop”
I hand over the iced coffee and the passenger stares at me
“This isn’t what I wanted, it’s supposed to be a latte!”
I look at the driver
“I repeated your order back to you twice, grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, is that not what you ordered?”
Driver rolls her eyes
“Well I thought I was ordering a latte, is that not what a latte is?”
“No it is not, here is your cake pop it’s gonna be (whatever the cost was)
I hand the driver the cake pop, and she tries to hand me her card, I grab the PED and hold it out the window.
“It’s gonna ask you a quick question, then you can insert your card”
She follows the prompt and I grab her receipt
“Soooo are you gonna bring me a latte?”
“No but if you would like to order one we can make you one”
“Yeah that’s what I want!”
I ring her up for a grande iced vanilla latte and hold the PED out the window
“That will be (I have no ability to memorize these prices)
“You expect me to pay for that?”
“Yes”
We stare at each other for what felt like hours
“This is ridiculous.”
She proceeds to drive away.
I think to myself, “Damn. I love working at Starbucks.”
I take the next order
“Hi welcome to Starbucks, what can I get—“
“Large Carmel brûlée macchiato frappachino extra hot with coffee!”
Pulls forward without saying anything else.
TL:DR
Post Christmas customers are a different breed.
“Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get started for you?”
“I want an Iced coffee”
“What size?”
“Medium, with vanilla!”
“Would you like the classic sweetener as well?
“Uhhh, sure?”
“Ok I have a grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, anything else for you?”
“No”
“Okay your—“
“Cake pop!”
“What kind of cake pop can I get you?”
“The pink one!”
“Ok, I’ve got you down for a Grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, and a birthday cake, your total is (insert correct price here)”
They pull up and I have their drink and cake pop ready, I hold the drink out the window
“Hey i have your iced coffee and cake pop”
I hand over the iced coffee and the passenger stares at me
“This isn’t what I wanted, it’s supposed to be a latte!”
I look at the driver
“I repeated your order back to you twice, grande iced coffee with vanilla and classic, is that not what you ordered?”
Driver rolls her eyes
“Well I thought I was ordering a latte, is that not what a latte is?”
“No it is not, here is your cake pop it’s gonna be (whatever the cost was)
I hand the driver the cake pop, and she tries to hand me her card, I grab the PED and hold it out the window.
“It’s gonna ask you a quick question, then you can insert your card”
She follows the prompt and I grab her receipt
“Soooo are you gonna bring me a latte?”
“No but if you would like to order one we can make you one”
“Yeah that’s what I want!”
I ring her up for a grande iced vanilla latte and hold the PED out the window
“That will be (I have no ability to memorize these prices)
“You expect me to pay for that?”
“Yes”
We stare at each other for what felt like hours
“This is ridiculous.”
She proceeds to drive away.
I think to myself, “Damn. I love working at Starbucks.”
I take the next order
“Hi welcome to Starbucks, what can I get—“
“Large Carmel brûlée macchiato frappachino extra hot with coffee!”
Pulls forward without saying anything else.
TL:DR
Post Christmas customers are a different breed.
Responsible_Snow7109 32 points 6m ago
LMAO thats funny. There are handfuls of customers out there who call lattes iced coffee or coffee.
Yesterday at my store, there was a line at the register. My shift supervisor was on ovens in she didn't have any food at the moment but she asked one of the customers in line if they're getting any food and he said no. Then she asked him what he is getting to drink cuz I guess if it was a hot coffee or something then she was going to prepare it before he got to the register. So he said "just a coffee" and my shift supervisor asked him what kind of coffee and if he wants cream or sugar. Then he said "a grande iced white mocha with sweet cream foam and caramel drizzle" so my shift said "ok" lol and then of course she didnt start making it cuz someone else was on bar and she was on ovens
Yesterday at my store, there was a line at the register. My shift supervisor was on ovens in she didn't have any food at the moment but she asked one of the customers in line if they're getting any food and he said no. Then she asked him what he is getting to drink cuz I guess if it was a hot coffee or something then she was going to prepare it before he got to the register. So he said "just a coffee" and my shift supervisor asked him what kind of coffee and if he wants cream or sugar. Then he said "a grande iced white mocha with sweet cream foam and caramel drizzle" so my shift said "ok" lol and then of course she didnt start making it cuz someone else was on bar and she was on ovens
Roastedandtoasted99 18 points 6m ago
So, the probable reason for the disagreement may be that Starbucks basically requires us to remake it without them paying for it. So she probably has never experienced that before 😅 Make the moment right
MurToTheRay93 [OP] 19 points 6m ago
Normally yeah, I’m all for the make the moment right, but we were getting slammed. Our peak is usually from 7-9 so that’s the time when we have the most staff scheduled. This was at 4:30ish when we were running a 4 partner play, and we were seeing 35-45 customers per half hour that day. It’s hard to balance everything sometimes and I was losing patience. I didn’t see the situation as “make the moment right”.
Domestica 27 points 6m ago
You did the right thing. The fact that she could verbally state she wanted a latte but didn’t freaking order it with the word “latte” just proves she’s either an idiot or a scammer
Positive-Peak-2211 5 points 6m ago
Agreed! Scamming like this runs wild in my area. The viral videos encouraging and teaching customers about to scam us and "making the moment right" sucks. Just encouraging customers to treat us poorly. I will go the extra mile and more for an nice or just decent human being... cheat the system I don't care just be nice to me. At my store we started taking items back because it was getting out of control with repeat customers claiming we got their order wrong or they got the wrong drink when its because they wanted to keep that one and get a re-make.
ElevatorsAreScary 5 points 6m ago
I agree with what you did here. That wasn’t making the moment right because she was ruining the third place for every other drive thru car behind her. And remaking her drink would ruin peak drive times. I always do what you did, and repeatedly double check what people order. That way it’s hard for them to demand something else because I literally asked three times to confirm what their drink was
shellybean8760 3 points 6m ago
I mean I get make the moment right but also like that’s outright not what she ordered I would have been like okay next time just make sure you order it as a latte and I would have already had her I’ve latte on the way like once she made a face but still charge her for it y’a know.
rnaggie53 10 points 6m ago
Honestly ur dope for not just remaking it. That’s her fault, you gave her what she ordered. If she wants another drink on the menu I’ll charge her.
curiouspeach26 2 points 6m ago
Ughhh some people are so fucking annoying. They don’t realize how these daily interactions will take a toll on the other person. When I worked in the service industry I chose to trust in karma when dealing with Karens. Hang in there friend.
Borobucks 1 points 6m ago
My husband is not from the US and he tells me to bring him a coffee. Or he'll tell my daughter to get him a coffee. He means latte. But one time my daughter brought him a coffee and he seemed surprised. He uses the term interchangeably.
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