That's what happens when you let people order things the way they want to order them, rather than the way you set them on the menu...

Another tip from a frequent Starbuck-er...when you order a regular coffee and would like to add cream or milk, always order, for example, a tall coffee in a grande cup. This will give you room to add as much (or as little) cream as you want without having to dump coffee in the trash bin to make room for it. Saves about 25 cents each time.

I just don't get the big deal with starbucks. i drink my jamacian blue mountain coffee at home and I get it in any cup i want.

I avoid Starbucks because i can't figure out what the hell constitutes a medium cup of coffee. I don't understand what the have against small, medium and large. It doesn't make you more cultured because you can decode their menu. It just makes you more pretentious. Plus, their coffee sucks.

You know what else is weird? When I go to McDonalds and order a Quarter Pounder with medium fries and a medium drink, it costs more than ordering a Quarter Pounder combo, which comes with medium fries and a medium drink. Can the Sac Bee investigate that too?

I love my Starbucks, but when I go in there at 5:30 am and half asleep and "mistakenly" order a medium coffee, and they correct me, I want to order another to poor over the cashier, err barista.

Oh This is old. I remember ordering Grande Cafe Americano on a Tall cups 7 years ago!

I was working in an office that we used to play with the cashiers at the Mall.

There is another funny one from Au Bon Pain. This this one was one of my favorites. This used to work before they've changed their menu about 3 years ago. When you order a Chicken Mozzarella Sandwich it will set you back $6.95 but if you ask for a Lettuce Tomato Sandwich (@2.95) with Chicken ($1.00) and Mozzarella ($1.00) it will cost you only $4.95! Yay! ;-)

@Tex Texerson: Roly-poly and Jimmy Johns both have either their employees or their cash registers recognize when you order a group of items that's also a combo. I always check to make sure the discount comes up and it does no matter which way I order.

McDonalds probably doesn't want to spend the money on smart registers or training employees.

Starbucks, from what I hear, is expensive enough that they ought to be able to train the employees to recognize that a "Tall Americano" with an "extra shot" is the same as a "Grande Americano" in a "tall" cup and should cost the same amount.

@RayWertJr: I understand the frustration, but I'd guess that most baristas aren't doing it just to remind you of the correct names. When I was working at Starbucks, it was customary to repeat the order back to the customer (or at least announce it to the baristas making drinks). Starbucks policy, unfortunately, dictates that all employees only use its size names, so too many "medium" coffees can result in an unfriendly meeting with the manager.

Okay, during my college years, I worked at Starbucks. When I realized that was the case with the Americano, I would just charge the customer for a Grande rather than the tall add-shot.

Rarely did anyone ever notice that their, tab was 30 cents less. But at least I felt like I was stickin' it to the man a little bit.

He also didn't notice.

It's the same thing at Taco Bell. If you order a chicken soft taco, they ring you up for a Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco, take off the tomato and sauce, instead of a ringing you up a Regular soft taco and subtitute chicken instead of beef. It ends up being almost $1 more. When I worked there in HS I used to tell the manager it was completely unfair to customers and also never rang it up that way. She hated me, but would never fire me because I'm a hard worker.

@Fuzz: I go to starbucks and just order small/medium/large, they don't even bat an eye, I don't care what they call it, I just know what I want.

@PenguinBlue: When I worked there, I definitely got a stern talkin-to about my inability to follow "Frappuccino" with "blended coffee/creme" when I called out beverages.

"You HAVE to say it, 'Frappuccino' is an adjective!"

@Slytherin: People who dump liquids into the trash bin and not the drain are the bane of a barista's existence. Most places will have a liquid waste receptacle (whether a bucket, a small sink, or a specially-labeled trash can). Please use it. I spent a year and a half of my life getting disgusting used coffee/cream/tea/crap on my legs trying to change out trash cans full of liquid waste. The bags break and leak and it's a huge mess.

@drduran:

Thats a cunning plan. I'll try that next time I'm stuck at Starbucks. :)

I still think it is funny that the fast food monkey behind the counter at a coffee place is a 'Barista' I saw an add for McD's that said they are baristas too.

@PenguinBlue: Normally, I'd agree with you, and at first, that's what I thought was happening. Until I was more awake than usual one day, and realized the guy was just saying it snotty, just to be uppity.

@joeblevins: I'll preface this by saying that I am an ex-employee and also not really a starbucks advocate... BUT, before the Verissimo automated espresso machines took over, making drinks did actually take effort and skill, and you could be either "good" or "bad" at it.

I, of course, was good at it.

