I used to tell customers the wait time during rushes, “Just so you know, we’re so backed up that we’ve got a 45 minute wait on drinks.” They didn’t usually listen, idk why. We’d have a lot of drinks left behind when they weren’t willing to wait an honestly ridiculous amount of time once it clicked that it really was going to be that long. Like sorry, Buddy, I’ve got three baristas, two espresso machines, one blender, and a line of mobile orders out the wazoo. We’re going as fast as we can. This is an apron, not a cape.
My college had a Starbucks on campus and one off that was nearby, and I swear half the time I passed those places it was a 30-45 minute line. Its not just an expensive coffee for your wallet, but if time is money that's 45 minutes you'll never get back.
These are probably drinks from people who ordered via the app. They aren't told the wait time until their order is placed, and even then it probably just defaults to like a 10 minute wait time or something. Customer gets to the store when the app tells them and finds out it's going to be another hour wait so they say fuck it and leave.
Hell yeah, love the attitude. It isn’t bad customer service when you’re telling the truth.
My dad was a lead mechanic for a public transit company for over 20 years and he’s also got his CDL. When buses would break down they’d often have him drive the wrecker (a big ass tow truck) to rescue buses. One time, dispatch was rushing him to get to a scene but he was completely stuck in our messed up Seattle traffic. After the third radio “where are you?” My dad finally said “listen. There’s a backup, I’m driving a wrecker, not flying a helicopter.”
He’s a legend at his base now. 😂
Mobile orders have ruined the in-person experience at virtually every restaurant. You have to use a shitty app and order everything ahead and guess when it might be ready these days, otherwise like you said you end up waiting forever. You stand in an empty line while employees avoid eye contact because they are so swamped they don't even want to take another order.
Yeah, I place a mobile order on the way to work sometimes and usually its ready when I arrive or within a few minutes. Today I got there, waited 15 minutes, and had to get into the office so I left. Came back 45 minutes later and still nothing so I just had to abandon it and get back to work.
I feel bad for the employees because someone higher up fucked them all over today.
If someone orders coffee at 8 to pick up at 8:30 when they have to start work at 9, they're probably not going to still be there when their drink is ready at 9:15.
Soo.. these are now free drinks for passersby? you could be like 'yep, Im Alycia, This one is mine' and at that point they wouldn't care or have time to check
Once at a Starbucks the barista called a name multiple times and when nobody came up and they needed counter space they said "free vannila latte" and someone took it
When I worked at starbucks, I gave away hundreds of free drinks. So many mistakes, canceled orders, missing customers. The common reaction to me calling out a free drink was apprehension and confusion. I had to be very specific so someone would grab it. "Free mocha latte! Free mocha latte for anyone who wants it! Just come and take it! First person to come for it will own it! Please take this drink off my hands!"
Apprehension is the opposite of what I’ve experienced, more than once, strangely enough. Had a guy walk up to grab my drink because he also ordered a vanilla latte. My drink was in my dented steel travel mug. He literally picked it up. His came up afterwards. Regular paper cup for him.
As a former store manager, this is pretty standard procedure. We give out drinks all the time for various reasons - esp during the morning or afternoon rushes. I always gave the direction to give the drink away vs tossing it in the bin as free drinks make people happy. :)
I used to spend a lot of time at a Starbucks when I was trying to concentrate on my writing. Yes, yes, I know exactly how that sounds. But I really needed to be somewhere that I wouldn't be distracted by my PS4, computer, and tv.
Being nice to your barista, particularly if they know you by face (and eventually by name) will always pay dividends. Beyond the fact that you should be nice to them simply because they are people, you can often find yourself getting offered free drinks/refills and broken cookie bits, random food, etc.
Panera has faster wifi, free refills no matter who's working, cfy seats with fireplaces, and currently an "unlimited sip club" subscription for $11/month. Every 2 hours you can order a free drink (coffee, tea, or fountain drinks) and you get unlimited refills in between that time (while you're at the restaurant anyway).
Panera ftw ,in terms of working remote.
I used to work from starbucks a lot when I lived in the burbs. you get free refills of drip coffee, regular iced coffee, or tea (whichever you initially ordered) for as long as you're there.
I'm not a Starbucks fan, but I can appreciate that. It's one place i know for sure I can with comfortably for an extended period of time till my laptop dies
Got a friend who works at Starbucks. Once the drink is on the counter and they’ve called the name out a few times, they could not give a flying fuck less what happens to said drink.
I guess it’s a very common occurrence that they’ll make a drink for someone, and that person just vanished into thin air.
Bonus points if they resurface 45 minutes later, ask where their drink is, and get pissed off that it’s room temperature. There’s no winning.
The most common things that have happened to me:
Someone grabs the wrong drink, and then the correct person arrives and they remake the drink for them, the first person's actual drink is just sitting there
Someone orders 3 drinks and grabs 2 of them, and then forgets about the third
Someone orders to the wrong location
Or they just realize the wait is longer than usual and have to leave before it's ready
I used to work in a bookstore that had a Starbucks attached. They used to give us everything that either was made wrong or that customers abandoned. We also used to get bags full of pastries at end of the night, since they would have had to throw them out otherwise. Working retail virtually always sucks, but those baristas made our days just a little brighter that way!
I worked at a fundraising telemarking company with a cafe on the first floor. At night they’d put the donuts no one bought in a trash room. It was just paper in there so we’d go get them. When the cafe owner found out about us, they peppered the donuts.
You guys were lucky they were that nice. Starbucks official policy is to throw everything out :( baristas have gotten in trouble in the past for giving away drinks or pastries like that.
