Starbucks customer service is top notch. I’ve been thinking about this all day. So today, on my way into work, I stopped at one of my usual stores. I ordered a chocolate banana smoothie. I stepped away from the bar, and played with my phone as I waited. The store wasn’t all that busy considering it was morning rush. I heard my name called out and went to the bar. I saw barista Shana and a blender with a banana some mocha sauce and some ice too. Shana said to me, “I’m so sorry. I just realized we’re out of protein powder. What would you like me to do? Do you want to wait while I try to borrow some from another store? Do you want something else.” I said pretty matter of factly, “Don’t worry about it. I’m in a hurry to get to work so just make the smoothie without the protein powder.” I wasn’t mad. Just figured it would be okay without it this one time and I wanted to get to work. My head was already there thinking about the workday that awaited me. Two minutes later (if that) my drink was ready. Shana (at the Pine Street Starbucks) passed me my drink and handed me a CSR certificate and apologized again. I was fine. I thanked her and even said, “You didn’t have to do that.” I can totally say that I wasn’t expecting a CSR certificate over the missing protein powder. During the day, I thought about it. And I have seen partners around here giving out CSR certificates to customers when something goes wrong. It was a nice surprise. And I realized it more than “recovered” the experience for me. Those little cards are powerful. They really can make a customer feel surprised and delighted. Thank you Starbucks.
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Wow, that has never happened to me. I stopped ordering certain drinks because they were always made wrong. I used to ask for a SF Vanilla Latte with 2% milk(instead of skim). I always ask for 2% and i would always get, “that’s what we always put in their”. I get my drink and it’s usually called out as a skinny latte, which means skim milk. In the summer I get it iced and there is a huge color difference, so i would always know by looking. One day i had an argument with a Barista who said it was 2% when it was clearly skim. Never did i get a certificate. Sometimes i would get it remade, but it is such a waste of coffee, so i would go put a spot of half/half in my coffee. Maybe since Seattle is the home of Starbucks, they are more likely to provide great service?
So true. The few times I’ve received the certificates, I haven’t expected them or felt they were necessary…but conversely, the very very few times I thought they were warranted based upon rude or incompetent service (maybe two or three times ever and to say that I’m a Starbucks regular at many different locations would be an understatement), I didn’t get one or even an apology.
I agree that those nice gestures go a looonnggg way in the form of customer service. I wish I was not seeing the opposite type of service. My daughter bought me the metal coffee press from a Spokane store in December. I live in Puyallup where I took it to my local store to exchange it because the fake wooden handle started peeling and I have only used it a couple of times. I was told I could not exchange it without the receipt and besides “we never carried that particular french press in our store”. That’s understandable. I then stopped in at headquarters yesterday while passing through thinking they could tell me where I could exchange it. The employee told me I had to take it back to Spokane. I explained several times that Spokane is FIVE HOURS away from me. He was adamant. That was my only option. He was a little snotty about it to I might add.
I had received these invitations couple of times, but it has never been caused by unpleasant situations or receiving wrong drinks (partners are used to just remaking the whole beverage: for example, once I have ordered a Grande Peppermint Mocha and I have received a Peppermint Signature Hot Chocolate – instead of just adding 2 shots of espresso they would remake my whole drink all over again).
As our Gdańsk Starbucks community is very small, the coffee seminars used to be very small too – sometimes from guests it would be just me and baristats from other stores. Always, all the participants would receive an invitation for free Tall handcrafted beverage and if store runs out of standard invitations, they always use those “we’re sorry” ones.
I have never seen a customer receiving that CSR certificate due to unpleasant situation. Maybe I’m lucky enough not to see one 😉
In Chicago, I’m seeing more and more mistakes being made every day. Most are due to poor training. As always, they will remake your drink, but……. Speaking only for myself and what I experience, those CSRC’s seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. I remember they would give these out like candy to customers when drip coffee wasn’t ready. 😉
Have to agree with everyone. Have not seen one of these certificates in ages. Is it because you are in Seattle? Does she know you Melody? Maybe part of training should be giving these out when needed?
I have seen a mix of these certificates, but there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to when I get them. The few times I’ve contacted corporate (which were mostly FYI… this is happening in your stores) they send CSR certificates. In store, however, it seems like the occasions where things have really gone wrong, I don’t see the CSR certificates. But then I sometimes get one for a seemingly minor incident. Perhaps the reason we don’t seem them as often for the occasions we should is because those incidents also seem to include rude behavior by the baristas.
