OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Are you ready for a romantic Starbucks weekend?

Where's the best place for a cheap Valentine's date? Starbucks, of course. (And will you be getting V-day cards from customers who have crushes on you?) Discuss this or anything else Starbucks-related -- the demise of Signature Hot Chocolate, for example -- in the weekend OPEN THREAD. || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[SBUX Customer]

Speaking of cheap Valentine date, believe it or not, one McDonalds location near me is having a Valentine dinner. You get a meal for 2 for $9.99. The dinner includes music, candlelight and a free photo and you can make reservations.

[www.sbuxdrama.com]

Signature Hot Chocolate: Is it gone?

[Aged (but not crabby) Sumatra]

@ www.sbuxdrama.com

Signature Hot Chocolate is sailing off into the sunset this month where it will share a time share with Chantico (Action Notice sent out on Monday).

[www.sbuxdrama.com]

Thank you!

[Catherine]

Why are they getting rid of Signature Hot Chocolate! It is good and my husband and I still order it several times a month!

[Ex-ASMinSeattle]

Does anyone realize it was a year ago yesterday when Starbucks laid off almost 900 ASM's.

[I.Heart.Spirit]

@Catherine

I don't know about other stores, but I do know that we have one customer who gets an Espresso Truffle. She comes in three times a week. Unfortunately, she is the only regular to get the beverage and we RARELY have anyone else order it.

Complete waste for my store.

[green_cup]

Why are they getting rid of Signature Hot Chocolate! It is good and my husband and I still order it several times a month!

Posted by: Catherine | February 12, 2010 at 04:39 PM

Possibly because you were the only two ordering it?

The stuff's disgusting if I remember the sample correctly, plus it seems, it was super loaded with calories beyond.

Are you from the midwest per chance where heart disease and obesity haven't yet been linked with poor diet choices?

[Matcha]

It's true, Signature Hot Chocolate is officially being discontinued due to "low customer demand."

When it first came out, my fellow baristas and I had tried it and overall enjoyed it. Months later I had at least 2 incidents where customers complained about the taste. I had assumed it wasn't made to standard, so I then remade it myself, exactly as the instructions stated. The instructions hadn't changed either. Confident that I made the SHC I knew and once enjoyed, I steamed a sample for myself.

And I almost spit it out.

The taste was terrible! Something had been changed in the SHC, and the end result was a gross, burned wood tasting sad excuse for an indulgent drink. Thinking I was crazy, I made the other partners, including my manager try some as well. They all agreed the drink was pretty disgusting now.

I'm not sure what happened, or what exactly was changed, but it definitely wasn't for the good.

Oh, and in other (secret) sbux news: This summer's promo is going to be "big" according to NYC's regional manager. It's going to involve Frappuccino's. Sorry guys, that's all I got. They were incredibly secretive about it.

[latteteadah]

@green_cup: knock, knock - the midwest is the healthiest region compared to the rest of the nation, possible tie with the northwest - study after study. Maybe take the sarcasm down a few notches? If someone enjoys the drink, who are you to criticize? They were only inquiring.

Never tried the SHC, but never "got" why or how it was supposed to be different than a regular hot chocolate. Got the holiday hot chocolate tin set for family and friends and they enjoyed those mixes. But Caribou has the market on prepared hot chocolate now that they're actually melting real chocolate with milk instead of trying to re-invent the wheel with a mix and funky flavorings. Simple is best.

Curious to know what will be changing with the Frappuccinos. Usually avoid them due to calorie content.

[Killer Kona]

It is going to be a completely customizable frappuccino..they have been doing the tests for them in different parts of the country for like the past two years. You pick the milk, how much sweetener goes into it, and whether it is regular or decaf. There is another add in that creates the mouth feel and texture of the current frappuccino as well. Will be fun to make these with the new 45 second per drink LEAN program coming down the pike...

[SBUX Customer]

@Matcha

Matcha said: "Oh, and in other (secret) sbux news: This summer's promo is going to be "big" according to NYC's regional manager. It's going to involve Frappuccino's. Sorry guys, that's all I got."

I think I know what it is. It is the customizable frappuccino's. I was reading one social networking site from a Starbucks employee and he/she was told in a meeting that it is a customizable frappuccinos and it should be released by summer. This Starbucks employee seemed really excited about it.

[SBUX Customer]

Sorry about that Killer Kona. I guess we posted around the same time.

Also, he/she mentioned that you no longer have to prep the CBB or frap and there is a dispenser for whole milk and non fat milk.

[baristamclane]

The taste was terrible! Something had been changed in the SHC, and the end result was a gross, burned wood tasting sad excuse for an indulgent drink.

