Starbucks Consumer Reviews - Page 2

I hate customers. There are a lot of things people have experienced at their local Starbucks which disappoints them. Indeed, I too have had that kind of experience at mine in Toronto, but overall that doesn't outweigh the good. People like to complain too much. Sure it's not too much to ask for a drink to be remade, or for something small. However, most customers like to fly off the handle over the most trivial ** and it drives me insane.

For an example, the person complaining about an exchange/refund for the coffee mug. Listen, I've worked retail, and on EVERY SINGLE RECEIPT printed out there is information about what you need to return or exchange that product. YOU HAD BEEN WARNED. But, you'd prefer to waste your time, and theirs to argue against this rule. The rule is there for a reason, and even if to you it's not a good one, it's still there. You neglected to acknowledge that fact, so that's your own damn fault. If you lost the receipt, or failed to ask for one, yes, sorry I do not sympathize. It's your fault.

To the person complaining about a little bit of whip cream falling over the side of a cup, listen, really? It happens. It just does. It's not easy to pour those drinks precisely 100% of the time. So deal with it! If not, kindly ask them to remove it, without being a baby and making such a big fuss over nothing. There is a stack of napkins right next to you. Pick one up, wipe it off, stop being such a baby. To the person who complained about waiting a bit to get a drink before having to rush to work: If I had to rush to work, do you really think I would stop at Starbucks? Absolutely not. I'm smarter than that.

It gets busy, and if I can't be guaranteed to grab my drink in less than a minute, I'm not going. Period. Change your routine, get over it. And even if they were talking to each other, oh well. Maybe you caught them at a bad time. Take your business somewhere else. Or here's a thought! Make your own coffee? Or wait, but then you can't stroll into work with your status-written Starbucks cup in your hand that says you're a sophisticated, mature individual. My mistake.

To the person with the racist barista: your story sounds so unclear. It sounds made up. Maybe you had nothing better to do with your time. If she was actually a racist, I sympathize. But in all honesty, get it in your head that racism exists. You'll never change those racists' perspectives, ever. I'm not saying to be passive, but it's Starbucks. It's not worth it. She'll get hers.

To the people having difficulty working at Starbucks or who hated the experience or the hiring process or whatever. Seriously, you're stupid. Before you apply to a job, you should do some research on it, and all of these negative reviews from Starbucks' employees on the web should have saved you from that experience. Doesn't that just suck? Suck it up, it's your own damn fault.

To the people saying that they will not go to Starbucks ever again, and refuse to spend their hard-earned 3 (give or take 1) dollars on a cup of coffee: Do you really think that your business is all that important? If that's the case, you need to get your head in check, lose the narcissism and get over yourself. You're just ONE customer, and yes there are like-minded individuals who share your view, it's really nothing compared to the billions of people EVERYDAY grabbing something from Starbucks. Listen. I hate to bash on people, really I do.

As a waitress (who does go to Starbucks occasionally) I have learned to appreciate people...until they become customers, until they become so self-obsessed. I'm not saying that you don't deserve "service", but at the end of the day, baristas are there to make your ** coffee not to make your day. And if you don't like that, then I suggest you just boycott. But you wouldn't do that, Dear Customer, would you? Because what then would you complain about? Peace. Oh, and P.S. You can hate me all you want, but what I say is the truth, and the truth isn't nice.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- I recently applied at the Starbucks on 10th and Girls School Rd. and I was appalled at how they handled their hiring procedures. Obviously one of the "values" they don't believe in is competence in their management. I am a firm believer in the old adage, "How you treat your employees, whether they are hirees or have already been hired, is a reflection of how you truly think of your customers." Since Starbucks treated me like they did, I would HATE to see how they truly relate to their customers. First of all, I had to call them to get an interview set up. I was on the phone trying to get ahold of them for two weeks.

TWO WEEKS I had call and call just to see if they had even looked at my application. After that two weeks, the General Manager, **, finally set up an interview. At the interview, she introduced herself and gloated that the company usually believes in promoting from within, but that she was an exception. She also said she had previous management experience in Starbucks, which was rather hard to believe considering she had to have a book to ask questions and the sort. To me, this showed she had no clue what she was even doing.

After that interview, she said that she could not make a decision right now - that they had three people apply for a position and she had to consult her Assistant Manager and that her assistant would call me in for a second interview. I am not sure about anyone else, but, I have never in my life been interviewed by an assistant manager because the general manager of a store couldn't make a decision. So, about a week and a half passes, and I hear from **, **'s assistant to have an interview with her on Saturday, August 19th at 6:15, in the afternoon mind you. So I have my interview with ** and find out that they can't seem to get their story straight.

