A Starbucks worker has blasted customers over an irritating ordering habit – they said it was ‘rude’, and fumed at how people ‘glare’ at them while they are preparing drinks
A Starbucks barista has slammed “rude” customers who wait until the very last minute to customise their orders. The fed-up worker has pleaded with customers to “go to the front for questions” as their requests are holding up lines in branches everywhere.
Taking to Reddit, they said: “Every single day that I’m on bar two, or even occasionally bar one, I’m bombarded with drinks and questions at the same time. Can I get an extra shot? Where’s my drink that I ordered a minute ago? Can I get some cream? Can I get this with oat milk instead? Can I get more vanilla? Can I get this shaken? Can I get no berries instead? Can I get an extra scoop of berries?
“Where’s my sandwich? Can I get this restirred because I ordered it an hour ago and now it’s sat out? Can I get the frappe with no whip at the bottom instead, when they asked up front the question didn’t make sense? No. No, No. Please just ask up front. I can’t be answering 80 questions at once while making several drinks, nevertheless during peak.”
They explained how the team member who takes their order – stationed “up front” – is the go-to to ask for drink customisation. This then leaves the second worker to make the drinks promptly.
“I’d be glad to help you with your drink, but I’d much rather prefer that you get help up front rather than disrupting my flow, as selfish as it sounds,” they added. “Please, don’t glare at me or stand by my bar watching my every move with the drinks and please don’t ask me every five seconds where your drink or food item is. It’s just rude. I’m just trying to do my job.”
Commenting on the post, other baristas jumped in with their complaints about customers and how much time they waste with “meaningless” interactions. One user said: “I hate when people get annoyed at me for not dropping everything to help them when I’m on drive-thru, like you can see me running back and forth grabbing food and talking to customers on the headset?
“Please go stand at the register and the person assigned to that position will help you. Even then, my storefront and food are combined, so if the person doing food looks absolutely swamped please be patient with them.” Another user added: “The amount of times a day I say ‘Yup, someone else has it going for you’ or ‘Mhm, it’s coming’ drives me insane.
“I’d be a billionaire by now if I had a dollar for every time I did. But, you know what, let me just figure out a way to toast your bagel and heat your banana bread in my espresso machine real quick.” A third user said: “I’m seen as the ‘patient’ one at my store but one thing that actually frustrates me is whenever I’m on bar and call the name on the drink and that person immediately says ‘I’m missing my two croissants’.
“I get that maybe they expect the whole order to be ready when the name is called out but having to explain to them that it’s coming from a separate barista who is dealing with that sets me back and messes with my groove.”
