OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Where are the pay-it-forward stories this year?

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any Starbucks drive-thru pay-it-forward stories this year. A few years ago, they were everywhere and I wondered if they were being manufactured by Starbucks PR. Do you have any pay-it-forward tales to report from this holiday season? Tell us -- or discuss anything else in the week-before-Christmas OPEN THREAD. || Jump to the third page of comments.

Comments

[Partner]

This happens all the time at my store's drive-thru, but it never lasts more than a few cars.
On a side note, did anyone notice that the new simphony system charges a different price for tall, grande, and venti hot teas. Now how many teabags for each?

[DecafinHater]

I can tell ya, pay-it-forward is alive and not a PR myth. Last week, we had a string of over 75 cars who continued to buy the drink for the car behind them! It was amazing, and the drive staff were having a ball with it!

[Frank]

For the last two or three years, from Thanksgiving until New Year's, I always pay for the person behind me in the drive-through line. I've never been the recipient of a pay-it-forward, so it's interesting to hear stories about it.

Interestingly, at my local Starbucks here in Kent, WA, the barista at the window called it a "blessing" and said that was how they referred to them there.

[Coffee Soldier]

We had a pay it forward start just yesterday..it lasted for 11 cars the last car in front paid for a 9.10$ order and when I informed the next customer of their good fortune and asked if they'd like to keep it going for the car behind them with a 2.00 coffee the woman said (quote) "Yea right...I take what I can get in this world!" I shockingly looked at her and said, "O.K...we'll you have a great holiday season and watch out for that karma," and closed the window on her! I was seriously shocked...I mean I could see if you had a coffee not paying for the quard venti carmel frappuccino in the next car but seriously someone paid your 9 dollar Sbux tab and you won't pay 25% of that for the next car? I was very taken aback by this woman's gimmie attitude!

[Amy]

I am a Starbucks barista and can vouch for these pay it forward stories. I see them almost every day.

Today I posted a heart warming story on my blog today about this very topic.

thestarbucksbaristadiary.blogspot.com

[Miggy]

We had it going for a good while a couple days ago. 59 cars and the last car we had was a cop. She was surprised and totally shocked that people did that to begin with. It was awesome and brightened up everyones day.

[ncsm]

I really think that these pay it forward stories with 50, 60, 70+ cars are nothing more than urban myths that some folks wish to keep alive. It would be nice if such was the case, but lets not forget that we live in the real world--most people nowadays are simply not that selfless. Sorry to break the bad news!

[puck]

It happens every morning at my store in the drive thru, but lasts on average about 8 cars.

[Waltie]

I have worked in a few drive thru stores, and I've never seen it happen. I've seen cars buy drinks for the car behind them a few times, but it never turned into any kind of chain. That isn't to say that it never happens, just that I've never seen it happen.

Nor do I understand why it would happen. If somebody pays for my drink and then I pay for somebody else's drink... what's the point? All of the people are still paying for drinks. If somebody buys my drink and then I "pay it forward," I'm still spending money. I like to think I'm a nice, kind, giving person, but I don't get it. I don't see the point.

[Crema_the_Crop]

The hot tea prices figure in the time required to pour the hot water from the hot water tap. Ventis take longer than grandes, so they cost more. Cost of labor.

[I just don't under stand]

I am still seeing a lot of store’s having the same problems, equipment down or not working, store calls in the problem, a tech show’s up and doesn’t have a clue, I also heard that FSN wasn’t paying the contractor’s in the 35 days that was quoted to them in the contract, this is way FSN can’t keep the same company or tech’s. I can’t believe that Starbucks will let the Standards of the Equipment fall out of what Howard set so high; on his Company. I just can’t believe that Howard doesn’t know what is happening in his stores. I also heard that PM’s were set, and then Starbuck’s CANCELED them, stating they ran out of money, but for some reason they are building new stores again, so the Customer can suffer on a Nasty Drink, and will not come back, because when you pay for something you want the BEST.
Starbucks Standards have failed the Company in a whole, look it’s just a year out when all the Tech’s were let go, and the Bosses in Maintenance or Facilities just don’t care.
I am at a lost, here’s a company that I loved to work for go Down, just like the stock….
All the Partners feel stressed out all the time, it’s not a fun place to work anymore, but a job is a job, it just pays the bill’s…

[Waltie]

"am still seeing a lot of store’s having the same problems, equipment down or not working, store calls in the problem, a tech show’s up and doesn’t have a clue"

I'm not seeing this at all. We have stuff break a lot, but they techs they send out are always great. In my area there are two or three different techs they send out, and I have nothing but respect for all of them. They always fix everything when they come out.

