Crack open a beer and get the Memorial Day Weekend OPEN THREAD going!

Posting while drunk? No crime in that, I guess. The OPEN THREAD is your chance to bring up anything -- questions, comments, whatever -- that's Starbucks-related. || Jump to the third page of comments.

Comments

[usorthem3]

@Darth Discontinued There was a group of mothers in the store with their children that I had to ask, "Is that someone's child in the parking lot half way to the next building?" When I was asked why I didn't stop them sooner, my response was I don't have any children. I got the look of death because I wasn't paying more attention to their kids. Had to go laugh in the backroom at that one. ha ha I see it all the time.

[Southland bound]

@getreal in response to what you said towards Darth, I've watched numerous times as parents don't pay attention to their children. So no, Darth isn't off base on this. Heck, doesn't even stop at the toddler age. At the store I just transferred from, we had a 16 year old girl that would be all over her boyfriend on the sofa....where was mom? 5 freakin feet away talkng on her cell! My last day there I so wanted to walk over and take a pic just so they would ask me, why?so I could tell them that my wife is a labor/delivery RN and I want her to see a future patient. Get with it parents! We ain't your babysitters and this ain't the local Motel 6!

[shift.misto]

@ Get Real
i really didn't understand your post to me. apparently i need to change my life based on an unrelated situation that happened in your store that you described using way to many pronouns.

i THINK what you were trying to say was:
"Parents are customers too who never get a break from their brats, so we should be happy to clean up the mess".

that simply not true. you raise your kids how you want them to behave. if you drag your kid into ANY establishment, give them tons of sugar, and provide them no entertainment other than the fort they are building with all of our lobby chairs during a busy afternoon, your monster is YOUR problem. that being said, we do have one little boy who comes in, eats his cookie (more tidily than most adults) and colors in his book while his dad works on his laptop and i adore this kiddo. As a parent it is YOUR responsibility to teach your kid manners and make them worthy of social interaction. it is not acceptable to bring your children into a restaurant to destroy the place simply becuase you bought a $4 latte (hopefully for yourself, and not the kid).

[Clark Kent]

Agreed. Kids behave like monsters because parents don't give a damn. Not a blanket statement one way or the other. We have great kids that come in, and brats, too. I dont care about cleaning up crumbs, I get more crumbs from adults sometimes. That's my job. But my job is not to police screaming kids running all over the place while mom sits in the corner with her gossip girls with nothing better to do. I have kids of my own and would never allow such piss-poor behavior.

[Eve]

@ peaches...I was thinking the same thing! I always drink Vita Coco to relieve my hangovers because it's loaded with electrolytes to help me rehydrate.

[shift.misto]

just to clarify, im not talking 'a few crumbs'..
in the center of our lobby is a cluster of tables where the mommies meet roughly once a month and all of their kids are under the age of four. since the tables are in the middle of the room the kids can reach every corner without being out of sight. when they leave, there is pastry everywhere. EVERYWHERE! the floor, the table bases, gummed into the support bars on the chairs, blueberry scone smeared into the WALLS, sticky apple juice fingers all over the chair backs and seats...
it looks like a toddler's birthday party where instead of cake, they had saltine crackers. and of course, the moms look around and say something about the mess, laugh at their "darn kids!" with an expression from the closing scene of an 80's family sitcom, and walk out without a word to the baristas left to clean up their pastry swamp.

horrible parenting, but not the worst ive seen in the cafe..

a few months after hiring in, i had a mom pick up her kid and stand her (dirty shoes!) on my (clean!) counter and say "tell the lady what you want honey". the girl very articulately announced, "grandeee vah-nilla lahh te".. i eyed the mom with the awwww-shes-cute look, and said "decaf?" the mom says "oh no, she likes the coffee". (just shrug it off and keep working with a smile, right?) so im barring and making her toddler latte, when kiddie decides im not working fast enough and starts SCREAMMMING at the top of her lungs (still standing on my once clean counter) I WANTTT MY LATTEEE!!! ..

biting my tongue, i think oh little girl, mommas not gonna give you a latte for a while for acting like that! but no. that's not what happens. instead the mom pats her leg gently while the kid continues to raise hell and soothes her worries with "mommies getting for you dear, just a minute".

....
wow.

[Clark Kent]

uh, why dont you kick them out?

[shift.misto]

because we provide for the intolerable. its called "just say, yes".

[teapartylemonade]

Clark Kent - why don't we kick them out, you ask???

Because invariably those customers-from-hell are the ones who complain loudly and frequently on the customer hotline. Then a few weeks later we get reprimanded by someone from corporate in Seattle.

Honestly, in all of my years at SBUX, the corporate office has never, not once, stood up for the partners at my store - or even bothered to ask our version of things.

While I like my job okay most of the time, this is the one thing that pisses me off most about the company. I would never take any 'issues' up the corporate food chain because I simply don't trust them to do right by the partners.

[blackhat]

It has gotten to the point for me where I just say yes all the time, its not worth the yelling, mean customers.

