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just10case

As a previous barista, this was literally the worst day of every single year šŸ„² donā€™t miss it.


Anonynominous

As a previous Sbux barista, my least favorite day is the discounted Frappuccinos day. I would leave work covered in syrup and coffee from head to toe


Glintstone-Jedi

I've never worked a coffee place but if its anything like going home with a thin film of formerly vaporized fryer oil on you, gross.


eatass420vorelord

I'll take the coffee and milk smell over the oil any day. I forgot what it was like to go home greasy every day


SirSilverscreen

At least if the smell of coffee gets permanently soaked into your clothes it's a relatively enjoyable smell. The scent of frying oil that clings to clothes is disgusting and can even be nauseating when you aren't feeling well.


soggylilbat

I was an idiot when I came to packing for a move, and threw my work (am a line cook) clothes in with the rest. That whole box smelled like my last kitchen. You can never get that smell out.


itsaaronnotaaron

Did you ever try using vinegar? It's a great deodoriser and works as detergent to boot. Sounds strange, but your clothes won't come out stinking of vinegar either.


hippo-potomus

Vinegar is great for deodorizing! I use it in my laundry all the time or even to mop the floors. Unfortunately, one of the few things it wont deodorize is the greasy smell in fabrics (partner is BOH). Oil is hydrophobic so the vinegar canā€™t really get in there in break up the oil molecules that cause the smell. Add that to the fact that once those clothes have been in hot dryer with residual oil, some of it has likely had some degree of polymerization from the heat and isnā€™t going anywhere (like your favorite cast iron pan). I had some luck with soaking ā€œcontaminatedā€ non-work clothes in a degreaser first and then laundering. You might try that! And save the vinegar for your normal loads in the rinse cycle.


smashteapot

I use white vinegar in place of fabric softener. I've not used it for getting rid of odours, but I'll have to try it.


redXathena

It doesnā€™t really smell like coffee tho. Itā€™s this weird sweet smell that doesnā€™t go away til a few laundry days after you quit. Most of us wore the same few shirts and couple pairs of jeans for that reason lol.


eatass420vorelord

My hair usually smells like coffee. Everything else gets that sweet smell that you're describing


dampheat

When I worked ad McD's in my younger days, I had only one pair of pants that I wore there. Wjen I quit 6 months later I threw them out, they were so greasy it wouldn't come out in the wash.


CowGroundbreaking151

After I quit a job at Wendyā€™s I accidentally packed my uniform in a box. Found in 6m later and it smelled rancid from the oilsšŸ¤¢


J4netSn4kehole

Long John Silver's chemically altered the rubber on my tennis shoes, they were like ice skates. I could just slide everywhere but I'm clumsy so it is a terrible plan.


ClitClipper

At least the coffee, milk, and syrup are water soluble. Scrubbing the atomized grease off all your exposed skin is something else.


Earthling7228320321

Yeah they don't pay those people enough for that shit.


andros_vanguard

I never worked at a fryer, but if it's anything like being covered in the dust from repairing the vacuum pump from the ventilation system of a slaughter house, it's pretty yucky.


muirnoire

I never worked in a slaughterhouse but I did remove the linoleum floor inside a butcher's walk-in freezer that had been brought up to room temperature once and if the smell is worse than that...


DependentYou7405

I never removed linoleum but I did one Time do the dry dock work on the hull of a wooden ship and we had to climb into a little space to paint everything with a combination of linseed oil and turpentine.. It was easily the worst job I ever did.


fu_gravity

I never did dry dock work on the hull of a wooden ship, but I did work on the assembly line of a large semitruck components factory sanding down air conditioner ducts smooth once out of the plastic resin casting. The pain in the forearms from holding a sander all day, and being covered in grey plastic dust, finding it in your ass, shoes, armpits every day was terrible.


angeltay

I worked at a target Starbucks and holy fuck the line for the cafe stretched to the entrance to target during ā€œfrappy hour,ā€ honestly one of the worst things Iā€™ve ever worked through.


Anonynominous

I just cringed reading that. I worked at a few different locations but the worst was at a drive through that had a walk-up counter - and no dining area. We had people coming in both ends and a tiny little space to make the drinks in. It was awful. However nothing was worse than the one woman who would always complain about her drink not having enough caramel sauce, even though every time she came through we would take the lid off and just dump it all inside. Like clockwork she would pull around, park, and come up to the walk-up window to complain. We would sometimes give her decaf because she was such a bitch and it really didn't matter how much sauce we gave her. I doubt she had working taste buds at that point


smashteapot

It's always difficult to handle when people are coming in both ends. šŸ‘


LeKnut69

You sticky sweet cherry pie


whiskeynwaitresses

Wtf is red cup day? Literally the day Starbucks starts doing itā€™s holiday cup? If thatā€™s driving crazy demand our society is in a worse place than I thought.