Remember, in the previous interview, ** had said that they had three applicants for a position. ** said that they had three positions that they needed filled and had "a ton of applicants." So the interview went on as usual and ** assured me that one way or another they would give me a call on that following Tuesday Morning and let me know either way. Tuesday Morning comes, I wake up at about 6:00 in the morning hoping to hear from them. I didn't. I waited all day until I finally had to call them 1:30-2:00 that Tuesday afternoon.

When I call this is the response I get. "We both sat down and went over the applications and we decided NOT to hire you. You just don't have the image we are looking for. I'm sorry." What was that supposed to mean? "The image we are looking for?" What image are they looking for? I don't mean to sound offensive toward anyone, but from the employees I see there, you could say they for the most part are "hippie-ish, new-age" types. There is nothing wrong with that, but what image were they trying to convey? I do have to say that Starbucks was the first ever place that I have ever felt insulted by.

I have already decided that I will NEVER step foot in that store again because of it. I suggest a huge remodeling of that store starting with the management. I have never met such an incompetent management group in my life. Then, to be insulted by them was a huge slap in the face.

SCARBOROUGH, CALIFORNIA -- I went in to Starbucks at Kennedy Commons, Scarborough, Ontario Saturday afternoon. I am handicapped and use a cane or a walker depending on my pain and mobility level. Saturday I was using my cane. I went into the store, used the washroom first and then went to stand in line. It was busy and I was in line for just over 5 minutes before I got to the cash. I placed my order and after I had paid, tucking my cane visibly under my arm to exchange the cash and change, I noticed that there are two small stickers with a handicapped symbol on the back of each cash register.

I read the signs. They read that assistance is offered to the handicapped with table-side ordering and drink delivery. I hadn't noticed the stickers previously because a tall display of mints and other impulse-buying items was sitting directly in front of both signs!!! I am handicapped and I look for such signs and stickers everywhere I go and I didn't see these signs until after any table-side assistance I needed was pretty much over. But I mentioned it to the cashier. I told her that anyone actually in a wheelchair (although not all handicapped people use wheelchairs) would never see the sign because it was completely blocked from sight.

An appropriate response from your staff would have been to immediately remove the display (and find a better place for it later) in order to start providing the service to handicapped right away, should it be needed. The response I got (from the cashier!) was a stunned "I never noticed the signs before." and then she took the order of the person behind me. I grabbed a card from the small stack of cards beside the cash and limped away from the cash to stand waiting another 5 minutes for my beverage. As I was waiting I asked to speak to the manager. I spoke to **. I told her that the display was blocking the stickers offering help to the handicapped.

Maybe I had been expecting too much from the cashier. The cashier probably didn't have authority to move displays but the manager definitely would. ** told me that the staff were all aware of the policy and would notice any handicapped person coming in and offer help right away so it didn't matter if the sign was visible or not. And then she turned away, picked up a box of something and started to walk away. I was stunned. I had picked up the card for the manager of the store at the cash and just stuck it in my shirt pocket. I pulled it out and checked the name and then asked the barista if ** was really the manager because the name on the card is **.

I had to ask the barista because the so-called manager had already moved out of hearing range. I leaned on the counter, hung the handle of my cane on the edge of the counter so I could show him the card I was holding. He told me that ** was the manager on duty but ** is **'s superior. Noticing that I still hadn't left, ** came back, scowling. I have no idea what she was about to say because she finally noticed my cane hanging on the edge of the counter and her face went blank. AFTER I HAD WAITED 5 MINUTES IN LINE AND ANOTHER 5 TO GET MY BEVERAGE AND ANOTHER 5 TALKING TO HER FACE TO FACE SHE NOTICED I AM HANDICAPPED!!

Want to know what ** did? Because this is the sugar topping on the pumpkin scone right here!! She offered me a sleeve for my coffee. She made a big show of reaching into the bin to grab one for me. She then made a move to grab for my Latte. I moved my drink out of her reach, took the sleeve from her and put it on my own drink and left without another word. I went back Sunday at roughly the same time and had EXACTLY the same result. Almost worse in that two of the same staff were there and the line was twice as long as yesterday. So much for ** noticing handicapped people and going right out to help them.

