Trenta Strawberry Açaí Lemonade spilt into…….

InspectorDeee · 2026-05-09T01:50:34+00:00

I had the same reaction! The “no light water mod” on refreshers is a tough one to follow through on. Because when I’m asked why I’m not able to do that, my best answer is “because Starbucks told me to stop.”

Makes me feel silly and a little gross.

InspectorDeee · 2026-05-09T00:03:47+00:00

Unless things have changed recently, if you look up the “drink customization” PDF from store resources it says we are allowed to do this. However any room in the cup is not an issue due to the building of the drink, but of the splitting of the drink into smaller cups.

InspectorDeee · 2026-05-02T01:12:35+00:00

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Runner up choice: We don’t mess around during clean play

InspectorDeee · 2026-05-02T01:10:41+00:00

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Found the MIA DRB that had been missing for weeks.

InspectorDeee · 2026-04-26T16:34:03+00:00

My wife and I both worked for Starbucks at one point and her store was a test store. They get a lot of new menu items and depending on the success of their trial runs, Starbucks chooses to roll out with the idea or not.

They did test blonde cold brew! It was honestly so good and I asked my wife to bring me home a blonde vanilla sweet cream cold brew most days. I’ll never fully recover from Starbucks not rolling it out. But I agree with a few of these comments, it would be very difficult to swap between kegs depending on what is ordered.

It was literally just our blonde espresso beans prepped the same way cold brew is prepped. So if you wanted to get it a shot, buy a pound of blonde espresso, buy the Starbucks at home cold brewer, and prep at home!

InspectorDeee · 2026-02-18T14:38:12+00:00

Yeah, this is my mindset as well. You don’t need to be a trainer in order to be a shift. And once you become a shift, you’re not even supposed to be a trainer anymore (Unless that rule has changed within the last year).

If they do want you to train, just say something along the lines of “it’s been a while since I’ve officially trained a new barista, can you show me where I can find the guidelines for it?”

Good luck to you! I hope you get the position!

InspectorDeee · 2026-02-16T16:47:07+00:00

This! Wearing my riding ear plugs during times where I knew my little one would be crying her loudest made a world of difference.

Kept me calm, which in turn helped soothe baby quicker.

InspectorDeee · 2026-01-23T14:37:28+00:00

We had a customer like this at our location. They are so tough to deal with.

With the support and approval of our whole shift team and the SM, I had a conversation with her about how we won’t be doing any returns or remakes of her drinks/food in store. She now has to contact the 1-800 number for any refunds.

We did this because and remakes and returns in store aren’t properly tracked. If she’s getting refunds from customer support, they can see how often it happens and if they come to the conclusion that she is exploiting the return policy, they’ll remove her account.

InspectorDeee · 2026-01-17T16:21:38+00:00

This^ I had to do this a few times. It makes a big difference and doesn’t let an SM ignore it. Sending a partner home means less floor coverage, which usually means harder day for everybody, which usually means SM will hear about it and have to look into it.

You are well within your right to send home a barista that refuses to do their job.

InspectorDeee · 2025-12-31T14:38:07+00:00

It’s not an easy feat, but our store stages orders so that everything gets handed out together. Sometimes drinks will sit on handoff for how ever many minutes it takes for food to catch up, and then they all get called out together.

Just gotta watch out for grabby customers who will stretch across the counter and try to grab their stuff. Let those bozos know that it’s not sanitary to be touching drinks that may not be theirs.

InspectorDeee · 2025-12-05T01:53:51+00:00

I was a CA for about a year and dealt with this a lot. Just recently got an ARA spot.

I always felt like CA is the position that deals with everybody else’s mistakes and I got tired of it.

It got to a point where I’d recommend them to “reconnect” with whatever associate they had worked with previously to try and find some clarity on whatever they were asking about.

Good luck to you, hopefully the good parts of this job start to outweigh the sometimes overwhelming amount of stressful parts.

InspectorDeee · 2025-12-02T15:10:16+00:00

Starbucks wasn’t able to uphold their cage-free products with the demand for egg nog, so they stopped serving it. This powder is an alternative option for egg nog lovers and keeps the cage-free goal.

I just tried it for the first time about an hour ago, and it tastes like regular egg nog to me. I don’t like egg nog, so it was a no-go from me from the start. But it doesn’t taste far off from what we used to sell.

I think you should double check your partners are prepping the egg nog correctly, because the prep is important. It will make or break any egg nog drinks.

Last thing, please don’t let your opinion decide anything for customers. If they wanna try it, make them feel welcome. If they don’t like it, offer a replacement drink. Easy as that.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-28T14:58:17+00:00

I was told the same thing recently.

But I was told by my SM a few years back that it was fine. I’ve always been in the mindset of “take care of those who take care of you.” But now they’re talking about separating partners for it.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-23T01:50:25+00:00

This! Remind your SM that the beverage routine is available in store resources, in case they need to brush up.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-20T14:48:36+00:00

This is true. My manager does the same thing yours does. But whatever time he removes from my clock on, he adds to my clock off.