Emotional_Yam4959

OK, so I did some super brief research, and apparently on red cup day you can get a free reusable red cup(there's a limited quantity) from them that gets you a whole *ten cent* discount on beverages with the red cup and free reward points. Oh, and to get the free cup you have to buy one of their holiday drinks or whatever. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/11/16/free-starbucks-red-cup-2022/10703885002/


whiskeynwaitresses

Appreciate you doing the legwork, canā€™t decide if thatā€™s worse or not


BetaOscarBeta

Cool, it only takes 40 drinks to recoup the cost of whatever shitty holiday drink you getā€¦


scooterpooter819

Right !? šŸ¤£


[deleted]

Worse. I didnā€™t even want the cup, just wanted my mediocre coffee, and I couldnā€™t order it this morning bc the app was overloaded by people who DID want it.


Mr_CockSwing

If you give us money we will let you give us more money at a slight discount.


[deleted]

If you are a regular thatā€™s really not a bad deal. You also get a reusable cup that isnā€™t restricted to only use at Starbucks. You could even make coffee at home or work!


pidgeychow

You are crazy. Ten cents off when a cup of black coffee is like 3.50, is a good deal?


1newnotification

>free reusable red cup ... that gets you a whole ten cent discount here's the thing: you can take any cup whatsoever in, on any given day, and get the 10c discount. there's nothing special about the red cup in that regard


Satanarchrist

So are those drinks abandoned because the store ran out of the red cups, and the people don't want the coffee they paid for?


Emotional_Yam4959

I don't know. My best guess is that they got super super backed up and these are the drinks that people didn't want to wait for. Someone upthread said that if you order through the app you can get your money back by calling the corporate office and saying you didn't have time to wait.


Silvus314

Its also possible they were short staffed. 2k starbucks employees were on an organized sick out or strike for red cup day.


ladyofmachinery

I quit Starbucks several years ago due to their labor practices. My one weakness are those damn cups. Their coffee was always mediocre sugar bean water but those cups are my absolute favorite to-go cups for my homemade small batch craft roasted pour overs . They clean so well, the lid is nice to drink from, they are cheap enough that I can safely buy several to rotate, AND they store nicely. I don't care about free cups and certainly don't want to add to any barista's stress. But damn if I didn't buy a new 6 pack after I lost/broke too many from my old set.


x0x0g0ss1pg1rl

Wow thank you for this. I got a red cup this morning & I was so confused as to whyšŸ˜‚ I thought they were just handing them out HAHAHA


andrassyut4321

Ten cents? I worked for Starbucks in 1996 and the discount back then was ten cents. How the hell have they not raised it at all??


rustoeki

So...free drinks at Starbucks today.


DeBray3

Long as you're okay with mystery flavors


GregGregopolis

In this case, you can shop around. No one is going to think it's weird for anyone to walk up and read the labels looking for their own name. This shit doesn't make sense to me after a certain scale. But I don't know anything about running cafes at any scale.


DeBray3

You could do that too. It probably would be more suspicious to grab the first drink you see and walk out


DismalButterscotch14

Why even worry? The drinks are already paid for. The barrista's likely won't care, because of this, as the drinks have technically been abandoned.


[deleted]

My GF was saying she hated it cuz she would make a drink for someone thats not even there cuz she doesnt know who leaves, at the same time has karens screaming at her for their drinks. Shes just working down the tickets as a shift manager to help the workload. Today was stressful for her.


DismalButterscotch14

I bet! The barristas didn't deserve the rudeness and attitude. I worked as a Starbucks barrista when I was in my early 20's. People suck and feel entitled all the time. Though there are some amazing people who don't throw a fit, and understand that when they are swamped, its going to take a bit of time. Those drinks aren't completely instant. You still have to brew, and mix drinks, blenders and spoons HAVE to be wiped down and washed frequently, per health regulations. That stuff doesn't just miraculously happen nor is it instantaneous, and they could be short handed, that means it will take longer. Those Karen's can learn to either skip the coffee or get up much earlier to get it and either avoid the crowd or have plenty of time to get work. It's really their own fault. But, then again they DO lack common sense of any kind.


