Reading through these comments, it's amazing how many people are suffering from Stick up the Rear Syndrome. You're shouting "HE DESERVED TO BE FIRED" as if it's some grand, earth-shattering revelation, when even the kid who wrote the song recognizes that he deserved it.
Get over it and learn to laugh. Of all the offensive things in the world worth getting one's panties in a twist over, I think a guy singing about sucky customers is pretty low on the list.
I have been a waitress and a barista and let me tell you customers can be great but they can also be complete jerk-offs. This kid would not be the first one to come up with a rant about sucky customers. Maybe some people should listen to what he is complaining about and realize THEY ARE that sucky customer. The sucky customer comes in and thinks they can treat you however they want, like a dog, and servers are people who often times have limited resources to provide you with what you are requesting. To those sucky customers...SCREW YOU and get over yourself. You are not as important as you think you are.
Jeez, REALLY?!?!?! I found it to be funny! AND THIS IS SO SERIOUS THAT IT'S NEWS????? WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE THESE DAYS!!!! CAN'T TAKE A JOKE???? Wow, loosen up your underwear, lighten up Francis.......I can't believe this is news when there are a hell of a lot worse things in the world that are a hell of a lot more serious than this.....poor use of grammer on my part.....but, really?!?!?!
I wouldn't have posted the video had I wanted to keep my job. But, if this actually did anything to significantly damage Starbucks's reputation in the eyes of the people who like their service/company, then I'd be surprised.
I agree with you. Why take it so seriously? And why fire him? We know we are exactly the way he described us. Even the customers laugh at other customer orders. Being PC taken a bit too far on this one.
Glad he got fired. I am a patron of Starbucks and I often find myself sitting for long amounts of time in the drive thru line only to get to the front where they end up giving me a drink that is not mine or incorrectly made. I cannot count the number of times I've ordered something very simple (which is what I order 90% of the time) – Venti Americano with extra half and half. Not a hard order. It's a $3.35 drink for a few shots of coffee and water. One would think this would be an easy order to get right. It's not like I'm ordering 10 drinks or food to go along with it, just the Americano straight up. Well half the time they get it wrong. Not too long ago I was waiting for 20 minutes in line through the drive through. I get to the front they looked frantic, handed me a drink and said it was free. As I pulled away thinking "wtf kind of service is that".....I take a sip only to sip on some nasty chai tea stuff – So not only did I waste 20 minutes in line, I didn't even get "my free drink"! This happens all the time. What's really annoying is their "tip box"....as if I'm going to tip you for pushing a button and adding milk to my coffee. They aren't servicing me, I'm paying for that drink, it's their job to make the drink, take my cash and hand me my coffee. I sent an email 10 years ago to Starbucks Headquarters over that ridiculous tip box. This twerp shouldn't be working in the service industry. Afterall he is a self entitled brat who thinks he can fix our order his way and we should be "ok" with it eventhough we are still required to pay the designer price for what we order. As Tom would say "GIVE ME A BREAK!"
Did you complain to management? That would be person who can actually do something about it. Or do you just enjoy ranting powerlessly on blogs? If you are continuing to frequent that store without talking to a supervisor and they keep treating you like this, you have no one to blame but yourself.
I never get my order mixed up, coffee straight up, black no sugar, no cream. Besides, how lazy are you to go through drive through? For crying out loud, park and walk inside. Then you can see it right away if its wrong or not.
oh BOOHOO!!!! GO COMPLAIN TO SOMEONE THAT CARES!!!!! WAITING 20 MINUTES IN LINE?!?!?! I'm surprised you didn't bitch about them wasting your gas.......LAZY ASS IS YOUR NEW NAME! OR BETTER YET.....DRIVE TO THE MARKET, PARK YOUR CAR.....MAKE SURE TO LOCK IT UP......W-A-L-K TO THE ENTRANCE......FIND YOUR WAY TO THE COFFE ISLE (IF YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS).....PURCHASE COFFEE. W-A-L-K BACK TO YOUR CAR, GET IN, DRIVE HOME.......AND......WAIT......BREW YOUR OWN COFFE!!!!! THAT WAY WE DON'T HAVE TO HEAR YOU CRY ABOUT YOUR ORDER BEING WRONG! WOW, THERE'S AN IDEA!.......
work in the service business and you'll understand, and why would someone be happy a man lost his job over 1 mistake. no one was harmed. i mean other than the overly sensitive, but grow a pair dude. if you mad 1 mistake and work and got canned, how would you feel about it.
i agree with you completely...i always come across some sort of "twilight emo ass" making my coffee trying to intimidate me with their "whatever" attitude...an americano is not complicated to make or get right...anyone here who puts down you...or starbucks has never enjoyed one of their drinks...not since my trip to italy have i ever had coffee that good :)
Wow. Did you know there are actually things wrong with the world that matter? Our local Starbucks teams are awesome: Mistakes are rare and they are always nice. If one of them did this video I would laugh and fight for them to retain their job.
First of all, have you ever complained to anyone there about it? Second of all, WHY ARE YOU STILL GOING TO THAT LOCATION? Starbucks is ubiquitous; there's most likely another branch in your area. The Starbucks I go to has never messed up my drink, no matter how long the line is, and if they had messed it up as many times as your Starbucks apparently has, I'd go to one of the other THREE BRANCHES in my town. I've done that with other chain stores. For example, there are two Dunkin Donuts near my office; one messes up orders on a regular basis, while the other doesn't. Guess which one I go to? Oh, as for the tip jar, how do you make a caramel machiatto? How do you make a green tea Frappucino? How would you handle 20 cups lined up next to you, each requiring a different type of milk, and each involving at least 3 steps to make? What's the best way to make all 20 of those drinks as quickly as possible? Which step would you take first? No, it's not "rocket science," but it's not as mindless or as easy as you'd like to believe.
How rude! Your sense of entitlement is astronomical!!! A bartender is the same as a barista! They make your drink, yes you pay for it, but it is a service in which you give a gratuity to show appreciation!! A barista does more than push a button you repugnant fool!! It is a process and requires timing, measurements, and precision! That tip jar is a part of their wage! Wow, Chris, I would really hate to have an arrogant, cheap customer such as yourself! Your drink being screwed up is karma. Life doesn't owe you anything. Being an understanding, pay-it-forward individual gets you special treatment. Being a person who expects things, will leave you bitter and with that chai crap. Consider it them returning your heinous courtesy, LOSER!
Man, I just CAN'T BELIEVE that this whiny little twerp has managed to get people all riled up and start a discussion about socialism and brought out the Occupods! I do agree with the people who say that service people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, but THAT'S JUST COMMON COURTESY! If this little idjit doesn't like putting up with that type of individual from time to time, then he needs toget a different job, NOT go on the www and cry to Mommy about it.
The www is where people go to 'cry to mommy' as well as post comedy songs. It doesn't seem like he did anything out of the ordinary in that regard. I'm also amazed at all the people who cry about other people crying. Seems like the best thing to do is mind your own business.
Thank you. You hit the nail on the head. I'm getting awful tired of people who just can't help minding other people's business. If they think it's "crying" all they have to do is scroll down and click on another link. No law says they have to watch the video or read the article. Oh, and one more thing for those folks: It's none of your damn business where someone lives or who they live with.
What? It's a silly song he made to blow off steam. I guess you never vent to your friends or family about things that happen in your day or at your job that tick you off, eh? Everything is rosy and wonderful and nothing ever goes wrong?
In any case, I don't get why people like you are calling him "whiny." He took responsibility for his actions! He says he completely understood why they had to fire him and isn't upset with them at all! What's the big effin deal?
So, people work for a coffee empire that bases it bottom line on frilly "extras" and then get your barista aprons in a bunch because then you need to actually attempt to give the sometimes ridiculous customers exactly what they paid for? It's like working at Subway and getting riled up over someone who wants a little bit of lettuce and a pile of pickles with turkey on wheat.
(PS: I thought the video was mildly funny, and I am a SB customer.)
Amen. Could not have stated it better. This "us against the customer" attitude is all too common. I see it in my industry also and try to squash it whenever I can. Problem is...the attitude is everywhere. We used to use say things like "the customer is always right". Of course the customer isn't but that kind of attitude putting the customer on a pedistal made those years almost magical. Now the attitude toward the customer is very different.
When I look at this video, I don't see a "hero of the industry". I see an idiot who got what he deserved in that he was fired.
Curt, I was at a KFC about 2.5 hours ago and walked in just at the time a man already there was literally threatening one of the staff members, saying he would take him down and kick his ass. I would have left except that one of the other staff members addressed me very quickly to ask what I wanted. The previous customer was so out of line that I myself felt threatened and unsafe. This kind of behavior is simply not acceptable whether you are a worker or a customer. Yes, workers in service industries should treat customers well, but customers should act in a civilized manner too.
Usually it's not about what a customer asks for; it's about how s/he treats the person s/he's asking. How would you feel if someone came up to you every day and made it point to treat you like an insect?
Go into standup comedy singing silly songs like this about all kinds of stuff out there. Use this moment as a launching point to start out. YOU will get bookings because of this press, at least at first.
I recently ordered a large decaf at Dunkin Donuts. There wasnt enough decaf in the pot so the server filled it to the top with water...I took 2 sips and returned it, remarking that it "doesnt taste quite right – is this the decaf? Can I get another one EVEN IF I HAVE TO WAIT?"
I can relate to the mean customer comment the Barista referred to. I worked for Starbucks years ago. I will never forget the woman that came in each morning for her custom drink. If meanness was a crime, she'd be in prison for life. And this was in Hawaii!! I'll never understand how one of the most beautiful,n easy going places in the world could possibly be home to the world's most miserable and mean person.
I work for Starbucks. I did like the song and thought some of what he said was funny and fairly accurate. The baristas are more than happy, at least at my store, to make the drink the way you want them to make it. However the key is that you have to tell us how you want it made. We aren't gong to guess or ask tons of questions when we have a line out the door. We will just make it the standard way. But as long as you are polite you will get great service.
And with some people complaining about giving them decaf instead of regular, I will say that if customers are overly rude to one the baristas on the shift, the person making drinks on the bar might accidentally hit the decaf button. It's not necessarily the right thing to do, but most people have been guilty of doing it at least once and not often.
Most of the customers who are come in are good people. But every once in a while you get that one mean one and it can ruin your entire day. Please don't speak down to me, I am not an idiot. I am actually working on my second Master's Degree and needed insurance and income so I'm at Starbucks for that reason.
And yes I've been guilty of topping a coffee with decaf if I only have enough regular to go halfway or 3/4 full. But there is caffeine in decaf, so it's not as bad as it seems. I thought it was better than having them wait the 5 minutes it takes to brew a batch of coffee.
Topping off a caffeinated beverage with decaf so the customer doesn't have to wait is much more acceptable than the other way around (I'd prefer you ask me first, but this isn't about me). Some people have a medical need to avoid caffeine and it would be cruel, and potentially lawsuit worthy, to top off their decaf with "leaded" coffee.
FWIW, I tend to lean towards your way of thinking when it comes how to treat people in the service industry.
Asking the customer whether or not they would like to wait is probably the best solution. However, decaf has caffeine in it. If you are allergic or may experience illness from ingesting caffeine, then do not drink coffee, whether caffeinated or "decaf." Switch to smoothies with a lot of B vitamins or something.
Response to Peace Lover:
Just so you know–Some people request caffeine/decaf due to allergic reactions. Therefore, it is best to let the customer make the choice whether or not it is ok to top off a cup with the opposite of what they request instead of assuming that it is perfectly fine. Better to ask than cause someone to become sick. Speaking from experience, it can make a difference.
Are people allergic to decaf?? ummm... never heard of this. How can someone be allergic to one and not the other? They are basicly the same... plus or minus the caffine
It's not an "allergy" to caffeine, per say. It's more of an "intolerance." I have it, unfortunately. If I have too much caffeine (as in, an entire cup of regular coffee), my heart races and I get light headed; the room swims and I feel incredibly ill. I can have some (Lattes and Cappuccinos are usually ok), but if I order decaf and get regular, it doesn't end well. If I order decaf, please give me decaf. The bottom line is, you should get what you pay for. It's not up to the Barista to decide if a "caffeine intolerance" is real or not. And yes, I've dealt with people who don't know their own allergies. I make sure to know mine. (My favorite is the people who would order saying they are lactose intolerant and get mad when there's mayo on their sandwich.... Mayo has no dairy.... )
I work in the service industry, so I feel his pain. But you can't diss your customers and expect not to get fired. Yes, some are irrational, but that's the industry you work in. Whine to your friends, make fun of them behind their backs, but don't do it in a public forum. Duh.
Chances are you would have been fired from a customer service position at my company with this perspective on things.
Working on your second masters degree and making somewhat poor choices about product quality. You plan to start on a third masters next.?
Sorry for the sarcasme. But businesses are about customer service, and if the customers are buggy to you, maybe this is not a job for you, if you don't feel you have the ability to fill the order correctly, then you are damaging the company standing with the customers and as a extension of this, you are damaging the companies ability to pay you, and provide the health insurance you want to have. Im sorry if you feel entitled to F with the customers orders.. Grow up.
There is, from my view as a person in the retail/service industry, an overwhelming opinion by the general customer public, that somehow you, the service person, are beneath the person you are helping in a shop. There is a general, unfair opinion that somehow you are at the bottom of the food chain for working in the service industry. When that stops, and the general customers begin to see us as human beings and equals, folks like this dude won't have to make silly videos about it anymore.
That is the now ever-present sense of ent!tlement that has been growing like a cancer over the last 30 years. Some people need to look outside their protective little bubbles and realize how other people live & work. Until that happens, try to be the bigger person and rise above such small-minded people.
I love starbucks and I hope they never give me decaf, but I did find that this was a way for him to get his day's stresses out but to post them on the internet was stupid. His boss had every right to fire him, for their company's name. But still thought the video was quite on target for working in any fast food or place like starbucks you get treated like junk half the time and unappreciated so I am with ya dude.
Guilty, so guilty :) I do like my coffee just so – but I try never to treat the people making it like slightly retarded serfs, I get that dealing with a bunch of customers, especially on a busy day, is hell, but yeah, I expect my grande latte with an extra shot and caramel sauce (not syrup) to taste awesome, and most of the time, it does! I thought the video was funny enough – most of the humor for me was that it did hit a little close to home. The kid doesn't seem incredibly indignant that he was fired, either – I don't see him taking shots at the company, so he's not really a tool. Impulsive, maybe. But really, the stakes don't seem to have been that high for him – this was, frankly, a job he could afford to lose, and it's not as though he seems high-handed about any of it. He seems like an alright kid.
Mike if you are paying $19 for 2 coffees and 2 chocolate chip cookies, you are a liar. Black coffee comes in at $2.50 tops and same for the cookie. So...maybe $10. Now if you are adding all kinds of crap to your drink (extra espresso, flavor shots, syrup, soy milk) then you are just being too damn picky and deserve how ever much they can make you up. As a barista I would hope you would find somewhere else to bring your entitled [self] for a drink.
Basic knowledge of the constitution will show you that it only applies to the government. A business doesn't have to allow "freedom of speech." I see this sort of comment on cnn.com every day and I'm a bit concerned about the education system.
Funny video overall. But looking for fame at the expense of an employer is worthy of a dirt nap. If I was your manager I would take you out behind the woodshed like old times and whip you til you were straight again. I've worked for some shit companies but you bite the bullet and you push through. I worked in the worst types of environments for the biggest assholes you can imagine but I smiled, bit my tongue, and now I have a great position. Work through your problems, because if you don't. You'll end up like this jobless tool.
You are so right. That is how it works. This kid and his video are perfect examples of the overwhelmingly misplaced sense of ent!tlement that has taken over this country. I too have worked for some sh!t companies, but they paid the bills and that's why I chose to stay (when I had a choice). This kid either has a trust fund or has some serious life-learning yet to do.
As a business owner, we reserve the right to deny services to obnoxious and rude customers. There are customers out there, who don't deserve the kind of service you guys espouse. If you have a bad customer, tell your manager, and escort that customer out of the store. There is a limit to everything.
Fact is he should have worn a mask! You know something green or something like that. I'd fire him just because he is an idiot!
You do realize that you're complaining about entitlement and then espousing it in the same breath, right?
Expecting an employee to smile, keep their head down and just play their part is by definition fueled by a sense of entitlement. Sure, you may be paying them to meet certain expectations, but are those expectations reasonable for what you're paying them? In a place like Starbucks where they're probably making minimum wage I wouldn't bet on it.
If as a manager you came at me like that behind the woodshed I'd go for your throat. No entitlement there, just self defense. Thinking otherwise is that entitlement you can't seem to decide if you're for or against.
Paying an employee bare minimum, treating them like an unwanted stepchild and expecting them to be a shining example of corporate loyalty despite it all, that right there is an overinflated sense of entitlement, friend. There's no guarantee of reward for it, either.
Comparing a service industry employee to doctors is just silly. You ever heard of a doctor living on ramen noodles because their pay was barely enough to cover rent and utilities? Do hospitals tend to treat their doctors like wild, salivating hyena children who might set the whole damned place on fire and run off with the manager's daughter for frenzied, carnal who knows what if you turn your back on them for half a second? For a lot of these places, that's the default attitude towards employees.
This kid? I don't see the entitlement you're talking about. He's not railing on about that as if some injustice has been dumped on him. He's not asking anyone to feel sorry for him and I certainly don't. He got fired and he seems to accept that. You gotta expect that to happen if your bosses catch wind of a video like the one he made.
Doctors MOST CERTAINLY DO live off nothing and eat cheap noodles for many years till they get to their 30s and actually start to make income.... till then its a very very very poor living while getting educated.