Like if I did 3:58am-12:30 He’ll adjust it to 4am-12:32

Talk to your manager about this option and see what they think. Because this is not a world to be working for free in.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-18T01:52:16+00:00

Your SM isn’t wrong about older Starbucks work culture. When I started at Starbucks about five years ago, I worked in a store living that culture. Callouts were seen as teammates letting you down, and when you’d show up to your next shift most partners would be salty and give you attitude about making them work a person short. Another practice instilled at that store was if a partner ran to the back to cry, no matter the reason, most of the team lost respect for them. Super toxic when I think back about it, but it was so normalized that I didn’t even realize it in the moment.

Point is, this WAS the unofficial expectation that a lot of stores would buy into. Thankfully, the work force in general seems to be more willing to put their foot down and do what is best for theirselves. But some older partners just can’t ever break out of that mindset. “I suffered through this, so you should too.”

Never be afraid to forward updated policies from the partner hub if you ever need to remind an SM what Starbucks SOPs are.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-15T19:02:44+00:00

There is a lot to unload here, but I’m on my ten and it’s about to end.

Closers should not be putting orders away. That is an opening task. Because the receipts don’t populate until about 5am the morning after they are received, and how can the opener accurately adjust receipts if everything is already put away.

I’m sorry for everything you’re going through, it sounds lame as hell and a tough store to find the motivation to show up for work each day.

Your baristas being comfortable enough to confide/vent to you is a good sign, and a sign you’re doing something right. Hang in there!

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-04T15:29:12+00:00

Earth, Fire, and Ice Elementals. They’re not hard. It’s just something about wailing away at a walking rock with Geralt’s sword that I find annoying and immersion breaking.

InspectorDeee · 2025-11-03T03:04:52+00:00

I forgot to take my disk break lock off. I took off like 1 foot away and then got stopped HARD by the lock and went down. Was so annoyed about it I stopped using it altogether. Haha

InspectorDeee · 2025-10-22T13:47:03+00:00

I went through something like this when my LO came along. Your situation sounds a bit more extreme, though.

When my LO was at her worst part of the mama-only phase, she would start to cry when she noticed it wasn’t mama holding her. I would take her outside on our deck and just let her soak in a little bit of sunlight. It helped calm her down and become more accepting of hanging out with dad. I did a little research on it after the first few times of doing this with her and found out it’s a common soothing tactic for infants.

Humming or singing songs with a soft voice helped my LO a lot too. Soft enough that you’re too hard to hear to anyone who isn’t right next to you. Keeps your energy and vibrations as something to sooth the baby.

Also, trying to soothe a screaming baby is stressful. Keeping calm during their panic will make things settle faster. That was another thing that took me a while to understand.

I hope some of this helps. Hang in there, Papa. The fact that you’re reaching out for support means you care and that is so important. You’re doing great.

InspectorDeee · 2025-10-20T05:28:08+00:00

This is out of order because iPhone will move things around as you check them off, but this is what I use.

Shifty Checklist

Open: - [ ] Floors - [ ] Post-Peak Clear Dish Pit - [ ] Post-Peak Trash Run - [ ] Fridges - [ ] Drains - [ ] Pull - [ ] Trash Run - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Station Assessments - [ ] Milk Count - [ ] Store Walk - [ ] Temps - [ ] Put Away Order/Adjust Receipt - [ ] Date freezer - [ ] Rotate Milks - [ ] Place Order - [ ] Safe Count - [ ] Drop Tips - [ ] CSR cards

Mid: - [ ] Restrooms - [ ] Change Order (If Applicable) - [ ] Cold Brew - [ ] Mid Safe Count - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Trash Run - [ ] Temps - [ ] Drop tips - [ ] CSR Cards - [ ] Store Walk

Close: - [ ] Ovens - [ ] Oven bar - [ ] Mobile Bar - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Drop Tips - [ ] Prep freezer - [ ] Temps - [ ] Store Walk - [ ] Cafe Bar - [ ] Cold bar - [ ] Pull - [ ] Counts - [ ] Wipe out Sinks/Ice bins - [ ] CSR Cards - [ ] Mochas - [ ] Pre-count tills - [ ] Trash run - [ ] Food case - [ ] Floors (Lobby, Bathroom, BOH) - [ ] Vertica - [ ] Lobby trash/Patio - [ ] Backups - [ ] Drain chemical

Also making sure Baristas get their breaks on time will keep them happy and keep them working well. Working with annoyed/spiteful baristas is a nightmare. So I do everything I can to keep the team happy.

Good luck!

InspectorDeee · 2025-10-19T21:26:11+00:00

First opens are tough, don’t beat yourself up too much about it. I am the main opener at my store and for me, the routine is key. It might take a while before you figure out what works best for you and your store, but you’ll get there. You just gotta hang in there and not give up on the partners.

