"From the Comfy Chair": A downer of a Starbucks store visit

BY "JUAN VALDEZ"
310 E. Grand
El Segundo, California

After a brief reprieve from the negativity, we're back to the ole grind.

This store sits in what could be considered part of El Segundo's business district, above the street. In fact, there is parking underneath the store which made for an interesting view from my seat in the lobby. My table was right over the entrance to that parking so whenever I got tired of watching the crew fumble the rush they were trying to handle, I could sit and watch cars drive underneath me.

The line wasn't long when I walked in this cafe store, just a couple of people waiting. I very nearly blew past the front register as it was set up at the head of the production line rather than in the middle. But I caught myself, noted the completely destroyed pastry case and ordered my drink.

It took 3 minutes to get my drink which was fine although the bar partner (and the register partner for that matter) could have used a few pointers in how to be warm and friendly.They were both all business and, from what I saw during the rest of the visit, they didn't even handle that very well.

A line quickly grew at the front registers as I sat and watched.They started with three partners and then added another one a few minutes later. No matter...the line kept growing and eventually stretched out the door. I even saw some people stick their heads in the door, look around, shake their heads and leave. Wait times reached ten minutes. The condiment bar, already in horrific condition, got worse. The lobby, already dirty, became dirtier. And the bathroom? Well, that was dirty too.

About an hour later, they finally served the last of the customers who did hang around. Within minutes, the manager came strolling out of the back, carrying a bag, clearly heading to the bank. She walked right through the disaster of a lobby, stopped briefly at the register to tell that partner she'd be back and, poof, was out the door in a flash. She literally did not turn her head in one direction or the other but stayed focus on her path out the door. If she noticed any of the abundant mess spread around her, she gave no indication. She certainly made no attempt to direct any of the partners in rush recovery or even the basics of getting things cleaned up.

Once she was gone, the partners wandered about behind the counter, doing various tasks in ho hum fashion; none of which had anything to do with customer facing issues. When I left a short while later, the lobby, condiment bar and pastry case hadn't been touched and, by now, the garbage was overflowing.

The store had a weird vibe – the partners weren't even talking much amongst themselves, much less to customers. All in all, a real downer of a visit.

Grade F

Time of day: late morning

# of partners on the floor: 4






Service time: 3 minutes


Business level: busy

Was the bathroom cleaner than a gas station bathroom?: No

Legendary service: No

Would I recommend to a friend: No

COLUMN STATS






* # of stores reviewed where a partner has tried to connect with a customer – 13 out of 31

* # of stores where they've offered samples of anything – 3 out of 31
* # of stores that could have been considered "understaffed" - 0 out of 31

* # of stores with a clean bathroom – 17 out of 31

"Juan Valdez" is the nom de cyber of a former Starbucks manager who became disenchanted with the increasingly bitter taste of the Starbucks experience and fled to the mountains of Colombia where he now rides his burro and ponders the glittering sunsets. On a crisp clear day, when atmospheric conditions are just right and the moon is in the seventh house, Juan can be reached at juanvaldezsbux@gmail.com

Comments

[Midwest-Corn-Fed-Beef-Eaten-Iced-Americano-Drinking- Store Manager]

Juan,

As a store manager I greatly appreciate your posts. They act as a sort of a supplement to the "Customer Voice Report"... Of what to do and what not to do... I must say though come and see how we do it in the Midwest!

[Oversteamed, No Water and No Meloned GRTL]

I feel like this represents my store as of late. Clearly the staff is over it. They are probably tenured partners having worked for the company a while and dealing with change after change after change with little or no front line partner imput.

At my store I know a majority of the partners have their favorite customers and are welcoming to them but that is it. Most of the time there is so much work and so much stress placed on the workload that customer service comes 2nd. I feel like Starbucks is really headed in a dangerous direction. Its like a stack of dominos. First we hurt the partners by making constant changes to how they should do their work thereby adding stress to them. Then we make changes to our beverage/product line up so the customers themselves are lost and confused and let the front line partners know it. This causes more stress to them which reflects in interactions with customers and so forth, so we loose business. It's a no win business model if you ask me.