1. Speaking from experience, doctors I've know lived through residency on Ramen, Bettie Crocker Icing and handouts from friends like myself. Now working in the real world but with 2 kids and $400,000 of combined school debt, two married doc friends I know still watch every dime. They drive Hyundai's, eat soup for dinner and wear the same clothes for 5 years.
2. You mention, twice in different ways, how Starbucks employees are 'probably paid minimum wage', and then 'paying an employee the minimum'. What, did you just crawl out from under a rock?? Starbucks has been known for years to be the closest thing to a fast-food joint with full benefits. Their employees aren't on HMO's with 6 figure salaries, but they have significant more benefits and better than minimum wage, particularly if they stay a while.
3. Take them out to the woodshed..."I'd go for your throat". Relax. It's an expression. I'm not much a fan of violence, and I truly doubt ADvocate is either. But people used to do that in the old days. They also used to strap kids in school. And there are still people alive today who remember both of those times. Not saying it will or should happen, but you're reaction is just ridiculous. If I told you all people with the name 'Snow' in their name should be put in jail, would you take that literally too and go for my throat?
Assumptions, assumptions. They'll get you every time.
Maybe he's related to the flight attendant who jumped off the airplane last year. Funny though. I understand how he feels, but you can't go posting stuff like this on the internet.
What about the dope in the Lambourghini who drove 170MPH through some city street and posted that on you-know-who-tube....and then got a couple of tickets because police tracked him down through the video?
You are the tool. Guess you figure everyone ought to be on their knees, ready to take it any way an employer wants to give it. Wrap it up in a threat of violence to salve your own impotent rage. Whatever. people like you are what's wrong with this country. A pathetic subjugated little drib of perambulatory Id.
meh, I don't feel pity for him. "Free speech" is never covered in an employee contract; you can't mouth off about your company and expect to keep your job. That guy is frankly un-hirable; it could be YOUR company he posts about the next time he has a "bad day". Have fun eating ramen in your parents basement for the next year, you idiot.
He doesn't feel pity for himself, either. He accepts responsibility and understand why they fired him.
I don't understand the people like you who are posting. He's not asking for sympathy; he's not railing against the company for canning him; he's not whining about how unfair it all is. HE ACCEPTS WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AS THE CORRECT COURSE OF ACTION ON THE PART OF STARBUCKS. The only people who don't seem able to get over it are your lot.
But, but, but the CEO of Starbucks is a huge liberal who celebrates the OccupyWallstreeters and wants to hold back campaign money to candidates. How can this be?
That's because Amy you don't have a sense of humor. It was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark about how hypocritical Starbucks is. I thought it was pretty funny!
If I had ever thought that I needed another reason (I didn't) to stay clear of Starbucks, this would be a good one. The price did it for me. It's mind boggling to me that there are so many willing to pay those ridiculously high prices, and willing to stand in line for the "privilege" of doing so. I wonder, how many of these same people complain about their wages, and the economy.
If an employee getting fired for insulting his company's customers on the internet, making his company affiliation well-known (even before his firing) in the process, is reason for you to boycott a business, you are an imbecile. If you want to gripe about Starbucks, at least stick to their pricing and ripping off their suppliers.
If you decide to insult your company's clients in a public, widely viewed forum without taking any measures whatsoever to hide your identity, you deserve to live in grandma's basement for the remainder of your pathetic life.
He needs to be banished for his entire life? Are you SERIOUS?
People can't make mistakes and both learn from and atone for them? You screw up once, or do something stupid once, and that's it - you need to be kept from society for the rest of your life? He didn't hurt anyone, and he took responsibility for what he did - but you wingnuts act like he assaulted an old woman and laughed about it.
As capitalism reigns supreme you realize NO one cares for any workers beyond mom and pop shops. You are a slave to do as they say, when you want something from them or become needy in any way you are a drain on the system and words come out like we cant afford raises, health insurance, breaks, meals so on and so forth. And I am not surpised the "Occupy Wall Street" thing has happened I predicted it 2 years ago. Have fun rich people, the poor and middle class are coming for your money and we want you to pay taxes and in fact how about we make you pay taxes on all those years you didnt pay taxes and cheated on them.
you conservative nut jobs throw around these little tired cliches, "class warfare and socialism" and don't even know what it means. what's wrong with wanting a fair tax code or holding corporations that don't play by the rules accountable?
Class warfare means the unwashed masses have tired of getting shat all over by the uber-rich and have finally risen up. Our economy cannot sustain another era of robber barons.But it's great how paying your fair share equals socialism for the 1% but they don't mind the free socialist ride they've been getting on the backs of the 99%.
Germany is doing fine, as is England. Both have heavily socialist governments. Denmark, Norway, and Finland are also quite well off. The banking capital of the world (Switzerland)? Yep, they're just fine too. While we're on the subject of running out of other people's money, what exactly do you think our federal deficit is? It's money that the federal government borrowed from someone else, whether American or foreigner.
So let me get this straight, when a company or wealthy people declare bankruptcy, it is ok to socialize their loss and give them bailout money that comes from taxes paid by the middle and lower classes. However, when the same corporations and wealthy people are asked to pay their fair share, then socialism is evil?
I once said at a 7/11 in Fort Myers, Lady you are way too nice to work here. I pay good money to get treated like crap and I expect it. She didnt know what to say.
Screw Starbucks! Give me the independent coffee shop, where the real coffee is actually good, where large means large and not "Venti", and a small is small , not "Tall", and when I want a "Frapp" , I'll find a place that serves milkshakes!
It's called freedom of speech and the freedom to be stupid every now and again. Now tell me if there's anyone here who hasn't put their foot in their mouths once or twice (a day)? The guys was just having some fun yet making a point he felt worth sharing. A stern disappointment from his boss was all needed here, not a firing. For all of us (even I feel my chest size a bit larger when I'm paying $5 for a goofy cup of coffee) who take ourselves a little to seriously because we indulge with this luxury item from time to time, perhaps the guy was right? The guy gave an apology and I think he's sincere. Now that's what impresses me.
I figure it like this, I drink my coffee black with 2 sugars, maybe I add cinnamon , maybe I don't but I escape the store with less than 200calories of caffeinated beverage for around 2 dollars. Don't be an idiot when ordering coffee, all the BS is not worth it, and the ONLY reason (having also worked in a coffee shop),I worked to build a casual rapport with my customers, new/old didn't matter, the only reason I really ever saw for getting upset was being rude or is for lack of preparation, get ahead of your volume and you'll be good, be polite and you're even better, learn to deal with a**hole customers when the come in – and you can run the place.
I have worked in food service and retail and have developed an unbiased nearly impossible to sway patience with even the most horribly rude customers. I've even had people have the audacity to say " I came in here flustrated and ready to argue and you've been nothing but polite I'm going to tell you mangaer what a great employee you are" or write a nice letter to cooporate. I've gotten numerous bonus' and always left jobs with my manager crying that I was leaving. I will now confess that those patrons in particular filled me with nothing but contempt. You have no right to treat someone serving you like garbage because you are spending money in that shop! I am polite to you out of respect give me the same curtesy! I have also had horrendous service one of my worst experiences was at Starbucks which by the way pays their employees fairly well considering the work load (which I think is great)! Tips are not reasonable to ask for at starbuck as they are payed an hrly fee not a waitstaff fee. Its a nice curtesy for exceptional service but is absurd to be expected (again I worked in a cafe with a similar set up). Some people custumers and service people alike expect to get soooo much for soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo little. Customer and service people alike need to realize their bad day is not the others problem. Shopping and dinning should be a polite civilized experince by all parties with an even and reasonable exchange of service/goods and payment.
I'd -love- it if Starbucks made a strict no-tipping rule – especially since, as you say, they actually make a real wage, unlike many places where the wage itself is literally "cut", with the expectation that it will be made up for in customer tips. I usually tip at least a dollar for my drink, and it does cut down on my visits. I can't help but feel a twinge of resentment when I tip that much for every drink (and feel expected to do so)... that, and it just adds up!
Tipping is optional, not expected, at Stabucks (and this same ettiquette exists in many wage based industries, like beauty salons for example). The wage at Starbucks is minimum for employees, with the exception of small change raises upon excellent-only 6 months reviews. While baristas no doubt appreciate your tip, they would likely feel humiliated by your superficial intention and rather you keep your dollar to yourself (and buy yourself a cup of coffee with it at your local gas station).
That's just it – it absolutely is expected, both at Starbucks, and at a salon. I'm not sure where sincerity comes into the picture. I always treat employees wherever I go with respect and patience, but yes, a buck added to every $4-$5 coffee gets kind of old, so I just don't go as much. It also gets old paying $15-$20 extra every time I go to the hair dresser – she's good, and like any good hair dresser, her prices already reflect that, quite frankly.
The lady who trims my horses' feet (yes, my farrier is a chick :) comes out in all sorts of weather, deals with horses when they get a little "fussy" (although no sane trimmer will put up with horses that just have no manners, or are downright out of control – too dangerous). I don't tip her, and it's definitely not expected. I pay her for her work (she's not cheap, but I'm happy to pay her asking price, and it's -hard- work that has to be done -right-). I keep paying her because she's good! If only more service exchanges were like that!
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE, if you didn't show you face in this stupid video, you'd still have your crappy job (and a paycheck now) . Just put a punkin in front of the camera, geeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh not so smart are ya?
Working with the public can be difficult at best. At worst, a customer will take out all their frustrations on you for the most minor of mistakes – because other stuff in their lives are very bad (or they are just an unhappy person and are miserable and intent on spreading their misery) and you get to be the 'whipping boy' – not at all right, or fair – but it is reality. Some customers are a delight and a pleasure to serve – as a former waiter I've experienced both. It takes a really thick skin to withstand some angry, hostile customers – who basically come in looking to pick a fight, or just show that they have 'power' over someone.
Humility. All but lacking in America. Serving the public is always a chore, and the public always leans on the lowest paid workers. Its nothing new. It is the rare worker who can remain friendly and provide good service despite working for the mass of ingrates who buy five dollar coffee.
Seriously, though, if you are a customer and you get good service, TIP! Twenty percent for perfect service, at least. If you can afford five dollar coffee you can afford a dollar tip!
If you are just buying a cup of coffee it is not $5. For $5 you are paying for a drink that actually requires a little bit of time, skill and effort. On the other hand you are paying a lot for that time and effort and have every right to expect it to be made correctly. If it is not you should certainly request (politely) that it be remade.
Amen to the tipping; tipping in the service industry is not about giving someone money to pour you a coffee; it's considered a part of the wages, and 20 percent is now pretty much considered standard. I think you're right; if you can afford a $5.00 coffee, you can afford the tip is a great sentiment.
not a good video, not a good song, not a good reason to bad mouth you remployer or the customers that provide you with a paycheck. Remember, Chris, you asked THEM for the job, not the other way around. Grow up...
Lighten up .... he paid the price .... and now he has one more thing to add to his nursing home memories. I hope gets 1000's more interesting life experiences.
no she is not and nor are you. i bet you are an ent1tlement minded, conservative, i d i o t that thinks only your opinion counts. i wipe my r u m p with your opinion.
i prefer to support the little coffee shops around my neighborhood, I live in CHICAGO so there is a good place called SIP COFFEE HOUSE on Grand and Ogden.. u can order the same stuff, and its so much better..
I agree, supporting the mom & pop shops was the good ol american way... it needs to come back. thats how we will help the real american everyday people, not the huge corporations that own so many other companies...
Just wanted to chime in on my experience working at Starbucks. I graduated college with honors in 2008 and had a great job but after relocating to another state and with the economy in such bad shape, I couldn't find a decent job so I looked at Starbucks. I only worked there for a few months but overall it was a great experience. I made above minimum wage, got tips, and there are so many great bonuses: you get a pound of coffee a week to take home for free! you get benefits if you work only 20 hours a week! You can drink all the product you want while you're working! Perhaps I was lucky in that the store I worked at had great baristas and my manager was fantastic. Our manager really worked hard to ensure we were working the shifts/times of day that we preferred and made sure we always had at least Saturday or Sunday off. There were some customers you loathed to see because they were always going to complain but for the most part, I loved seeing most of the customers and knowing them by name/drink. Overall, it was a great experience–it helped me have insurance and a paycheck at a time when that was hard to come by!
Starbucks is a pain in the ass to work for, well not for me since I don't but being the girlfriend of one of the many disgruntled starbucks baristas (or shift lead in his case) its a pain. They really don't care for your own well being. I never get to see him because of the many turn and burns (getting out around 10pm and having to be back at 4:30am) that he has to do. Plus his manager doesn't give two cents that he has school, he had to pull out of his only class since she screwed him over with a bs schedule. Yea I am the pissed off gf that its not cool that you are screwing over my bf, but if Starbucks fired every single one of their baristas that has bitched about customers (seriously people its just coffee) then they would have no one to work for them. I only drink starbucks right now because I get it for free. Any other time, no thanks I'll have some dunkin donuts or even folgers.
You bring up valid issues (congratulations...most here aren't). The turn-and-burn are terrible, and the local District Manager should be all over that. The Starbucks here in North Phoenix...and I fully admit just being general here....have better schedules. I'm not saying they're perfect, but as a shiftworker myself, when I come in at 9PM before a nightshift or 7AM for a day, I always see different people, the way it should be. This sounds like a local manager/district labor issue. Tell your boyfriend to rock the boat a little and go to corporate...
I don't know why there are so many bad managers in the world who rely on ego, pre-sumption, and an idea that if employees are happy, that something must be wrong and in need of shaking-up...they chose the dark side for some reason...
I think being a Starbuck's barista must be an incredibly demanding job. I wouldn't want to do it because of the sheer volume they do. I think they should get paid AT LEAST $10 per hour, maybe $12. Lord knows, they deserve it.
Daniel, my friend, you are one in the few who speak this TRUTH!!! As a barista for many years, and a waitress before that.. I thank you sir. You see the hardships that we go through and you recognize our hard work and patience! Customers are NOT easy to please, especially when they are lined up out of the door 5 minutes after we open. We do our best, and might become frustrated at times.. If a video is an outlet for frustration instead of flipping sh*t on a customer, so be it. At least no one got scalded by steamed milk! :)
Are you kidding me?! I have also worked at a Starbuck as a Shift Leader and let me tell you making coffee drinks getting paid above minimum wage and getting health insurace only working 20hrs a week is a good deal! Its just coffee and yeah some customers are rude, but if you are paying a signifcant sum for something that is mostly water and takes about 3 min to make and are polite you deserve polite service and as an employee you set the tone for the exchange. And while this in no way gives customers them the right to be rude it also dosent warrarnt a company to support out right resentment, because as much as an unreasonable customer can take their money some where else a fed up worker can quit. In my opinion neither of them have a place in the cafe. Ask politely for your drink pay your money recieve said drink correctly made in a reasonable amount of time ( the obvious state of business should be considered) by a polite employee of the establishment. If you think its funny to tease about burning people its time for you to find a new job!
Absolutely nothing wrong with being funny but the derogatory and offenses remarks clearly were over the line and fireable offenses. This is not about freedom of speech, private companies don't have to protect your freedom of speech.
Well,
I am not a SB coffee fan, but I do remember having a dollar coffee sometime back. I think the high prices are for speciality coffees like lattes, frapps etc.
I think McD, Burger King and my office supplies better coffee than SB's
Oh come on it is funny..... and sorry to say true to a degree.... now if he serve lattes in that outfi, bet Starbucks would be booming with business even more...LOL
Oddly enough, Starbucks sells devices that allow you to make superior coffee at home for pennies compared to their overpriced concoctions.
Just get a French Press at any Starbucks store, and make it yourself. No aromatic oils are lost due to paper filters, and your coffee doesn't get run through some exotic machine that contaminates the brew. Goodbye Starbucks and your tobacco-flavored coffee.
I know where this guy is coming from . I worked at Starbucks for 10 years.I worked at company and licensed stores.I have experienced everything that he was singing about.I have even made up my own songs..Every Starbucks is different. Some were a living hellhole concentration camp others were a fantasy land with rainbows and unicorns prancing about.Yes some customers I loathed. Some drinks were vile concoctions that only a truly evil person would come up with (soy green tea latte extra matcha unsweetened 200 degrees no foam ) Making 150 different"Crapp"uccinos a day made me want to jab out my own eyes with a wooden stir stick. But some customers became really good friends outside of work as well.I wanted to quit several times but I stuck it out so I could provide for my son.I finally reached my breaking point with all the backstabbing,playing favorites and no hours so I found another job and got out with what was left of my sanity.Unless you work at a Starbucks or anywhere you don't know how it really is behind closed doors.The Bucks can be a nice place to work if you are working toward something else.I wouldn't want to be a "Lifer"(5 years or more)as I was on my way to becoming.Believe me he is not missing his job and thank all that is Holy I don't miss it either:)
What does going to college have to do with the job you have? Are you saying that because I have a job that is beneath your purported education level, that I couldn't possibly have gone to college? With the economy the way it is today ... wow. What a worldly, supportive and open-minded perspective you have. KUTGW.
OK, seriously, these last few years, education is not insurance against finding it hard to get a job. I didn't finish my dissertation, so I don't have the Ph.D in biology, but that's more education than most folks have, and still I've only found employment that requires way fewer degrees.
If you have a great gig with good benefits, congratulations! But **please** quit hating on people doing what they have to to survive.
To those posters who think anyone who buys coffee at Starbucks is an idiot, well, keep hating...those of us who can afford it don't care what you think. Sure, nobody NEEDS a big house, or a Corvette, or a $5 cup of Starbucks coffee, but if we want it, we can buy it...it's a free country. Those who bash others need to take a look in the mirror, and maybe improve themselves instead of trying to knock others down.
You are an idiot for spending that kind of money on that crap they call coffee. Funny how in a taste test survey StarBuck's came in behind Burger King and McDonald's in taste yet is way more expensive. But drink what you want, it is your money.