You want a free refill? I give out about about 20 per day, and yes, they are all in the same old dirty cup from yesterday.

You want a free pastry? Take it, its yours, just leave the store.

You want a free, overly complicated Frappuccino? Sure, what do I care, I am getting paid no matter what.

You want extra extra extra caramel sauce? I will put half a bottle in there for you. And not even charge you for the extra.

Remember, Just Say Yes. (Even if it means giving away the store.)

My customer service is excellent, my store's bottom line is probably not as good as it could be.

[Bryan H.]

I am a graduate student at UC Berkeley, currently working on an academic research project on the restaurant industry. I'm looking for current and former Starbucks store managers and district managers who would be willing to be interviewed (anonymously) about their time at Starbucks. In return for complete interviews, a $20 gift certificate for Amazon.com will be provided. I can be reached at bryanh (at) berkeley.edu Thanks!

[SBUX Alum Bill]

@ teapartylemonade:

Your observation about the SSC is totally consistent with what I saw during the 1½ years that I worked there. Communication at the SSC on all matters is stricly a one-way proposition. They won't even listen to your feedback, and they don't want to hear your side of the story. I've never worked in any other corporate environment where downstream communication is valued as lowly as it is at Starbucks.

[Darth Discontinued.]

Two hours seems correct. Infact anybody can have a child regardless of responsibility level. Actually with the inventions of Condoms, Birth Control, and good old fashioned Catholic pulling out, it seems that the more irresponsible you are the higher chance you have for children.

According to the America Medical Association roughly half of all pregnancies are accidental. These facts are of course skewed because rationally people are less likely to admit a pregnancy was accidental as opposed to "planned"

[teapartylemonade]

SBUX Alum Bill - does the SSC realize what low esteem they are held in by the partners in the stores?

Seriously, I don't even feel like we are on the same team.

[SBUX Alum Bill]

@ teapartylemonade:

Upper management either doesn't know or doesn't care (I'm not sure which).

[baroosta]

@shift.misto - "because we provide for the intolerable. its called "just say, yes".

Hahaha I love it! Totally true...

[Clark Kent]

Respect and dignity comes foremost at my store, for my customers AND partners. I'm not afraid to ask someone to leave. Or to just say no.

Regardless of what any higher up may tell me, I won't compromise my own integrity over it. No one should.

[shift.misto]

aww clark, that's cute..
not very realistic with the whole respect and dingi, diggi, err.. how do you spell that again?

respect doesn't sell via and dignity isn't a LEAN process. therefore, we don't have room for such silly things here.

[(former) FLA SM]

"with an expression from the closing scene of an 80's family sitcom"

HA! Love it!

[Clark Kent]

@ shift.misto -
oh, no doubt its all pretty ridiculous. the upselling and scare tactics, etc. they exist around me, too. im just saying that personally i dont have a problem taking the brunt of it from upper management so that my partners can have a good experience. and i have yet to get in trouble for telling nasty rude customers to leave.

[Carlin]

Kinda random question but...

How do I get my free customizations w/ the rewards card? I just reached the 5 start limit and got the email.... Do I have to let the barista know or anything, or is it all automatic?

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

Carlin, it's all automatic when the card is swiped. :)

[Aces of Eight.]

On the refill policy:

I do not care anymore or even bother to try to enforce it, I don't get paid enough to deal with all the garbage and stress that goes with it.

When some shifts are on the floor, they countermand me if I try to uphold the refill policy because "that customer will just come and complain to them about it and they don't want to deal with it". Which really got on my nerves, when it happened. But then I decided that I really don't get paid enough to care anyway, so I didn't bother at all when she is running the shift.

Then with some of the other shifts, they just don't care either way (the best shift, imo, will be with me either way, if I enforce it she will back me up, and if I don't she doesn't care). And then my manager, he will enforce it for me, if he hears them ask for a refill he will ask if they have been in the store and give them the third degree, same with another shift (except she is a lot less intrusive about it than my SM). But neither get angry at me if I don't enforce it, they just sort of "enforce it for me, if I am on register" as it were.

So what conclusion did I come to? That I just don't care anymore, and I am not going to bother to enforce it, or bother to go against it either. Basically, I just let whatever shift is on duty enforce/not enforce it however they wish to, if they hear what is happening at the register, and just let it go however it goes.

And a note to customers: I know the inconsistency drives you crazy, yes it drives me crazy too. In some ways we are in this together, and you know who is at fault?

A culture that is encouraged from the top down, that allows for incredibly inconsistent management. Depending on which manager it is they might let that refill slide, or they might ask you nicely about the policy, or they might give you the third degree, or you might even get a different response from the same manager depending on their mood. The barista's generally have to follow whoever is leading the shift that day. So please don't blame the barista, blame inconsistent management.

It used to be a headache, but I decided to stop caring and it did me a world of good. I don't get paid enough to create extra stress for myself over something so stupid. I suggest doing what I do, if they give you the refill price take it, if not just pay it. It's so much easier to not deal with all the garbage.