I thought I was either scalding the SHC or that my tastebuds were out of whack, because it tasted like burned wood to me as well.

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

"Will be fun to make these with the new 45 second per drink LEAN program coming down the pike..."

When I first read that, I was concerned...until I realized that it takes us about 45 seconds to make drinks now, if we've got a good flow going. And our store has a horrible setup. Seriously, whoever designed our store had a vendetta against baristas, because there is no way it could be designed that badly by pure incompetence.

If Starbucks is going to take steps to make things more efficient (that actually work), 45 seconds per drink shouldn't be a problem.

By the way, customers, part of the reason it takes you 5, or 10, or, during the holidays, upwards of 20 minutes to get your drinks even though each drink takes 45 seconds is simple math. If it takes 45 seconds to make one drink, and there are 10 drinks on the bar ahead of yours, that's 450 seconds you have to wait before we even get to yours. That's 7 minutes, 30 seconds.

So when it takes us longer than 45 seconds to get you your drink...well, we did get your drink in 45 seconds. It's just that we got it after all the other 45-second drinks that were in line ahead of yours.

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

Oh yeah, and by the way...good riddance, Signature Hot Chocolate! Seriously, the stuff was a pain. No one drank it, the pitchers sucked, the stuff all settled on the bottom and plunging it made no difference, and it didn't even taste very good.

Now they just have to get rid of those damned bananas and we'll really be in business!

Oh, and they need to bring back both the almond and valencia syrups. Valencia was gone before I started, so I dunno why they got rid of it, but i'm pretty sure almond was discontinued due to lack of interest. The problem there, though, was that no one knew about it. I'm positive that if Starbucks had some almond-based seasonal promotion and an Almond Mocha or somesuch on the menu, people would buy it.

[ex-expired shot]

hahaha its been a minute or a couple of months since I have tried shc, but it tasted like burnt wood when it was introduced. We sampled and sold the majority of the beverages with toffee nut and caramel, or hazelnut. Hazelnut and toffee nut can overpower the worst of all flavors (make it unbelievably grotesquely sweet). To my recollection, the drink was always awful, with or without the masking sweeteners. But then again, I was convinced a wharehouse found old chantico. The company thought about the lost sales and the excess waste of inventory and decided to repackage it with instructions to cut the product with water and add twice chanticos milk to make it bearable to the masses, not realizing that it would never to bearable to anyone who had not lost the sence of smell and taste (i.e. those three customer who purchased it a month)

[Ol' Dirty Barista]

Next time you mix up a batch of SHC, give it a whiff. It smells like Cheez-Its.

That being said, I still do enjoy it iced from time to time-- but only from a sample cup. I'd rather spend my calories on a Big Mac, truthfully.

[customerrightnotcorrect]

Summer....Frappuccinos? That's so epic, so cutting edge....tell us something we don't know. Instead of reinventing the wheel, beef up the offerings to the ones everyone loves: mint mocha chip, coconut, orange! They suck to make as they are, now you'll have to make your 1/4 whole milk, 1/4 soy, 1/4 breve, 1/4 nonfat, 1/2 pump mocha, 2 Splenda, double blended, caramel and chocolate inside the cup and on the whip, grande in a venti with extra whip, mocha frappuccino.

[Andy, Shift Supervisor, Maryland]

Caramel Brulee Approximation -

Make a White Mocha with 1 less pump WM, add 1pC, 1pTN

[Kudstar]

SHC smells like McDonald's french fries, it is really creepy.

[Melody]

@customerrightnotcorrect - Yep, now you're going to have Frappuccinos with modifiers out the windows! People will come up with unbelievable stuff!

I think these new Frappuccinos have been in test in at least three states (Vermont, Texas, Florida). I knew it was over one year but I didn't realize it was 2 years. I worry that even if the Frappuccino is improved, it's not wise to mess with something as iconic as that. Millions of people want the existing Frappuccinos and there will be an outcry of complaints about the new coke.

And I worry that there really isn't enough labor for this!

(My latest blog post - link in name - is a current contest involving barista created art)

[bayareabux]

Yes, Fresh For You Frappuccino will probably launch this summer since Starbucks has to always "innovate"... and no, there won't be labor, and yes, there will be long lines.

Starbucks is OK with long lines. Customers got used to it when labor was cut 10% overnight on Dec 4, 2008. Now customers expect to have to wait... and did I mention that customer voice always goes up? It's like the stock market... up, up, up. In fact, customers have never been more satisfied with Starbucks.... or at least that's what they told me on the earnings call.

