Starbucks — Restaurant in Norfolk

I’m a big Starbucks fan, I always have been. Unfortunately for the first time I felt completely unwelcome at this specific location. It’s hit or miss if you will be treated with good customer service here. Many poor attitudes and a girl who is always talking bad about customers after they leave loudly enough to hear is quite unprofessional.

I have NEVER went into any Starbucks without the intent of ordering a coffee and or something to eat. This specific morning I had coworkers who were interested in ordering coffee as a group. I was waiting for my coworkers response of everyone’s requests and was planning on ordering mine and everyone else’s together. I sat at a table, mind you at the time there was only one other person inside sitting at a table. As I waited for my coworkers response (maybe 10 minutes or so) I was warned by an employee that I needed to buy something in order to sit at the table inside. I told him I planned on making an order in a few minutes. (Mind you, I’m a regular who always orders a coffee at minimum) maybe about another 5 minutes goes by, I’m in the middle of writing an email. There is more people in the store at this point. The guy tells me again in front of everyone that I need to order something or else I need to leave and that this is new policy and everyone is expected to follow this. And even acknowledges the fact I’m a regular and always order something but still need to follow the policy. How embarrassing to be treated like some kind of squatter especially in front of other people. I got up and ordered a coffee the same girl who is always speaking negatively about costumers butts in as I’m ordering and starts reiterating the policy and making more of a scene. I told I her “ I got it, the guy over there already said all of this to me” seemed like she really just wanted to be apart of the drama. I was not interested. I got my coffee and sat back down. At this point it just felt extremely uncomfortable. So I left and went to the other Starbucks to make the other order.

I will never return to this location because of the treatment I received. I was in my work attire ( I work construction) and can’t help but to think, maybe had I been dressed differently would I have received better customer service respect. Been to several Starbucks in several different states and I’ve never been treated that way. You can tell a difference between someone who is genuinely trying to squat with no intent to make a purchase and a REGULAR customer who always orders something EVERY time they come in.

I will say NICK is awesome! Always in a great mood and always greets customers with a smile no matter how busy they are. He always stays consistent! Nick is a great example of excellent customer service and...

Update: i originally started coming to this Starbucks several years ago (old review below) this past year they remodeled and had a huge staff turnover.... it's now the absolute WORST Starbucks I've ever had the displeasure of living near! My drinks are almost ALWAYS wrong, I get ripped off on points for star dashes on a regular basis because they ring orders in wrong or their lines are ridiculously long because the staff has no clue what they're doing... this morning, for example (and no, this isn't the first time, but the second time this has happened just this week) I pulled up to the speaker and completed placing my order at about 1045 then sat in line for almost half an hour before finally getting my 3 drinks for me and my daughters. Because of that, even though the current promotion says to ORDER before 11am, my ticket wasn't closed out until 1109 which means i didn't get credit, again, towards the bonus start promotion, again. During this time in line my daughters and i watched one car at the window (3 cars ahead of us) for approximately 10 minutes to receive 1 drink.... at first I thought, ok, lots of new people, they're still learning, but it's been several months now and the service has not improved in the slightest. Back to the remodel... it used to be a nice place to come with my family and/or friends and spend time getting drinks and food and enjoying relaxed conversation... it's now laid out in a completely uninviting way where there's only a long row of hard seating along the wall to the right, no room for my son's stroller at all... it's as if they are now trying to discourage customers from coming in with their kids/family and spending time there... as a person who worked for Starbucks back in Florida before joining the military and being moved here... it's not the image/environment i was taught was important to Starbucks. It's so disappointing, they've ruined my favorite Starbucks!

Approximately 4yrs ago: favorite Starbucks in this part of Virginia! They always get mine and my wife's drinks right and they manage their lines well. The staff is always friendly, even when my daughter is sitting at the side bar asking them a thousand questions while they're making drinks. Also, one of the baristas returned my phone that had gotten dropped when I was at a club with friends, that we both happened to be at. This place is...

Today was a snow day and I never learned how to drive in the snow. Luckily, I lived 5 minutes from this locations. I was curious to see if they were open so I checked and their mobile orders were on. I then tried to call the store just to verify they were open. I called twice and no answer. I didn’t think anything of it because it had snowed. I then placed an order and left my house to walk to this store literally trudging through snow. I get to this Starbucks (they had nobody in their line and several partners inside) and they have a sign on the door saying the cafe is closed which is completely understandable. I then proceeded to call this store to see if I can get them to bring me my order to the door or if I should just cancel the order. I call them 2 more times. Again! No answer. At this point I’m annoyed. I was a partner with this company for 2 years and I KNOW this is against policy. So I get in the drive thru on foot and get told by the person that I would have to go home because I’m not allowed to be in the drive thru without a car. To which I replied telling them all I had already done just to get my 2 drinks I had already paid for. They told me to go to the front door and they’d bring out my coffees. When they brought it out, I was met by someone who handed me my beverages with an attitude and passive aggressively was told to “have a good day”. The worst part is my drink wasn’t even made right. I know that because I can’t drink beverages containing sugar free syrups otherwise I’ll get sick. As soon as I took a sip of this drink I had been so desperately waiting for, I knew it was wrong. I spent the next several hours feeling sick. This isn’t the first time this store has messed up my orders. I know today was an exception due to the snow and the probable understaffing but for them to not answer their phones, be rude when they finally do talk to me, AND my drink to be wrong is ridiculous. I will never be returning to this...