Amy – I feel for you. There are certain stores where I won’t order certain drinks because they tend to be made incorrectly and if I say anything at those stores, the first reaction isn’t an offer to remake the drink. It’s an insistence that my drink was made correctly and I’m wrong.
Have to agree, once again, 🙂 with Chgo and purple1. I used to see these much more frequently, and generally they were warranted. Some mistake that involves waiting (when maybe you can’t) for a re-make, or they’re out of something or some food item is really bad….I feel definitely deserve a CSR card. And they very often are not offered up. I have gone back up to the bar and told them that (as an example) this pretzel tastes like it’s 3 wks old or that I can barely choke it down. When they tell me it was their last one, they really need to either offer me another item or at least a CSR card. I often will tell them: I think I should be getting a drink card for this??? and generally there’s no question. I don’t know why the big decline: training (or lack of, for sure) and also the individual partner: some are just by nature more “just say yes”. Some hold onto those card like they’re gold.
I can say: I’ve started this summer cutting back with what I spend at Sbux….it’s just not worth it when there’s very often not even a decent pastry to have with a cup of coffee. It’s too bad, this really was kind of my ‘place’. I don’t drink (very very rarely), I don’t care much about ‘eating out’ so, I appreciate my coffee time/place. Too bad….
@Denise – I’m sorry to hear about your experiences. I’ve never had the gumption to say ‘I think I should be getting a drink card for this’ (Even if I’ve thought those words) – As I think about it, for me, they’re always a surprise. 99% of my experiences are fine. If something really goes wrong, and it’s not immediately fixed in the store, I’ll email the DM (well, that still depends on the circumstance). There has been once or twice where I’ve emailed Seattle DMs and gotten no reply whatsoever. I usually look for the “Share Your Thoughts” cards and always hope the DMs info is on the backside (assuming that I’m not in Seattle – I always have someone to reach out to in Seattle). I know that I have moments of worry about what Starbucks customer service looks like all over the country. My own experiences are pretty amazing.
Maybe I can lend some understanding to this conversation as to why sometimes certificates aren’t handed out. I’m a shift at my store and whenever I take the keys and become the shift in charge, we pass a couple of recovery coupons from one shift to another, just in case something happens. It’s easier to keep them on our person than in, say, the safe or a till. However, rarely have I been the holder of the coupons AND been in a position where I am handing out drinks to customers, aka, a position that deals directly with the customer who needs to receive what they’ve ordered. Shifts in my location are not deployed to work on bar or the DT window unless they are covering for a bathroom break or a 10. We’re scheduled to be in floating positions like DT order taker or Order Support so that we can service all positions when they need help. (Getting trapped on Cold Bar making unlimited amounts of Frappuccinos is not somewhere a person in charge wants to be in case there are problems or other tasks to accomplish elsewhere.) In most cases, we rely solely on the partners deployed to those positions to let us know if there has been an mistake or experience that warrants a recovery coupon.
I believe most times our partners believe that apologizing for the mistake, correcting it, and handling mistakes or long waits with a smile or a polite “Sorry about the wait, have a nice day” will help ease the situation. I’ve only ever given out coupons when the wait times have been excessive due to backups for multiple orders, if somehow the printer label with the drink code got misplaced, or if we told someone in the DT we had a sandwich for them but by the time the DTO went to warm it or retrieve, the house register barista sold it to someone else.
I think the reason a lot of people don’t see these coupons is because regular non-management partners don’t keep some handy and thus aren’t in a position to immediately correct a problem. They’d have to catch our attention and explain the mistake, all of which slows down everyone (which still shouldn’t be a reason to not do it but it is). I think we as partners do believe that when mistakes or situations happen that might warrant a recovery coupon that we can usually make up for it by just fixing it, smile, and move on.
