What have you said to a customer that you immediately regretted?

"How many months pregnant are you? Oh....you're not!" And customers -- what kind of exchanges with baristas do you wish you could take back? (Ugly name-calling after getting an unsatisfactory drink? An awkward date-proposal to a barista who you later  discovered was married/dating?) Tell your stories!

Comments

[Reeeee]

I was on drive-thru one morning and was taking a customer's order. After she was like "Can I have a ...." I accidentally into the head-set said "NO!"

[supahvisah]

one of the reason's i love working for starbucks.. customers become famous here and they don't even know it!

[Scribelrus]

I said "eight more days" the other day when I meant "have a great day" (hadn't slept the night before).

One of our customers basically solicited sex from one of our leads.
Him: You're worth two thousand dollars an hour!
Her: *grin* Why don't you pay me that, then?
Him: How about next Thursday?

[Melody]

I've posted this before but one time I went into the a downtown Seattle Starbucks, grabbed a San Pelligrini and asked for an Italian Soda to be made. The barista at the bar told me "no" that they weren't doing that any more. The barista at the register agreed with him and said they weren't allowed to make Italian Sodas any more. (Some of you have read the debate - there's a split of opinion out there - some baristas have posted that it is not okay to make things from the stuff in the retail food display case ...)

I was like "WHAT? NO?" And I was about to pitch a fit, when the barista at the bar said "Just kidding Melody. We read your posts on Starbucks Gossip ..."

I laughed my ass off.

The barista at the bar that day was a great barista who knew how to have fun, and he has since moved on to another career. :( Hope all is well with you D.

[leanna jackson]

when i was 9 months pregnant and still barista-ing, a lady came through drive and said to me, "either you're wearing your apron really lose or you're really pregnant. how far along are you?"

wearing my april really loose??? come on now.

when i was fat, i was not a fan of people making funny haha's at the enlargement of my mid-section.

yeah. good times.

[expired shot]

Funny Chitown star, I am the manager, and my barista asked my customers if they were okay with waiting for their orders to be taken because her manager was locked in the trash hold. Fortunately my customers decided that it was best to let me out. I walked back into my store with baristas and customers applauding my one barista for her rescue, and laughing at me.

[conPanna]

I was explaining splash sticks to a male customer a few months ago, when he kept asking me to repeat the instructions on how to use them. I then realized I'd continually repeated that he needed to "put the stick in the hole".

Earlier this week, one of our regular homeless men came in to take a cup from our bar area. The cops in the area get upset when we let them because he takes it to make a mess in another store closeby. So I followed behind him trying to get his attention, calling "sir" before i could tell him we weren't allowed to give him cups.
He started running with his cup to the front door yelling "I'm not a f****** sir! Don't you F****** call me sir!"
Of course, the store was full at the time, and my manager even got off the phone with the DM in the back room to come see what happened. Nevertheless, the entire cafe had a good laugh.

[(former)asmgirl]

I had a partner (who was new)call an order to the bar exactly the way she heard it "Venti caramel f*ckaccino." I also had an hilarious experience with my former manager over a large order of pastry. We had a customer order several pastries in rapid succession, and as she was beginning to bag them up, I suggested she put them in a box. She turned to the customer and said "I have a big box I can stuff all of your pastries in if you want." I cracked up and nearly wet myself. Still a long running joke. Same manager, different story: we had an uber hot customer that we both had a mad crush on, and every time he left we would have mock arguements about who was going to win him in the end. One day she had a really bad cold and someone gave her some cold medecine. Made her REALLY loopy. So it's her and me and super hot man in store, she starts flirting with him at the register while I'm making his drink, and as he's leaving, she says "By the way, Tim, we both think you're the hottest man that comes in here." I'm looking around wondering where to find a hole to fall into. He grins and leaves. Comes back the next day and I tried to act normal, but he kept grinning. So I wrote on his plastic cup "We really do think you're a hot man." He came in a week later and told another partner the whole story and said he had washed out the cup and keeps it next to the sink in his kitchen.

[Ryan (SS)]

I've had a bit of all the stories:
Misheard a larger lady's order, so I asked her to repeat some of it. "Nonfat?" I asked. "Breve", she answered, and put down her head embarrassed.
And for my one all time embarrassing, regretted story:
This lady who was a regular, who happened to be very large in a certain chest area, came in one day and sat in our cafe with her friend. My manager (who happened to have a knack for inappropriate conversations) started talking about how nice they looked that day in the back room. I laughed as he talked, and eventually we both made our way back out front. As we rounded the corner, the lady and her friend were staring at us shocked. As my manager and I had forgot, you can hear EVERYTHING that is said in the back room from that table. We both turned bright red and never looked her in the eyes after that.
And one off-topic thing
To Melody: I'm the guy who e-mailed you a few months ago regarding the vintage whole bean signs. I still have them both in my basement and all they are doing is collecting dust! I know you wanted one, so please e-mail me if you are still interested

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

We had a customer in Boston, who used to bark like a dog. It was so believeable.

