"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!
November 17, 2008
As an SM, I had a regular that came in all the time and flirted with me like crazy. He was always by himself, and didn't wear a wedding ring. He constantly would ask about my plans for the weekend. I finally got up the courage to casually invite him to a party that a few of my friends were having. He politely declined and said "maybe next time."
A few days later, it was pretty clear why he said no: I was out with some friends and there he was, having dinner with his wife, and a kid, and, yep, wearing a wedding ring.
I wasn't particularly nice to him after that!
Posted by: xsbuxdm | November 18, 2008 at 01:54 PM
Great stories. I especially liked the UPS one:-)
My only bad moment was pushing decaf on visibly pregnant women. Now, older and wiser, I know that you don't want to come between a pregnant woman and what is probably her only decent cup of coffee for the whole day.
Posted by: RR | November 18, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Once, I thought a lady was someone else, and as I was explaining to another partner that she needed decaf because she was pregnant, she was like "what?" and I realized it wasn't who I thought it was...
We had a woman who was addressed as "sir" by a new partner, too. They laugh about it now, though!
Posted by: | November 18, 2008 at 02:22 PM
We had the world's biggest douchebag in our store, a guy who was being really, really obscene and insulting us and saying we obviously needed to be trained better.
I'd had enough at that point, yelled at him to "strap on an apron and show us how it's done", and then told him to get out of my store.
My baristas loved me and thankfully he was the only customer in the store at the time, but I did regret being so harsh. He deserved it, though.
Posted by: Tim | November 18, 2008 at 02:44 PM
Well the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me was the one day over the summer i forgot to wear a belt and as i was taking a tray of dishes out of the Hobart they fell down around my ankles and the repairman who was there to work on our air conditioning walked into the back right then. Haha i just stood there for a few seconds before i realized what had just happened
Posted by: | November 18, 2008 at 02:45 PM
i remember when i was on bar and one of our regular customers came in who is gay. the barista on register exclaimed, "Hey, I just saw your wife!" and proceeded to tell him about how pretty she looked and so forth...his face looked incredibly blank and confused. He shook his head and walked away kind of embarrassed.
Posted by: | November 18, 2008 at 03:03 PM
i was answering a call in the DTO and this lady had a screaming child and i literally couldnt hear her. after taking her order (which i butchered) she pulled up, but not far enough to shut off my headset. i didnt even noticed and started talking about how annoying the brat was in her back seat. she confronted me at the window... lets just say i always press my headphone off after taking an order! i was so embarrassed.
Posted by: bigredbarista | November 18, 2008 at 03:12 PM
Me and my girl friend both worked at the same starbucks and usually worked the same shifts. Anyways, one day I was on the drive taking orders, when my manager drove up. She was off duty and I didn't even recognize her voice. After I took her order, my girlfriend walked past me and I asked her what color panties she was wearing today. Little Did I know I forgot to turn the mic off. My manager was quite cool about it. We laughed about it every time she drives through now.
Posted by: Alex | November 18, 2008 at 03:19 PM
I was working on a Friday night at the Starbucks in the local mall, when a bunch of teenagers came in and were having some drinks. Everything was fine until one of the girls started cursing and I asked her to please stop. So after a few minutes of them continuing to curse and offend other guests. I became highly irritated and asked her to please get the *uck out of the store.
Needless to say, I was embarrassed because they got me to stoop to their level.
Posted by: Potty Mouth | November 18, 2008 at 03:59 PM
I once did something similar as puppygirl did.
I have two toddlers myself and it really gets into a habit of just adding a "please" or "thank you" to conversations, if they forget, just to remind them. So I usually repeat what they said and add an emphasized PLEASE to it, asking if this is what they meant.
So one night a couple came up and he was a bit grumpy. He just said: "two grande white mocha" And I just asked back in my best daddy voice: "two grande white mocha, PLEASE?"
I immediately realized what I just did, was utterly embarrassed and apologized.
But the funny thing was, his girlfriend said: "See, I told you to be nicer to people" And then we all laughed about it. He even made a point of thanking me for making the drink.
And of course they got their drink for free as well.