Does that help? I know that doesn’t really make up for not going above and beyond to make the customer experience better for everyone, but sometimes working the bar can be very tiresome and stressful and stopping the follow of production to attract the attention of someone with the coupons (who might be swapped in a backup of warming pastries) seems like too much to do when just handing out a new drink is faster for everyone. :/
Recently my local Starbucks went through a remodel and became a Clover/reserve store. I was excited until we tried to go in when they reopened. My daughter and I got there around 5:10 after work one afternoon before she was to leave for college the next day. After holding the door open for several painters and noticing a little work was still going on we entered the store. A barista yelled from the other side of the store that they closed at 5:00! No sign, no apology, just told to leave, we aren’t serving anyone. Four baristas standing behind the counter and no one could make a sign for the door?! This store shares a space with a bank, which is terrible in itself, so not sure what bank customers were told when they came in. Probably to just stay on their own side. The doors are almost side by side since the remodel. I’ve heard that since the remodel the store is less cozy than it was and not a place for a relaxing chat. More of a “get it and go” place. Eventually I may go back in there but it’ll be awhile.
@Becky E: in my own experience, and from what I see online, most remodels are much less ‘cozy’ or warm or comfortable than they were before the ‘remodel’. That seems to be the trend. One Sbux nr me that was remodeled (and actually moved down the block) now has a Clover (which is great) but there’s so little seating (all not so comfortable,too) that it definitely is mostly a “go” store…..there aren’t nearly enough seats.
@Melody: as for the ‘gumption’ I had to say I think I deserve a drink card, trust me: the situation warranted it. As you know I’ve been a Sbux customer for yrs and yrs. I feel I am 99.9% of the time extremely kind and go out of my way to make a partner feel comfortable if something is going wrong. The lack of training and cutting back on number of partners working has made for lots of baristas who really seem to know little (and/or sometimes care) about what they’re doing.
Denise, on my phone sorry so short and sloppy. The pretzel situation is one where I would’ve expected a refund and a polite, “is there something else you’d like?” I had that situation happen to me when handed a burnt bagel and it was the last one.
I too have not seen a Recovery Certificate handed out in ages, actually years. I have witnessed many cases where a Recovery Certificate would have been appropriate, but none were proffered.
I think @Claire’s explanation is very common and therefore a view into the problem. I seem to recall that everyone behind the counter had a few Recovery Certificates in their pocket. So why is that no longer the case? The root problem comes back to training, lack of trust, and money. I am sure that those Recovery Certificates have to be accounted for in some way and I bet that their use is reflected in the store’s performance bonus.
@DadCooks I’ve only been a company-operated partner for a little over year but in my time, I’ve always seen the certificates kept locked away at the end of the night. I’ve heard stories of partners in different areas of the country sneaking a few every shift and giving them away to family and friends. Management has to keep an eye on these things because the ability to abuse them is very easy. I’ve also seen pictures online where people compare the coloring/style of real certificates right next to fake ones. As sad as it is, people will do whatever they can to score free stuff and most times partners don’t check/don’t know how to spot a real one. 🙁
I have not been disappointed with any Starbucks customer service, AT.ALL! I had an error made on a drink order a while back and received a CSR (which I have yet to redeem) and most recently I was not charged for my drink by my local stores barista when he learned of the passing of my husband – Two other baristas have made a point to come around the corner to offer me a hug 🙂
Anyways, my point of this article is that the CSR is a tool that SHOULD be used at any point where the barista senses that the customer is going to walk away with great disappointment and it’s the obvious remedy at that moment (other remedies are drink remakes, right now recovery, refunds, and such).
And this is not to say that every experience has to move mountains. My morning trips into Starbucks are pretty rushed. The line is longer. Today I ordered a breakfast sandwich and an iced tea, and a partner who’s seen many times asked me my name for the cup. I had a flash of being a little surprised that she didn’t know who I was, but I don’t care. It was nice that she asked my name rather than guess. And I got my drink and food and left. There wasn’t anything momentous. And that’s fine too.
Claire- I too am a shift at my store. I completely agree with what you’re saying about not being deployed in positions where we always know if a recovery certificate is needed. However, being the floater I feel, allows me to be aware of what is going on in all positions and know what the demands are at each position. I have more than once stepped in to a situation between a customer and barista and been more than willing to offer a CSR. My store is one of the highest volume stores in our district and the only Reserve/Clover store in most of our area as well. Because of that, I feel that we absolutely MUST offer the highest quality customer service around.
Melody- You should come visit Bloomington, IN and we’ll show you some good old fashioned Midwest hospitality ☺️
@Amy – I think the drink might be made wrong less often if you ordered a “Vanilla Latte, sub Sugar-free vanilla.” That way the dominant marking is VL, which should trigger grabbing 2% in their heads. Then they still have time to catch the sugar-free part in the drink process. There are a lot of auto-pilot actions in the drink process, like calling it out or grabbing milk, and anything that helps that can help drink accuracy. Just a thought.
