Starbucks — Restaurant in Winter Garden

Hello, I'm a long-time, loyal customer who has spent thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of dollars at various Starbucks locations across the United States over the past 20 years or so. I have meant to write an email for about 2 years. I finally felt compelled to do so. Let me begin with the comment that your staff members at this Winter Garden location are always pleasant and courteous. They always greet me when I come in and that was no different today. Very nice people. That said, here are my concerns in general about Starbucks nationwide:

The in-store experience has diminished considerably over the years. As a customer who prefers parking and walking in, I often feel that I'm a second-rate customer to the drive-through and mobile orders. Frankly, I think it should be the other way around. I have literally watched cars at the end of the drive through line get their mixed drink before I receive my drip coffee even though I walked right up to the counter and ordered my drink way before they even got to the window.

Immediately serve the drip coffee to the walk-in customer as a small gesture of gratitude for the walk-in customer. Do not put a sticker on the cup and put it in line behind 4 latte/Frappuccino's that were called in via mobile order or 6 drive through orders. That is maddening.

Condiment station: I realize this is slowly making a comeback but should have done so shortly after the pandemic subsided. I'm sure the corporate finance dept. has realized some savings to the bottom line, but it's frustrating trying to order a simple sugar & cream combo. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to request "a small splash of cream" without getting a super light, breve-style coffee. It doesn't seem to matter how I try to articulate "light," "skosh," "dark caramel in color," "whisper," etc. - the baristas dump too much cream in. To solve this issue, I've started requesting cream on the side which makes me feel terrible because an entire extra cup and lid are wasted in the process. Please see the attached photo from this morning which pushed me to action on this email. I requested "a very small amount of cream on the side" and received nearly 8 ounces of cream in a "short" cup. How is it even possible to empty all of this cream into my cup?! I poured my tablespoon of cream into my coffee then sadly dumped the rest (including the cup and lid) into the trash can. Please put the creamer back on the condiment station!

STIR THE SUGAR: When a customer orders from the drive-through, stir the sugar into the coffee. Even when I nicely request that someone stir the coffee when I don't have time to come in the store, they never do, and I end up requesting a stir stick and usually make a massive mess in my car trying to stir and drive. Sugar & cream do not combine equally in the coffee unless it is stirred up. Please send out an all-team bulletin on this.

The new clover coffee dispensers are inconsistent. I get that they were probably a massive capital equipment expenditure and there is no "un-ringing of this bell." That said, there needs to be some kind of training bulletin that goes out to assist team members with correctly using these machines. My expectation is that I receive a fresh, BOLD cup of coffee every single time. I do not expect to be able to see the bottom of the cup due to some kind of brewing error. I've literally tossed a fresh cup of Clover-made Starbucks coffee out after one sip because I don't have the time or desire to get back in line and haggle over a fresh cup of coffee. The old conventional brewing systems seemed to produce more consistently rich, bold coffee even if the temperature was sometimes dodgy based on how long the coffee had been brewed.

I used to be a big fan of Starbucks. I want to be a big fan again but I'm finding myself seeking competitor locations more frequently these days due to the concerns above. I hope this feedback may be...

I must say that this S-bucks location has won me over and can be added to my personal list of fave Florida locations due to their friendliness, quality of drinks (they most always [99%] get it right w/ ratios), and quick-service.

Shout out to everyone there for being great! And special recognition to Kelly, Stephen, Edward, Kam for being extra wonderful through the drive-thru. It’s always refreshing to not only hear an uplifting voice on the intercom but to also receive a kind smile and engaging experience at the window in such a short ‘window’ (see what I did there? lol) of time while still being efficient and personable is even better! 🙃

Thank you for providing a 5-Star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ experience! You are ALL appreciated!! 🫶🏼

Side note: to all my ice lovers out there - they have “the good ice” here which makes the drinks that much better!🧊🤫

Note to Starbucks HQ: Please put more plant-based 🌱 food items on the menu and bring back the Almond croissant 🥐!!🙏🏼

Update 5/2: Edward saved the day for me yesterday and I am so grateful!!! I ordered a venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew and was saving it until I got home to enjoy it while working. Well…Once I got home I spilled the entire drink all over the floor and in my fur-babies bed 🙈. Yes…The. Entire. Drink. 😱 I had one good sip prior to that spill 😂 but that☝🏼sip was yummy enough that I decided to get myself back in the car and drive back over to sbux. I recognized Edward’s voice over the intercom and let him know I was back because I had spilled my entire drink. I pulled up to the window and before I could even show the photos of the coffee spill, Edward had my drink ready to replace for me with a kind smile on his face. His act of kindness meant the world to me 🫶🏼. Edward: Thank you for being great, for being you, and for doing nice things even when you don’t...

I’d left Starbucks back in 2014 when I lived in mid Illinois. The one store I frequented hired a racist barista who refused to serve people of color. The store manager and district manager were made aware of this. They said she just needed more training. Sometimes we make decisions based on what we think the outcome of a situation should be. In this case, Starbucks handling of this situation was negligent and whitewashed - more training! I could not make this up and decided we had to part ways. My skin color maybe different, but my money is green. This is just a brief synopsis of my backstory. Still have the emails of the conversation between myself and Starbucks management team!

2020 found an old gift card and was curious if any $$$ was left. Yup! I had a whole $.37 cents remaining. Hey! It’s money so I ordered a cup yup...after 6 years. The barista was white, cheerful and seemed to be genuine in her intent to learn how my day was going. Obviously, being Starbucks cynical...I intently listened for some canned questions and responses. This barista was genuine and made me think their might be some hope for Starbucks after all. She actually made my day and I sincerely appreciated her enthusiasm, and the genuine content of our conversation.

Anyhow, I don’t say that likely. My years on this planet has harden my cynicism with ferreting out racism, discrimination and unequal treatment.

They still have to earn my business! Anyhow, I recharged my card and will make a guest appearance and observe how I’m treated. I don’t think my interaction was a fluke with regards to the young lady who assisted me. She is the embodiment of the type of employees Starbucks should be hiring, training and retaining. The real test is to see if the service is as consistent...