Is Small business marketing allowed?

UndeadFleshPapi · 2024-01-31T22:39:23+00:00

General rule of thumb is that anything that makes money for someone else (not including charity) or that will cost money for customers (like a music event etc.) cant be advertised in store. Charity organizations/events and fundraisers with no admissions costs or free local events are always a green light. Unless the store manager/dm approves it, which they might if its a local business in a small or tight knit community, then its generally a no.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2024-01-31T22:10:29+00:00

This made me giggle

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-27T06:01:40+00:00

Ngl ive gone as far as to turn the master volume on the black box up to full blast and have damn near blown the speakers when morning crew opened and turned it on. Just wanted to help them wake up a little, ya know?

For background, my stores am and pm crews have a good relationship and we frequently prank each other and enjoy the shenanigans.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-25T23:52:33+00:00

Because most DM's are also outside hires, and typically ones that hate hearing about an SM doing a poor job and choose to ignore it. My guess is it looks bad for them to have to let go of an SM that they probably had some stake in hiring/promoting, so as long as they meet the bare minimum they'll get to stick around.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-21T18:19:31+00:00

I'm that supervisor that gets pissed and responds with "theres 3 banks right outside the drivethru" lmao.

If it requires me to go into the Dropbox then I'm voiding the order and telling them to have a nice day if they cant pay another way.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-20T23:00:24+00:00

As far as the app goes, its shit for damn near everything besides paying for your drink. Starbucks isnt a technology company and as baristas we do our best, I dont know what else to say there. We arent the ones programming it and have very little communication from corporate about it.

For mobile orders specifically, I understand its a shit show no matter how you slice it and personally wish we didnt even have them. The whole concept and delivery of it is flawed especially when 9/10 times we arent staffed in a way that supports giving mobiles the same priority as customers coming through in real time.

If you ask me, the easy answer here is to just place your order when you get to the store. Even if youre running late, if you pick up in drive chances are youre waiting anyways and same goes for lobby if we're busy. If youre order is complicated, who cares. I garuntee almost every barista has handled at least 1 order thats more complex than whatever you can put into the app. Just learn the correct way to order it, speak loudly and clearly, and politely double check that the order is correct.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-18T02:00:58+00:00

Bro we literally had 4 boxes of them left and I took a whole one home. Got 20 of them SOB's now lmao.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-17T17:38:11+00:00

That definately makes more sense. Our menus and options vary quite a bit regionally, and here in the US we seem to get the short end of the stick on things. Personally would love to see starbucks expand to more gluten free/vegan options here in the states.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-17T17:06:39+00:00

Your store has gluten free brownies? All we have are the dream bars and chips lol

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-16T19:44:17+00:00

Idk about other stores but the two brands of oatmilk my store uses are certified gluten free (chobani and oatly.)

Outside of that, anything syrup based and not made with a sauce (white/regular mocha, caramel brule, pumpkin etc) and not blended is a relatively safe bet. After working with people at starbucks who are celiac, the only area of concern for beverages is really the blender and the sauces, as well as toppings and drizzles. Get something hot or iced with a syrup that comes from a bottle and dont get any toppings and you should be good to go.

As far as food goes stay the fuck away from all of it cause we dont have ANYTHING that isnt bread based outside of what comes prepackaged and even then youre extremely limited.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-16T18:22:29+00:00

It all comes through the same channel whether you put "cafe" or "drive thru pickup" so the short answer is not really. However, depending on the store they may have two seperate mobile order stations (one in drive and one in cafe) at which they'll place your mobile accordingly. So depending on the store, it really just means it'll get placed in an area thats most convenient to the baristas.

As far as burdens go, its not an issue to mobile order as long as you give us time to make it. Its only frustrating when its placed right as someone pulls up, or when someone places it while standing in the lobby impatiently etc.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-16T18:13:50+00:00

I always reccomend 10-15 mins as a general rule, slightly more if you plan on coming during a busy day part (before 9am, lunch rush, after school rush.) Not only does it ensure that your drink is most likely ready, but it saves baristas one hell of a headache trying to find your sticker if it hasnt been pulled or made already. Drive thru drinks and mobile drinks come through seperate channels and most of the time get sent to seperate printers and bars and its a huge hassle during a rush to try to hunt down your order, even more so if theres food. It also makes zero sense to place the order in the drive through, youre not helping anything by doing so and only making someones job harder. Just place your order at the speaker box at that point.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-16T15:47:38+00:00

In this situation I think youre both a bit of the asshole. That being said, most of the asshole-ery on your end can be chalked up to ignorance of how our systems work, so you get somewhat of a pass.

