Starbucks — Restaurant in Maine Township

This used to be my go-to Starbucks for 4 years. But now, this store has gotten worse and worse over time and they all of my favorite workers here won't be seeing me at this store any longer.

Around November 26, 2023, some new employee (don't know her name because she NEVER wears a name tag, but she's either Hispanic or Mexican, wears a bun in her hair, black hair) started working at this store, and when I tell her exactly what I want, she makes at least one or two mistakes which I understand mistakes are not uncommon, however, this was a constant issue. Whenever she takes/makes my order, I have to tell her 3 times (maybe more) that my Frappuccino MUST be crème based because I'm Mormon and am not allowed to have anything with coffee. At one point, she told me she promised to make it without, but when I looked at the receipt, it was made with coffee, which I was angry. She lied to me. On the sticker, the "Ask Me" part said "No Coffee", however, I told her that it had to be Creme Based, and she knows that there are Creme Based Frappuccinos. What's the point of even having creme frappuccinos if you put an ask me saying no coffee? The drink was not even close to being made properly, so I asked her if it can be remade. Much to my surprise, she told me that she couldn't do that because she "has other customers to help" and told me to leave the store or else she would call the police on me, to the point where I left and started crying. Nobody deserves to have their order screwed up and then have the staff catch an attitude when you ask them to correct them. And I realized that I'm not the only one who had this experience. Despite contacting customer service multiple times, the staff did nothing about it. Thankfully, customer service offered me a refund for messed up order, because I don't believe that I should have to pay for something I did not ask for or something that was made wrong. It's unacceptable.

Another thing, when one employee (I believe her name is Vicky) took my order, she had to restart the whole process over again because she could not find the java chips on the screen. Why didn't she ask for help? And another employee (Olivia) never fills out the ask me part, and on the receipt, it just says "Ask Me." Again, why is she not asking for help either? How are employees supposed to know what the "Ask Me" part is?

It's safe to say that I am never coming here again. I used to be one of their favorite customers, but after multiple bad experiences with this store, it's too late. These employees should be ashamed of themselves. I believe this store needs to be shut down for good because of the way they treat their customers and employees. The Starbucks inside Target on Mannheim Road is much better and is more friendly and welcoming than this store. At least they don't screw me up unlike this store and are ready with my order in 2 minutes or less.

Goodbye, Starbucks on Oakton and Lee, I'm calling it quits on you guys...

I’ve been a regular at this Starbucks for a while, but lately, it’s really gone downhill. The hours have been inconsistent—like today, a Saturday, they close at 12:30 PM, which is frustrating for anyone who needs their coffee fix. On top of that, the drive-thru is often closed, and you’re forced to use the mobile app to place an order, which doesn’t make sense when you're trying to just grab something quickly.

To make matters worse, I had a pretty bad experience today. I placed a mobile order to make the process easier and get through the drive-thru faster, but when I got to the window, the employee ignored me. I could hear him laughing and talking to others on the mic instead of paying attention to my order. When I finally got my drink, it was awful—sour and completely unpalatable. I usually don’t mind a slightly off drink, but this was inedible.

I went back to have them remake it, and they tried to charge me again, only to hand me a completely different drink that didn’t even match what I ordered. They seemed confused the whole time, and I didn’t realize until after I left that I didn’t even get the drink I originally asked for. This location used to be reliable, but now it’s a hit-or-miss, and unfortunately, today was a miss. I hope they can get things together soon, because right now, I’m not sure I’ll be coming back...

My experience here is different every time. It’s one of the busiest locations because it is a great location - and I think the staff is challenged by poor performing operational issues.

From utility closings to a bad printer - they can barely keep up most of the time. I think they’ve been closed at least 4 or 5 times this summer due to these challenges - or at least closing early. And it’s not all due to the Microsoft-Crowdstrike blackout impacting POS systems.

Several times over the last few months the drive through is closed off with a handwritten sign and a piece of furniture or shopping cart saying that you need to go inside to pick up your order.

And - It’s not the staff’s fault- although I’m sure there are frustrated. Perhaps it’s just too small of a shop and they don’t have the room for everything that’s necessary to operate efficiently. The lines for the drive thru go onto the street on a daily basis (approx 10 cars in line).

I’ve driven back more than once to have my coffee order corrected but half the time I just drink it (today). The labels on the cup don’t show the full details of the order, so I’ve learned to taste it before leaving the shop now.

This is the closest location for me but I’d rather go to Mount Prospect where my order is done consistently- and I don’t have the convenience of...