Starbucks — Restaurant in San Diego

HORRIBLE! HUMILIATING! RIDICULOUS!!! I have spent thousands of dollars at this store in the 4 years that I have worked in the building across the street (unfortunately that is NOT an exaggeration). Some of the cashiers know me by name, including the cashier that rung me up today. I work downtown and it was really crowded this morning, the cashier couldn't hear me good so she had me repeat my order a second time. When she said my total was $13.60 for my chocolate croissant and grande caramel frap, I thought maybe I misheard her. I handed her a $20 and she gave me back $5.40. I thought about it as I walked away and realized there was no way what I ordered came up to that amount, but I figured that she must have accidentally added something to my order...so I waited to be called. Sure enough, all I got was my frap and my croissant. So I went back and told her that I thought she overcharged me. Since I paid cash, she had to scroll through the computer to try to find my order. She looked for orders that amounted $13.60. She did find a couple, but she said they were for "Sonja" and Katlheen" and not me. She said she remembered me paying $13.60 and remembered giving me $5 back, she also said that she found a $5 bill on the floor in front of her cash register (apparently that had nothing to do with me). When she couldn't figure out what happened, she called someone else over to help. The woman who came over had a shirt on that said "Rachel, Navy Spouse". Rachel asked what happened and the other cashier explained it to her. She kept asking what I wanted and what my problem was if I got charged 13.60 and received the correct change back. I explained that I didn't order over $13 worth of food. The cashier who rung me up told her that my order should have totaled $7.50, but for some reason she remembered it coming up to $13.60, but could only find an "open order that never went through". Rachel pulled the drawer and counted it, a few minutes later she came back and told me "her drawer is balanced, so I don't know what to tell you." I asked her if she was implying I was lying, and reminded her that I frequent the store and the baristas know who I am... I bought $88 of travel mugs for my Mother and daughter for Christmas, I would not lie about $6. The fact is, the cashier entered my order wrong, and of course the drawer was balanced, because according to the system... I owed $13.60, even though I did not receive anything more than my usual $7.50 order. Anyway, Rachel got annoyed and kept asking what I wanted her to do. I told her I wanted my $6 back and she kept insisting that I wasn't owed $6. Finally, she slammed her hands in the drawer, pulled out a $5 and a $1 bill and said "Fine! Take the damn $6 and I will worry about it later". Then she screamed "You are not welcome in this store ever again", " Don't ever come back here!" There were attorneys from my firm at the end of the long line, all these people are from businesses in our downtown area. The legal community is not very big, and I just got banned (very loudly) from the Starbucks! I was sooooooooooo embarrassed! You can pull up my account and see how often I go to that store and how much money I have spent there. I was not in NEED of $6. It is the principal, and I totally got treated like a lying, THIEF! I have NEVER had such AWFUL customer service in my ENTIRE life!!!!! Rachel, who claimed she was the manager, has the worst people skills I have ever encountered. She absolutely could not and would not take the time to understand what I was saying, ad instead insisted that I was lying. I will NEVER return to that store again, and not because I'm "banned", but because I am too humiliated to show...

This Starbucks is above average when compared to other Starbucks. I think that has to do with staff. They are very friendly and try to get your order done promptly. If you come here regularly, they will remember your order. The staff sometimes have to really keep the line moving because this Starbucks can have the longest Starbucks lines that I have ever seen. And I have been going to varoius U.S. Starbucks since the 90s.

The line gets long in the morning. Probably because this Starbucks is ideally located near a lot of office building, the Santa Fe train depot across the street, and this shop is right next to a trolley stop. I would have to think that this is an A+ location for a Starbucks.

There is plenty of seating (indoor and out) but it can feel up quickly because of the crowd, And they have enough plug outlet even though a few are very loose and don't work well. Very nice outdoor patio and nice large windows inside. You can also do some nice people watching from this location. Probably not the best Starbucks for serious reading or studying just because there is usually quite a bit of noise and action. People waiting for their orders sometimes fill up the whole lobby.

Do I have a favorite barista here? I like them all but I really liked Will. He always complimented on my smile and style. But crazy enough I think that he got fired or something b/c I haven't seen him in months. Oh, well, don't be surprised if you favorite barista moves on to greener...

I was, at first pleasantly surprised to open the door this morning and not see the usual long line, only to discover the line had been re-routed so as to go around an older gentleman who lay flat on his back in front of the register, bare chested, with defibrillator paddles attached, and first-responders hovering over him.

"The line is right this way, sir" the rosy cheeked young barista gestured, guiding people around the distressed man. I guess I should be grateful they even bothered to do that, and not simply encourage patrons to step over him in pursuit of their machiatos as he lay glassy eyed and gasping for air. As for the patrons who did join the queue, I can conceive of no possible insight that would make them think their actions were appropriate.

Maybe his condition wasn't as bad as it appeared, maybe it wasn't a heart attack and simply an infarction, or a 'cardiac event'. Maybe it was just bad gas, brought on by an unfortunate soy milk frothing mishap. But I don't think it matters. If Starbucks is willing to sacrifice a man's dignity and potentially his emergency care, so that they don't miss even a minute of business, what else are they willing to sacrifice for profit?

To the man and his family, I wish you a speedy recovery and the best possible care. I also offer my testimony in the event that the calloused actions of the store manager caused you any undue...