Starbucks — Restaurant in Oregon

Morning crew has been horrible lately. My partner and I are having difficulty adjusting to a new early schedule, one thing that has helped us get by is our morning coffee from Starbucks. For the past week now the woman making our coffee has put NO life into our drinks. They taste like watered down versions of everything we have ordered previously. Originally we thought it may have just been a bad couple of days, but we were handling it. Today it tastes like she poured us just watery bitter coffee with no caramel or any sweetness when we ordered a caramel macchiato.Which is odd because I know starbucks gives the employees recipes on how to make the drinks. It tastes nasty, and today my partner tossed it in the trash after the first sip, and I don’t blame him. She’s also quite rude. At the window while there was no line we had asked if we could also get a water. She proceeded to lean out of the window and talk down to us like children about making sure we ordered it through the speaker next time. I wouldn’t have minded but she was being rude and there wasn’t anyone else behind us that would have made her feel in a rush. Also our water cup was sticky near the mouth making it undesirable. We were very thirsty seeing as we couldn’t drink our coffee, we just took off the lid and took a sip and it tasted faintly of mango and made my lips burn? I don’t know what she is doing but it turned a already difficult morning into a bad morning. Didn’t have time to get it re made, and didn’t want to have to speak with her again either. We just wanted a warm coffee and some water, and we have been nothing but kind and...

I walked into the store urgently needing to use the restroom. When I asked for the bathroom code, one of the baristas responded, “You need to make a purchase first.” This response was completely unacceptable. It takes minimal effort to extend basic courtesy—especially in situations where someone clearly has an immediate need.

I made it clear that I intended to make a purchase and simply needed to use the restroom first. Only then did the barista reluctantly provide the code. This kind of attitude is unnecessary and unprofessional.

Denying restroom access in this manner reflects poorly on the store’s customer service. The experience was off-putting and made me reconsider whether I even wanted to give this location my business. A little compassion and common sense go a long way—and were sorely lacking in this interaction.

After exiting the restroom, I realized I had forgotten my wallet and told the barista, “I forgot my wallet—I’ll be right back.” Her reaction was incredibly unprofessional. Instead of acknowledging my comment, she loudly and sarcastically shouted, “BYE!” as if she assumed I was lying. Another barista then added, “WHAT DID HE SAY?!” in a tone that only escalated the rudeness of the situation.

At that point, I debated whether to even return. But to prove a point, I went back in and made a small purchase. Unfortunately, throughout the entire transaction, I was met with nothing but attitude and unwelcoming behavior.

This kind of treatment is unacceptable and reflects a serious lack of professionalism and basic respect...

I just had the strangest experience at this particular Starbucks.

After grabbing coffee & studying for a bit, I felt a little cramping coming so I headed for their restroom.

In about 8-9 mins, a startlingly loud knocking came, w/ the person asking about my restroom use, I said yes I am and I’m OK. In just another 5 mins, the 2nd round of loud knocking came, but this time the person ordered me to get out: “I need you to come out NOW”.

I confronted this employee and their manager, who defended their actions as preventing restroom use abuse, and that they had timers, the 1st one at 7 and a half mins mark, the 2nd one at another 5 mins mark.

I’m perfectly fine with any cafe checking in on the customer (which I think is a great practice for medical reasons too as I’m in the medical field).

However, there is a big difference between asking “Are you OK?” versus knocking aggressively and assertively ordering the customer: “I need you to come out NOW”. What if the customer still had legitimate use of the restroom after the initial 12 mins due to just basic physiological needs?

Good thing that I was just getting off the toilet at the 2nd knocking and trying to wash my hands. Can you imagine how it’d feel for a customer still needing to use the toilet...