What's on your mind this weekend? Discuss it in the OPEN THREAD

As usual, anything Starbucks-related is open for discussion. Starbucks customers, feel free to throw out questions about drinks or whatever to the many baristas who visit this site. (Also, as usual, you're asked to keep the discussion civil.) || Jump to the third page of comments.

Comments

[@usorthem3]

This is partner Appreciation Weekend and I just wondered what others out there do for their partners to show the love?

I also wanted to ask if anyone else has heard anything about Sbux going to start free Vivanno smoothie Mondays? One of my customers said he thinks he got an email about it and was going to check and get back with me but I figured if anyone would know that kind of forward info it would be the folks here.

Before i run I would also like to thank the SG webmaster for all that you do to inform and give forum 4 all that is insider SBUX. Thanks for keeping it real. Have a good day everyone and sell those beans!

[STARBUCKGOSSIP WEBMASTER]

Thank you, @usorthem3 for the kudos -- and alerting us to Appreciation Weekend.

[me myself and I]

No appreciation here in Canada. We were already appreciated in July.

[Only here for the insurance]

My store is celebrating Partner Appreciation Weekend by doing away with requests off and eliminating training and coaching whatsoever. Better go on the portal yourself (though the Shifts don't know what the barista password is) so that you avoid getting put in the tattle book that partners are not supposed to know about. And, oh, the floater and shifts are not supposed to help at all. They are there strictly to clean. Thank goodness for the customers - without them this job would be unbearable.

[heather]

starbucks replaces anything:
http://www.zug.com/live/82273/The-Starbucks-Return-Prank-Will-Starbucks-Really-Return-ANYTHING.html

[pet]

Partner Appreciationg Weekend? OMG! I haven't heard that term in over 3 years! I miss those weekends.

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

I am pretty sure there is NO SUCH THING as a Partner Appreciation Weekend. Some partner somewhere came up with this most likely. SBUX corporate doesn't sanction this (to the best of my knowledge) although I don't think they would mind if individual stores did this. Why does this PAW entail? Free food? Other perks?

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

WHAT does this PAW entail, of course

(I have always wished we had an "edit" function on this blog).

[STARBUCKGOSSIP WEBMASTER]

Can someone confirm (or deny) what I just heard -- that Starbucks will no longer carry the New York Times and that it will start selling USA Today. True, or no?

[bcshift]

heather: There's no goddamn way I would ever accept a cup of maggots. The barista at that store was stupid to even touch it. It's BEYOND a health hazard at a food establishment.

As someone with a particularly weak stomach, I would probably projectile vomit all over them if I got even the slightest whiff of that!!

I'd tell them to throw it in the garbage themselves. Just like I won't touch anyone's nasty personal cup lid.

As far as giving them a replacement drink, I don't think I'd do it unless they caused a scene. But I'm a bit of a hard ass, in a nice way.

Frak that.

[Voice of Reason!]

Partner appreciation…are we kidding? Starbucks upper management doesn’t appreciate partners. They do the very least they can to keep partners from leaving in droves. If they cut insurance to all non-salaried partners they’d loss most of us all at once. It’s the only thing that keeps us here. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth it.

I swear this is the most ridiculous company I’ve ever been associated with. If the idiots at the top could do anything that would make our jobs tougher they’d do it. There must be a secret department in Seattle in charge of making things more stupid and another one to develop higher expectations for store partners.

If they truly valued us, we’d have guiding principles that were more than just meaningless word. They might even give us back even one of the two personal days they stripped from us store partners. They might give us the ability to do our jobs by fixing broken equipment, increase labor, decreasing unrealistic expectations, and stop creating “ambiguity” all the time. They might also stop lying to everyone, investors included. Don’t call us “partners”. We’re not partners. Don’t tell Wall Street we’re becoming “Lean” and getting ready for growth. Half the stores or more are forced to fudge on the Customer Voice results and register procedures in order to keep our jobs. We really aren’t selling all the promotional drinks and pairings that get rung up. Dishonest management is forcing all of us to be dishonest too.

In short, I don’t feel appreciated, and I don’t appreciate upper management. But we’ll probably all keep doing what we’re doing until the truth comes out. After that either Starbucks will be acquired by another company or die trying.

[managermatt]

Again, I have to ask: Where are these stores that are just ringing up random things to keep managers happy? I have never even heard of this until SG. If it were up to me, I would simply continue ringing in the correct items the way I am supposed to. Should anything be said, ask for it in writing. I would love to see the disciplinary action for "rings in orders correctly, THIS MUST STOP!" Just seems like people fussing for the sake of fussing. Welcome to a free society people! You are not enslaved to your job! If you are unhappy with where you work, then find a better job and enjoy life!

