I thought this store would give Starbucks’ PR department something to frame up on their walls. After all, it’s the store where my non-sexual-crush barista works. I walked in with confidence, stepped up, and asked for my fair trade coffee.
Barista: Uh, I think [some blend on brew] is fair trade. (to barista 2) Hey — Where does [said blend] come from?
This guy obviously had no idea what fair trade means. Fair trade coffee can come from Vietnam or Mexico or Guatemala. Fair labor standards are not country-specific. Another barista, hard at work on some iced drink, yelled over his shoulder that no, [said blend] is NOT a certified fair trade blend.
Barista: (pointing at the list of brewing coffees) Sorry. That’s what we have brewing right now.
Me: Oh. Well, can I get a cup of fair trade coffee?
Barista: We’d have to brew a whole new blend. Those (pointing again) are what we have brewing right now.
Me: Oh. Um, can you French-press a cup of fair trade coffee for me?
Barista: We don’t French-press coffees here.
Oh, never mind, I said, and walked out.
OK, I understand that baristas sometimes don’t receive the best training. I even get that, when things are busy, baristas — as any other human being trying to preserve one’s sanity — may try to dissuade customers from French-pressing a specific cup.
But this was at 6 p.m. on a lazy Thursday evening. No one was behind me in line. The barista could’ve easily asked another barista — if new or unfamiliar with Starbucks policies — what he should do in such a situation as the one I was creating. I gave him SEVERAL chances to offer a French-pressed cup. I even asked SPECIFICALLY for a French-pressed fair trade cup. And through it all, I was quite friendly, and I was clearly ready to wait to get what I wanted.
To no avail.
I’m SOOO pissed right now. This barista’s really messin’ with the wrong gal. While I realize this oversight isn’t personal, I’m still, personally, very angry.
I can only hope that this is one of the few non-Starbucks operated franchises that don’t have to follow corporate policy. Doubtful, because they were brewing Starbucks’ corporately mandated Coffee of the Week.
After this post, I’ll be emailing Cindy, and I’m also gonna try and find out who the district manager for this store is. Yes, I could go through the “usual” channels. Cindy’s kindly given me Starbucks’ corporate customer service contact info; you can call 800.23.LATTE, email info@starbucks.com, or send in a comment card. But as a consumer, I have to say I’ve found these avenues extremely unsatisfying. You can read about my email experiences here; when I called the LATTE number, the sweet and very polite rep told me that fair trade blends would be brewing all October and that a fair trade blend will be brewed on the 20th of each month — both untrue, as I found out through Cindy.
Luckily, I’ve given up on the cutting-back-on-drinking thing and have started keeping a steady supply of organic wines on hand…
Filed in: starbuckschallenge csr losangeles fairtrade coffee starbucks business california
Here’s a plan:
Print a copy of the copy of the SBX email you got; preferably in an email browser that shows the CCs to Starbucks corporate. When next you get that answer say:
“Apparently you have not been trained completely. I’m sorry, but that’s not the way you say yes. (Perky smile) May I have your name please, and employee number? I will add you to the list I’m sending to corporate of folks who need retraining. Meanwhile, I suggest you share the policy with the rest of your store, so no one else makes this mistake.”
Look all perky, have a place to write the name down, then say:
“Now, please, let me show you that this is Fairtrade coffee (pick one up and show the symbol). You have four minutes or less to say ‘Yes,’ french press it and provide it to the customer. Starting now.”
Grin; rofl!
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — October 20, 2005 @ 8:54 pm
Hey Siel,
Thanks for all the comments on my blog.
May the Force be with you on your Starbucks battle.
If you want to be really sneaky, courageously sneaky, you could get audioblogger going, and slyly record your interactions with Starbucks baristas for posting. I couldn’t do it, but it’d be neat to listen to.
Comment by Ensie — October 21, 2005 @ 8:34 am
Ooops. Get audio up front; clandestine recording is a misdemeanor with a $5,000 fine. On the other hand, nothing like a good tape recorder marked with a blog URL like a newstation to get the ol’ managerial attention to detail!
Grin.
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — October 21, 2005 @ 9:14 am
Well, I’d need startup capital to buy any kind of audio equipment ;)
I’m still somewhat loath to pin the problems on the barista. With this barista, it was very clear that the guy had no fucking idea what the hell he was talking about. With 24-hour hindsight, I’m more apt to pin his rudeness on a rather silly reluctance on the part of the barista to admitting his ignorance.
My anger’s also somewhat assuaged by the fact that Cindy agreed the barista’s behavior was “unbelievable” and forwarded on my message to Brenda, the said store’s district manager. I’m hoping changes will come, swiftly.
Metaphors be with you –
Comment by Siel — October 21, 2005 @ 9:38 pm
I’ve done pretty well.
On Monday I stopped at the Gower Gulch Starbucks to burn off the rest of the money on my starbucks gift card I got in January (yes, it took me 10 months to spend $20 … what’s wrong with me?)
No problem at all, it was one of the blends of the day.
This morning I stopped at the Starbucks on Glendale Blvd. @ Fletcher in Silverlake. Not on the board as a blend of the day, I got to the front of the line and requested a fair trade blend.
The two girls behind the counter were confused. They sell it by the bag, but don’t brew it.
It’s fair trade month, I said. Don’t you have some Estima?
She said they brew it one day a month, I must have misunderstood the promotion.
Okay, I said, so it’s not the brew of the day. Can I get a fair trade cup of drip?
No, they replied. But sighed and said that they could do a French press.
Cool, I said. And thank you!
The first girl, who seemed to know more about this kind of rolled her eyes at the other girl (who was also a barista) and I held out my $1.50.
She said it’s no charge, sorry about the confusion.
I said, are you sure. It’s no big deal.
She said, no it’s free of charge.
I dropped the two quarters in the tip jar and waited as they ground the coffee and pressed it.
It was really the best cup of coffee I’ve had from Starbucks in years.
PS – I’m going to have some reviews of Fair Trade chocolates later this week on my blog.
Comment by Cybele — October 22, 2005 @ 5:25 pm
Thanks Cybele! I’ve tagged you to the feed — and I’ll be looking out for the fair trade chocolate reviews! I’m assuming this is the candy blog?
Comment by Siel — October 22, 2005 @ 7:44 pm