[Damien]

For those that have seen Mean Girls, I asked a customer "Would you like me to butter your muffin?". She just stood and stared, slightly confused and said 'Whip cream'

[Tonya]

okay so two very well dressed people walk in to the store, im on register and i notice their platumn blond hair and say "hey ladies, look how nice you girls look" as they get closer i realize that one is a man!!!! I was so embarrassed i just wanted to disappear!!

[MNMoon]

Regretted? Oh, yes, I yelled "a$$hole" after the neighborhood kid as he was running out the door with our tip jar...not my finest moment and not a word that normally comes out of my mouth. *oops*

[Will]

One time I answered drive through claiming I was "justin timberlake and bringing coffee back," and some mexican dude thought I called him a wetback.

Time for a new thread, WM Jim.

[Abe]

I keep saying to customers, can I get a drink started for you? They think this is pretty silly, because what they want is a drink started and finished.

Why not, "May I get a drink for you?"

[supahvisah]

There are 2 regulars who come in every weekend when i usually close, and order the same thing every time. So once you notice your regulars car, you get their drink going. They drove by, realized their parking spot was taken, drove around the parking lot and eventually parked. By that time, i had finished their drinks and i had their total on my menu waiting for them to come in. So the taller of the two (creepy old men) came in, and i kid you not, this was our conversation.

Man: "you know, you're really lucky"
Me: "why is that?"
Man: "because if i were twenty years younger you'd be on my to-do list"

-pause-...

Me: "so what would that make you.. 55?"

they haven't been back.

[ExtraFoamy]

One time I told a lady her "dog was cute", she looked at me confused and i said something about him "howling back there" (couldnt actually see it)..she says: "THAT'S MY DAUGHTER".

Oh crap.

coffee soldier,

Are you being sarcastic?

[Des]

Now that I've promoted myself to customer, I can share this story.

I was working drive-thru and we were past the morning rush. I was trying to listen to orders through the headset but kept letting myself get distracted because we were in post rush post lotsa caffeine giddiness. In a nutshell, we were goofing off.

A guy at the drive was trying to place his multi-modified order, and due to the goofiness I had to get him to repeat it several times. He got to the window and I fudged my way through to get him to be less ticked off. I told him "we've had speaker issues" and it seemed to satisfy him. He left and I didn't think any more about it.

Until two days later. . . .

Another AM, working drive-thru again. I look in the monitor screen, and standing at the menu are two repair guys, my DM, and two suits. One of the suits was my customer from a two days before. . . who also happened to be our zone VP. They were all outside, troubleshooting our "issues".

[Nate B.]

Can't say this was actually me, but I was the shift on the floor when a barista had their worst comment of all time. An older African American woman wearing a Michigan University shirt walked up to the bar during the OSU/Michigan game weekend (huge rivalry... if you didn't know). He looks her dead in the eye and says, "Ma'am we don't serve your kind here."

I just about crapped myself. The woman looked at him with the look of death and then laughed, "Honey, I know what you mean, but you can't say that to my people!"

I could have dieeed.

[Bryce]

Nate, did the guy get fired?

[Nerfebarista]

A few weeks ago, I had one of my baristas run out to sweep up our DT lane before she was due to leave. So, myself, this gal and the other DT person are tossing insults back and forth over the headsets because its night time and we are bored. The gal cleaning the DT lane says something along the lines of "I'm not finishing sweeping, this shit is for the mexicans". What i'm sure she meant, was the actual mexican gentlemen that do our landscaping, but what the young Hispanic man standing behind her heard, was a horribly racist remark. She started making her way to the DT window to make sure she was actually going to be ok and the guy keeps following her. She gets to the window and starts calling for us, in a panic and he gets to her and says "you look like you could use a mexican" Cackled his ass off and walked away.

[Nerfebarista]

I have also been guilty of confusing Men for women and vice versa. The first time, this lady truely had sideburns and a mustache. I said, good morning sir, how can i help you. She says "sir???" Upon hearing the voice i realize my mistake and say "I'm sorry, I couldnt tell" Her eyes grew wide, she spun on the spot and sprinted for the door. I felt pretty bad. But seriously, how was i supposed to know??? she had sideburns!!!

