NWR... Starbucks rant.

wiggsaj

Is it impolite to correct a customer?

I was picking up a drink at starbucks the other day. I rarely go to Starbucks because they are overpriced, but I had a gift card and I was craving a specific drink, so I stopped by on the war home. I was having some troubles remembering the exact name of the drink I wanted. I described the drink to the lady and we were able to narrow it down and figure out the name. Obviously I appreciated the fact that she told me the name of the drink so that I could remember it for future reference (not that I did anyway, but I get the idea). Fine.

When she asked me the size, I said "whatever you guys call the medium, please" . . . She said "Grande, is what you're trying to say." This time she said it with some attitude! I didn't really care until she seriously looked at me and said "I'm just trying to educate my customers, you know?" & she said it with a laugh. I didn't think that was very funny. 

Rude or not rude at all?

I didn't say anything or pop any attitude but it sort of frustrated me. I feel like that was a very rude thing to say to a person giving them their money. 

Rant over. How do yall feel?

doeydo

Yeah that's rude.  

KeptInStitches

Definitely rude.

[Deleted User]

Rude.  It makes me want to order Medium and Large drinks on the rare occasions that i order drinks from that place that burns their coffee.  Afterall, Grande means Large so the fact that it's their medium is dumb.  And since you obviously didn't know what you were ordering, that you should now miraculously know the proper wording for the size is ridiculous.

alpacalunch

Sounds like she was trying to be funny but it fell. She was still helpful with the drink situation, right? Don't let it get to you. I vote not rude, but I wasn't there.

Aray82

Definitely rude. It seemed like an attempt to be funny that failed. Starbucks is known for being rather finicky about customers' calling their drinks and sizes by the "right" names. In fact, there was a news story a couple years back about an NYC customer getting kicked out for arguing with an employee when she wasn't able to order "correctly," or as the customer called it, for "not speaking Starbucks."

JellyBean52513

As someone who used to work at Starbucks... this is rude. What she should've done, if she felt the need to correct you at all, was to repeat your entire order back to you using the word Grande instead of Medium without bringing any attention to the difference.

Calling the drink this way is important for the baristas, so they know how to make it. Example: before I worked there, I ordered an iced coffee with skim milk (what I've always called non-fat milk). Well, they call it non-fat milk at Starbucks, so what the barista though she heard was "soy." I found out the hard way once I got to work that I'm allergic to soy milk

She was rude, though, to say that too you. Also, just an FYI for everybody who patronizes Starbucks: if they ever get your drink wrong, or you simply don't like what they've done, tell the barista who made it as soon as it gets delivered to you. They are taught to remake it on the spot the way you want, they'll usually tell you to just keep the incorrect one if you want to give it to somebody, and 9 times out of 10 they'll give you a drink ticket which is good for ANY free beverage at a later visit, simply for the inconvenience.

mysticl

JellyBean52513 said:

As someone who used to work at Starbucks... this is rude. What she should've done, if she felt the need to correct you at all, was to repeat your entire order back to you using the word Grande instead of Medium without bringing any attention to the difference.

Calling the drink this way is important for the baristas, so they know how to make it. Example: before I worked there, I ordered an iced coffee with skim milk (what I've always called non-fat milk). Well, they call it non-fat milk at Starbucks, so what the barista though she heard was "soy." I found out the hard way once I got to work that I'm allergic to soy milk

She was rude, though, to say that too you. Also, just an FYI for everybody who patronizes Starbucks: if they ever get your drink wrong, or you simply don't like what they've done, tell the barista who made it as soon as it gets delivered to you. They are taught to remake it on the spot the way you want, they'll usually tell you to just keep the incorrect one if you want to give it to somebody, and 9 times out of 10 they'll give you a drink ticket which is good for ANY free beverage at a later visit, simply for the inconvenience.

I've always gotten a new drink and the coupon, not that they have made many mistakes.  

ei34

Maybe the barista was having a long day and the snark escaped at the end of a long interaction with you (helping you figure out what you wanted when you didn't know the name)?  I worked at a Starbucks for almost five years, from the end of high school and through college, and although I was always happy to help customers find the perfect drink, I definitely preferred the customers who were quick and knew what they wanted.  (These are also the customers I prefer when I'm a customer myself standing in line..)
The whole laugh thing would've annoyed me though, and her claim to try and "educate" you.  When a customer ordered a medium drink, that meant medium.  Baristas speak Starbucks but they also speak English.  She knew what you meant and should've just left it alone.  I'm sorry she was rude to you!

HisGirlFriday13

Definitely rude. It's not her job to educate her customers, it's her job to make the drinks correctly and timely and pleasantly.

trulymarvelous

Is it rude that I always just use the simple small/medium/large almost out of spite when I order from there?  Sorry Starbucks, you're not this fancy European coffee shop - quit being so pretentious.

huskypuppy14

When they have 3 sizes that all mean large, how do they expect people to remember. I always get tall and tall rhymes with small, so it's easy for me to remember that

chibiyui

Rude. But I wouldn't let it get to me. 

Besides. Coffee tastes better when served with a side of snark. 

AddieCake

I don't think this would have bothered me. You said you didn't know what it was called, so she told you what a medium is called.

phira

It's rude, especially in this context. Starbucks is super pretentious about its sizing names, and the names are stupid ("grande" means large, so why is that a MEDIUM?). If you ask for a medium, they know you mean grande. If you ask for a small, they know you mean tall. Just give. The customer. The drink. They ordered.

VulgarGirl

When I worked at Starbucks we were trained to correct the customer but in a polite way. So if you said "small coffee" then as the barista I'd say "ok a tall coffee is that all?", so the snark and "just trying to educate" rude rude rude. I would've called her on it on the spot.