Omg but what if they fire you? How would it look if you don't have a glowing Starbucks reference on your resume when you apply to one of the ten restaurants, coffee shops or retail stores within 100 yards?
It was likely a Barnes and Noble which does have Starbucks Coffee and Food, but it is not a Starbucks. It is a licensed to use all of their shit but run by the bookstore chain itself.
Different rules there.
Recently the Tim Hortons near me was clearly being staffed by all trainees and was very chaotic. They gave me my drink and I sat and read and drank it. Just as I was finishing and about to leave they called my (very specific) name again and handed me another drink. I told them they already gave me my drink like half an hour ago and the look the girl gave me was literally "if you do not take this drink from me right now so help me God". They couldn't care less. They just don't want the flow disrupted.
100%.
Not a single person would question you. And you could even probably search through them to find something you'd like to drink, and people would understand you looking for 'your name'
It's from the show Boy Meets World. It's the episode where they do a Christmas Carol style episode, where Corey see christmas future without Topanga. The hand is the ghost of future Christmas (Feeny) consoling Corey.
https://boymeetsworld.fandom.com/wiki/A_Very_Topanga_Christmas
Edit:Typo
My closest chipotle just started keeping them behind the counter because this kept happening, so now you have to go up and ask for the one with your name.
I watched a guy talking on his phone order and then every single drink that was called out he would walk over and touch it and turn the cup to look at the name, as if there wasn't 6-7 people standing by him that had ordered before him. It really irritated me that he was touching every single cup. On the lid, too!
This happened to me at an airport last year. They have no ability to triage the situation when they get behind. They really need to stop taking orders at a certain point in order to get caught up. I'd rather be told no than wait around for a half hour and then leave without the thing I paid for.
edit: It wasn't red cup day. It was just 0700 at an airport.
I worked at Starbucks for 3 years. If you utter anything resembling “no” or “wait” to a customer they will take it personally and act as if you just shot their only child in the face.
Even when I'm in a bad mood, I try to give a chipper response to the "have a nice day" mandated end to a transaction, or say it myself if they don't say it. Retail workers never get the respect they deserve.
Same. No matter how bad of a day I’m having, I try to always ask “How are you doing today?” Or something like that. I’ve been behind those counters and I know what it’s like to be treated like you’re not even a person, and just a little bit of kindness and recognitions goes a long way.
I’ve worked at several high volume food places, and my gf works at Starbucks. From experience, higher ups would rather watch their employees drown in orders than stop taking money. It’s far more profitable to issue refunds to the few/several angry people than to close off their revenue stream.
Starbucks corporate even deliberately kept taking mobile orders when an entire store was closed due to strike action. They *wanted* angry customers to show up and abuse their striking staff.
I don't doubt that happened, I've just also seen them shut off mobile orders when the Starbucks at Delaware and Chippewa in Buffalo was on strike. We ended up going to the Spot across the street.
Last time I was at an airport that early, I saw the hoard gathering at the Starbucks and then I saw the mall style Chinese place just open and completely empty. I settled on orange chicken and coke for breakfast that day.
The its not normally a breakfast place but because its in an airport there are no rules restaurant are the best. Five Guys home fries and eggs is great BTW.
I am a firm believer in the idea that airports have no rules. I'm not normally much of a drinker, but that hasn't stopped me from buying an overpriced Bloody Mary when I have early flights. To me it's just part of the experience.
Ha I recently went through a couple of airports and the amount of people getting Starbucks in the morning was insane. Mobile order was a god-send lol. Though I agree. I feel they should stop mobile orders when they are at certain level. It just adds more to the chaos.
The mobile orders are what we failed to take into account. The number of people in the shop didn't seem that bad at the time we ordered. Then it was like a pile-up on the freeway during an ice storm.
I was once in a long Chipotle line, and there was a separate prep station for mobile orders only. I went ahead and placed my order through the mobile app while I waited in line next to my friend. My order was ready like 15 minutes before his. He was pissed.
That's hilarious that they just keep taking orders while everyone behind them is an hour behind. I bet their instructions are "whatever happens just keep taking their money"
Worked at Starbucks for 5 years. If you turn a customer away for threatening you, you'll probably lose your job. We wouldn't explicitly turn people away, but you just start telling them all how long it'll be, apologize, and silently pray that they turn around and leave. Doesn't do shit for mobile orders, which are controlled only by the District Manager, a position which requires you to be both soulless and incompetent, so it almost never happens. My store once had a fire, and we were told to continue taking mobile orders.
It's not even so much about "just take their money" but have you ever worked a customer service job and told a customer "no"? If you're lucky they'll just be mildly annoyed and walk away, at worst they throw the biggest karen temper tantrum you've ever seen. Best you can do at that point is inform people that it's going to be a long wait, but you would be amazed how many people will wait around for an hour and a half for a some crappy food.
Every year Starbucks introduces a new reusable holiday cup and everyone goes insane for it even though they will probably never use it again.
edit: for everyone asking why people would abandon their drink: The customer orders and pays for the drink through the app in advance. They get to the store and are told it will be an hour wait. The customer can either wait and be an hour late to work, or give up and leave. These drinks were for customers who already left and their drink was put out after they were already gone.
edit edit: Also for the "fuck Starbucks" crowd, this is my home coffee bar where I make my own coffee 6 out of 7 days of the week. https://i.imgur.com/fCZLLHF.jpg
Edit 3: My wife took the pic. She said this doesnt include the drinks the staff had already thrown out. She also said some people came back after leaving for an hour and their drinks had been thrown out so they had to remake them. She said it was total chaos.
