Starbucks: How Much Your Drink Costs Depends On How You Order It

Comments

1. Little Miss Moneybags says:
   June 1, 2007 at 1:41 pm

   @TheCFC: Actually, the “old” iced coffee sitting around is not the same as the fresh-brewed coffee. It’s house blend, brewed twice as strong (more coffee to water), and made fresh every day. What you’re doing works, too, and if you drink it quickly it shouldn’t get watered down enough that you’d notice–but the reason for the price difference is the amount of work that goes into making it and carrying it around in the giant dispenser thing.

   I’m another former barista, and I’d always try to find ways to give my customers deals. I knew the drinks and the register better than them, and often the way they’d order something would not give them the best deal, so I’d call and ring it up differently than they ordered and tell them it’s the same thing, I just got them a better price (like the guy who always ordered a grande coffee “with lots of room”–I’d call it as a tall in a grande cup and ring it up that way for him). I tried to do this with all the customers, but I admit I made sure to point out ways to save on their favorite drink more often to the customers who treated me nicely early in the morning (though I did NOT base this on tipping, which I think is stupid at Starbucks. I’m not waiting your table, there’s no need to tip, and I don’t tip baristas if I go to Starbucks now).
2. jeffj-nj says:
   June 1, 2007 at 2:51 pm

   @swalve: I wouldn’t call it abuse, or call her 14, but it teaches whoever is behind the counter basic english, such as what “small” means. If someone ordered a small from me, and I worked someplace that didn’t have a specifically labeled “small” size, it would require exactly one brain cell and two nanoseconds of thought to determine they want the smallest size we have, regardless of what it’s called. Most of the time, that is what happens.

   When people say, “We don’t have a small, only medium, large, extra large, jumbo, giant, extra extra large, super dooper large, etc”, sure, it isn’t their fault the establishment made up these ridiculous names, but it is their fault for having forgotten what a word as simple and mundane as “small” means.

   That all said, it’s perfectly possible to say, “I’d like a small Coke” or “I’d like the middle sized french fries” in a perfectly polite and reasonable tone of voice, followed by “please”, as if you aren’t doing anything except ordering, and that’s exactly what I do. I don’t act like I’m trying to prove a point, even though, yeah, I am, even if it’s just to me. Medium means inbetween. Period.
3. Rectilinear Propagation says:
   June 1, 2007 at 5:39 pm

   @jeffj-nj: If I went someplace and ordered a medium and got the smallest size they serve I would be pissed off*.

   *Assuming of course that their medium actually is small. Nowadays they serve soda like you plan to swim in it instead of drink it.
4. jeffj-nj says:
   June 1, 2007 at 5:56 pm

   @Rectilinear Propagation: As well you should be

   … because – say it with me, class – medium means inbetween.

   *so true.
5. nidolke says:
   June 1, 2007 at 7:46 pm

   I don’t think Starbucks is out to get us with this price discrepancy, stuff like this just happens. Think of it as a little bonus to you as the $0.30 noticer that you get to save money, and the other poor suckers who order the menu version are missing out

   And a small is a small, not a tall dangit! I’d really love to know Starbuck’s thinking behind this, and if it actually fools anyone, boosts sales, or whatever the heck it’s intended purpose is.
6. Muerte99 says:
   June 1, 2007 at 8:30 pm

   I’ve been told by the baristas that in cappuccinos and mochas, talls have 1 shot, grandes have 2 shots, and ventis have 2 shots. I asked after noticing I always enjoyed grandes more than ventis….which makes sense, since it seems ventis are just watered(milked?)-down grandes.
   Since that day, I have never ordered a venti. I usually put that cost into getting a triple grande whatever.
7. CyGuy says:
   June 2, 2007 at 4:10 am

   This is why I always order Hamburger Happy Meals for my kids. If they want a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal, I just add-on a 4 piece nuggets. If they want a Cheeseburger Happy Meal I add-on a Double Cheeseburgers. Both add-ons are on the Dollar Menu. Cost of getting a Hamburger meal plus a 4-piece nuggets is about $3.30; cost of getting a Nugget Happy Meal alone, about $3.10 – so for $.20 more I get a bonus burger. Do this for both kids and MY meal of two burgers costs $.40!
8. Pipes says:
   June 2, 2007 at 5:17 am

   @jeffj-nj:

   Do you know why the counter jockey always asks for clarification when you say “the middle-sized drink”? It’s because people are idiots. Plain and simple, many people will fudge their order up, and you’ve got to hold their hands throughout or end up with some angry people. “I ordered a medium, and you gave me the smallest drink!” “Well, our medium IS the smallest we have…” It’s for this reason that I also hate eliminating the “small” size, but you can see why we always ask for clarification.

   Fun note for people who go to Bob Evans: the one piece grilled chicken dinner and the senior size grilled chicken dinner is EXACTLY the same thing, except you’ll pay about $1.50 less for the senior size. (Ditto for the one piece meatloaf / senior size meatloaf and one piece fried chicken / senior size fried chicken.)
9. dougb123 says:
   June 29, 2007 at 5:32 pm

   First to everyone out there making coffe at home or going to Mickey D’s. Your not SB’s target because your cheap or have no/low taste level. To the idiot buying JABLUM aka Jamaican Blue Mountain. JABLUM is $9 a half pound and the JABLUM you get here is old, typically contains mold and or just plain stale tasting coffee, so again you dont get it. 5 years ago I was big SB customer, but they have cheapened their product so much and the baristas are so poorly trained that I can’t bring myself to go into their shops anymore. Wish all my family and friends would figure it out already and stop with the SB gift cards!