Seven people have joined the "Save the Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich" campaign

That many?! Sign me up for the "Bring the Coffee Smell Back to Starbucks" campaign. (Visit the "Save the Breakfast Sandwich" site)

Comments

[Allie]

Ooooohhh! I'm sure Howard feels extremely threatened. =P

[Peaches]

Its skyrocketed to nine!

I think, just maybe, you might be able to find another establishment that prides itself over making egg sandwiches. This one prides itself in making coffee, and we'd like to get back to that, thanks.

I'm sure the nine mostly consist of the overweight drive thru customers who wouldn't consider parking their car and walking into a Starbucks to save their life!

[fuwalda]

Only three comments until an uninformed, offensive, personal attack!!

So just because a customer liked the breakfast sandwiches and wants them back, that means he or she must be fat and lazy?

I think I'm officially quitting reading and commenting on this forum. What started as an informative page for Starbucks information has turned into a far too-public display of everything I hate about the worst of my partners and the worst of my customers.

Peace

Great post Fuwalda,
I realized that as well topics back. While there are a rare few who actually have something constructive to say and articulate it well, the majority are senseless rants.

[Melody]

Fuwalda, for an upbeat and positive place to talk about Starbucks, scroll your cursor over my name.

You know, the breakfast sandwiches haven't even been in the stores that long. It's not like they're a well established starbucks product. If Starbucks said they were discontinuing french roast, then some of us might have a panic attack, but breakfast sandwiches can go.

And Fuwalda, well said as to the conversation in the comments degrading.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Melody,
Thank you for your support. I really appreciate it. I think I would just yell out in court, "Objection! If Starbucks had actually trained us good to begin with. We wouldn't be here right now."

[Ashley]

Wow 10 members now! That'll take Howard by storm for sure...

[Don]

Funny, I think the breakfast sandwiches have been one of the few good things Starbucks has added in the last few years. They're significantly better than other "fast food" sandwiches. I don't really understand this move. Now I have to be a little skeptical of The Howard.

Let's talk about replacing the awful, chemically Starbucks syrups, among other horrible invasions. Breakfast sandwiches, though, should stay.

[Melody]

Don, pick up a copy of Pour Your Heart Into It. Go to about page 252 (I posted 2 paragraphs out of this book in some earlier & older thread) and read Howard's reasoning as to why there should never be cooked food in a Starbucks. Coffee beans absorb odors and cooked foods are destructive to the primary mission of coffee.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I highly doubt Don can pick-up a book and read it. If people have trouble finding stuff out at Stabucks, then they'll have trouble reading a book. Plain and simple, breakfast sandwiches are a huge pain in our ass, like we don't have enough to do in the morning already. At most stores, we have to first count the number of breakfast sandwiches, then date the sandwiches and then rotate the sandwiches around. Oh and also, take the temperature of the breakfast sandwich too. After that we still have to warm them up for the display case. This is time we could use doing other more important stuff. Of course, breakfast sandwiches really break down the line in the morning, especially when there is no food person there to warm them up. Finally, at night most stores have to remove the breakfast sandwiches from the warming fridge and store them downstairs. If they are not removed from the fridge the stupid delivery guys will leave the sandwiches out, meaning the entire delivery is lost for that day, incurring a huge loss!
Breakfast sandwiches in the end might get more money, but the labor put into them and posible loss of sales do not justify keeping them.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I am so glad that he kicked their asses to the curb. I'm sure they have NEVER made a triple venti soy no-whip gingerbread latte in their life.

[Jim Lane]

Say what?

"This one prides itself in making coffee, and we'd like to get back to that, thanks."

The irony is mind boggling. Were you a coffee company, you would not have to get back to that.

jim

[Jim Lane]

What Howard does not get is that food odors migrate over time and close proximity. Surely, Starbuck's coffee is not sitting around all day pre-ground and in the open air. Or is it?

jim

Once AGAIN we have arrogant Starbucks employees!

A customer has said that they liked the sandwiches and wished that they would stay. A simple request. Don wasn't rude, even.