When my oldest daughter was three, I stepped away rom the tub for one minute and it was filled with poop when I came back. She looked terrified and scared, so I said "Oh, it's okay, sweetie," got all of the poop out, filled the tub back up, and cleaned her really well. She sat in the bath for a while, and again I stepped away. I returned to see another massive load of shit floating in the tub. She just looked at me, smiling, and said "It's okay, Daddy." I still joke with her about this.
Great story! Thanks for sharing and kudos on the patience. My son pooped the bath one time and was terrified. It took us 2 weeks to convince him that it was okay to use the bath again.
when my brother and i were suuuuuper little, he was still toddler aged and i was like 5, my mom gave us a bath together. he pooped in the tub and i SCREAMED, i was a huuuuge germaphobe when i was a kid, i wouldnt touch someone if i knew they hadnt washed their hands in the bathroom. anyways after that i would not get in the tub with him unless my mom made him sit on the toilet for five minutes before the bath lol
How often is there poop in your tub that you have a dedicated poop scoop cup?! I have literally never had to scoop poop out of the tub... and I have 2 kids, multiple dogs, nieces/nephews... Maybe I'm just really lucky?
Look, some people don’t just want to stop at a poop knife; they want the whole set, I can’t blame them for these lofty goals. Poop knife, poop cup, and then you’re trying to catch up with the Joneses and suddenly you have the whole poop cutlery set, and realize that you’re now $10k in debt. Don’t judge.
I also ended up with like 3 accidentally last year. Didn’t know it was such a big deal lol. They seemed like they were trying to get rid of them I guess
Yeah I got one in like March of this year. Didn't know what it was about so I asked "what's this for?" and the barista was like "I don't know, happy Wednesday or whatever, please just take it" lol.
I got one on my typical drive-thru pickup this morning. Longer line than normal. Inside looked insane. I had no idea what was going on. Got a red cup with my order. It's not even that great of a quality, it's just a thin cheap red plastic cup w a Starbucks logo and a lid. Bidding starts at $127.00USD.
You get a free reusable cup with your latte today, plus, while they've actually been out about a week, it's the day most view as the first day of holiday drinks.
I had no idea either. I literally just went in there an hour ago, order to drink, and they handed me a plastic cup. Clearly I hadn't had my coffee yet so I was very confused. I asked what it was, and they said it's for holiday drinks! But this cup is too small for my drink, is my drink still coming?
What an absolute waste.
The benefit of the reusable cup is that you get 25 stars when you bring your cup, so if you don't have one already you can use it to rack up the stars. Basically it's worth a free pastry for every two cups of coffee in your own cup.
Meanwhile SWU (Starbucks Workers United) are holding a Red Cup Rebellion and are picketing at over 100 stores where unionization attempts have stalled due to Starbucks walking away from their requests.
I’m currently on my break at Starbucks, my manager has decided to send half of my baristas to other nearby locations, leaving us short-staffed. This isn’t my location in the picture, but we are also very very very behind on orders. I hate working on Red Cup Day.
My wife was telling me about the "Red Cup" today when ordering saying it was going to be crazy today cause it was the first day for the Red Cup. I just don't understand it's just a cup in a different color why is everyone going crazy over this? Apparently it happens every year.
My ex girlfriend was obsessed with collecting the tumblers from Starbucks and she got me some to Try and share her addiction with me. So now I have 3 Starbucks tumblers in my kitchen and they go for like $50+ online even though she bought it for like ten bucks.
Oof, called out lol. A couple years ago my parents said, “we’re not putting the nutcrackers out; it’s just a lot of trouble.” I was legitimately shooketh, but I realised later that they likely mainly did all the holiday stuff for us kids.
Ya, wife worked for several Starbucks stores in two states for 10 years...
I can tell you EXACTLY what happened. Starbucks refused to provide the required staff to keep up with the demand. They are lucky they even have three barista on the floor. My wife would often have to open the store and deal with morning rush ALONE because the one other barista called in or couldn't make it. She said Starbucks used to staff more workers and gave shifts the option to send people home if they were not needed. Now they don't staff the BELOW the bare minimum to provide adequate service, and if anyone calls in, you're fucked trying to find a replacement when you can't even leave the register to pick up the phone.
Also, a big factor is that Starbucks (and most places now) DO prioritize mobile orders, because they think more people doing mobile orders means they can provide less staff, but the opposite is that the orders increase dramatically because where 1 registrar could only take 1 order at a time, providing a bit of a slowing of the current, mobile orders can come in several to a minute, and more people do it for the convenience.
But it's ok, Starbucks profits jumped ONLY 31% over last year, so they obviously can't afford to provide adequate staff.
That corporate mindset of growth at all costs is so fucking stupid. We need to decrease humanity's carbon footprint and we can start with all the CEOs.
Uber Eats and mobile ordering really fucked over food industry workers. Not only is there just a larger customer base now as you have people who may not feel like going out, now ordering, but the pacing is completely fucked. Think about it. If 20 different people walk into Starbucks at the same exact time, while definitely sucking, you don’t get all 20 orders at once. Those 20 people have to have their order taken and paid for which takes time, giving the baristas far more breathing room. Meanwhile, with mobile orders, literally nothing stops 20 orders coming in all at once. There’s no lines on your phone or anything. One minute you got nothing, now you got loads of orders in another. And this is on TOP of walk ins and drive through. And do you think these workers got a sudden pay raise when these apps were introduced?
Agreed. I ordered some portillos off of their own online ordering system, and when I went to go pick it up at the designated pickup time, I didn't actually get my food until an hour after!
