Weekend OPEN THREAD: Ask your questions, or just speak your mind

It was a big earnings report week, there was a controversial Starbucks-related "20/20" story aired, and Starbucks slipped on the "Best Companies to Work For" list. Discuss these things, or anything else about Starbucks in the weekend OPEN THREAD. (Keep it civil to avoid being deleted or banned.) || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[meme]

ASM's do you feel like shift supervisors or management? I'd like to here from you.

[john]

angela,
if u were part of the layoff it was because you were just an overpayed ss, the Good asm were keep because they were on there way to become store managers, and i know the responsibilities are more but most asm dont do them, and at the end the managers does everything.

[Melody (@john)]

@John - The cuts (was that the first round of them, July 2008?) removed large chunks of labor expense from the P & L to create a healthier business financially. That doesn't mean that talented, wonderful, valuable partners were not cut.

In fact, the older I get, the more I realize that in every organization that has to go through a round of layoffs, or terminations, or separations, or whatever you call it... there are always some employees who lose their job and you think, 'wow, a mistake was made there'.

John, there is no way you can look at Angela and accuse her of being "just an overpaid SS". We don't know her situation or what happened.

Furthermore, I highly recommend that if you are going to rise to any level of management that you immediately work on improving your English writing skills.

[john]

I think my english writing skills are fine, We are here on starbucks gossip.com not english class so lay off the classic gramatical attacks when you have no other basis for attacking me. How do you know at what level I am at sbux?

[vegan barista]

"As for working off the clock...stores with a tight-knit crew tend to look out for each other. If I walked into my store and there were two partners on the floor getting slammed and on the verge of tears/angry outrages/whatever, you bet your butt I'd jump in and lend a hand for a second. To reiterate BSR's post, sometimes it's easier to fudge the rules than deal with the lesser-desirable consequences of actually following the rules."

I wouldn't risk it. If the DM came in, and you were behind the counter in street clothes and off the clock??... if it were my DM anyway, I'd be in big, big trouble.

[Melody (@john)]

[quote=john]"How do you know at what level I am at sbux?"[/quote]

John, most people need to improve their written English (myself included). The tone of what you wrote says a lot. You're probably not Howard. I have no need to know what your current position at Starbucks is, nor did I post anything even guessing what your current position at Starbucks might be. I have no doubt there are still positions above you that someday you could aspire to. There is a long chain of management between CEO and barista.

[waltie]

"Waltie: Actually an ASM can write someone up. It just has to be presented to the partner by the SM. "

In other words, an ASM can't write somebody up.

" If I walked into my store and there were two partners on the floor getting slammed and on the verge of tears/angry outrages/whatever, you bet your butt I'd jump in and lend a hand for a second."

Do you walk around at all times in perfect dress code? If not, stay off the floor. Do you jump on the floor when you visit any Starbucks or just your own? Either way, that's ridiculous. I would NEVER do that on my day off, nor would I ALLOW anybody to do that on their days off. I understand that you think you are being nice and helpful, but that's just wrong for so many different reasons.

"if u were part of the layoff it was because you were just an overpayed ss, the Good asm were keep because they were on there way to become store managers"

This is absolutely, 100 percent, not accurate.

[john]

Melody,

You are actually changing what you said, you were trying to say that because of what you perceive to be a lack of English writing skills I would not be able to rise a higher level, here is your exact quote "Furthermore, I highly recommend that if you are going to rise to any level of management that you immediately work on improving your English writing skills." and now your are saying that EVERYONE has to improve their written english? We can disagree on the issues and present our arguments to why we feel that way in a logical and educated manner but when you come at me with personal attacks you are crossing the line. So I return to our previous discussion, I agree with you that great partners were let go but company wide the layoffs were meant to get rid of the ASMs that were not improving because the ASMs position is supposed to be a stepping stone or a store manager training phase and not a permanent position, also Amanda brought up an interesting point that our Shift supervisors are thought to be "key holders" and if that is how us managers look at them, how sad because that doesn't build their self-esteem and probably doesn't give them any motivation to strive to rise to the next level.

