Mix: A314 3 drops, 1 behind each ear, 1 across the jawline. CTTM2 2 sprays, one to each side of neck. IS 2 sprays, hair and back of neck.
Venue: At The Bux! (I’m a part time barista at Starbucks)
Temp: 100 - 105 40% Humidity, it actually rained.
Range: 3 Feet
Time: 2 1/2 + hours from application.
I decided to take a day off from the mones when I found out all the big bosses were coming into the store this morning. So I ran home and put on this mix. With the CTTM2, I actually was hoping it would get my bosses boss to just become a chatter box with me, so the A314 would set an alpha vibe, while he would spend the morning qualifying himself to me…LOL.
Female customer, Caucasian, about 120, 30-35 years of age approaches the counter and orders her drink. Since we are a licensee, we follow certain core Starbucks policies, but we can set our own prices, and charging policies. Our store charges for every additional add in that is not included in the drink.
Customer is upset I have to charge her to add syrup to her drink and asks me to remove the charge. I am thinking she no longer wants the additional syrup so I void out the charge and barista on the bar proceeds to make the drink. I soon find out…NO she wants me to give her the syrup and not charge her. Her exact words were, “You will do it for me this time.” She very adamantly demands that I do this for her.
But at first I was confused because she said next, “Put the syrup in the drink.” No please, no kindness at all. I informed her that I put the syrup 6 pumps that goes with the recipe in the drink, thinking maybe we were just not on the same page. She then says again, “No, you will put the extra syrup in the drink.” “You will do this, this time.”
I’m astounded…LOL. If this were a company store, sure, I could have complied with her wishes and move on, but I would have set her straight in saying “next time we will charge you that extra price, and it wouldn’t hurt to say please.”
However. We are inside a grocery store. They do not see this as a service, but more as a product issue. For me to put in the extra syrup and not charge her, they would liken that to me just grabbing a candy bar off of the shelf and giving it to her for free. I could be fired for doing this. Over 60% of theft in grocery stores is employee related, and honestly, their policy is to view you as a thief first, then prove your innocence later. I kid you not.
My response at this point is, "I will, but I will charge you for this.
Now comes a bit of shit testing, button pushing etc.
“Listen BOY!” I’m a 43 year old man “Pick your battles wisely. You will do this for me this time.”
“No ma’am, I will not it is against company policy for me to give away free product.”
During this time, the Barista on the bar has already “Strip Clubbed” her. This is a term I coined, which means she got decaf. So like in a strip club, she paid a whole lot, for a whole lot of nothing.
BTW, NEVER antagonize people who handle your food / beverages until AFTER you receive your order, then never return there again, because they have long memories. Now a caveat. No one puts any foreign substance in drinks, no spitting etc. I would kill a fellow barista for doing that. The most that gets done is let your shots die and taste nasty, or give you decafe, most likely both.
I am being genuine here when as I hand her, her receipt and tell her, “Have a wonderful day.” Well, maybe not, but seriously, all of this is having absolutely NO EFFECT on me…yeah A314.
So my saying that, I really am not trying to do the “have a good day sir” taunt.
“You know I’m upset and will not have a wonderful day, don’t rub it in.”
LOL she’s getting all butt hurt and emotional at this point.
“Okay, here’s your receipt and thank you.”
I turn to make a fresh pot of coffee and she won’t leave, she just keeps trying to egg me on.
“The way your pants hang low, that offends me. Is that allowed by company policy, you’re a hypocrite.”
LOL I have absolutely no ass. I have also lost almost 140 pounds since 2007, so there’s a bunch of excess skin in my waist area will be having surgery to remove it so m belt won’t fit around my belly. I’d have to go out and buy a 50+ " belt, when I wear a 34" waist. This excess skin pushes everything down, so I’m constantly pulling my pants up.
I didn’t explain this to her. I’m just staring at her blankly and she’s trying to push any and every button she can think should affect a guy with little or no self-confidence…but it’s not working sister.
The episode ends with her filing a written complaint and sending it off to the head office.
A supervisor comes over after and tells me how I should have handled this, because now corporate will be seeing this complaint.
So I do my best to explain…once again putting in no real effort that I don’t care.
Not because I’m an insolent child, but because I did nothing wrong, I followed their company policy and feel comfortable with how I handled the situation.
Conclusion: As each day progresses and I wear A314 I am feeling calmer, less reactive etc. Even just a few short weeks ago I might have torn this bitches head off and poured her extra syrup down her neck.
I definitely would have been extremely sarcastic, my blood pressure boiling, and thinking that if it were a guy talking all that smack I would lose my job.
The girl on the bar who I have worked with for almost 3 years and knows how I can get said to me, “The whole time I was just cringing thinking, ‘he’s gonna go off on this lady any time now.’”
But I didn’t.
So once again, yeah A314.
Her order is done, but she won’t leave the counter. I’m setting up the urns for coffee and she’s still digging into me.
*That’s something all customers will notice and they will want to return, and it definitely reflects positives about you. Which will in return set the tone for the atmosphere at your branch.