I was reminded today of a story I meant to share last week. In case you don't know, I have been moonlighting as a barista at Starbucks for the last 5 years. It all started because I wanted extra Christmas money. I fell in love with the people and stuck around...forever. Well, the countdown begins to my resignation as the lone original at 7911 and after the experience I had last week, I can leave confidently saying "I have seen it all."
Our store is a drive-thru stop, so last week I was making drinks at the drive-thru bar. So, the dude taking orders gets this HORRIBLY mean customer that was yelling at him through the headset. I hear her rants and just look at him all the while he is laughing saying "She is so rude!" Well, she was insisting that he read back her order but wanted cookies too. He looks at me and asks if I will tell her drink order while he goes to look for cookies. I read her back "Quad grande white chocolate mocha". Then she starts on me saying I am yelling at her. The woman was mad! I just looked at Curtis and said, "Dude, she's getting decaf for sure." Curtis left me to take her money, where she starts in on me AGAIN that I was yelling at her. Sorry, I've been there too long and I gave her what for. Legendary customer service is sometimes just overrated. I complete her DECAF quad grande white chocolate mocha and felt this overwhelming satisfaction as she drove away knowing that as her barista I have the power to jolt her or not. Tonight, no jolt.
A few hours later the store manager and I are the only ones left in the store. So, I had told her about the incident earlier and we got a good laugh out of it all. Well, you aren't going to believe this, but the woman CAME BACK! Yea, no kidding! So, now she's in this incredibly good mood and says to me, "This coffee was so good. I'm wired! I want one more!" She's wired....on four shots of DECAF espresso. It was fantastic. I sold her another drink and decided she could have regular now. If she thought she was wired before, oh what a surprise she was going to have!
Moral of the story: Don't take your crappy day out on your barista. They have the power...
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2 comments:
That's funny. Do you hate it when people order decaf and then as you hand them their drink, they ask you if it is decaf? I do that all that time. I get so nervous that it won't be decaf and I'll be awake all night!
Affirming the correct drink isn't annoying. I think you can continue to ask. They should call out the drink before giving it to you so that you can be sure they say decaf. But, if you hit them during a busy time that may not happen.
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