A Tale of Two Starbucks: a Narrative on Customer Experience
29 Mar
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When I’m home in New York City, I rarely go to Starbucks. This is partly to support local business and partly 
because of the weird looks I get when I refuse to use their silly vernacular. It’s a large Iced Latte with Skim Milk dammit not a Venti whatever the hell. But when I’m on the road, I do frequent Starbucks because at least I know what I’m gonna get, and with all the travel I do, this is definitely valuable.
Recently I was in Austin, Texas and I had two interesting and paradoxical experiences that I thought I might share.
Experience #1
Monday March 22nd, 2PM
I’m in Austin. And with all the running around the city for SXSW events and such, somehow, someway, I lost my wallet (Disclosure: its actually a desk clip I use to hold on to my cards. Yep, I know it’s sad). So anyways, I realize that I lost it. I start trying to remember where I was the day before. Boom, I was at the Starbucks (this Starbucks to be exact). I immediately go online to find their phone number in order to ask if someone has turned it in. This is how that call went. I explained that I was a patron, and believed that there was a possibility that I had left my wallet there the day before. The woman who answered the phone was rushed, rude, uninterested and blatantly patronizing. She asked for my number, and said she would call me after looking for it, whether they had it or not. But it was one of those moments where you just know that the person on the other end is rolling their eyes and not writing down shit. And to no one’s surprise, she never called.
Maybe the lady was stressed and she just couldn’t take the time to think of how she would feel in my position. Cool, whatever. I decide to ask my friend to drive me down there. Hell, even if they don’t have it, at least I can get an Iced Latte and a Perfect Oatmeal.
We arrive. I wait in line. I get to the cashier. Nice dude. I explain the same thing I had explained to the lady on the phone. Before I can get half way through, I hear a shrilling, disgruntled voice. It was the same lady. Border line yelling at me from like 20 feet away. Now I realize she was also the manager. She was a troll. She says and I quote “Were you the guy that called earlier? Yeah, well I didn’t call you did I? You know why? Because we don’t have it.” I just looked at the nice dude at the cash register and asked, “Is she always like that?”. He nodded quietly.
I hate Starbucks.
Experience #2
Tuesday March 23rd, 10AM
I’m late for my flight back to JFK. I am literally running to catch the bus. Because of a tip left in Foursquare, I know there is not a good coffee spot in the Austin International Airport. I see a Starbucks. And in spite of my interaction with the Starbucks Troll the day before, I decided to stop in quickly to get a coffee and an oatmeal before my bus trip. The barista, seeing that I had my luggage and was in a rush, quickly took down my order, asked her team to rush the order, suggested I take a carry bag for the coffee, wished me a good morning and happy travels with a huge smile. My morning was better because of it. The nameless barista is a poet. She probably makes everyone’s morning a little better. And that means something.
I love Starbucks.
Same brand. Two diametrically opposed experiences in a single 24 hour period.
Moral of the Tale
The only thing more important than your brand are the people you hire to represent it.
Have you ever had any experiences similar to this?
Photo Credit: shewatchedthesky
AJ, great story. I had a similar experience with Panera Bread in the same city. Your people are a product of your brand, they have to be remarkable too
Nice writing style. As far as customer service goes, I think Starbucks nails it over 75% of the time, however, they stink when it comes to retrieving things people left. Once I left my sunglasses and they got stolen by the time I got there. I ended up getting a free latte.
Another time I left my charger and the process was bad as well. They need to work on that, otherwise, I love the way I feel when being served there.
You could totally turn this into a leadership blog post too. How the troll makes all her employees hate their job. The suckage trickles down from the top.
Could not agree more, David. Funny how so many people preach brand, even within social media channels, and then have some intern running their twitter account. Thanks for stopping by to leave a comment
Thanks for the kind words, Jenna! Yeah, they're not bad at all. With respect to big brands, they are definitely one of the better ones
Thanks for stopping by!
I've stopped ordering food from a restaurant because the delivery guy was a complete troll. I hated seeing him in my doorway, so the simple solution was to order from the 15 other mexican food joints within a two block radius of my house. (I love NYC) I have no problem taking my business elsewhere, its the times when I cant that suck Re: Time Warner.
