For all the people that are saying the baristas at their local Starbuck's were just giving them what they wanted to get them out, I can tell you that that is highly unlikely. My ex-husband and I went to the same Starbuck's for 5 years. 2 of those years were prior to our wedding and, in fact, 3 baristas actually attended our wedding. If we went into "our" Starbuck's and they were out of something that we wanted (it happened occasionally) or we tried something new and didn't like it they were always willing to replace/exchange/substitute/issue some sort of Starbuck's credit (be it gift card or coupon) to make up for our trouble. Starbuck's strives to make customer happiness a priority and in most cases they do. When the Java Chip Frappuccino went by the wayside I don't think I paid for a drink for a week. When my whole bridal party stopped by on my wedding day they comped all of our drinks. There were 12 of us.

On a related note, it's pretty astonishing to see that people are still capable of such blatant idiocy. Not the writer, I mean the people that say things like "The gays are picky". Are you really that ignorant, uneducated and afraid of someone who is clearly more well-spoken than you? I'm straight and I still love my Grande White Mocha Frappuccino. Oh, and all the digs at how he/they are spending money are absurd. What do you care how they spend money? Maybe instead of spending it at Starbuck's they should just hand over all that unspent money to the people that complain how silly it is to expect to get the same level of service they've come to love and expect over the years at all of the Starbuck's locations.

And that's my rant. For anyone that takes issue with this, it took me a total of probably 15 minutes of computer time to type it up. I do have a life, I'm straight, I stopped periodically to handle phone calls and various other things. Someohow I still deemed it important to comment on this. It's amazing how upset people get because this man went to bat for something. Bashing him and his sexual orientation and the way he lives his life does not make you better than him. At least he voiced his opinion in a reasonable, calm, adult manner. And now I'm done.

This story is not about someone not getting the drink they love everyday at every store, nor about them being picky, but about how they are treated as a fellow human being. One thing I learned at Starbucks was standing up for what you believe is the right thing to do for the customer, whether it breaks the so-called rules or not. You will not get fired, but as long as you can explain your actions to your superiors, you will only gain more of their respect.

Starbucks is beginning to lose this level of character, and maybe has lost it for a long time. I gained it over a period of seven years, but as Starbucks continues to grow, how hard is it going to be to keep this culture alive?

The managers of Andy's and his partner's regular stores should have been able to stand up to their DM and explain the situation. There is no way that any self-respecting DM would say no to retaining customers. To making a customers day, every day.

And, just one more thing. Definitely not to undervalue syrup itself, or any product at Starbucks, but this is completely different from selling something at Best Buy, or even the Apple Store (a better comparison, since Apple is company owned). An added syrup is 35 cents, not $500+, and not something someone is going to buy early, and then sell on the black market before the launch date at a highly inflated price. It is syrup, and it is continuing to enrich your relationship with that customer. Really, that is what it always has to come back to.

Starbucks exists to enrich people's daily lives. Not to sell coffee, not to create a music label, but by doing these things, connect with people. That is something Wall Street doesn't understand. It is something corporate America doesn't understand. And it is something you and I find it hard to understand, as we live within this corporately minded society. And as Starbucks continues to hire more and more people, it will be their challenge to change the mindsets and the culture of those individuals.

You're pretty lucky that the customer you're referring to wasn't lactose intolerant when you falsified her drink. I am also glad you don't barista anymore.

Bux drink $5
2 drinks a day, Andy and partner.
4 drinks at $5 each = $20 a day
Started in 1997, going on for 10 years
365 days X 10 years is 3650 days
3650 days at $20 a day is $73,000

If you throw in the extra pair of drinks on weekends thats 840 possible days of the 3rd drink for both of them.
840 possible weekend days for an extra $5 for each of them is $8,400.

$73,000 + $8,400 = $81,400 for 10 yrs of coffee.

Something is really wrong with this !!!