However gentle coaching, if you will, to use the correct verbiage I do understand. But nicely, politely, and not snarky.

Lowell14

MagicInk said:

When I worked at Starbucks we were trained to correct the customer but in a polite way. So if you said "small coffee" then as the barista I'd say "ok a tall coffee is that all?", so the snark and "just trying to educate" rude rude rude. I would've called her on it on the spot. However gentle coaching, if you will, to use the correct verbiage I do understand. But nicely, politely, and not snarky.

I also used to work for starbucks... used to repeat this sentence to customers. Most times, no issue but I would always get one that would bark' I asked for SMALL!'. 'Sir/miss, our Tall is the Small...' and customer snark would ensue...:)

 

Anyways, back to the OP, yes, the Barista was rude and had NO reason to say anymore beyond calling your drink back using the correct (for Starbucks) words...

dolewhipper

Ditto here for being a sbux barista in the past.

I still work in hospitality and at the hotel I work at, we have a very good steakhouse. We'll call it X & Y. Since I work close to the front entrance, I always get, "where is Y&X?". My response: "Yes, sir/madam, X & Y is down the hall to the left."

As well, Venti didn't used to exist when Starbucks opened. The sizes used to be Short and Tall. Then they came out with Grande shortly after. Welcome to America where not only do we have Venti but also Trenta. Venti being 20 ounces and Trenta being 30. 

Kauris

Is it wrong that I feel the cashier is like my translator, I don't speak Starbucks, I try to do my best, but clearly I don't order it in the right order. So is it wrong to assume that the cashier should take my muddled order and "translate" it for the barista?

pinkshorts27

Is it wrong that I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks? Now I will admit, they make the best Caramel Mocha in town but I only drink those a few times a year. 99% of the time I just have a small black coffee and Starbucks simply doesn't have the best coffee in town. We have a local coffee shop that is cheaper and closer to my office and has better coffee. 

vulpiepop

Not that big a fan of Starbucks. Honestly, I don't consider them coffee...more like coffee-flavored beverages. I think it was rude of her though. Most people go by the "small, medium, and large" scale regardless of their hipster word-replacements because it's standard and easy for people to remember.

Found this gif and thought it was funny and relevant so posting this too:

Teddy917

I work at Del Taco. "Macho" is large (all others are just medium, small, and kids/seniors). If someone asks for a large, I put in Macho. I only correct them if they ASK what we call the large. Otherwise I just repeat I back using Macho.

misshart00

I prefer dunkin donuts coffee. Half the price and tastes better. And I can order a small without being judged.

Viczaesar

In the context?  Not rude.  She had just worked with you specifically to figure out what the drink you remembered was, and you were happy to learn the name of the drink.  It's not surprising that she thought you would be interested in learning the name of what they call a medium drink. 

FTR, I rarely go to Starbucks, but when I do I just say "medium" or "small."  They can translate it themselves.

AddieCake

Thank you, Vic! Exactly what I was thinking!

kitty8403

I worked as a barista in an independent coffee shop in high school. In college, I went to the campus store, which had a Starbucks counter. We never had to deal with this kind of interference from corporate about stupid things like what to tell customers to call a freaking medium drink. I did a lot of training the other student baristas because I actually knew how to make coffee. I'm glad we didn't have to screw around with something as silly as multiple words for "large"!

Chipmunk415

Super rude of the barista.

In a similar vein, I called the registrar at my undergrad school to find out what I needed to do to get my name changed on official correspondence with them (I'm hopefully starting a masters with them in the fall). The gal said I needed to fill out a form and it had to be "certified" by the clerk of courts. I asked "for clarification, do I need a certified supporting document and/or does the form need to be notarized or certified?" Her comment- "I never said notarized." My response- "Well sometimes people get confused as to which is which- I have a certified copy of the marriage license, and want to make sure I have everything in order." Her- "well they have to certify it." Me- "okaaay, I'll take it to the clerk's office, just wanted to be clear on everything." Her- click.

I totally should have asked for her supervisor. I looked up her name and info on the school directory. She got her undergrad from the school when I was finishing my JD at another school.  She's currently enrolled in a Masters to PhD program in the type of field where you enter one of two tracks- university teaching, or academic research- as it won't otherwise apply to anything else in real life. Unless you're into writing books about your favorite field of study.

thisismynickname2

MagicInk said:

When I worked at Starbucks we were trained to correct the customer but in a polite way. So if you said "small coffee" then as the barista I'd say "ok a tall coffee is that all?", so the snark and "just trying to educate" rude rude rude. I would've called her on it on the spot.

However gentle coaching, if you will, to use the correct verbiage I do understand. But nicely, politely, and not snarky.

Baristas are trained to correct? That makes me not want to go there. Unfortunately it's the coffee shop closest to work. Maybe I'll order a "grand" and see what happens.

lc07

blueeyes90 said:

Is it wrong that I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks? Now I will admit, they make the best Caramel Mocha in town but I only drink those a few times a year. 99% of the time I just have a small black coffee and Starbucks simply doesn't have the best coffee in town. We have a local coffee shop that is cheaper and closer to my office and has better coffee. 

@blueeyes90 And a win for small businesses! Yay!

Also, I hate coffee. (I think I'm the only person on the planet who hates it.)

JennyColada

I know it was already posted, but I love this rant:

PrettyGirlLost

nellesaur said:

Is it rude that I always just use the simple small/medium/large almost out of spite when I order from there?  Sorry Starbucks, you're not this fancy European coffee shop - quit being so pretentious.

Venti and Trenta actually make sense because those are Italian, I think, for 20 and 30. . . as in the ounces of the drink.  They should rename Tall and Grande too, FFS!