Let's get the chatter going in another OPEN THREAD!

There are over 100 comments in the last OPEN THREAD, so it's time to start a new thread. As always, anything Starbucks-related is up for discussion. || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[meme]

To Frankie Abralind be sure and pick up the book Tribal Lore it had a lot of opinions taken form parnters a few years ago and you can use it to measure todays opinions.

[Red cup]

Green cup sbux is a necesity get that out of your head we are drug dealers and the customers are the crackheads i dont care if the pay my paycheck because nothing you can say will make me change my mind so go screw yourself

[meme]

to the 5 year partner who is thinking of quitting. Starbucks is still a great company to work for. It is exhausing to work on the front lines if you try to be everything asked of us and doing so with the curse of knowledge of what a front line partner used to be. That is why the newer partners are less stressed. They have no idea of the greatness the front line used to be. We will be there again in the future if you can hold on. Don't sweat the small stuff. Do only as much as you reasonably can while your there and go home. Let the manager carry the burden of being sure every partner is doing their part. They get the bigger bucks for this. Why is Starbucks still a great company to work for? Well the same reason they were 5 years ago when you signed up. They still stand for and are transparent. They help make the world a better place for people through farmer support, Shared Planet and Fair Trade. They make the world a better place through ethical sourcing and environmental education that the farmer support gives farmers to take care of the land. Starbucks is involved in individual communiities on large scale through ethos water wells, youth action, starbucks foundtion and on small scale by empowering each store to donate coffee, items and time to local needs as they see fit. And importantly they are trying to stay alive by evolving through tuff times. Evolution means change, adaption and innovation. These times are hard on the front lines as a lot is asked of them. The front lines represent the Starbucks third place and as so will eventually readapt to a better place but the hard part is now. All jobs now are hard but at least with Starbucks you know the company you work for is not built on greed, the broken backs of others nor the theft of human dignity and distruction of the earth for immediate gain. How many other corporations that you could get a job with today can boast that. P.S. I am an 9 year partner. Each year you learn exponentially about your job and it gets better and better with that knowledge. Let changes happen expect them and you will be happy.

[frappuccinist]

In-store Via sampling is stupid. No one wants instant coffee while they're waiting in line for another caffeinated beverage. And I mean literally no one.

[shift.misto]

@ meme:
newer partners aren't less stressed because of ignorance, they are just more whiny and less willing to work.

"let the manager carry the burden" HA! HAHAHA! you definitely are not a shift or SM.. that is simply not how it works if you want to keep your job. apparently, you are not aware of the new word Howard has used to replace Onward :accountability. especially with managers running multiple stores in many areas of the country, shifts are doing the legwork that sm's are paid for, and SMs spend most of their time doing HR work (schedules, interviews and corrective actions to the shifts that don't meet all the stores goals while they are away).

Environmental awareness is not unique to Starbucks, nor do we truly excel at it. my sister travels the world teaching English in other countries, mostly Latin American. She's been to the Guatemala farm we've all read about, and its a shithole. as a result of her visit to the farm, she won't set foot in a starbucks.

--"the company you work for is not built on greed, the broken backs of others nor the theft of human dignity and destruction of the earth for immediate gain."
unless you expect me to compare my job to extreme cases of murder and third-world economics, i'm pretty sure that is exactly what my job consists of. otherwise, please explain to me the labor pushes and mistreatment of partners that i see every single day both from management and the sacred customer.

The Kool aid was great while it lasted, but its gone the way of valencia and coconut syrup, sadly discontinued. Sure, the customer does come first, but the customers need to remember just what it is to get what you wish for. Good customer service does not include degrading your baristas or expecting to be pampered in ways above and beyond the ingredients in your cup. I am not payed (nor do i have the time or energy) to asked about your day and listen to your 10 minute speech of your drive home from work. I am paid to provide you with a beverage, made to your recipe using only the finest of standards. So either we can talk about your lousy life while i zone out and think about last weeks episode of the Office, OR you can be cordial, order, and ill spend my time making your drink with exactly the right amount of syrup, perfectly timed shots, fresh whipped cream that was probably made during a stressed never ending rush with small wares that are being accurately washed and products that are dated thoroughly and hand it to you in a cup that was handled to qasa standard without the tiniest dot of foam on the outside with a genuine smile and a thank you. that is customer service. not that it matters, you're still going to grab the wrong drink off the hand-off plane anyway.

