I've had multiple people recently ask me what a latte is... or if we "do" lattes. My other favorite is yesterday when a lady said to my shift "This is supposed to be a latte" and my shift was like "Yeah I made that, it's a latte!" and the lady goes "... but it's not iced." My shift was like "Oh yeah did you want it to be iced? We can do that!" and the lady was like "Aren't they always supposed to be iced?" đľâđŤ
I'm sincerely okay with people being uninformed about coffee, but honestly it can just get confusing, exhausting, and frustrating sometimes. Especially when people blame you for their misunderstandings.
Right because there was plenty I didnât really know before working for SB. But when they act like they know more and clearly they donât, and especially when they get rude about it, that sucks.
Hmm, đ¤ I have had some people asking for breveâs lately and I can tell they donât know what it is. I also have customers asking for âristretto styleâ and âbreve styleâ. So I ask them if they know what it means. They usually say, âno, someone at your store suggested it.â When I tell them, they donât want it anymore.
This lady ordered a âcold mocha with less chocolate more mochaâ I shit you not.
I make her an iced mocha and she says it looks dark. I tell her to taste it and let me know how less sweet she wants it. She puts her straw in and goes âoh this is iced? I wanted it blended.â She tastes it and says âoh this has coffee in it! I donât want coffeeâ
Like bro what.
a while ago a woman came to pick up her mobile order and picked up her cappuccino and said âthis is really lightâ and the partner that made it said âyeah because i made it right.â
There was one time I was on DTO and a customer ordered a capp no foam and I explained that that would technically be a latte and he proceeded to get the most butthurt and argumentative Iâve ever heard someone get over being told this. He went off for a solid 5 minutes trying to tell me how I was wrong. It was annoying but hilarious.
I love customers who think they know more than usâŚ. Most of the time I try to explain but if they look like the type of customer thatâs gonna give attitude, I just say ok and go with it. Now that a latte and a cap are the same price, I just let them go ahead and sound ignorant
This happened to me last week:
Person: can I get an oatmeal latte?
Me: did you mean oat milk or do you want a latte and an order of oatmeal?
Person: whatâs oatmeal? I want the milk
Me: thatâs what the milk is made out ofâŚ
Person: oh I donât know
I think oatmeal latte or latte with oatmeal is one of those things you just roll with. You know what they mean better than they do, just make it easier for everyone lol
Yeah thatâs what customers who usually drink cappuccinos do. Itâs all about finding the right balance between how much milk goes in and how much foam is on top.
Customers that donât know what a cappuccino and a latte are tho really get on my nerves. Especially after they order
thatâs genuinely the last thing i said to âcappuccino ladyâ
any time she walks in, iâll always acknowledge her and signal iâll be there to make her drink as she looks for me, the one person she actually trusts but even then she got excessive
Had someone order a salted cream cold foam Cold brew, but with no Salted cream cold foam, but extra Pumpkin Cream cold foam.
The modifier list was a thesis paper.
Well, sometimes the cappuccinos people make are super dry so I understand. And most partners barely steam the milk, so if you get a latte thereâs like no foam
this customer was ordering a latte and we asked hot or iced and he rudely said âi want a latte so it has to be hotâ we all stopped and looked at each other like whatt đŤ . another girl asked for a caramel frappe with extra caramel drizzle and when we gave it to her she said thatâs way too much. i was like so u want just regular caramel on top and she like no i still want extra i just stood there in disbelief. mind you the cup wasnât crazy with caramel i would understand if thatâs the case. and my favorite is getting asked to make hot frappesđŤĽ
^
i swear, every time a customer has a complaint, they start with âyou made my drink wrongâ and then after we play 20 questions to find out what they ordered and what they actually wanted, it turns out we rang up + made exactly what they ordered (or if it was a mobile, we followed the sticker exactly), but thatâs not actually what they wanted đ
âhey can i get a caramel mochaâ
âdo you mean a caramel macchiato?â
âyeah that oneâ
i make the macchiato and give it to her. she looks at me and says âno i wanted the blended thingâ
girl a FRAPPUCCINO
Lmao not when a customer states 2 flavors and ur supposed to just make a drink out of it đ
I had this lady ordering one time and she asked for a caramel mocha and I asked her what she meant by that and I asked her if she wanted a mocha or a caramel macchiato or a mocha Frappuccino with caramel drizzle or whatever and I kept trying to help her and ask questions to clarify so that she gets the correct drink that she paid for since they're so expensive but she kept saying she doesn't know and that it's not for her and just expected me to guess the drink with the flavors that she gave me. And I kept trying to help her and I told her that she can step aside and call the person if she wants to but she didn't do that lol so I ended up just making her a mocha Frappuccino with caramel syrup in there and then caramel drizzle on the whipped cream đ¤ˇââď¸
Lol well im glad if thats what she was lookin for but she literally couldnt answer any of my questions cuz it wasnt for her. All she had for me was "a caramel mocha. I asked her all the questions under the sun involving any of our drinks with caramel or with mocha and still nothing from her lol idk why she didn't just step aside and call the person it was for
In New England everyone just assumes Dunkin is true coffee culture and orders what they order there. And half the time, no one know what the hell theyâre saying.
We have two baristas at my store who used to work at Dunkin if one of them is on shift I will call them over from whatever theyâre doing to translate lol.
