Starbucks — Restaurant in Carlsbad

I've been a Starbucks customer since l was seven years old. It's been part of my family's life for decades, and I even used to work for them. But what happened to me at the La Costa location on March 15, 2025 was one of the most humiliating and emotionally traumatizing experiences l've ever had at any business. It reminded me of the kind of prejudice I experienced as a child in the aftermath of 9/11. It's my first time at this store, I ordered my birthday reward through the app. My family surprised me with a visit, so l arrived about 20 minutes late to pick it up. I walked in and confirmed the drink with a barista--nothing unusual. Then out of nowhere, a woman ran up to the pickup counter from the lounge area and started confronting me. She also confronted the barista and said that I came very late to pick up my drink and should pay for another one. She said my drink had been "sitting there for almost an hour," as if that somehow justified escalating the situation. She began lecturing me about store policy in a condescending and aggressive tone, telling me I wasn't behaving right and that she had been watching me since I walked in. She told me I needed to show her respect or she would ban me from the store. She said things like "you people" and "people like you need to be corrected," and raised her voice in front of other customers. I had no idea who she was or why she was inserting herself into the situation. I stayed respectful and calm asking for her name and the store number. That's when she told me if I didn't "deescalate myself," she would call the police and have me arrested for trespassing. She immediately ran behind the counter, grabbed the company phone, and started dialing-stopped and stared me down- phone above her head as if she thought I would jump up and reach for it? Only then did she finally say she was the store manager. She was not in a Starbucks uniform, and no name tag. She even stated she wasn't on the clock. So none of this made sense. I told her I would be reporting what happened to the district manager, and instead of handling that like any reasonable professional, she began interrogating me-demanding I verify the district manager's name and show her my state ID. She refused to spell her name or say the store number out loud. She didn't explain anything clearly. She could have answered a question and deescalated the situation, but she deliberately made every moment colder and more dramatic than it needed to be. I walked out and she followed me to stand outside recording me on her phone. It was humiliating and disturbing. I walked out the door, I called Starbucks corporate and reported what happened. I made the call from my car while still shaken up from what just happened- I couldn't even take a sip of my drink. I described the incident in detail and provided my correct contact information. Paula lied to corporate and claimed I trespassed and vandalized store property. I did neither. I filed a police report, and contacted a witness who was working that day. He fears retaliation. I followed up with Starbucks for over a month and a half. I gave them my correct contact information every time, and each time it was verified. I was told multiple times that my case would be escalated and that a district manager would contact me within two business days. That never happened. The last representative said the district manager had already called me. When I asked for details, they admitted no one had called and there was no record. The case had never been reviewed. The manager buried it. Starbucks never took responsibility. Their final response was a vague email accusing me of violating their code of conduct, with no explanation. Meanwhile, the person who threatened me, followed me, interrogated me, and recorded me is still in charge. If you're a person of color, or just someone who expects to be treated with basic decency-be careful. This store is not safe. This store is run by someone who holds personal grudges, manipulates facts, and retaliates when no...

Actually, I have mixed reviews on this location. When I walked into the store there was no one in line and it was a quiet time of the morning. I walked up to the register and no one greeted me. There were two girls standing behind the expresso machine having a full conversation with each other. Both girls looked at me. Neither one of them greeted me. I stood there probably a good 2 to 3 minutes. Another woman had been prepping items behind facing away from the front door. I finally leaned over the counter and said is there somebody that can wait on me and the woman that was prepping items immediately apologized. She asked the two girls to let her know if someone walked in and she didn’t see them so that she could wait on them. While i waited for my coffee to be prepared one of the same two girls waited on a customer who came to the registers after i had walked away.

The woman that took my order was very nice and aware of what she was doing during the time of taking my order and asked pertinent questions of me.

There was a gentleman working behind the counter who did not see me and likely did not hear me walk in. He was prepping items at the area for hot foods. He overheard my conversation with the woman who took my order. This gentleman actually came up to me and gave me some detail on an item that I had, not ordered because of ingredients that I thought were included. He was very informative, and showed me ingredients on the item I had not chosen to order so that I could include this in a future order if I chose to.

I was a little disappointed in the coffee I received because I felt that it had a more burnt taste to it then I am accustomed too with the same drink from...

I just was in there to get a drink and typically everybody's really friendly very helpful fast service & courteous, the place is clean and seems to flow well . but the "person" that they have working the register today: June 22nd at 1:15 was a total pretentious a***!! He acted like his s didn't stink like it was a problem for me to ask how much a apple fritter was. There is clearly no sign in there for it and he acted like it was beneath him to look and do his menial job! He's there to greet and serve. I ended up deciding to not get it... that was a sale they missed. Yes today its just one sale but if there's a hundred people he is treating that way that's quite a bit of a loss in Revenue! my word of mouth for this location is not going to be good anymore! He needs to be fired or let go however you want to do it. He doesn't need to be working in customer service when he treats people like he's more than he actually is when he's just a customer service representative who's making Starbucks look bad!!! I won't be coming back here. I'll drive to San Marcos I'll go to the Starbucks inside Vons or even just go to Better Buzz Coffee in San Marcos but I'll avoid this location because that guy's a...