[Waltie]

"In-store Via sampling is stupid. No one wants instant coffee while they're waiting in line for another caffeinated beverage. And I mean literally no one. "

No, you don't mean literally, since in store sampling often works. I'm not saying every time, but often enough to make it effective. I've seen it happen, so don't say that it never does, because you're wrong. And I mean that literally.

[Starbucks Gossip webmaster]

Re: H. Behar --- that person has also posted as "Jim McDermot" and other names.

[Ken]

The new symphonie (sp?) prints out names and partner numbers, anyone worried about it getting stolen and used by people who don't work for starbucks?

[Lisa24601]

Hi Baristas,

I've heard here and there that you can still order a Short at Starbucks...is that true? Do they have the correct cup sizes? Can you get every drink this way (like holiday drinks), or just drip?

Thanks!

[FormerSM]

@Lisa24601

Yes, it is. But note - I ordered a short the other day and the barista, clearly confused, asked me "how short?". Lol. Does it get shorter than 8 oz. I said, "I just want the short size." He was puzzled. I pointed.

[javagirl666]

What would anyone that doesn't work for Starbucks want my partner # for?

[JustBeNICE]

Green cups argument is always the same...the customer can treat us however they want and we're supposed to take it with a smile because they are paying and providing us with jobs. That's exactly what I've done for 7 years. There comes a point when you've seen enough. No amount of money gives anybody the right to act like they do. I'm a very loving and caring peron but over the last few years I've become bitter. I don't understand how someone can just walk up to a counter and not acknowledge another human being standing there. How can someone just bark out an order and not say hello or at the least look up from their phone?

I can take any and all of the repeatable routines and company mandated directives that are pushed in my face. Those don't bother me. The customers are the reason I'll be leaving Starbucks after the holidays. I want to keep what little faith in humanity I still have.

[Coffee Soldier]

No I am not concerned with anyone having my partner # because if someone tries to use my dicount hopefully the register partner is doing their job and asks for id if the partner card isn't present.

[Waltie]

"The new symphonie (sp?) prints out names and partner numbers, anyone worried about it getting stolen and used by people who don't work for starbucks?"

I think it's really weird that Starbucks has started printing our partner numbers on the receipts. In fact, I think it's awkward and kind of a violation of my privacy (take that, everybody who thinks I drink the kool-aid). But, as Coffee Solider said, anybody customers who gives a number without presenting a partner card should be asked for a photo ID. It's proper procedure, made all the more important now that partner numbers are printed on every receipt.

But, yeah, Starbucks should stop doing that. XXXXX83 along with a name should be good enough.

[stan]

I'm pretty sure partner numbers were always on the receipt, although names weren't.

[Darth Sidamo]

Makes me wonder if meme is talking about the same Howard we know. I would describe him quite like my manager. I truly believed the words coming out of his mouth during the partner survey come a year ago, but knew and successfully waited for the confirmation that it was a huge load of crap.

The little change we have had is a piddly bonus and our bean stock has changed (from what ive read it seems terrible). The best investment he could ever make is not into a fourth Leer jet. It is into his partners.

[mornbecomes]

I'm echoing stan- partner numbers were always on the receipts, they were just a bit 'encrypted.'

[javagirl666]

Partner #s have always been printed on the receipt.

[meme]

shift.misto A word of advice. You need to find a new job your personality and perspective are not a match for what you are doing. You are in conflict and I doubt you will never be satisfied at the Star. YOU ARE MISERABLE GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN. Love meme

[P]

lol @ meme, you cunt

[shift.misto]

meme, did you just fire me over the internet, or should we call it a corrective action?

[James Connolly]

Man, I don't even have to start up with the union rhetoric in this thread and I get to see someone bust out the whole 'well-if-you-hate-it-so-much-then-quit' trope as if it's some kind of wisdom.

[finally free]

As much as "P"'s comment made me laugh out loud, you should really remove it Webmaster

[Waltie]

"well-if-you-hate-it-so-much-then-quit"

How is that bad advice?

[Exflbarista]

Is there any truth to the rumor that shot times are now between 23-30 seconds? Has anything been recalibrated in the machines to reflect this change?

A barista at the store I used to work at mentioned this offhand the other day and it struck me as odd.

[newbie no more (was sbuxnewbie)]

exflbarista-

No, it is still 15-19 seconds. 23-30 is just....wrong.

[meme]

if I was a woman I would be insulted. I'm not, but I am offended for women everywhere that this comment made it to the bolg.

