Starbucks — Restaurant in Maryland

CHRISTMAS DAY 2024 I am beyond disappointed with the consistent poor service at this Starbucks location. My most recent visit on Christmas Day was the final straw and left me feeling frustrated, disrespected, and completely let down. This experience was not only unprofessional but a reflection of deeper issues with staffing, training, and management at this store.

As I went through the drive-thru to place a large order for six people, I encountered immediate challenges. After learning that one of the items I requested was unavailable, I asked the person I was ordering for to select an alternative while I continued with my order. Suddenly, the voice on the intercom switched from a woman to a man, who immediately began expressing his irritation. He audibly sighed, exclaimed “OMG!” multiple times, and made other comments that were dismissive and rude. When I asked if there was a problem, he denied it, but his tone and behavior continued to show clear disrespect.

By the time I reached the window, the unprofessionalism only escalated. One of my drinks was incorrect—I had ordered it with oat milk, and when I pointed this out, the female barista at the window didn’t even attempt to resolve the issue courteously. She grabbed the cup without saying a word, returned it in a messy state with liquid spilled all over, and didn’t bother to apologize. When I asked for two cups of ice, as I had originally requested, she acted visibly annoyed.

I tried to brush it off and move on with my day, but things only got worse. Once I got home, my 10-year-old daughter discovered that her white hot chocolate was just plain milk—no chocolate at all. After verifying this myself, I felt compelled to return to the store. When I arrived, the doors were locked, even though staff were still inside. I knocked to explain the issue, but a barista with curly hair, who appeared to be of Hispanic descent, refused to engage with me and signaled “no” dismissively.

I then went to the drive-thru window, where they were attempting to lock it as well, despite the fact that there were still cars in line. When I tried to address the issue, this same curly-haired barista yelled at me, questioned my intelligence, and showed no willingness to listen or resolve the problem. Her behavior was appalling, and she even cursed and walked away mid-conversation.

Thankfully, another barista named David stepped in and actually listened to my concerns. He apologized, and I appreciated his effort to de-escalate the situation. Another team member later brought the corrected drink to my car and apologized for the ordeal, explaining that internal tensions among the team had contributed to the poor service. While I appreciated their honesty and efforts, it doesn’t excuse the disrespect I experienced—not just on this visit, but on multiple occasions at this location.

This is the third time I’ve encountered such poor service here, and the second time I’ve had issues with the same curly-haired barista. She has consistently been rude, not just to me but to other customers as well. Whether she is a manager or simply has no accountability, her behavior is unacceptable and unprofessional.

As someone who has lived in Burtonsville for over 30 years, I am embarrassed and disappointed that this Starbucks represents our close-knit community in such a negative way. We are a friendly and supportive town, and this store’s lack of professionalism and basic customer service reflects poorly on both Starbucks and Burtonsville as a whole.

My sister, who worked for Starbucks in Baltimore, has told me this behavior is not in line with how employees are trained, which makes this even more shocking. She avoids this location for the same reasons. I urge corporate leadership to step in and address these issues immediately. This store needs a complete overhaul in staffing, training, and management to bring it up to the standards we expect from Starbucks.

This experience ruined what should have been a joyful holiday, and I hope no other customer has to...

Today was insane. I arrived at Starbucks to place a simple order. They were incredibly busy and they had four people behind the counter attending to the customer so I waited patiently for over 30 minutes to place my order. Once I placed my order for a caramel macchiato a hot coffee and a Raccoon cake pop I patiently waited because I would be a bit. When my coffee is finally arrived I asked for my cake pop which I paid for. Waited another five minutes nobody brought it so I walked into the cashier to ask me please have it can you just hand it to me so I can go at this point it’s been over 40 minutes that I’ve been in the store. Turns out they didn’t have it. All right they offered me a pink cake pop but for my six year-old son I didn’t think you’ll be very excited about that so no thank you. But since they’re wasn’t a manager to refund to the K-pop and it’s not a big deal I’ll just take the pink one so I can go. However there was a young man who begin to have a huge attitude I was respectfully the entire time except when he started raising his voice and saying that he only makes $17 an hour and he was really stressed out and can’t put up with this. I’m sorry it’s not my fault that that’s your wage which is pretty good in my opinion for barista job but that’s another subject. The point is you can’t scream at your customers you can’t be rude if you are stressed out you need to hire more help the supervisor on staff kept taking those orders he did not situation at all and really I just wanted the cake up so I could go with somebody handed it to me so I can leave with my order please. The man was Hispanic I just speak Spanish so I said in Spanish you need to respect people respect your customers don’t be rude don’t be Disrespectful and he replied with if you don’t get out I’m gonna call the police. I’m sorry they’re a lots of people around Starbucks that cameras I did nothing aggressive I was not being rude I wasn’t taking photos of him I wasn’t doing anything of the kind I just wanted my thing so I could go he was a very rude and I understand it’s busy which is why I patiently waited for a very long time and normal Starbucks Rent should not be 40 minutes!! You guys need...

I visited this location today and had a terrible experience with management. I made the mobile order at 3:09 pm for one iced drink and 3 cakepops. I proceeded to the drive thru when i arrived at 3:12 and by the time i made it to the window after the long wait, it was 3:44pm! By then the drink was not cold and the ice had melted. No apology for the wait of almost 40 minutes. I dont usually complain, but I felt they should be aware so I called immediately afterward. I spoke to someone claiming to be the manager named “David.” I nicely explained I had waited in the drive thru for 30 minutes and my drink was now watery and not great. He was so rude and condescending that even my child in the car listening exclaimed how mean he was after I hung up. He offered no help, said I was lying and basically didnt care at all. His manner of speaking to me nearly left me in tears. And I’m upset that my child had to hear someone soeak in the way he did to me. I dont know if it was actually the manager or an employee saying he was, but it did not sound like someone who should be in management. It...