Bad Service From Starbucks
I love Starbucks. I’ve been a gold card holder since 2010. I can get a better cup of coffee in Reno at places like Swill and HighPoint, but I appreciate the convenience of multiple locations and the usually consistent product and service quality offered by Starbucks.
But I had a bad experience at the Starbucks located at Keystone and 7th Street Friday morning. I was in that location on Wednesday morning that same week and ordered a muffin with my cup of coffee. The price listed in the display counter was $1.95, but the register rung it up as $2.25. The young woman providing service that morning told me the new signs were on order and thought nothing of charging me a price different than the one advertised. I politely told her that they needed to change the signs to reflect the price they intended to charge customers. When I returned Friday morning, the price still said $1.95 and I was still charged $2.25 at the register. When I complained, the manager told the young woman “just give it to him for free.” I did not want it for free, I simply wanted to pay the advertised price.
The manager was very dismissive of my complaint and remarked “we are only human.” That’s an excuse, and customer complaints never merit excuses. What makes this so inexcusable is that is was was so easily avoidable. If you don’t have the right sign, then simply remove the wrong one and let customers inquire about the price. What really bothers me the most about this is they willfully chose to ignore my service encounter two days earlier when I politely pointed out their error and gave them the opportunity to take action to recover. I could care less about paying an additional 30 cents for the muffin, but I do care a lot about the principles of charging what you advertise and responding to loyal customers.
I always complain about bad service. I spent over $10 for lunch at a different Starbucks that same day and got fabulous service. I will continue to be a fan of Starbucks and continue to spend money with them; however, it will be a long time before I return to the location at Keystone and 7th street.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
When I care enough about a company, I will give them feedback on negative service so they know what is happening and have an opportunity to fix it. It is likely that the store manager is powerless to change the system and only have 2 options – to charge the price that is rung up or to give it for free. But he does have control over his attitude toward the customer and influences the attitude of his staff. You might want to send a copy of this blog post to the corporate office. It sounds like they need to look at how they instill their values and strategies around customer service and also take a look at their systems. Feedback is a gift I only give to those I care about because it takes time and effort on my part.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 9:35 am
Excellent advice, Jesse. All I wanted from him was to acknowledge and respond to my concern in a way that would keep it from happening again. If I return to the store this morning and the price is still unchanged, I will of course be miffed. So why return when I have no confidence management cares enough to listen and act on my concern? Thanks! Bret
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Bret, while there are other competing coffee chains with better coffee than Starbucks, what I’ve appreciated about the company is its superior service. I’ve been in dozens of Starbucks across North Amercia and I can count on one hand the locations where service was not up to par.
Your experience is worse than anything I’ve ever witnessed. Besides the contemptuous attitude the two employees displayed towards you, they put Starbucks in a delicate position. In Canada there are fines for false advertising. Advertise a good for a certain price but charge another and you’re inviting a visit by bureaucrats, plus negative media coverage.
I hope you contacted Starbucks to share your experiences. I’d be interested to hear their response, ie, whether it’s a token “Here’s a free gift card, now go away.” Or something more substantive.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 9:37 am
I asked for the phone number of the manager’s supervisor. He did not want to give it to me but finally wrote it on a card. When I called, it was the wrong number. So I had to call him back and ask a second time. I then called the supervisor, left a message on an answering machine asking specifically for a return call, and she never returned my call. Again, very poor recovery. Thanks! Bret
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Jim Taggart Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 10:56 am
Wow! Talk about asking to get fired. Hope you email Starbucks’ head office since they’d really want to know about this experience and what’s going on in this particular store.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 10:58 am
If the supervisor had called me back that day and assured me the pricing issue would be fixed, I would not have written this blog post. It could be a corporate culture of arrogance, but I think it’s a training issue….
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When I first read this I was thinking to myself, ‘Dude, its a quarter. Relax.’ But the fact that they gave you a fake phone number reminds me of the kids who gave the bus driver a fake name when they were getting written up for being too noisy. Inevitably those kids ended up in way more trouble for trying to hide.
The Starbucks employees never got in that kind of trouble as children, or actually were able to pull a fast one over the adults.
That location is so convenient, would you consider giving it a year long break? The employees will all be new by then.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Ha! It was not at all about the money, Jake. I spend more money at Starbucks than I care to admit. It’s the principle of being ignored. Good business does not ignore the feedback of valued customers. The manager blew me off, and that’s simply not right.
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I agree that it is probably a training issue. If a supervisor doesn’t seem to care about customer service, why would the staff? I think it would make life more enjoyable if everyone would just remember that we are all human, and deserving of consideration.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Concur, Caroline. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Bret
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After hearing the whole story, I’m with you. They need the guy from ‘Stand & Deliver’ to rearrange things.
But I think I would have taken the free coffee.
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