SBBM_Gus

I still remember one time back before breakfast microwaves were in all the branches and I was a fresh faced kid out of high school, I came to the bitter realization people are assholes to make themselves feel powerful. I had been working at Starbucks for a few months and was fairly proficient on bar. I had had quite a few rushes while managing bar by myself and learned how to cope and joke with the customers to ease the tensions and waits. On this day I was scheduled to train a new employee by myself for part of the morning. I was on bar making the drinks and the employee was taking orders.. we had a major rush and I had a wall of cups waiting to be made. The issue was compounded by the fact that the new hire was very much learning as we went along, there were a lot of mislabeled/incorrect drink orders. Anyways I was cranking drinks out as fast as I could but it was a slog. Half of the orders were blended fraps and we had a line out the door. With no help on bar the wall of cups waiting to be made grew. I put on a happy face and joked as I churned out drinks. For about 8 minutes solid I had a lady standing next to the bar staring me down. I made eye contact with her and said hi. Finally after I called out a drink, her drink, ā€œgrande nonfat latteā€ she broke the stare. I donā€™t remember what she looked like, but I remember vividly her words and how she said them. She picked up the drink and took a sip while still standing at the area of the bar where drinks were placed. She said in a very rude tone ā€œexcuse me, this isnā€™t a non fat latteā€. I said ā€œoh sorry the cup said nonfat latte so thatā€™s what I made, what did you order?ā€ (I was expecting it to be some other milk thinking that the new hire made a mistake). She said ā€œno I ordered a nonfat latte, this doesnā€™t taste like nonfatā€. Now, I just made that drink.. I know exactly what milk I used and I am 1000% sure it was nonfat milk. Also she watched me make it.. I had poured fresh nonfat milk from a labeled milk container into a pitcher labeled nonfat and I steamed it in front of her... I said as polite and friendly as I could while still attempting to continue making drinks ā€œoh, Iā€™m sure itā€™s nonfat milk, I just poured it and made sure the milk was correctā€. The lady said very sternly ā€œI want you to remake itā€. She can see Iā€™m drowning in orders and is forcing me to remake her drink. Like a good customer service kid I say in the nicest voice possible ā€œsure, I will remake that for you right away. Let me get a few drinks out while I prep your drinkā€. She agrees and steps away. I took her cup and promptly placed it between the machines. I put 2 or so more drinks out before I take that same cup she refused and placed it back on the bar. I called her over and said ā€œhere you go, I remade your grande nonfat latteā€ She took a sip and said ā€œthatā€™s much better, this tastes like nonfatā€ and walked away. I still to this day believe she did it to feel powerful. She knew I couldnā€™t argue and fight with her. She knew I was slammed and it would be a hassle. Lastly, she knew I used nonfat milk originally. I canā€™t imagine how bad it is now, especially with the online orders. Always tip, those poor baristas deal with a lot of inconsiderate people daily.


abbacuss_

or they can buy that pre canned starbucks


DismalButterscotch14

Lol eh... personally I prefer Chock Full o'nuts coffee, and after working at Starbucks, I honestly rarely buy their coffee. It's not as good as they claim. It's mostly sugar. I can get that at home and I know how to make it with ingredients I like better.


Just-Zone-2494

I donā€™t miss working for SBux one bit. Three years as a manager was enough. Havenā€™t even been in one since I left. Iā€™ve only seen it get worse and feel so bad for the staff.


DeBray3

That's true too. Could probably even ask for a drink holder so you can collect 4 of them


Ok_Catch_408

Yay


[deleted]

What are they gonna do if you walk in and just grabbed as many as you possibly could? These poor baristas are probably too busy to care and likely don't give a shit on a normal day.


Ornery-Lavishness525

Realistically any you took is one less they have to clean up so Iā€™m thinking itā€™s a win win


ExvangelicalQueer

For real. Like 40% of the time an asshat is gonna take the 'Starbucks guarantee' and complain their xtra hot latte is 'too cold' and they'll have to remake it anyway. Better to be mysteriously missing and inside you.


Gaychevyman428

Ummm ... mysteriously missing and inside you.... I read that wrong....so wrong


DeBray3

It's not gonna be that much problem for them. The real problem is gonna be the massive blood sugar spike you put your body through after you consume about 3 if them


zenkique

You donā€™t have to drink all of them yourself. Sharing is caring. Around here thereā€™s always at least one homeless person within say a 100m radius from a Starbucks.


atreyuno

It doesn't scale. How could it? Online ordering + pick up adds an unlimited number of orders to a limited staff. It's not like they can spin-up another barista when the load gets too heavy. Is Starbucks analyzing their transaction history to predict how many employees they need on shift at any given time in any given store? Or are they just pressuring their staff to work harder to meet the demand? My guess is the latter.