[easypeasy]

the amount of tea bags is the SAME AS IT HAS BEEN SINCE WE CHANGED OVER A YEAR AGO. Not complicated. it's 1, 1, 2

[BAYAREABUX]

Crema,
Absolute BS. Teas are charged by # of teabags. T/G are the same (1 bag) and Venti is exactly the cost of one teabag (2 bags). You're usually pretty knowledgable, but labor costing the hot water spigot is something you just pulled from you-know-where.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

BAYAREABUX,
At least where I live, with the winter set the tea prices changed to be by size. Short, tall, grande, and venti all ring in at different prices.

[latteteadah]

I think the problem with pay-it-forward is that you eventually get to the person who only has enough for their own drink that particular day, and simply can't keep it going. I usually budget for a black coffee most mornings when I'm going through a drive-through. Most of the time I probably could spare an extra $5 or so, but in my area, everybody seems to like their venti frappucinos - it would be just my luck that I'd get caught in the wave on a day when I couldn't afford to keep it going.

[hearbutloud]

Teas are different prices by size now, not by number of bags anymore. Starbucks sent out a notification when the notice about the latest price increase went out. That memo explained the price increase due to the increase in green coffee prices overall. It also explained that the reason that the tall and grande hot teas will have different prices is because (I'm paraphrasing), "Other coffee shops charge this way and people have come to expect to pay different prices for different sizes."

[dirty chai]

My question with teas has been, when a customer asks for a venti with one teabag, in the past we would charge them for a tall - or a grande, really, because a tall and a grande were the same price. Now that a tall and a grande both only get one teabag but are two different prices, how do I charge that customer for their venti with one teabag? The tall price, or the grande price?

I asked my SM, and he shrugged and said "good question". I'd be interested to find out what the official stance is on this.

[veg barista]

@hearbutloud: yes, what you said... supposedly they surveyed some customers, and the majority said they would expect that different sized drinks cost different amounts. (though i'm sure if they actually understood--who knows, they may have surveyed people who don't normally buy tea at *$--they would agree with us.)

@dirty chai: it's so stupid, and i don't agree with this... but you are supposed to offer them the extra tea bag on the side, since they'll be paying for it anyway. we're supposed to charge by cup size now, regardless of how many tea bags they are getting. it's silly.

[hearbutloud]

I try to talk people into buying a box of tea. $7, 15 bags ~ $0.50/cup of tea v. $2+ per cup, plus a wait in line, @ the 'bucks. Seems like a no-brainer to me. But, then again, I brew my own drip at home.

[Coffee Soldier]

The tea question if very odd because where I am after tax both the Tall and the Grande teas are 2.13 same price for one bag and a cup of water...if someone orders a venti with one bag we still charge for a grande.

Another tea dilema I've had a customer recently coming in saying they would like a grande awake tea misto with liquid sugar....so they are getting the awake tea latte but calling it something different and everyone is ringing him up differently.

[Shan]

guys, tall n grande r da same price for the teas n they both comes with one bsg each, the venti, however, is different

[R1]

I'm not in a drive-thru store but every few weeks someone pays it forward in the cafe. It doesn't turn into a chain but it's nice. Especially since it isn't just a holiday thing.

I used to do much more surprise and delight when I started 3 years ago. Do any of you still do that? At my new store I do it much less often. No one specifically said not to but everyone, including the manager just looks at me like I'm nuts.

I remember back when Starbucks wasn't soul-less at a "warm and fuzzy" meeting my DM said that any one of us could walk into a local clinic or store bearing trays of "surprise and delight" drinks any time we felt like it. Don't think that would fly now.

[Waltie]

Tall, grande, and venti teas all ring up at different prices now. If you think the tall and grande still ring up the same, test it out when you next go into work. Different prices.

[spence]

Surprise and Delight?? Ahhhhhhhh. You are showing your age. Now the surprise and delight is that they show up to an appropriately staffed store.
Saturday before Christmas: Seriously understaffed and wondering why the people that only come in at Christmas don't come in more often.

[RememberTheOldDays?]

Saturday before Christmas: Seriously understaffed and wondering why the people that only come in at Christmas don't come in more often."

Spence, I was JUST saying that same exact thing today!! It's like people come out of the woodwork around Christmas and pour into Starbucks then disappear for the next 50 weeks...

[meme]

We often have pay it forward in our drive thru also. It usually starts with a regular who loves it or with a customer who has a large time consuming order and says tell the guy behind me I'm sorry about all the extra wait needed and let me buy his drink. Then we tell each next car to the window that the guy in front bought his drink and if he wants to keep it going the next drink total is $. It works well until the drink total is really high and they driver says no but thanks for the free drink today.