Haha, seriously, when I saw her interaction with the dude at the cash register, I was like, oh okay, well at least they hate her too
Thanks for stopping by dude 
So have I, lots of times. The people that represent companies matter, arguably more than the company itself. There is an awesome Mexican restaurant with great food, but you're not going (they don't get your business) because of their customer-facing employees. Not good.
Agreed on Time Warner…they pretty much blow
Great post. I am a huge fan of MY starbucks. The one in my neighborhood is the neighborhood coffee shop, at one time I hated that fact but they hired great people and made an effort to endear themselves to our neighborhood and it shows. The entire staff makes an effort to know everyone's name and drink order. They know how to treat people so that they come back. I LOVE MY Starbucks. I proudly fight for the mayorship of it on foursquare on a daily basis.
Many others in my city suck. Really suck. They are rushed and rude and feel like a chain. Especially the “fake” Starbucks, the smaller ones put inside office buildings that only serve Starbucks but aren't Starbucks. These, I believe, are the most detrimental to the brand. There is no consistency with the people (not the product) and it shows.
Starbucks clearly doesn't understand this though. In their recent partnership with Foursquare they launched the Barista badge. A Badge given for going to 5 different Starbucks. I think that is silly. Why not award it for going to Starbucks a certain number of times? I know in the greater scheme of things it really doesn't matter and its only foursquare but still. Its a slightly flawed (IMHO) program and it irritates me.
Troll she was. I've vowed to never go to that Starbucks again. Luckily there's another one about a block away.
I think the funniest part of the story is how friendly the cashier was. His funny and true reaction to the trollish manager may have made the experience even better than if all the employees had just been a surface level friendly.
Great Post.
At my non-profit we have a guy who they REFUSE to fire even after he has made countless mistakes such as making thousands of calls to Ohio when it should have been to Florida. He is a nightmare. He sounds drunk on almost all interactions I have with him. All you have to do is look up his name in Myspace or Facebook and you see every picture with some type of liquor in it, or a huge plastic penis around his head. With the work that we do – it can mean life or death. I, as Supervisor, with no firing authority, am frustrated because it looks bad on me and the organization. I am getting to the point where it's gonna be me or him because I refuse to be associated with his representation of the company.
BTW – Did you ever find your wallet, or lack thereof?
Thanks for the kind words, Kira! And I agree about the Foursquare partnership. It doesn't make sense from a “local business” standpoint, which is what Starbucks gets called on all the time. Thanks for stopping by to comment
Haha, good cause I was going to be mad at you if you ever went back. I know, the guy was friendly and kind of scared at the same time. Btw I better be in your google reader
Okay, so that is a PERFECT example of what I'm talking about! And yes, I did, in good form too
Good post, but it clearly isn’t an issue of brand, alone. In your case “brand” was stronger than “people” and perhaps rightly so under the circumstances. How could Starbucks have such people managing their business? Despite the abuse, and I consider it such (not so much for you as a passer-by who could choose not to be abused but for those who “must be abused” as employees under her), yet you went to another Starbucks because of the brand. Familiarity does not always breed contempt.
Agreed. Very thoughtful. I guess the larger question for me is how much value to brands place in their customer-facing employees. If you move this back to social media channels, I know of a ton of brands that have interns or outside agencies running their twitter accounts. Those same brands place a huge priority in brand value, but the value of the brand is only as good as those that rep it. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment
Stick with your first impression. Starbucks is evil. Okay okay, that may be a little harsh but with their overpriced drinks & pretentios atmoshere, Starbucks definitely doesn't make my list of favorite companies. What's more is that you would think that with all the extra dough they squeeze out of every coffee bean they would be willing to give back to their farmers… at least FAIR wages! Have you ever seen Black Gold? It'll change your life. At least your coffee-drinking life, which for me is pretty much my life.