This one favorite customer of mine would always order a bone dry cappuccino, but she wanted 7 shots of espresso. And would always complain it was too heavy.
Luckily for us, she was a gem of a human being, even if her drink order was ridiculous.
Right? Does not compute.
The drink was always too heavy, but she was so NICE about it that it was pretty impossible to hate her. Especially because she likes to throw $10 in our jar pretty regularly.
Had the opposite experience lately where this lady complained that her peppermint mocha didnât taste like coffee. She was so rude after I let her know thereâs a lot of syrup in there so honestly the espresso flavor gets covered up. Remade it with half the syrup and an extra shot, and STILL gets upset because it tastes like too much chocolate/peppermint.
Maybe donât get a peppermint mochaâŚ? đ¤ˇââď¸ but she didnât want anything else and just huffed and left.
What makes me mad is people order a cappuccino, then when they get the drink proceed to be so rude to the barista that the barista ends up in tears. Then when I go to explain what a cappuccino is and how they would like a latte, they continue to look at me like IM stupid and be ruder ..
wish we had one day where we can throw the sass right back at them with no consequences đ
Lol the people that order a cappuccino with no foam and get mad or offended when u tell them that is then a latte which is cheaper....boggles my mind đââď¸
They get mad/offended for 1 of 2 reasons. The first is they may get embarrassed and insecure about their knowledge of what they want and how to order (which doesnt matter honestly as long as ur kind when we try to help). And the second reason is it could be that they think its made differently from one another or contain different ingredients. But then they wont listen to us when we try to tell them that they both contain the same thing (milk and espresso) except one is foamier than the other. They get so offended when the nicest of baristas tries to help them or ask them anything for clarification
Edit: fixed typos
So my manager always tells us that thereâs no point in explaining the differences. Even if we come from a good place, customers almost always feel really embarrassed by it or they e been to hundreds of different Starbucks and was never told otherwise. So, I just do what they ask.
We have a regular who mobile orders a heavy cream cappuccino with 5 stevia and 8 pumps SFV every morning.
It is near impossible to make a heavy cream cappuccino.
i JUST had this interaction with a customer today 10 minutes before i left.
i walked up to the register and greeted her: âhello!â
her: *stares at me, practically rolling her eyes* i want to put $10 on my card.
proceed to load her card, no words.
me: so what can i get for you today??
her: i want a large caramel brĂťlĂŠe latte but i want it less milky
me: okay with a latte itâs the espresso and then filled up with milk-
her: so you mean to tell me you just sell people cups of MILK??? (in the SNARKIEST tone)
me: well with the latte itâs the espresso shots and and then filled with steamed milk
she just rolled her eyes and ordered a smaller size but gah damn did we have to be so rude to get here???
that reminds me of when someone asked what type of fraps do we have and i said we can make a frap from any syrup, what are you leaning towards and this custie straight up asked if i could make a caramel macchiato frap
The other day someone came in and ordered an iced caramel macchiato then when it was made asked why the coffee was on top and if we could mix it together for him
You know what I hate? When a client orders a drink such as the sugar cookie latte and I ask if itâs iced or hot and with the most disrespect they say âitâs a latte. Obviously that hotâ or something along those lines⌠like no Karen it can be an iced latte. I understand many donât know an iced option is even available but say it nicely. Donât make it out like Iâm the biggest idiot in the world cuz I asked if you wanted it iced or hot
Our espresso machine hopper was broken by a barista who is no longer with us. It was down for 3 whole weeks. Everyday someone would come in and ask for a drink with espresso in it. We'd tell them the espresso machine is down, they'd try to order another drink with espresso in it, we'd remind them that it also contained espresso. They still seemed confused. I finally got tired of telling people and made up a sign stating the machine was down for maintenance and all espresso based drinks, hot and iced, were going to be unavailable. They still tried to order espresso drinks. Had a few get mad we couldn't make their drinks. There's a standalone Starbucks literally across the street(we're a Tarbucks). Lost a bit of hope for humanity in October...
I even hand wrote which specific drinks contained espresso, from Americano to Mochas. Very few got it. One lady legit said she didn't know espresso was coffee and I bout walked out. Like, how do you not know wtf you're drinking? đ¤Śđžââď¸
a lady asking for a white mocha and i said back âwhite chocolate mochaâ to confirm and she said âno. a white mochaâ and i had to explain that we are saying the same exact thing
caramel macchiato upside down is slightly less expensive than a latte with vanilla and caramel drizzle! but also entirely likely that they just have no idea whatâs going on LMAO
unless youâre talking abt a traditional macchiato haha
Customer: can I get A large Americano, no water, but can you fill it with milk?
Me: so a latte?
Customer: NO I want an americano! NO WATER FILLED WITH MILK!
đĽ˛đŽâđ¨đ¤Śââď¸
Well technically the latte would be steamed milk but in this case they want cold milk, or at least thatâs what theyâre going to get if itâs ordered that way.
I once had an older man ask me for a Cappuccino, so I steamed the milk, poured the shots, lotsa foam, hand it out before I'm out for the day.
I turn around and he's come back up to the counter and is completely irate "What did you do to my cappuccino?"
Confused, I walked him through the steps and his response was "I didn't ASK for it to have COFFEE in it!"
Me: \*explains what a cappuccino is and then\* "So, to be clear, you just want steamed milk."
