I am a loyal fan of Starbucks, and as a result, I go quite regularly. That said, every time I order a drink there, I strongly doubt that my drink will be made the way I ordered. My distrust has gotten so bad, that I hover over the pick-up station to watch how my drink is made to ensure it’s prepared correctly. I pretend to not be watching, but I am. I have become, in essence, a Latte Spy.
You may be thinking, and reasonably so, that I’m paranoid—I’m Type A—I’m a control freak and that I REALLY need to let go. However, I’ve been a waitress and even with the best intentions, it is easy to zone out and forget minor requests. So, to be fair, I went on an undercover mission and put this to the test. Over the last month, I went to twenty different Starbucks across the country (I travel a lot). Each time I received my Latte, I double checked with the Barista to see if it was made the way I requested. Guess what? 50 percent of the time (yep—that is ten times!) my drink was wrong and they had to remake it.
Admittedly, a good portion of the problem is me. I’m a high maintenance Latte Lover who always customizes my drink order. Basically, if I can tweak an ingredient, I do. For instance, I can’t order a normal Iced Green Tea Latte. I have to order an Iced, Non-fat, Green Tea Latte without any melon syrup and with very little to no ice. That amounts to three customizations for one drink: 1) Non-fat, 2) No melon and 3) Very little to no ice. Not every drink I order is this specific, but I easily have at least one customization for any drink I order. I don’t do this to be difficult, I do it because I’m careful of how much extra sugar and fat I consume. I do it for nutritional reasons.
Although I’m fully willing to take some of the responsibility, let’s face it, Starbucks prides itself in delivering customized drinks to its consumers. So, in my mind, if they set the expectation that you will get what you ask for, they should deliver on their promise.