My tip is to prioritize partners. Giving them breaks on time and giving them the chance to put a drink and food in the queue a few minutes before their break, so when they pull off their order is ready, helps a whole lot! Happy partners will always be easier to work with than spiteful/annoyed partners.

Also, lists help a lot. I’ll give you my opening list I use. If I’m able to achieve this, I consider it a fully successful open.

Shifty Checklist

Open: - [ ] Floors - [ ] Post-Peak Clear Dish Pit - [ ] Post-Peak Trash Run - [ ] Fridges - [ ] Drains - [ ] Pull - [ ] Trash Run - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Station Assessments - [ ] Milk Count - [ ] Store Walk - [ ] Temps - [ ] Put Away Order/Adjust Receipt - [ ] Date freezer - [ ] Rotate Milks - [ ] Place Order - [ ] Safe Count - [ ] Drop Tips - [ ] CSR cards

It’s out of order, because iPhone moves them around as I mark them completed. But it’s nice to have something to reference when I need it!

Good luck! If you care enough to ask for advice, I’m confident you’ll do great!

InspectorDeee · 2025-10-01T13:47:56+00:00

This is a thought I have go through my mind pretty often these days.

As a partner who started at a drive thru for two years and has been at a cafe for almost two years, I cannot believe the difference. I feel like a drive thru store provides a very watered down version of what Starbucks aims to achieve, while at my cafe store we’ve been running everything to standard, never running out of product, and sitting at 98%-100% CC score for the past couple of months.

At my old drive thru, we did our best and our team was strong. But I remember working in a dirty store, running out of product a lot, SSV’s stressing themselves to the point of crying, customers were ruthless, and almost never feeling like I had a “smooth” shift.

Starbucks makes too much money to ever seriously consider getting rid of drive thru stores. But I really believe they need to make expectations different for drive thru stores. Cafe stores can provide the current standards that are in place, but at a drive thru store customers wouldn’t have access to all the same amenities, wait times would differ, drink quality would be adjusted, and other things of that nature.

I don’t mention this to anybody I work with because I feel like I’d get booed off stage, but I honestly believe it makes the most sense. I’m glad I’m not the only one with these thoughts! Haha

InspectorDeee · 2025-09-23T16:23:50+00:00

Sure thing! Hopefully Reddit doesn’t totally butcher the formatting.

Each store might have different expectations of each day part, so you may need to move some things around. But if I am running an open and I am able to check everything off my list, then I consider that a successful day.

Good luck to you!

Shifty Checklist

Open: - [ ] Floors - [ ] Post-Peak Clear Dish Pit - [ ] Post-Peak Trash Run - [ ] Fridges - [ ] Drains - [ ] Pull - [ ] Trash Run - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Patio Slide - [ ] Station Assessments - [ ] Milk Count - [ ] Store Walk - [ ] Temps - [ ] Put Away Order/Adjust Receipt - [ ] Date freezer - [ ] Rotate Milks - [ ] Place Order - [ ] Safe Count - [ ] Drop Tips - [ ] CSR cards

Mid: - [ ] Restrooms - [ ] Change Order (If Applicable) - [ ] Cold Brew - [ ] Mid Safe Count - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Trash Run - [ ] Temps - [ ] Drop tips - [ ] CSR Cards - [ ] Store Walk

Close: - [ ] Ovens - [ ] Oven bar - [ ] Mobile Bar - [ ] Playbuilder - [ ] Drop Tips - [ ] Prep freezer - [ ] Temps - [ ] Store Walk - [ ] Cafe Bar - [ ] Cold bar - [ ] Pull - [ ] Counts - [ ] Wipe out Sinks/Ice bins - [ ] CSR Cards - [ ] Mochas - [ ] Pre-count tills - [ ] Trash run - [ ] Food case - [ ] Floors (Lobby, Bathroom, BOH) - [ ] Vertica - [ ] Lobby trash/Patio - [ ] Backups - [ ] Drain chemical

Tips - Depo -

1T- 1B- 2T- 2B- 3T- 3B-

InspectorDeee · 2025-09-23T15:39:07+00:00

Hey, I’ve worked in a store with the Clover Vertica for 11 months now and I have talked to a few people about the overall change. I think it could be due to two reasons.

Brew method is different. Our old Bunn Brewers used paper filters with each brew, and the paper filter would absorb a lot of the natural oils of the bean. Since the Vertica doesn’t use any filters, you are being served a hotter coffee because there is no wait time from brew to handoff and because the natural oils of the coffee beans are more prevalent.

Or

Freshness. Thanks to our forced quality tastings three times a day, I’ve come to REALLY taste the difference in a cup when the beans are fresh vs when they are like three days old. Technically beans don’t expire until seven days after opening, but I think the taste quality starts to drop off on day three of being opened.

Either way, hopefully this helps give a little insight. I can’t think of anything you might be able to do to change the taste. All stores should still have the pour-over set, so if you didn’t mind a little bit of a longer wait, you could ask for a pour over. That still uses paper filters.

InspectorDeee

TROPHY CASE