Posted by: Me | November 18, 2008 at 04:15 PM
I have three good DT stories. :)
When I take a DT my usual line is "welcome to starbucks, what can I get for you today/night?" and my line for answering the phone is "thanks for calling starbucks this is Mike speaking." Well one day our phone rang and while I was on the way to answer it, I got a DT, and answered the DT "thanks for calling starbucks, this is Mike speaking." That was awkward.
I've done this one a couple times but if I answer a DT and I'm not near the screen and don't know the price of the order, I'll say "come on up to the window for your total." A couple of different times I've accidentaly said "come on up to the total for your window."
I'm sure anyone who has ever worked DT has done this one, but one day I had a really annoying customer, and at one point I muttered a pretty annoyed "Jesus!" Luckily, the guy either didn't hear me, or let it slide.
Posted by: MikeFl | November 18, 2008 at 04:38 PM
Teenagers...I'm sure we all have our stories about them. This kid comes in one day and says, "Is this, like, one of those gift cards?" And I just automatically popped out, "Yes, it is exactly like one of those gift cards." It just came out because I've been trying to get my own teenage son to quit saying "like" after every other word. I thought it was funny.
Posted by: Tammy | November 18, 2008 at 04:56 PM
I totally don't regret this one but it's probably one I shouldn't have said.
I was working at a cafe store in Texas in the middle of the bible belt. Sunday morning before church we had a huge line going to the door. Woman approaches the register and I ask her what I could get her. She responds, "Have you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior?"
To which I reply, "Ma'm, it's really busy, can I please just take your order."
"Have you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior?"
"Ma'm, please, we have a line to the door... can I please just take your order."
"Have you???"
I cross my fingers... "WE'RE LIKE THIS!"
She comes back later to yell at my manager. My manager thought it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
Posted by: STUCKINTHEDRIVETHRU...NO LONGER!!! | November 18, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Yes, teenager stories are funny.
I just had two girls, maybe fourteen, fifteen years old, coming in, taking an eternity to decide which frappuccino it will be tonight. Then one of them paid, I giver her change and she stares at me with a blank face. I asked what was wrong and
she said: You just gave me too much change.
Me: Why? You gave me 7 Dollars and I gave you 1,30 back.
She: But I only gave you 6 Dollars.
Me: No, you gave me a five dollar bill and a two dollar coin.
She (with that I know it all look): Yes, right! That's six!
Me (trying hard not to crack up): Well, five (holding up one hand) and two (holding two more fingers up) is seven as far as I learned it in school.
She: Oh (and walked to the bar)
I know it wasn't right to teach her math in front of her friend.But the whole situation was totally hilarious.
Posted by: Me | November 18, 2008 at 05:18 PM
I didn't know much about the side effects of caffeine to pregnant women up until about a year of working for Sbux. At about the same time period, a lady came in and ordered a coffee frapuccino. I mentioned to her that a decaf coffee frapucciono is also available but she insisted of having the cafeinated one. And so I said Okay, and called out the drink. The biggest mistake and the most embarrassing moment came, I explained to her why it's better for her...and it's because caffeine is not good for pregnant women.
Slowly, she looked at her stomach and I just noticed that she wasn't really pregnant.
I ran to back room and waited until she's gone. I honestly wanted to shoot myself that day.
After that, I stopped caring for anybody who consumes anything that may not be good for them.
Posted by: Just a caring Barista | November 18, 2008 at 05:33 PM
My current manager is big on getting names on cups, no matter how busy the store is. A couple weeks ago I was working with her in the evening when it was pretty slow. There was only one woman in line, and when the manager asked her for her name, she replied an extremely difficult name in a thick accent, and I inadvertently laughed.
She demanded to know what was so funny, and I had to stammer that it was something my manager had said earlier. Oops.
Posted by: Justa Barista | November 18, 2008 at 06:09 PM
I was working one day on the syrup side and the other guy was on the hand-off side of the bar. So I started to call drinks ahead. A female customer asked me for a small dirty chai. And I was like excuse me? And she went "chai with an espresso shot". I write the cup pump the chai etc and turn to the guy on the hand-off. "I swear, I thought she said she would like a dirty sanchez" I whispered to him. He did not skip a bit, turned to me and said: "Well, that might take us some time"
I had to be excused to compose myself.
