Starbucks — Restaurant in Houston

So I just left this store after ordering a breakfast for my daughter and I that was $22 and some change. I tried to use a vanilla gift card that they said upfront their system was finicky with. It continued to be declined after having to pull out of the drive through to the front of the store while calling vanilla to be sure it was active and loaded with $25, it was. After their system continued to fail I was denied my order (I know the foods typically get eaten or thrown away, I used to work at Starbucks and I know that customer service and giving people the benefit of the doubt are two of their values) and was forced to leave and go out of my way to a different location where my gift card was processed perfectly fine. I called the sea wolf location to inform them that it was in fact their system that was having the issue, and for that reason I was disappointed with the customer service and problem solving skills I saw and experienced from the staff. And suggested they call to have their system checked out so that others using similar payments don’t have the same issue and treatment. The woman I spoke to (shift lead I assume) was very dismissive, did not offer any compassion or apology for the experience I had and continued to explain that, “when your payment doesn’t work there’s nothing we can do,” when it had been confirmed that their system was the issue. I don’t appreciate the displaced responsibility, and when her attitude continued to displease me she asked, “what is it that I can do for you, I’m glad the el dorado location was able to take care of you,” I said maybe some compassion and accountability for the fact that I was dismissed and forced to go out of my way bc your system was failing would be nice, she began to say I could just talk to her boss and to let her get their information. I told her she could just do a better job of representing the company and promptly hung up the phone....

This visit sucked beans. As usual, the music was loud. I asked the store manager, Jeremy, to turn it down. He replied, "You're sitting in the loudest part of the store." A barista walked over to a control pad, turned the volume way down for all of one second, and returned it to either its previous level or to a level negligible from the original. Based on the barista's demeanor - action and a particularly unfriendly look cast my way - she shared the manager's sentiment. I requested a second time the volume be lowered. After listening through two more tunes, I again noticed no difference. Having ordered nothing to eat or drink, I grabbed my gear and walked to the manager who asked, "You out of here, Gary?" I said yes and continued, "I've requested two times that the music be turned down and nothing's been done about it. Nobody in a conversation should have to talk over the music in order to be heard." He replied, "Sorry, Gary." I answered, "No you're not, or you would have turned it down." Most puzzling of all is, he and I have known each other since he was trained for management (at another store) and we've joked and gotten along well for the entirety of our acquaintance. I wonder how he treats strangers who've made the same request. There's a pretty good chance I'll never find out because no plans exist for a future visit. Why in the world would I walk back into a business that made me feel unwelcome and intimidated? I was denied satisfaction to a reasonable request and instead was given lip and lip service. It sucked.

Shortly afterwards, I followed up my experience with an online chat with a Starbucks customer-service representative who explained during our conversation that store management had been alerted of the issue and the problem would be fixed. Also, Starbucks credited my previous visit's charge. Thank you, Donald at Starbucks...

Went to the Starbucks on Bay Area Blvd and Seawolf. Waited in the long drive through line that was wrapped around the building. Got up to place my order and the car in front of me gets told sorry we are closed we closed at 5pm today due to Christmas. We were the last 2 in the line. The lady in front of us two was served at 5:07pm. The server on the intercom was very rude and says “sorry if we had our cones we would have put them out.” If you would have walked out you would have realized there was only 2 of us left in the line after waiting for almost 20 min to get up to place our order...I get it I understand it’s Christmas. If your going to close right at 5pm though then don’t serve the other 3 people in front of us that you took orders after 5pm. You work for a company that made a decision to open on Christmas if you don’t want to be there find another line of work. I will drive to the Starbucks on Eldorado Blvd going forward will not return to this...