Regular here but never again barista looked like she wanted to punch me through the drive thru window when it wasn't even my fault.
I placed my order through the Starbucks app in advance, as I normally do, and then entered the drive-thru. Before I even reached the window, I received a notification from the app stating that my order was ready. When I got to the speaker, I let the employee know that I had a mobile order for Elsa. I had to repeat myself, and the employee responded in a very rude and dismissive tone, telling me that they were still working on it and to pull up to the window.
When I reached the window, another barista whom I see almost every morning recognized that the order was for me. I confirmed it, and she politely told me they were still working on it. I said, "Okay, thank you," and had no issue waiting.
Then another employee came to the window with what appeared to be a very angry attitude and began speaking to me as though I had done something wrong. She told me, "You just placed the order one minute ago," and proceeded to lecture me about not doing that in the future. I immediately stopped her and explained that I had NOT just placed the order one minute ago. I had placed it approximately 7-10 minutes earlier, and, more importantly, the Starbucks app itself had notified me that my order was ready before I even reached the window.
She continued rambling, so I chose not to argue and simply let her walk away. She really looked confrontational and honestly I'm not about that life anymore but she was tempting me.
The barista I see regularly came back with my drink, and I thanked her. I also asked what was going on with the attitude that morning. She apologized and explained that their system/server must have been slow and that my order had apparently only come through a few minutes earlier.
I completely understand that technology can have issues. What I do NOT understand is why the customer should be blamed or spoken to disrespectfully because of a problem with Starbucks' system.
I use the Starbucks app specifically to place my orders ahead of time, and I followed the process exactly as instructed. If there was a delay with the system, I would have been completely understanding if someone had simply said, "We're sorry, the order just came through on our end and we're working on it now." Instead, I was made to feel as though I had done something wrong and was then spoken to in an extremely condescending manner.
After Fridays experience I won't ever be coming back. Even the Starbucks in the city I grew up in are 1000 nicer and that's in Lynwood. I would think Torrance barristas would be as respectful but I guess not. I should not have to tolerate being spoken to disrespectfully simply because I placed a mobile order and the store's system apparently experienced a delay.
Taking my hard earned money elsewhere cuz this place is a joke. To the barista that went out of her way to talk smack to me may God bless you with a better attitude and better service to your customers if not find a different career where you don't have to deal with technology issues and customer service.
out Starbucks and your Bully/Confrontational
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