Posted by: DimaK | November 18, 2008 at 06:29 PM
Customer: "Grande black."
Me: "Would you like any room for cream?"
All. The. Time.
Posted by: Blah blah | November 18, 2008 at 06:49 PM
oh my, I remember this one time at where I was just exhausted and I was close to getting a break, and this couple comes in. I take their orders, and mark em (wasn't many on the floor at the time) and I was told by the shift that I could just go on my break. So as I go to the loo, the couple waiting near the hand off, the guy says: I can just kill you!
I freak out, and go all red, come back and realise I forgot one of their drinks lol. It was just weird, I felt bad but I mean that comment was kinda uncalled for?
Posted by: Meag | November 18, 2008 at 07:25 PM
On a very beautiful day, a lady came through the DT in a convertible. I partner was "connecting" with her about the weather and told her that it was so beautiful out,that she should take her top off....meaning the top to her convertible....You can imagine how embarrased that barista was. He couldn't even look her in the eye to apologize!
Posted by: Mildred | November 18, 2008 at 07:37 PM
One evening I was on bar helping an extremely challenging customer. I'm certain we've all dealt with this customer before. They know their drink order very well. SO well, in fact, they often times don't feel the need to disclose all of the drink modifiers to YOU- but you'd better believe that they reserve the right to get pissed off if isn't correct.
Well, I was pretty frustrated because this guy made me make his drink no less than four times- each remake he remembered a modifier he had left off of the last one, but of course i was made to feel it my fault because there's no way he would order his own drink incorrectly, right?
Anyway, after the guy left, I made a general announcement to the store that there were a couple of free mochas up for grabs. One of our regular customers who had been waiting very patiently and witnessed the previous transaction(and we adore her) was very enthusiastic about taking the "mistakes" off my hands. As she took them off the hand off plane and began to walk away I called out:
"just be careful- make sure that last guy didn't get any prick on those!"
what was I thinking?? We aren't allowed to say things like that!
The regular customer was shocked as well. oops.
Posted by: jewels | November 18, 2008 at 09:10 PM
I have an awkward drive thru story. I was helping a customer I had never seen before at the window, rang up his coffee on his Starbucks card, said, "Okay, you're all set! Have a great night!" and started to walk away. He called, 'oh, I have a question.' So, I stopped and went back thinking he had a question about a drink, the store, etc. The conversation went as follows.
Me: Sure! What's your question?
Him: So, you're married, right?
((Remember, never met him before and no ring on my finger))
Me: Umm..no.
Him: Oh! So you're single!
Me: Well, I'm not really single either.
Him: (disappointed) Oh, well, I had to try didn't I?
In my mind I was thinking, 'yeah. GREAT try... wasn't weird or awkward at all.' Then he says, "does Sarah still work here? (I nod) Well, tell her to call Mike, she'll know who you're talking about!"
So strange. I felt bad for the guy.
Posted by: IllinoisShift | November 18, 2008 at 10:27 PM
The worst for me is trying to get people their "tea bags." It's just too much. Also, at my store, being that it's November and there are dumb college kids still ordering Frappuccinos we like to call them (to ourselves) Tall Go F*%& your mother Frappuccinos. Makes us feel better. :)
Posted by: Mag | November 18, 2008 at 10:57 PM
One time I was ringing in DT and no one was in line. This old couple who obviously was not used to ordering in a DT pulled up and tried to order. The bar person was taking their order while I watched the monitor. They were taking FOREVER to order. There was a lull and I YELLED "spit it out!" The other barista's headset picked up what I said and they apologized and ordered their drinks. I laughed so hard and played dumb when I they got to the window. OOOOOOOPS!
Posted by: | November 18, 2008 at 11:38 PM
i've done the 'im having a blonde moment' to a blonde.
i've done the phone greeting for the dt and dt for phone.
i did a cough-burp over the headset - thankfully the customer said her four sons came up with much grosser things on a daily basis.
the best, though ...
me - hi there, how's your night going?
customer - really well! that's so nice of you to ask.
m - well, that's my job :)
c - so you only ask because you have to? you don't really care?
m - no, i'm actually a horrible person. i perform satanic sacrifices on my days off.