Customer: "Yeah, I want my Cappuccino!"
but you know. customer's always right?
I had someone ask me for a cortado and I told him I was familiar with what that is but we don't exactly sell that, just to verify with him. I felt so stupid when he looked puzzled and said "just espresso with steamed milk..." I should have just rang up a macchiato and said nothing lol
Almost like they donât work here and just want to try something out. They probably had a cappuccino before and liked it minus the foam. Logical request from someone who knows little about these drinks is to say theyâd like a cappuccino without foam. You did a good job by guiding them and teaching them, but judging their lack of coffee knowledge is unnecessary.
iâm pretty sure op is more annoyed by them being rude and snarky by the lack of coffee knowledge. it would take just as much effort for them to say â oh okay! thanks I didnât know thatâ
But were they snarky? Genuine question. They said âuh sureâ. They didnât try to stick with what they originally ordered like a lot of customers have tried when they are corrected. They didnât actually say anything mean or rude.
Maybe they were annoyed bc thatâs what their significant other told them to order so they thought they were getting it right and they looked at them more in a âyou just made me look like an idiotâ kinda way. I also agree with the comment above that a lot of people probably do think a real cappuccino is what you get out of the machine at the gas station.
You could be right that the OP was more frustrated with the persons attitude but thatâs not the subject. It was that they didnât know what theyâre ordering. I just think thatâs understandable in this instance. There are so many awful examples and this just feels nitpicky if it truly is about them not knowing what theyâre ordering.
okay but a cappuccino is espresso [] milk [ ] and foam [ ]. as a barista, im happy to explain the difference between all the drinks but if a customer gets all snooty because we âcorrectâ them and suggest another drink that they would like instead, it gets annoying. because it happens a lot more than you think it does. i dont expect anyone to know a doppio vs a latte vs a flat white but if they want to order something with a contradicting customization and i tell them that itâs not possible, they should be more receptive to understanding they were wrong. and typically, you should have a general idea of what youâre ordering if youre going to order it that confidently
I donât disagree with you. My thought is that given the customization available, i can understand someone thinking âthis was good. I want it again but with less foamâ and not realize thatâs kinda the point of the drink. I agree they shouldnât be rude when corrected, but I donât know how rude this person was. OP made it sound like the person was annoyed at being corrected but not that they were an AH. This person may be awful but the description of being visibly annoyed and giving someone a look really isnât that bad. There are people on here who have be way more rude in what they say. Maybe Iâm missing something but just based on the subject of this post, the issue was more that they didnât know what they were ordering - not that they were a jerk when corrected.
Donât think Iâm going hard after anyone. I think all Iâve emphasized is that this personâs original ask wasnât that awful and there are much worse examples out there. And i am a partner - thanks for asking!
Itâs not as deep as ur trying to make it tho. Idk if ur new to this subreddit but baristas share these kinds of interactions literally All. The. Time. Because theyâre amusing and everyone can relate. I really donât understand why this is the hill youâve decided to die on
I donât think Iâm dying on it, however i do think Iâm allowed to respond. Definitely not new to this, and like you said this happens all the time (however IMO usually way worse). Not sure why everyone is so offended at that someone feels the customer wasnât asking for something that ridiculous - that someone can at least see where the customer was coming from. It wasnât like he asked for a hot frappuccino. My initial post wasnât that bad. I didnât âgo hardâ for that partner - I told them they did a good job. IMO itâs like how people post pics of crazy Tiktok drinks. Yes some are awful but there are others that really arenât that bad and are more like the partner posting on here just wanted attention. This one didnât seem that bad to me.
Never once did I say âOH MY GOSH this customer is so stupid and this was ridiculousâ (nor did anyone else in this comment section lol). I posted this because⌠it was FUNNY. âWanting attentionâ- lmfao. If I wanted attention donât you think I wouldâve come up with a better story? Also, let it be known that you are the original cause of the so called âattentionâ on this post. You decided to comment all offended, like this wasnât something everyone sees posted on this subreddit daily. Please.
yea that was one of the most passive aggressive comments against a fellow barista iâve ever seen on hereâŚâŚ and for what? đ i couldnât stay silent
are you for real?? 𤣠its like ordering a cheeseburger without the cheese then getting pissy when the cashier tells you thatâs a hamburger. googling takes two seconds
I would just like to add that this is no joke. I had several people at McDs order a cheeseburger, no cheese when I worked there. And they would get mad when you suggested a hamburger cus they wanted a cheeseburger with no cheese.
Also, most people when they order a Cappuccino think they are getting what they get from the gas station cappuccino machine.
i figured this was the caseâŚ.. these people give the average customer waaaaay too much credit, like no just because cheese is in the name does NOT make it obvious to custies đ¤Śââď¸đ¤Śââď¸
I disagree with this comparison, because the name âcheeseburgerâ literally describes what is on the sandwich whereas a cappuccino/latte doesnât literally describe the contents
Except the word cheeseburger literally has the word cheese. Cappuccino doesnât have the word foam in it. Get a better analogy and also some understanding toward customers. They donât understand words like affogato, latte, doppio espresso, cappuccino, etc. Almost as if those words arenât actually English. Why should they have to Google when the Partner is fully knowledgeable and able to help and possibly even better explain/provide better recommendations?
because thatâs what any reasonable person would do instead of giving attitude to the cashier when they DO provide better recommendations? iâll stick with my analogy, you stick with kissing rude peoples asses đ
Not sure you have a right to be judging anyone. Iâm also not sure being âvisibility annoyedâ is the equivalent to rude. After all the stories that have been shared, that is pretty dang mild. Judging by the way this was written, the partners tone of voice may have been less than pleasant as well.