[Aaron]

Instead of "paying it forward", tip your barista extra!

Also, it's dumb that the tea prices changed so tall and grande are different prices. It used to be like that, but Starbucks realize that was stupid and changed it back. If we charge more for a grande tea than for a tall, why isn't a triple tall americano cheaper than a grande americano? So dumb. There is no other drink where we charge more if you ask for a tall in a grande cup, but with some water added to fill it to the top.

[A Non eMoose]

I have never ever seen pay-it-forward scenarios at my store. Not that I doubt their existence, but I suppose our customers decide to show their holly jolly spirit by tipping us a little extra. Which is nice, I'll take that. :P

[Sally]

We don't have a drive-thru at our store. The only time I've seen this is when someone in the front of the line decides to pay for someone's drink. Doesn't happen too often but I've seen it a couple of times since we've opened.

[noloopholes]

@Coffee soldier so you say "sorry, that's an awake tea latte and this is the price. So sorry :) "

[noloopholes]

wait wait-y'all are surprised people are out, shopping and so in starbucks the weekend before Christmas? Really?

[BAYAREABUX]

In my market the price of tall and grande teas is still $1.95. Never saw any action item on this or a revision to the Beverage Resource manual where it talks about charging by # of teabags.

[SBsmooth]

Well it seems the price change on teas may only be in certain markets. I doubt it but it's possible. My question is if any long-timers remember how price changes/increases used to go down back in the day. There used to be much agonizing and always a customer oriented explanation, because the theory from corporate was this is necessary but this may hurt relationships we've built with customers. And the prcies used to go up every couple of years. Now we've seen several price increases over the last few years, seemingly snuck in quietly or with much less fanfare. They're calculating that most folks just plain won't notice, which is probably true. And to head off the news taglines they send out press releases about price "adjustments" noting that some drinks go up but some stay the same. Tall drip has been the only drink that stayed the same. Very clever, because it worked. There was not a massive customer revolt because not many have noticed that they're being nickel and dime every 6 months at the bux. I miss the transparency, but i don't miss underwater stock options. Oh ambivalence!

[P]

I can vouch for bayareabux by saying that in my store, on simphony, a tall tea and a grande tea are the same price.

[usorthem3]

As of today we have 1 bottle of pumpkin spice and you can't order more is what I was told. Guess its a short season here 4 PSL. And no gift card sleeves for 3 weeks have been on Roasting plant. Had one lady tell me that I ruined her "effin" day b/c we are out. Welcome to the holidays.
For those who hv been using Symphony, will it always be this much lag time? I mean push the key then wait. Ugh!

[hearbutloud]

Christmas season is CRAZY! I have had a LOT of customers really put out that we were out of Christmas gift cards and envelopes altogether. I don't know about ya'll, but I was raised to accept disappointment, and having to settle for a non-Christmas themed gift card without and envelope seems really minor. People have been downright angry with us, when the problem has been at the Roasting Plant. We order, they don't send. We apologize and people say things like, "This is unacceptable. What kind of company are you running?"
Lady, I'm paid less than $9/hour. I'm not running this company. When gift cards don't show up, my responsibility is to apologize to you as if it were my problem. I've tried to get them from other stores, they won't give them up. I've told you when my shipment comes in. I've told you that Target has plenty of Christmas themed Starbucks cards and that both Target and craft stores sell gift card envelopes. What the f else can I do for you? Crap them?

[Shifted]

I remember one year when we ran out of the gift card sleeves - we used cups. I forget if it was a sample cup or a short cup, but the cards fit in perfectly and it seemed like a pretty nice way to present it.

[Melody]

@SBsmooth - You hit the nail on the head when you ended your discussion with "transparency". There are other examples of missing transparency too.

@heartbutloud - I really do wonder how Starbucks supplies all their stores with stuff. On twitter I've seen a number of tweets complaining that the Adler mugs are sold out in their areas. I sent some Squirrel Brand Macadamia Nuts to a friend on the east coast because she swore who her whole area was sold out. Is there some new problem with getting supplies to places or has it always been this way? As a customer I would have been fine using just about any gift card. It's the thought that counts, and if the person on the receiving end of the gift gets a Twilight Card (the 1st and Battery Seattle Starbucks is the image on the card) it's going to spend just as well. Who doesn't appreciate a Starbucks giftcard?

[rawr]

My order last week had all our holiday products zeroed out, including all 10 bullets of christmas blend that were ordered. The only thing we haven't run out of are gift cards and gift card holders ironically.

[RememberTheOldDays?]