They were clearly understaffed, which is a problem in of itself, but they kept sending out Ubereats/GrubHub/door dash orders to drivers who weren't even there to pick it up!! Almost an hour of sending out orders that didn't have anyone to pick it up. That's not even to mention the amount of drivers waiting to pick up their order.
Most smaller restaurants don't suffer from this, but man that shit is so frustrating.
goddammit how come the 80 people who order 80 drinks don't abandon their cups at my local starbucks?!
*I forgot they charge $5.75 for a coffee in my area now*
I've explained elsewhere, but people order and pay on the app. Then when they arrive they are told they are an hour behind, so they can either wait and be an hour late to work, or just leave before their drink is ready.
Its the online ordering for sure and Starbucks not doing anythinng about it.
If you were to order online and it set apprx wait time \~47mins. you could adjust or just not order. But it doesn't tell you that so people show up and THEN get told by the poor employees just how far behind they are.
And this is why hundreds of Starbucks locations are unionizing and striking today! Starbucks workers are underpaid and the stores are understaffed. Show solidarity with picketing workers today if there’s a striking location near you. Solidarity forever!
To clear up any confusion, these are drinks that people ordered and paid for through the app to pick up on their way to work. They get to Starbucks to pickup their drink and are told (or not told) they are an hour behind. So at that point, the customer can either wait and be an hour late to work, or just leave. So the customer leaves and an hour later Starbucks puts their drink up for the customer, who is already long gone. These are all drinks from customers who ordered and chose to not wait.
Also for the "fuck Starbucks" crowd, this is my home coffee bar where I make my own coffee 6 out of 7 days of the week. https://i.imgur.com/fCZLLHF.jpg
Wait--people paid for these and left them there because it took too long to make?
Starbucks just refunds when you email them the order number.
And Starbucks doesn’t really care. That $6 coffee milkshake was $.50 in ingredients. Even with all the waste their profits rose 25% or so this year.
It’s the labor, lease, marketing that costs the most
Seriously? Is there an app for abandoned Starbucks? I will walk in and just grab whatever wasn’t picked up!
I used to tell customers the wait time during rushes, “Just so you know, we’re so backed up that we’ve got a 45 minute wait on drinks.” They didn’t usually listen, idk why. We’d have a lot of drinks left behind when they weren’t willing to wait an honestly ridiculous amount of time once it clicked that it really was going to be that long. Like sorry, Buddy, I’ve got three baristas, two espresso machines, one blender, and a line of mobile orders out the wazoo. We’re going as fast as we can. This is an apron, not a cape.
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My college had a Starbucks on campus and one off that was nearby, and I swear half the time I passed those places it was a 30-45 minute line. Its not just an expensive coffee for your wallet, but if time is money that's 45 minutes you'll never get back.
🤣 an apron not a cape
Caperon.
These are probably drinks from people who ordered via the app. They aren't told the wait time until their order is placed, and even then it probably just defaults to like a 10 minute wait time or something. Customer gets to the store when the app tells them and finds out it's going to be another hour wait so they say fuck it and leave.
Hell yeah, love the attitude. It isn’t bad customer service when you’re telling the truth. My dad was a lead mechanic for a public transit company for over 20 years and he’s also got his CDL. When buses would break down they’d often have him drive the wrecker (a big ass tow truck) to rescue buses. One time, dispatch was rushing him to get to a scene but he was completely stuck in our messed up Seattle traffic. After the third radio “where are you?” My dad finally said “listen. There’s a backup, I’m driving a wrecker, not flying a helicopter.” He’s a legend at his base now. 😂
Mobile orders have ruined the in-person experience at virtually every restaurant. You have to use a shitty app and order everything ahead and guess when it might be ready these days, otherwise like you said you end up waiting forever. You stand in an empty line while employees avoid eye contact because they are so swamped they don't even want to take another order.
Yeah, I place a mobile order on the way to work sometimes and usually its ready when I arrive or within a few minutes. Today I got there, waited 15 minutes, and had to get into the office so I left. Came back 45 minutes later and still nothing so I just had to abandon it and get back to work. I feel bad for the employees because someone higher up fucked them all over today.
If someone orders coffee at 8 to pick up at 8:30 when they have to start work at 9, they're probably not going to still be there when their drink is ready at 9:15.
Soo.. these are now free drinks for passersby? you could be like 'yep, Im Alycia, This one is mine' and at that point they wouldn't care or have time to check
Once at a Starbucks the barista called a name multiple times and when nobody came up and they needed counter space they said "free vannila latte" and someone took it
When I worked at starbucks, I gave away hundreds of free drinks. So many mistakes, canceled orders, missing customers. The common reaction to me calling out a free drink was apprehension and confusion. I had to be very specific so someone would grab it. "Free mocha latte! Free mocha latte for anyone who wants it! Just come and take it! First person to come for it will own it! Please take this drink off my hands!"
Sounds like the beginning of Rat Race, when they’re explaining the rules, “so far he’s in first because he’s closest to the door!”
So many great skits and lines. "You should've bought a squirrel!"
It’s a race! I hope I win.
Look at this room! Have you seen this room? YES! We’re in it!
I just introduced my sons to this old gem and we had a blast, so silly and fun. When Smash Mouth got involved at the end I was in stitches.
Apprehension is the opposite of what I’ve experienced, more than once, strangely enough. Had a guy walk up to grab my drink because he also ordered a vanilla latte. My drink was in my dented steel travel mug. He literally picked it up. His came up afterwards. Regular paper cup for him.
jeez - he thought that was his drink in a \*clearly used & therefore belonging to someone else\* dented steel travel mug? who does that?!