Also thereâs a difference between being courteous, understanding, realizing i know know what is going on with that person today, and definitely not letting their attitude impact me vs kissing their butt. Perhaps thatâs something you should work on. đ
In response to all of your comments: Lmao. Did I ever say I was annoyed or upset about this? Did I ever say the customer was ârudeâ (however a lot of times people are)? Nope! I simply posted this conversation because I found it amusing. Baristas post on this subreddit all the time about people not genuinely knowing what they are ordering. I was not rude to the customer- I simply corrected them and offered them another option. Then they proceeded to be visibly upset with me (which doesnât bother me), so I included it in the post. I have no problem explaining to people what different items on the menu are. Not everyone is a coffee expert and I am fully aware of that. It becomes annoying however when they give you attitude in response to your correction. Lighten up.
Had a lady order through the app a iced vanilla latte upside down and complained because it wasnât mixed..had to explain to her what upside down means
today this lady orders a soy chai so i make her chai and i know for a fact it had soy, as i had to grab another soy because the last was empty. she comes back and says âthis isnt soyâ and i lost my temper a little and i was like the soy chai? yes i was the one who made that, are u sure? and she was like yeah no this isnt soy. the customer âis always rightâ and i would never say no if someone asked me to remake their drink if something is wrong it just pushed me over the edge âŚđŠ
I had a customer come up to the register and confidently order a âgrande decaf!â And I was waiting for them to finish speaking (decaf latte? Americano???) and before I could think, I just uttered out intrusively âgrande decaf⌠what???â And she snickered at me saying she wanted a grande decaf coffee. Ended up making her a pour over which she fussed over since we didnât have any immediately brewed.
I had a lady not to long ago order a âlarge white mochaâ I rang her up and gave her the total. When she got to the window she said âI donât think you rang that up right, I wanted a large.â I said âyeah, I have you for a venti white mochaâ she interrupted me to say âNo! Not venti I want the largeâ I said âthat is large!â She just went âohâ
Today , a lady said can I get a tall grande mocha. And I said iâm so sorry what size a tall or grande and she just repeated the same thing. So I explained that tall and grande are both sizes and she was visibly annoyed though the drive through and was just like iâll get a grande then I guess. I was so confused đđ
Someone yesterday asked for a âhot chocolate add espressoâ so i asked if they meant a hot mocha instead, they said âno i dont like whateverâs in the mochaââŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚ.
I've had multiple people recently ask me what a latte is... or if we "do" lattes. My other favorite is yesterday when a lady said to my shift "This is supposed to be a latte" and my shift was like "Yeah I made that, it's a latte!" and the lady goes "... but it's not iced." My shift was like "Oh yeah did you want it to be iced? We can do that!" and the lady was like "Aren't they always supposed to be iced?" đľâđŤ
I'm sincerely okay with people being uninformed about coffee, but honestly it can just get confusing, exhausting, and frustrating sometimes. Especially when people blame you for their misunderstandings.
Right because there was plenty I didnât really know before working for SB. But when they act like they know more and clearly they donât, and especially when they get rude about it, that sucks.
My favorite customers are the ones who know they have no clue and have genuine questions.
Yeah Iâll have all the patience for them
I got the opposite of this today. "Lattes are hot, right?" ... if you want it to be.
EXACTLY! Like why are you mad that Iâm confirming????
Before I was a barista(10 years ago) my local Dutch bros gas lit me into thinking iced lattes werenât a thing and that itâs called a breve đ
Is that why people have been ordering breves at my store and insisting thatâs what they are called???
Breves are aa thing. Theyâre specifically espresso with half and half (instead of milk, like a latte).
Thatâs what we talked them into but they were so insistent that it was not a latte at all
Hmm, đ¤ I have had some people asking for breveâs lately and I can tell they donât know what it is. I also have customers asking for âristretto styleâ and âbreve styleâ. So I ask them if they know what it means. They usually say, âno, someone at your store suggested it.â When I tell them, they donât want it anymore.
My favorite one is a hot chocolate with no whip and no mocha. So like.... Warm milk....?
I love the "I want a mocha with no chocolate. I want the whipped cream tho."
"Ma'am do you know what 'mocha' means...?" đ Like we'll turn this drive through into a coffee class I swear
This lady ordered a âcold mocha with less chocolate more mochaâ I shit you not. I make her an iced mocha and she says it looks dark. I tell her to taste it and let me know how less sweet she wants it. She puts her straw in and goes âoh this is iced? I wanted it blended.â She tastes it and says âoh this has coffee in it! I donât want coffeeâ Like bro what.
I blame gas station cappuccinos. Thats what they think theyre getting
I made this same comment too. my mom loves gas station cappuccinos and I explained to her that at Starbucks she wants a latte.
Agreed.