@ Tea Drinkers: Sick of getting TWO bags of tea for ONE cup? Order it wrong!
It's a PITA to deal with baristas who aren't used to this, but you can order a small in a medium or large cup and have them fill it up with water (whatever the appropriate sizes are, if you wish). Hot water is free. The only difference is you get one tea bag, which is all you need.

@Fuzz: Or just don't go there. Vote with your dollar!

If the expresso machine has you just push a button and expresso comes out, you are a coffee chimp, not a barrista.

A better deal still is to order a short Cafe Americano. You get 2 shots espresso (same as a tall) and a little less water for even less. The thing is the short cup is not on the menu but all of them have it stocked.

(around $1.60 if I remember correctly - lately I just brew my own at home even cheaper...)

@kerry: i have only been to one or two starbucks that had a receptacle for excess coffee. the majority do not have one. i have always assumed that it ensures that baristas ask about leaving room for cream in the coffee lest they face the messy consequences.

I wrote Starbucks about a similar issue. I could order a Venti iced coffee for about $3.00 which is made with coffee that's been sitting around all day. Instead, I order a tall brewed coffee with no room and a Venti cup of ice for $1.55. I pour the hot fresh coffee over the cold ice and it magically reaches the top of the Venti plastic cup. It's like getting 50% off my drink and tastes better than the old coffee.

When I wrote Starbucks, I wanted to save them the cost and waste associated with the Tall hot cup that I was throwing away every time. If they would just offer a Venti Fresh Iced Coffee (tm) for $1.55 they could save a cup and a lid. They never wrote back. I guess they are not as concerned with the environment as they proclaim.

What's the problem? The extra shot in a TALL will cost you; rather just order a GRANDE and pay the cheaper price and ask for a Tall cup. Here's a tip; we don't fill up all the way to the top so it's basically the same thing. I used to work for BN cafe; granted not starbucks but damn people are so fickle about their drinks.

Oh man, thanks to this article my order now got longer.

"Good morning. Tall notfat cafe latte extra hot in a grande cup, please."

@drduran: Same here. I do that at Jamba Juice, too -- their menu may say "Sixteen," but it's just a freaking Small, dang it! So I call it that.

Bobby: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.

...and Bobby got his wheat toast!

@kerry: I have not worked in the food service industry but as a consumer I have been a bit grossed out by bins leaking a mix of the days trash. Very few places seemingly have a liquid only bin, as far as I have seen.

I went to a (not my usual) Wendy's ~7 years ago and got my usual combo- 99 cent medium fries, medium drionk and Jr Bacon Cheeseburger (now 1.29, iirc). Came to 3.14 at my usual Wendy's.

But at this one, the mananger made the guy ring it up as a four dollar and change combo totally almost five bucks. The guy taking the order said it was bogus and I argued with the manager through the window for a minute before demanding and getting refund.

Starbucks welcomes crazy orders. When our store opened we all got shirts that said: You Call It, We Make It.

The one thing that bothers me about Starbucks is the automated machines they have now. I started on a normal, "manual" machine, and I loved it. I came home smelling like coffee. Then they switched and I came home smelling like steamed milk masked by sanitizer. Plus the amount of time and materials they save was not reflected in decreased prices. Some drinks it'd take me three time to pull a good shot that wasn't too long or too short, but with the automatic it's just hitting one button. It did make it easy to cover hot and cold bars at the same time, but it sacrificed so much quality.

As a former manager for a BN Cafe and Starbucks barista, I can say this is not a Starbucks policy issue. I trained all my baristas to ring up orders in the way that would benefit the customer - especially with Americanos. This sounds like your barista is just not paying attention - any good barista would let you know that a grande americano would be cheaper.

When going to Starbucks, bring your own coffee and food.
I wouldn't go to anyplace that overcharges and calls its counter jockeys anything more than waiters and waitresses.

How much fuss is it worth making over a $0.30 pricing discrepancy? I mean, it's 30 cents.

I was in Starbucks once and asked about this. I was told that the Grande actually only has 2 shots (I've since watched them prepare Grande Americanos and sure enough only two shots go in). I asked why the price was different compared to the Tall, and they shrugged and said, "dunno; bigger cup?". I prefer to buy my coffee at the local shop that charges $1.75 for small, med, and large Americanos, thankyouverymuch.

I once noticed a grilled cheese sandwich on the menu at a restaraunt I used to frequent cost more than a fried egg & cheese sandwich. Only because I was curious, I asked a waitress why the sandwich containing more actual stuff cost less. She didn't know, but agreed it was interested, and asked her manager. Turns out, the answer was quite simple. The grilled cheese sandwich is popular. That's it. People order it alot, so they charge more because they can. Plain and simple. So, yeah, if you wanted, you could probably order the egg & cheese without the egg and save a couple of cents, but at the end of the day, you're the guy trying to save pennies, and no one wants to be that guy.