[latteteadah]

1. Via sales may be a pain, but they have their niche. As a customer, I was pleasantly surprised by it. It actually tastes like coffee and not freeze-dried grocery alternative. It just isn't something every person walking into the store is going to pick up, but you WILL have people coming back for it. I kind of get tired of seeing baristas whine about it here on the forum when there are people out there who actually like it, and haven't abandoned their store because of it.

2. The notion of coffee "taste" is relative, and I have to laugh when I see people describe a tumbler full of iced-down "weak" coffee as an attempt to actually taste the coffee flavor. Starbucks has never truly been known for the quality of it's brewed coffee. They've been creative with how many different versions they can create from it with add-ins and ice-downs, but people who know real coffee go elsewhere to "taste" their coffee. I've never bought Starbucks whole beans, and I don't plan to. Via is the closest I've gotten to doing so, and Via is nice only because it's better than the instant alternative. Should the other chain offer an instant version similar to Via, I'd be tempted to check it out and switch. Starbucks is where I get a latte, because they have the more sophisticated flavors and sugar-free options. If I want something there resembling good quality coffee, I order an Americano. It comes pretty close. But I've never had anything there that ever tasted subtle enough to classify as a light roast, even though it said so on the label.

3. The new Tazo options are genious, and single-handedly responsible for getting me to gold-level card status. Should they quit offering Orange Blossom Green Tea for sale in the tins or on the menu, they'll be seeing less of me.

[is it so hard to be civil]

In my district, one of the ASM's that was let go was one of the brightest. She wasn't a kiss ass but was top notch. One of the ASM's that made the cut is rat faced snake. Another really mean ASM who has been in that role for almost three years now was kept, also a huge kiss ass. I haven't seen quality picked over boot licking.

[legally none of your biz]

re: parents of minor partners calling in

Regardless of age, legally, you are not allowed to speak to anyone other than the employee re: any aspect of their employement. This includes scheduling. If the parent is calling, you need to inform them that legally you are not allowed to discuss this and that their son/daughter needs to call and speak with you instead. Your hands are tied.

[(former) FLA SM]

"Isn't that discriminating against minors, to not hire them?"

I also didn't hire people who were unqualified. Is that discrimination against unqualified people? I didn't hire people who couldn't speak English. Is that discrimination against people who don't (or won't) speak English?

Discrimination only applies when I make decisions based on one factor, when all other things are equal. If I chose to never hire anyone over the age of 60, that's discrimination because (all other things being equal) my decision is based solely on age. However, if I choose to never hire anyone under 18, it's not discrimination because now it involves different scheduling rules which affect the business. Similarly, I would never hire someone over 18 who demanded they get a half-hour break every 4 hours, rather than the standard 6 hours (which is the rule in Florida.)

[SBUX Customer]

Just curious, does Starbucks have "for here" glass for frappucinos, vivanos, etc.? I usually order hot beverages. Once in a while I'll order it "for here" in the ceramic cups. However, I have never seen a frappucinos served in a "for here" glass.

[SBUX Customer]

About refilling my tumbler, if I bring in my grande size tumbler and want a tall brewed coffee or hot beverage, how is that made? Will a to go cup have to be wasted to measure a tall for my tumbler?

[Legally]

re: discriminating against minors

Minors are not a protected group and therefore you can legally discriminate against them. Older people are the only protected class--I think the minimum age is 45???--and therefore you cannot NOT hire them based on their age. Anyone under that age is not protected and therefore you can NOT hire them based on age.

It's a business decision--you need to balance what your business is going to get from this person vs. what you are going to give to them. You also have to manage a separate set of labor laws for them.

Yes, they have no to little experience and therefore you may have to manage them more in this area. On the other hand, they haven't formed the bad/lazy habits of some people who have been in the workforce. It's a lot easier to mold them if you set the expectations from the beginning.

[Melody]

@SbuxCustomer - There is "for here" ware for Frappuccinos and Vivannos all over downtown Seattle. I see people use them now and then. I don't know if this is common at all stores.

As to the tumblers, I've never seen a barista measure my drip coffee with a paper cup. I have a 12 ounce stainless steel Starbucks tumbler. I often ask for a short in it, explaining that I'm a slob and need lots of spill room (this is actually true. I drink my coffee black). They just eyeball (with varying results, but I'm not picky) what they think a short is, and there you go. Once in a while, if I don't mention any size, I get charged for a grande. The tumbler holds a maximum of 12 ounces, but baristas often think it is a grande. This happened to me again over the weekend, but I was far away from the store when I noticed on my receipt, so I didn't worry about it.