/beat/
(oh shit what did i just say oh shit oh shit oh SHIT).
luckily, though, he was one of those ringleader types - no one ever bested him - and he was SPEECHLESS. his friends busted their guts laughing, and he had a good laugh about it too... once he got over the shock.
SO glad it wasn't some bible thumping maniac.
Posted by: abc | November 18, 2008 at 11:50 PM
I was the 4th coming in one early morning, and had to take over main register for 2 partners to take their 15's. Of course, everytime you send double breaks the store automatically fills up, and I was starting to get flustered. It was also a DT store, so I was the only partner dealing with the cafe and had a line of 15 people. I had noticed one of my regular customers in the middle of the line, and in a semi-gay voice said, "HEEEEEEEY!" The customer behind him yelled out, "HEY! What do gay horses eat?.." I could have died. Needless to say I make a point to focus on every customer with that same enthusiasm instead of yelling out at the odd favorite!
Posted by: SeaSideBarista | November 19, 2008 at 12:41 AM
This is the worst thing that Ever happened. This one customer came through the line and he was damn funny. He ought to have been a comedian. Anyways, he was trying to crack me up (he was succeeding), he said this one comment which I can't remember, but I remember it was so funny that when I was laughing snot came right out of my nose and landed on his shirt. Gave him free coffee coupons for a couple weeks. Every time I start laughing at the till my manager yells "Run, hes gonna blow" to the other partners.
Posted by: Mike M | November 19, 2008 at 12:55 AM
this is the best thread ever.
Posted by: jewels | November 19, 2008 at 01:10 AM
In Boston, it's hard to tell if a guy is gay. Gaydar jamming frequencies so I didn't know for the longest time some guys were married. I just thought they were really good friends, I didn't know with benefits.
Just write your number on their cup or pastry bag and see what happens.
Posted by: BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL | November 19, 2008 at 01:25 AM
Okay, got a quick one. When I first started with Starbucks and was doing my training one of the baristas asked me if I would go catch up dishes really quickly as they were out of whipped cream canisters. No one told me you had to let the air out of them before opening them up! So there I was covered in whipped cream, it was even up my nose! I walk out of the kitchen and they all yell "welcome to starbucks" I thought I was going to wet myself I laughed so hard. That was my initiation.
Posted by: Darleen | November 19, 2008 at 04:13 AM
Back in the days before Pike Place, when we brewed a variety of coffees, I was working the drive through and this woman comes through and orders a "Tall Dark Italian with a dollop of whipped cream." Without missing a beat -or thinking- I said "Don't we all want that?".... Well I heard her giggle and I thought, okay not too bad. Well then when she gets to the window, its my DM with my RDO. They just started laughing and told my that they really loved it when I work DT because they always get a side of attitude (in a good way) with every coffee.
Another time, I was pretty new and the store had just opened and we all where very tired from the uber crazy load of business so anyway, this guy who I was totally in love with (he totally looks like Taye Diggs) comes in and asks what my favorite is, which I proceed to say with out thinking "I just like 'em big and black." He just smiles as I melt into a puddle of embaressment. My SM actually fell over laughing.
Posted by: The ASM | November 19, 2008 at 04:24 AM
Nobody tells you when you got huge bo og er s in ya nose. There you are the sm rockin dt r with huge dry rot hanging for dear life from a hair. And to top it off your drive thru window was put in one and a half ft higher on accident. We also had a couple shootings outside our store so partners and customers were a little sensitive to adding shots for a while. Go figure.
Posted by: Jflip | November 19, 2008 at 05:24 AM
This happened during the good ol' days of the LaMarzocco's. The morning lines were always so long and double barring was not an option. Since you could easily see over the bar, it was easier to have more inneraction with the customers in line. I was finishing a non fat mocha and as I was shaking the whipped cream container, I wondered if he wanted whipped cream on his drink. Without thinking before I said it, I pointed to the gentleman who's drink it was (with the whipped cream container), and asked "do you want whipped?". He just smiled and with a wink said "are you are offering?". The whole line of customers started laughing and I turned about 5 shades of red.
Posted by: | November 19, 2008 at 07:38 AM
This didn't happen to me... but it was talked about in our store for awhile. A new barista was still unsure about calling drinks. She had an african red bush tea and wanted to hand it out at the bar. She asked what it's proper name was and went to the bar to call it out:
"I have a RED BUSH!"
oops.