I mean I have only worked for the company for a little more than 2 years and in that time I have seen things change so much it's appauling. There is no consistency to how we handle the front line staff and stores. There is no consistency across the board. No real honest to goodness leadership anymore. This is hurting our customers our partners and our business. Its a very sad day but if I myself did Juan's report I know a lot of stores would score more Fs than As. Because Juan's model for A is the old Starbucks model...the F is the new A. And that's truly sad!

[spence]

Hi Juan, I am hoping that you revisit some of your previous stores. Have your writings made a difference? Maybe. Or have some of your previous stores just had a bad day?
Having read today's report, I'm wondering if after the hour of non stop customers, were they exhausted and needed a few minutes to regroup?
I am not defending the partners you met today.

[Munchkin]

If a bird craps on your head, do you take a few minutes to regroup, or do you immediately get it cleaned up.

[CoffeeMaster33]

I'd love to see you visit more stores in Canada. We do a lot of things differently. I think one main part of it is that we don't have nearly as heavy of a load placed on the partners as they do in the States. And we just had Partner Appreciation Day yesterday, so partners are pumped!

[Melody]

Hello Juan - I want to touch on what Spence says about re-visiting stores ... I emailed you about this but perhaps you didn't get the email. I went to a store you visited, and got recognized as the Melody from SG, and happened to catch the SM of the store at the register. The one thing I can say from the tone of the conversation is that he took your report of the store to heart, and was not at all defensive or dismissive (see link in my name). He wanted to fix the problems.

As to this store in Calif, what a shame to see yet another failing store. This is probably more the norm than I'd like to admit.

[coffee in exile]

you know what kills me? when I go into a cafe, pay with my employee card, and still get a) cranky service b) incorrect drinks and c) am surrounded by a dirty store. it's shameful. if you can't manage putting on a front for other employees who aren't going to be fooled by drink shortcuts, then maybe it's time to find a new job.

[Sobayer]

I used to go to this El Segundo SBUX a few times a month, now it's been down to less than twice a month. It is a surprisingly busy store for sure (ES is tucked away down there south of LAX, away from major streets), and the lines are epic in the early mornings. I had to turn away a few times because of the loong lines and the slooow service. I particularly disliked their habit of not calling my name and order when it is finished. They just plunk down the drink and I'm suppose to decipher the baristaese on the cup.

I never thought the place to be dirty and the partners are peppy in the mornings I go in to. I hate the pastry options, but then that's Starbucks fault and not this particular location.

Nearby are two great coffeeshops on Main St: Blue Butterfly is the more popular one on Main, and Our Daily Grind two blocks north serves Urth Coffee under GW Bush memorabilia. Not kidding. It's a sight.

[Sneaky]

Juan - I agree this store is a sorry mess. We begged not to have it built as it barely does any business at all. And it has been a problem since the beginning - 3 Dm's, 4 SM's, ugh.

Thank goodness it's on the list to go.

[Sobayer]

Sneaky, read Juan's review. The place is BUSY and it's not one of the locations that will close.

[NOT JUAN]

Juan - I agree with the idea of re-visiting some of the stores you have previously visited. It would be interesting to see what, if anything, has been done to improve upon the way things were. Another thing that might be interesting would be to visit an independent coffee place in the same neighborhood. Do they do a better job, or is the bad service/cleanliness issues endemic to the neighborhood?

[Thought of the Day]

Why should Juan re-visit?.... In real time you have ONE CHANCE to impress the customer. First Impressions mean everything.....

[splash!]

I think the re-visitng idea is just to see if people have learned from an outside perception. Better they fix issues later rather than never!

[Juan Valdez]

@sneaky Do you want to guess how the store on s. sepulveda on the other side of the airport down from in n out burger did? not the one in the little strip mall but the one across the street. That will be the subject of next week's column.

@melody I did get your email regarding your visit to the Elliott Ave. location - thanks. I think it's great the SM took the column in stride and wants to improve his store's customer experience.

Thanks to all for your thoughts on store revisits. When I first started the column, I considered the idea and Ive given it a lot of thought after getting the recent feedback.

I've decided against it for now. I certainly may "revisit" that decision. Ultimately, the purpose of my column is to paint a picture of Starbucks as a whole by looking at the stores individually. I don't pretend that a bad experience at any one store means that store is, overall, a bad store - I've taken great care not to give that impression. It's entirely possible I have caught stores on bad days etc. so I'm not sure a revisit will actually prove anything. If one visit is bad and the next good, does that really tell us anything? The true measure of an individual store's performance occurs minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day and I can't realistically measure that.