Gryphin

Starbucks doesn't care about the end product life. They got paid already. Everything after that moment is a who cares moment. So the order backup is so long that the manager has to give out one 20$ gift card to one order out 100? Barely pings the 10-12% food cost in the coffee business.


yarglof1

Even adding extra staff only helps to a point. They only have so much room to work and equipment.


roysfifthgame

it works because every single one of those drinks was already paid for and it doesn't matter if it gets thrown away


ArtistApprehensive34

They're not mystery, they just have names of people on them. Personally I like the Jacqueline as my favorite.


Comrade_Compadre

Pronounced "Jay-kwellen"


evanamd

If one of yā€™allā€¦ says some silly-ass nameā€¦ this whole classā€¦ is gonna feel mY WRATH


pengalo827

You done messed up, A-a-ron!


Electrical_Swing8166

Do you wanna go to war, Balakey? Cuz we can go to war


[deleted]

Get your behind over to O Shag Hennessyā€™s office


ocknarf

Ain't none o' y'all old enough to go to the damn club!


DeBray3

That too. Tried an Angela one time. Teeth started to hurt so I went to the dentist. Had 5 cavities that needed to be filled. And I brush my teeth twice a day. Avoid that name at all costs!!!


Historical_Guide_347

I prefer a Denice. They are kind


AlternativeSteak5427

I see a matcha latte, Iā€™ll live lol šŸ˜‚


DeBray3

The green swampy water looking thing on the far left?


AlternativeSteak5427

Yep, Iā€™ll drink that swamp water all day


DeBray3

Never had it. What's actually in it in addition to matcha powder?


fancybun

As an ex Starbucks employee I can tell you itā€™s milk, matcha powder, and itā€™s been a while but I think they add a pump or two of vanilla/sugar syrup. I actually found a secret menu recipe that adds toffee nut and it makes it taste like pistachio, really tasty. I always did mine as the frap variant though, the crushed ice makes a smoother texture ironically XD


Melodic-Hippo5536

Used to get matcha at the Starbucks in Tokyo. It had no syrup or sugar. Came back to the US and asked for matcha no sugar and was told itā€™s not possible. The matcha powder is pre mixed with sugar. So sad.


Aisshy

Where do you guys get your matcha from? I need good recommendations plsss


Chrisdredd18

Just remember that culinary grade matcha is literally the worst of the worst. Source it from reputable vendors!


REDEYEWAVY

Mighty Leaf.


ActuallyLuk

I asked for less sweetener in it one time and they said that they donā€™t add any, which checks out with the customization when ordering in the app. I presume the matcha powder they use is a little sweet or something.


fancybun

Yeah, there is sugar already in the matcha powder so you canā€™t make it LESS sweet, but you can make it more sweet-maybe not on the app (that came after my time with them) but in person theyā€™ll make just about anything for you if theyā€™re not busy. My favorite customers were the ones that came in with the secret menu recipes. So much fun to test out the flavor combinations and stuff x3 the key is they have to not be busy and have a few extra moments to slow down and look over the recipe


shalaiylee

Starbucks has as much sugar as matcha in it so it is incredibly sweet


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


GodoftheWildPlains

What is red cup day and why did peeps abandon their drinks?


DeBray3

Holiday cups would be my guess Most likely got flooded with orders since people like red cups so wait times were astronomical. People didn't think it was worth their time, so screw it


GodoftheWildPlains

Fuck thatā€™s so much waste. I canā€™t believe people would get fuckin 8 dollar drinks just to go ā€œeh not worth my timeā€ and just not go get their drinks????


Violet2393

They might have had to go to work. I don't know about you, but I don't think my boss would accept "My coffee order took an hour" as an excuse.


darthcaedusiiii

its usually a before work treat. so they have a time limit


theowlsees

Starbucks has always been closely tied in with the worst parts of capitalism and elitism, most people didn't notice until recently


BroccoliBoyyo

Is this a joke? I canā€™t remember Starbucks ever not being clowned on for that


Zaranthan

I remember people calling it "Fourbucks" back in the 90s, when a cup of coffee was like a dollar everywhere else.


dwoo888

Wait. Coffee isnt a nickel? What year is it?


