It pays to be patient.
One barista at the coffee chain recently took to Reddit to share a one-star review she received after an interaction that she expected to end with a free drink for the customer.
The poster shared a screenshot of the review from a patron named Emily that read, “As someone who came every single day, I will never come here again.”
The review continued, “My card didn’t work on the app (which is weird [because] I had money) and the guy who checked me out was rude about it and said I needed to hand it back but I could ‘keep the water for free’ [what]? ?? All over a 4 dollar drink – y’all lost a lifelong customer.”
In the Reddit post, the barista shared their perspective.
“It was at the drive-through, she was driving a Tesla. She got a $7 latte and a water. None of her cards worked and then she asked me ‘I come here every day, can I just pay for it tomorrow?,’ All I said was ‘No.’ NOTHING ELSE!” they wrote.
The barista went on to say that they were planning on letting the customer have the drink for free — but the reaction didn’t go as hoped.
“She gave me the drink back unprompted, because I was actually going to let her have it, because she already had it. And I felt bad for her,” they shared. “She gave it back, and drove away. But then a few hours after my shift, someone sent me this. You can’t win being a partner.”
Other baristas and patrons all chimed in on the conversation, sharing that they could relate to the story.
“That’s funny because if you’re nice the barista will generally give it to you. I forgot my wallet once and they just gave it to me free. Made a regular for life because of that,” one shared.
The original poster responded, “My intention was to just give it to her since she already had it. But now that I see who she really is, I’m so glad I didn’t. Can’t wait for her to come back and see her in the drive through again.”
Another customer wrote, “This happened to me once! The app was being glitchy and I was having trouble paying and the barista was like, ‘don’t worry about it. Enjoy your coffee.’ It was so kind and I’ve never forgotten it.”
“This!! I actually had a barista pay for my drink once, because I had planned on using my cash due to my card being left at home. Turns out I was short a dollar and the barista said ‘I gotchu’ and paid for the rest. I’m still trying to catch him on a shift so I can buy him a drink!” someone shared.
The original poster shared that the customer who wrote the bad review “came back the next morning” — so while Starbucks didn’t lose a “loyal customer,” the customer lost out on a free drink, or any free drinks in the future.
“She’s now famous at my store/district,” the poster wrote in a comment. “I came back to work today and everyone was telling me how dare she after I was so nice to her.”
