Boy, Andy really unleashed the inner demons of the Starbucks faithful with his “Juicy Raspberry” letter. There is the most hilarious thread going on at the Starbucks Gossip blog about whether is its, in fact, ok to serve “Juicy Raspberry” to customers before June 26th, and whether Andy is, in fact, too long-winded. It seems that Starbucks people are pretty long-winded themselves.
Highlights inside.
You know I think it’s extremely shitty of that lady from corporate to send that customer that letter, when we got a memo SPECIFICALLY telling us NOT to use the Juicy Raspberry until promo launch! That makes all the store partners look bad when they were just doing what they were told to do.
Everyone keeps saying it’s about “uplifting people” and “who cares, just say yes!” You guys, we are a corporation…ok? I think that internal audits, people losing jobs, and mess-ups in inventory are a lot more important than giving someone their raspberry. If someone told you that either you can lose your job and sell them raspberry, or tell them to wait, what would you choose?
Companies set up regulations to be followed. I know how some rules are “meant to be broken”, but I don’t see anything wrong with this. Overall, waiting till the 25th is the best decision, and if the heads of a corporation had hundreds of people think of this beforehand, then I will trust their judgment.
If a customer asked me to sell them juicy raspberry, I would probably say no. I would explain the launch date, offer alternatives, even offer a comparable drink for free, and try to connect.
Why can’t I walk into Best Buy and DEMAND a new Xbox, two days before the release date? After all, I know they have it in stock. Disclaimer…I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about any Xbox, but is it not a fair analogy?
we ran out of raspberry a month or so ago. so did all the stores around us. one of our daily regulars loves the raspberry so much and our store so much, when he was in a store that did have the raspberry, he bought himself 2 bottles of the stuff(that’s all they would sell him). it sits in the cupboard under the bar with his name on it and we only serve it to him.
we also had him try the juicy raspberry and he hates it.
we know he’s a freak, he knows he’s a freak. but he’s our freak and we love him. plus, he’s all proactive about it and not whiny.
Let me be sure I hear this right. There are folks here that are willing to ignore a release date?
Please reconsider. I enjoy making my customers’ day as much as anyone, but not by preselling something. Sure, it’s “just syrup”, but if you will say yes to that, I can’t see why you would say no to anything else.
Thank you Herman! It’s not about saying no about a syrup….but if saying yes then where is the stopping point the next time a customer asks for something early… there has to be a stopping point or promo launches don’t become special anymore. But I still think the writer is a cry baby!
This should be a non-issue. If it is between losing a customer and doing things in a rigid fashion, just make the customer happy. How much money do you think this guy spent at Starbucks everyday over the years? Let’s see – Iced Venti Mocha plus soy and another syrup? That’s almost $5 there, more in some areas. Now, how many times a day did he visit? 2 to 3 times? Now multiply that over the years. This guy is the customer we want to keep, the customer who is invested in our culture and the partners in his home store.
Starbucks, you’re so funny! We thought we posted something nice about Starbucks sending one of their loyal customers a gift card. Let’s all hug!—MEGHANN MARCO
I can hear the people at Starbucks saying: “Just send them a gift card and pray they never contact us again” [Starbucks Gossip]
(Photo: swruler9284)
PREVIOUSLY: Epic Battle For Raspberry Syrup Ends With Starbucks Apology And Gift Card
More From Consumerist
-
Starbucks Thinks You Want An Entire Store Of Tazo Tea
-
Peet’s Coffee Sells To German Conglomerate For Nearly $1 Billion
-
Why Should Starbucks Give You A Loyalty Discount? You’re Already Addicted
-
Starbucks To Cut Price Of Bagged Coffee By $1 Next Month Because The Caffeine Gods Said So
-
Starbucks Has Discovered Street Corners Without One Of Its Stores, Set To Open 1,500 More
@Recury:
Yeah, I think the “barista” thing is so damn pretentious. I’m told that “barista” is Italian for bartender. The fact that we’re not in Italy or in a bar is apparently immaterial.
Am I the only person who worked at a cool, non-pretentious Starbucks? Granted, it was in a mall, but all my co-workers were cool, they didn’t drug test, and we had a great ‘coffee barter’ system that was probably not corporate approved, but got us free Italian food and pretzels from the other employees.