Yes we all agree that he may be a bit overboard on this (maybe borderline crazy), but let's do the math and see how much he loves this institution:

An Iced Venti Soy Raspberry Mocha:
Approx. $4.50 (won't get into large stuff)

Times a day:
At least 2 (for bare minimum, sounds like a lot more)

Times a week:
7 days a week (2 blocks away from said store, plus have map layout of stores, plus in Seattle)

Weeks a year:
52 weeks of delicious unmasculine said drinks

Years being a customer:
10 Years (1997 to Present)

So putting all of this math together we get (Approximate):
$9.00 a day
$63.00 a week
$3,276.00 a year!
$6,552.00 a year for his partner and himself!!!

Now a lifelong total surpassing $30,000 per person not adjusting to inflation of products!!!!!

Now including the fact that each one of them are consuming over 700 caffinated drinks a year averaging around 350 Calories they are also gaining 245,000 Calories from Starbucks a year.

I am a firm believer in doing whatever you want with yourself and your money, so if you spend this much time and energy (especially in the gym) to just get a damned cup of coffee then you should have it with any syrup you want period. It's about customer service not customer disservice.

That being said, maybe they should reevaluate their priorities in life.

- T

IMO, it isn't JUST about the coffee, it is the principle. It is the same thing we see all the time, employees who don't use common sense and could care less about the customer. I mean, come on, did they REALLY think they would get fired over giving this guy syrup in his coffee before the "release date"?

By the way, wtf does sexual orientation have to do with any of this, people? What a bunch of a**holes!

Also, STFU with the homophobic crap, you jerks. I know plenty of straight men and women who order frou frou drinks. Finally, move to NYC where all the coffee sucks and there are like 10 independent coffee shops and you'll start seeing Starbucks as the wonderous invention that it is.

A) get an editor
B) buy a coffee maker
C) tell his 'partner' to get checked for diabetes
D) get a life

It's just syrup. No big deal. Why did I waste 7 minutes reading all of this...

They seem like a cute couple, anyway.

I'm gay, not self-hating or homophobic in the least. I read this and thought, "That's the kinda whiny elitist sissy who gives us all a bad name." Geez.

Dude's crazy. Letter's absurd. If the store's out of something, rather than asking them to change their whole policy for you, show a little luv back to your own blessed and holy provider of froofy drinks and chill the heck out.

Crazy. You're a loser and you've shared it with the world. We're not all like he is, straight folks. And plusly Tully's is better 'cause they have mocha milkshakes.

As far as the homphobia debate goes, I think people are more making fun of Andy and his partner's picture-perfect Gay-Lifestyle-in-a-Box, which caricatures itself so efficiently that it needs no further lampooning. And good for Andy and his partner, and I'm very happy he got what he wanted from this whole exchange, and that in Starbucks, they have found that perfect life partner.

However, I would hope that Andy is equally as passionate about writing his elected representatives about ending institutionalised discrimination against us gays and lesbians, or the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, or doing something serious about climate change or Darfur or oil dependency or any of the other myriad problems that it would actually be worth giving a fuck about. As opposed to his partner being denied his fruity latte concoction of choice by a corporate coffee megalith.

And FWIW, I think the Caramel Sauce Latte sounds like almost as big a mouth-abortion as that Orange Mocha crap they're peddling now.

anyway, this all reminds me of doug stanhope's bit on the subway breakfast sandwiches. but at least doug presented his dilemma in a hilarious, rather than whiny and annoying, way.

But no more. Those guys had it easy!

rofl. Dude. Awesome.

1. We are generally under VERY strict orders not to start using ingredients for customer beverages, or even talk about. And here's a perfect example of why.

Basically, the clerks (I refuse to call anyone at starbucks a barista anymore) at your "home store" were being nice and considerate, since they knew your "partner" (I was getting confused, since starbucks calls their employees partners).

