This isn't for all Starbucks but there was this one that I had just found around the time they starting posting that you couldn't get refills if you left. For every other Starbucks, that has never included the outdoor patio area. You were always allowed to go sit outside, work and talk, and come in for refills. It started slowly, first they would just give me weird looks when i got a refill and then this one lady openly told me that I had to pay full even though I had my receipt and I was on the patio. She told me I left the store so my coffee counts as a new. I'm a gold star member so being charged a new coffee when it clearly states that I get free refills was infuriating. I just thought it was the one employee. So one Sunday, I was waiting for my mom and my little brother to come back from the doctors inside the Starbucks. I had bought a coffee and had one refill while I was working. There was two other women sitting in the back at the booth. I was there maybe two and a half hours maybe three hours when my family finally came in. My mom sits down to check her Skype real quick because the doctor appointments took longer than she expected. I got a refill, to go, because we were going to leave right after she made a call on Skype and finished sending this huge document. I ran out to grab her notebook with her notes from the truck. I hadn't realized that I had been followed. So, I just opened the truck door to grab the note book when one of the employees comes to me and basically tells me that I had been there to long without buying anything. I told him that I had refills. And he basically told me that they don't count and that I wasn't entitled, those exact words, to refills and that it was something they did as a courtesy. And that at the two hour mark, I need to buy something else if I want to stay. I guess I was to shocked to really go off on him but I explained that I would have sat outside but I kept being charged for my refill so I sat inside. He didn't care. So I grab the notebook, as he goes back into the store. I give the notebook, let mom finish her email, and we left. I haven't been back. I've never so aggressively been encouraged to not be a customer somewhere. And that includes going to a very nice restaurant with a baby brother screaming for fifteen minutes straight. It really offended me because it was obvious I was waiting for someone. Have you had a similar experience with Starbucks?
I will say one thing, that until I worked in a retail like store, I did not really understand why some people were so rude. I am not saying that it is excused or acceptable behavior, but I do have a little more sympathy for them. That said, though, there are certainly some people out there in these positions who are just rude and do not really need a reason to be, and those are the real problem employees. Interesting stuff, and thanks for sharing.
Oh, I've worked retail and a couple restaurants, and there is no way we would have been allowed to follow a customer out of the store to tell them that they were there to long. If I had done that, I would have lost my job. So I don't know where he got off telling me that I had been there to long. So I understand some having a bad day but you're never supposed to toss that onto a customer. The customer is supposed to come first.
Oh yeah he certainly took it way too far. Anytime you go out of your way to do something like that then that is completely unexcusable. I just trying to make a more general point. But it really does sound like this guy has some personal issues going on or something, and it almost as bizarre as it is rude.
Well, you should have complained, in written. In fact do it now. You paid for your drink and you were mentally harassed. Starbucks employees can't harass customers and the company will act if you let them know. While I don't like going into legal details and most people won't want to get into a legal tussle, you may be able to get a few thousand bucks as compensation. Get some legal advice to see if you have a strong enough case. But, at least complain.
I don't like Starbucks so I never use them unless I have zero choice, but the policies are there and some people enforce them and others don't. You may not wish to hear this, but if you don't buy anything in a shop they do have the right to ask you to leave or buy something. It's actually legal to do so as it's called loitering. Many people do ask if it's okay to stay or buy another drink. As for refills, they are a courtesy, as in many other countries such as the UK you don't have this or you get one refill. It was extreme to follow people, but if it was busy and they needed the seats then they have a right to do so. There is a difference between the legal rights and what people believe are their rights. Many McDonalds don't mind people sitting around having a coffee, but they reserve the right to ask them to leave if they have no food or drink.
I've never seen a rude Starbucks employee in my area where I live. They are usually pretty sophisticated and wear a so-called "salesperson smile" which I totally hate. However, I have nothing to complain about them doing their job. I can understand though where all this rudeness stems from. You know, they are just doing the job they have zero passion about... and have also trouble handing themselves. Sure, these type of employees are not a good catch.
I would say first thing to do is go to corporate website and look for the specific policy on refills, if any. If it is not stated then do an official inquiry , not a complaint. It would be advantageous to know where the real company stands. If they allow, you can ignore any employee complaining to you. If not, then you can understand why some retail person feels compelled to advise you
Well I did experience something like this a few years back but not in Starbucks. There was this restaurant in a mall that served Turkish cuisine. My friends and I usually hang out in that place almost the whole day. We eat there from breakfast until supper. That was for about a month or 2. One day we were on our same routine and just finished eating lunch and ordered brewed coffee (they have this promo that if you add $.50 you'll get unlimited refill). After 30 minutes, new set of friends came to our table and ordered the same thing. We stayed there enjoying the coffee refills for around an hour and a half when we decided to order something to eat. But when we were about to order, the store owner went to our table and told us that his place was a restaurant and not a coffee shop. I got really mad and just decided to leave the place and eat somewhere else. To be a store owner and tell your ONLY customers, that's right we were the only customers they had for 2 months who almost made that place our own house. The other cutomers they had were our friends too. We literally advertised their resto to our friends so we can hang out together and the owner told us to scram.