[Jen]

Good riddance SHC, i make it every morning, and it's dumped by that night. Lately i agree, follow the directions, make it, tastes awful!

[PictureThis]

OK Guys! If you don't know yet. Most SM cheat on their customer voice. Since there are so few given out now you only have to have a few go to friends or customers that like the free drink to really jack your score up. If you have a store in your area that your DM is shoving down your throat as an example of how to drive up CV scores...they are cheating. Period.

[cyashc]

I know a manager who would keep cash receipts that were printing out customer voice and do them at home, giving all 5's.

[Clark Kent]

Fresh for You Fraps are easy as hell to make, and the "sky is falling" attitude of partners that haven't endured it yet have already been heard by the ones that have.

Relax, it isn't that bad, virtually none of your customers are going to suddenly be getting mega-crazy customizations (maybe 1 or 2, but these customers have already been a thorn in your side anyway), and it is very easy and quick to make them once you get in the groove. It's all repetition just like any other drink made at Sbux.

AND you never, ever, have to make Decaf Roast, Coffee or Creme Base ever again!

:)

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

We tested them in Marysville in Spring 2008, Mel. It's a shame you didn't make it up to try one!

[Melody]

@MrsTillinghamshackles - I didn't try the custom frappuccinos until my trip to Dallas, Texas last fall!! LOL They're good but it still seems like a big deal to completely change a product as well established as the Frappuccino.

[John]

on the SM cheating on customer voice,
Does anyone know if Starbucks knows when a customers is not the actual customer? I took one of those surveys in order to see what questions they ask (not to cheat LOL) and they ask what drink you got, so if the drink doesnt match the receipt do they know? and can a pattern like that link an SM to possibly cheating?
I personally do not cheat and don't endorse it, but I do understand that many stores do and I understand why but this is starbucks fault. It wanted to be cheap by getting rid of snapshots.

[Bongoagain]

Barista here in Texas an I agree with the for
er post. The frappucinos are simple to make with a slight learning curve. You can finally tell people there is indeed no dairy in their drink and decaf comes from the espresso machine.
I would like for them to discontinue the vivannos but SHC was a smarter decision.
I look forward to the pour over method and as for this valentine's day...I have the day off :)

[Joe]

We've implemented the Pour Over Brewing Method early and I love it for the decaf coffee customers. They have to wait the same amount of time a decaf americano takes and they get a fresh, tasty cup of coffee.

[Northwest]

I don't cheat on my customer voice and we received a 91% on our last score. You just have to be friendly! If you think all stores that score highly are cheating you are just plain stupid.

As I have said before, this job rules, and you all need to come into one of my stores to see how it is done. Some SM's just plain don't know how to do their jobs. And they probably never will.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

We have some serious customers who are devoted to the signature hot chocolate and espresso truffle. Maybe its because I make ours with whole milk.

[east coast mgr]

you can do a 'test' CV on the portal & starbucks DOES track ip addresses if it suspects cheating ... my rd told me this. People have been fired over this many times before

[Emily]

See, this wouldn't be a problem if they would just make it so they track "satisfied" and above...in some places, it's easy to get high CV scores because the customers are very friendly people. In NYC, people aren't highly satisfied with anything! Half the time, CV prints for customers who are on the phone and mouthing their order to you, customers who hover over you and want their drinks just perfect, or customers that are in such a rush that they needed their drink ready yesterday! We're at our wit's end because our SM is a very honest person and doesn't want us giving CV to people it doesn't print for, but we feel like we can't please some of these people no matter how hard we try! Our DM is on us about raising our CV, so we're as "buddy-buddy" as we can be with these people, but many midtown corporate types look down on service industry workers and expect everything instantly. It's really stressful to please these people and sometimes it seems like corporate just doesn't understand that!

[waltie]

"you can do a 'test' CV on the portal & starbucks DOES track ip addresses if it suspects cheating ... my rd told me this. People have been fired over this many times before"

How could Starbucks possibly know the IP addresses of every partner? I find it very hard to believe any partner was separated over something like that.

[Torontodude]

Gripe du Jour:

What's up with putting rotting bananas by the register and trying to sell them for a buck? I see this more and more.
I understand the need to squeeze every last ounce in sales in the current economy. But this is a really dumb idea that makes SBUX look bad. We're talking bruised bananas with huge black spots, folks. YUCK!

[Melody]

@Waltie - I would assume that if Starbucks sees the same IP address doing many CV receipt surveys at one store, that would be a red flag, but I'm not sure how they would narrow that down to any one particular store partner.