I think, however, that combining all the visits together does allow a picture to emerge and, frankly, so far that picture hasn't been pretty.

[GRTL]

I want to know more about this Partner Appreciation Day!!!!
What is that?

[sigh]

so bad, this article is so bad...

[BCshiftarista]

Do they not have Partner Appreciation Day down in the USofA?

It's been going on for 7 years here in Canada, and this is my second time celebrating it.

Last year we got a black reusable shopping bag, and a t-shirt.

This year, with my new super cool manager, we all got gift bags with silly items such as parachute men, tootsie rolls, and flowers. We also had a "secret partner" exchange where we traded gifts and wrote love letters to our secret person.

I also got an awesome Italian Roast t-shirt! Hooray for Canada!

[SPORK]

I love Partner Appreciation day! The Italian Roast shirts are actually suave shirts! I love it! Sorry US! You guys are missing OUT.

[blarg]

sounds exactly like my store.
and i agree with GRTL. partners are over it.
it's why I gave up and put in my two weeks notice.
FAIL starbucks.

[Barista Bob]

Juan,
you seriously need to get a life...or a job. you are a tool. someone needs to check to see if you have a valid green card. i bet your visa has expired and that's why you are slowly but surely heading farther south on each visit to a starsucks on your way back to good ol mexico. btw, you should come visit my store. i pride myself in delivering poor customer service to any and all customers whenever possible, and would be delighted to make you a hak-a-loogi frappuccino!!! =)

[GRTL]

No partner appreciation day here?

Well that's obvious why we don't is because Howard and his exec team don't actually appreciate us....

I never want to see Howard in my store. I may get fired on the spot but I would rip him a new one!

[sbsm]

all the partners in the store act like they just got written up for not doing values walks and their passion is gone!

[Mike in Seattle]

Once again we get "From the Comfy Toilet Seat" giving more importance to the bathroom that virtually nobody uses than to the coffee that people actually pay money for.

[Jonas JOnes]

I have to do 6 values walks tomorrow to prepare for a "visit". I am so sick of working here and having to deal with all this bullshit. Who cares about the customer experience. Its a cup of coffee, not some sort of transcendental experience so I do not care if I smile and make small talk with the hundreds of people that come through on a typical shift. I am sick of hearing that people on my shift need to smile more. Fix the AC. Get us a fan. It is summertime. How am I supposed to be all warm and cheery with sweat running down my face. And now with standardized 3% understaffing, grinding every batch of coffee individually, and customer voice scores(which I know are manipulated by other stores((Manager /partner writes them up at home)) I just don't care anymore. Starbucks has finally beaten any remaining passion for life out of me. There is no such thing as passion for coffee. This is just a crappy job and this website promotes the pretentiousness that strolls through the doors each and every day.

[Mark]

I've noticed, as a regular SBUX addict for the last 15 years, that with the worsening economy, the stores have gotten messier and messier.

I've also noticed some big changes in the customers that come in while I'm sitting there enjoying my espresso. In my fave store, there use to be lots of 'stars' every day (near CBS Studios) and it seemed like everybody was leaving bigger tips than me. Now, I see mostly lower income wage-slaves, and a lot more Frappucino buyers, and it seems like the tip jars never get much paper in them (makes me feel a little better, as I don't have much to tip).

Only one of the original employees is left at my fave store. They all seem to try their best to keep the place clean and maintain that 'Starbucks Smile' and connect with people, but I've noticed stress levels rise dramatically over the last few years.

Seems like every time there's a new manager (frequently in all the stores) there usually follows a total staff change. Is this part of the 'fast-food' philosophy of "burn 'em while you got 'em"?

[Mark]

Clarification: Upon re-reading my previous post, it sounds like the employees are 'allowing' the store to get messier and messier. This is not my observation.

What I've noticed over the last 15 years, is that the patrons are less and less respectful of the environment. I hear cursing, have seen fights, people just throw their trash on the floor or put it where ever is within reach. I've sat by the bathroom and can't help but hear, that the sink only rarely runs after (or if) the toilet flushes.

Seems the customers are just getting trashier and ruder.