The girl at my local Sbucks is hotter than their coffee. And this Friday will be our second date. Totally worth the cost of their coffee to get to know her. Don't you judge me. :D
People with money to waste don't care about the quality of the product. They only buy Starbucks as a status symbol, to show everyone else that "yes, this coffee tastes terrible and is way overpriced, but I'm so wealthy I can afford to get ripped off and not care".
I just have to reply, that I don't think that most of the comments about the price of a starbucks are about who can or cannot AFFORD it. Most of us can lay out $5.00 for pretty much anything. I think you're missing the point; it's about HOW people choose to spend their money and what we think is a good value.
Those who find paying $5.00 for 12 cents worth of coffee and a paper cup a waste probably don't go to starbucks. I know many people, quite wealthy, who are appalled by Starbucks, but who are also appalled by a $6.99 meal at McDonald's, too.
At any rate, I do hate to see those with wealth brag about what they can or cannot spend, or denigrate others who don't make the same choices they do. I was raised though, to believe we all have a responsibility to help others who may be less fortunate than ourselves, and I believe that whether you're buying Starbucks or corvettes, you're in a position to be charitable, in word and deed.
@Frugal Hausfrau – I agree. In addition, I'd like to say that I used to buy Starbucks coffee fairly frequently. A couple of years ago, I decided that I needed to save more and spend less. Starbucks was the first to go. I received a $15 gift card for it last Christmas and still have about half of that to go. Frugality is definitely a virtue and a virtue that anyone can later regret not having.
For a almost 5 dollar cup of coffee, I expect good service. If I get poor service I won't go back. There are tons of awesome people that work at Starbucks. Some will have a bad attitude no matter where they work.
He's obviously decided that expressing his opinion about her employer is more important than his responsibility to contribute to its continued prosperity.
I would just like to address the money issue, since it seems most believe baristas are treated like the kings of food service in that regard...I worked for quite some time as a SB barista, and we all earned minimum wage. Tips were distributed by averaging out the total amount for the store each week; the share of each barista was calculated by the total hours you worked, and then were taxed on your paycheck as part of your income. The work itself for a barista consists of a multitude of roles to keep the place running like clockwork, since one to three of you are the only ones there for the majority of the time (managers were required to serve at the front once a month, and determined their administrative schedule as they deemed fit, and the assistant manager handled the back, answering phone calls, scheduling, ordering, etc and usually opened); you're the barista, cashier, dishwasher, cleaning staff, stockroom and customer service center. To be fair, that tip container is a place to show appreciation for all of those things. Baristas also must remain on as part-time staff, and work 35 hours a week (and only if you plead your case on that one for fear of living on the streets; I was usually given 27 on average) or less. Thus, most have two jobs to pay rent, and the benefits package offered isn't very realistic for the majority because they're simply not making enough. End of story, I show love to baristas–at any coffee shop, not just SB–since I know the dirty secrets of what they're asked to do all day and how they're being paid, just as many show love to wait staff because they've also been there.
Um, by the time you're applying for a job as a barista, you're generally pretty desperate. I did it after I got out of college in the spring of 2009, when there really wasn't much available. If you have some self-respect, you take whatever work you can until things get better. They did for me and I moved on. But in the meantime, yes, for practically no money you have to deal with all kinds of jerks, while enjoying doing the work of two people. What was worse, you ask? The hard work or the dealing with the public? Definitely, dealing with the public. People are snobs. And they don't know how to treat a public restroom with the appropriate gratitude. This is New York, people! If someone gives you a place to pee, treat it right!
REMEMBER THIS: 1. CALLING HIMSELF A 'BARISTER' IS JUST A HIGH FALUTIN WAY OF RENAMING YOURSELF TO SOME ODD TITLE THAT IS MEANINGLESS TO EVERYONE. A COUNTER WAITER HAS THE SAME PRESTIGE AS ONE AT ANY FAST FOOD PLACE. 2. THE REAL SHAME IS,,,THAT JOB WILL BE THE HIGHEST POINT IN THAT DullWitted knucklehead's life, for all of his 'life'. Heck, he was pushing bitter tasting, over priced Jave to an unwary public as his main source of income? SHEESH. 3. SUDDENLY HE FELT HE HAD A FORUM TO SOME SORT OF REDRESS OF GREIVANCES, HOW UTTERLY DULLARDISH HE BECAME. HIM BEING IN HIS UNDERWEAR IS THE MAIN INDICATOR ABUT HOW STUPID HE WAS. FIRED?
Don't be a jerk, work is work and the poster is just pointing out its more than pouring coffee – personally I cant stand the snotty attitude at SB and dont like their coffee.
This post emphasizes the need to get a good education. The more training you have the more money you can make to stay off the streets. If you can be trained in a few hours to do a job then you can be easily replaced and your wage will be low. We all make a choice in life and if this is where you end up work then it is what you get. You need to take responsibility for your current position in this economy and change it if you do not like it.
That's a little unrealistic: I worked my way through law school at Starbucks, and many of my coworkers were in a similar situation. And I've thought about going back as a weekend/evening job: with unemployment at 9.1%, finding a job that is commensurate with your education level is incredibly difficult. Starbucks is a good company to work for, and there is no shame working at a blue-collar job to make ends meet. Not everybody has a mommy and daddy who pave their path to success with 24k gold. Some of us actually have to work really hard to acheive something, and life gets in the way of success sometimes.
And, in spite of what the former barista above claims, the benefits package at Starbucks is better than the benefits at any other job I've ever held: for less than $100/month, you get full health, vision, dental, life, and long-term disability – and you only have to average 20 hours a week to be eligible. I'm curious whether the person who claims to have worked for Starbucks in this thread worked for a license store, rather than a company store, since the starting wage at Starbucks company stores is higher than miniumm wage.
As much as I agree with the Barista in the video, it is never a good idea to say anything negative about your employer online. Currently I work at Starbucks, so I understand that he thinks some customers are rude. In fact, some are downright abusive, but in my experience about 98% of the patrons are pleasant people. The pay is very bad, and the starting wage depends on which part of the country a barista lives in. Unfortunately for me, my region's starting salary is minimum wage, and yes, I work in a fully licensed store. It is easy for many baristas to become frustrated with the pay. Everyone at my store has a Bachelor's degree, and two have their Master's. For me, I finished school in May of 2009 with a BA in Education. Silly me, I thought I was going to make a difference in people's lives, but instead I serve coffee. There is no shame in taking a job that covers some of the bills, but I do wish the company was willing to pay a living wage.
Jaybird, I think your comment shows you have never had to work to find a job. In today's economy many well-educated people are without work. I have a B.S. degree, but am having a very hard time finding work at any wage. I have worked for many years at a number of different jobs and a number of different wages. I have had to put up with jobs I hated, have enjoyed jobs I loved, and everything in between. I can't say I agree with the barista's actions, but I can understand his frustration. However, I find that many people (especially younger ones) feel they are entitled to excellent working conditions and higher wages. That's just not realistic and the perfect job just does not exist. If you don't like the job you're in, then work to find a better position. BUT, it is self-destructing to allow frustration to mess up your work record! That will only cause you problems down the road...
I just have to say, the Starbucks employees in my building are phenomenal. I actually don't like SB coffee very much (but it's the closest), but I love this crew. They are unfailingly patient, friendly and so efficient. They manage to make it all seem genuine too–I've worked in retail and restaurants, and the phoney I'm-your-bestest-friend-schtick galls me. But these guys are just NICE. They've actually cheered me up on bad days at work before. Just had to say that because of all the Starbucks hatin'.
OK, let me get this right. When I wait in line and pay $3+ for a cup of coffee at a counter, I'm not supposed to pay too slowly. If I get the wrong coffee or it's not made correctly, I'm supposed to walk away quietly. I need to know that I may be disrespected for being white, middle-aged and female, Latino, overweight, etc. I also need to pay a tip for this treatment. On the one hand, this guy needs to grow up. Think you have a tough public at Starbucks? Try being be a teacher and having to speak consistently politely in the face of outrageous disrespect from out of control students and parents. It's the nature of working with the public in a society that has unfortunately gone down the selfish road. This is not Japan. On the other hand, it's a FUNNY video! This is what comedy is all about. To cross the line and expose things from a different, unspoken, point of view. To make us laugh, recognize, think, laugh again.
A vast majority of the baristas at Starbucks enjoy their jobs. Yeah, you might get someone like the singer in the video, but that's a small number of actual employees. Of course we all got frustrated with customers from time to time: we're all human. But none of the stores I worked at ever promoted a culture of mocking our customers behind their backs, and most managers would have corrected that attitude in an employee who acted like that.
Dear JD, times have changed my friend and the culture at Starbucks is no longer what you encountered during your past employment. Go ahead and get a part time job there again, but lose the expectations.
Your not paying $3+ for coffee, it's some other product. (latte, etc)
Don't put up with that ghetto work style, your not expected to do that. Stand up for yourself or the workers like that will be conditioned to think it's alright.
As iF.......Agree with you completely. I have worked food service, now i'm a nurse. The similarities are staggering. Thanks for putting in your time on the consumer front lines. In my op. Starbucks should not have fired this guy, he's just stating the obvious, and poking fun at it. EVERYONE knows some Starbucks customers are a giant pain in the Mermaid. Watching and listening to them is half the fun of standing in line !
If I'm this guy, I go and make like 20 more videos just BLASTING the rude idiots in the line at SB every day. That's the downside of firing him. You can only do it once, but his is the gift that keeps giving.
I have to say that I completely understand where the guy is coming from here. In my younger years I busted my butt for many a rude customer and I see unacceptable behavior from customers on a regular basis. For some reason Starbucks seems to attract stuck up snotty people who seem to feel that they are "entitled" to preferential treatment or that the "help" is beneath them. It is true that customer service personnel are there to serve us but that doesn't mean that they deserve to be treated as lesser beings. I definitely don't think it's the atmosphere that customers seek out at Starbucks. The only reason I don't have a problem paying the exorbitant prices for their coffee is that they treat their employees VERY well. The founder of Starbucks came from a background of poverty and had nothing growing up. He founded Starbucks with the intention of giving it's employees a chance at having a good life. Starbucks has an excellent benefits package and pays their employees fairly well for what they do. Not to mention the charitable donations they make on a regular basis. In a nutshell; I think this guy finally just got fed up with the a$$hole customer(s) and decided to voice his opinion. Did he deserve to get fired? Unfortunately, yes but at least he had a completely justifiable reason for what he did and went out with a bang! This is definitely a call for those persons out there who think they're better than everyone else and think they're entitled more than just the average consumer.
Yes, it was appropriate that he was fired. Even he understands that. But what not everyone gets is that there's a reason his song / video is so popular. Not every customer is rude anywhere ... but enough are. We accept this, roll our eyes, and move on. This certainly isn't the most important news item of the day, but it's a nice wake up call. When it comes to how we treat our customer service people, most of us can do a bit better ... and a few of us should do a LOT better. When you're standing in line at Starbucks, Burger King, Rite Aid, or anywhere, try a few new behaviors:
1) Don't let your kids run loud and wild.
2) Speak to the individual with politeness and respect ... pretend he or she is a black belt and could whup your ass! Or just that he or she has actual feelings!
3) Be ready and be quick ... especially if there's a line. Nobody wants to watch while you wait until the total comes up to watch you then start to locate your checkbook.
4) If there's a problem, remember that the customer service person is usually NOT the person who decides store policy, and especially pricing.
5) Tip appropriately. No it's NOT covered in their salary ... tipping is considered part of salary for many. Don't get all cheap and dream up lame excuses for why they don't deserve a tip. If you can't afford to tip for quality service, don't patronize the location.
@jeff6187, agree with most of your points but there is one small problem I have found with many customer service employees is a distinct lack of patience with the customer, who for one reason or another, takes more than an average amount of time to order or does wait to pull out the money after the total shows on the register. People who are brain-injured don't look like it but they have cognition issues that cause them to have to think things through and process before they take action. I assure you, it's not about pissing off the employee, it's about the customer maintaining some dignity when they are thinking their way through all the steps. Our favorite coffee joint is Starbucks in just one location because they are sensitive, caring, and always have the drink ready by the time we get to the counter. It brightens the heck out of my friend's day that even in the middle of a rush, the baristas take the time to make sure the order is perfect before they move on, instead of rushing away, like another location does. In fact, every place that treats my friend with respect, courtesy and patient attention gets LOTS of repeat business. My friend is slow, not stupid. Good service gets good rewards.
Oh I absolutely agree. Respect goes both ways. Clearly there are exceptions as to "who" is able to do "what" and "how quickly". Many sales people recognize this. Indeed many businesses train their customer service people to recognize this. Some don't. I've certainly encountered rudeness and stupidity as a patron of a business. Mostly the problem lies from today's society's acceptance of apathy and self-absorbedness as a way of life. In any customer service setting, both sides of the counter should be more mindful of this, while still being patient because, as you point out, we can never really know what someone else's situation is.
We need to eliminate tips altogether. A restaurant shoul pay a wage and service people get what the salary is deemed based on the restaurant food, experience and service. This way, the restaurant has to cover the wage in their fee schedules. Most of the world does it this way.
I wonder if Starbucks, or any business would agree with your #5. I'm pretty sure that even if you can't afford a tip, the company still wants your business and the employee still wants their job. I tip VERY well at restaurants because I come from a long line of folks who waitressed their way through college, but I don't tip at Starbucks, even though I was a barista after high school, because it's not the same kind of work and they aren't paid the tipped profession minimum wage, they're paid much more.
DO a bit of research on the origin of the saying, and you'll discover that it originated with Jim Jones & the Jonestown Guyana tragedy – mass suicide of Jones's followers who drank poisoned FLAVOR-AID, the poor kin to Kool-Aid.
It WAS NOT Kool-Aid that they drank -
And people have been getting this wrong for years...
As English is a live language, meanings change and evolve as time passes. Sadly for the sake of your point, this expression is firmly etched in the minds of the masses and will never get the reality check you're looking for.
You Obviously know nothing about coffee. Starbucks over-roasts ALL of thier beens. That signiture taste... burned. What they don't tell you is that the less your coffee tastes like crap, the more cafeen it has and the better it is for you. The guy has a point though. this is a free country where you can patronize any establishment regardless of how informed you are. Polititians know this... How else do you explain the Republican campaign strategy?
@ Dinjiro: Chris may, in your opinion, know nothing about coffee, but you obviously know nothing about spelling. Seriously. That made my eyes bleed.
*beans
*signature
*caffeine
*politicans
As someone mentioned above, demonstrating proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation goes a looooonnng way towards credibility as you make your point. Good luck with that.
Starbucks is soooo overrated – their coffee tastes burned, always has – but THIS dude's a genius. He'll have a single, get a record or reality show deal – you'll see...
Oh please. Why are americans still going to Starbuck's? They are so instutionalized. So drab. So out-of-lifestyle. People. Get a grip. Move on from this franchise. Support local coffee shops, not the corporate conglomerate.
That's a problem for some. I would love to be able to have a coffee at a local roaster/coffee house, unfortunately, the nearest independent coffee shop was almost 20 miles away from my last house. While the closest Stabucks was less than a mile away.
I go to St. Arbucks and order a grande skinny carmel latte and I get 16oz of 2 shots of espresso and steamed milk. No matter where I am, I pretty much get the same results. I go to a local shop, make the same order in the same price range, and I get an espresso sized cup, maybe 4oz. This has happened way too often. It's very disappointing. Plus my flavorings are free with my card, and I get a free refill when I order regular coffee (which I always get 1/3 coffee to 2/3 water).
I like how even though it's a starbucks they're talking about they're showing them grind, pack, and pull espresso even though their machines do all the work for them.
1. the reporter tries to be funny but FAILS
2. Starbucks coffee is awful. The beans are burnt during roasting so the coffee is acidic, bitter, and lacking any coffee-like flavor.
3. the Starbucks near my office messes up one of my co-worker's orders EVERY FREAKIN' MORNING; so don't try to tell me that you baristas know what your customers want,
4. Otherwise, yeah, that was pretty funny; and people don't need to treat service providers like trash.
Opinions and azzholes – everyone's got one.
Starbucks' coffee is roasted extra strong to accommodate the myriad creams, flavored syrups, sweeteners and other fluff some people like to put add to offset the strong roasted taste. It's a maddening, convoluted loop of reasoning that is making Starbucks more $$$ than you or I have combined. So they must be doing something right. As to how many mistakes they make, check your own wrists for holes, Messiah, before you start casting stones.
I have to admit admiring Starbucks. At great expense they do the right thing and provide health insurance for their employes. Compare that with other chains. Problem is their coffee is not good. Americans have come to associate dark roasted coffee with quality. Peets makes very good dark roasted coffees. Starbucks simply roasts their mediocre coffee darker than most. Americans who think they are supposed to like dark roasted coffee drink it and like you have said, put however much cream, sugar, etc. in to make it potable.
Starbucks can not make a good espresso. The best place I found for this is any nice Italian restaurant. They don't make a very good cup 'o joe either but there are so many places now with good coffee I don't see why people suffer with Starbucks. If you want a foo foo coffee drink laden with fat and sugar than Starbucks is your place.
I agree with Al about Starbucks and espressi. Starbucks has yet to serve an espresso doppio this fan of Italian coffee can believe in. They don't even provide lemon slices! WTF?
OK...so a guy gets a job in a Starbucks as a barista. He goes through training on how to make a cup and reads all the manuals on "service" and customer relations...because lets face it – without us (the customers) to buy the coffee he makes Starbucks would not stay in business. So, as it turns out – he doesn't like his job (who does) and takes many shortcuts when he makes a cup (we've all experienced the MANY shortcuts)...and the result is...unhappy cranky customers!
SO guess what barista...YOU made us cranky! And we still had to pay for the coffee.