[hearbutloud]

@Shift.Misto and @meme --

I can see both sides of this one. Nothing is as simple as "If you hate your job just quit." Responsible people understand that nothing is that simple. Of course, I would recommend to anyone that if you are miserable, please find another job as soon as you can.

Customers can be abusive, abrasive, rude, presumptuous and ignorant. I have had customers curse at me, yell at me, snatch things (hot drinks, usually) out of my hands, and one even threatened me. I've been lectured, ignored, taken advantage of, stolen from, and twice I have called the cops for being harassed by a customer. None of this is behavior I should have to deal with at my place of employment. If a co-worker treated me this way, my workplace could be considered "hostile," so why is it okay for customers to treat me this way? These are the customers most of us are tired of.

[aelfgifu]

I just sent this letter on to corporate on cell phone users in line.

iphone;we suffer

Every day at every Starbucks, it happens. One Blue-toothed troglodyte will bring the morning line to a skidding stop as he maintains a conversation with an invisible presence while the barista helplessly looks on. All this occurs while the twenty-odd customers who have the ill-fortune to be behind the self-absorbed yacker are growing ever-more impatient. They look at their watches, mutter under their breath, call down the wrath of the Gods upon the human blockage. Some leave. A few leave never to return.

This situation is not a case of catering to the customers; it is egregious catering to one bad customer at the expense of a whole lot of good customers.

All the adjoining stores have unobtrusive “Please refrain from speaking on the phone while ordering” signs and they work. Starbucks won’t allow even these. Does Starbucks Coffee Company suffer from a simple lack of perspective or Stockholm Syndrome?

Please consider changing your policy. Stand up for us—your commonwealth of customers— rather than bowing to the petty tyrant with the phone.

[Kristina]

"P", that comment was just uncalled for. It's interesting how you treat a total stranger. Do you treat your guests in the same manner? If so, you shouldn't be at the bux!

[otterinthewater]

@aelgifu

I would just die of happiness to have a sign asking folks to refrain from cellular phone use. I wouldn't hold your breath, though...

[javagirl666]

Maestrena shots are 18-23.

[formermanager]

I rarely go to Starbucks after having worked there for 4 years. Too expensive! But I had a latte there the other day, it was delish, but the baristas couldn't care less to provide any kind of service. I barely got a hello or thank you. I make my Starbucks lattes in my Tassimo machine now.

[Coffee Drinker]

If someone is zoned out on their cell phone in line in front of me I sometimes simply politely cut in front of them or more likely, indicate with gestures and voice people want to order. They usually step aside or realize their error and hang up.

Have a bit of courage, dear customers. Don't let the rude or oblivious keep you from your coffee. And at times people truly don't notice a line behind them and will easily accomodate.

I know that some won't budge that's the minority.

Down with cell phones at Starbucks! Up with coffee!!

[green_cup]

How can Starbucks be too expensive?

It's like, max $5 a visit, if even...

[Waltie]

"All the adjoining stores have unobtrusive “Please refrain from speaking on the phone while ordering” signs and they work. Starbucks won’t allow even these. Does Starbucks Coffee Company suffer from a simple lack of perspective or Stockholm Syndrome?"

Neither. I think corporate just knows that this is a nonissue. It really doesn't happen very often. It certainly doesn't happen often enough -- nor does it make enough of an impact on day to day operations -- that they should enforce company wide policy stating that cell phones are forbidden.

Personally, I'd rather deal with the nonissue of having customers on a cell phone (who cares?) then the real issue of having to fit one more friggin' sign at my POS area. Thanks but no thanks.

[spence]

Waltie is right. No more signs. I simply smile at the gabber and whisper, "take your time and let me know when you are ready." Then I ask the next customer what they would like.

[buttonpusherhater]

Barista at a starbucks???? All they have are button pushers. No one in the company knows the "art" that a true barista has. Anyone can push a button and make the same drink that even the most seasoned "barista" a modern starbucks can. Hell, you could take a McD's burger flipper and within minutes have them trained to run a sbux.

[ex-flbarista]

@javagirl666 and newbie no more -- thanks, i knew something sounded weird about that. I think I'm going to ask her for some written proof about it. Apparently the potential "future ASM" has been telling her that for a few days...

[AnxiousBarista]

Soooo, we're launching simphony next week. Any words of advice/warning from partners who have gone through the install and are currently using?