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

I really hope there aren't going to be any more pairing beyond the Fall promo. This really dilutes the brand with cheapening the value of what we DO have. I really feel like we have some signature thing with CM being the most famous, but forcing everyone to complicate ringing in orders and cluttering the menu with these Value meals (which is what they are) is just adding to the noise. Seriously, customers just want to get the drink and jabber on their cell phones. Some, who DO come in, want to be left alone. They don't want to hear every single day about the "new" promo drink. Just not classy.

[Clark Kent]

We always have partner appreciation weekend... last weekend of every month...

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

I have ONLY heard about Partner Appreciation Weekend thru this blog over the last few years. I am pretty sure it's a district thing. Like, some DMs say go ahead and do that. I am certain that store that do observe this have been doing it since long ago. This isn't new -- it's just local to some stores/districts

[Coffee Soldier]

Does anyone remember the date we started the Gold Cards? I'm wondering when they start to expire if we will get a message that the card is no longer valid until the customer forks over another 25 bucks for the next year!

[spence]

No one at my store has ever been asked or has it been implied that we should fudge the numbers of promotions sold. We often haven't met our numbers. It is what it is.

[yay for paw]

How it works in my part of town... Partner App. Weekened works like this... On the last friday of each month we get to wear jeans and any hat (not just a starbucks hat) And then on the 3rd months (march, june, sept, and dec) we get to wear jeans all weekend on the last weekend of the month. Also, we are allowed to use the pcard to spend 25 dollars on food/fun for the store. It works out nicely

[Will]

I hadn't heard about Starbucks abandoning the NYT, but I'd be extremely disappointed. I don't know too many places where you can get it, honestly. I love reading the Sunday times after I get off my opening shift.

Is anyone else being told to trash their matcha stirring spoons? We've been using them to stir everything for the last 3 years, and now they're being done away with? Why? Stirring with the regular spoons is a pain in the ass, especially in the iced cups.

[me myself and I]

Will, you are NOT supposed to stir anything! So it is only consistent to put away with it after changing the recipe for the green tea lattes.
You are stealing valuable seconds off the company if you stir all kinds of drinks (even though with some it might be helpful).

Partner Appreciation in Canada is an official thing. We get T-Shirts, a card and pat on the back. And one partner per district gets to get a nice little present (e.g. ipod) via a draw. My district also tends to do a bbq that day.

[sarahsmoothie]

Free vivanno smoothie Mondays would be the day I quit! This better not happen... They are the most obnoxious drinks to make! Much more time-consuming than anything else, and they usually leave a protein residue in the blender that doesn't come out easily.

Partner Appreciation Days - ha! We haven't had those in at least three years.

[Jokesonyou]

Partner appreciation day or weekend was something started in the South Texas marked 10 years ago or so. I do not believe it is a company recognized event. The third friday of every month is partner appreciation day and the third weekend of the third month of the quarter is partner appreciation weekend. We are allowed to wear sbux t-shirts and jeans along with a paid out for 20 dollars for some pizzas or something else fun.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

me myself and i,

if a customer asks for a drink stirred (which MANY of mine do) they are damn well going to get it stirred.

[JerseyGurl]

I have a customer who gets an Iced Quad Venti 8 pump WM stirred. He lives closer to another store but drives to my store because the other store refuses to stir his WM. If that extra 5 seconds keeps him coming to my store at least 10 times a week, its worth that little time!

[CamSpi]

I'm wearing jeans to work, yo! Happy Partner Appreciation Weekend!

[IcedVanillaChai]

I have a question I hope someone can answer.

There is a shift supervisor at my store who is currently filling out a new availability form asking for weekends off.

Is that even possible to do? I thought you had to be available to close at least one shift on the weekends.

Can you guys help me out in this?? Point me to a manual, anything?

thanks a bunch!!

[me myself and I]

"I have a customer who gets an Iced Quad Venti 8 pump WM stirred. ... If that extra 5 seconds keeps him coming to my store at least 10 times a week, its worth that little time!"

Treasure him while he is still alive...

My point is, most drinks do not need stirring if they are made correctly. And most people didn't ask for stirring before we had the little twisted spoons. They only got used to it after, because too many baristas thought it would be a good idea to stir their drink and now they want it that way.

I do agree, it is a challenge to do a proper WM without stirring. But it is possible and only takes a little bit of attention and skill, no spoon or magic.
But of course, if a 15 Dollar/day customer wants something in a certain way (even if it is a 2/3 splenda, 3/4 equal in their latte), we'll do it. This is called customer service.

