Starbucks Customer Gets Mad At Barista, Returns With Apology Note & $50

Image courtesy of ABC News

Most stories we write about unhappy customers returning to the scene of their displeasure end badly — sometimes burn-down-the-building, drive-your-car-into-the-restaurant badly. So we’re relieved to bring you a tale of an angry Starbucks customer who came back to the coffee shop to apologize and compensate the barista she felt she’d wronged.

ABC News reports that a California woman returned to a Starbucks store this week to offer a mea culpa to a barista she treated poorly the day before.

The barista says that the woman had used the drive-thru and was pleasant while waiting for several beverages to be made.

However, the customer became frustrated when the barista told her the store was out of beverage holders. She also wasn’t thrilled when he told her that state health codes prevented him from throwing out a piece of her trash for her.

Despite this, the barista said he didn’t think the customer was rude.

“It was not a big deal at all in my eyes,” he tells ABC News. “Being in customer service you can experience a lot of negativity and frustration. I try to counter it with positivity and patience. This was an extremely mild interaction compared to other incidents.”

Still, the customer apparently felt she could have handled the situation better and returned to the store.

The barista says that once she found out he was the employee working the window the day before she “became extremely apologetic.”

The pair chatted for a few minutes and before the woman left she handed the barista a card. Inside he found yet another apology and a $50 bill.

“Without the money, this was one of the most beautiful and heartfelt things I have ever read,” the barista tells ABC News. “It absolutely made my day when I read it. The money was unnecessary. The card alone was the best part.”

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