To anyone: Are the little sparkle donuts selling well at your stores? I hope they stay. They're a pretty nice little treat.

[SBUX Customer]

Melody: "To anyone: Are the little sparkle donuts selling well at your stores? I hope they stay. They're a pretty nice little treat."

The mini sparkle donuts are great. I never order from the "pastry" display case but I do order the mini donuts. The down side is that everytime I visit, the vanilla donuts are always gone and the remaining donuts are the chocolate. I say get rid of the chocolate and keep the vanilla.

[SBUX Customer]

@Melody,

Thanks for the reply. Just thought that Starbucks had a standard way of measuring for non-"to go" cups to take care of those picky customers.

[s]

SBUX customer, Most of us wouldn't need to measure. If you've been pouring for a couple years or so, you just know.

[sbux4life95]

how many shots are in an Iced Venti Starbucks Doubleshot? Can this be found in any of the beverage manuals or on the portal? I can't find it anywhere!

[caughtablaze]

5. 5 pumps, 5 shots.

also, it's rang up as a iced venti americano, add classic, add shot.

when starbucks took this off the menu we had to email corporate to get some consistency going in my district.

[VanCoffeeFan]

Didn't Iced Americano's get the 5th shot, since its 24oz? that might've been when I started. I remember there being some confusion a year or two ago. I usually have to double check with beverage cards in the summer.

On the triple Venti topic, I think the double Venti makes sense. If you look at the oz in milk based espresso drinks:
Short (8 oz)-1 shot
Tall (12 oz) - 1 shot
Grande (16 oz)- 2 shots
Venti (20 oz) - 2 shots
Iced Venti (24 oz) - 3 shots

Every-time there's a change in 8 oz, there is a shot added [think (size) +short latte = (1,2) + 1).

Cool thing though, I was looking up profit margins with my ASM, and we found out (rather he knew and showed me) that we barely break even on vivannos. Now that I think about it, that makes quite a bit of sense seeing as one whole banana is no cheap measure, and a branded bag of protein fiber could cost $30 in a grocery or vitamin supplement store.

[SBUX Customer]

Do licensed store accept Starbucks cards?

My university has a non-Starbucks coffee shop that has a sign outside that reads "We proudly brew Starbucks coffee". Now they have started constructing what a local newspaper states as a "full service Starbucks" that will open in March. Unfortunately, I found out that it will be a licensed store. One day the "barista" may be working in the cafeteria flipping burgers and the next day they could be working at the Starbucks.
So do licensed stores accept Starbucks cards?

[ICU]

VanCoffeeFan, I also thought iced venti Americanos got 5 shots for the longest time but, nope, BRM says they get 4.

[ICU]

Sbux Customer: It honestly depends, though I have no idea what it depends on beyond which company is running whichever particular licensed store. Sometimes they accept them, sometimes they don't. Some are even implementing their own "star rewards" thing for the cards. Some aren't. The only way to know is to ask, I guess.

[Jules]

I'm looking for some help with an assignment on the impact of the green agenda on Starbucks.

I just wondered what (if anything) they are doing about their carbon footprint through freight and haulage?

Coffee grows in equatorial regions and must be transported to Starbucks roasting plants. Once roasted it must be shipped again to stores across the world. Does anyone know where I can find information on the logistics of this? Do they use air or sea?

On a smaller scale, I worked for Starbucks UK many years ago and at that point food products were being made in London and driven daily to all the stores across the UK. Is this still how it works?

Hoping someone can help.

[me myself and I]

When I started I was trained the iced venti Americano gets 5 shots. But they changed that at some point, or I got trained wrong. Either way, it's way too weak with just 4 shots for a 24 oz. drink.

[waltie]

You got trained wrong. But that's ok. A lot of people get trained wrong on certain things, as I'm sure I did once or twice. As a leader who often has to coach partners, I often hear the ol' "oh, they must've changed the recipe" more often than I can count. It's only true about 1% of the time.

[me myself and I]

Thanks for clearing that up, waltie.

