Starbucks — Restaurant in Florida

We're staying at a nearby hotel and I caught a cold and asked my husband to get me a decaf mint tea with honey and lemon. I wrote out the order and my husband read it to them. Here's the order copied and pasted: "Grande decaf mint tea (Mint Majesty) with honey and lemon (lemonade) Basically a Medicine Ball but with Mint Medley. Hot and must be decaf." My husband read it to them and then stressed again it must be decaf. He knew the original recipe had caffeine and wanted them to make sure to prepare with with decaf mint tea. The young man replied, "Don't worry. I know how to make it." Which seems to have meant, "Don't worry. I'll make it using the original recipe and not the way you're asking because you're wrong." This may not seem like a big deal but I have a heart condition and can't have ANY caffeine. This tea was ordered after 7PM and I was hoping to enjoy a nice cup of tea to help with my cough and sore throat that kept me up most of last night. I was hoping it would help me sleep better tonight. After drinking it, and reusing the two tea bags to make even more tea, I tried to go to sleep. Over an hour and I couldn't sleep even after being exhausted all day. Then, the heart monitor on my watch asks me if I want to record my workout. I'm in bed but my heart rate has gone to over 140 beats per minute thinking I'm working out. So now, instead of getting a good night's sleep, I'm wide awake and waiting for my extra dose of heart medicine to kick in to bring my heart rate down. Another night of no sleep, due to caffeine and a high heart rate, which means my plans tomorrow morning have to be canceled. I guess my husband should have told them my medical history but when a customer stresses decaf you should at least confirm you're going to change it to a product with caffeine so they have a choice. Two tea bags equals half a cup of coffee. That doesn't seem like much but for someone with a heart condition who doesn't have any caffeine, that's enough to get their heart racing (or worse) and keep them up all night. I really hope this person learns that it's not OK to ignore a request for decaf. I was hoping to add pictures of the tea, caffeine content, and my ecg that shows my current heart at 133 BPM but I don't seem to be able...

[Edit to add: The following review is for the new Gibsonton Dr location, after posting, I noticed it was attached to the wrong location. Not sure how that happened when I selected the Gibsonton Dr location. I’ve never had issues with the Big Bend location.]

Normally, I don’t get the chance to dine-in at a Starbucks, but being on maternity leave, I’ve been able to dine-in at two different locations this week. This location is a newer build, so I decided to check it out. I ordered some egg bites and the new Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai (delicious by the way).

During my visit, I nursed my newborn son. I didn’t think anything of it as this is my 2nd child and in the last 3 years of my breastfeeding journey, I have NEVER had any issues with breastfeeding in public spaces. However, today, a Starbucks employee walked over to me and asked if I had a blanket to cover up what I was doing. I was taken aback as I already do cover my breast when nursing in public. I asked if anyone had complained and she said it was bothering the “partners” (later I found that’s what they call their employees). I told her no that I wouldn’t cover my son’s head/face and she repeated her question saying that they can’t have any skin showing. This comment didn’t make sense to me, and since I already cover my breast, I didn’t understand why I was being asked to cover up more; so to get her to leave me alone, I grabbed a burp rag and put it on top of my shirt covering my breast. I was embarrassed at the scene she was unnecessarily causing, so I appeased her, but this experience truly upset me. Being Florida, it’s hot and I was wearing a tank top. No one had any issues with my cleavage showing beforehand; it wasn’t until I was feeding my child that suddenly they took issue. As much as I like Starbucks, I’m extremely disappointed with this whole situation.

Side note: As I mentioned in the beginning, I had the opportunity to dine-in at 2 locations this week, I nursed my son at the other location (Big Bend) as well and had no complaints or anyone asking me to cover up. If I can help it, I will likely not go to the Gibsonton Dr...

UPDATE corporate customer service has responded to my complaint very quickly with an attempt to make it right. While I stand by my review of this specific store, I am still very happy with my overall experience with starbucks as a whole and await a response from the management of this store to address the actions of their employees here.*

Forced to wait outside for my drink, and then they forgot about me for 20 minutes.

I have been traveling across the country while camping with our trailer and visited several different starbucks locations - I get that every county and state have difference regulations regarding face coverings. Until today, every starbucks location was very kind and respectful when it came to medical exemptions.

We were towing a large trailer that would not fit through the drive through and there was no curbside option. So I ordered through my phone and entered the store to pick up my drink and use the bathroom. I had to explain to two different staff members my medical exemption and the fact that we had a trailer in tow and that I needed to use the restroom. They were very resistant, saying I had to wear a mask and that I could not be inside their store regardless of my exemption. After giving more details about my medical condition, which was humiliating as there were several guests watching this interaction and it was a total violation of my privacy, they reluctantly allowed me to use the bathroom, but made me wait outside for my drink. I waited for 20 minutes. I was too humiliated and afraid of more mistreatment to re-enter the store, so my husband and I switched places and he went in to ask about my drink. It was sitting on the counter, forgotten about, getting cold. He expressed how I had been waiting outside like they told me to for over 20 minutes - no one apologized.

All people, whether they are masked up or not, deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and kindness. If you won’t allow a guest to remain inside the building, that’s fine. But don’t force them to publicly humiliate themselves and then forget about them for 20 minutes. Worst service I’ve received at a...