He even suggested that Starbucks revamp their syrups, too. I mean a syrup should only really be a natural flavoring, sugar and water. Chemicals, if you're truly interested in giving a good cup of coffee, should never be around.

More amazing is this:
I highly doubt Don can pick-up a book and read it. If people have trouble finding stuff out at Stabucks, then they'll have trouble reading a book.

What the hell? So he doesn't WORK at "Stabucks" (PS: An interesting slip-up, honestly, considering how educated on the company you claim to be), so he won't be an expert. Second, QUIT MOCKING YOUR CUSTOMERS. Don, in no way, let on in anyway that he could not read. He actually made an intelligent observation and then offered helpful advice.

You're just deciding that because he treats Starbucks like he treats any food establishment that he is unintelligent. Can you give me a history of McDonalds? Burger King? Those establishments are peers in your business (and, yes, they are). I know I can't because I go into Starbucks and get a cup of coffee and leave. I certainly don't ask for the history of the place, etc.

You wax poetic about crafting a truly customer-oriented experience, but then you go on like that? Hypocritical in its finest fashion.

What needs to be kicked to the curb, Boston Starbucks "Rebel" are employees like yourself. You might just see how coddled you are at this "job" when you attempt to find another.

[Blockquote]

"This one prides itself in making coffee, and we'd like to get back to that, thanks."

As a reluctant Starbucks customer, I find this "pride" comment both laughable and absurd. While I've been to dozens of stores throughout the Seattle area, I know of ONLY ONE where baristas are trained in the art of making espresso, and that's in a goddamned BARNES & NOBLE.

Is Howard going issue a directive to tear out every last one of the superauto machines and teach you button-pushing putzes how to grind, tamp, and pull a real shot of espresso? Until Starbucks ACTUALLY demonstrates some pride by going back to their roots and employing true baristas, this is little more than empty lip service to appease angry shareholders. Meanwhile, the tide of mass-produced low-quality beverages will continue unabated.

Of course, once the barista position requires an bonafide skillset that few of you "rebels" possess, you'll all be looking for work elsewhere.

As several people have stated above, the sandwiches are a welcome addition to the mass-produced low-quality breakfast food one might obtain elsewhere. Unfortunately, they will be a casualty of Schultz's convenient misdirection, and people who enjoy them will have one fewer reason to walk into a Starbucks.

grinding and tamping is overrated....my wrists think so and so do my taste-buds after the flavor upgrade.

Blockquote put it right.

Starbucks baristas are a bunch of button-pushing employees with green aprons on. The people that worked in Starbucks stores before you probably laugh heartily knowing what an easy job you all have now that the super-automatics are in the stores. Even moreso hearing the whining given how much less work you all do.

When the current machines are ripped out and both some decent machines AND some decent baristas are trained up, the customer will THEN have a truly different experience.

It's odd to me how the company decides to issue "Flavor Profile" upgrades to the machines. First, the flavor profile should be adjusted BY THE DRINK under the discretion of the barista. You do this by adjusting tamp, adding different things to the shot (sugar, etc.)... I could go on. At Starbucks, the machine does it all for you and at the lowest common denominator.

I fear, though, that Starbucks has gone down its current path for far too long and will never be able to back up and start from the point it deviated from being a decent company. Schultz may wish for the company to return to what it once was, but it never can.

As for the sandwiches, eh... they were good, better than anywhere else, for what they were.

Pulling those out of your stores is a scapegoat for the real problems plaguing the stores: the baristas themselves. And before you mention it, having a three-hour training session/ cleaning-time will NOT solve it. It only further adds to the issue when a customer stops on by and is inconvenienced. Add to that the horrible disservice the investor will feel when Starbucks loses three hours of sales from every closed store and has to pay labor to every US employee for re-training.

That's what's really bad here, too. It's not like Starbucks is rolling out a new initiative to make more cash for the investor and using company cash to pay labor for training. This is RE-TRAINING. Stuff the labor should already know. Such a waste.

Oh, boy... this company's the new McDonalds. Yet, sometimes even McDonalds seems better.