Now I must admit, I have been known to sip a Starbucks or 2 but that is only when I can't find an alternative (preferably local) establishment. The 'bucks definitely has convenience (aka Coorperate Giant'ness) on it's side. :/
I love local coffee shops in NYC, but I'm definitely not against Starbucks, I think for the most part, as a large brand they do better than most to try to be human (ie their Facebook FanPage, Brad who runs their Twitter account is great), but I did find it humorous that the same brand was represented in two entirely different fashions in a 24 hour period. These stores were within a few miles of each other too! I am gonna check out that film, though, haven't seen it yet. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment … twice!
Great post AJ! The other thing large companies like Starbucks miss is the opportunity to become “local”. Just as several of the previous comments indicate, it's the frontline employee you come to know and appreciate (or despise). Who doesn't want to do business with their friends? But we fool ourselves when we think commitment to process will transform a jerk into a pleasant person. Until excellence via shared values and quality character trumps growth goals, we'll continue to be haunted by customer service trolls and zombies.
Hey Step, sorry for the late reply, I was in the Keys for a wedding and apparently internet connection is not something they value down there
Couldn't agree with you more, bro, the reality is that customer-facing employees are the brand ambassadors. That's why I find it strange when companies have interns, newbies, or PR agencies manning their social media channels! Thanks so much for stopping by to comment!!!
At last, someone else who hates the pretentious terminology Starbucks use! I can't see what's wrong with “small, medium, large” myself. But I wouldn't drink their coffee anyway, it's vile.
I've visited the USA on business twenty or more times, and generally have a great time – except for the hot drinks. Tea is not real tea, made with leaves and freshly-boiled water in a china pot and left to mash for 4 minutes, it's the powdered ickiness of a Lipton's teabag dunked briefly in luke-warm water. No wonder it never tastes right. And the coffee – why is it always so weak? Even the espresso seems weak. A quadruple espresso barely touches the sides as it goes down, and has virtually no effect. Maybe it's the roast? Whatever the reason, it manages to taste both burnt and watery at the same time – quite an achievement.
Oh well, at least you have cheap petrol [gasoline] over there to compensate …
I hate coffee. To me, it smells like mud and mold – like the bottom of a wet rock by a swamp. Can't imagine how addicts have formed to support its popularity. But, once every few years, I have a meeting at a Starbucks. I don't know their “language” either.
Last time, I had my wallet stolen from out of my purse, which was on the window ledge beside me (big window, almost to the floor). Police said Starbucks thefts are very common (at least in Toronto) because the thieves figure 1) if you can afford $5 for a pail of mud 'n mold, you've got cash… and 2) you're relaxing, thinking others are, too, so your guard is down.
My tea cost $2, but the wallet they took was a special gift to myself at $150. Red leather, new. I only loved it for a month. Full of gift cards I got at Christmas and about $300. By the time I left Starbucks and was going through the car looking for the wallet, VISA's 'suspicious activity' department had called. Thieves had already gone to three big-box stores and spent $4000!!
Starbucks manager not very sympathetic. She said “Yeah, it happens all the time. Just call the police.” What?! You know about this and you don't warn people or do something about it?
So, why would I go back?
I hate coffee. To me, it smells like mud and mold – like the bottom of a wet rock by a swamp. Can't imagine how addicts have formed to support its popularity. But, once every few years, I have a meeting at a Starbucks. I don't know their “language” either.
Last time, I had my wallet stolen from out of my purse, which was on the window ledge beside me (big window, almost to the floor). Police said Starbucks thefts are very common (at least in Toronto) because the thieves figure 1) if you can afford $5 for a pail of mud 'n mold, you've got cash… and 2) you're relaxing, thinking others are, too, so your guard is down.
My tea cost $2, but the wallet they took was a special gift to myself at $150. Red leather, new. I only loved it for a month. Full of gift cards I got at Christmas and about $300. By the time I left Starbucks and was going through the car looking for the wallet, VISA's 'suspicious activity' department had called. Thieves had already gone to three big-box stores and spent $4000!!
Starbucks manager not very sympathetic. She said “Yeah, it happens all the time. Just call the police.” What?! You know about this and you don't warn people or do something about it?
So, why would I go back?
No interns at Marcal…Just 1 Brand Ambassador tweeting her heart out lol
And doing a damn great job