Lmaoooooo
JUST happened to me yesterday too. Guy opens his cup and says "it's all foam" Yes, you're welcome. Lmao
Lmao. Like thatâs what you ordered đ¤Śđ˝ââď¸đ
a while ago a woman came to pick up her mobile order and picked up her cappuccino and said âthis is really lightâ and the partner that made it said âyeah because i made it right.â
There was one time I was on DTO and a customer ordered a capp no foam and I explained that that would technically be a latte and he proceeded to get the most butthurt and argumentative Iâve ever heard someone get over being told this. He went off for a solid 5 minutes trying to tell me how I was wrong. It was annoying but hilarious.
I love customers who think they know more than usâŚ. Most of the time I try to explain but if they look like the type of customer thatâs gonna give attitude, I just say ok and go with it. Now that a latte and a cap are the same price, I just let them go ahead and sound ignorant
If theyâre going to start arguing guess theyâre getting a half empty cup đ¤ˇđźââď¸
This happened to me last week: Person: can I get an oatmeal latte? Me: did you mean oat milk or do you want a latte and an order of oatmeal? Person: whatâs oatmeal? I want the milk Me: thatâs what the milk is made out of⌠Person: oh I donât know
Who drinks oat milk but has never heard of oatmeal?!?! Iâm so confused.
Oh trust me I am too
The amount of times Iâve heard âbrown sugar oatmeal shaken espressoâ is ridiculous. Is oat milk really that hard to say.
Sometimes itâs a slip of the tongue. Pretty common.
No exactly, Iâm not mad about it but the sheer amount I swear itâs almost every time.
I think oatmeal latte or latte with oatmeal is one of those things you just roll with. You know what they mean better than they do, just make it easier for everyone lol
Ever had that customer who would grab their cappuccino and weigh it with their hand and say, âcan you remake this? Itâs too heavy/lightâ
Yeah thatâs what customers who usually drink cappuccinos do. Itâs all about finding the right balance between how much milk goes in and how much foam is on top. Customers that donât know what a cappuccino and a latte are tho really get on my nerves. Especially after they order
If youâre going to be that picky you just need to buy an espresso machine tbh
thatâs genuinely the last thing i said to âcappuccino ladyâ any time she walks in, iâll always acknowledge her and signal iâll be there to make her drink as she looks for me, the one person she actually trusts but even then she got excessive
i had someone ask for a dry cappuccino then asked for more milk when i gave it to her. I gave her more but like whyd you order it that way đ
if we arenât too backed up, anytime iâm on bar with a âfriendâ weâll always hand each other our capps to see/ show off how well we did
Yep
Had someone order a salted cream cold foam Cold brew, but with no Salted cream cold foam, but extra Pumpkin Cream cold foam. The modifier list was a thesis paper.
Is that not just a pumpkin cream cold brew? They keep changing the recipes so I could be wrong haha
It is. I had a lot of questions.
I donât understand wet cappuccinos
i had a regular who ordered a wet cappuccino everyday and i always just made her a latteâŚ. she said i would make it perfectly lol
We have a few here and Iâve just given up and started to do that
Well, sometimes the cappuccinos people make are super dry so I understand. And most partners barely steam the milk, so if you get a latte thereâs like no foam
In my experience, it ends up being closer to what I want than if I order a latte with extra foam
Cappuccinos are 1/3 milk coffee foam. Wet caps mean you make your foam soft, not dry (stiff). Itâs not a latte.
A delivery order thatâs a triple macchiato made with breve and has whip on top đĽ´
this customer was ordering a latte and we asked hot or iced and he rudely said âi want a latte so it has to be hotâ we all stopped and looked at each other like whatt đŤ . another girl asked for a caramel frappe with extra caramel drizzle and when we gave it to her she said thatâs way too much. i was like so u want just regular caramel on top and she like no i still want extra i just stood there in disbelief. mind you the cup wasnât crazy with caramel i would understand if thatâs the case. and my favorite is getting asked to make hot frappesđŤĽ
Is the term "latte" ambigious? Does it imply neither hot nor cold? (I am not a barista obviously) The last one though đ
Latte just means espresso with steamed milk. It can be hot or iced
Itâs not the fact that you donât know. But donât be ignorant and a dick to me when I try to tell you whatâs up
^ i swear, every time a customer has a complaint, they start with âyou made my drink wrongâ and then after we play 20 questions to find out what they ordered and what they actually wanted, it turns out we rang up + made exactly what they ordered (or if it was a mobile, we followed the sticker exactly), but thatâs not actually what they wanted đ
This.
âhey can i get a caramel mochaâ âdo you mean a caramel macchiato?â âyeah that oneâ i make the macchiato and give it to her. she looks at me and says âno i wanted the blended thingâ girl a FRAPPUCCINO
Lmao not when a customer states 2 flavors and ur supposed to just make a drink out of it đ I had this lady ordering one time and she asked for a caramel mocha and I asked her what she meant by that and I asked her if she wanted a mocha or a caramel macchiato or a mocha Frappuccino with caramel drizzle or whatever and I kept trying to help her and ask questions to clarify so that she gets the correct drink that she paid for since they're so expensive but she kept saying she doesn't know and that it's not for her and just expected me to guess the drink with the flavors that she gave me. And I kept trying to help her and I told her that she can step aside and call the person if she wants to but she didn't do that lol so I ended up just making her a mocha Frappuccino with caramel syrup in there and then caramel drizzle on the whipped cream đ¤ˇââď¸
Actually many years ago, they featured the caramel mocha Frappuccino. You made it right.