Compeltely different note: If the smallest size available is called "medium", I absolutely refuse to order it by name. If I want the small, I'll order the small. If they tell me they don't have a small, I'll tell them, "I want the smallest you have". I despise that naming scheme. Middle, by definition, needs something which is larger than it and something which is smaller.

Along the same lines, if I want a "large" soda, and the sizes available are "medium", "large" and "larger", I will order "the middle size". Usually, they'll ask if I meant "medium". I'll repeat, "No, the middle size, please, whatever it's called." "It's a large." "I really don't care what it's called. I'd like the size which is inbetween the others."

I know they don't make up the names, but I'm a sticklet for words and using them for what they mean. I guess I'm that guy instead. ;)

This is not just a starbucks issue. I used to work at a Peet's coffee and our medium + extra shot (3 shots) was more expensive than a large (3 shots). More money, less milk. Weird right?
I was met with similarly dismissive "yeah that is weird... oh well" responses when I brought it up to management.
I had to teach co-workers how to ring up a "large in a medium cup" even though it defies the laws of physics.

ACK! Proof-reading, I noticed I said "alot", and offer my deepest apologies.

I also wrote "interested" instead of "interesting", mispelled "completely" and "stickler". Tsk, tsk. I hang my head in shame.

@jeffj-nj: Seriously... Have you seen the "medium" at Carl's Jr.? It's like a double Big Gulp!

@Slytherin: My experience has been that whenever I order a coffee of any size, Starbucks almost always leaves "room for cream." It sucks, because I don't get the full amount of coffee I ordered and I always drink it black ;-) But if I order a latte or mocha, the cup is always full... Weird that.

All I know is that I stopped at a rest stop on my way to a client today and I ordered a medium hot chocolate from Starbucks. $3.80 later, I was mighty disappointed.

I work for Starbucks (hey - health benefits). This isn't a Starbucks exclusive! Standard practice at ANY coffee shop is to charge about 50cents for an extra shot. The price is relative - the actual price of the ground coffee used is only like ten cents - but the extra charges go towards the heating pump and electricity used in the espresso machine. If you're ringing up a latte and you want an extra shot, it's going to cost fifty cents extra regardless of where you are.

The Americano is a casualty of this. Anywhere you go, hot water and espresso is going to cost a bit more than just espresso. Starbucks is a national corporation. Nobody decided that an Americano with an extra shot was a profit catcher - it just happened.

A similar situation is a Chai Tea Latte with added espresso shots. A Chai Tea Latte costs about $2.50, but it's only milk and our chai syrup. Add two shots and that's easily an extra dollar. But what you can do instead is ring it up as a latte (2.86) with Chai syrup added (syrup only costs 30 cents). Voila! It's a whole lot cheaper.

The best deal of all? Buy a pound of coffee, get the free coffee that comes with it, then make your own for the next few weeks.

@jeffj-nj: Well, that guy is usually called a jackass and ends up with a little extra in their medium "large" drink... Atleast in most of NJ ;D

@tylerkaraszewski: Actually it's a $109.58/year discrepancy for the daily Starbucks drinker.

I personally will stick with my $0.99 liters of Tejava and laugh at all the Buckophiles.

I took advice from one of the commenters here and ordered a mocha frapp with a biscotti blended in. Although the experience was exhilerating (I'm weird, don't ask), and I enjoyed the uber chocolately, gritty experience, I realized that I was losing out on maybe several tablespoons worth of frappaccino that the blended biscotti displaced.

@nweaver: If the expresso machine has you just push a button and expresso comes out, you are a coffee chimp, not a barrista.

If the computer has you push a button and misspellings pour out, you are a keyboard chimp and not a geek.

Espresso. Barista. It's not that hard.

kerry- I hate dumping coffee down the garbage can too, but "room for cream" is supposed to mean "ROOM FOR CREAM!"

How ridiculous does it sound to order a Medium Americano in a Small cup?

I love me a big-ass cup of Joe, but Starbucks' lids seem specifically designed to funnel splashes directly in my face, shirt and tie. So, it's a Grande coffee in a Venti cup for me.

jeff-nj- How does abusing the 14 year old popcorn girl at the movie theater solve the problem of not having a small size?

One thing I learned from my years in food service is that the people behind the counter probably hate the stupid naming conventions even more than you, the customer, do. Also, they have no way to change it. Being an ass to the counter worker only makes you more likely to get a little something extra in your food or drink.

I don't drink at Starbucks, but I do find it sad that they've changed to automated espresso ("expresso," hah!) machines to bang out more drinks, at the same price. You'd think streamlining production could pass the savings on to loyal customer. Nah, too easy.