[triple_short]

so, we have a regular who orders a double tall nonfat latte and he REFUSES to call it a latte. he thinks it's a "sissy" word and he constantly says this.

when i first started at my store he came to me register and said "in a tall cup with a sleeve i would like two shots of espresso and nonfat milk as the balance." i was completely and utterly confused and had no idea what he was talking about. i said "i'm sorry?" and he repeated himself. once i realized what he wanted i said "... so you mean a latte?" and he freaked out on me saying that that's not what he wanted and just kept repeating what he had been saying.

anyway, just the other day he comes in with a sleeve he already had in his hand, reached for a pen sitting next to the register and starts to write his drink. he hands me the sleeve and i sure know what his drink is, but am annoyed by what he did and just annoyed by him in general, so i pretend to act confused by what he wrote in the milk box (he wrote NF). i asked if he changed his milk and he said really loudly "no! can't you read?" i replied "i certainly can, but we have a whole system for how we write drinks and if you want your drink to get screwed up then continue to write your own cup from now on."

i don't feel bad for being rude. he must think it's all a big joke, because we're all pretty un-legendary to him and he keeps coming back.

[Coffee Solider]

No not at all....With the state of the company and the economy I as well as many in my store are very excited we are getting Bean Stock at all this year....I was really surprised for it to be so much...really it's quite a bit in comparison to a few years ago even at 14% but shares at 36 bucks you don't get as many. This is a great opportunity to wait it out and potential watch this company become a success story yet again and to make us that stick it out have a nice little nest egg a few years down the road!!...hopefully :)

[Tree Hugger]

So one day I was answering DT, watching the camera, and it was some teenage guy with his girlfriend trying to be cool. So he tossed a plastic bottle out the window. I acted all natural and such, but just before he pulled off I said "Littering is bad you know!"

He got so red.

[IC Lover]

We have an un-legendary occasional customer. He'll say, "crappy" when you ask how he is and then proceed to stay sexist or even vaguely racist things. And he always asks your name.

One day, I got tired of his "crap" and when he asked my name, I responded, deadpan, "Mandy." (Not my name.) The other barista, a woman who'd also been harassed by this clown, almost swallowed her tongue. :-P

[Coffee Soldier]

I was watching the DT screen in a store I used to work at and it was a store that had the camera right on the customers face. This man was picking his nose and ordering at the same time. I took his order and he was still picking and didn't pull foward so the headset stayed on. I thought I turned it off and said the other barista, "Hey look at this guy mining for gold in his nose." He glared at the screen and even though it's a black and white screen I swear I could see his red face and proceeded to drive around the few waiting cars and leave without picking up his drink!

[nycstoremanager]

So I manage a store in the West Village in NYC and I get more than my fair share of crazies...this one guy comes in and starts soliciting the customers in my lobby...I approach him and politely ask him to leave...he goes completely apeshit, starts calling me a fat bitch over and over again...the situation gets so out of hand that we had to call the cops and my asm had to stand near the doors to prevent more customers from entering b/c we thought he might really go postal...

So we're just sitting around waiting for the cops to arrive and this guy has been calling me a "fat bitch" for at least 7 minutes...I finally lose it and yell "I may be a bitch but if you don't quit it with the fat stuff i'm gonna kick your ass..."

1/2 the customers were shocked and the other 1/2 laughed hysterically...not the way to role-model to partners how to handle customers but something we still talk about to this day...

[Pete]

I worked a drive thru at a Florida store for a while. This summer after a typical rainstorm I lean out the window to hand a lady in a very low car her change. Putting my hand on the wet aluminum shelf for support. Big mistake. My hand slipped, and I fell out of the window onto the roof of her car. Plastering my face to the car, and flinging her change all over the pavement. After a moment of confusion another barista grabbed me by the ankles, and yanked me back inside the store. After getting new change, and a recovery coupon we enjoyed a very hearty laugh over the incident. The customer then became a regular at our store, and would request me at the window to at least say hello.

[funbux]

So back when I was a barista, I was working on register one day and a guy told the bar partner that he thought we missed his drink. The bar partner proceeded to say, "Did someone take your drink? (and then to me,) Did you put in his order? What was it?"

I said, "Yeah, it was a tall black eye."

Then a fairly tall African American guy who had just taken his drink, stands up from his seat and shouts, "EXCUSE ME!?!?"

I immediately turned red and clarified that I said "tall black EYE not a tall black GUY"....

[Matt]

I had a customer with a nice SLR digital camera around his neck ask for the bathroom key... Just as he was about to enter I blurted out "Don't take any pictures while your in there!"... I totally came out nowhere with that one...

Good Times...

[Damien]

Oooh code for Shaken Iced Tea
SH in custom
IT in Drink (SHIT) HAhahah

[Jordan]

once when i was still a barista i was working at night and my shift was in the back room, some lady came to the register. this was our convo
Me: Hi mam, what i can get for you."
Her: "Anew life"
Me: (completely on accident):Im sorry ma'am, we just ran out. the lady who just left got the last one."

haha so funny yet so bad.

also one time,still when i was a barista, my shift was pissing me off all day. i accidentally was making a mess on bar and had just finished steeming breve. this was the convo

Her: "Jordan stop making a mess"
Me: without missing a beat knock over the pitcher and say "Oops" in a very pissed off tone.

