Starbucks — Restaurant in California

This morning my 4 year old daughter and I visited the location on madision and hazel in the raleys parking lot. I ordered an iced grande white mocha and I asked for a pup cup for my daughter and asked for chocolate on top (like I have done 25 plus times before with no problem) and the lady responded no we can't do that. I was really confused so I said again its for my daughter, she said my manager will not allow me to put chocolate on top. I said I'll pay extra for the chocolate, I've never had a problem before. She said we don't allow that. As I pulled forward I was still in shock as to what happened and why all of a sudden you have a policy on chocolate especially when the customer offers to pay for it???? I asked again when I got to the window and again she said my manager won't allow it. Which is so irritating, especially when you have a 4 year old in the back seat who is now also disappointed in the whip cream and chocolate rule change out of no where. This is the absolute worst customer service I have ever received at this location and honesty, not like the corporation cares but I'll never be back which is a shame because one of the guys in the morning is super awesome. Outside the chocolate fiasco, my drink was terribly made, it had barely any ice in it, way to much milk. Just disappointing all around. I ended up going to the starbucks at highway 50 and hazel to get everything fixed. They agreed my coffee looked like crap and then said they obviously wouldn't do a chocolate pup cup for a dog but for a child they don't have any rule on not putting chocolate on top. Seems your mananger at the fair oaks location was having a bad day and putting off on her staff and customers. Hopefully she finds a job she actually enjoys because she clearly can't make coffee and she doesn't understand...

I’ve been coming to this Starbucks for years and used to really enjoy the vibe here. This last visit felt… off. The staff was quick to offer help, which I appreciated, but the way the coffee was handled just didn’t make sense. After I ordered, they put my drink into two cups and then added a sleeve on top. I asked why, since that seems wasteful. The response was, “because the coffee is hot.” But… isn’t that what the sleeve is for?

When I said I’d never seen that done before, not here or at any other coffee place, the barista insisted that’s how they’ve always done it. I know that’s not true, at least not in my experience.

Then I asked if they had cream, after checking the condiment bar and seeing it empty. The barista said they were filling a new one and asked a coworker to bring it. I figured they’d bring out the canister like usual. Instead, they gave me another cup with a set amount of cream in it. No joke….now I’ve got three cups. It felt like they were rationing cream or something. When I looked surprised, the barista asked, “Is that not enough for you?” The whole thing felt weird and unwelcoming.

To top it off, the inside was dirty and just not somewhere I’d want to sit and relax like I used to. I’ve been a Gold Card member since 2010 and honestly, this was the first time I left a Starbucks thinking I might not come back. Just didn’t feel like the same...

Update 7/31/24 I don’t know when these people will ever get it right, I’m going to start asking for names of who makes my coffee so I can address to regional manager properly. The WHOLE REASON I ask for a VENTI CUP is so I can have EXTRA ICE, that doesn’t mean alter the coffee to milk ratio either, it means make a grande ice shaken espresso and pour it into a venti cup full of ice. See updated photo.

This is what “EXTRA ICE” & a “SPLASH” of milk looks like. This is the ONLY Starbucks location that NEVER makes my drinks correctly, they are different almost every other time. ANY other Starbucks I go to gets my drink correct 90% of the time. I also know the difference when they use regular beans instead of blonde, I myself am a professional barista so I know the difference. I wonder what regular ice looks like if this is what they think EXTRA ICE looks like, hints why I ask for a VENTI cup, people like their iced coffee COLD and SHAKEN, as you can see all the warmer espresso is at the bottom and a gallon of milk on top. I’m going to start taking photos of my drinks every time I come here and I will follow back up with this review to show the inconsistency of my drinks. On another note, Tony works at the window in the mornings and he is the most nicest...