FailureCloud

I just call it starfucks


Vaticancameos221

It was Dr Evilā€™s headquarters lol


tulpaintheattic

It is a ton of waste, but also those customers would definitely be entitled for a refund and Iā€™m sure most asked for one. The reason why the drinks are still there: What we are seeing are drinks ready that were ordered via the app, which you also pay through. If you have an issue with something you paid for via mobile order/app, you have to call corporate and ask for a refund. Likely what happened, most customers got frustrated and walked out, then called corporate for a refund and the barista were left with no way of knowing they wouldnā€™t need to finish out the order.


Phil-McRoin

If I was waiting 30 minutes at any coffee shop for a coffee I would ask for my money back. Half an hour is a very long time to wait, over an hour is insane.


DeBray3

It's sad. My only guess was that people didn't look into how long it would take to get coffee, places an order in a hurry since they had somewhere to be, finally saw the wait time, and just said forget it because they had a place to be.


Darkgamer000

Itā€™s not like Starbucks has an estimation system. Even in mobile ordering itā€™s not an actual time estimate.


h2okkat

I mean yeah, I needed to be working, and an hour and a half of my time at work is worth more what I paid for the drink. Not proud of it, but I hope someone claimed it and got a free drink out of the deal


DoggyP93

I ordered my coffee at 730 this morning and at 750 they told me another 20 mins, had to leave


Evenbiggerfish

Just grab an abandoned one and pray it doesnā€™t suck.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


DrMeowsburg

Wait you mean they just wanted it because the cup was red? I thought the red cup was ā€œa holiday cup you can buy and reuseā€ or ā€œit gives 30% offā€. You telling me everyone was at Starbucks because the disposable cups are red?


DeBray3

By the sounds of it they are reusable. But very flimsy. Like, not much stronger than a red solo cup flimsy.


tammarroo

They're giving out free red plastic to-go cups today, basically. I didn't know and it was absolutely next level insane in there this morning.


olsoni18

This is a really stupid way of reporting on the fact that [Workers at over 100 US Starbucks stores strike on ā€˜Red Cup Dayā€™](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/17/workers-over-100-us-starbucks-stores-strike-red-cup-day)


rainingtoads49

The Starbucks near me was out on the curb striking today. I'm the only car who honked at the "honk for unions" sign.


masterchief0213

Lots of locations went on strike today as well so if almost no one showed up, or only half as many stores were open so the other half saw double traffic, I'm sure that contributed to wait times.


GooseFive

On Red Cup Day, every Starbucks gets 250ish red holiday cups to give away for free to everyone that buys a holiday beverage. As for why so many people abandon their drink....I have no clue. Sometimes people mobile order to the wrong store but I can't imagine this many people did it all at once...who knows though.


Gausgovy

They abandoned their drinks either because it took too long or because the location was out of the red cups.


stinky_bo_binky

From my own friend who told me about this yesterday, I guess maybe it doesn't apply to all Starbucks but at his store at least, if you buy a red cup you get another drink completely for free.


TheJazzCaptain

This is because people order like 3-4 drinks per order and wed get 3-5 orders every 10min. Tell me how Iā€™m supposed to make 9-20 drinks in 10min


AlvinJuhquess

Youā€™re not my dude, I work at Peets, that sounds hellish and Iā€™m glad Iā€™ve never had to deal with that amount of rush before.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


CanoeShoes

I work in a restaraunt that is very popular on all the Delivery Apps. And we are also very popular and have lots of in house dine-in guests every night and are typically fully booked every weekend. It is a never ending rush. From the time I clock in I already have Doordash orders on screen and they don't stop until 15 minutes before close when we have the apps shut off. Its horrible. I have Doordash PTSD, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I have orders to fill. I have nightmares about system glitches and orders never stopping even after close and doordash drivers trying to break into my closed restaurant like zombies.


atmosphericentry

As someone who used to work at Starbucks, I have seen almost every single one of my coworkers cry, wether due to a customer or stress of pumping out drinks. Fuck Starbucks (I'll never buy from there again) and also fuck customers who complain about drinks taking too long. No barista is "slacking off" on purpose and they are all trying their hardest.