I'm not surprised more people are out shopping, I'm just surprised they only come to starbucks 1 week out of the year while they're shopping. My store is here the other 364 days that aren't Christmas too!

Speaking of which, how're your customers all taking the "Sorry, we're closed Christmas" concept? I've had people flip that they "don't know what they will do!" It's one day, seriously?

[I.Heart.Spirit]

I miss my drive-thru store in which "pay it forward" was an occurance on the holidays.

The closest thing to someone paying it forward in my new cafe store would be them smearing human fecal matter on our bathroom walls once a week for the last month.

WOO!

[latteteadah]

In my neck of the woods, the supply issue seems to be a management thing. My neighborhood high-traffic store ran out of Adler mugs and card holders nearly on day one and never restocked. I go this past weekend to the busiest SB store in the largest mall in the U.S. and I find them plentifully stocked with everything, including the macademia nuts and 2009 city mugs, yet all going fast. Both stores are only 10 miles apart from one another. It has to be a matter of how management at some level is judging demand.

But, I have to note that the Christmas Blend Via is nowhere to be found anyplace around here. I stocked up well during the 12 Days BOGO, but no one seems to have received any further. If they were smart, they'd think about continuing it, since it seems to be more popular than the regular Via offerings.

[BAYAREABUX]

One thing I'm noticing this year is people going nuts for the salted caramel hot chocolate. Two years ago, made with "signature hot chocolate," it was a huge flop and we thew out pitchers and pitchers. Now it's all the rage and the entire district was out of sea salt topping for 2 weeks (ps... putting it on the espresso bar is a really good way to ruin the entire bottle!). Now I have customers rolling in with recovery coupons other stores gave for being out of sea salt?

Really? Starbucks is always out of something, especially with the headache IMS has been. Would you give a customer a free drink because Starbucks was out of sea salt topping?

[Barista4ever]

Just an idea for all those running out of gift card holders-the card fits nicely in a short cup with a lid and most people seem really pleased with it. It is aggravating to be running out of Christmas merchandise so early-but I guess we are doing penance for all the stationery and dish ware that never sold.
I guess that shows how long I have been with Starbucks!

[slaw275]

some of the holiday products were not "store orderable" at all, like the adler red mugs... trust me, I tried to get more when we sold out before the 12 days of wishing. my csr told me that some things had been allotted. I'm not sure how they decide who gets what, though... a store with a lower retail mix than mine got twice as many of these tumblers allotted to them. I just wish that ANY of the items that have been popular in my store were available to order... I even had trouble ordering the aubergine mug, which is pretty plain and not really a high-demand item. I was told the warehouse is out of them. My store is having to transfer retail from surrounding stores because the warehouse is out, and I haven't even been hitting my retail goal.

And to answer Melody's question, this is nothing new. Even before IMS and Simphony, stores constantly didn't receive things they needed and ordered... syrup pumps, day dots, urnex, restroom cleaner, gift card envelopes, etc. I've been trying to replace my old tea canisters (that are now used to hold pour-over grounds) for many months. out of stock.

[hearbutloud]

@Shifted - we do often offer the short cup/lid, and many people love it. But this year, people are much more averse to it than they have been in years past (yes, this is an ongoing problem).

@Melody - I've been pushing the Twilight card, it is very pretty, and telling people, "Hey, it still spends the same!" It seems to me that we've run out of the sleeves every holiday season. We order more, but often we do not even receive as many as we have ordered (if any at all). The cards is a new thing, and I don't know if IMS or management is to blame, since I have relieved myself of any ordering duties. :)

Still, even tonight, I had people doubting my sincerity when I told them we were out of Christmas Cards ("Are you serious?") Part of me really wanted to say, "Oh, we're out? That's funny, because I haven't had every customer for the last four days ask me if we had any!" Ha!

[hearbutloud]

Jim - you hear anything about this FAILED promotion over the past weekend? Apparently, PARTICIPATING stores were offering $5 gift cards for every CD purchase. Starbucks posted a mislead on its Facebook page and people were out buying CDs and thinking they got the shaft. Looks like a lot of customers missed the "participating" part and everyone's peeved over it. Partners look like fools and corporate looks incompetent! Big embarrassment, if you ask me!

http://www.starbucks.com/blog/635/a-cd-a-free-5-starbucks-card-comfort-and-joy

[Waltie]

I haven't heard any controversy about this. All I saw in my store was a lot of happy customers who got five dollar gift cards with every CD they purchased. How was this a failed promotion? It was a success by all accounts in my district.

[I <3 music]

What you could do when the gift tissue was brown and white was use an iced cup and dome lid. Put the brown in the bottom of the cup with the gift card. Then the white in the dome lid. It loos like a latte with whip.