On a blog called Boston Food & Whine, you'd expect a good whine from time to time. Tammy unleashes today on the Starbucks out by the Dedham Mall, which puts the "suck" in "Starsucks," apparently:
... Another issue is more often than not, there is residual coffee under the lip of the lid, so that when I grab the cup from the drive-thru window, it inevitably drips all over my clothing. ANNOYING... How hard is it to put a dome lid on a cold cup that is too full???
Next, the staff is horrendous. They are ridiculously slow -- especially when you actually go in. I once waited (I kid you not) FIVE MINUTES for the Barista to even begin making my drink... and I was the only person in there! They were lolling around, talking, wiping the counters, etc. I finally had to say something. You would have though that I actually asked them to do their job or something...
Not only are they slow and incompetent, but they are rude. ...
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Comments
5 MINUTES!?
By paquettew
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 2:31pm
god forbid that somebody would make you wait that long! i mean, thats like the amount of time it takes to listen to a song!
seriously, get some patience. relax. its only coffee
Poor Service
By LikeCoffee
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 3:10pm
Starsucks is charging an inflated price that includes customer service. The customer is not paying to stand around while waiting for service. If it was only coffee, people would go somewhere else.
I'd rather relax with my cup of joe, listening to my choice of music in my car.
Seriuosly, customer service is what you are paying for.
What's happening at many Starbucks cafes is indicative of
By independentminded
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 8:05pm
What's happening at many, if not most Starbucks Cafes is indicative of the way Customer Service has become just generally......poor, incompetent, surly and rude. Customer service these days, with relatively rare exceptions, is just horrendous, and getting worse. It's disgusting.
Have you ever thought about
By anon
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 9:13pm
Have you ever thought about giving what you receive? I'm paid to provide quality customer service and deliver exceptional drinks. However a problem arrives when someone expects to be allowed to demean you just because they're having a bad day. I hope you enjoy your quad decaf when your acting like a lunatic because that's what you just got.
Slow on the uptake
By neilv
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 10:41pm
You're responding to a comment posted about 1.5 years ago.
When food service people intentionally mess with someone's order, that might make them feel more powerful, but I think it's just insecure bullying. Actually, it's worse than the stereotypical playground bully, since the playground bully doesn't do it secretly.
It's also assault, and potentially very dangerous, when it involves the usual favorites of germs, caffeine, or potential food allergies/sensitivities.
you mean you don't mind
By lynn
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 3:16pm
you mean you don't mind being ignored as a customer in a store?
I'm not afraid to admit that I hate it and it makes me never return to a place if I can help it. It's my money and my time after all. I don't like wasting them feeling like I'm imposing on someone who's employed to help me as a customer.
What they sell
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 3:22pm
They are in a market which demands prompt service and they advertise and sell that ideal. If they lead you to expect service, she has every right to complain!
Some people have to get to work you know! If they want to sell slow vibe, fine - don't have a drive through and warn people that it's relaxed.
LikeCoffee, why do you say
By Adam
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 3:28pm
LikeCoffee, why do you say Starbucks' prices are inflated? Last I checked, the cost for a basic cup of coffee was pretty much identical to Dunkin' Donuts.
true, basic cup is about the same
By LikeCoffee
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 4:05pm
but how about an Iced Grande Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato? Or some other concoction?
dunkies
By bostnkid
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 7:38pm
I used to stop at the Dunkin Donuts across from the new WGBH buiding in Brighton every morning.I would get the same thing evey day.Almost every morning the women working the counter would have my order on the counter before i even got into the store!
As far as the coffee? I drink iced. D&D's seemed watered down.Starbucks has a nice strong kick but I feel like an ass going in there.Where can you find great service AND great coffee?
Yes, but they do have a drive through!
By RoslinJavaDale
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 4:24pm
I agree, it's not the best Starbucks, but I love being able to drive through on my way home from a dreary Dedham shopping excursion. I haven't noted any issues with waiting or spillage, but I was pretty miffed the other day when they didn't have a clue how to make the drink I had ordered.
It was a macchiato(not of the disgusting caramel not really a macchiato at all variety, but the real thing). A macchiato is supposed to be espresso with a small dollop of foam on top. It is different from a cappuccino or late in that there is no steamed milk, just foam. What I got (and the store manager told me this was in fact a macchiato) was steamed milk with a drip of espresso in it.
Most distressingly, Wiki says this, "However, some newer cafes tend to add steamed milk to the espresso in a 1:1 ratio, as well as mixing the milk into the espresso, making it more like a miniature caffè latte. Some people call this piccolo latte," so evidently I am just a dinosaur, and the Dedham Starbucks is cutting edge for yet another lame bastardization of a fine drink to make people who don't like coffee feel cool with their order. :(
macchiato...
By S.
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 4:47pm
Same thing happens to me when I order a macchiato... they make it like a latte. If I specify that I would like a dry macchiato, which is actually redundant, the barista makes it properly. The Woburn Starbucks near Target has a drive-thru... love it! The worst Starbucks are in the rich suburbs, Lexington in particular, where there's always a gaggle of pre-teen girls ahead of you in line who all want frappuccinos. Forget getting in and out of there quickly.
the elusive macchiato
By lynn
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 5:17pm
I used to work for a coffee place. Whenever someone ordered a macchiato we'd ask them how they wanted it made, because 10:1 if we made it properly it'd get returned because the person expected the milky version.
Properly made caramel macchiatos are good though, in my sweet-toothed, coffee-shot loving opinion of course.
One person's macchiato...
By lisamcc
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 6:25pm
...kind of like the debate over what constitutes a "regulah" at Dunkin'.
Kind of.
Okay, maybe not really.
I figured that was the case
By S
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 7:10pm
I figured that was the case with the macchiato at Starbucks... too many people really wanted a latte even though they ordered the macchiato. What's annoying is that Starbucks bends the rules on the macchiato, but formerly refused to serve iced coffee unless one ordered a double shot espresso and a separate venti cup filled with ice!
waaaaaaaait a minute
By Angelaf
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 8:17pm
Starbucks has drive-thrus?!
Some do
By adamg
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 9:37pm
Specifically, this one - it's a free-standing Dunkin'-like thing in the middle of acres of parking, except it looks more like a shrunken Ye Olde Colonial than a coffee take-out stand.
Oh my goodness you had to
By anon
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 9:08pm
Oh my goodness you had to wait. Poor you. I hope you are able to overcome this obstacle in your life. It must have been absolutely devastating. PSYCHO!