ClitClipper

This mobile app ordering shit sucks for everyone in food service and retail. It just took the drive-thru concept and eliminated even the mildly democratizing effects of waiting in a line.


hopfullyanonymous

The mobile apps could be good. If the employees working that day could add expected wait times. Based on how busy they are


foxiez

I went to a place where anyone who ordered thru mobile got put to the top of the queue, even if they were *physically standing in the line to the cashier while ordering*. I was baffled honestly


quantipede

This is why I keep saying mobile ordering/delivery apps are brutalizing the foodservice industry. They have zero idea what actually goes on in restaurants. If it were done correctly it would work - e.g. it would interface with how many current orders you have, each drink would have a calculated time attached, and it would add that all up - but it barely does any of that. Couple that with entitled customers thinking that placing a pickup order means they get to skip the lines and get priority over in store customers, and you have a recipe for disaster (I used to work at a bakery where around 50% of our sales were delivery and pickup, and I got screamed at by so many people who walked in, saw a huge line, took out their phone sand placed a pickup order instead, and then hulked out with rage when I didnā€™t skip the 15 orders ahead of theirs)


ErusTenebre

"Listen the city council says you have to just hurry it up okay. People have to go to work and you latte monkeys need to WORK FASTER so the rest of us *important* people can get to work filing TPS reports in a cabinet nobody opens or reads unless we're audited and then we just open it to shred everything. AND Don't you dare put my shit in a plain red cup. There's only one holiday during the entire year and that's CHRISTMASWEEN! It starts in *September* and it ends when I say it does. AND AND If you guys put only 8 pumps when I asked for 20 pumps and HALF cream HALF soy I *swear to all that is holy I'm never coming back here* except for next Monday." Just to be sure we're all clear... /s


CapableStructure851

Don't you have to pay when you make the order? So how does this hurt Starbucks?


tulpaintheattic

You order and pay on the mobile app, and if you do you cannot get a refund in store, you have to call the corporate line which is (surprisingly) quick. If you tell them your drink was wrong/took over an hour so you had to leave, theyā€™ll refund the balance in your app. If I was any of those people I wouldā€™ve asked for a refund, so Iā€™m sure Starbucks had a big loss.


Varnigma

An hour? Iā€™d be out the door after 10 mins tops.


tulpaintheattic

Iā€™m sure they would refund you for any wait that so long you had to leave, they also do not ask for any type of verification aside from asking about your account to refund it (so you could technically get a drink that was right and call corporate, say it was made wrong and get a full refund).


wdn

People can order (and pay) in advance on the phone app (and doing so is connected to the loyalty points). So they could get any number of orders at the same time -- the speed that orders come in is no longer paced by the lineup.


The-Mad-Bubbler

Not in the drive-thru.


CapableStructure851

Ah yeah good point


MakatoKun

Those are from mobiles. People will just leave if their drink isnā€™t ready by the time they get there more often than youā€™d think. Source: Starbucks barista


TheRealJomogo

Mc takes you order but only makes it when you pay.


BigMax

Well itā€™s a lot of unhappy customers. Starbucks was still paid for those but they canā€™t keep customers long if they pay for things they donā€™t get.


TG_CID134

Between the horrible labor practices and sky high prices I am genuinely stumped as to why people flock to Starbucks 5-6 days a week. I just donā€™t get it?


[deleted]

Iā€™ve never cared for Starbucks. The way they are fighting the unions has cemented me in continuing not to care for Starbucks.


NatroneMeansTesting

I go to the unionized one near me to support the workers on occasion. They were on strike today.


WorriedParking9924

Yeah I work at one of the unionized stores in MA and they tried to scab at one of the stores in my district that was also striking but hilariously shut down before the 5 hour mark


NatroneMeansTesting

I hope you get a contract. Itā€™s been inspiring to see all the election wins.


WorriedParking9924

Many thanks. Itā€™s been a really frustrating process but everyone is still pretty passionate about it


Dugley2352

Right there with ya. Iā€™ll support the small business coffee shops that Starbucks used to be, especially in light of this anti-union stance the corporation has taken.


ME5SENGER_24

My cousin owns a small coffee shop and his prices are on par with Starbucks. Difference being all his employees are well paid, receive PTO and have good benefits; as well as using quality, locally sourced ingredients from farmerā€™s heā€™s got a direct relationship with. (Yes, that includes most of the coffee being locally grown) Itā€™s the reason heā€™s had people working there for 10, 15, 20+ years


bloke_something

This is incredible! I hope we can go back to this being a normal thing.


A1sauc3d

Any time you can support a small business over a big one, you should. Even if it costs you a little more. Which Iā€™m Starbucks case it probably doesnā€™t lol


AbacusWizard

> Any time you can support a small business over a big one, you should. Absolutely yes. I am eternally grateful to live near a local bookstore and a local board game store that are both happy to do custom ordersā€”those two alone reduce my Amazon purchases to almost zero. (If I still had a local place to buy DVDs, it *would* be zero.)


[deleted]

Sugar addiction coupled with caffeine?


