Green Siren
Central, TX
Female, 26
After working all day in a cubicle, I'd spend my nights as your friendly, neighborhood Starbucks barista! I remembered your name, made each drink exactly to your specifications and did it all with a bright smile. I've served celebrities, worked both drive thru & cafe stores, worked every holiday and have kept the customers from knowing about all the craziness that goes on behind the scenes... until now. Ask me anything.
Yes, they are just labels that Starbucks uses for their sizes. It makes sense when you know that in Italian, grande means large and venti means twenty (a large hot cup is 20 oz). However, most of us don't care if you say small/medium/large instead!
No, that would just create more work for me since I'd have to remake multiple drinks. For me personally, the best way to get back at a rude customer is to be extremely friendly and nice, while serving a perfectly made drink. Then what would the rude customers complain about?
I think a lot of it has to do with Starbucks being a fairly safe place for a person to get a hot cup of coffee/water, use the restroom and just get out of the hot/cold weather for a few minutes. It's mostly up to the individual store managers on policy, but generally, as long as the homeless person isn't asking customers for money or being disruptive, we never kicked them out (in any coffee shop I've worked at, not just Starbucks).
I've been sitting on this one for awhile because I realized most of the crazy behind-the-scenes stuff is really only funny to other partners... But there were a couple things that happened to me or while working that were really nuts. 1) A woman (probably mentally unstable) threw a ceramic mug at the co-worker on register when we caught her trying to steal our tips 2) A woman slipped and fell right in front of me when I was on register, hitting her head. We had to call 911 and while paramedics were tending to her, people were stepping OVER her to get to the register to order their drinks. 3) One time a customer brought an entire desktop computer in and set it up at one of the tables. Other customers were not pleased!
Investment Banker
What's a 100-hour work week like?Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Do you ever operate on guys who get their jaws busted in a fight?HR Executive
What's the worst reaction you ever witnessed during a lay-off?In the US, Starbucks doesn't franchise, all locations are corporate stores.
Yes, everyone hired by Starbucks is trained under the same barista training program, whether you have prior experience (like me) or absolutely none (like a co-worker hired at the same time as me). Aside from general skills that are useful in any workplace, like a strong work ethic, good customer service and time management, Starbucks does value a positive attitude. Smile!
Customers notice and complain A LOT. Usually it's only a 5-10 cent difference, but you'd think corporate doubled prices by the amount of complaining. I get it, the raised prices are annoying, but your barista had no input on that decision and quite frankly, doesn't care. If you want your concerns to be heard, write a complaint to corporate. They read every letter/email.
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