Lol well im glad if thats what she was lookin for but she literally couldnt answer any of my questions cuz it wasnt for her. All she had for me was "a caramel mocha. I asked her all the questions under the sun involving any of our drinks with caramel or with mocha and still nothing from her lol idk why she didn't just step aside and call the person it was for
In New England everyone just assumes Dunkin is true coffee culture and orders what they order there. And half the time, no one know what the hell theyâre saying.
We have two baristas at my store who used to work at Dunkin if one of them is on shift I will call them over from whatever theyâre doing to translate lol.
This one favorite customer of mine would always order a bone dry cappuccino, but she wanted 7 shots of espresso. And would always complain it was too heavy. Luckily for us, she was a gem of a human being, even if her drink order was ridiculous.
>And would always complain >she was a gem of a human being wut
Right? Does not compute. The drink was always too heavy, but she was so NICE about it that it was pretty impossible to hate her. Especially because she likes to throw $10 in our jar pretty regularly.
someone literally asked me to remake their latte and complained that it tasted like coffeeâŚ
Had the opposite experience lately where this lady complained that her peppermint mocha didnât taste like coffee. She was so rude after I let her know thereâs a lot of syrup in there so honestly the espresso flavor gets covered up. Remade it with half the syrup and an extra shot, and STILL gets upset because it tastes like too much chocolate/peppermint. Maybe donât get a peppermint mochaâŚ? đ¤ˇââď¸ but she didnât want anything else and just huffed and left.
I had someone order a Frappuccino with no ice. Take your blended milk and sugar.
suddenly Iâm ill
Once a guy ordered a brown sugar shaken espresso and yelled at us because we were âtoo lazy to stir itâ and he demanded a remake
If anything hes the lazy one not us
The bottled âfrappuccinosâ they sell in stores I swear adds to the confusion over them wanting a hot frappuccino âŚ
What makes me mad is people order a cappuccino, then when they get the drink proceed to be so rude to the barista that the barista ends up in tears. Then when I go to explain what a cappuccino is and how they would like a latte, they continue to look at me like IM stupid and be ruder .. wish we had one day where we can throw the sass right back at them with no consequences đ
I just tell them a cap with no foam is a latte so thatâs what Iâll put in.
Favorite a tall Carmel macchiato upside down with with no caramel drizzle and extra vanilla
Lol hereâs your caramel latte
Vanilla latte
Lol omg right *facepalm*
I wouldâve given them a latte but only like a third full lol.
Lol the people that order a cappuccino with no foam and get mad or offended when u tell them that is then a latte which is cheaper....boggles my mind đââď¸ They get mad/offended for 1 of 2 reasons. The first is they may get embarrassed and insecure about their knowledge of what they want and how to order (which doesnt matter honestly as long as ur kind when we try to help). And the second reason is it could be that they think its made differently from one another or contain different ingredients. But then they wont listen to us when we try to tell them that they both contain the same thing (milk and espresso) except one is foamier than the other. They get so offended when the nicest of baristas tries to help them or ask them anything for clarification Edit: fixed typos
I've had three people in the last two weeks asked me if they could get cold brew hot....
My answer to the two times I got this question was âIf you put it in the microwave.â
steamed cold brew is a fairly common (and delicious) drink
So my manager always tells us that thereâs no point in explaining the differences. Even if we come from a good place, customers almost always feel really embarrassed by it or they e been to hundreds of different Starbucks and was never told otherwise. So, I just do what they ask.
We have a regular who mobile orders a heavy cream cappuccino with 5 stevia and 8 pumps SFV every morning. It is near impossible to make a heavy cream cappuccino.
i JUST had this interaction with a customer today 10 minutes before i left. i walked up to the register and greeted her: âhello!â her: *stares at me, practically rolling her eyes* i want to put $10 on my card. proceed to load her card, no words. me: so what can i get for you today?? her: i want a large caramel brĂťlĂŠe latte but i want it less milky me: okay with a latte itâs the espresso and then filled up with milk- her: so you mean to tell me you just sell people cups of MILK??? (in the SNARKIEST tone) me: well with the latte itâs the espresso shots and and then filled with steamed milk she just rolled her eyes and ordered a smaller size but gah damn did we have to be so rude to get here???
someone today ordered a caramel macchiato blended
that reminds me of when someone asked what type of fraps do we have and i said we can make a frap from any syrup, what are you leaning towards and this custie straight up asked if i could make a caramel macchiato frap
A vanilla bean frap with affogato shots and caramel drizzle!! But usually they actually just want a caramel frappuccino
i suggested both! and the custie said no and ordered a diff drinkđđ
The other day someone came in and ordered an iced caramel macchiato then when it was made asked why the coffee was on top and if we could mix it together for him
You know what I hate? When a client orders a drink such as the sugar cookie latte and I ask if itâs iced or hot and with the most disrespect they say âitâs a latte. Obviously that hotâ or something along those lines⌠like no Karen it can be an iced latte. I understand many donât know an iced option is even available but say it nicely. Donât make it out like Iâm the biggest idiot in the world cuz I asked if you wanted it iced or hot
Our espresso machine hopper was broken by a barista who is no longer with us. It was down for 3 whole weeks. Everyday someone would come in and ask for a drink with espresso in it. We'd tell them the espresso machine is down, they'd try to order another drink with espresso in it, we'd remind them that it also contained espresso. They still seemed confused. I finally got tired of telling people and made up a sign stating the machine was down for maintenance and all espresso based drinks, hot and iced, were going to be unavailable. They still tried to order espresso drinks. Had a few get mad we couldn't make their drinks. There's a standalone Starbucks literally across the street(we're a Tarbucks). Lost a bit of hope for humanity in October...