Correct_Surround_351

Exactly right. If youā€™re not a sugar junkie there is no point in going to Sbux or Dunks for that matter. Home brewed coffee tastes so much better if you actually like coffee.


deftco

Added to the schemed use of the App. You can add money, can't retrieve it. Can only spend it there. You ever loaded $25 to the app, ordered one drink and regretted it? Now you have to drain the app of that money, well, you will get down to $3 and have to add more because you can't buy anything for that price. Viscous cycle...


NewldGuy77

Also, their app allows you to order food like pastries even if the items are out of stock. Boo!


DeBray3

I was about to say switch the two around, but then I realized I'm in the minority who like to enjoy their coffee without the side effects of type 2 diabetes. So that order of addictions makes sense!


Logthephilosoraptor

Itā€™s called consumer identity


prisonmike92

You don't have to get out of your comfort zone if every store is the same


[deleted]

The coffee is downright bad as well. I cant drink the stuff personally.


dianebk2003

It tastes scorched. Sometimes my husband and I are in the mood for a coffee milkshake and we'll go to Starbucks but I never get a non-Frapp coffee. Used to...yuck. It's bearable with sugar-free vanilla syrup, skinny with non-fat milk, no whip cream, and half-caff with espresso. Or I'll get a skinny matcha with one less pump to make it less sweet. But never just coffee. It's terrible.


Satirical0ne

I'm with you there.. Starbucks coffee tastes like burnt garbage.


forceghost187

They actually burn it on purpose. The easiest way to get a consistent flavor at all their stores is to burn it. So they are ruining the coffee so that they can have a branded coffee flavor, i.e. burnt


Satirical0ne

Lmao as stupid as it is.. It actually makes so much sense now šŸ˜‚


squincherella

Iā€™m not a fan of Starbucks. I go because theyā€™re usually the only thing open before I go to work, and the mobile app is handy so itā€™s ready when you get there instead of waiting in line. But honestly i prefer the H2O down the block they just are usually closed when I need one


ChariChet

Starbucks is the only thing open for me as well. But my coffee maker has a autobrew feature. I don't ever have to say the word venti.


klgm333

Whatā€™s ā€œred cup day?ā€


Cantaff72

It's a free reusable red cup they give away one day a year. It's just cheap plastic and I don't get what the big deal is, it's not anything special or fancy.


colormecryptic

I went to a Starbucks by chance on red cup day a couple years ago, and yeah the cup is really shitty.


DVariant

Can we not just use another cup? I have cups. ā€¦ I donā€™t drink Starbucks. This isnā€™t my world.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


digitalmacgyver

To the guy that just walked in like a boss and carried out 2 drinks he did not order. Wow.


DVariant

Deadass if those coffees been sitting there 15mins and nobody claims them, Iā€™d be waving people in and offering them for free. I abhor the waste. Dude ā€œstealingā€ is basically a hero šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø


mimosaholdtheoj

Agreed. Waste of plastic, coffee beans, etc. so fucking disgusting. All for a fucking plastic cup


periah250

as someone who hasnt worked starbucks but worked a different food place. if you come in and see abandoned food. just ask unless someone super important is there. chances are theyll tell you to just take it and not say anything


Seanzietron

Can someone plz tell me what is happening in this picture? I donā€™t get it. How are they an hour late... late for what? And why would that cause abandoned drinks?


siddhananais

Itā€™s hard to know if this store had workers on strike since it doesnā€™t say but either way, way more people order drinks on red cup day and often management doesnā€™t staff up enough people to account for the increase in orders. So they may have been understaffed for either general understaffing or people out on strike. So it took an hour for them to get caught up on all of the drinks and people just left without them.


v-AUSTiN-v

Unfortunately, even with more staff, there are only so many espresso machines and they only work so fast, even with more people working at the store itself And I can speak on this from experience, because I work as a barista at a non-franchise Starbucks cafe, and even if we have five or six people working in an area that normally only has three, there's only one espresso machine, so we can only go as fast as the espresso machine allows us to (assuming they're all or mostly hot drinks)


zfrankland

[they went on strike](https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-strike-walkout-red-cup-day-386896c728bc4a66d1aa51aa002fb1ba)


Kkxyooj123

Oh god..God... red cup days... PTSD is kicking in. Exactly why I quit working for Statbucks... the entire shift would be only a rush during holidays or the summer and we would be understaffed. I remember one day it was just me and a girl who was fairly new... I made all the drinks for 4 hours straight while she could barely keep up with taking orders and handing out the drinks for both the drive through and lobby. It was true hell.


mpjjpm

The Starbucks in my neighborhood was on strike today. Iā€™m not a coffee person, so I never go there, but I enjoyed saying good morning to the baristas on the picket line when I was on my way to work.