The clerks at another Starbucks would have no idea of your raspberry "situation" and would not be inclined to disobey their superiors, considering how Starbucks, at least when I was there, loved to write up people on every little thing. Depending on the district, employees there live in fear of management, and won't generally go out of their way for a customer they don't know.

I had a similar situation once with a promotional item, a customer ordered it, but I didn't make a big deal of it, I just went ahead and made, and kept the whole thing under wraps, but explained to the customer that generally we weren't allowed to do this, and if another store says no, here's why, and explained why.

This comes to mind:

"What we have here is a failure to communicate."

That meant to refer to comment 3, but I pressed 2 by mistake. I was referring to iMike who said "teh gays" are picky. Apologies for the typo.

You can spend your money on whatever you want or demand whatever syrup, I don't care. Just don't drop a storyline.

The guy was pretty verbose, but he also apologized for it right up front and he said he was "painting a picture" which was important to establish what kind of customers they were, and how loyal they were to the brand and the company.

To all the people who are all "wah wah wah *$ is crap i wouldn't flush my toilet with that shit..." You might think it's garbage but Andy and his partner obviously don't. I'm sure you eat or drink some stuff that other people would say the same thing about, so ease up on the judgements.

In my retail career often times we'd get products that were time-sensitive and were supposed to be held in the back to conincide with a marketing campaign or some holiday or something like that and we had to tell people that we didn't have it or couldn't sell it or whatever. Rarely though were these products typical things we carried anyway but had to pull off the shelf or not restock until the promo date. I believe this is the case here. The syrup was changing a little bit but it was replacing the old stuff. It was tied in with a marketing campaign and they weren't supposed to sell it yet, but overall outside of that campaign it was supposed to just replace what they already sold. The managers and barrrrristas were "just doing their jobs" by not selling it, but ultimately if you've got it, why turn down the money?

Oh, and it's not because he's gay. It's because he's more affluent than you, has travelled more than you, is happier than you overall, has more time than you, AND he's gay. That's why everyone's all panty-twisted and ZOMG teh Ghey! over it. Jealousy. I wish I had my life together enough that the only thing I had to worry about was the flavor of my latte. Sadly, I don't, so his letter seems a bit "I've got more than you but don't even realize it" and that stings.

I'm happy for Andy and his partner though because he got his latte, got through to someone higher up at *$ and ultimately got bloody satisfaction.

It's nice to see a company actually address a complaint rather than justifying their employees' rudeness, or just ignoring it all together.

I was a bit taken aback by the editorial comment on G.W. Bush. Like him or Loathe him... It just seemed really out of place...

Now I need an iced soy venti mocha latte cappuccino venti raspberry coffee drink.

wow.

10 years of starbuxxx, drinking an average of 2 drinks per day @ 4$+ / drink = an absurd amount of money

straight or gay, WHAT A WASTE!

Bottom line: the company considered his claim valid and did right by him. He wins.

Those of you who feel justified in mocking somebody who is very specific about the treats he or she likes are just lame. So what if you like your Folger's crystals or International Foods ("Jean-Luc!"), your Peets, your Tully's, or whatever other kind of coffee - myself, I prefer only a dark italian or french roast drip coffee or an Americano. But I fully recognize that taste is subjective, and if it makes you feel better to make fun of somebody's coffee habits, you deserve an OLD SKOOL GOLD STAR stapled to your forehead.

[pounding fist on table]"I don't know. I. JUST. DON'T. KNOW."

"I'm concerned that the new Raspberry will be more acidic and a bit more tart than the old syrup."

"Hold me."

For someone so loyal to Starbucks, they should know that drinks and syrups change. I used to get people who were still upset about us getting rid of coconut years ago (I believe it is back now). It's not a communication issue, we are not supposed to sell drinks before they roll out, even if it is a replacement. They'll even have the supplies to make the drinks out for partner tasting, but we can't sell them. It happened to me when a lady wanted a pumpkin spice latte just before we started selling them. The syrup was on the counter, but my shift supervisor told me no. I was just a kid in college and didn't want to get written up so I said that I couldn't sell it to her. What she did get was a free drink coupon to get a free pumpkin spice latte when they did come out in two weeks.