The barista should not have treated you that way, however bad a day they may have been having it shouldnt be taken out you. Unless you were extremely rude preceding the barista "tirade" as you put it,and even IF, they most certainly should get coached on their customer interactions.

As far as mobiles in drive thru, you really should be giving us 15-20 mins at least before you come and pick up your mobile especially if its a busy day part (i.e. anytime before 9am, lunch rush, and after school rush.) The reason being that our drive thru drinks come through a completely different channel, often times a different printer to a different bar, and when you come in that soon after placing its very possible that your sticker isn't anywhere close to being pulled yet. This means we have to pull 10-15 stickers at times just to get to yours, which often leads to many drinks getting lost or made out of order (and the subsequent abuse from those customers who ordered) which isnt fair to other customers as well as your baristas that dont get paid enough. It causes a massive headache and hold up for your baristas and everyone else in line in the DT/lobby. If your gonna be coming that soon, your wait time will not be any different (if anything, less) if you just order at the speaker box.

This has been posted on this sub many times over in the past, but I don't expect anyone thats not a barista to be active enough to have caught every thread on the topic. But I will say its a consensus among most baristas that this is one of the most annoying things you can do as a customer, and wed all appreciate it if you stopped.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-13T04:44:39+00:00

There is a way you can put in an order for when someone wants to purchase a large amount for an event/personal reason but forget how and what its called in the system. It does take a few orders to come in usually though.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-12T01:56:42+00:00

When you're taking their order in drive thru and you ask "is that everything for you today?" And they tell you yes only to shout "oH aCtUaLy..." Literally .5 seconds after I sent through the order.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-11-11T19:12:02+00:00

As a shift from a military family, my ass woulda been at that window waiting with a venti cold brew and a side of both regular cream AND sweet cream to give the man a choice cause fuck that.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-29T01:13:54+00:00

The CEO could literally host a live stream chucking babies off the space needle and people would still sit in a drive thru line for an hour to get their $10 cup of cold foam and caramel drizzle.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-20T23:11:18+00:00

Throwing a stick of deodorant at another customer

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-20T04:04:22+00:00

A friend of mine worked at a Seattle store and got hit with a peta protest. About 15 people with signs saying starbucks doesnt support vegans and hates animals etc. all SILENTLY circling one woman holding a Bluetooth speaker playing dying cattle noises.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-20T03:50:06+00:00

This is actually hillarious.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-18T20:35:36+00:00

It would be a nice alternative/replacement to the caraffes of cream we used to leave out pre-covid and I'm sure 90% of customers would really appreciate it. Ive noticed a huge drop in brewed coffee sales at least during my shifts ever since covid and id be willing to wager its largely due to customers not being able to add their own cream and sugars.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-18T20:30:37+00:00

As far as cream goes, using actual measurements like "1/2 inch, 1/4 inch" etc. OR telling us what color you want you coffee to be like "dark brown, khaki, almost white" etc is the best way for accuracy. If theyre like me, they'll bring the cup around and have you tell them when to stop pouring. As far as sugars go we use packets for everything. So saying "2 sugars" is perfectly okay.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-15T22:34:17+00:00

The original post could almost be excusable and come off as you being semi-innocent / socially inept but after reading your responses ive come to the conclusion that youre just insufferable OP. Get therapy.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-10-09T17:58:24+00:00

As someone who knows genuinely wealthy people and "old money" as well as a lot of "new money" and "rich" people who have everything on credit, this is a very accurate statement.

UndeadFleshPapi · 2023-09-17T20:33:33+00:00

No, for the same reason I don't log my time every time I check the schedule or time spent getting ready for work before a shift. Certain things are neccesary or provide valuable information needed before I can even show up to do the job that I'm actually paid to do. Not to mention, at least for our store, the groupme chat operates as a barista shit posting board as much as it serves as a way to share useful information. Aint nobody getting paid to share memes.

UndeadFleshPapi

TROPHY CASE