Every table was in use so unless she was prepared to kick people away from a table, the proposed table service wasn't available. I took a few photos in my 10-minute wait in line. I wasn't hiding the fact that I was taking pictures or the fact that I was using a cane but I was still ignored. The displays are still covering the signs. These signs are barely an inch high by 4 inches long. Even uncovered, they are too small to be much use but a token effort to help handicapped people would be nice. This store doesn't even make that tiny effort.

There are huge windows in front of the store as well as double glass doors. Could they not find a prominent spot to display the sticker on the door? I guess if handicapped people could actually see the sign the store might be required to deliver on what they supposedly offer. I'm including a link to one of the best pieces of fiction I've read in a long time. It's called the Starbucks' Mission Statement. (http://www.starbucks/. ca/en-ca/_About+Starbucks/Mission+Statement.htm) While I could easily go through it line by line with proof positive that each line has no basis in reality, I'll stick to the two issues that the 'partners' at Kennedy Commons apparently have never heard of. Ironically enough titled 'Our Customers' and 'Our Stores'.

"Our Customers - When we are fully engaged, we connect with, laugh with, and uplift the lives of our customers€” even if just for a few moments. Sure, it starts with the promise of a perfectly made beverage, but our work goes far beyond that. It'€™s really about human connection." Really? When you're fully engaged? First of all, what does that even mean? Not the 'fully engaged' part, though that's an odd term to use, I'm referring to the 'When'. Meaning that the 'partners' working with machines that shoot out steam that can scald flesh in under a second aren't always 'fully engaged'? That's not just dangerous, it's terrifying! My SON has been near those machines!!!

Have other people never read your mission statement? Maybe I'm just unlucky but in the extensive time I've spent in that Starbucks in the last 24 hours I have not had one single of your partners become even partially engaged with me unless I've initiated it for a negative reason that the mythical 'fully engaged' state would have prevented.

I'm trying to keep this within a 2GB size so I'm not even go into the last two lines of that portion of your fairy tale "Sure, it starts with the promise of a perfectly made beverage, but our work goes far beyond that. It's really about human connection"

except to write, as my room pointed out, judging from the number of times his no-foam extra-hot latte has been produced with a half inch of foam on top and gone cold in 10 minutes, even a promise of a perfect beverage is a huge stretch on what you deliver.

And now we'll move on to 'Our Stores'.

Our Stores
When our customers feel this sense of belonging, our stores become a haven, a break from the worries outside, a place where you can meet with friends. It's about enjoyment at the speed of life—sometimes slow and savored, sometimes faster. Always full of humanity.

With no handicap parking in front of your store, no ramp near your entrance, no handicap entrance button on your door, and the only allowances you make for the handicapped is in the form of a tiny sticker that you have hidden behind displays of merchandise where even the able-bodied would have difficulty finding it, you have the audacity to suggest that I could feel a sense of belonging or think of your store, where I am very obviously not welcome, as a haven?
'Always full of humanity'? It's always full of something but you only got three letters right and you missed the 's' at the beginning.

You had the chance to fix it. I advised your 'partners' the day before that there was a huge flaw in the position of the stickers. They could have fixed the problem by removing even one level of the items for sale. And then they lied to me. Then Starbucks website lied to me.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- I just came from a Starbucks in Grand Central Station in Manhattan (Lexington Avenue between 42nd and 43rd). I tried to order a tall coffee and an apple fritter. The drugged-out idiot at the cash register finally came up with $3.65. It took awhile, he had to figure out which buttons to push. I handed him a 20-dollar bill and said "Wait I don't want any more change in my pocket, I'll give you the change." I reached into my pocket and had ONLY quarters and dimes. I handed him 2 quarter and 2 dimes = $0.70. This baffled him. He couldn't figure out how to enter the overpay and make the change.

He stares at the cash register for several minutes and then pushes some more buttons and I see the cash register flash CHANGE $16.85. Then, scratching his head he starts to try to count out $0.85 from the register. But I say "excuse me, I gave you $0.70 in change so that I wouldn't get more change back and you owe me $17.05." Complete blank comes over his face. He can't fathom it. His lip is hanging down to his chin and his eyes are rolled up. He then thinks a bit and says "no sir, you gave me fifty cents." to which I reply, "why would I have given you "fifty cents" when I was trying to avoid getting change back? I gave you 2 quarters and 2 dimes."

"No sir, one of those quarters was a nickel." And there is no winning, this lunacy goes back and forth and back and forth, and he can't get it. Finally a manager (I think) comes over and asks what the problem is. I now say "I'd like my money back, I'm not buying anything if you are going to rip me off." He says "Fine", looks something up on the cash register, prints something out and then hands me back $20.70!!!!!!!