So all that effort, and this guy is probably going to get a $5 gift card (the free drink coupon covers any crazy expensive drink you can think of making) and someone telling a store to do something they're told not to do.

Advice: Caribou Coffee - they crush Starbucks, like grape!

Was he somewhat loquacious in his e-mail? Yes, maybe. But he likes what he likes, and it seems silly that they refused to use the new raspberry flavoring for his drink when they've discontinued the old one.

As a side note, there were lots of offensive homophobic comments going on about these two, and if you guys think otherwise you may want to reexamine what you wrote and what you were thinking when you wrote it.

How much money do you make that you can afford this self-centered lifestyle, and then complain that the new syrup might not be to your liking? No wonder you got your local store to give it up for you... they saw you coming.

Oh, and have you considered giving up one fruity coffee a week and sharing your wealth with someone starving or facing oppression in another country? You do realize how arrogant and unreal your letter sounds, right?

Fuck that shit, I used to work at my local BN cafe and people were so freaky picky. It gotten to a point where I would just served whatever the hell they wanted and if Andy and his partner ask for the Raspberry Syrup, we would just give it to them because it's all about the profits.

I hate Starbucks as much as the next self-righteous, home-roasting lesbian. But it's not cool to pick on the guy because he likes it or because he's gay. I didn't realize so many consumerist commenters were such assholes.

Fucking Starbucks.

Baristas in my store were giving the orange syrup to customers a few weeks before the official release. We ended up with district managers in the store inspecting sales reports and posting warning signs about it in our back room.

Plus you can buy raspberry syrup for like eight freaking dollars from the grocery store. Just get a bottle and bring it in the store with you and say "NOW WHAT?!" as you put it in your drink. I'd laugh.

But I don't throw myself on my keyboard and have a controlled fit when they run out.

or, they may have just thought that Consumerist readers had a sense of humor.

Andy would have received gift cards or "service recovery" (free drink) coupons and his complaint would have reached the appropriate person within the company no matter what channel he used to contact the Mermaid. That's the standard response when a customer reports any service issue.

The response from the licensee division (Starbucks stores inside grocery stores are run under license by the grocer and not directly by Starbucks) is also par for the course. This is a huge company, yes, but they are freakishly interested in the voice of the customer -- and that's a good thing!

So while Andy's patting himself on the back for a job well done in getting his matter resolved... this is pretty much just the standard response from the company and something that happens dozens of time a day. It's how they react to customer complaints.

As far as the length of the letter, many of you might think it's a bit long-winded and I guess it is. But trust me, to the person on the receiving end of that missive, Andy's letter isn't even in the minor league of long and/or crazy. There was one guy over in Bellevue who would craft rants four times as long whenever his local Starbucks didn't stock maple scones that day.

I'm just on the same bandwagon as those that are confused as to what kind of society we live in where a lack of Iced Venti Soy Raspberry Mocha that lead to a confrontation in which employees were following store policy was a major consumer catastophe. Phew, major run on sentence there...

In fact, I'm quite convinced the article was posted as a joke to begin with.

That's really adorable.

Somewhere in a corner lies a smug-looking "Andy" thinking he wrote the best letter in the world but in reality, he's jus plain retarded for shellin out a premium for regular coffee with long names and some rasberry syrup.

The joke's on you Andy!

"You got bad service at McDonalds? Well no surprise, that's why I don't eat fast food, it tastes like shit..."

"The Barista, whose job it is to make the drink you want and are paying for, wouldn't? Who cares, I hate coffee! Drink water!"

What on earth does the product being purchased (and you the reader/commentator's opinions on the product) have to do with the actual act of customer service? If the product doesn't fulfill your wants and needs than any consumer who desires said product and also desires good service in exchange for their money are dipshits who get what they asked for? How does that make sense?