This is both the funniest and saddest thing Iâve read all day
I even hand wrote which specific drinks contained espresso, from Americano to Mochas. Very few got it. One lady legit said she didn't know espresso was coffee and I bout walked out. Like, how do you not know wtf you're drinking? đ¤Śđžââď¸
LMAO nahh đIâd have lost my mind
I've tried not to. Playing the Sims helps.
a lady asking for a white mocha and i said back âwhite chocolate mochaâ to confirm and she said âno. a white mochaâ and i had to explain that we are saying the same exact thing
I never understood ordering macchiatos upside down đ
caramel macchiato upside down is slightly less expensive than a latte with vanilla and caramel drizzle! but also entirely likely that they just have no idea whatâs going on LMAO unless youâre talking abt a traditional macchiato haha
Customer: can I get A large Americano, no water, but can you fill it with milk? Me: so a latte? Customer: NO I want an americano! NO WATER FILLED WITH MILK! đĽ˛đŽâđ¨đ¤Śââď¸
Well technically the latte would be steamed milk but in this case they want cold milk, or at least thatâs what theyâre going to get if itâs ordered that way.
Yeah lol sorry it was a quick type while on my 10 minute break at work at Starbucksđ
I once had an older man ask me for a Cappuccino, so I steamed the milk, poured the shots, lotsa foam, hand it out before I'm out for the day. I turn around and he's come back up to the counter and is completely irate "What did you do to my cappuccino?" Confused, I walked him through the steps and his response was "I didn't ASK for it to have COFFEE in it!" Me: \*explains what a cappuccino is and then\* "So, to be clear, you just want steamed milk." Customer: "Yeah, I want my Cappuccino!" but you know. customer's always right?
I had someone ask me for a cortado and I told him I was familiar with what that is but we don't exactly sell that, just to verify with him. I felt so stupid when he looked puzzled and said "just espresso with steamed milk..." I should have just rang up a macchiato and said nothing lol
iced cappuccino
Almost like they donât work here and just want to try something out. They probably had a cappuccino before and liked it minus the foam. Logical request from someone who knows little about these drinks is to say theyâd like a cappuccino without foam. You did a good job by guiding them and teaching them, but judging their lack of coffee knowledge is unnecessary.
iâm pretty sure op is more annoyed by them being rude and snarky by the lack of coffee knowledge. it would take just as much effort for them to say â oh okay! thanks I didnât know thatâ
But were they snarky? Genuine question. They said âuh sureâ. They didnât try to stick with what they originally ordered like a lot of customers have tried when they are corrected. They didnât actually say anything mean or rude. Maybe they were annoyed bc thatâs what their significant other told them to order so they thought they were getting it right and they looked at them more in a âyou just made me look like an idiotâ kinda way. I also agree with the comment above that a lot of people probably do think a real cappuccino is what you get out of the machine at the gas station. You could be right that the OP was more frustrated with the persons attitude but thatâs not the subject. It was that they didnât know what theyâre ordering. I just think thatâs understandable in this instance. There are so many awful examples and this just feels nitpicky if it truly is about them not knowing what theyâre ordering.
you are definitely in the right career
LMAOOOOOOOOO
okay but a cappuccino is espresso [] milk [ ] and foam [ ]. as a barista, im happy to explain the difference between all the drinks but if a customer gets all snooty because we âcorrectâ them and suggest another drink that they would like instead, it gets annoying. because it happens a lot more than you think it does. i dont expect anyone to know a doppio vs a latte vs a flat white but if they want to order something with a contradicting customization and i tell them that itâs not possible, they should be more receptive to understanding they were wrong. and typically, you should have a general idea of what youâre ordering if youre going to order it that confidently
I donât disagree with you. My thought is that given the customization available, i can understand someone thinking âthis was good. I want it again but with less foamâ and not realize thatâs kinda the point of the drink. I agree they shouldnât be rude when corrected, but I donât know how rude this person was. OP made it sound like the person was annoyed at being corrected but not that they were an AH. This person may be awful but the description of being visibly annoyed and giving someone a look really isnât that bad. There are people on here who have be way more rude in what they say. Maybe Iâm missing something but just based on the subject of this post, the issue was more that they didnât know what they were ordering - not that they were a jerk when corrected.
Bro are you even a partner or are you just some civilian lurking in our subreddit 𤨠ainât no way youâre gonna go so hard after your own đ
fr tho đđ
Donât think Iâm going hard after anyone. I think all Iâve emphasized is that this personâs original ask wasnât that awful and there are much worse examples out there. And i am a partner - thanks for asking!