AND BTW – stand in line long enough and you will hear the baristas and managers dissing the customers!
So THIS barista gets fired for singing about what they all do....sigh!
It's ok, all these people who claiming you don't understand why this is funny are also the folks that are OK with class warfare. It's a sign of the times...
unless you've worked in the food industry (and particularly for Starbucks) you'll probably be offended by this. If you have been a barista in a previous time, you're probably laughing like me.
Never worked in the food service industry. Still freakin' funny. People need to stop taking themselves so seriously when getting a cup of coffee. I've seen people make a barista remake a drink 5 or 6 times because it did not taste exactly right. It was an extremely convoluted order to begin with.
As iF.......Agree with you completely. I have worked food service, now i'm a nurse. The similarities are staggering. Thanks for putting in your time on the consumer front lines. In my op. Starbucks should not have fired this guy, he's just stating the obvious, and poking fun at it. EVERYONE knows some Starbucks customers are a giant pain in the Mermaid. Watching and listening to them is havlf the fun of standing in line !
Where is the friigin' story, or the video? All I see on my iPad is the comments, which have made for an amusing ride home on my commuter bus. Well-written American English discourse really IS a dying art, isn't it?
iPads are to Apple Lemmings what a Grande Frappacino with extra whip is to a St. Arbucks customer: A lousy product sold at a premium price to a sucker.
unless anyone who has commented has worked for a starbucks, you really don't know what it's like to be a starbucks barista. if you ask other starbucks baristas for their take on the song, they find it funny because he's being honest. it doesn't take a psychiatrist to figure out people are going to get angry if you are rude, disrespectful, and demanding. while most baristas suck it up and just take it, and i give them exactly what they want with a good stank eye, others pay customers back in their own ways. Customers wouldn't have a problem if they were NICE and respectful.
@NOTtheTruth – you make a ridiculous analogy to a doctor. FIrst of all, I'm not sure if you have ever visited the Emergency Room near the NYC area, but the medical care is not the best. Doctors are notoriously known FOR BEING a*******, in and out of the hospital. Also people SEEK doctors because they NEED THEIR HELP. They need the services of a doctor usually to survive or lessen pain of some sort. People usually aren't rude to others who are trying to help them. Someone going to a doctor is completely different from someone going to get their morning caffiene fix or sugar kick. Oh, and aside from having "ethics" and "taking pride in doing the job properly," I'm pretty sure this doctor is also trying to avoid a MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT.
People are all the same. If you want to be treated well and with respect, do the same for others whether it is your local coffee maker or your doctor.
Very well put. Unfortunately, the idiots ah I mean customers don't and wont care. Rude people are everywhere and they are rude to everyone. My motto is treat people the same way I get treated. What comes around goes around. Try it, it really works on those idiots.
Starbucks is garbage, coffee is a lousy drink, and this guy is a pole smoker. Hopefully, the attention will cause more problems for Starbucks and also push this guy to the edge so he'll drink a bunch of rat poison and go away.
Its absolute hell going into starbucks anymore because of the pretentious mainstream wankers in there with their ridiculous orders. The employees are so wired up on their own supply they just freak me out. You know what else is going on in the mind of these coffee connoisseurs? absolutely nothing. amazes me that they have time to think of such things.
Everyone has complaints about their job ... Hell, I complain about the people in front of me at Starbucks ... btw ... I am the white lady ordering the skinny latte with a shot of espresso ... so get out of my way because if I get decaf ... I will run you over in the parking lot! :-P
Your comment represents the sick, twisted, out-of-control sense of ent!tlement that is running this country into the ground. What the fok makes you think your agenda is more important than anyone else's? Did your mommy tell you that you're special? Well you are – just like everyone else. Don't be surprised when you suddenly feel an elbow at your throat next time you moan about having to wait in line. Shut up and wait your turn – just like everyone else.
Please- they make the drinks right in front of you. I'm pretty confident that there is not an epidemic of disgruntled employees messing with drinks.
Funny or not, true or not, It is bad form to publicly insult the customers from whom you make a living and he deserved the firing. If you find filling coffee orders to be so distasteful, get a different job. Good riddance. I am sure there are many people who will be happy to fill his slot & be grateful to have a job.
What the heck! The name says it all anyway. Star = astranomical Bucks = $$$
Astranomical amount of $$$ for a cup of coffee.
Who's joke was the name in the first place?
LMOA...I want to hear both of his songs in full!! The kid is witty, funny and bright and Starbucks needs to lighten up. I shop at Starbucks and I think it was funny...but then again, I don't have a problem laughing at myself. The only people who are uptight about this video are those who lack a sense of humor, who think too highly of themselves and those who are pretentious enough not to notice their own character flaws! The guys was ingenious. The guy was funny. Now everyone, lighten up about your silly selves and have some fun in your life!
Satire is being removed from our society by the gruesome social abomination that is Political Correctness. Another knife in the heart of freedom of speech.
There's an old saying. "With rights come responsibilites". Yes, this young man had the right to write this silly little ditty and post it online. He should also accept the consequences of doing so. If you work in the service industry and post negative comments about the people you serve, there's a very good chance you will get fired.
No! It's because any company in the service industry depends on courteous and respectful employees. If you upset your client base, you lose customers, you lose money. I've worked in the service industry my whole life and if one does not vent, they are likely to explode from the bottled pressure. However, making those grievances public and visible to both your company and the company's client base, then you are liable to be fired for it. On another note- it was funny!
Too bad that that is EXACTLY how every barista who hasnt drank the kool-aid thinks about their job. 90% of the public are total idiots and assholes. its the 10% that make the job worth it.
People who rave over Starbucks are pretentious dolts. This was a joke, the people that go there and spend that much money for coffee are idiots. This dude is a hero, yes. Truth hurts sometimes, people. If you pay 4-5 bucks for a cup of joe, you need to be made fun of, seriously.
1: if people like the product at starbucks over most any other coffee shop, then yes, they are idiots
2: if people are willing to spend the amount of money they spend on starbucks coffee, then yes, they are idiots
just because people have a right to be idiots doesn't mean they aren't idiots.
If I'm paying $3-$4 for a cup of coffee, yeah, I want it like I ordered it. So he's just an immature kid who can't handle working with the public. I can't believe people think he's a hero.
You're right: he's an immature kid who doesn't deal well with the public. I hope he finds his dream career some day. The hero-worship part comes from him having the cojones to actually do something like this. The people calling him a hero wish that they did, too.
He is my hero. Starbucks wasted a really good opportunity. They should have 'embraced and co-opted' the kid for publicity. They should be laughing WITH US, not getting all huffy like a bunch of old prudes.
I hope nothing but GOOD things for this young man. I thought his video was very funny & he is very talented!! If you have never worked in customer service before then go give it a try!! Then, you will know how he feels. People are so rude!
Worse. I have been in management meetings where.. literally... the managers would explain how they were treated by a clerk that day as some revealing example. Never did they think they make $150k per year while the person they complain about is minimum rage...I mean wage.
hahaha!!!! Hilarious. And all the piss pants that are upset about the lyrics....well, you know he's soooooo right. Get over your trendy ways of getting a cup of coffee. Make a cup at home and you won't be so grumpy. Ever heard of the 'LATTE Factor"? research it. You spend too much money to condescend on people about screwing up your coffee or the lines being too long. Maybe the white lady and latino lines in the song were a little off....but the spoiled brats....you know who your are. PS. I never saw a Starbucks logo. just a green apron. I have one and i have never worked at starbucks. get a life you gripers and go share your complaints at the water cooler. KUDOS to this guy :))))
As a business owner, I feel I should weigh in. I loved the song. And yes, some of the customers at starbucks can be waaaaaay more than rude. The customer isn't always right. In fact, they are frequently wrong.
That aside, the song was funny. I would have had to fire him for the latino comment. Make fun of the obsessively picky all you want. Venting is healthy. Whoever said keeping those frustrations to oneself should seek help. At least he found a healthy outlet for his stress. Unlike many who turn to prescription drugs, or alcahol. I could name names but that would be catty. You already know who you are.
come ON! if he offended in the store a particular Latino....fire him. At home (even in company context) he is allowed to poke fun at a group if he wants. it was NOT mean-spirited...it was in jest and in fun. you as a biz owner can more easily explain that to people because it is human. you can also point out he was a young worker and he cares. he will learn and rise. you and all your judging types could handle it logically like that.
I think that if the CEO of Starbucks can make new media comments so should there workers with out any trouble. Why does the CEO of Starbucks still have a job?
I think the latte-driven folks who might take offense at this need to lighten up a little and laugh at themselves. There are more righteous causes you can channel all that bristling energy into than a cheeky young man singing about your quirks. I think someone who has worked in food service, or any service job where you have to please people who can be picky and rude, would get where he's coming from. If the shoe fits ....well, you know. I found this very funny, having worked in coffee shops before. But I agree, making this video while still employed at Starbucks wasn't the wisest thing to do. But I give him a thumbs up!
I think he may have a free speech case.... it's obviously satire and he did it on his own time.... would have been different if he filmed it in the store :P yeah perhaps not to bright, but who here hasn't had a bad day at work and complained to others/friends when you get off work?
Free speech? Has has that, he can publically say what he wants, but no employer is required to tolerate what he's saying. At will employment has nothing to do with free speech. Employers are under no obligation to retain an employee that says something they disagree with. Simple fact.
Kid...you must be a kid... free speech is a right. And others have the right to not do business with you for your speech. Free speech relates to the citizen/government relation. It does not apply otherwise. Read up on it before you get in trouble.
Actually, the commentator might not be a kid, it's surprising how many adults think that they can say whatever they want to an employer and not get fired because of their Constitutional right to free speech, including cussing them out. In America, you can say whatever you want, but you do not have a protected right to your job while you are saying it. So, if you want to maintain your job, careful what you say about your boss or to your boss...at will employment means that an employer does not even need a reason to terminate you, it just can't be because of certain very slim protections...
His "Venti" mistake was wearing the apron and associating himself with the company. The video going viral was just the icing on the cake, or in this case, the foam on the latte.
I think he was funny & singing straight from the heart...too bad he was dumb enough to post it. he sure makes an interesting employee, I'd hire him to work around here. I'm sure he will be smarter next time & quit before he posts. Good Luck Chris
Kid working at Starbucks makes a video and Starbucks fires him for it.
Kid didn't care about his job and Starbucks will replace him in, at most, a day.
Kid will have another job making the same or more money and may score some bucks from his 15 minutes of internet fame.
Employees do things their employers don't like and get fired as a result – not really much to think about.
i've known many baristas who have spit in drinks. What most do is give rude customers decaf instead of regular or non-fat instead of 2%. Starbucks does not realize it's not this guy they should worry about. It is allowing their employees to be treated how they are treated daily and all the unseen things that get done to drinks because of it. the general public is forgetting one very important rule; NEVER MESS WITH SOMEONE WHO IS MAKING YOUR DRINKS (FOOD.)
I can promise you, if you are someone who can justify how you think of behave by trying to complain about the price; make it at home. If you do not realize they are messing with your drinks then you are an idiot.
@thetruth – You are wrong, and you obviously need to try to associated with a higher caliber of people. If someone goes to the hospital with a broken arm, and is an a**hole to the doctor, does he set their bone 'a little wrong' or give them substandard service? No, because he/she has ethics and takes pride in doing the job properly.
In all my years of owning and working in restaurants, I have NEVER seen or heard of anyone doing ANYTHING disgusting to ANYONES food. It is insulting to restaurant workers everywhere to have this myth perpetuated by simpletons like you.
As for the unemployed barista . . . clever video, cute boy, bad move. I hope he uses his 15 minutes of fame to reach high and improve his life. If he wasn't a well-spoken white kid, he could have rhymed Latino with frapuccino without anyone even noticing, which is a sad commentary all by itself.
In a way.. "the truth" is right.. I've been in the restaurant business for YEARS ( i love it. but it's not for everyone. and i am NOT one of these people that I am about to talk about..) and I've gone through my fair share of restaurants.. It varies from place to place how people handle your food. If you were to eat at a Pizza Hut or Applebee's (or anything similar to the two) then you will probably be eating food that was dropped on the floor or mishandled in one way or another. Spitting in drinks and food is a rarity these days, but it DOES HAPPEN.. [the movie Waiting is a prime example. it's a bit exaggerated in some areas, but the main jist is "DONT MESS WITH PEOPLE WHO HANDLE YOUR FOOD!!!!] To assume that every item of food is handled the way you would handle it in your own kitchen is naive. In a fast paced restaurant, cooks don't have time to care for your food the way that they should. Food gets dropped, picked back up, and put back on the plate. If a customer pisses you off, and your kitchen manager isn't there and there are no cameras in the kitchen (more restaurants are installing cameras in kitchens) then it's a safe bet that a vindictive server will mess with your food in one way or another. The best way to avoid your food being messed with is to just be polite to your server. They don't get paid $2.35/hr to deal with snotty pricks who can't even afford a 20% tip. If you can't afford to tip your server, then you have no business going out to eat at all. It's not that difficult to be polite and appreciative of the service you receive. If you are going to be rude to a server who has no control over how your meal is cooked, then I believe it is your own fault for having your food messed with. WE DONT COOK YOUR FOOD. DONT TAKE IT OUT ON US FOR A MISTAKE THE KITCHEN MADE! The more rude and demanding you become, the more likely your food will be tainted.
Julie, you realize that the correct step is for the workers to tell the managers to tell the customers to stop?
If somebody is caught red handed, you bet that a YouTube confessional video will appear, with the employees being forced to confess to everything they do
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Reading through these comments, it's amazing how many people are suffering from Stick up the Rear Syndrome. You're shouting "HE DESERVED TO BE FIRED" as if it's some grand, earth-shattering revelation, when even the kid who wrote the song recognizes that he deserved it.
Get over it and learn to laugh. Of all the offensive things in the world worth getting one's panties in a twist over, I think a guy singing about sucky customers is pretty low on the list.
I have been a waitress and a barista and let me tell you customers can be great but they can also be complete jerk-offs. This kid would not be the first one to come up with a rant about sucky customers. Maybe some people should listen to what he is complaining about and realize THEY ARE that sucky customer. The sucky customer comes in and thinks they can treat you however they want, like a dog, and servers are people who often times have limited resources to provide you with what you are requesting. To those sucky customers...SCREW YOU and get over yourself. You are not as important as you think you are.
Its coffee, it takes a minute to make you lazy fat people!!
Jeez, REALLY?!?!?! I found it to be funny! AND THIS IS SO SERIOUS THAT IT'S NEWS????? WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE THESE DAYS!!!! CAN'T TAKE A JOKE???? Wow, loosen up your underwear, lighten up Francis.......I can't believe this is news when there are a hell of a lot worse things in the world that are a hell of a lot more serious than this.....poor use of grammer on my part.....but, really?!?!?!
Gosh, can people take a joke anymore?
I wouldn't have posted the video had I wanted to keep my job. But, if this actually did anything to significantly damage Starbucks's reputation in the eyes of the people who like their service/company, then I'd be surprised.
... why so serious?
I agree with you. Why take it so seriously? And why fire him? We know we are exactly the way he described us. Even the customers laugh at other customer orders. Being PC taken a bit too far on this one.
Star brecks makes me want to vomit.
agreed!
$tarphuck$? Feh! I make my own coffee, and it's perfect every time. Thank you.
Hilarious! I would have promoted the guy to manager and held him accountable for the very things he sang about doing before firing him though.
Glad he got fired. I am a patron of Starbucks and I often find myself sitting for long amounts of time in the drive thru line only to get to the front where they end up giving me a drink that is not mine or incorrectly made. I cannot count the number of times I've ordered something very simple (which is what I order 90% of the time) – Venti Americano with extra half and half. Not a hard order. It's a $3.35 drink for a few shots of coffee and water. One would think this would be an easy order to get right. It's not like I'm ordering 10 drinks or food to go along with it, just the Americano straight up. Well half the time they get it wrong. Not too long ago I was waiting for 20 minutes in line through the drive through. I get to the front they looked frantic, handed me a drink and said it was free. As I pulled away thinking "wtf kind of service is that".....I take a sip only to sip on some nasty chai tea stuff – So not only did I waste 20 minutes in line, I didn't even get "my free drink"! This happens all the time. What's really annoying is their "tip box"....as if I'm going to tip you for pushing a button and adding milk to my coffee. They aren't servicing me, I'm paying for that drink, it's their job to make the drink, take my cash and hand me my coffee. I sent an email 10 years ago to Starbucks Headquarters over that ridiculous tip box. This twerp shouldn't be working in the service industry. Afterall he is a self entitled brat who thinks he can fix our order his way and we should be "ok" with it eventhough we are still required to pay the designer price for what we order. As Tom would say "GIVE ME A BREAK!"
You're an idiot, make you're own drink you cheap fogey
@Pigeon, well said!
Did you complain to management? That would be person who can actually do something about it. Or do you just enjoy ranting powerlessly on blogs? If you are continuing to frequent that store without talking to a supervisor and they keep treating you like this, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Seriously. Waaaah.
That rant was so long it totally qualified for whitewhine. c o m
@Paul....LOL!!!
http://whitewhine.com/
I never get my order mixed up, coffee straight up, black no sugar, no cream. Besides, how lazy are you to go through drive through? For crying out loud, park and walk inside. Then you can see it right away if its wrong or not.
WIN!
You sat in the drive thru for 20 mins? Go inside you fat phuck and make sure they get your order right. Lazy jerk.