Posted by: | November 19, 2008 at 07:58 AM
So this one morning in dt through a crazy rush, a guy pulls up and hands me his debit card. At first look I glanced at him then looked at his card. The name on it said shannon. Confusing myself I look beyond him and saw a woman. So I natrually asked to see her ID. Both of them gave me a death stare. He then asked me "is that supposed to be funny?". I said "huh?". Being completly confused he turned to whom I was assuming his wife because they just starting talking to eachother about what a retard I was. He then handed me his ID with HIS name Shannon on it. I was soooo mad that they were being so rude to me for making a honest mistake that I said. "You know it wasn't a joke so yeah, it's not that big of a deal ok!". I do not regret that. They both shut up after that.
But funny enough I had to call facilities 3 times that week and each time I got a man. One name Shannon, one name Lindsey, and one named Jamie.
Posted by: ShiftKatieMonster | November 19, 2008 at 09:13 AM
we should make this into a book.
Posted by: Crema_the_crop | November 19, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Was at the register on a rainy day. When a gust of wind picked up all the umbrellas on the patio, and carried them into the street. But half the people in the store where looking at me, because I yelled out"Holy Shit" when it happened! They even heard me in the back room.
Posted by: Bladerunner | November 19, 2008 at 02:49 PM
Or the extra hot drink customers. So hot its XXX triple x rated!
Posted by: Bladerunner | November 19, 2008 at 02:52 PM
Love the UPS story--glad you got your man! :-) My learning coach, who was gay, told me this happened to him with our then-SM. They were standing at the POS.
She pointed to him and said, "Top or bottom?" And completed missed the reason his jaw dropped and he turned red.
Posted by: IC Lover | November 19, 2008 at 03:39 PM
I remember one day.....we had had an unusual number of people trying to work petty scams that week, and I was pretty exasperated by it all. Some guy paid for his coffee with a ten, I had the ten sitting out where we could both see it and verbally counted out his change. Then after I shut the drawer he says, "I gave you a twenty" and I just snapped "NO YOU DID NOT!".
Well...he backed down right away. But I felt pretty awkward about it even though I knew I was right. Funny how that is.
Posted by: ShiftyinNV | November 19, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Sooo. One night, it was pretty slow, and we were all kinda congregating around the tills. A guy comes in and orders a nonfat, extra-hot cappuccino.
So it gets called to the bar. The barista turns to us (we had moved over towards the hot bar at this point) and says PROBABLY a bit louder then she intended "Oh, I'll give you something extra-hot and extra wet ;)".
She didn't realize he was standing at the handoff and heard the whole thing, haha. Lewd, but hilarious at the same time!
And another time, back when we labelled "Caramel Apple Spice"s as "CAC", the register partner called it out as a "Grande Cack"...(he said the CAC as a word, not as an acronym). :D
Posted by: CanadaBarista | November 19, 2008 at 04:07 PM
o boy..haha
about a 6 months ago i had this really crazy incident where i was locked in a walk-in-closet for several hours due to a malfunction with the locking mechanism on the door of the closet...to make a long story short, i was able to get out by facebooking a partner from my old store with the laptop that luckly was in my arms at the time of the incident
a few weeks later when i walked into my old store back in the great city of Fargo, ND, I announced to the staff at the store that I had "got out of the closet".....
Well i think we can all visualize what happened next...the crew on duty had no idea about the incident...and immediately began to stare at me in complete shock..haha
Definitely the one of the most embarrassing moments of my life
Posted by: americanoboy | November 19, 2008 at 04:21 PM
I just recalled another story. At one time we had a barista who thought the green tea frappucinos tasted like grass. One time a customer asked him what it tasted like, and he said "grass". The woman turns to her friend and says "that barista says they taste like ass".
Posted by: ShiftyinNV | November 19, 2008 at 05:29 PM
One of the first stores that I worked at was located in a neighborhood that had an unusually high concentration of the "crazies" that we had to kick out every day. We would take turns politely directing these certain people out the door.