Anyway, I think Starbucks should keep doing shit like this-- enough people will stop going there and start patronizing real, local coffeeshops.

As long as you aren't being a complete asshole, there's nothing wrong with voicing your opinion to an organization, no matter how insignificant the detail.

Oh, and Shiny, LOL sir, L-O-L.

--

Wife likes Frappuccino. Wife sees in window - New! Orange Mocha Frappuccino. Wife goes in and orders one.

Wife hates said Frappuccino. Says tastes like orange children's Tylenol.

Wife goes to different Starbucks few days later. Chats with barista. Mentions she didn't like orange mocha frappucinno. Barista apologizes -- and gives wife a coupon for free frappuccino next visit!

Week later - wife goes back to original Starbucks. Tells barista there she received coupon at other Starbucks. Barista so moved by story that she comps yet another Frappuccino. Wife wowed by service.

The End.

--

I hope this made sense to everyone. I had originally kept in the portion of the story where we moved from Birmingham after our parakeet Roger passed away. I apologize if the omission made the story more difficult to follow.

Did you ever consider that the person who let you have the Juicy was breaking policy! And you probably got them in trouble over this.

I can't believe the editors thought this was worth posting.

It's such a weird and wonderful world we live in.

just say yes. get them to leave happy. WHATEVER IT TAKES. why? because they .....are....CRAZY. If the end result wont A) get me fired, or B) Break the law, then its happening. If thats what it takes to get the CRAZY person out of my store happy, then thats what i will do. why? because people....are....CRAZY! Anyone who has ever worked with the public knows this. Its fact. Its law. Its not "bad", usually, but its the damn truth. I cant explain why someone wants a Iced, 5shot, 1/2 caff, venti, 3 pump vanilla 4 pump caramel, breve, with whip, mocha drizzle, 4 splenda latte. I CANT. Some people can wrap their heads around Schrodingers Cat, and some people can wrap their heads around the idea of a person that would order that drink. I have a hard time with both.

NO, we are not supposed to use that syrup until the appropriate date.
Yes, we should have just SAID YES to make the CRAZY person happy. CRAZY or not, its not a big deal. its just a syrup. its not selling the new Paul Mccartney album 3 weeks ahead of time. whatever. No one is getting hurt. it will all be ok, i promise. just give the CRAZY person what they want so they will go home happy. Its that easy.

What happens when you dont make the CRAZY person happy? They go home and write CRAZY letters to anyone that will listen. in this case, our CEO.

Once you realize that the customer could potentially be CRAZY, "just say yes" becomes a lot easier to use. It doesnt have to mean youre buckling to someone who may be rude, or have a request that isnt kosher for whatever place you work in. Remember.....if it wont get you fired, or its not against the law, just make them happy, because they are CRAZY.

You think I could get an article on it?

Nope, closest one was on Olive or on Broadway on Cap Hill. The Eastlake store only opened up about 2 years ago.

It's not like they wanted a bookstore to open cases of the new Harry Potter early.

For what Starbucks charges*, they can bend a little. I'm glad they did.

_____
*I can't afford Starbucks three times a MONTH. Then again, we buy Kirkland coffee which, I believe, IS Starbucks, and make it at home.

My response would have been "Oh, that's terrible." That would have been the end of it, and I would have ordered something else. Life is too short to get that worked up about raspberry syrup. Even if they did have "juicy raspberry" in the store and wouldn't use it, I just can't see making this big of a deal out of it.

"Spent a year in retail in an airport. Hey, when we got told not to sell something, we stripped it out soonest and it was gone to the warehouse. Sometimes management didn't tell us peons why."

Too bad Walmart can't hire you guys to take those Nazi shirts and poison dogfood off their shelves...

"......District Manager (Peter) who then talked to the Shift Manager at Westwood and told her that under no circumstances are they to sell the Juicy Raspberry."

