Sunday, June 18, 2006

Yet Another Rant About Starbucks

My tirades about Starbucks (or things that happen there) are well documented (see here, here, and here).

The issue is this: I don't even drink coffee on a regular basis, yet it seems almost every time I'm there something is happening that pisses me off. Do strange things happen there everyday (and therefore regular, daily patrons are used to it and don't seem to mind?) or just when I'm there?

Today's beef(s) isn't really a big deal, but since it is Saturday and I have a minute, I feel the need to document it:

  1. Clueless lady in line: don't decide after your order to start fishing for change from your purse. You do this all the time! You should have your money ready. You have been in line for four minutes and the prices are clearly labeled right on the huge menu behind the counter. Its not like the cashier suddenly sprung some wacky new price at you at the last second. I don't care that it is Saturday morning. I am waiting in line behind you and I got shit to do.
  2. Starbucks management: do you know what might be helpful? Put up one of those screens that give the status of people's orders so they can see that the drink is being made. It would save everybody a lot of hassles - baristas would stop getting annoying questions like, "Is there a venti vanilla latte back there somewhere?" and customers would stop wondering if their drinks were forgotten. Because when I order a tall iced coffee and I'm standing there waiting a few minutes for it while lots of people who were behind me in line are getting their drinks made before mine shows up, I'm gonna get a little agitated and ask the barista if there's a chance my simple order was forgotten. If you had some kind of screen, I could see that No, my drink was not forgotten, but instead your barista decided to take a break from finishing it to go throw away a few boxes instead.

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