Hahaha! I was thinking the same thing.
once you're in the drive thru... some drive thru's dont allow the option to pull out before its too late
You sound old and bitter. And stop polluting the earth by idling in your crappy car for 20 Mins. Go inside lazy jerk.
oh BOOHOO!!!! GO COMPLAIN TO SOMEONE THAT CARES!!!!! WAITING 20 MINUTES IN LINE?!?!?! I'm surprised you didn't bitch about them wasting your gas.......LAZY ASS IS YOUR NEW NAME! OR BETTER YET.....DRIVE TO THE MARKET, PARK YOUR CAR.....MAKE SURE TO LOCK IT UP......W-A-L-K TO THE ENTRANCE......FIND YOUR WAY TO THE COFFE ISLE (IF YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS).....PURCHASE COFFEE. W-A-L-K BACK TO YOUR CAR, GET IN, DRIVE HOME.......AND......WAIT......BREW YOUR OWN COFFE!!!!! THAT WAY WE DON'T HAVE TO HEAR YOU CRY ABOUT YOUR ORDER BEING WRONG! WOW, THERE'S AN IDEA!.......
work in the service business and you'll understand, and why would someone be happy a man lost his job over 1 mistake. no one was harmed. i mean other than the overly sensitive, but grow a pair dude. if you mad 1 mistake and work and got canned, how would you feel about it.
It's pretty ironic that you posted that rant, and then referred to HIM as a self-entitled brat.
Cool story bro.
i agree with you completely...i always come across some sort of "twilight emo ass" making my coffee trying to intimidate me with their "whatever" attitude...an americano is not complicated to make or get right...anyone here who puts down you...or starbucks has never enjoyed one of their drinks...not since my trip to italy have i ever had coffee that good :)
Wow. Did you know there are actually things wrong with the world that matter? Our local Starbucks teams are awesome: Mistakes are rare and they are always nice. If one of them did this video I would laugh and fight for them to retain their job.
First of all, have you ever complained to anyone there about it? Second of all, WHY ARE YOU STILL GOING TO THAT LOCATION? Starbucks is ubiquitous; there's most likely another branch in your area. The Starbucks I go to has never messed up my drink, no matter how long the line is, and if they had messed it up as many times as your Starbucks apparently has, I'd go to one of the other THREE BRANCHES in my town. I've done that with other chain stores. For example, there are two Dunkin Donuts near my office; one messes up orders on a regular basis, while the other doesn't. Guess which one I go to? Oh, as for the tip jar, how do you make a caramel machiatto? How do you make a green tea Frappucino? How would you handle 20 cups lined up next to you, each requiring a different type of milk, and each involving at least 3 steps to make? What's the best way to make all 20 of those drinks as quickly as possible? Which step would you take first? No, it's not "rocket science," but it's not as mindless or as easy as you'd like to believe.
Somebody's on the rag today.
How rude! Your sense of entitlement is astronomical!!! A bartender is the same as a barista! They make your drink, yes you pay for it, but it is a service in which you give a gratuity to show appreciation!! A barista does more than push a button you repugnant fool!! It is a process and requires timing, measurements, and precision! That tip jar is a part of their wage! Wow, Chris, I would really hate to have an arrogant, cheap customer such as yourself! Your drink being screwed up is karma. Life doesn't owe you anything. Being an understanding, pay-it-forward individual gets you special treatment. Being a person who expects things, will leave you bitter and with that chai crap. Consider it them returning your heinous courtesy, LOSER!
Man, I just CAN'T BELIEVE that this whiny little twerp has managed to get people all riled up and start a discussion about socialism and brought out the Occupods! I do agree with the people who say that service people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, but THAT'S JUST COMMON COURTESY! If this little idjit doesn't like putting up with that type of individual from time to time, then he needs toget a different job, NOT go on the www and cry to Mommy about it.
The www is where people go to 'cry to mommy' as well as post comedy songs. It doesn't seem like he did anything out of the ordinary in that regard. I'm also amazed at all the people who cry about other people crying. Seems like the best thing to do is mind your own business.
Thank you. You hit the nail on the head. I'm getting awful tired of people who just can't help minding other people's business. If they think it's "crying" all they have to do is scroll down and click on another link. No law says they have to watch the video or read the article. Oh, and one more thing for those folks: It's none of your damn business where someone lives or who they live with.
What? It's a silly song he made to blow off steam. I guess you never vent to your friends or family about things that happen in your day or at your job that tick you off, eh? Everything is rosy and wonderful and nothing ever goes wrong?
In any case, I don't get why people like you are calling him "whiny." He took responsibility for his actions! He says he completely understood why they had to fire him and isn't upset with them at all! What's the big effin deal?
So, people work for a coffee empire that bases it bottom line on frilly "extras" and then get your barista aprons in a bunch because then you need to actually attempt to give the sometimes ridiculous customers exactly what they paid for? It's like working at Subway and getting riled up over someone who wants a little bit of lettuce and a pile of pickles with turkey on wheat.
(PS: I thought the video was mildly funny, and I am a SB customer.)
Amen. Could not have stated it better. This "us against the customer" attitude is all too common. I see it in my industry also and try to squash it whenever I can. Problem is...the attitude is everywhere. We used to use say things like "the customer is always right". Of course the customer isn't but that kind of attitude putting the customer on a pedistal made those years almost magical. Now the attitude toward the customer is very different.
When I look at this video, I don't see a "hero of the industry". I see an idiot who got what he deserved in that he was fired.
Curt, I was at a KFC about 2.5 hours ago and walked in just at the time a man already there was literally threatening one of the staff members, saying he would take him down and kick his ass. I would have left except that one of the other staff members addressed me very quickly to ask what I wanted. The previous customer was so out of line that I myself felt threatened and unsafe. This kind of behavior is simply not acceptable whether you are a worker or a customer. Yes, workers in service industries should treat customers well, but customers should act in a civilized manner too.
Usually it's not about what a customer asks for; it's about how s/he treats the person s/he's asking. How would you feel if someone came up to you every day and made it point to treat you like an insect?
DUDE !!!!
Go into standup comedy singing silly songs like this about all kinds of stuff out there. Use this moment as a launching point to start out. YOU will get bookings because of this press, at least at first.
Do it !
I recently ordered a large decaf at Dunkin Donuts. There wasnt enough decaf in the pot so the server filled it to the top with water...I took 2 sips and returned it, remarking that it "doesnt taste quite right – is this the decaf? Can I get another one EVEN IF I HAVE TO WAIT?"
I can relate to the mean customer comment the Barista referred to. I worked for Starbucks years ago. I will never forget the woman that came in each morning for her custom drink. If meanness was a crime, she'd be in prison for life. And this was in Hawaii!! I'll never understand how one of the most beautiful,n easy going places in the world could possibly be home to the world's most miserable and mean person.
I work for Starbucks. I did like the song and thought some of what he said was funny and fairly accurate. The baristas are more than happy, at least at my store, to make the drink the way you want them to make it. However the key is that you have to tell us how you want it made. We aren't gong to guess or ask tons of questions when we have a line out the door. We will just make it the standard way. But as long as you are polite you will get great service.
And with some people complaining about giving them decaf instead of regular, I will say that if customers are overly rude to one the baristas on the shift, the person making drinks on the bar might accidentally hit the decaf button. It's not necessarily the right thing to do, but most people have been guilty of doing it at least once and not often.
Most of the customers who are come in are good people. But every once in a while you get that one mean one and it can ruin your entire day. Please don't speak down to me, I am not an idiot. I am actually working on my second Master's Degree and needed insurance and income so I'm at Starbucks for that reason.
And yes I've been guilty of topping a coffee with decaf if I only have enough regular to go halfway or 3/4 full. But there is caffeine in decaf, so it's not as bad as it seems. I thought it was better than having them wait the 5 minutes it takes to brew a batch of coffee.
Topping off a caffeinated beverage with decaf so the customer doesn't have to wait is much more acceptable than the other way around (I'd prefer you ask me first, but this isn't about me). Some people have a medical need to avoid caffeine and it would be cruel, and potentially lawsuit worthy, to top off their decaf with "leaded" coffee.
FWIW, I tend to lean towards your way of thinking when it comes how to treat people in the service industry.
Asking the customer whether or not they would like to wait is probably the best solution. However, decaf has caffeine in it. If you are allergic or may experience illness from ingesting caffeine, then do not drink coffee, whether caffeinated or "decaf." Switch to smoothies with a lot of B vitamins or something.
Response to Peace Lover:
Just so you know–Some people request caffeine/decaf due to allergic reactions. Therefore, it is best to let the customer make the choice whether or not it is ok to top off a cup with the opposite of what they request instead of assuming that it is perfectly fine. Better to ask than cause someone to become sick. Speaking from experience, it can make a difference.
Are people allergic to decaf?? ummm... never heard of this. How can someone be allergic to one and not the other? They are basicly the same... plus or minus the caffine
It's not an "allergy" to caffeine, per say. It's more of an "intolerance." I have it, unfortunately. If I have too much caffeine (as in, an entire cup of regular coffee), my heart races and I get light headed; the room swims and I feel incredibly ill. I can have some (Lattes and Cappuccinos are usually ok), but if I order decaf and get regular, it doesn't end well. If I order decaf, please give me decaf. The bottom line is, you should get what you pay for. It's not up to the Barista to decide if a "caffeine intolerance" is real or not. And yes, I've dealt with people who don't know their own allergies. I make sure to know mine. (My favorite is the people who would order saying they are lactose intolerant and get mad when there's mayo on their sandwich.... Mayo has no dairy.... )
I work in the service industry, so I feel his pain. But you can't diss your customers and expect not to get fired. Yes, some are irrational, but that's the industry you work in. Whine to your friends, make fun of them behind their backs, but don't do it in a public forum. Duh.
Chances are you would have been fired from a customer service position at my company with this perspective on things.
Working on your second masters degree and making somewhat poor choices about product quality. You plan to start on a third masters next.?
Sorry for the sarcasme. But businesses are about customer service, and if the customers are buggy to you, maybe this is not a job for you, if you don't feel you have the ability to fill the order correctly, then you are damaging the company standing with the customers and as a extension of this, you are damaging the companies ability to pay you, and provide the health insurance you want to have. Im sorry if you feel entitled to F with the customers orders.. Grow up.
There is, from my view as a person in the retail/service industry, an overwhelming opinion by the general customer public, that somehow you, the service person, are beneath the person you are helping in a shop. There is a general, unfair opinion that somehow you are at the bottom of the food chain for working in the service industry. When that stops, and the general customers begin to see us as human beings and equals, folks like this dude won't have to make silly videos about it anymore.
That is the now ever-present sense of ent!tlement that has been growing like a cancer over the last 30 years. Some people need to look outside their protective little bubbles and realize how other people live & work. Until that happens, try to be the bigger person and rise above such small-minded people.
I love starbucks and I hope they never give me decaf, but I did find that this was a way for him to get his day's stresses out but to post them on the internet was stupid. His boss had every right to fire him, for their company's name. But still thought the video was quite on target for working in any fast food or place like starbucks you get treated like junk half the time and unappreciated so I am with ya dude.
Guilty, so guilty :) I do like my coffee just so – but I try never to treat the people making it like slightly retarded serfs, I get that dealing with a bunch of customers, especially on a busy day, is hell, but yeah, I expect my grande latte with an extra shot and caramel sauce (not syrup) to taste awesome, and most of the time, it does! I thought the video was funny enough – most of the humor for me was that it did hit a little close to home. The kid doesn't seem incredibly indignant that he was fired, either – I don't see him taking shots at the company, so he's not really a tool. Impulsive, maybe. But really, the stakes don't seem to have been that high for him – this was, frankly, a job he could afford to lose, and it's not as though he seems high-handed about any of it. He seems like an alright kid.
Of course he was fired! Everyone knows you can't bad mouth the one paying you and keep your job. BUT is was only a fast food job so who cares!
Mike if you are paying $19 for 2 coffees and 2 chocolate chip cookies, you are a liar. Black coffee comes in at $2.50 tops and same for the cookie. So...maybe $10. Now if you are adding all kinds of crap to your drink (extra espresso, flavor shots, syrup, soy milk) then you are just being too damn picky and deserve how ever much they can make you up. As a barista I would hope you would find somewhere else to bring your entitled [self] for a drink.
You people have toooo much time on your hands!
Y can't he talk like that? Where is his freedom of speech? Its a song not a sworn statement
Basic knowledge of the constitution will show you that it only applies to the government. A business doesn't have to allow "freedom of speech." I see this sort of comment on cnn.com every day and I'm a bit concerned about the education system.
Civics ed. in this country is pathetic.
hi yadayada
Funny video overall. But looking for fame at the expense of an employer is worthy of a dirt nap. If I was your manager I would take you out behind the woodshed like old times and whip you til you were straight again. I've worked for some shit companies but you bite the bullet and you push through. I worked in the worst types of environments for the biggest assholes you can imagine but I smiled, bit my tongue, and now I have a great position. Work through your problems, because if you don't. You'll end up like this jobless tool.
"Work through your problems ..."
You are so right. That is how it works. This kid and his video are perfect examples of the overwhelmingly misplaced sense of ent!tlement that has taken over this country. I too have worked for some sh!t companies, but they paid the bills and that's why I chose to stay (when I had a choice). This kid either has a trust fund or has some serious life-learning yet to do.
As a business owner, we reserve the right to deny services to obnoxious and rude customers. There are customers out there, who don't deserve the kind of service you guys espouse. If you have a bad customer, tell your manager, and escort that customer out of the store. There is a limit to everything.
Fact is he should have worn a mask! You know something green or something like that. I'd fire him just because he is an idiot!
You do realize that you're complaining about entitlement and then espousing it in the same breath, right?
Expecting an employee to smile, keep their head down and just play their part is by definition fueled by a sense of entitlement. Sure, you may be paying them to meet certain expectations, but are those expectations reasonable for what you're paying them? In a place like Starbucks where they're probably making minimum wage I wouldn't bet on it.
If as a manager you came at me like that behind the woodshed I'd go for your throat. No entitlement there, just self defense. Thinking otherwise is that entitlement you can't seem to decide if you're for or against.
Paying an employee bare minimum, treating them like an unwanted stepchild and expecting them to be a shining example of corporate loyalty despite it all, that right there is an overinflated sense of entitlement, friend. There's no guarantee of reward for it, either.
Comparing a service industry employee to doctors is just silly. You ever heard of a doctor living on ramen noodles because their pay was barely enough to cover rent and utilities? Do hospitals tend to treat their doctors like wild, salivating hyena children who might set the whole damned place on fire and run off with the manager's daughter for frenzied, carnal who knows what if you turn your back on them for half a second? For a lot of these places, that's the default attitude towards employees.
This kid? I don't see the entitlement you're talking about. He's not railing on about that as if some injustice has been dumped on him. He's not asking anyone to feel sorry for him and I certainly don't. He got fired and he seems to accept that. You gotta expect that to happen if your bosses catch wind of a video like the one he made.
Doctors MOST CERTAINLY DO live off nothing and eat cheap noodles for many years till they get to their 30s and actually start to make income.... till then its a very very very poor living while getting educated.
1. Speaking from experience, doctors I've know lived through residency on Ramen, Bettie Crocker Icing and handouts from friends like myself. Now working in the real world but with 2 kids and $400,000 of combined school debt, two married doc friends I know still watch every dime. They drive Hyundai's, eat soup for dinner and wear the same clothes for 5 years.
2. You mention, twice in different ways, how Starbucks employees are 'probably paid minimum wage', and then 'paying an employee the minimum'. What, did you just crawl out from under a rock?? Starbucks has been known for years to be the closest thing to a fast-food joint with full benefits. Their employees aren't on HMO's with 6 figure salaries, but they have significant more benefits and better than minimum wage, particularly if they stay a while.
3. Take them out to the woodshed..."I'd go for your throat". Relax. It's an expression. I'm not much a fan of violence, and I truly doubt ADvocate is either. But people used to do that in the old days. They also used to strap kids in school. And there are still people alive today who remember both of those times. Not saying it will or should happen, but you're reaction is just ridiculous. If I told you all people with the name 'Snow' in their name should be put in jail, would you take that literally too and go for my throat?
Assumptions, assumptions. They'll get you every time.
Maybe he's related to the flight attendant who jumped off the airplane last year. Funny though. I understand how he feels, but you can't go posting stuff like this on the internet.
What about the dope in the Lambourghini who drove 170MPH through some city street and posted that on you-know-who-tube....and then got a couple of tickets because police tracked him down through the video?
You are the tool. Guess you figure everyone ought to be on their knees, ready to take it any way an employer wants to give it. Wrap it up in a threat of violence to salve your own impotent rage. Whatever. people like you are what's wrong with this country. A pathetic subjugated little drib of perambulatory Id.
Disregard that last comment. I just realized how much of a tool I am. Excuse me while I go and try to find something meaningful to do with my life.
I'm a little confused as to why the term "tool" is being used here at all. By whom is he being used?
meh, I don't feel pity for him. "Free speech" is never covered in an employee contract; you can't mouth off about your company and expect to keep your job. That guy is frankly un-hirable; it could be YOUR company he posts about the next time he has a "bad day". Have fun eating ramen in your parents basement for the next year, you idiot.
He doesn't feel pity for himself, either. He accepts responsibility and understand why they fired him.
I don't understand the people like you who are posting. He's not asking for sympathy; he's not railing against the company for canning him; he's not whining about how unfair it all is. HE ACCEPTS WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AS THE CORRECT COURSE OF ACTION ON THE PART OF STARBUCKS. The only people who don't seem able to get over it are your lot.
But, but, but the CEO of Starbucks is a huge liberal who celebrates the OccupyWallstreeters and wants to hold back campaign money to candidates. How can this be?
I don't understand the relevance of this comment to the original video.
That's because Amy you don't have a sense of humor. It was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark about how hypocritical Starbucks is. I thought it was pretty funny!
If I had ever thought that I needed another reason (I didn't) to stay clear of Starbucks, this would be a good one. The price did it for me. It's mind boggling to me that there are so many willing to pay those ridiculously high prices, and willing to stand in line for the "privilege" of doing so. I wonder, how many of these same people complain about their wages, and the economy.
