Starbucks — Restaurant in Paramus

I had a pretty disappointing experience here, mostly due to the company itself but also a small part due to the staff. It wasn't as dramatic as the length of this review admittedly but I think it's just helpful that some of these things are understood. I will email Starbucks customer service & if they acquiesce to the concern, I plan to edit the rating. I wasn't even a stickler usually for hiccups but I know a lot of consumers have noticed post-pandemic businesses have discernably changed their whole... demeanor, and it's really a hit or miss, especially during the holidays when both customers and staff are stressed. Companies have always been versatile with their terms & conditions: one day their policies are very reasonable, one day they're negligent & misguided. But at least the staff (at Starbucks and other stores) in the past have always emphasized the value of reciprocating kindness & politeness to customers. Recently I've had interactions at this and one other Starbucks location where it's obvious that is no longer trained in customer service.

After debating between Starbucks and a different retailer, I purchased a tumbler on the Starbucks app & was notified of the time it'll be ready for pick-up. I wanted to buy that bottle for that price, and on that day for a specific gift. And that's what their app notified me to expect. Deal, I'll make the trip. Once I got there, I was excited to present my receipt without cutting into their closing time. But I was gently informed that they did not have the bottle. Trying to save everyone some trouble, I tried to find a replacement in store as fast as I could but there was about $2 - $5 (?) price difference, and they did not waive it. It ended with the decision to get a refund, after all the time wasted.

Seems like Starbucks during inflation wants customers to 1) spend their money with them obviously, 2) make the trip to their stores to potentially purchase another something, 3) save a form of payment on the app, 4) and pay upfront and pick up their products. They're even promoting with PayPal and getting customers to give that a try.

So a fair way to handle the mistake was to do the exchange, charge the customer the difference if "comp"ing that amount not feasible, and offer store credit in an amount similar to the difference to just spend again. You keep the customer, the customer buys another something of yours.

I appreciated the admittance of their fault, the effort to help me get the right product even into their closing time, and a verbal apology but at the end of the day, the result was still an uneven exchange for the customer's time, and I'd imagine kind of a waste of the staff's time as well trying to fix it. Also, I was confused about how PayPal will handle the charge and the staff responded with a tone of voice that made me feel like I was asking something too ridiculous, when I was the one being caught off guard & inconvenienced by the company's negligence. That's why I can tell that the staff isn't trained to see situations from the customers' point of view. If Starbucks as a whole was confused enough to have me make a pointless trip to their store and back, you should expect some confusion from the customer. Starbucks Corporate can do much better to honor their transactions with the customers, as it is clear they really want to entice to continue spending with them.

The length & detail of this review is mostly for Corporate. I think the staff I saw at that time weren't bad people, especially considering it was probably a long day this close...

Aside from the fact that this is one of the dirtiest Starbucks I have ever seen. It's also not that busy... I Work nearby and I go in for water every day. I've never had an issue asking for an ice water as I pick up my coffee. The last few times I've been told to go "order water at the register."

Today I was told to order water at the register and there was no one in the store... It feels like people pick and choose what rules they want to follow and when. (Also I have been to a LOT of Starbucks and have never been verbally accosted about this policy before). A customer asking for a cup of water should not be a big deal... considering I can't order it ahead of time, if there was a line I would have to wait to order when I already ordered online??

I have been given plenty of cups of free water here by staff and neverrrr scolded for not ordering it at the register. In fact the next day when I went in to get a water, they laughed at the fellow staff member with me and said "some people take their lives too seriously.”

Get it together guys. And clean...

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE STARBUCKS the reason i am giving 3 stars instead of 5 is because there was a Barista by the name of Kelsey from what i saw in her apron had a serious attitude problem I ordered my drink through the mobile app ahead of time as im walking in through the door i took a look at the time and see that my order had been put in 4 minutes ago i expected to wait a little no big deal and so i did waited patiently didn’t say a word until another barista asked me what i ordered i politely answered her and told her a hot venti Vanilla Latte Kelsey then takes it upon herself to say my name out loud i answer “yes” she then replies “Yeah you ordered your drink 3 minutes ago you need to wait a minute” are you kidding me i have been waiting patiently and didnt say a word i simply answered the barista that asked me a question and she felt the need to get nasty so unnecessary and rude worst part about this is that there was another woman there who told her that it’s not you it’s them they always have an attitude apparently this must happen pretty often...