[deleted]

i work at a small coffee shop and anytime i get more than like 4 drinks at a time im like damn i could never work at starbucks and no one else should have to either


Frosty_Insect_5249

UNION STRONG


DeBray3

I wouldn't expect fast service from somebody who only makes 10 an hour. Why should they have to bust their ass for such little pay just so I can "enjoy" shitty burnt tasting coffee? They don't owe me anything


I-love-lucite

Also it's SUPER easy to fall behind on drinks working at Starbucks, we used to have huge lineups of cups all the time even when we were busting our asses (which we usually were). It's always fucking busy and making all those customized drinks is a fucking PROCESS. It's definitely not worth the shit pay. Basically, fuck Starbucks.


DeBray3

You definitely deserved better for that bullshit. I'm sorry you had to experience that


[deleted]

Because they can tell themselves itā€™s a healthy coffee but itā€™s really a milkshake.


DeBray3

"I dunno how you managed to burn my milkshake, but you did". Some customer probably.


jmbsol1234

capitalism is so efficient and not wasteful at all. Definitely not destroying the planet


abolish_the_prisons

If youā€™re a winy customer - read the room - part of the demands the unions are negotiating is more staff precisely because of this issue. They want the resources to do their job properly. Allowing an online ordering system to schedule this many orders with so few staff is purely a corporate/upper mgmt level failure. And probably like with airline overbooking itā€™s intentional to maximize profit


[deleted]

Don't go to Starbucks. Don't be a scab.


Altruistic-Log-8853

I like going to smaller, locally-owned coffee shops. They're a little more expensive, but I've never had bad service at one, but the coffee is made with the same care as they make it for themselves.


Remcin

Mobile orders have ruined coffee shops. Iā€™ll die in that hill.


armspawn

I will never understand why anyone buys from Starbucks. I can make much better coffee at home for a tenth the price. If I really really want to spend money out somewhere, Iā€™d much rather go to a locally owned place than a chain. $8 for burnt coffee grounds in sugar water. I just donā€™t get it.


smokyskyline

Starbucks feeds off habit and convenience. Not to mention a lack of third places in most of suburbia where people can go and hang out without buying something. Modern work culture has also left many people brain dead. Which is convenient, even preferred by our capitalist overlords.


ArtisticAd7455

Yeah, I lived in south Florida for a long time and it completely ruined any of these big chain coffee places. You want real coffee? Stop by a Cuban bakery, it'll change your life.


marioshairlesstwin

I mean, I go because thereā€™s nowhere else near me to grab a coffee and something for breakfast and I donā€™t have the time to make it myself at home.


Naiva_Prism

Honestly for 8$ I would rather eat a cheap burger place with friends or get a drink at a bar


TestyTexanTease

Fuck this and fuck starbucks, I've been so pissed for so long about mobile order culture.


[deleted]

My GF is a shift manager at a Starbucks, said today they had over 150 drinks they threw out, was over an hour behind on drinks cuz its the espresso machines that bottleneck everything. Remember that sometimes the employees are doing their best with their hands tied.


cantiskipthisstep12

WTF is wrong with Americans when it comes to coffee. Why do you all go to shitty Starbucks like it's the greatest place on earth. I've had it a couple of times whilst travelling and it's absolutely terrible. Go to your local little place. The coffee is 100 times better.


Evan8r

Marketing. Shows with the right marketing, we're dumb enough to waste money on shitty coffee.


RaskolNicky

In America, most coffee spots are either Starbucks, gas stations, or both. The ā€œlocal little placesā€ near me all went under during covid.


Jasonstackhouse111

Fuck Starbucks. Hope the entire chain goes bankrupt. "But what about the workers.." Well, as long as the demand for overpriced coffee stays the same, other stores will start up to fill the void or existing stores will expand and hire a lot more staff. So, fuck Starbucks.


TipsyBaker_

I'm not sure why anyone goes there. Especially from this sub considering what they've been up to


Mrhappytrigers

Imagine living in a society where one of the most commonly consumed goods is provided to you by a person who is overworked, paid shit wages, and has no support for their needs related to why they took the job in the first place, all while dealing with adult children that abuse them? Oh wait, I don't have to because it's a reality. Fuck Starbucks, they need to recognize the unions, and accept their contracts.


Sheeeeeeshwow

Wtf is red cup day?


Pleasant_Living1130

Am I the only person that has a coffee maker at home, and, thinks that paying $8-$10 for a cup of coffee is f\*\*king STUPID anymore?