@Emily - I really believe you're right about the store profile you've described. There are a few Starbucks in downtown Seattle at the bottom of tall office buildings where nearly every customer is a busy banker, lawyer, accountant, professional, or otherwise feeling quite self-important. These are not people who are easily 'highly satisfied'.

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

"Our DM is on us about raising our CV, so we're as "buddy-buddy" as we can be with these people, but many midtown corporate types look down on service industry workers and expect everything instantly. It's really stressful to please these people and sometimes it seems like corporate just doesn't understand that!"

Starbucks corporate looks down on service industry workers and expects everything instantly too.

[east coast mgr]

Sbux doesnt know the individual IP of every store partner, but its not hard to figure out which town or even community it comes from. And if several CVs per month are submitted from the same IP from a local (smaller) community it becomes pretty easy to figure out which partner(s) live in that community. Furthermore every receipt mentions the partner number on it and 1 + 1 is 2. Just 2-3 months ago a shiftie from a store close by was confronted with this, admitted, and let go over it. My DM mentioned this and said its been happening more and more and several partners in my area lost their job over it.

[waltie]

"Sbux doesnt know the individual IP of every store partner, but its not hard to figure out which town or even community it comes from. And if several CVs per month are submitted from the same IP from a local (smaller) community it becomes pretty easy to figure out which partner(s) live in that community."

So what you're saying is that I could be fired if customers are filling out surveys on the same wireless network I'm using? Pffft.

Doesn't it make sense that customers and partners live within the same community around their stores? No offense, but I just don't believe it. As Judge Judy says, if it doesn't make sense, it isn't true. And nothing about this makes sense or sounds the least bit like legal or justified.

[.]

I think it would go more like...
1. Red flag that the same IP address is filling out surveys.
2. Investigation finding that every receipt filled out from this IP was issued by partner # 1234567.
3. "Open ended" discussion with the partner about customer voice surveys where the partner admits what they were doing because they figure they're caught anyways and hope some honesty will save their ass.

[me myself and I]

Honesty at Starbucks? Where can I get some?

[@usorthem3]

After reading this thread abt the roll out of custom fraps this summer to the nation I must hope they have 1 million bottles of frap coffee syrup because on a hot summer day U can blow thru a bottle in 30 minutes, been there. I know I questioned how taking a grande mocha frapp, which old style takes four steps( mix, mocha, ice, blend) to the new style (coffee base pumps, milk, mocha pumps, frapp syrup pumps, ice , blend) is more efficient? The bigger issue will be that these taste nothing like the old style and ppl will be really adjusting their preference to try and get the old flavor, ie, more coffee base, less frapp sugar, etc. @Melody it is true that no more labor is given for this process but then that's no different than when we get our warming oven that we are not given any more labor on the floor to accomplish what I'm sure will be, "Can I have all those donuts and fritters heated?" The poor F1 will have so much more to do and the lines will indeed get longer. IMO That 4.5 seconds per customer interaction will be cut to 2.2. Sad really the way things have gotten. Oh well, "not my idea" is my standard answer when customers complain.

Just a recap: Loyalty reward cards, Duetto, Tea Prices Up, Coffee prices Up, a total #FAIL on issuing a "reusable" card that someone tried to take from me yesterday 4 $1 off oatmeal/panini's, a glass bottle, ha ha and a grinder. The list keeps going but I will stop. Remember all these things are from the customers view point, I said nothing of the operations side, but think of what the customers experience is becoming. #justsaying

[Munchkin]

We've been making the customizable frapps at my Dallas-area store for about a year now. Generally, most people get it standard. We also get a lot of "nonfat, no whip". Other than that, there are very few major modifications. The process will be slow at first, but won't be a problem later. On the plus side, you don't have to worry about throwing away or running out of prep!

[Cubical Drone]

Gotta ask: What's up with the Trenta size? I am pretty sure that it is only for iced coffee and iced tea but has anyone else heard anything? The CCC hass been told little about it.

[Finally, its happening to me right infront of my face and i just cannot hide it.]

Thank god! As a Barista with Egg allergies (check the packaging) I could not ever bar because people would order this stupid drink. Imagine steaming nuts and how awful that would be for people. No more DTR every day for me.

[John]

Waltie,
Hey can you please keep your retarded comments a day to a maximum of zero.

What they are talking about with the CV receipts is that if they see a PATTERN which suggest they are being filled by someone or some group of people in the same area they can investigate, plus EVERY receipt including CV has the partner on till partner number so that is also a way of tracking it.

Stop being so close-minded and negative about everything,

[justsayin]

I always find it hystarical when people use hash tags apart from twitter #theworldisnottwitter