[Lulu_b_barista]

I've worked retail for five years, I've been a waitress, and I am now currently a barista. And sure, "the customer is always right", but that doesn't stop the customer from also being a moron, a jerk, or my personal favorite, a megabitch.

I am not remaking a strawberry and cream frappucino after you have already drank more than half of it and then complain that there wasn't enough strawberry flavor.

When you order a hot mocha, especially after I show you the cup and repeat your order verbatim, and then you are angry with with me for not making you an iced mocha... your remade drink WILL be decaf. But don't worry, I'll give it to you with a sweet, friendly smile while I apologize for my ineptitude at not being able to ready your mind.

Finally when you order a tall, half-caf, 1% sugar-free vanilla latte, extra hot and with no foam. I will fantasize about spitting in your drink you annoying pain in my butt.

I was a people person, then I worked in the service industry. Now I hate most people.

[Waltie]

"When you order a hot mocha, especially after I show you the cup and repeat your order verbatim, and then you are angry with with me for not making you an iced mocha... your remade drink WILL be decaf."

Then, as much as I hate to say it, you are just sad, pathetic person. I don't want to reopen the who "giving people decaf" nonsense, but if that's what you need to do in order to get "revenge" on another human being, you need therapy.

Just give people what the order and do your job. If you can't do that, you need to return your paycheck and walk out the door.

[Hipsterdufus]

Decafing is not the ultimate revenge. You think the customer even NOTICES that they get decaf?

[green_cup]

@Posted by: Lulu_b_barista | December 02, 2010 at 09:45 PM:

And yet, your illustrious "career" consists of long-term waitressing and working as a retail food service worker making just above minimum wage and being ecstatic at the slight possibility of a measly $300 "bonus" and a whopping 25 cents an hour pay increase.

You go ahead and "decaf" the folks you hate. I can promise you'll remember them way longer than they'll remember you. Those folks will forget you in lieu of the far more important careers they have, what to do with the much larger amounts of money they make and the great things they can do with that money.

Those folks you're trying to get back at just end up with mean thoughts from you (of which I might point out you can't even vocalize because your job choice controls you like you're a child vs a real adult in a real job) and some decaf coffee. You end up with a miserable dead-end job that you're stuck in.

Probably has a lot to do with your piss poor attitude regarding your job and, I assume, your life.

[javagirl666]

Yeah..LuLu..your anger issues seem to run much deeper than remaking someones drink???? Its really not that big of a deal.

[frappuccinist]

Waltie... I'm sorry but you are wrong.

[Lulu_b_barista]

Wow green_cup, you must be a psychologist when you are not a McBarista or moonlighting THE moral guiding light of the coffee forums.

I'm actually a great barista. My regulars love me. My coworkers look up to me. I was promoted to Assistant Manager after barely working two months. Oh, and next fall when I'm finishing my masters in Museum Studies while interning at the Natural History Museum, I'll have funny and biting stories about my days as a coffee-slave.

I'm all for personalizing customer service, but I refuse to take harassment from customers who treat me and my girls like second class citizens just because we work in the service industry. Or for that matter, holier-than-thou-art baristas who are drunk of the corporate kool-aid.

Oh and green_cup
"Those folks you're trying to get back at just end up with mean thoughts from you (of which I might point out you can't even vocalize because your job choice controls you like you're a child vs a real adult in a real job)"

Which "adult real world job" do YOU have where you have the privilege of voicing your thoughts. hmm?

And sure, remaking a drink is not the end of my world; my anger is the waste that comes from it.

Waltie, as much as I hate to say this, I'm glad that you found in me, one person who is more of a sad and pathetic person than you are. If you like, I'll give you the name of my therapist. Doctor Jose Cuervo; and if he is unavailable, try Doctor Jim Bean.

Hipsterdufus, I'd love to hear about any of your revenge tactics. Maybe we could start a new forum for it!

Ps, is there an online community for baristas with a sense of humor, a love of satire, and a passion for acerbic wit?

[pfft]

@spasticfurchild yea, have fun with that. There IS NO more Christmas product. None to ship b/c starbucks didn't make enough.

[Waltie]

"Waltie... I'm sorry but you are wrong. "

About what? About thinking that giving customers decaf even though they paid for regular is immoral and pathetic? I'm absolutely right about that. If you do that... you have problems.

[getyourfactsstraight]

@exfuturebarista...yea no. Those shots would not taste good at all!! How many drinks are returned on her watch? Just not ok