(And, no, I won't just go to McDonalds. I'll be in your stores DEMANDING the quality service I DESERVE as a CUSTOMER until the baristas get it right. And, yes, you will remake my drink or hear my complaint until it is right.)

[Nerfebarista]

Quit whining about something just because you can't have it. Get over it. If you want good coffee, come to starbucks. If you want subpar breakfast, which is what we serve you morons, starting this year, you'll be going elsewhere. There are so many comparisons that can be made here, but it's easy. WE ARE A COFFEE COMPANY. Just because some nimrod decided 3 years ago that we may be successful at selling hot food, does not make us fast food and now that said nimrod is canned, we are heading back to our roots. You'll still be welcome in our stores, except for the turd anon 7:45pm that seems to think I care about what he wants, Just come for coffee instead of the things you can get elsewhere.

And please chill out about the 801's I'm fairly certain you have zero idea of what you are talking about when you say push button. Most of us take pride in our jobs, whether or not you do. Have a good weekend

PLEASE stop lumping all baristas into the crappy category... I'm sure in every job there are good seeds and bad ones. I've worked really hard, been very successful, and am a damn good barista. Yes, BARISTA. I agree, there are people that aren't, but please don't over generalize.

Also, this IS in fact RETRAINING because there are new standards and way of doing things that have just come about in the past few weeks so we do need to have a glorified store meeting, if you'd call it that (it's what it is) to get on the same page about these new standards and practices... not everyone goes on the portal and finds the info. They should, yes, but they don't, so here we are.

Other companies are also changing constantly and coming up with new ways of doing things and probably schedule time outside of normal hours, or during the day in meetings (but since the public doesn't get to see inside offices nobody knows). Starbucks would have to (at my store anyway) do this at midnight until 2 am or 2:45 am - 4:45 am if we didn't do it during store hours, so it becomes a much more public, less discreet way of doing things.

Be logical and stop slamming Starbucks for trying to make things BETTER. If you HATE Starbucks, why waste your time on this site?

[Blockquote]

"If you want good coffee, come to starbucks."

No, if I want GOOD coffee I'll make it myself, since I know how to operate a manual espresso machine well. If I want thoroughly mediocre coffee made by a button-mashing chimp and requires zero skill to produce, I'll come to Starbucks.

"button-mashing chimp"

THANKS! :) I love being viewed as less than human because of what I do when I get to work to pay the bills.

So I guess that makes you...... God?

[Blockquote]

No, it's just a bit of hyperbole, and I'm just a customer who finds it incomprehensible that a Starbucks partner like "BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL" would bemoan the inconvenience of being asked to perform their job. Preparing a product per the customer's order? Counting!? OUTRAGEOUS!

I'm a Product Manager at a software company. I don't whine when someone asks me to write a spec, or train a client, or perform a repetitive operation 300 times in a row because the work must be done. That's my job and well within the range of tasks I agreed to execute when I signed up.

I look forward, however, to the day when slicing a bagel or warming a croissant proves too troublesome for our dear barista.

So, too, am I boggled by the assertion that customers who have enjoyed the products Starbucks has until recently been delighted to sell are "morons". If the majority of the partners here are proud of their craft and the company at which they work, why does there appear to be a near-universal consensus in these comments that convenience to the Starbucks employee trumps a quality experience for the customer? Remember that all of the changes being brought into play are intended to restore (in their own words) "Starbucks' original legendary customer experience".

P.S. Don't feed me any bullshit about how complex it is to operate an 801. I'm well versed in the intricacies of using a full manual commercial machine, and that plumbed-in hopper-loading button-controlled abomination doesn't even come close as far as flavor profile, crema, and overall quality.

Hey, I never tried to feed you bullshit...

just treat us like people. I applied, got hired, and am doing the best I can do (which is pretty good) with everything that I am told to do at my job.

And p.s. I don't just push buttons. Don't insult my intelligence and I wont insult yours. I wasn't insulting yours anyway.

It's funny how people think a lot of us "button pushers" do not know how to operate a manual machine. Pulling espresso shots from a manual is not rocket science and yes a lot of us do know how to do it and have used the machines.