But the stirring should ONLY happen in our stores upon request.

[IcedVanillaChai]

I have a question I hope someone can answer.

There is a shift supervisor at my store who is currently filling out a new availability form asking for weekends off.

Is that even possible to do? I thought you had to be available to close at least one shift on the weekends.

Can you guys help me out in this?? Point me to a manual, anything?

thanks a bunch!!

[Will]

"Will, you are NOT supposed to stir anything! So it is only consistent to put away with it after changing the recipe for the green tea lattes.
You are stealing valuable seconds off the company if you stir all kinds of drinks (even though with some it might be helpful)."

Seriously? So its better to hone this "special skill" of making thicker syrup based drinks without stirring than to actually practice efficient drink making?

[green_cup]

But of course, if a 15 Dollar/day customer wants something in a certain way (even if it is a 2/3 splenda, 3/4 equal in their latte), we'll do it. This is called customer service.

But the stirring should ONLY happen in our stores upon request.

Posted by: me myself and I | August 28, 2009 at 05:58 PM

Thank you! Someone that works at Starbucks FINALLY understands that requests that are not crazy are to be met with a YES. JUST SAY YES. The manual may say not the stir my drink, but if I ask for it to be stirred, it better get stirred. As me myself and I said, that's CUSTOMER SERVICE.

As for the partner appreciation thing, I think jeans are cool. Not the spending of money. I mean, I know if I worked there, I'd rather have those funds in the form of lower insurance costs or maybe a raise.

[finding a way]

Partners in my market have been falsely ringing beverages to meet arbitrary goals for years. There is also a huge falsification of customer voice going on. I do not blame the barista, shift, or SM because they are constantly reminded what happens to them if they become an "outlier". The uppers don't really care if you sell 27 smoothies as long as it is reported that you do. It is cheaper to make 27 white mochas and ring them as smoothies anyway. I still love working at sbux because my store is awesome. If it takes as few misrang items to keep the rd off of our backs and let us serve our customers and one another well, so be it.

[gnl]

Managermatt: Our store too rings things up incorrectly to appease the higher ups. It wasn’t our choice, but it’s the only way to keep our freak DM out of our store. Management started all this, we just play the game. Let them give us some support. Achievable goals make partners feel accomplished while ridiculously out of reach goals defeat the whole purpose. SM’s in our region are being fired for not achieving unachievable goals and as a result they are putting pressure on SS’s and Baristas. It’s not right but it’s happening and it’s all on the down low. No written policies have been issued, but partners are being pressured to do this all the same. If you don’t play the game the SM simply “manages you out”.

[Aces of Eight]

You do not need to stir a WM or M with a spoon to make it PERFECT. If a customer requests that you stir the drink you JUST DO IT, no attitude, no questions asked. But it is totally unnecessary. If you use the swirl method, which I have been using for ages, you will melt the syrup and make sure everything mixes properly. SWIRL! And as for other drinks, when you are making an iced latte, if you actually make it the proper way and not the lazy way, in other words, syrup (if applicable) then shots, then milk then ice, when you pour the milk in everything will mix and it doesn't need stirring. And for hot lattes it is also totally unnecessary.

The ONLY drink in the store that actually NEEDS to be stirred is the Iced Green Tea Latte, and since it is so unpopular, why do you need the matcha spoon for it? Just use a plastic spoon... just customer service, why should we keep an entire spoon for ONE drink?

That spoon was a crutch which caused people to make drinks wrong like putting the milk in first on iced lattes, or not learning how to properly melt mocha and white mocha with the APPROVED SWIRL method, which actually makes it taste better than if it is stirred. And for what? For ONE DRINK?

Silly. It had to go...

And as for misringing, you simply shouldn't be doing @ Finding a way: You can put it whatever way you wan't, but it's still unethical. Why not do your job instead? Instead of being shady, how about sampling out the vivanno? How about suggesting it to customers when they aren't sure what to order? How about you promote the drink? In other words... do what you were actually hired to do and agreed to do, instead of lying and cheating? Seems like a much better way, you get to meet your goals, keep the rd off your back AND be ETHICAL! And actually do your job... sounds like a GREAT deal to me!

[@usorthem3]

green_cup First you tipped your hand that you do not work for this company therefore your knowledge of policy or procedures is from a customer perspective only.

Second your comment of a store spending $20 each month to try to show the employees that they do indeed matter would be better spent on cheaper insurance or a raise equals out to this: 12 employees working 300 total hours per week times four is 1200 hours total for the month. A raise will figure out to .0166 per hour for each employee before taxes. I believe that spending $20 on say a large deli sandwich, bag of chips and a few sodas could go further to create a team building environment rather than a $.01 raise that will give each employee 30 cents a week before taxes.

