Buzz beer?

Hmmm, how many people in CA are going to submit "I'd like Starbucks to stop illegal tip-sharing arrangements imposed on its lowest-wage employees!"

Har.

Ordering anxiety? Are you serious? Are you worried about what the person working at starbucks is gonna think about how you speak their freeky deeky dutch?

@Natheo: No. I am not serious.

I went to 3 local stores in Florida and most if not all the baristas and managers knew me and my close friend by name.

At least once a week sometimes two we would get free drinks. Never asked for it always said thanks and always had a good relationship with them.

I was like this with Gamestop as well. My local store gave me a free DS Lite charger because it wasn't labeled correctly. Manager just handed it to me.

It always pays to be a regular when you can. Just a simple conversation can turn into quite a friendship over time.

Still good friends with a majority of those that are still in the area.

I think the order-card idea may come on the iPhone eventually -- I've seen mockups of similar apps floating around. They already integrate iPhones with their music system, so why not with the ordering system?

I agree on the free wifi. They are WAY overdue in offering free wifi as just about all their competitors have figured it out and even fast-food places have it now. What's the incentive to linger (and keep ordering coffees) if you have to pay when the Panera/St. Louis Bread Co. will serve you coffee and free wifi?

Where I live there's a Starbucks and a STLBC down the street. Guess which one I'm more willing to linger in if I'm travelling somewhere and need to check in at work or something?

Close down more shops?

I hope they return to using local bakeries they used to contract to for fresh pastries. The frozen-then-thawed preservative bombs they sell now are absolute crap.

@Shadowman615: yes pls

@Natheo: I just tell them "the one in the middle!"

@Meg Marco: When I order a "large coffee," the barista (employee? clerk?) always corrects me-
Me: I'd like a large coffee.
Barista: One vente coffee, would you like anything else with that?
Is that Starbucks corporate policy or something?

@bricklayer: Probably just a snob. They don't act like that to me when I go there from time to time.

I don't go to Starbucks like I used to because of all the asshats shouting into their cell phones indoors. I instead go to a place with a "no cell phones" sign.

I do have to say, I was a fan of Starbucks for years, because I think they have a habit of hiring nice people or seem to have a corporate culture of being nice to the customer. And I always ask for a small coffee, and they seem to understand what I mean just fine. If they say "vente" or whatever, perhaps because that's how they have it marked on their register, I don't really notice or care.

im not a starbucks customer, but i am excited to offer my suggestions to them.

-get better coffee.
-stop pretending to be anything other than a fast food restaurant.
-revamp tired 90s color scheme.
-stop forcing customers to listen to that incredibly retarded 'wrinkle my nose' song

@Buran: how can you be a snob and work at starbucks? wait. now i'm being a snob.

@bricklayer: Starbucks is a lifestyle, you gotta use their vocab, and have your iPhone on standby for mocha emergencies.

This is at what they say at my starbucks: "So will you be having the usual?"
Yep!

they're usually startled when I change it up, and now that it's getting warmer, I'm going to be getting iced, so this may frazzle them.

How about stepping up to fair trade guidelines on all your products.

Using not only local bakeries but local dairies when possible.

A discount for those that bring in their own cup.

@Beerad: So are you saying that a boss taking a cut of tips from the employees' tips is illegal? I used to have a manager that did this to "punish" the employees. I was a cashier, so no problem for me, but I thought it was a really shitty thing to do. This was at IHop, btw, so ALWAYS tip in cash, not on credit.

see how insulted apple and starbucks together. dang im good.

@yesteryear: To be honest, I would like to tell 90% of stores out there to change their soundtrack, but just not possible.

@Amy Alkon: Unfortunately, "no cell phones" signs don't stop people. I've been to a Subway to get some food only to get stuck behind someone gabbing into his phone right in front of the sign. Next time that happens I'll just step around him and start ordering, and if he raises a fuss, point to the sign and say, "Wait your turn."

"The best part of this website is the message from CEO Howard Schultz:

So, pull up a comfortable chair and participate in My Starbucks Idea. We're here, we're engaged, and we're taking it seriously.'"

seems like howie has never been to one of his cafes... there are no comfortable chairs. they're all at tullys or zokas.

I spend about $20/week at coffee shops. I stopped going to Starbucks because of the wifi. Screw Starbucks.

@cockeye: The salaried manager taking this is disgustingly unethical, if not illegal. I think the tip-pooling thing is questionable when the money is at least being shared among the underpaid hourly types (kitchen & bus staff) but if the manager is also taking a cut he should be shot. In the kneecap, preferably.

@bricklayer: "When I order a "large coffee," the barista (employee? clerk?) always corrects me-
Me: I'd like a large coffee.
Barista: One vente coffee, would you like anything else with that?
Is that Starbucks corporate policy or something? "

actually, yes. they want you to use their lingo as part of the programming. just like how Coca-Cola probably has you calling every soda a "coke".

@bricklayer: Yeah, I've noticed that before too. Still, I continue to say 'large' for any subsequent orders. Bonus points if they seem irritated. I refuse to memorize which of the three different words (that all seem to translate to 'large') actually means large.

I do like that Dunkin Donuts commercial making fun of the same:

I think tip-pooling sucks. I've told my family that when you leave a bad tip at a restaurant, usually you're punishing the whole staff, not just that waiter. But that doesn't mean that I think a waiter who did a crummy job (when it is obviously their fault) should be tipped well.
This IHOP got shutdown by corporate because they were doing A LOT of illegal/unethical things.