[Darleen]

This site is becomming more and more like a war zone everytime I come on here. I don't understand how customers or baristas can come on here and just completely rip apart someone's self esteem the way some of you do. For BLOCKQUOTE to call someone a button mashing chimp is beyond poor taste. For a barista to say that a customer who liked our breakfast sandwiches must be fat and lazy is also poor taste. What have we become people? I can see the person who started all of this,(the one stating that we are there to serve and to speak only when we are spoken to) must be sitting back and enjoying how we are verbally attacking each other. We are in this together folks, all of us, the partners, the customers, the investors. We all have a passion for this company or we would not let this get to us the way it does. If we all just go about being the best we can be, for ourselves, our customers and our team we would not see this kind of annimosity. Customers will be happy, our partners will be happy, the investors will be happy. It's not an US vs. THEM kind of thing. Partners, take pride in what you do, touch your customers lives everyday, provide that uplifting experience that will enrich their lives. Customers, treat your baristas well, they care and want you to enjoy your beverage and your time at starbucks. Investors, hang on, be patient and we will come out of this just fine. Lastly, please think before you post. What pleasure can you derive from belittling someone or making them feel "less than"? Don't wound each others spirit, take care of each other. Be the hero.

[Duke Eastanes]

In food service, the people serving you usually don't give a rats ass about your food, or you. they want you to bother them very little and leave quickly so they can do the 500 other things they have to do for the shit pay that food service (including starbucks) pays. The old adage that you don't piss off someone who handles your food applies in starbucks and every other food service establishment. The jobs are a dime a dozen and it's hard to keep an employee at that level.

[flashlights fanatic]

At least now it'll feel less like a McDonald's franchise and more like a sophisticated coffee shop. One could always go across the street and get an Egg McMuffin if they couldn't live without the breakfast sandwich.

Starbucks is an incredible American institution... Let's support them getting back to their core strengths.

[Jenn]

Thanks for the support all!

We now have 30 members and growing...

Let's save the Starbucks breakfast sandwiches -

Jenn

DUKE EASTANES.

What you say is true unless you make the workplace fun, give away great benefits, pay relatively well, and be willing to accommodate employee's school and second job schedules. Suddenly it becomes easier to retain employees!

[sbuxfan]

Yeah lighten up really. post things that your grandma may be reading. OK?

[TurboSpaz]

Well seeing how the topic of this threa was SUPPOSED to be about breakfast sandwiches I'm gonna head there. While they are relativley good and a lot of customers like them I must say that as a barista I am a bt happy to see them go. When you walk into the store in the morning to open all you can smell is that horrible oven cleaner, even after you brew coffee and start the day. Then there is that gross burning smell that you get everytime any of the cheese gets anywhere in the oven. On top of that it often makes for more irritable customers when you have to stop what your doing and make a sandwich. For every happy person who gets their sandwich there are five disgruntled and annoyed customers who get mad at you and bite your head off cause hey hadto wait for you to make someones sandwich. Do I begrudge my customers their breakfast? No. Do I hate the warming oven? Hell yes. It smells and is an inconveinence not for me but for the customers who have to wait for service cause the person in front of them just ordered 5 sausage egg and cheddar sandwiches. This is especially true in a drive thru store where wait times can be pushed from the 3 min max to 5 or 6 mins. Our customers time is preciaous and they don't always have the time to wait. i can understand and respect that. Will I continue to make sandwiches even though i hate that od forsaken oven? Yes, cause it's what you asked me for and that's what I'm there for.

But let's all remember that just like our customers have bad days and tear us new holes, we baristas have bad days too. Sometimes it's just nice to be able to vent. Everyone needs to stop taking it so peronally. We put up with a lot more than many people realize and we do it with a smile (well some of us do) Just like many of you bitch about your jobs, we do to.

PS- Blockquote if us, how did you put it, "button-mashing chimp's" make such horrible coffee, than why do you come to see us and pay for that crappy coffee?