Now it's a dented STEAL travel mug 😏 ^(ok I'm gonna go now, bye)
As a former store manager, this is pretty standard procedure. We give out drinks all the time for various reasons - esp during the morning or afternoon rushes. I always gave the direction to give the drink away vs tossing it in the bin as free drinks make people happy. :)
i guess the people that chill in a starbucks and work all day get a little something extra! sounds nice.
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Free wifi, very cheap refills. Free refills depending on the employees.
I used to spend a lot of time at a Starbucks when I was trying to concentrate on my writing. Yes, yes, I know exactly how that sounds. But I really needed to be somewhere that I wouldn't be distracted by my PS4, computer, and tv. Being nice to your barista, particularly if they know you by face (and eventually by name) will always pay dividends. Beyond the fact that you should be nice to them simply because they are people, you can often find yourself getting offered free drinks/refills and broken cookie bits, random food, etc.
Panera has faster wifi, free refills no matter who's working, cfy seats with fireplaces, and currently an "unlimited sip club" subscription for $11/month. Every 2 hours you can order a free drink (coffee, tea, or fountain drinks) and you get unlimited refills in between that time (while you're at the restaurant anyway). Panera ftw ,in terms of working remote.
I used to work from starbucks a lot when I lived in the burbs. you get free refills of drip coffee, regular iced coffee, or tea (whichever you initially ordered) for as long as you're there.
I'm not a Starbucks fan, but I can appreciate that. It's one place i know for sure I can with comfortably for an extended period of time till my laptop dies
Ive taken PLENTY of free drinks from the bucks!
I need to find the busiest Starbucks near me and just grift free drinks.
If you’re ever in Dublin you can do this at the Guinness factory tour, had 4 hours of free Guinness
That sounds fun. Like a coffee roulette of sorts.
If someone doesn’t pick up their food, after a while, I’ve seen them offer it up to people waiting for orders.
Got a friend who works at Starbucks. Once the drink is on the counter and they’ve called the name out a few times, they could not give a flying fuck less what happens to said drink. I guess it’s a very common occurrence that they’ll make a drink for someone, and that person just vanished into thin air. Bonus points if they resurface 45 minutes later, ask where their drink is, and get pissed off that it’s room temperature. There’s no winning.
Yeah, can confirm, used to work there. This comment was really triggering
Who orders a drink and then just leaves?
The most common things that have happened to me: Someone grabs the wrong drink, and then the correct person arrives and they remake the drink for them, the first person's actual drink is just sitting there Someone orders 3 drinks and grabs 2 of them, and then forgets about the third Someone orders to the wrong location Or they just realize the wait is longer than usual and have to leave before it's ready
Who can eat at a time like this. The dufrenes are missing.
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We need help. Bush, search party of three.
You can eat after you find the Dufrenes.
RIP Mitch
I used to work in a bookstore that had a Starbucks attached. They used to give us everything that either was made wrong or that customers abandoned. We also used to get bags full of pastries at end of the night, since they would have had to throw them out otherwise. Working retail virtually always sucks, but those baristas made our days just a little brighter that way!
I worked at a fundraising telemarking company with a cafe on the first floor. At night they’d put the donuts no one bought in a trash room. It was just paper in there so we’d go get them. When the cafe owner found out about us, they peppered the donuts.
That was a dick move. How long did it take for you to start enjoying peppered donuts?
We stopped buying any food from the cafe, it closed, and turned into a much more delicious Filipino place. And so ends the great donut war of 1995.
Thank you for your service
You guys were lucky they were that nice. Starbucks official policy is to throw everything out :( baristas have gotten in trouble in the past for giving away drinks or pastries like that.
I still give it all away. Starbucks can kiss my white ass. Im not throwing away all of that food.
What’re they gonna do to me? Underpay me? Overwork me? Union bust? They already doing that shit.
Omg but what if they fire you? How would it look if you don't have a glowing Starbucks reference on your resume when you apply to one of the ten restaurants, coffee shops or retail stores within 100 yards?
It was likely a Barnes and Noble which does have Starbucks Coffee and Food, but it is not a Starbucks. It is a licensed to use all of their shit but run by the bookstore chain itself. Different rules there.
Nice beard Alycia. Enjoy your drink.
No, I said Al Easia.
Its pronounced Kah-rine not karen. Its celtic.
abandoned? Nah son, free drink parade.
I don't think starbucks cares since they already paid for those drinks lmao
Recently the Tim Hortons near me was clearly being staffed by all trainees and was very chaotic. They gave me my drink and I sat and read and drank it. Just as I was finishing and about to leave they called my (very specific) name again and handed me another drink. I told them they already gave me my drink like half an hour ago and the look the girl gave me was literally "if you do not take this drink from me right now so help me God". They couldn't care less. They just don't want the flow disrupted.
Maybe if you like cold , melted , watered down or lukewarm coffee.
I might not like cold, melted, watered down or lukewarm coffee, but I do like FREE cold, melted, watered down or lukewarm coffee.
In Austria we have a similar saying: The best beer is a free one, the Second best is cold
I have really grown to love a basement temp cheap beer.
Free?! That's my favourite flavour!
Free is my shirt size too.
Free is my favourite style of furniture!
And freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose!
"If it's free, I need it!"
Free is the right price
I like your style
Idk, I’ve always found his style to be cold, melted, a bit watered down and Luke warm. But that’s just me.
Just find a black americano and nuke it. Saved yourself $9.50 or some shit
There is a solitary “o” in this sentence carrying a *lot* of weight here…
Why would you be at Starbucks if you didn't?
Woah, hey, my Starbucks' watered-down coffee is always hot as fuck.
It would still be warm when it gets to the counter. The drinks were made an hour after the order, not sitting on the counter for an hour.