I payed $19 dollars for 2 coffees and 2 chocolate chip cookies. How can you explain that? It's getting "movie theater eating" expensive!
If an employee getting fired for insulting his company's customers on the internet, making his company affiliation well-known (even before his firing) in the process, is reason for you to boycott a business, you are an imbecile. If you want to gripe about Starbucks, at least stick to their pricing and ripping off their suppliers.
If you decide to insult your company's clients in a public, widely viewed forum without taking any measures whatsoever to hide your identity, you deserve to live in grandma's basement for the remainder of your pathetic life.
He needs to be banished for his entire life? Are you SERIOUS?
People can't make mistakes and both learn from and atone for them? You screw up once, or do something stupid once, and that's it - you need to be kept from society for the rest of your life? He didn't hurt anyone, and he took responsibility for what he did - but you wingnuts act like he assaulted an old woman and laughed about it.
As capitalism reigns supreme you realize NO one cares for any workers beyond mom and pop shops. You are a slave to do as they say, when you want something from them or become needy in any way you are a drain on the system and words come out like we cant afford raises, health insurance, breaks, meals so on and so forth. And I am not surpised the "Occupy Wall Street" thing has happened I predicted it 2 years ago. Have fun rich people, the poor and middle class are coming for your money and we want you to pay taxes and in fact how about we make you pay taxes on all those years you didnt pay taxes and cheated on them.
Class warfare (jealousy) isn't the answer. The only problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money!
Scandinavia's doing pretty well last time I checked
Scandanavians have Prozak for breakfast!
The French Revolution was class warfare. Wanting the rich to pay taxes is not.
you conservative nut jobs throw around these little tired cliches, "class warfare and socialism" and don't even know what it means. what's wrong with wanting a fair tax code or holding corporations that don't play by the rules accountable?
My Gaydar is beeping like crazy everytime you open your mouth.
Class warfare means the unwashed masses have tired of getting shat all over by the uber-rich and have finally risen up. Our economy cannot sustain another era of robber barons.But it's great how paying your fair share equals socialism for the 1% but they don't mind the free socialist ride they've been getting on the backs of the 99%.
Especially Iceland.
Germany is doing fine, as is England. Both have heavily socialist governments. Denmark, Norway, and Finland are also quite well off. The banking capital of the world (Switzerland)? Yep, they're just fine too. While we're on the subject of running out of other people's money, what exactly do you think our federal deficit is? It's money that the federal government borrowed from someone else, whether American or foreigner.
So let me get this straight, when a company or wealthy people declare bankruptcy, it is ok to socialize their loss and give them bailout money that comes from taxes paid by the middle and lower classes. However, when the same corporations and wealthy people are asked to pay their fair share, then socialism is evil?
Isn't it time the 99% start paying THEIR share?
Now let's all go over to the political threads and talk about food.
I once said at a 7/11 in Fort Myers, Lady you are way too nice to work here. I pay good money to get treated like crap and I expect it. She didnt know what to say.
Screw Starbucks! Give me the independent coffee shop, where the real coffee is actually good, where large means large and not "Venti", and a small is small , not "Tall", and when I want a "Frapp" , I'll find a place that serves milkshakes!
Preach it!
It's called freedom of speech and the freedom to be stupid every now and again. Now tell me if there's anyone here who hasn't put their foot in their mouths once or twice (a day)? The guys was just having some fun yet making a point he felt worth sharing. A stern disappointment from his boss was all needed here, not a firing. For all of us (even I feel my chest size a bit larger when I'm paying $5 for a goofy cup of coffee) who take ourselves a little to seriously because we indulge with this luxury item from time to time, perhaps the guy was right? The guy gave an apology and I think he's sincere. Now that's what impresses me.
Ths whiny little brat deserved what he got. FIRED. Had he been MY employee, he'd have been called and fired over the phone.
and I would punch you in the mouth the next time I say you, b itch
vapor?
I figure it like this, I drink my coffee black with 2 sugars, maybe I add cinnamon , maybe I don't but I escape the store with less than 200calories of caffeinated beverage for around 2 dollars. Don't be an idiot when ordering coffee, all the BS is not worth it, and the ONLY reason (having also worked in a coffee shop),I worked to build a casual rapport with my customers, new/old didn't matter, the only reason I really ever saw for getting upset was being rude or is for lack of preparation, get ahead of your volume and you'll be good, be polite and you're even better, learn to deal with a**hole customers when the come in – and you can run the place.
Coffee- when taken black with 2 sugars is 32 calories, not 200. Just sayin.
Well, 32 IS under 200, to be completely punctilious about it. to your health, sirs.
Best part about it: I discovered this video while at Starbucks.
I have worked in food service and retail and have developed an unbiased nearly impossible to sway patience with even the most horribly rude customers. I've even had people have the audacity to say " I came in here flustrated and ready to argue and you've been nothing but polite I'm going to tell you mangaer what a great employee you are" or write a nice letter to cooporate. I've gotten numerous bonus' and always left jobs with my manager crying that I was leaving. I will now confess that those patrons in particular filled me with nothing but contempt. You have no right to treat someone serving you like garbage because you are spending money in that shop! I am polite to you out of respect give me the same curtesy! I have also had horrendous service one of my worst experiences was at Starbucks which by the way pays their employees fairly well considering the work load (which I think is great)! Tips are not reasonable to ask for at starbuck as they are payed an hrly fee not a waitstaff fee. Its a nice curtesy for exceptional service but is absurd to be expected (again I worked in a cafe with a similar set up). Some people custumers and service people alike expect to get soooo much for soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo little. Customer and service people alike need to realize their bad day is not the others problem. Shopping and dinning should be a polite civilized experince by all parties with an even and reasonable exchange of service/goods and payment.
I'd -love- it if Starbucks made a strict no-tipping rule – especially since, as you say, they actually make a real wage, unlike many places where the wage itself is literally "cut", with the expectation that it will be made up for in customer tips. I usually tip at least a dollar for my drink, and it does cut down on my visits. I can't help but feel a twinge of resentment when I tip that much for every drink (and feel expected to do so)... that, and it just adds up!
Tipping is optional, not expected, at Stabucks (and this same ettiquette exists in many wage based industries, like beauty salons for example). The wage at Starbucks is minimum for employees, with the exception of small change raises upon excellent-only 6 months reviews. While baristas no doubt appreciate your tip, they would likely feel humiliated by your superficial intention and rather you keep your dollar to yourself (and buy yourself a cup of coffee with it at your local gas station).
That's just it – it absolutely is expected, both at Starbucks, and at a salon. I'm not sure where sincerity comes into the picture. I always treat employees wherever I go with respect and patience, but yes, a buck added to every $4-$5 coffee gets kind of old, so I just don't go as much. It also gets old paying $15-$20 extra every time I go to the hair dresser – she's good, and like any good hair dresser, her prices already reflect that, quite frankly.
The lady who trims my horses' feet (yes, my farrier is a chick :) comes out in all sorts of weather, deals with horses when they get a little "fussy" (although no sane trimmer will put up with horses that just have no manners, or are downright out of control – too dangerous). I don't tip her, and it's definitely not expected. I pay her for her work (she's not cheap, but I'm happy to pay her asking price, and it's -hard- work that has to be done -right-). I keep paying her because she's good! If only more service exchanges were like that!
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE, if you didn't show you face in this stupid video, you'd still have your crappy job (and a paycheck now) . Just put a punkin in front of the camera, geeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh not so smart are ya?
The whole idea was for him to get fired and have his 15 mins of fame.
Working with the public can be difficult at best. At worst, a customer will take out all their frustrations on you for the most minor of mistakes – because other stuff in their lives are very bad (or they are just an unhappy person and are miserable and intent on spreading their misery) and you get to be the 'whipping boy' – not at all right, or fair – but it is reality. Some customers are a delight and a pleasure to serve – as a former waiter I've experienced both. It takes a really thick skin to withstand some angry, hostile customers – who basically come in looking to pick a fight, or just show that they have 'power' over someone.
Humility. All but lacking in America. Serving the public is always a chore, and the public always leans on the lowest paid workers. Its nothing new. It is the rare worker who can remain friendly and provide good service despite working for the mass of ingrates who buy five dollar coffee.
Seriously, though, if you are a customer and you get good service, TIP! Twenty percent for perfect service, at least. If you can afford five dollar coffee you can afford a dollar tip!
You think you deserve 20% for doing a simple job like handing someone their coffee? Now this is entitlement....
Since when did pouring a cup of coffee deserve a tip? Especially a cup of joe I paid $5 for.
I'm sorry, but I didn't order that stupid little monkey face drawn in my cream, thanks.
I guess the real question is why would someone pay $5.00 for a cup of Joe in the first place.
If you are just buying a cup of coffee it is not $5. For $5 you are paying for a drink that actually requires a little bit of time, skill and effort. On the other hand you are paying a lot for that time and effort and have every right to expect it to be made correctly. If it is not you should certainly request (politely) that it be remade.
Amen to the tipping; tipping in the service industry is not about giving someone money to pour you a coffee; it's considered a part of the wages, and 20 percent is now pretty much considered standard. I think you're right; if you can afford a $5.00 coffee, you can afford the tip is a great sentiment.
not a good video, not a good song, not a good reason to bad mouth you remployer or the customers that provide you with a paycheck. Remember, Chris, you asked THEM for the job, not the other way around. Grow up...
Lighten up .... he paid the price .... and now he has one more thing to add to his nursing home memories. I hope gets 1000's more interesting life experiences.
You are exactly right.
no she is not and nor are you. i bet you are an ent1tlement minded, conservative, i d i o t that thinks only your opinion counts. i wipe my r u m p with your opinion.
i prefer to support the little coffee shops around my neighborhood, I live in CHICAGO so there is a good place called SIP COFFEE HOUSE on Grand and Ogden.. u can order the same stuff, and its so much better..
I agree, supporting the mom & pop shops was the good ol american way... it needs to come back. thats how we will help the real american everyday people, not the huge corporations that own so many other companies...
Just wanted to chime in on my experience working at Starbucks. I graduated college with honors in 2008 and had a great job but after relocating to another state and with the economy in such bad shape, I couldn't find a decent job so I looked at Starbucks. I only worked there for a few months but overall it was a great experience. I made above minimum wage, got tips, and there are so many great bonuses: you get a pound of coffee a week to take home for free! you get benefits if you work only 20 hours a week! You can drink all the product you want while you're working! Perhaps I was lucky in that the store I worked at had great baristas and my manager was fantastic. Our manager really worked hard to ensure we were working the shifts/times of day that we preferred and made sure we always had at least Saturday or Sunday off. There were some customers you loathed to see because they were always going to complain but for the most part, I loved seeing most of the customers and knowing them by name/drink. Overall, it was a great experience–it helped me have insurance and a paycheck at a time when that was hard to come by!
But it is the worst coffee many people have ever had....
Which is totally irrelevent to her post.
Starbucks is a pain in the ass to work for, well not for me since I don't but being the girlfriend of one of the many disgruntled starbucks baristas (or shift lead in his case) its a pain. They really don't care for your own well being. I never get to see him because of the many turn and burns (getting out around 10pm and having to be back at 4:30am) that he has to do. Plus his manager doesn't give two cents that he has school, he had to pull out of his only class since she screwed him over with a bs schedule. Yea I am the pissed off gf that its not cool that you are screwing over my bf, but if Starbucks fired every single one of their baristas that has bitched about customers (seriously people its just coffee) then they would have no one to work for them. I only drink starbucks right now because I get it for free. Any other time, no thanks I'll have some dunkin donuts or even folgers.
You bring up valid issues (congratulations...most here aren't). The turn-and-burn are terrible, and the local District Manager should be all over that. The Starbucks here in North Phoenix...and I fully admit just being general here....have better schedules. I'm not saying they're perfect, but as a shiftworker myself, when I come in at 9PM before a nightshift or 7AM for a day, I always see different people, the way it should be. This sounds like a local manager/district labor issue. Tell your boyfriend to rock the boat a little and go to corporate...
I don't know why there are so many bad managers in the world who rely on ego, pre-sumption, and an idea that if employees are happy, that something must be wrong and in need of shaking-up...they chose the dark side for some reason...
I think being a Starbuck's barista must be an incredibly demanding job. I wouldn't want to do it because of the sheer volume they do. I think they should get paid AT LEAST $10 per hour, maybe $12. Lord knows, they deserve it.
Daniel, my friend, you are one in the few who speak this TRUTH!!! As a barista for many years, and a waitress before that.. I thank you sir. You see the hardships that we go through and you recognize our hard work and patience! Customers are NOT easy to please, especially when they are lined up out of the door 5 minutes after we open. We do our best, and might become frustrated at times.. If a video is an outlet for frustration instead of flipping sh*t on a customer, so be it. At least no one got scalded by steamed milk! :)
Are you kidding me?! I have also worked at a Starbuck as a Shift Leader and let me tell you making coffee drinks getting paid above minimum wage and getting health insurace only working 20hrs a week is a good deal! Its just coffee and yeah some customers are rude, but if you are paying a signifcant sum for something that is mostly water and takes about 3 min to make and are polite you deserve polite service and as an employee you set the tone for the exchange. And while this in no way gives customers them the right to be rude it also dosent warrarnt a company to support out right resentment, because as much as an unreasonable customer can take their money some where else a fed up worker can quit. In my opinion neither of them have a place in the cafe. Ask politely for your drink pay your money recieve said drink correctly made in a reasonable amount of time ( the obvious state of business should be considered) by a polite employee of the establishment. If you think its funny to tease about burning people its time for you to find a new job!
He sounds like a total D-bag
Absolutely nothing wrong with being funny but the derogatory and offenses remarks clearly were over the line and fireable offenses. This is not about freedom of speech, private companies don't have to protect your freedom of speech.
Well,
I am not a SB coffee fan, but I do remember having a dollar coffee sometime back. I think the high prices are for speciality coffees like lattes, frapps etc.
I think McD, Burger King and my office supplies better coffee than SB's
Oh come on it is funny..... and sorry to say true to a degree.... now if he serve lattes in that outfi, bet Starbucks would be booming with business even more...LOL
Oddly enough, Starbucks sells devices that allow you to make superior coffee at home for pennies compared to their overpriced concoctions.
Just get a French Press at any Starbucks store, and make it yourself. No aromatic oils are lost due to paper filters, and your coffee doesn't get run through some exotic machine that contaminates the brew. Goodbye Starbucks and your tobacco-flavored coffee.
I know where this guy is coming from . I worked at Starbucks for 10 years.I worked at company and licensed stores.I have experienced everything that he was singing about.I have even made up my own songs..Every Starbucks is different. Some were a living hellhole concentration camp others were a fantasy land with rainbows and unicorns prancing about.Yes some customers I loathed. Some drinks were vile concoctions that only a truly evil person would come up with (soy green tea latte extra matcha unsweetened 200 degrees no foam ) Making 150 different"Crapp"uccinos a day made me want to jab out my own eyes with a wooden stir stick. But some customers became really good friends outside of work as well.I wanted to quit several times but I stuck it out so I could provide for my son.I finally reached my breaking point with all the backstabbing,playing favorites and no hours so I found another job and got out with what was left of my sanity.Unless you work at a Starbucks or anywhere you don't know how it really is behind closed doors.The Bucks can be a nice place to work if you are working toward something else.I wouldn't want to be a "Lifer"(5 years or more)as I was on my way to becoming.Believe me he is not missing his job and thank all that is Holy I don't miss it either:)
I would have killed myself 2 years into that crappy job. Thank god I went to college.
What does going to college have to do with the job you have? Are you saying that because I have a job that is beneath your purported education level, that I couldn't possibly have gone to college? With the economy the way it is today ... wow. What a worldly, supportive and open-minded perspective you have. KUTGW.
Should have gotten a decent education so you wouldn't stuck hustling a bad product.
OK, seriously, these last few years, education is not insurance against finding it hard to get a job. I didn't finish my dissertation, so I don't have the Ph.D in biology, but that's more education than most folks have, and still I've only found employment that requires way fewer degrees.
If you have a great gig with good benefits, congratulations! But **please** quit hating on people doing what they have to to survive.
To those posters who think anyone who buys coffee at Starbucks is an idiot, well, keep hating...those of us who can afford it don't care what you think. Sure, nobody NEEDS a big house, or a Corvette, or a $5 cup of Starbucks coffee, but if we want it, we can buy it...it's a free country. Those who bash others need to take a look in the mirror, and maybe improve themselves instead of trying to knock others down.
You are an idiot for spending that kind of money on that crap they call coffee. Funny how in a taste test survey StarBuck's came in behind Burger King and McDonald's in taste yet is way more expensive. But drink what you want, it is your money.
The girl at my local Sbucks is hotter than their coffee. And this Friday will be our second date. Totally worth the cost of their coffee to get to know her. Don't you judge me. :D
I agree, just because someone cannot afford Starbuck's doesn't mean they should put down those of us who can.
People with money to waste don't care about the quality of the product. They only buy Starbucks as a status symbol, to show everyone else that "yes, this coffee tastes terrible and is way overpriced, but I'm so wealthy I can afford to get ripped off and not care".
I just have to reply, that I don't think that most of the comments about the price of a starbucks are about who can or cannot AFFORD it. Most of us can lay out $5.00 for pretty much anything. I think you're missing the point; it's about HOW people choose to spend their money and what we think is a good value.
Those who find paying $5.00 for 12 cents worth of coffee and a paper cup a waste probably don't go to starbucks. I know many people, quite wealthy, who are appalled by Starbucks, but who are also appalled by a $6.99 meal at McDonald's, too.
