Starbucks

Just left there a few minutes ago. Usually I purchase in the drive thru. This time I thought it would be nice to go inside and skip the car line outside. BIG MISTAKE! I walk into a not so clean or organized café. I wait in line about 2 people deep upon meeting the cashier. She was angry I was asking questions. I have a coupon for a 3 dollar bfast sandwich with an expiry of Oct ³¹⁄₁₄.
She tells me I cannot use it because my order is not working on her screen. She tells me I need to buy a grande, so I said make it a grande. Then she says not it has to be a coffee not a latte. So I say make it a coffee. Next she tells me I have to purchase a different sandwich of course again I say make it a different sandwich. She starts getting more angry with me and the other employees notice and they step in and tell her how to use the coupon.
Now my order is not what I wanted but whatever at this point I just want out of there. I ask her «Have you just started working here?» She responds «I don’t have to use your coupon if I don’t want to, especially if it doesn’t work on my screen» I walk away to wait for my order.
My drink is up and she’s making my sandwich then helps the next customer. My sandwich is burned and now Im drinking a sugar free latte (never did sugar free come out of my mouth) of some sort and a non edible sandwich. I wasted nearly ten bucks and 25 mins of my life I will never get back. I will never visit this location again.

I’m am a big fan of Starbucks. Their staff is usually friendly, quick and courtesy. Usually always have a smile. Which I appreciate. Having been on their side of the counter myself, I can understand how hard this is to maintain. Being in line and listening to some of the insane requests they get from customers, I can sympathize. I quite frankly admire the patience and diligence they employ to accommodate customers requests.
I’ve been there, been the one serving for low wages on the other side of the counter. And I get that for most employees at Starbucks that there time there is not permanent — working Starbucks pays the bills while the strive towards other goals in life.
In Edmonton, they are very good. With the exception of this location. This is unquestionably the worst location I have frequented. Not only in Edmonton but in Western Canada. I have frequented them in the past despite their staff and the atmosphere inside. Frankly it was one of the only places nearby alas it got my business.
The norm there is to feel unnoticed and unwelcome. Again, this is the exception to all other in this chain within Edmonton. I feel whenever I arrive at their counter that I am inconveniencing them, interrupting their day and their mostly juvenile conversations. I will wait in an empty café while four staff members, seemingly absorbed in their own world, acknowledge my presence as if I were an unwanted element. Orders and customers seem like secondary considerations. Even once acknowledged, I tend to feel though their attention is still more behind the counter than the customer across from them. Afterwards, staff on break hang over the counter, carrying on silly banter, making customers as though they are invading their space.
In terms of making my order, I have noted that this Starbucks takes much longer than any other to get the order to the customer. In most others I have been to (I have my «work» Starbucks and I used to live downtown, so often frequented a number of them in the Oliver area), it is only a few moments, even when there is a rush and few staff. Here, with excess staff, even making an americano seems to been an arduous chore done at inefficient dawdle.
On more than one occasion, I have witnessed staff be admonished for minor «infractions» by their superiors for all in the café to hear. Those whom appear to be in positions of authority seem to carry their insecurity on their shoulder. From here, it appears though this dark cloud filters its way down to the rest of the staff; management doesn’t seem to understand that the Best Practice Standards I am sure they have handed down to them from Starbucks head office come from focusing on the customer experience; assure that your staff follows the rules is conducive to at best average performance. It certainly helps understand why I feel so unwelcome — it appears as thought the rest of the staff feels the same.
I should stop here. To put it bluntly, I have driven many kilometres out of my way to avoid this particular café because of the atmosphere and lack of service, acquiescing occasionally in the hopes that somehow they have changed and that I won’t have to continue to go too far from home for an enjoyable experience. First time shame on them; second time shame on me. I have allowed to many second chances and «second times».
Fortunately there is a Waves now open across the street, so when I want to leave my house to grab a java, I now have somewhere close by I can go.