Spent a year in retail in an airport. Hey, when we got told not to sell something, we stripped it out soonest and it was gone to the warehouse. Sometimes management didn't tell us peons why.

There are other things in life besides iced venti raspberry soy mocha, and it doesn't hurt to try something new now and then.

Now speaking as someone who knows customer service, those two stores did fall down on the job. Never be rude to a customer even if one feels like shooting them.

Really, no one cares about your frou-frou drinks and no one who goes to Starbucks that much is doing anything for their health or wallet.

i work at an independant coffee shop...if anyone walked in and ordered a iced venti raspberry soy mocha i would...well i would make it except we don't have bullshit like raspberry syrup and our sizes have names that you aren't embarassed to say out loud. but after i made their drink and they left my coworkers and i would have a good laugh.

on the other hand, starbucks is well known for making all kinds of bizzaro drinks, so i can understand why this guy is upset. perhaps his priorities are out of whack but there are worse obsessions. but andy, seriously, a little editing would do a world of good. in addition to being excessively long, it shows the pitfalls of relying on spelling and grammar check i.e. loose instead of lose.

i wish i had the metabolism to drink two 350 calorie beverages every day, that would be great.

Thank you. That's what I was thinking. :)

Jeez, if you like Bud light, whatever, but don't go picking on Guinness if you can't take it any ways.

Guess what?

They get it right every time.

I mean Chrissake, if a drink had 17 ingredients and they changed the wording around a bit, you'd get confused too.

Yup, All about me. I am sure that Starbucks was just thrilled to find out that their stores were not following the release schedule for the new syrup.

Dunkin Donuts has much better coffee... and donuts. You could eat three glazed donuts for the calorie/fat content of one "raspberry coffee cake".

dude, we aren't fooled ... it's all about precious little you.

Now I have a bad Journey earworm.

45 minutes at 11:00 pm on a Saturday night. Not hardly enough time to save the world.

The Dunkin Donuts Caramel Coolatta tastes just as good as the Starbucks Caramel Frappucino, and it's a lot cheaper.

Some people seriously have screwed up priorities in life.

Slight overkill!

Anyways, glad you won in the very end.

I was expecting something BIG at the end like a mouse in the coffee...

I find Starbucks to be overpriced and overrated. It's a product, not a lifestyle. That was nuts and whiny.

This letter would never had been written if a) the girl didnt "tattle" on the shift manager when she was doing the correct thing and got her busted, and b) if the manager was not so condesending at the Redmond store.

All things coming together really made us mad. It is about crappy customer service and district managers not following corporate communications.

I gave up Starbucks unofficially a while ago in favor of the affordable Dunkin Donuts varieties (save for the occassionaly mortgage-busting mocha Frapuccino). I've since given up coffee and caffeine to get in better shape and have found so far I don't really miss it.

Too bad all the hard-assed servers got in the way of a simple beverage. Glad it worked out.

Whew, I've said my piece...and didn't bother to read that thesis either! Good god!

I would not be surprised if they ask to use it in a promotion.

Reading this was torture, on many levels. Just try something different until the product actually releases, ferchrissakes...

Man, I really want the last 15 minutes of my life back. :(

@iMike:
2) I was thinking the same thing.
3) Because the writer of the e-mail wears the pants. The other "partner" wears the skirt and has no voice of their own.
4) YES!

I got the latter, which was just fine. (If a tad hot.) I didn't make a scene, quote their store policies, claim that I was disgusted that they were out of "regular" coffee or whatever. I moved on, and even got that Americano for the price of a regular cup of coffee.

There are more important things in life than going a day without your "regular."

Iced Venti Raspberry Soy Mocha

Yeah, um, I can't work up that much "care" for people who get that specific with their caffeine.

It's coffee. If I'm in Starbucks I order it black with a little bit of room for cream. Seriously, "Iced venti raspberry soy mocha" sounds like the punchline to some joke.