[Disgusted]

I have to start off by saying that as a Starbucks partner I like the company as a whole. However there are parts of it that I strongly disagree with. The decision to carry breakfast sandwiches was a terrible one. They reek, they are more labor-intensive, and they arent all that great to boot. As a partner/customer I dont want to walk into a store that smells like sausage or egg. The smell makes me want to hurl. I want to smell COFFEE! And in smaller sized stores the moment you walk in its a blast of meat or eggs in the warming ovens. GROSS! Starbucks needs to have different savory items: scones, muffins that are across the board in stores not solely in pinpointed markets.

[H-town barista girl]

Coming from a store that does NOT have the breakfast sandwiches, Im so glad that we don't!, over the last four months, ive had only two customers ask us about them, and after being told why we don't have them, they have left happy that their coffee experice wasn't marred by the issues surrounding those "supposedly" much wanted sandwhiches... also, Ive been in and worked in stores with said sandwhiches, and I was absolutly disgusted walking in smelling those things... I have to say as a customer and partner alike, Im extatic about loosing those sandwiches...
Also on the note of our three hour training on the 26th, Im so exited to participate in this training. Yes i admit that for those of us barista's that are doing our job, that this will be a less than informative venture, BUT what it does provide, is the ability to make sure that EVERYONE is on the same page when it comes to standards of service. When partners are hired on initially, our training can be less than sub-par, but that has to do with the situations we are in when we hire. If we are short staffed, then we obviously don't have the time to train propperly, were just trying to get everyone out on the floor. Which yes mar's everything we are trying to do, but with this training, we can change bad habbits, we can fix issues, and we can provide coaching that is across the board, and consistant. We can re-train the barista that is making air-bubbles instead of real foam, we can train ALL barista's how to adjust the grind on our automatic machines, and pour the best shot that our lowly machines will allow. no its not the best shot EVER... but i will say that Ive been there, done that, and its pretty darn good, when the machine is calibrated properly, the shots are pulling at the proper times, and they are not being allowed to expire before being placed in drinks... though I can say that I have a customer who orders an 6 shot Iced Venti no water Americano, and she wants each of her shots pulled and let to expire for 30 seconds before being placed into her drink... i think its absolutly disgusting, BUT its what she wants, and likes, therefore, i jokingly give her a hard time, but make her drink, AND give it to her with a HUGE smile, because I LOVE doing my job, and making a customer happy...

maybe she's asking for her shots to sit because when you're putting them directly on ice the temp change actually bitters them more than slow cooling.

have you tried her drink her way vs your way?

the more gradually you can change the temp of espresso for cold drinks, the better- ie. add shots to water or milk, then ice.

That's a woman! 6 shots over ice, no water! I thought I was bad with 4 shots in a grande size. Who is this woman?

[Christina]

After reading the comments from these Starbucks employees, I will never again give my business to Starbucks. Their coffee is not "the best;" I live in Seattle and we have plenty of real coffee shops. I went to Starbucks because it was convenient and because it was easy to get a snack (even though it was usually unhealthy food, it was nice once in a while). But now that I see how much contempt these employees have for customers, I have no interest in supporting this business. Yes, only a small percentage of employees posted on this blog. But attitudes filter from management down, and I know some headquarters employees who are just as snobby, mean and out-of-touch as the ones who posted here. I think there's a culture of superiority at Starbucks and that's the true reason why they're having financial trouble.

[TurboSpaz]

You know it's funny I don't get why a lot of baristas think that we are the best thing since sliced bread. I work at Starbucks because I LOVE the environment and the fun I have with my custormers and co-workers alike. It's fun for me. Sure I get the "difficult" customer that you get no matter where you work, but I try my best not to let it make or break my day. I actually got into a long talk with a customer today. He asked me some of the worst experiences I've had and as I told him I started to laugh. When he asked me why I was laughing I told him because even though they were mean or screaming at me I stayed happy and positive and I was remembering how other customers were asking me if I was nuts for being nice to them. I told him it is what it is, why get upset. To be truthful not all baristas act all high and mighty or secretly harbor hatred towards customers, so if your a customer please don't hold the baristas that come on here and piss and whine against the rest of us who truly love our jobs.

[Jenn]

Now up to 84 members - this site is getting big :o)

Keep it up, maybe we can save the breakfast sandwich after all...