SmartReMarxcom

Midday Disaster.

Nov 24

SquidWhy Starbucks Sucks 1 Comment

The Church Street Starbucks in Harvard Square has to be the worst Starbucks I’ve ever been to. Of course, it is the only Starbucks on my direct route to work in the morning, and seeing as how I’m one of those people who would sleep all day if they could, I really don’t leave myself the time in the morning to go to the better store three blocks away and still make it to work by 8am. Work has been unbelievably hectic for the past few months, and one can get rather stir crazy being cooped up in a windowless five by eight office for eight or nine hours a day. To break up the monotony, a friend and I have been venturing out to get coffee in the afternoon. However, what was intended to be our relaxing break from emails, phone calls, students and micromanagers has turned into a daily disaster.

Last week, we walked the block from our office to the Church Street Starbucks to find the line to be about 10 or 12 people deep. As I made my way to the back of the store and the end of the line, I noticed a woman handing a drink over to the cashier, telling her that it wasn’t what she wanted and she didn’t have the time to wait for another one. The woman was apparently holding a newpaper that she had yet to purchase, as the cashier’s reply was “so do you not want the paper either?” The woman, who was standing at the register, next to the newspaper stand, said “No,” and handed the paper over as well. The barista working the register didn’t offer the woman an apology or wish her a nice day. Instead, she looked at the next customer in line, handed her the newspaper, and said “can you put this back for me?”

Nearly ten minutes later my friend and I made it to the one open register. My friend ordered her tall white mocha with four equals, handed over her debit card, and the cashier rang in the $4.25 drink… which is about 50 cents more than a tall drink costs. When my friend mentioned this, the woman at the register said, “yeah, well, with tax…” To which my friend replied, “no.” The girl at the cash register tried three or four times to get my friend her 50 cents back, but apparently couldn’t figure out how to do it, and she was clearly getting upset. An older barista walked by and said to the girl at the register, “its fine, void it and ring it through again.” At this point, I seriously think I saw the girl working the register begin to twitch. She literally started to tweak out, saying repeatedly “oh god, my computer is frozen,” while frantically blinking and tapping the screen. Once the computer came back to life, she forcefully punched the numbers on the screen whilst shaking her head furiously and rang up my friend’s drink, and then began swiping her card… over and over again. Finally, it was my turn to order. It took at least three or four minutes to get my friend straightened out, and the line had grown to at least 15 people. There was only one register open and one barista on bar, but there were definitely two or three other “team members” floating around behind the counter doing absolutely nothing. I ordered my triple grande skinny vanilla latte, and my friend and I went over to the bar, happy to get away from Tweaky McGee.

As we approached the bar, the barista looked at my friend without a smile or a greeting and said “tall white mocha four equals?” My friend hardly had a chance to nod her head before the barista continued, “can you go over there and get me some equal?” Um, what? When you ask a waitress for ketchup at a diner, does she say, “yeah, go grab some in the kitchen?” Not so much. So, my poor friend who probably paid $14 for this cup of coffee once the cashier was finished swiping, walked to the other end of the store, grabbed a handful of equal, and handed it over to the barista. She speedily finished up our drinks, and plopped them on the bar without calling them, making eye contact or smiling. Just a “here” as she continued to pull shots and steam milk. Twenty-five minutes after we embarked on our journey, my friend and I were back at our office drinking our mediocre lukewarm lattes.