I know in your opinion that Starbucks employees are menial people at most and don't deserve anything but Partner Appreciation really has nothing to do with you as a customer except maybe to help create a better team to serve your needs.

Webmaster I have said for the years I have worked for Sbux that they should include USA Today in their line up of periodicals sold. People usually glance over the NYT but we sell an average of only a couple of week and almost never sell out of the Sunday edition. Perhaps this varies a lot in different parts of the country but even in the up-scale area i work in NYT just don't sell well.

Heather thanks for sharing that story I had to laugh.

To all- stirred is a modifier like any other as it appears on the modify menu, all the customer has to do is ask for it of which many of mine do daily.

me myself and I- I wish we got cool things like iPods but I'll settle for a free sandwich lunch and some chips or in my store a Big box of goldfish: Yea to the Big E for that!
I love wearing jeans because I look good in them with a crisp white shirt.

[chloe]

Aces of Eight - check your beverage recipe flashcards. for iced drinks, except mocha and white mocha, the milk goes before the shots (syrup-milk-shots-ice). for mocha and white mocha, it's syrup-shots-milk-ice in order to melt the heavier syrups. i noticed the difference when the new recipe cards rolled out last year.

the iced green tea latte recipe was also changed quite awhile ago. the new recipe is syrup-milk-ice-matcha on top, lid, and swirl. no spoon. they found that the spoon didn't stir it well enough when the powder stuck to the syrup and the bottom of the cup. it was an action item a few months after the GRTL rolled out.

to address the stirring question, stirring should be done with stir sticks and on customer request only, like you said. once everyone learns LEAN for bar, everyone will (hopefully) end up on the same page about not stirring, etc. it adds 3-5 seconds to the drink and is not standard.

[Will]

So if Lean is better thinking, and you're supposed to figure out what works for YOUR store, why can't we just keep the god damn spoon if that's what works for us and our customers?

Besides, I'm sure they'll just reverse themselves in 6 months like they did with shot glasses. What's the policy on that now, anyways?

[sunnysidamo]

aces of eight - ha ha ha... are you for real?

surely you haven't spend much time in stores.

[Frequent Flyer]

anyone heard of stores getting rid of baristas or shift supervisors for no reason at all? is it to save on labor costs for the seasoned employees? I have a great Starbucks that I go to and heard of this when the Store Manager was threatening to fire some over nothing. Please, I want to save my favorite baristas!

[Aces of Eight]

Chloe: I guess it was just the old recipe cards that had the iced grtl being stirred... anyway. As for the iced lattes, I haven't checked the cards recently, but I was certain the cards had shots first, I will check tomorrow at work and get back to you on that. It just doesn't make sense to me to have the recipe in such a way that it wouldn't be well mixed and not have stirring as part of the recipe. I know management makes some silly decisions, but that just doesn't make sense. Huh, I guess I will have to take another look.

Regardless, my point is being obscured (not by you, but sort of by the tangent I went on). My point is that people tend to complain about things and etc. Like how they have been stirring a ton of drinks for a long time... well, okay, but stirring drinks isn't standard for any drink. If what you just mentioned is true, that means their is not even one drink that needs to be stirred as standard. Which means... we don't need to long spoon and people should stop complaining about it, which was my original point.

Maybe I sound mean, but I just had a long day at work, enjoyed being with my customers, and have trouble understanding why losing the matcha spoon is a big deal, when their are so many more important sbux related things to worry about at work.

And as for a customer wanting a beverage stirred, of course we would do that for them. But we don't need to longspoon to do that... we have wooden stirrers and plastic spoons, we will find a way...

sunnysidamo: Or maybe I just know how to adapt to constant changes, which is part of my job, instead of whining and complaining anytime anything is different. Maybe I actually do things this way and think like this because I spend my time working instead of thinking about ways to complain about my managers and corporate and the customers?

[Melanie]

the tattle book that partners are not supposed to know about

What's the tattle book?

[Tracy]

aces: if you're putting hot espresso in a plastic iced cup it can cause a chemical to leach from the plastic. yuck. milk, espresso, ice

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-29-plastic-chemical_N.htm

[green_cup]

@Posted by: @usorthem3 | August 28, 2009 at 08:40 PM:

I haven't ever said I worked for Starbucks, so I'm unsure how I can "tip my hand" at any such thing.