I cannot speak for what the customer experience is like in Seattle, but I have seen it vary greatly from store to store and from area to area. There are certain stores I will not visit at all when I visit my mother-in-law. It never fails that my drink will be wrong, and if I say anything about it the baristas there argue with me. The local (to me) Starbucks stores vary a bit too. The closest one to me is usually pretty good, but they have issues too… usually the baristas are at least nice about remaking a drink if it’s off. There are others in the area, however, where the baristas aren’t outright rude, but they don’t seem to understand customer service. Like the barista who told us the drink would be terrible as ordered. She assured us that regular mocha was what we really wanted, and marked the SF Mocha as regular Mocha, even when we said we were sure we waned the sugar free for my diabetic husband.
Just to be clear, I have been a Sbux customer for many yrs. I’ve had many heart-warming, kind great experiences…. including, as someone else here wrote about a death…when my Dad had just died and my sister and I stopped in a Sbux I’d never been in. We’d been doing funeral stuff all day, it was pouring rain and we stopped in for a cup of straight coffee late in the afternoon. Of course I’d been crying nearly all the time, and when I went to the POS to order, as soon as I started to talk the tears just started pouring ….I mumbled out to the partner that our dad died last nite. She put her hand on mine, was very compassionate, told me to go sit down, she’d bring me the coffees, didn’t charge me. That’s an extreme example but I have had many good experiences through-out the yrs with Sbux. I wouldn’t still be there had I not. My point is, as I think many have agreed, the training…or lack of…. the high turn-over rate, all the many directions Sbux has chosen to go instead of sticking mainly to the coffee which keeps the baristas busy on so many different things…has lead to disappointment and not necessarily ‘improvement’ with all things Sbux.
I realize now I’ve rambled way too much and probably not too clearly. Oh well, maybe someone will get the point!
@denise r – I got your point. Very well said.
I want to make myself clearer. I’m not disappointed that I don’t get them anymore, although there were specific instances where receiving one was warranted. I’m just shocked how many they used to give out, compared to now.
One thing is for certain. I may not always throw my two cents into every subject on here, but I always learn a little of something I didn’t know. I’m not certain I was ever aware how these CSRC’s were kept or available per shift with the Partners. No disrespect to any Partner, but I have to admit that what Claire said, had crossed my mind. I could see where a few dishonest Partners could accidentally 😉 😉 make their way home with them to do with them what they wish.
@Denise – Once in awhile I like to remind others and myself what brought me to Starbucks in the first place, and the lasting impression it had left on me. You lost your Dad, and I had just been trying to get over 2 life altering accidents. It was 2 great Partners, and that one moment……. 3 people in the right place at the right time, and something changed for me. I can’t explain how walking into a Starbucks for a second time (the first being a disaster), had an effect on what was going on in my life, but it did. This one thig is what continues to bring me back. Sadly….. I believe that is all slipping away and has gotten lost while Starbucks tries to be something to everybody. Little by little I feel a chasm growing between myself and the relationship I had with Starbucks. Now I’m rambling, but I get it Denise!
Once, a DM sent me 7 of them. Which seems like a lot, but if you knew what those cruel partners did to me & 2 little girls that I was babysitting, you wouldn’t believe such heartlessness from Starbucks employees.
Can’t Starbucks HQ investigate eBay sellers & where they’re getting all those RCs? Not on,y free drink certificates, but popular seasonal items, such as Caramel Brûlée & Pumpkin Spice sauces (sometimes selling for about $100 a jug). If you want your blood to boil (well, if you hate thieves & opportunists like I do), search different Starbucks terms on eBay, esp. popular items like matcha powder & things only used by stores, not for retail sale anywhere. I’d like to see these bad partners caught & pay back every penny & then some.
I just happened to redeem my last CSRC this afternoon. I think it’s a good idea for doing that even thought it’s not obligated.
One time while waiting in line, I saw a barista handed a CSRC to the husband (forgot to prepare a sandwich or something) and then his wife tried to take away from him. It was a bit funny.
Chicago – I have been here 8 years and travel a lot. This is the worst place for Starbuck customer service.
Things that happen often here for me
Really bad attitudes especially in busy locations
I have waited 30+ minutes at least 20 times.
long wait times even when the store is empty