I can understand why a barista at Starbucks would use the specific sizing lingo. They have, I think, 4 different sizes. Is a large a Grande, and a Venti an extra large? Or is the Venti the large? Who the hell knows. If the names they came up with are too confusing, you can also order by the ounce, as in, "A 12 oz latte" (which I believe is printed on their menu boards).

@bricklayer:

Me too, and since I don't speak Starbucks when the 'Barista' corrects me I end up confused and we go back and forth to make sure I end up with the correct size. I think its just silly and annoying and one of the reasons I don't regularly frequent the Bucks along with the fact that I don't care for their coffee.

I know a Starbucks manager & asked her several months ago about free wifi at Starbucks locations. She said the problem is their long-standing contract with T-Mobile to provide fee-based wifi service. Thus, it looks like no free wifi until the T-Mobile contract expires.

Cheaper prices.

I just won't go there. Who can afford that stuff? Well, I guess a lot of ppl can, but with my husband (still) out of work, it's an unnecessary luxury for us.

I always order my coffee in ounce size, that way no matter what cute name the shop comes up with, I always get the size I want.

Meh, requires registration to vote or comment. Sounds like another idea in their favor.
My ideas, even though I never go there (Since they're probably reading this)

1. Free WiFi (None of the Sb stores have this in orange county, down the block of any of them is a smaller, cheaper cafe that will fill this accomodation)
2. Cheaper coffee! It's just a drink ffs!
3. Not have your employees bug me.
4. Leave the bathroom doors unlocked instead of asking for a key. Big inconvienience.
5. The place stinks and if I'm there for more then 5 minutes I walk out with my clothes smelling like coffee. Haven't you heard of ventilation?
6. Too many customers. Hire more staff and install a few more registers. Make the manager actually get off his fat ass and do something when a line forms.
7. Ban those bluetooth devices in the store, in fact ban all cellphones.
8. The music is annoying and dissident. Change it.
9. Stop accepting credit cards (This makes sense if you think about it for a minute, refer to #2, part 2 if you need clarification).
10. The environment is identical to every other starbucks, make them more unique (This requires much investment, I know)
11. Would it hurt to make the place bigger? And what's up with those pillars installed in the middle of some of them?
12. Report your stocks every MONTH, not every quarter. That pissed off your investors. Oh wait, Last I heard SB wasn't even on wall street anymore. Nevermind!
13. The pastries are too expensive. And they're not even freshly made, you aren't fooling anyone. You did a good thing by stopping the sandwich thing just to attempt proving a lesson to McDonalds.

@yesteryear: I like the design...

@riverstyxxx: I don't carry cash often and if a business won't take my credit card, I won't go there. If McDonald's can do it (and have free wifi, too), a place like Starbucks that tries to cater to the middle and upper middle classes needs to be on top of the same game.

I'm stunned that the highest-voted of the "stop calling your sizes stupid names" posts on that site has 80 points (equivalent 8 votes).

Once in a while I'll go into a Starbux to see if any of their current seasonal beverages tickles my fancy. I always order a "large something" or a "medium whatever" as opposed to their fuckfaced proprietary size names. If they do their snarky correction bit, I walk out of the store. Getting a tasty beverage isn't worth any amount of corporate brainwashing.

@riverstyxxx: So you are saying that they are too expensive and too crowded? That's a bit contradictory, don't you think?

@cockeye: Generally speaking yes, it's illegal. At least NY and CA have statutes on the books specifically prohibiting this (and likely other states as well). Obviously it depends on the specific factual situation -- sounds like your jerkwad manager was definitely breaking the law.

Vis-a-vis Starbucks: [consumerist.com]

@riverstyxxx: Sounds like you've spent waaaaaay too much time in a Starbucks for someone who doesn't seem to like: the product the place sells, the price they sell it at, or anything about the experience of being there. No offense, but I think you should consider opening a "RiverstyxxxBucks" coffeehouse rather than trying to reformulate Starbucks' entire business model for them.

@riverstyxxx:

8. The music is annoying and dissident. Change it.

Dissident?? Their music challenges the established policy or something?

Judging by the rest of your post, I think they are going to dismiss you pretty quickly.

@Meg Marco: So, you're like the customer in the Dunki Donuts commercial, then?
"I'd like a large coffee"
"You mean a Deochi"
"A large coffee"
"A Deochi."
"what's a Deochi?"
"It's a large"

@sburnap42:
Absolutely not, price means nothing to the Starbucks hounds. Read the part where I mention: "Make The Place Bigger" to handle those crowds.

@Buran: Carry some cash, mmk? No one should have to wait in line while the person in front of them is paying for mints and a bottle of water with a credit card charging 18% interest.

I've been going to the same Starbucks for 4 years - none of the baristas know or use my first name.
They never ask how my day is going - never had a free coffee.
I wished there was competition to this outlet in our neck of the woods.
North Langley, B.C.
Canada
(The manager is too busy chasing the moose out of the parking lot - just kidding).

I always help myself to the free samples they put on the counter - hell I am paying premium for my cup of coffee anyway.

I have one great suggestion. STOP BURNING THE COFFEE.
Whaddya mean it's suppsed to taste that way yeeeccch

@riverstyxxx: Its the 21st century - most fast food outlets I go to the credit card swiper on the counter is as fast or not faster than paying for cash. And what has the interest rate got to do with it - some of us use credit cards for convenience/fraud protection, not to pay interest...

@oakie: I think you're going to the wrong Starbucks (or living in the wrong area). The stores around here have some very comfy chairs.

But let's face it, Starbucks isn't about couches and free wi-fi and making it comfortable for you to hang around for hours hogging all the seats. I don't have a problem with that: There are other options for that.

@riverstyxxx: Ever heard of Debit Cards? All the convienence, no interest.