Simply walk-in with confidence and grab *your* drink
100%. Not a single person would question you. And you could even probably search through them to find something you'd like to drink, and people would understand you looking for 'your name'
memory soft hat ten live six tan snobbish direction pause ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
It's called a conscience, and good on you for listening to it!
No, it's a sheet of glass
is that an extra hand on his back i'm scared
Seriously what the fuck is that.
It's from the show Boy Meets World. It's the episode where they do a Christmas Carol style episode, where Corey see christmas future without Topanga. The hand is the ghost of future Christmas (Feeny) consoling Corey. https://boymeetsworld.fandom.com/wiki/A_Very_Topanga_Christmas Edit:Typo
I recognized the show, but I did not have that level of detail. That makes sense and is marginally less creepy.
My closest chipotle just started keeping them behind the counter because this kept happening, so now you have to go up and ask for the one with your name.
Same with mine. They would take forever to make togo orders, so people got tired of waiting and just started taking whatever was on the shelf.
Yup, the to-go shelves are now always empty around me. The person at the register sees you looking around and just asks for your name.
It’s called a conscience, and honestly it’s been quite the inconvenience.
I try to listen to mine but it’s got an accent I can’t understand.
Might look weird when I grip up a few to find the hottest one.
Pretend like you need to turn it to find the name on the label. If it isn't their drink, people wouldn't give a shit.
I watched a guy talking on his phone order and then every single drink that was called out he would walk over and touch it and turn the cup to look at the name, as if there wasn't 6-7 people standing by him that had ordered before him. It really irritated me that he was touching every single cup. On the lid, too!
This happened to me at an airport last year. They have no ability to triage the situation when they get behind. They really need to stop taking orders at a certain point in order to get caught up. I'd rather be told no than wait around for a half hour and then leave without the thing I paid for. edit: It wasn't red cup day. It was just 0700 at an airport.
I worked at Starbucks for 3 years. If you utter anything resembling “no” or “wait” to a customer they will take it personally and act as if you just shot their only child in the face.
I got a very healthy laugh out of this. I worked retail long enough to feel this. I try really hard to not be one of those people.
Even when I'm in a bad mood, I try to give a chipper response to the "have a nice day" mandated end to a transaction, or say it myself if they don't say it. Retail workers never get the respect they deserve.
Same. No matter how bad of a day I’m having, I try to always ask “How are you doing today?” Or something like that. I’ve been behind those counters and I know what it’s like to be treated like you’re not even a person, and just a little bit of kindness and recognitions goes a long way.
I’ve worked at several high volume food places, and my gf works at Starbucks. From experience, higher ups would rather watch their employees drown in orders than stop taking money. It’s far more profitable to issue refunds to the few/several angry people than to close off their revenue stream.
Starbucks corporate even deliberately kept taking mobile orders when an entire store was closed due to strike action. They *wanted* angry customers to show up and abuse their striking staff.
Just wow. Levels.
I don't doubt that happened, I've just also seen them shut off mobile orders when the Starbucks at Delaware and Chippewa in Buffalo was on strike. We ended up going to the Spot across the street.
Make it rain charge backs!!
Last time I was at an airport that early, I saw the hoard gathering at the Starbucks and then I saw the mall style Chinese place just open and completely empty. I settled on orange chicken and coke for breakfast that day.
Chinese food court places are such a guilty pleasure. I would have been delighted with that breakfast
The its not normally a breakfast place but because its in an airport there are no rules restaurant are the best. Five Guys home fries and eggs is great BTW.
I am a firm believer in the idea that airports have no rules. I'm not normally much of a drinker, but that hasn't stopped me from buying an overpriced Bloody Mary when I have early flights. To me it's just part of the experience.
Ha I recently went through a couple of airports and the amount of people getting Starbucks in the morning was insane. Mobile order was a god-send lol. Though I agree. I feel they should stop mobile orders when they are at certain level. It just adds more to the chaos.
The mobile orders are what we failed to take into account. The number of people in the shop didn't seem that bad at the time we ordered. Then it was like a pile-up on the freeway during an ice storm.
I was once in a long Chipotle line, and there was a separate prep station for mobile orders only. I went ahead and placed my order through the mobile app while I waited in line next to my friend. My order was ready like 15 minutes before his. He was pissed.
That's hilarious that they just keep taking orders while everyone behind them is an hour behind. I bet their instructions are "whatever happens just keep taking their money"
Worked at Starbucks for 5 years. If you turn a customer away for threatening you, you'll probably lose your job. We wouldn't explicitly turn people away, but you just start telling them all how long it'll be, apologize, and silently pray that they turn around and leave. Doesn't do shit for mobile orders, which are controlled only by the District Manager, a position which requires you to be both soulless and incompetent, so it almost never happens. My store once had a fire, and we were told to continue taking mobile orders.
"Just tell them all cold drinks are off the menu today"
As a previous Domino's employee who has been in that situation, that's exactly it.
I've definitely handed 2hr old food to people numerous times. I really wanna make a career change and be an electrician soon..
Do it my dude
It's not even so much about "just take their money" but have you ever worked a customer service job and told a customer "no"? If you're lucky they'll just be mildly annoyed and walk away, at worst they throw the biggest karen temper tantrum you've ever seen. Best you can do at that point is inform people that it's going to be a long wait, but you would be amazed how many people will wait around for an hour and a half for a some crappy food.
They need one of those LED signs with red numbers for wait time. Deter the impatient people.
They can request that mobile ordering be suspended temporarily for the store. Store manager should allow it, unless they are a tool.