At any rate, I do hate to see those with wealth brag about what they can or cannot spend, or denigrate others who don't make the same choices they do. I was raised though, to believe we all have a responsibility to help others who may be less fortunate than ourselves, and I believe that whether you're buying Starbucks or corvettes, you're in a position to be charitable, in word and deed.
Comment came in at the wrong position; meant it for tampaboy
@Frugal Hausfrau – I agree. In addition, I'd like to say that I used to buy Starbucks coffee fairly frequently. A couple of years ago, I decided that I needed to save more and spend less. Starbucks was the first to go. I received a $15 gift card for it last Christmas and still have about half of that to go. Frugality is definitely a virtue and a virtue that anyone can later regret not having.
I'm sitting here reading all these comments, but have no idea what you all are talking about bc there is NO article!
We are commenting on the video.
Gee cup of Starbucks or a gallon of gas.
For a almost 5 dollar cup of coffee, I expect good service. If I get poor service I won't go back. There are tons of awesome people that work at Starbucks. Some will have a bad attitude no matter where they work.
He's obviously decided that expressing his opinion about her employer is more important than his responsibility to contribute to its continued prosperity.
I would just like to address the money issue, since it seems most believe baristas are treated like the kings of food service in that regard...I worked for quite some time as a SB barista, and we all earned minimum wage. Tips were distributed by averaging out the total amount for the store each week; the share of each barista was calculated by the total hours you worked, and then were taxed on your paycheck as part of your income. The work itself for a barista consists of a multitude of roles to keep the place running like clockwork, since one to three of you are the only ones there for the majority of the time (managers were required to serve at the front once a month, and determined their administrative schedule as they deemed fit, and the assistant manager handled the back, answering phone calls, scheduling, ordering, etc and usually opened); you're the barista, cashier, dishwasher, cleaning staff, stockroom and customer service center. To be fair, that tip container is a place to show appreciation for all of those things. Baristas also must remain on as part-time staff, and work 35 hours a week (and only if you plead your case on that one for fear of living on the streets; I was usually given 27 on average) or less. Thus, most have two jobs to pay rent, and the benefits package offered isn't very realistic for the majority because they're simply not making enough. End of story, I show love to baristas–at any coffee shop, not just SB–since I know the dirty secrets of what they're asked to do all day and how they're being paid, just as many show love to wait staff because they've also been there.
Soooo, don't work there and don't buy coffee there.....problem solved.....
Um, by the time you're applying for a job as a barista, you're generally pretty desperate. I did it after I got out of college in the spring of 2009, when there really wasn't much available. If you have some self-respect, you take whatever work you can until things get better. They did for me and I moved on. But in the meantime, yes, for practically no money you have to deal with all kinds of jerks, while enjoying doing the work of two people. What was worse, you ask? The hard work or the dealing with the public? Definitely, dealing with the public. People are snobs. And they don't know how to treat a public restroom with the appropriate gratitude. This is New York, people! If someone gives you a place to pee, treat it right!
REMEMBER THIS: 1. CALLING HIMSELF A 'BARISTER' IS JUST A HIGH FALUTIN WAY OF RENAMING YOURSELF TO SOME ODD TITLE THAT IS MEANINGLESS TO EVERYONE. A COUNTER WAITER HAS THE SAME PRESTIGE AS ONE AT ANY FAST FOOD PLACE. 2. THE REAL SHAME IS,,,THAT JOB WILL BE THE HIGHEST POINT IN THAT DullWitted knucklehead's life, for all of his 'life'. Heck, he was pushing bitter tasting, over priced Jave to an unwary public as his main source of income? SHEESH. 3. SUDDENLY HE FELT HE HAD A FORUM TO SOME SORT OF REDRESS OF GREIVANCES, HOW UTTERLY DULLARDISH HE BECAME. HIM BEING IN HIS UNDERWEAR IS THE MAIN INDICATOR ABUT HOW STUPID HE WAS. FIRED?
I don't drink Starbucks, problem solved.
@ Jim Armstrong
If you could take the time to spell words correctly and use proper grammar and punctuation, it would help your point immensly.
Jim is from Fayetteville, NC. No one there has any idea how to use proper grammar and spelling.
Don't be a jerk, work is work and the poster is just pointing out its more than pouring coffee – personally I cant stand the snotty attitude at SB and dont like their coffee.
This post emphasizes the need to get a good education. The more training you have the more money you can make to stay off the streets. If you can be trained in a few hours to do a job then you can be easily replaced and your wage will be low. We all make a choice in life and if this is where you end up work then it is what you get. You need to take responsibility for your current position in this economy and change it if you do not like it.
That's a little unrealistic: I worked my way through law school at Starbucks, and many of my coworkers were in a similar situation. And I've thought about going back as a weekend/evening job: with unemployment at 9.1%, finding a job that is commensurate with your education level is incredibly difficult. Starbucks is a good company to work for, and there is no shame working at a blue-collar job to make ends meet. Not everybody has a mommy and daddy who pave their path to success with 24k gold. Some of us actually have to work really hard to acheive something, and life gets in the way of success sometimes.
And, in spite of what the former barista above claims, the benefits package at Starbucks is better than the benefits at any other job I've ever held: for less than $100/month, you get full health, vision, dental, life, and long-term disability – and you only have to average 20 hours a week to be eligible. I'm curious whether the person who claims to have worked for Starbucks in this thread worked for a license store, rather than a company store, since the starting wage at Starbucks company stores is higher than miniumm wage.
As much as I agree with the Barista in the video, it is never a good idea to say anything negative about your employer online. Currently I work at Starbucks, so I understand that he thinks some customers are rude. In fact, some are downright abusive, but in my experience about 98% of the patrons are pleasant people. The pay is very bad, and the starting wage depends on which part of the country a barista lives in. Unfortunately for me, my region's starting salary is minimum wage, and yes, I work in a fully licensed store. It is easy for many baristas to become frustrated with the pay. Everyone at my store has a Bachelor's degree, and two have their Master's. For me, I finished school in May of 2009 with a BA in Education. Silly me, I thought I was going to make a difference in people's lives, but instead I serve coffee. There is no shame in taking a job that covers some of the bills, but I do wish the company was willing to pay a living wage.
Jaybird, I think your comment shows you have never had to work to find a job. In today's economy many well-educated people are without work. I have a B.S. degree, but am having a very hard time finding work at any wage. I have worked for many years at a number of different jobs and a number of different wages. I have had to put up with jobs I hated, have enjoyed jobs I loved, and everything in between. I can't say I agree with the barista's actions, but I can understand his frustration. However, I find that many people (especially younger ones) feel they are entitled to excellent working conditions and higher wages. That's just not realistic and the perfect job just does not exist. If you don't like the job you're in, then work to find a better position. BUT, it is self-destructing to allow frustration to mess up your work record! That will only cause you problems down the road...
I prefer instant coffee over grossly overpriced Starbucks coffee.
If you consider $2.25 a high price, your definitely not their target demographic...
I just have to say, the Starbucks employees in my building are phenomenal. I actually don't like SB coffee very much (but it's the closest), but I love this crew. They are unfailingly patient, friendly and so efficient. They manage to make it all seem genuine too–I've worked in retail and restaurants, and the phoney I'm-your-bestest-friend-schtick galls me. But these guys are just NICE. They've actually cheered me up on bad days at work before. Just had to say that because of all the Starbucks hatin'.
OK, let me get this right. When I wait in line and pay $3+ for a cup of coffee at a counter, I'm not supposed to pay too slowly. If I get the wrong coffee or it's not made correctly, I'm supposed to walk away quietly. I need to know that I may be disrespected for being white, middle-aged and female, Latino, overweight, etc. I also need to pay a tip for this treatment. On the one hand, this guy needs to grow up. Think you have a tough public at Starbucks? Try being be a teacher and having to speak consistently politely in the face of outrageous disrespect from out of control students and parents. It's the nature of working with the public in a society that has unfortunately gone down the selfish road. This is not Japan. On the other hand, it's a FUNNY video! This is what comedy is all about. To cross the line and expose things from a different, unspoken, point of view. To make us laugh, recognize, think, laugh again.
A vast majority of the baristas at Starbucks enjoy their jobs. Yeah, you might get someone like the singer in the video, but that's a small number of actual employees. Of course we all got frustrated with customers from time to time: we're all human. But none of the stores I worked at ever promoted a culture of mocking our customers behind their backs, and most managers would have corrected that attitude in an employee who acted like that.
Dear JD, times have changed my friend and the culture at Starbucks is no longer what you encountered during your past employment. Go ahead and get a part time job there again, but lose the expectations.
Your not paying $3+ for coffee, it's some other product. (latte, etc)
Don't put up with that ghetto work style, your not expected to do that. Stand up for yourself or the workers like that will be conditioned to think it's alright.
The guy is an idiot, what did he think would happen. I think Jeannie Moos is an awful reporter
Really?
As iF.......Agree with you completely. I have worked food service, now i'm a nurse. The similarities are staggering. Thanks for putting in your time on the consumer front lines. In my op. Starbucks should not have fired this guy, he's just stating the obvious, and poking fun at it. EVERYONE knows some Starbucks customers are a giant pain in the Mermaid. Watching and listening to them is half the fun of standing in line !
If I'm this guy, I go and make like 20 more videos just BLASTING the rude idiots in the line at SB every day. That's the downside of firing him. You can only do it once, but his is the gift that keeps giving.
I have to say that I completely understand where the guy is coming from here. In my younger years I busted my butt for many a rude customer and I see unacceptable behavior from customers on a regular basis. For some reason Starbucks seems to attract stuck up snotty people who seem to feel that they are "entitled" to preferential treatment or that the "help" is beneath them. It is true that customer service personnel are there to serve us but that doesn't mean that they deserve to be treated as lesser beings. I definitely don't think it's the atmosphere that customers seek out at Starbucks. The only reason I don't have a problem paying the exorbitant prices for their coffee is that they treat their employees VERY well. The founder of Starbucks came from a background of poverty and had nothing growing up. He founded Starbucks with the intention of giving it's employees a chance at having a good life. Starbucks has an excellent benefits package and pays their employees fairly well for what they do. Not to mention the charitable donations they make on a regular basis. In a nutshell; I think this guy finally just got fed up with the a$$hole customer(s) and decided to voice his opinion. Did he deserve to get fired? Unfortunately, yes but at least he had a completely justifiable reason for what he did and went out with a bang! This is definitely a call for those persons out there who think they're better than everyone else and think they're entitled more than just the average consumer.
Unbelieveably LAME. What a moron. Ditto for the reporter. And put some pants on your @$$, retard.
You're probably the retard in line at Starbucks that this guy is singing about...
You are insane. Jeanne Moos is hilarious.
I agree, what a lame ass song
Yes, it was appropriate that he was fired. Even he understands that. But what not everyone gets is that there's a reason his song / video is so popular. Not every customer is rude anywhere ... but enough are. We accept this, roll our eyes, and move on. This certainly isn't the most important news item of the day, but it's a nice wake up call. When it comes to how we treat our customer service people, most of us can do a bit better ... and a few of us should do a LOT better. When you're standing in line at Starbucks, Burger King, Rite Aid, or anywhere, try a few new behaviors:
1) Don't let your kids run loud and wild.
2) Speak to the individual with politeness and respect ... pretend he or she is a black belt and could whup your ass! Or just that he or she has actual feelings!
3) Be ready and be quick ... especially if there's a line. Nobody wants to watch while you wait until the total comes up to watch you then start to locate your checkbook.
4) If there's a problem, remember that the customer service person is usually NOT the person who decides store policy, and especially pricing.
5) Tip appropriately. No it's NOT covered in their salary ... tipping is considered part of salary for many. Don't get all cheap and dream up lame excuses for why they don't deserve a tip. If you can't afford to tip for quality service, don't patronize the location.
Anyone ... feel free to add to the list! 6) ...
@jeff6187, agree with most of your points but there is one small problem I have found with many customer service employees is a distinct lack of patience with the customer, who for one reason or another, takes more than an average amount of time to order or does wait to pull out the money after the total shows on the register. People who are brain-injured don't look like it but they have cognition issues that cause them to have to think things through and process before they take action. I assure you, it's not about pissing off the employee, it's about the customer maintaining some dignity when they are thinking their way through all the steps. Our favorite coffee joint is Starbucks in just one location because they are sensitive, caring, and always have the drink ready by the time we get to the counter. It brightens the heck out of my friend's day that even in the middle of a rush, the baristas take the time to make sure the order is perfect before they move on, instead of rushing away, like another location does. In fact, every place that treats my friend with respect, courtesy and patient attention gets LOTS of repeat business. My friend is slow, not stupid. Good service gets good rewards.
Oh I absolutely agree. Respect goes both ways. Clearly there are exceptions as to "who" is able to do "what" and "how quickly". Many sales people recognize this. Indeed many businesses train their customer service people to recognize this. Some don't. I've certainly encountered rudeness and stupidity as a patron of a business. Mostly the problem lies from today's society's acceptance of apathy and self-absorbedness as a way of life. In any customer service setting, both sides of the counter should be more mindful of this, while still being patient because, as you point out, we can never really know what someone else's situation is.
But what if your friend really is stupid?
We need to eliminate tips altogether. A restaurant shoul pay a wage and service people get what the salary is deemed based on the restaurant food, experience and service. This way, the restaurant has to cover the wage in their fee schedules. Most of the world does it this way.
No it isn't. Most of the world ADDS a mandatory tip on to your bill.
I wonder if Starbucks, or any business would agree with your #5. I'm pretty sure that even if you can't afford a tip, the company still wants your business and the employee still wants their job. I tip VERY well at restaurants because I come from a long line of folks who waitressed their way through college, but I don't tip at Starbucks, even though I was a barista after high school, because it's not the same kind of work and they aren't paid the tipped profession minimum wage, they're paid much more.
Customers go into places like Starbucks for the 'experience'. Sounds like this guy isn't drinking the coffee (Kool-Aid).
Drinking the KoolAid?
DO a bit of research on the origin of the saying, and you'll discover that it originated with Jim Jones & the Jonestown Guyana tragedy – mass suicide of Jones's followers who drank poisoned FLAVOR-AID, the poor kin to Kool-Aid.
It WAS NOT Kool-Aid that they drank -
And people have been getting this wrong for years...
As English is a live language, meanings change and evolve as time passes. Sadly for the sake of your point, this expression is firmly etched in the minds of the masses and will never get the reality check you're looking for.
Because THAT was really the point of the comment. Who cares if he calls it kool-aid, flavor-aid or gatorade? The point is still the same.
@HGQ I assure you...I dont go to Starbucks for the atmosphere....the coffee is really good and im willing to pay for it...thats why.
You Obviously know nothing about coffee. Starbucks over-roasts ALL of thier beens. That signiture taste... burned. What they don't tell you is that the less your coffee tastes like crap, the more cafeen it has and the better it is for you. The guy has a point though. this is a free country where you can patronize any establishment regardless of how informed you are. Polititians know this... How else do you explain the Republican campaign strategy?
@ Dinjiro: Chris may, in your opinion, know nothing about coffee, but you obviously know nothing about spelling. Seriously. That made my eyes bleed.
*beans
*signature
*caffeine
*politicans
As someone mentioned above, demonstrating proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation goes a looooonnng way towards credibility as you make your point. Good luck with that.
Starbucks is soooo overrated – their coffee tastes burned, always has – but THIS dude's a genius. He'll have a single, get a record or reality show deal – you'll see...
Oh please. Why are americans still going to Starbuck's? They are so instutionalized. So drab. So out-of-lifestyle. People. Get a grip. Move on from this franchise. Support local coffee shops, not the corporate conglomerate.
That's like telling people to stop going to Walmart. Good luck with that.
That's a problem for some. I would love to be able to have a coffee at a local roaster/coffee house, unfortunately, the nearest independent coffee shop was almost 20 miles away from my last house. While the closest Stabucks was less than a mile away.
I go to St. Arbucks and order a grande skinny carmel latte and I get 16oz of 2 shots of espresso and steamed milk. No matter where I am, I pretty much get the same results. I go to a local shop, make the same order in the same price range, and I get an espresso sized cup, maybe 4oz. This has happened way too often. It's very disappointing. Plus my flavorings are free with my card, and I get a free refill when I order regular coffee (which I always get 1/3 coffee to 2/3 water).
Do you think anyone here really cares about your precise coffee specifications? Get a grip.
so?
boo-hoo
Try drinking water– no wait, keep spending all your money on a lousy drink- it'll help the economy
I like how even though it's a starbucks they're talking about they're showing them grind, pack, and pull espresso even though their machines do all the work for them.
I'd do him.
I beat you to his hershey highway.
I own a small business. I would have fired this guy in a heart beat.
I would have given him a raise and posted his song on the company website.
No you wouldn't. Unless you wanted to lose business.
1. the reporter tries to be funny but FAILS
2. Starbucks coffee is awful. The beans are burnt during roasting so the coffee is acidic, bitter, and lacking any coffee-like flavor.
3. the Starbucks near my office messes up one of my co-worker's orders EVERY FREAKIN' MORNING; so don't try to tell me that you baristas know what your customers want,
4. Otherwise, yeah, that was pretty funny; and people don't need to treat service providers like trash.
I don't drink coffee but I'm with you on point 4.
Opinions and azzholes – everyone's got one.
Starbucks' coffee is roasted extra strong to accommodate the myriad creams, flavored syrups, sweeteners and other fluff some people like to put add to offset the strong roasted taste. It's a maddening, convoluted loop of reasoning that is making Starbucks more $$$ than you or I have combined. So they must be doing something right. As to how many mistakes they make, check your own wrists for holes, Messiah, before you start casting stones.
I have to admit admiring Starbucks. At great expense they do the right thing and provide health insurance for their employes. Compare that with other chains. Problem is their coffee is not good. Americans have come to associate dark roasted coffee with quality. Peets makes very good dark roasted coffees. Starbucks simply roasts their mediocre coffee darker than most. Americans who think they are supposed to like dark roasted coffee drink it and like you have said, put however much cream, sugar, etc. in to make it potable.