When someone would ask for a medium, we’d never say ‘You mean a grande?’ If anything, we’d get asked, ‘What’s a grande?’ and then reply, ‘Oh, that’s a medium.’ If you ask for a medium, and the barista/server/coffee wench says, ‘Grande Non-Fat Mocha No Whip’ back to you, it’s probably just rote, and they’re repeating it to make sure they got your order right.
If they say, ‘We call it a medium’, ‘accidentally’ spill your coffee everywhere and then demand a new one.
@r81984:
@DeeJayQueue:
No one cares about game consoles, their affiliations with caffeine and Starbucks, or any analogy thereof. Please stop posting long-winded nonsense about absolutely nothing. Grow a brain.
Love Nero
Kee-RIST. It’s a f@#$ing SYRUP, people. Give the man his damned syrup, and let it go! You don’t, you use “the customer [Starbucks] wants to keep”, as the last (and only intelligent) Gossip Blog poster put it.
I think these people need to get out more.
@kc-guy:
I said “IF”, so what’re your point?? I mean IF what they are saying is true, and they think they will get fired over making a customer happy, THEN find another job. I dont care what Fortune 500 says, I wouldnt work for a place with those crappy policies.
@r81984:
“If you do not want to do what it takes to make the customer happy then do not be in retail.”
AMEN!!!!!!!!
what a bunch of jobsworths.
seriously…it’s syrup. SYRUP. release dates over syrup? what are you people? you’re like the union worker in our shared office complex who panics when someone takes one of their office’s three empty spots – more concerned with rules than function. if someone really, really wants the goddamn syrup, then give them the goddamn syrup.
besides, if anyone was smart they wouldn’t be drinking low-quality starbucks pisswater anyway.
This whole thing wouldn’t have been a big deal if starbucks didn’t have such asinine policies in place.
Look, I can understand where the starbucks clerks are coming from (having been one, and no, they are no longer “baristas,” since they no longer use real espresso machines). What do you do, risk your job (however pathetic it may be, it is still a job, and no one likes, you know, being involuntarily unemployed) to satisfy a customer, or follow the rules, however stupid you think they may be?
After having a series of these kind of scenarios, I did finally say “**** it” and left the ‘bucks. They lost their soul years ago.
And I’m sure a lot of retail employees get these kind of mixed signals. One the one hand you’re told to do whatever it takes to make a customer happy, but on the other hand, you’re penalized for doing so.
@acambras:
In Italy, coffee baristas tend to also serve alcohol. But, yes the term has gotten out of hand, and in any case, starbucks no longer hires or trains “baristas” anyways, not since they’ve replaced the La Marzocco machines with super automatics (Verissmos).
The employees at starbucks now simply push buttons to make drinks, the machine grinds, tamps, pulls, and pours into the cup. There isn’t even control over the foam. There’s no craftsmanship involved anymore. And thus the coffee tastes like crap.
Dear freaking lord, it is a SYRUP FLAVOUR, why does it need a RELEASE DATE?!? This is not a blockbuster movie, it is not an X-Box, it is a SYRUP FLAVOUR…
IF you any of you are thinking that Starbucks gives a shit about you, your family, or any other living thing-you are kidding yourselves.
I visit SB once sometimes twice every day, and two things keep me coming back.
One, the organic milk… Until another caffeine source, other than my kitchen, figures out that mystery I am going to SB.
Two, the BARISTAS… Typically, in fact I can’t think of a single instance in my experiences this isn’t true, these men and woman are saints. They wake up at the crack of dawn, and stand there putting up with all the whinny, ill-tempered, and otherwise ridiculous behavior people throw their way. I sure as hell couldn’t do it.
Part of their responsibility obviously is the protection and utilization of SB procedure. Even at the cost of customer satisfaction. This is a losing proposition for the worker-if they give in to the customer’s “demands,” then they risk termination. If they refuse they risk pissing off the wrong person, the one who calls management. That situation could in some cases also lead to termination.
“juicy” anything is adspeak for cheaper, more sugar and usually fake…
(disclaimer, i haven’t read the ingredients, just going by experience with other products)
Be pleasant with people. They are working hard, and deserve to be treated as such-even if they can’t accommodate your every whim… Don’t be the asshole, even if you are right…
Rant over.