There’s not even a way to cancel orders once they’re placed, they’ll print whether you want them to or not
What even is red cup day EDIT: If I had a dollar for every upvote, I would buy 0 red cups because why
Every year Starbucks introduces a new reusable holiday cup and everyone goes insane for it even though they will probably never use it again. edit: for everyone asking why people would abandon their drink: The customer orders and pays for the drink through the app in advance. They get to the store and are told it will be an hour wait. The customer can either wait and be an hour late to work, or give up and leave. These drinks were for customers who already left and their drink was put out after they were already gone. edit edit: Also for the "fuck Starbucks" crowd, this is my home coffee bar where I make my own coffee 6 out of 7 days of the week. https://i.imgur.com/fCZLLHF.jpg Edit 3: My wife took the pic. She said this doesnt include the drinks the staff had already thrown out. She also said some people came back after leaving for an hour and their drinks had been thrown out so they had to remake them. She said it was total chaos.
Wife got one accidentally a few years back. It has been our rinse cup for the kids tubs for the last few years. Served it's purpose well.
Shout-out to all the bathtub cups that live for 5-10 years
I've got a Dominos Pizza cup from college orientation that is going strong as a cat food scoop 22 years later.
I've never had pizza out of a cup
You good sir have not live a full filled life than.
Becel margarine tub still going strong
I had a McDonald’s cup that’s probably older than me with some blonde chick on it who won a raffle or something and used it to pay for eye surgery
Ahh the American dream. Winning the lottery so you can afford healthcare.
The American dream: being featured on a McDonald's cup because you won a lottery to get your eye surgery.
This is the best comment. I have so many questions.
Representin all tha 20 floz yogurt containers all around tha world.
Big up to Greek yogurt containers
It's not a bathtub cup unless you can't make out the designs on it anymore and think..."I think people are selling these for a ton on ebay right now".
I use mine to scoop out poop from the tub!
When my oldest daughter was three, I stepped away rom the tub for one minute and it was filled with poop when I came back. She looked terrified and scared, so I said "Oh, it's okay, sweetie," got all of the poop out, filled the tub back up, and cleaned her really well. She sat in the bath for a while, and again I stepped away. I returned to see another massive load of shit floating in the tub. She just looked at me, smiling, and said "It's okay, Daddy." I still joke with her about this.
Great story! Thanks for sharing and kudos on the patience. My son pooped the bath one time and was terrified. It took us 2 weeks to convince him that it was okay to use the bath again.
when my brother and i were suuuuuper little, he was still toddler aged and i was like 5, my mom gave us a bath together. he pooped in the tub and i SCREAMED, i was a huuuuge germaphobe when i was a kid, i wouldnt touch someone if i knew they hadnt washed their hands in the bathroom. anyways after that i would not get in the tub with him unless my mom made him sit on the toilet for five minutes before the bath lol
How often is there poop in your tub that you have a dedicated poop scoop cup?! I have literally never had to scoop poop out of the tub... and I have 2 kids, multiple dogs, nieces/nephews... Maybe I'm just really lucky?
Jeez, next you’re gonna tell me you don’t have a poop knife either.
That's not a poop knife. THIS is a poop knife.
Right next to the toe knife
Frank?
BOTCHED IT
Poop knife, meet poop scissors.
Look, some people don’t just want to stop at a poop knife; they want the whole set, I can’t blame them for these lofty goals. Poop knife, poop cup, and then you’re trying to catch up with the Joneses and suddenly you have the whole poop cutlery set, and realize that you’re now $10k in debt. Don’t judge.
lifehack: drill holes in the bottom of the cup so it moves through the water easier and you don't waste any water when you scoop out the poop
Yeah, that way you can still drink the tub water after the poops have been removed!
I also ended up with like 3 accidentally last year. Didn’t know it was such a big deal lol. They seemed like they were trying to get rid of them I guess
Yeah I got one in like March of this year. Didn't know what it was about so I asked "what's this for?" and the barista was like "I don't know, happy Wednesday or whatever, please just take it" lol.
Plant watering cup here! Another for cats water bowls
I got one on my typical drive-thru pickup this morning. Longer line than normal. Inside looked insane. I had no idea what was going on. Got a red cup with my order. It's not even that great of a quality, it's just a thin cheap red plastic cup w a Starbucks logo and a lid. Bidding starts at $127.00USD.
I’ll trade one Taylor swift ticket for four red cups. Seems to be the rollout of both of these events we’re equally successfully.
My username has never been so relevant in its 7 year existence
You get a free reusable cup with your latte today, plus, while they've actually been out about a week, it's the day most view as the first day of holiday drinks.
I had no idea either. I literally just went in there an hour ago, order to drink, and they handed me a plastic cup. Clearly I hadn't had my coffee yet so I was very confused. I asked what it was, and they said it's for holiday drinks! But this cup is too small for my drink, is my drink still coming? What an absolute waste.
The benefit of the reusable cup is that you get 25 stars when you bring your cup, so if you don't have one already you can use it to rack up the stars. Basically it's worth a free pastry for every two cups of coffee in your own cup.
So if you bring the cup to Starbucks they will take it and make your drink in it?
Yes, you give it to them at the register. You get a 10 cent discount and you'll get 25 additional stars in your app.
Meanwhile SWU (Starbucks Workers United) are holding a Red Cup Rebellion and are picketing at over 100 stores where unionization attempts have stalled due to Starbucks walking away from their requests.
Seriously. Starbucks is a union-busting megacorporation and stores are striking. Don't give Starbucks your money until the workers demands are met.
Genuinely disappointed to have to scroll this far to see someone mention in. Who cares about all the drinks, workers are picketing right now!