Starbucks can not make a good espresso. The best place I found for this is any nice Italian restaurant. They don't make a very good cup 'o joe either but there are so many places now with good coffee I don't see why people suffer with Starbucks. If you want a foo foo coffee drink laden with fat and sugar than Starbucks is your place.
I agree with Al about Starbucks and espressi. Starbucks has yet to serve an espresso doppio this fan of Italian coffee can believe in. They don't even provide lemon slices! WTF?
OK...so a guy gets a job in a Starbucks as a barista. He goes through training on how to make a cup and reads all the manuals on "service" and customer relations...because lets face it – without us (the customers) to buy the coffee he makes Starbucks would not stay in business. So, as it turns out – he doesn't like his job (who does) and takes many shortcuts when he makes a cup (we've all experienced the MANY shortcuts)...and the result is...unhappy cranky customers!
SO guess what barista...YOU made us cranky! And we still had to pay for the coffee.
AND BTW – stand in line long enough and you will hear the baristas and managers dissing the customers!
So THIS barista gets fired for singing about what they all do....sigh!
It's ok, all these people who claiming you don't understand why this is funny are also the folks that are OK with class warfare. It's a sign of the times...
But the times...they are a changin' ~Bob Dylan
wow! so interesting *sarcastic*
omg i love you! we could be sisters!
I freaking HATE her. She's a horrible reporter, why doesn't SHE get fired?
i totally agree with you SHE CAN'T report!
unless you've worked in the food industry (and particularly for Starbucks) you'll probably be offended by this. If you have been a barista in a previous time, you're probably laughing like me.
Never worked in the food service industry. Still freakin' funny. People need to stop taking themselves so seriously when getting a cup of coffee. I've seen people make a barista remake a drink 5 or 6 times because it did not taste exactly right. It was an extremely convoluted order to begin with.
As iF.......Agree with you completely. I have worked food service, now i'm a nurse. The similarities are staggering. Thanks for putting in your time on the consumer front lines. In my op. Starbucks should not have fired this guy, he's just stating the obvious, and poking fun at it. EVERYONE knows some Starbucks customers are a giant pain in the Mermaid. Watching and listening to them is havlf the fun of standing in line !
Where is the friigin' story, or the video? All I see on my iPad is the comments, which have made for an amusing ride home on my commuter bus. Well-written American English discourse really IS a dying art, isn't it?
yay! pete has an ipad.
iPads don't do Flash videos. It's the price you pay for going Apple.
iPads are to Apple Lemmings what a Grande Frappacino with extra whip is to a St. Arbucks customer: A lousy product sold at a premium price to a sucker.
Barista??? Really??? What's up for you next dude.... Dunkin Donuts or maybe Taco Bell?
Dunkin': better coffee, no douchebags in line, doesn't sound so bad.
dont like your job...........quit and go get another
otherwise, you whine, you deserve to be fired !!!!!!!!!!
unless anyone who has commented has worked for a starbucks, you really don't know what it's like to be a starbucks barista. if you ask other starbucks baristas for their take on the song, they find it funny because he's being honest. it doesn't take a psychiatrist to figure out people are going to get angry if you are rude, disrespectful, and demanding. while most baristas suck it up and just take it, and i give them exactly what they want with a good stank eye, others pay customers back in their own ways. Customers wouldn't have a problem if they were NICE and respectful.
@NOTtheTruth – you make a ridiculous analogy to a doctor. FIrst of all, I'm not sure if you have ever visited the Emergency Room near the NYC area, but the medical care is not the best. Doctors are notoriously known FOR BEING a*******, in and out of the hospital. Also people SEEK doctors because they NEED THEIR HELP. They need the services of a doctor usually to survive or lessen pain of some sort. People usually aren't rude to others who are trying to help them. Someone going to a doctor is completely different from someone going to get their morning caffiene fix or sugar kick. Oh, and aside from having "ethics" and "taking pride in doing the job properly," I'm pretty sure this doctor is also trying to avoid a MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT.
People are all the same. If you want to be treated well and with respect, do the same for others whether it is your local coffee maker or your doctor.
Very well put. Unfortunately, the idiots ah I mean customers don't and wont care. Rude people are everywhere and they are rude to everyone. My motto is treat people the same way I get treated. What comes around goes around. Try it, it really works on those idiots.
Starbucks is garbage, coffee is a lousy drink, and this guy is a pole smoker. Hopefully, the attention will cause more problems for Starbucks and also push this guy to the edge so he'll drink a bunch of rat poison and go away.
Cool username but totally uncool post.
Don't you mean Trollio?
Its absolute hell going into starbucks anymore because of the pretentious mainstream wankers in there with their ridiculous orders. The employees are so wired up on their own supply they just freak me out. You know what else is going on in the mind of these coffee connoisseurs? absolutely nothing. amazes me that they have time to think of such things.
Everyone has complaints about their job ... Hell, I complain about the people in front of me at Starbucks ... btw ... I am the white lady ordering the skinny latte with a shot of espresso ... so get out of my way because if I get decaf ... I will run you over in the parking lot! :-P
Do you wear gold shoes?
Your comment represents the sick, twisted, out-of-control sense of ent!tlement that is running this country into the ground. What the fok makes you think your agenda is more important than anyone else's? Did your mommy tell you that you're special? Well you are – just like everyone else. Don't be surprised when you suddenly feel an elbow at your throat next time you moan about having to wait in line. Shut up and wait your turn – just like everyone else.
\end rant\
Lighten up, Francis.
LOL. Yes, please settle. Getting irate over a slight attitude is a good way to get run over as well. Thanks for the laugh though.
Please- they make the drinks right in front of you. I'm pretty confident that there is not an epidemic of disgruntled employees messing with drinks.
Funny or not, true or not, It is bad form to publicly insult the customers from whom you make a living and he deserved the firing. If you find filling coffee orders to be so distasteful, get a different job. Good riddance. I am sure there are many people who will be happy to fill his slot & be grateful to have a job.
What the heck! The name says it all anyway. Star = astranomical Bucks = $$$
Astranomical amount of $$$ for a cup of coffee.
Who's joke was the name in the first place?
If his career as a "barista" ends, he can always go to Subway and become a "sandwich artist".
LMOA...I want to hear both of his songs in full!! The kid is witty, funny and bright and Starbucks needs to lighten up. I shop at Starbucks and I think it was funny...but then again, I don't have a problem laughing at myself. The only people who are uptight about this video are those who lack a sense of humor, who think too highly of themselves and those who are pretentious enough not to notice their own character flaws! The guys was ingenious. The guy was funny. Now everyone, lighten up about your silly selves and have some fun in your life!
Satire is being removed from our society by the gruesome social abomination that is Political Correctness. Another knife in the heart of freedom of speech.
There's an old saying. "With rights come responsibilites". Yes, this young man had the right to write this silly little ditty and post it online. He should also accept the consequences of doing so. If you work in the service industry and post negative comments about the people you serve, there's a very good chance you will get fired.
"If you work in the service industry and post negative comments about the people you serve, there's a very good chance you will get fired."
Why? Because the truth hurts?
No! It's because any company in the service industry depends on courteous and respectful employees. If you upset your client base, you lose customers, you lose money. I've worked in the service industry my whole life and if one does not vent, they are likely to explode from the bottled pressure. However, making those grievances public and visible to both your company and the company's client base, then you are liable to be fired for it. On another note- it was funny!
Too bad that that is EXACTLY how every barista who hasnt drank the kool-aid thinks about their job. 90% of the public are total idiots and assholes. its the 10% that make the job worth it.
Lighten up world this young man was just having fun. There are people that are a pain in in the a$$.
putting a tip bucket on a staruck's counter is insulting and ignorant.
they don't do that at mcdonald's or tim horton's
Insulting to whom? Don't want to tip at places like that, then don't. Nobody is putting a blaster to your head. Kwit wining. You're a big Darth now.
I will file this in my "don't give a crap about Starbucks" file
Than why'd you take the time to comment?
Isn't that the truth.
People who rave over Starbucks are pretentious dolts. This was a joke, the people that go there and spend that much money for coffee are idiots. This dude is a hero, yes. Truth hurts sometimes, people. If you pay 4-5 bucks for a cup of joe, you need to be made fun of, seriously.
Thank you!
Because some people like the product and you don't and they are willing to pay THEIR $$$ and you aren't, they're idiots? Wow .... just wow.
1: if people like the product at starbucks over most any other coffee shop, then yes, they are idiots
2: if people are willing to spend the amount of money they spend on starbucks coffee, then yes, they are idiots
just because people have a right to be idiots doesn't mean they aren't idiots.
you all have to understand that we are laughing with him NOT AT HIM. Bravo! keep up the good work!!!!
If I'm paying $3-$4 for a cup of coffee, yeah, I want it like I ordered it. So he's just an immature kid who can't handle working with the public. I can't believe people think he's a hero.
maybe you should order it correctly and not give people attitude
You're right: he's an immature kid who doesn't deal well with the public. I hope he finds his dream career some day. The hero-worship part comes from him having the cojones to actually do something like this. The people calling him a hero wish that they did, too.
He is my hero. Starbucks wasted a really good opportunity. They should have 'embraced and co-opted' the kid for publicity. They should be laughing WITH US, not getting all huffy like a bunch of old prudes.
Hilarious!
Too bad Starbucks can’t laugh at themselves.
Good luck to this young man.
I hope nothing but GOOD things for this young man. I thought his video was very funny & he is very talented!! If you have never worked in customer service before then go give it a try!! Then, you will know how he feels. People are so rude!
Worse. I have been in management meetings where.. literally... the managers would explain how they were treated by a clerk that day as some revealing example. Never did they think they make $150k per year while the person they complain about is minimum rage...I mean wage.
The best part of the video was the reporter's action shot of knocking over the cup of coffee – hahahahah what a dork
you silly billy.. they did that on purpose into that sink. are you a young blond woman by chance?
hahaha!!!! Hilarious. And all the piss pants that are upset about the lyrics....well, you know he's soooooo right. Get over your trendy ways of getting a cup of coffee. Make a cup at home and you won't be so grumpy. Ever heard of the 'LATTE Factor"? research it. You spend too much money to condescend on people about screwing up your coffee or the lines being too long. Maybe the white lady and latino lines in the song were a little off....but the spoiled brats....you know who your are. PS. I never saw a Starbucks logo. just a green apron. I have one and i have never worked at starbucks. get a life you gripers and go share your complaints at the water cooler. KUDOS to this guy :))))
As a business owner, I feel I should weigh in. I loved the song. And yes, some of the customers at starbucks can be waaaaaay more than rude. The customer isn't always right. In fact, they are frequently wrong.
That aside, the song was funny. I would have had to fire him for the latino comment. Make fun of the obsessively picky all you want. Venting is healthy. Whoever said keeping those frustrations to oneself should seek help. At least he found a healthy outlet for his stress. Unlike many who turn to prescription drugs, or alcahol. I could name names but that would be catty. You already know who you are.
come ON! if he offended in the store a particular Latino....fire him. At home (even in company context) he is allowed to poke fun at a group if he wants. it was NOT mean-spirited...it was in jest and in fun. you as a biz owner can more easily explain that to people because it is human. you can also point out he was a young worker and he cares. he will learn and rise. you and all your judging types could handle it logically like that.
As someone belonging to the 'latino' group..I didn't take offense. I just thought it was clever rhyming
For those of you who have never written a song, he only mentioned Latino because it rhymed with Frappuccino (however the hell it's spelled).
He should have been fired for writing such a terrible song. What kind of idiot posts something like this and expects to keep their job?
What's so terrible about? Because he dared to share his perspective?
I think that if the CEO of Starbucks can make new media comments so should there workers with out any trouble. Why does the CEO of Starbucks still have a job?
I think the latte-driven folks who might take offense at this need to lighten up a little and laugh at themselves. There are more righteous causes you can channel all that bristling energy into than a cheeky young man singing about your quirks. I think someone who has worked in food service, or any service job where you have to please people who can be picky and rude, would get where he's coming from. If the shoe fits ....well, you know. I found this very funny, having worked in coffee shops before. But I agree, making this video while still employed at Starbucks wasn't the wisest thing to do. But I give him a thumbs up!
I think he may have a free speech case.... it's obviously satire and he did it on his own time.... would have been different if he filmed it in the store :P yeah perhaps not to bright, but who here hasn't had a bad day at work and complained to others/friends when you get off work?
Free speech? Has has that, he can publically say what he wants, but no employer is required to tolerate what he's saying. At will employment has nothing to do with free speech. Employers are under no obligation to retain an employee that says something they disagree with. Simple fact.
Kid...you must be a kid... free speech is a right. And others have the right to not do business with you for your speech. Free speech relates to the citizen/government relation. It does not apply otherwise. Read up on it before you get in trouble.
Actually, the commentator might not be a kid, it's surprising how many adults think that they can say whatever they want to an employer and not get fired because of their Constitutional right to free speech, including cussing them out. In America, you can say whatever you want, but you do not have a protected right to your job while you are saying it. So, if you want to maintain your job, careful what you say about your boss or to your boss...at will employment means that an employer does not even need a reason to terminate you, it just can't be because of certain very slim protections...
His "Venti" mistake was wearing the apron and associating himself with the company. The video going viral was just the icing on the cake, or in this case, the foam on the latte.
I think he was funny & singing straight from the heart...too bad he was dumb enough to post it. he sure makes an interesting employee, I'd hire him to work around here. I'm sure he will be smarter next time & quit before he posts. Good Luck Chris
I hope he gets a contract with a recording company.
He's extremely creative..
i hope he collects unemployement and gets food stamps.
he is such a good christian boy. they should not have fired him.
Not quite sure what to think about this....
Kid working at Starbucks makes a video and Starbucks fires him for it.
Kid didn't care about his job and Starbucks will replace him in, at most, a day.
Kid will have another job making the same or more money and may score some bucks from his 15 minutes of internet fame.
Employees do things their employers don't like and get fired as a result – not really much to think about.
Um, okay, thanks for the help, neighbor.
What a knucklehead. I'm glad this guy got fired, he seems the type that would spit in a latte or two.
i've known many baristas who have spit in drinks. What most do is give rude customers decaf instead of regular or non-fat instead of 2%. Starbucks does not realize it's not this guy they should worry about. It is allowing their employees to be treated how they are treated daily and all the unseen things that get done to drinks because of it. the general public is forgetting one very important rule; NEVER MESS WITH SOMEONE WHO IS MAKING YOUR DRINKS (FOOD.)
I can promise you, if you are someone who can justify how you think of behave by trying to complain about the price; make it at home. If you do not realize they are messing with your drinks then you are an idiot.
@thetruth – You are wrong, and you obviously need to try to associated with a higher caliber of people. If someone goes to the hospital with a broken arm, and is an a**hole to the doctor, does he set their bone 'a little wrong' or give them substandard service? No, because he/she has ethics and takes pride in doing the job properly.
In all my years of owning and working in restaurants, I have NEVER seen or heard of anyone doing ANYTHING disgusting to ANYONES food. It is insulting to restaurant workers everywhere to have this myth perpetuated by simpletons like you.
As for the unemployed barista . . . clever video, cute boy, bad move. I hope he uses his 15 minutes of fame to reach high and improve his life. If he wasn't a well-spoken white kid, he could have rhymed Latino with frapuccino without anyone even noticing, which is a sad commentary all by itself.
Spitting in drinks is disgusting. It is also very unhygienic. I agree with the reply comment.
You wouldn't want a doctor to f**k you up just because he wasn't having a good day. It's unprofessional.
Anyone who behaves like that should be fired.
"NOTtheTRUTH" is unbelievably naive. A "myth?" HAHA, wow.
In a way.. "the truth" is right.. I've been in the restaurant business for YEARS ( i love it. but it's not for everyone. and i am NOT one of these people that I am about to talk about..) and I've gone through my fair share of restaurants.. It varies from place to place how people handle your food. If you were to eat at a Pizza Hut or Applebee's (or anything similar to the two) then you will probably be eating food that was dropped on the floor or mishandled in one way or another. Spitting in drinks and food is a rarity these days, but it DOES HAPPEN.. [the movie Waiting is a prime example. it's a bit exaggerated in some areas, but the main jist is "DONT MESS WITH PEOPLE WHO HANDLE YOUR FOOD!!!!] To assume that every item of food is handled the way you would handle it in your own kitchen is naive. In a fast paced restaurant, cooks don't have time to care for your food the way that they should. Food gets dropped, picked back up, and put back on the plate. If a customer pisses you off, and your kitchen manager isn't there and there are no cameras in the kitchen (more restaurants are installing cameras in kitchens) then it's a safe bet that a vindictive server will mess with your food in one way or another. The best way to avoid your food being messed with is to just be polite to your server. They don't get paid $2.35/hr to deal with snotty pricks who can't even afford a 20% tip. If you can't afford to tip your server, then you have no business going out to eat at all. It's not that difficult to be polite and appreciative of the service you receive. If you are going to be rude to a server who has no control over how your meal is cooked, then I believe it is your own fault for having your food messed with. WE DONT COOK YOUR FOOD. DONT TAKE IT OUT ON US FOR A MISTAKE THE KITCHEN MADE! The more rude and demanding you become, the more likely your food will be tainted.
The decafing and non-fatting the customers is ever so true.
Julie, you realize that the correct step is for the workers to tell the managers to tell the customers to stop?
If somebody is caught red handed, you bet that a YouTube confessional video will appear, with the employees being forced to confess to everything they do
Well, film the barista doing it, put it on YouTube
Starbucks then shouldn't just FIRE the guy – they should put him in a struggle session, Communist China style.