It's a really busy night and our lobby is packed with about thirty people, mostly regulars. A woman walked in speaking a mix of cat, dog, truck, and insects and begins to stuff all sorts of sugar packets and stir sticks from our condiment bar into her bra. I approach her to quietly remind her that she was previously asked not to visit our store over an incident involving her flashing her panties and whatnot to a crowd of men, women and children.
She does not accept my invitation to step outside and move off to torture another fine business down the street so she begins to run circles around the lobby screaming at the top of her lungs: "You're a dirty whore! A dirty dirty whore! You're a filthy whore!"
I try to think about a way to get her out of the store as we're waiting for the police to arrive so I start to shout back at her: "I actually AM a dirty whore, why don't you come outside and tell me what a dirty dirty whore I am?"
She eventually bought it and followed me out of the store and onto the street where she got distracted by something shiny and continued on her crazy way up the street.
I got a few phone numbers, a charming nickname, and a touching memory all from this incident.
Posted by: LilWarmUp | November 19, 2008 at 06:19 PM
LilWarmUp:
That, is awesome. So what nickname did you get? lol
Posted by: Meag | November 19, 2008 at 07:13 PM
Re: dealing with crazy people
Actually, that is a whole other thread. And maybe not as funny. But I'd still love to hear the stories.
My usual Starbucks is in downtown Toronto, not far from the University of Toronto and the Gay Village. There are lots of "characters" among both the staff and the customers. Many seem to be artsy-fartsy freelance types.
But there are also panhandlers who set up shop at the entrance. This is outside, at the corner of a busy intersection. So maybe there is nothing the staff can do about it.
Things become less pleasant when the panhandlers wander in. Sometimes they make their way to the cash and ask for things that are unreasonable -- or incomprehensible. One gentleman had a loud and unpleasant conversation with the manager. He seemed to want a cup of coffee, but didn't know what kind, and didn't want to pay more than one dollar. So they went back and forth for a while. As a customer, I just sat there -- cringing at my table. I just wanted the scene to be over. I wondered why the manager just didn't give the guy the coffee and take the dollar -- so we could be spared. But then it occurred to be the guy could come back the next day -- maybe with his buddies -- and want the same thing. Anyway, the manager politely but firmly held his ground, and the guy left without coffee. The whole thing probably only took three minutes -- but seemed a lot longer.
Another time, I heard a crazy lady completely lose it and start screaming hysterically. The "crazy lady" turned out to be a barista chasing a customer out the door! I'm not sure what happened to provoke the incident. But it must have been bad.
Then there are the creepy dudes. They just sit at tables muttering and shaking. People change tables bien quick.
Personally, I prefer the flamboyant transvestites. They tend to come in pairs and entertain the whole store with their ordering melodramas.
Posted by: Torontodude | November 19, 2008 at 07:21 PM
Bean stock was announced today! My whole store is very excited we are getting it this year! It's an 8% grant. I can't believe there isn't a new thread about it yet!
Posted by: Coffee Soldier | November 19, 2008 at 07:37 PM
Not me, but a partner at my store at the time.
A HUGELY pregnant woman came in....she looked about 72 months pregnant, and ordered a Grande Extra Room Americano.
The Barista at the bar upon completion of the drink hollered out, "GRANDE EXTRA WOMB AMERICANO!!!" He said it by complete accident, but our HUGE lobby was filled with one huge embarrassed pregnant lady, and a whole bunch of hysterically laughing customers!
Posted by: iokua79 | November 19, 2008 at 07:38 PM
First time poster, here. I had to with this thread, it's all just too funny. When I first started I was working two jobs, so on one of my first goes at the drive-thru, I actually say: Thanks for calling ReStyling Concepts.(The name of my other job.) The sad thing is, it wasn't till the akward pause and strange looks sent my way from other partners that I even realized what I had said.
Oh, and yes I do the whole dt/phone mix up often, as well.
And in response to Americanoboy; don't feel too bad, I got locked in our garbage hold when the wind blew the door shut behind me. My manager had to rescue me, after he was done laughing, of course.
Posted by: ChiTownStar | November 19, 2008 at 07:56 PM
Can someone explain to be bean grant? I read it on the portal this morning but don't quite understand what it is. Thanks!
Posted by: Sam | November 19, 2008 at 08:54 PM