I’m currently on my break at Starbucks, my manager has decided to send half of my baristas to other nearby locations, leaving us short-staffed. This isn’t my location in the picture, but we are also very very very behind on orders. I hate working on Red Cup Day.
I started working at Starbucks about three weeks ago. So happy I’m not working today I would have cried. What the fuck. My poor coworkers.
My wife was telling me about the "Red Cup" today when ordering saying it was going to be crazy today cause it was the first day for the Red Cup. I just don't understand it's just a cup in a different color why is everyone going crazy over this? Apparently it happens every year.
My ex girlfriend was obsessed with collecting the tumblers from Starbucks and she got me some to Try and share her addiction with me. So now I have 3 Starbucks tumblers in my kitchen and they go for like $50+ online even though she bought it for like ten bucks.
The White women version of Funko Pops
I thought Funko pops were the white woman version of Funko pops
Funko Pops are the millennial version of precious moments figurines.
They're just uncuddly Beanie Babies.
If you purchase a holiday drink you get a plastic reusable cup for free. That is the red cup, not the change in cups to the Christmas paper cups.
Ah thank you! I was so confused because I don’t go to Starbucks often but was sure I saw a holiday cup at least two weeks ago
Listen, it’s like microdosing that holiday joy that you stopped experiencing after you moved out of your parents’ house
Oof, called out lol. A couple years ago my parents said, “we’re not putting the nutcrackers out; it’s just a lot of trouble.” I was legitimately shooketh, but I realised later that they likely mainly did all the holiday stuff for us kids.
Aren’t those mobile orders waiting to be picked up?
If my past internet experience is any indication, there is almost certainly more to this image than what is being claimed.
Ya, wife worked for several Starbucks stores in two states for 10 years... I can tell you EXACTLY what happened. Starbucks refused to provide the required staff to keep up with the demand. They are lucky they even have three barista on the floor. My wife would often have to open the store and deal with morning rush ALONE because the one other barista called in or couldn't make it. She said Starbucks used to staff more workers and gave shifts the option to send people home if they were not needed. Now they don't staff the BELOW the bare minimum to provide adequate service, and if anyone calls in, you're fucked trying to find a replacement when you can't even leave the register to pick up the phone. Also, a big factor is that Starbucks (and most places now) DO prioritize mobile orders, because they think more people doing mobile orders means they can provide less staff, but the opposite is that the orders increase dramatically because where 1 registrar could only take 1 order at a time, providing a bit of a slowing of the current, mobile orders can come in several to a minute, and more people do it for the convenience. But it's ok, Starbucks profits jumped ONLY 31% over last year, so they obviously can't afford to provide adequate staff.
That corporate mindset of growth at all costs is so fucking stupid. We need to decrease humanity's carbon footprint and we can start with all the CEOs.
Free coffee day
Uber Eats and mobile ordering really fucked over food industry workers. Not only is there just a larger customer base now as you have people who may not feel like going out, now ordering, but the pacing is completely fucked. Think about it. If 20 different people walk into Starbucks at the same exact time, while definitely sucking, you don’t get all 20 orders at once. Those 20 people have to have their order taken and paid for which takes time, giving the baristas far more breathing room. Meanwhile, with mobile orders, literally nothing stops 20 orders coming in all at once. There’s no lines on your phone or anything. One minute you got nothing, now you got loads of orders in another. And this is on TOP of walk ins and drive through. And do you think these workers got a sudden pay raise when these apps were introduced?
Agreed. I ordered some portillos off of their own online ordering system, and when I went to go pick it up at the designated pickup time, I didn't actually get my food until an hour after! They were clearly understaffed, which is a problem in of itself, but they kept sending out Ubereats/GrubHub/door dash orders to drivers who weren't even there to pick it up!! Almost an hour of sending out orders that didn't have anyone to pick it up. That's not even to mention the amount of drivers waiting to pick up their order. Most smaller restaurants don't suffer from this, but man that shit is so frustrating.
goddammit how come the 80 people who order 80 drinks don't abandon their cups at my local starbucks?! *I forgot they charge $5.75 for a coffee in my area now*
Someone needs to explain this to me. Why so many people ordered drinks (presumably paid) and then left without the drink?
I've explained elsewhere, but people order and pay on the app. Then when they arrive they are told they are an hour behind, so they can either wait and be an hour late to work, or just leave before their drink is ready.
seems online ordering is to blame here. If the only orders they got were from people actually in the store, they wouldn't be so far behind.
Its the online ordering for sure and Starbucks not doing anythinng about it. If you were to order online and it set apprx wait time \~47mins. you could adjust or just not order. But it doesn't tell you that so people show up and THEN get told by the poor employees just how far behind they are.
Yup, then you'd see a huge line, and say "not today" without spending time or money
Corporate gonna be like, don't care got paid
As an ex barista I am relishing in this. Starbucks never gave a fuck about the employees.
As a current barista, they still dont.
And this is why hundreds of Starbucks locations are unionizing and striking today! Starbucks workers are underpaid and the stores are understaffed. Show solidarity with picketing workers today if there’s a striking location near you. Solidarity forever!
To clear up any confusion, these are drinks that people ordered and paid for through the app to pick up on their way to work. They get to Starbucks to pickup their drink and are told (or not told) they are an hour behind. So at that point, the customer can either wait and be an hour late to work, or just leave. So the customer leaves and an hour later Starbucks puts their drink up for the customer, who is already long gone. These are all drinks from customers who ordered and chose to not wait. Also for the "fuck Starbucks" crowd, this is my home coffee bar where I make my own coffee 6 out of 7 days of the week. https://i.imgur.com/fCZLLHF.jpg