They still don't get it. AND I DIDN'T GET MY APPLE FRITTER! And it's 11 pm in NYC and everything is now closed and I had to walk to another Starbucks on the other side of the terminal and have a piece of lame dry pumpkin bread for dinner. The manager of this store is a woman named ** and quite frankly if she is any indication of the training of the employees there, she needs to be removed pronto.

I also just called the store to try to speak with ** (after another store told me who the manager was and the phone number) and the other employee who picked up the phone couldn't take the message. She tried, but I could tell that when I gave her the name of my business (I am now back in the office in the Chrysler building) that even asking me to spell it was beyond anything she could comprehend. The world is becoming a sorry place and unfortunately America used to be an awake and aware place, and it's going down the tubulars real fast. WAKE UP PEOPLE!

PLEASANT HILL, CALIFORNIA -- Tonight was at my regularly packed Starbucks when I overheard one of the employees named Jeremy refused service and called police on a regular customer. This guy is always cocky and rude to customers along with the two ponytailed wearing employees who can't get my coffee order correct. We saw him throw a food item and overheard him talk down to the customer. This store is really going down. Always filthy, no cleaning at all day until 1 hour before closing. Jeremy has poor customer service skills. We won't ever return to this Starbucks.

PINECREST, FL 33156 -- Starbucks is not allowed a small bakery located in the same shopping center where they are located to sell Cuban coffee and cortaditos(small lattes. I am a senior citizen. This bakery is near my house. I used to go there every morning to have coffee y Cuban bread toast every morning for $4.00 I think big corporations want to eliminated small business.

SALEM, OREGON -- Starbucks music is so irritating! They should stop trying to selling music in their stores and just play music that makes a pleasant environment rather than a hostile one.

TUCKER, GEORGIA -- I find it quite interesting that most locations promote smoke-free environments, yet allow associates to smoke pot on their breaks "25 feet away". I've witnessed this numerous occasions at one particular location and it is always the same couple people, behind the wing restaurant or in a cute silver car. You cannot tell me management is unaware unless they are one of them. Regardless a clear example of hypocrisy at its best. I can only assume random drug screening is not part of their employment. Disappointing as well as a turn off for this customer of 13+ years.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Well, Very simple - I have noticed that Starbucks is posting a 'bathroom is not working' sign. "Please accept our apologies. We are working to get it fix." Well that is simple - not true. Employees are using the bathrooms all the time. It's happening all over the city. What I don't understand is why they give space and electricity for the client that stay all day using the space for one coffee. When you need to sit everything is occupied. Now no bathrooms no seat. This is crazy. They are getting very unreasonable with their policies. Please give the bathrooms and the space back to their clients.

HILLSBORO, OREGON -- I am a professional in the High Tech industry and currently am employed by such a company. At Approximately 1:30 am on Thursday morning December 22nd, I left work and stopped at the nearby Starbucks. My job is only 3 minutes away from this location. I entered and approached the counter, and the associate behind the counter asked, "What can I get you bro?"

I cannot remember this young man's name but there were only two individuals working at that time, the aforementioned young man, and a young woman. After ordering my beverage I was curious to know if this was an isolated event or if it was his usual method of greeting. The next gentleman in line was Caucasian and some years older than myself. The Starbucks associate addressed him as "Sir".

I am an African-American male, and I have NEVER, and I would like to emphasize the word Never, been called "Bro" when greeted in a business environment. I am also a frequent customer of Starbucks though this was my first time at this location not having been in my current position for an extended length of time.

In this day and age the word "Bro" is NOT to be used or even considered in any proper greeting, and doing so is an invitation to an escalated action. Having patronized other Starbucks locations I assume this is not a company sanctioned form of salutation, and I would very much appreciate an apology, and because this is the closest 24 hour Starbucks to my place of employment, I would like to patronize that location on another occasion and I would like to know what action is going to be taken so that this offensive episode does not happen again.

Had I been a journalist at one of our local papers I certainly would have taken this incident to pen, and written an article on the degradation of customer service. I'm not sure if his reference to the word "Bro" had anything to do with my ethnicity, but I must say, having experienced his greeting of other customers in a much more dignified manner the evidence is daunting.

In closing, I would not think proper business etiquette, where salutations are concerned, needs to be taught in the current business environment. Knowing what to say and to who is just as important as the product being sold as such interactions can make or break a sale.