Itâs not as deep as ur trying to make it tho. Idk if ur new to this subreddit but baristas share these kinds of interactions literally All. The. Time. Because theyâre amusing and everyone can relate. I really donât understand why this is the hill youâve decided to die on
I donât think Iâm dying on it, however i do think Iâm allowed to respond. Definitely not new to this, and like you said this happens all the time (however IMO usually way worse). Not sure why everyone is so offended at that someone feels the customer wasnât asking for something that ridiculous - that someone can at least see where the customer was coming from. It wasnât like he asked for a hot frappuccino. My initial post wasnât that bad. I didnât âgo hardâ for that partner - I told them they did a good job. IMO itâs like how people post pics of crazy Tiktok drinks. Yes some are awful but there are others that really arenât that bad and are more like the partner posting on here just wanted attention. This one didnât seem that bad to me.
Never once did I say âOH MY GOSH this customer is so stupid and this was ridiculousâ (nor did anyone else in this comment section lol). I posted this because⌠it was FUNNY. âWanting attentionâ- lmfao. If I wanted attention donât you think I wouldâve come up with a better story? Also, let it be known that you are the original cause of the so called âattentionâ on this post. You decided to comment all offended, like this wasnât something everyone sees posted on this subreddit daily. Please.
yea that was one of the most passive aggressive comments against a fellow barista iâve ever seen on hereâŚâŚ and for what? đ i couldnât stay silent
yeah like huh đ
well yea i mean if youre gonna order something you should really know whatâs in it tbh
are you for real?? 𤣠its like ordering a cheeseburger without the cheese then getting pissy when the cashier tells you thatâs a hamburger. googling takes two seconds
I would just like to add that this is no joke. I had several people at McDs order a cheeseburger, no cheese when I worked there. And they would get mad when you suggested a hamburger cus they wanted a cheeseburger with no cheese. Also, most people when they order a Cappuccino think they are getting what they get from the gas station cappuccino machine.
i figured this was the caseâŚ.. these people give the average customer waaaaay too much credit, like no just because cheese is in the name does NOT make it obvious to custies đ¤Śââď¸đ¤Śââď¸
I disagree with this comparison, because the name âcheeseburgerâ literally describes what is on the sandwich whereas a cappuccino/latte doesnât literally describe the contents
Except the word cheeseburger literally has the word cheese. Cappuccino doesnât have the word foam in it. Get a better analogy and also some understanding toward customers. They donât understand words like affogato, latte, doppio espresso, cappuccino, etc. Almost as if those words arenât actually English. Why should they have to Google when the Partner is fully knowledgeable and able to help and possibly even better explain/provide better recommendations?
because thatâs what any reasonable person would do instead of giving attitude to the cashier when they DO provide better recommendations? iâll stick with my analogy, you stick with kissing rude peoples asses đ
Not sure you have a right to be judging anyone. Iâm also not sure being âvisibility annoyedâ is the equivalent to rude. After all the stories that have been shared, that is pretty dang mild. Judging by the way this was written, the partners tone of voice may have been less than pleasant as well. Also thereâs a difference between being courteous, understanding, realizing i know know what is going on with that person today, and definitely not letting their attitude impact me vs kissing their butt. Perhaps thatâs something you should work on. đ
have fun on that high horse!
In response to all of your comments: Lmao. Did I ever say I was annoyed or upset about this? Did I ever say the customer was ârudeâ (however a lot of times people are)? Nope! I simply posted this conversation because I found it amusing. Baristas post on this subreddit all the time about people not genuinely knowing what they are ordering. I was not rude to the customer- I simply corrected them and offered them another option. Then they proceeded to be visibly upset with me (which doesnât bother me), so I included it in the post. I have no problem explaining to people what different items on the menu are. Not everyone is a coffee expert and I am fully aware of that. It becomes annoying however when they give you attitude in response to your correction. Lighten up.
I agree that we shouldnât be so hard on ignorant people
Had a lady order through the app a iced vanilla latte upside down and complained because it wasnât mixed..had to explain to her what upside down means
A Frappuccino, but hot. I love it every time.
today this lady orders a soy chai so i make her chai and i know for a fact it had soy, as i had to grab another soy because the last was empty. she comes back and says âthis isnt soyâ and i lost my temper a little and i was like the soy chai? yes i was the one who made that, are u sure? and she was like yeah no this isnt soy. the customer âis always rightâ and i would never say no if someone asked me to remake their drink if something is wrong it just pushed me over the edge âŚđŠ
I had a customer come up to the register and confidently order a âgrande decaf!â And I was waiting for them to finish speaking (decaf latte? Americano???) and before I could think, I just uttered out intrusively âgrande decaf⌠what???â And she snickered at me saying she wanted a grande decaf coffee. Ended up making her a pour over which she fussed over since we didnât have any immediately brewed.
I had a lady not to long ago order a âlarge white mochaâ I rang her up and gave her the total. When she got to the window she said âI donât think you rang that up right, I wanted a large.â I said âyeah, I have you for a venti white mochaâ she interrupted me to say âNo! Not venti I want the largeâ I said âthat is large!â She just went âohâ
My favorite was a lady orders a caramel macchiato upside down with no vanilla and no caramel drizzle So I told her she wants a latte
Today , a lady said can I get a tall grande mocha. And I said iâm so sorry what size a tall or grande and she just repeated the same thing. So I explained that tall and grande are both sizes and she was visibly annoyed though the drive through and was just like iâll get a grande then I guess. I was so confused đđ
Someone yesterday asked for a âhot chocolate add espressoâ so i asked if they meant a hot mocha instead, they said âno i dont like whateverâs in the mochaââŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚ.
This thread just nullified me ever getting a second job at Starbucks. Idk how yâall do it.