Jordan, are you really still with the company?

[Sbuxstve]

I insulted the fiance of a good friend of mine when I found out he was supporting Bush in 04.

[Chucktown Barista]

This is another awkward green bean moment: one of my first morning rushes on the register, it was very noisy with regulars chatting and laughing loudly in line, and I had a very soft-spoken African-American gentleman order a grande bold, something something room.

I said, "I'm sorry sir, I couldn't hear you. Did you want room or no room?"

He quietly responded, and again all I could hear was "room".

Sheepishly I apologized and asked him again, and this time I thought I SAW him say "no" before saying room.

So to be clear, and avoid using the word room, I asked him, "So, you want it black?"

I instantly felt mortified, but he nodded so I turned around quickly to pour his coffee and hide my red face. I don't know if I was being overly sensitive, but to this day I stick to using room/no room when taking orders.

[luna]

I asked:''Are you pregnant''?the customer said:no,I am fat.
In my mind,I had to agree since where O live there are WHALES everywhere............Sorry,folks..This is true.

[Jordan]

yup i even got promoted

[ian]

I was working a morning shift on very little sleep, and had overcaffeinated. As a result I was pretty snarky and full of sarcastic humor - So I had an attractive customer order a french press. I told her "Oh, we're fresh out of that, but how would you like a french squeeze?"

[Meag]

yeah Chucktown I know how yuo feel, Ive had that happen to me too lol this guy was so soft spoken (and I do have a hearing problem with my right ear) I asked him three times and I still didnt get it so I guessed and marked his drink and got it over with. I mean I dont mind people being soft spoken but its really hard to understand especially when its loud, ah well ask them to write their order down I shall XD

[Coffee Mistress]

Pete, That has to be the funniest situation listed so far! You made me laugh. After the day I had, Thank You! I really needed that!

[pancakes for lunch]

This is back when we had Coconut syrup and a new barista. She was on bar and in the syrup box there were the letters "COC". She being new and all got this cup turned around (full cafe) and blurted out "What's Coc?" Then... she went to the back because everyone in the whole bloody store was laughing.

[peaches]

Chucktown barista, I say that all the time, to everyone. I don't think it's insulting. A lot of these stories are actually just people taking starbucks terminology and applying a dirty mind.

Jordan, as a shift, my gut reaction is to be pissed off at you, but right now at my store, my asm is abusing his authority and my baristas have stopped taking it, and started retaliating, so since I have no idea what your situation was, I guess you can have the benefit of the doubt. Maybe your shift was being an ass.

[scottshift]

well i have 2, once someone asked "what kind of chips are in the cinimmon chip scone?"..without missing a beat i said
"wood chips"
picture this..a woman comes to the counter to buy the paul mcartney starbucks card ( the one with his creepy pursed lips) the only card holder i had was the old summer one with a picket fence, now when i put the card in..it looked so creepy, so i said
"oh look, paul Mcartney is creeping around you backyard watching you."
she snatched the card out of my hand and left.....

[drivethruhater]

when working...ugh...DTO, some guy pissed me off cos he didn't answer my greeting. This is how it went down...

"Welcome to Starbucks, how are you today?"
"Venti Mocha."
"I'm fine thank-you, what can we get for you?"

So he was pissed. But then the next car was curious b/c they could hear what happened. They were super understanding and so jokingly I said "Well he'll get whats comin' to him. I spit in his coffee!" Of course it was a joke, but to my own demise the guy in front of them could still hear the speaker. He refused to take the Venti Mocha we had waiting for him @ the window and made us make him a new one where he could see the entire construction...geez...get a grip man.

[sjane]

An African American barista, "Lauren" was at register and asked a customer about his unique accent. He said, "I'm from South Africa".

She paused and then said, "I have to ask you....how's that apartheid going?"

scottshift,
Seriously, that cracked me up. I think mostly because I can picture the card and can picture the holder.... and would think the exact same thing if I had ever seen that.
Also, why a customer would be so frazzled by that is beyond me. Oh well.

[Bill]

@ drivethruhater | November 22, 2008 at 09:57 AM

I would have had your manager make my new drink. I am sure once I told him/her what you had said, they owuld have been glad to.

[TeaMisto]

At a previous store, I had a regular who was a very jovial and lively African American man who was about 6'7" 300+ pounds. Big built man!
Every day he would come in and ask for a grande coffee with 2 shots and a donut.

We had a very energy-packed staff for morning rush, so i'd scream out, "i've got a grande black eye!"
yeah, turns out that sounds the exact same as grande black guy... I got so many horrified looks from customers, espeically those who didn't understand the term black eye.