I guess the iced venti americano confusion could be from the rule of thumb: iced venti always gets one extra (shot and pump). The americano is just an exception to the rule.

[javagirl666]

You are right about that one, Waltie.

[vivavia]

Are their really only 5 pumps of syrup in an Iced Venti Doubleshot?

[Paddy Rushe]

Hi everyone -am just back from the states and picked up 1 of the ceramic "to go" travel mug, 2009. I love it - but where are they all? the store at the airport had sold out and I didn't see any more around NYC (in the stores that i had been in). There are none available on the website... I cant believe they are all sold. will they run the line again?

[SBUX Customer]

Paddy Rushe, what ceramic mug are you referring to? Are you referring to this?:http://www.kaboodle.com/hi/img/b/0/0/85/a/AAAAC3ImX5oAAAAAAIWpDA.jpg.

If so there are plenty of it at the Starbucks I visit.

[SBUX Customer]

Paddy Rushe, you can also try eBay.

[Teej42]

I registered two SB cards for auto reload. The first for $50 each time the card reached a low of $10. The second a reload of $25 each month on a particular date. As soon as that card was loaded with $25 another debit hit my credit card for $35! Two months in a row. I only had two cards on auto reload so where was this $35 going?

I called SB customer service and the rep could see that I had no other card reloading in that amount so he said he would credit the amounts. He was sorry but could not tell me how or why there was these charges. Later this month, I found one credit for the one month but not a second credit for the second month. I called again and got another rep and after much time and a talk with her supervisor, she said she would credit my account for the second $35 charge. Again I asked how this charge happened and where this money went and again was told they could not figure that out and had no way to find out the information. I told her I thought this was very scary. She said she was sure it was some computer glitch and wouldn't happen again. I am not so sure. There is a number attached to every transaction and that number is supposed to give them the ability to track this transaction. I believe they just don't want to have me know how and where that transaction was scheduled and where it went.
So, all of you consumers out there that auto reload your Starbucks cards BEWARE! If you aren't paying close attention, you could be auto reloading someone else's card and maybe it is some SB employee that knows how to work the system? I don't know because Starbuck's can't or won't tell me.
Any SB employees out there that do know how this can and does happen?

[Bobby S]

Starbucks preaches customer centric , labor friendly mantra's..but this company has lost its soul along the way and a huge part of the problem has to be layers of incompetent management between front end and corporate. They don't recruit the best talent anymore because they don't feel they need the best.

[Paula Greenleaf]

As someone who knows Starbucks from the inside, specifically from Financial perspective, Starbucks North American Reatil operations excels at Public Relations and promoting the perception that we are a progressive, "green", environmentally conscious company that offers outstanding employee benefits. What the public doesn't hear about is the highly demanding, often unreasonable executive management demands of it's corporate staff employees, often requiring excessive unpaid overtime work. Nor is the high, voluntary employee turnover disclosed. Most of the employees I started with in the past two years are were either laid off, fired, or decided to maintain their sanity and resigned. Much of the downsizing of the past two years at Starbucks has created a corporate staff with very low morale. A shake-up at the very top, beginning with Chairman Howard and including much of the senior executive team would do much to improve the prospects for Starbucks' long term growth. It's doubtful this will happen as the Board is composed of cronies of the Chairman. A similar tact was used by Michael Eisner, who as Chairman of Disney, was able to run Disney for years with mediocre results, due to hand picking cronies for the Board of Directors.

[LEES BUX]

waltie and cheapred apron:

In reference to ASM's job description the official word from partner resources is that an ASM can document AND deliver corrective action forms once they have had the proper training. The ASM can make the decision to fire someone (with proper documentation) but the act of firing would come from both ASM and SM. As far as hiring goes ASM's are in part responsible for recruiting, pre-screening, and interviewing potential partners but the SM has to conduct a second interview and officially hire them.

(I just recently attended the partner resources practices RMT class)

It is important to add that DM's have different rules/quirks. I have worked for three different DM's and they all had different rules about write-ups/hiring/firing. One DM wanted the shift of duty who witnessed the problem to write up a partner, one DM had to conduct a third interview on EVERY potential partner and get final say, and another DM wouldn't let our SM fire anyone unless she was present.

It's complicated but if anyone has any questions they should call partner resources.