Second, the customer perspective is the ONLY perspective when it comes to customer service. The folks working in customer service should be obsessed with understanding and implementing the best way to make sure the customer's perspective of things is always optimal. I'm unsure how me "just" having the customer's perspective on things is a bad thing. You should hope more customers give feedback.

Regardless of your views on expenditures, the company really doesn't have any extra money until it can stop laying off people and closing stores. If you don't use it on the employees, multiply $20 by every store doing this and you'll see a fair chunk of cash being wasted. That could go for capital expenditures that could further make the customer experience better: paint the walls, remodel some stores, train up the staff of each store on what good service is, etc. I could go on. Besides, a pizza is a meaningless and cheap way of appeasing a staff while really doing nothing at all.

Finally, I actually explicitly said that the appreciation thing was cool. Doing the jeans thing is effective, free and it seems like a lot of the employees like it. Why not, I say.

Your comment was extremely off-base and I'd recommend you fully read and comprehend someone's post before responding.

[stirred8pVL]

will,
we were TOLD lean is about what works for your store. what it IS about is doing whatever upper management tells you to.
p.s. questioning anything at all is pushback. for instance, my dm told me that grinding each batch of coffee on demand would SAVE TIME. exsqueeze me?
fresher coffee? yes
less waste? yes
saves time? HOW?!?!
the answer... "just trust me, it saves time."

as for the discussion of "to stir or not to stir," I only do if the customer asks, but after tasting an iced latte made the "new" way (syrup, milk, then shots, swirl, ice) i will ALWAYS stir my own drink/ order is stirred.

[Aces of Eight]

@ Tracy, huh well that is interesting.

I guess the best solution if you want to make the drink well mixed without stirring, would be to add syrup (if applicable) then add a little cold milk, then add shots, then add the rest of the milk so the drink mixes better, then ice.

I suppose it isn't standard, but it mixes the drink, doesn't involve stirring, and fits in with health codes and safety...

[@usorthem3]

@melanie the tattle book that partners are not supposed to know about

What's the tattle book?

It is actually known as the managerial communication log book for SS, ASM and SM to communicate issues or policy violations since only the ones who can write up documentation is the SM.
Some call it the "I'm telling on you book". We mostly use it to document ppl being late or customer issues to each other.

@Tracy a iced americano is supposed to have the shots pulled into the plastic then add ice, top w/ water as desired.

[Lil Momma]

I'm eight months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave next month. I've been in touch with the PCC and my manager has been great but I'm still confused about my benefits.

As a part time partner I'll need to have 240 hours to qualify for my health insurance, but with 6 weeks of absence, I highly doubt that I will achieve 240, especially because it's extremely hard to get your desired amount of hours at my store. I have open availability and I barely get 25 now.

Legally, I know that Starbucks is not allowed to take away healthy insurance but when I have spoken to the PCC and my SM, they have both been vague.

Does anyone have answers, a link, a mailed packet that tells my what my experience with Starbucks will be like during my leave??

[AnnoyedBaristaGirl]

A customer should be able to request a drink stirred at any time. The matcha spoon may have been there to stir Green Tea Lattes when we made them the old way, but it should have stayed because customers should have a right to customize their drinks. I know that we have lapsing drink standards, and one of the biggest customer complaints is a mocha, white mocha or pumpkin spice latte that hasn't been stirred and has syrup stuck to the bottom.

It is NOT "stealing seconds" to stir a drink. Prices were raised on drinks that are more complicated for this very reason. If there the machine doesn't steam the milk to the correct temperature, heavy syrups won't melt. You can swirl it a hundred times, but you're still going to have a hot mess in that cup. The price increases are going to pay for the labor that often has to be added when making these drinks.

And whoever is pouring shots directly into plastic cups is not aware of the beverage standards. The only drinks that you can do that with are white mocha- and mocha-based. Even then, you need to stir the drink because the espresso will not melt the syrup by itself.

I've been a partner for two years and you can bet that I ask for my white mochas to be well-stirred because despite the 'standards,' there's a 90% chance that the partner who makes it won't think to swirl it around to hide the fact that he used below temperature milk.

[A fan who wants her music]

So whats on my mind this week is that I found out that Starbucks (Hear Music) is holding onto a band from NY's album, (Antigone Rising)and not releasing it. But at the same time not letting them release it on their own..... whats up with that???

[fuji]

@usorthem3
WRONG on the iced americano.

water to the bottom green line
shots
then ice

good grief people

[BoldToday]

As a customer, I claim no knowledge of the beverage recipe cards.

But when shots are added directly to ice (or vice versa) in an iced latte or iced americano, I will taste the difference, and I will ask for the drink to be re-made with the milk or water first.

Shocked shots are a huge pet peeve of mine.