Additional Training Needed at Starbucks

Here is the response I received in my email today:

Hello Mike,



Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.



I was very sorry to hear about your recent experience at our Starbucks
store. I appreciate you taking the time to bring this matter to our
attention. I would like to share your comments with the management
team responsible for the store in order to address the issue properly,
however I was unable to locate the store that you visited.


As a customer service gesture, I would like to send you a couple of
beverage coupons with my apologies for your experience. If you reply
to this e-mail with your mailing address, as well as further
information as to the store location (such as cross streets), I will
get these right out to you. Please also feel free to take a look at
our store locator at http://www.starbucks.com/retail/find/default.aspx
for store information.



If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate
to contact us at http://www.starbucks.com/customer/ or call
1-800-23-LATTE to speak directly with a Customer Relations
representative.


Sincerely,





Christina K.

Customer Relations Representative

Starbucks Coffee Company


Was surprised to hear from them as quick as I did.

Very well written letter. I applaud you for not being rude to the
Baristas, as most people probably would be. You are simply stating
what may help improve the situation. I realize that being as busy as
Starbucks can get, would be overwhelming and frustrating at times. A
little more instruction and organization may do the trick! :)

I think it would be helpful to mention how long is the wait. Since we
are a society of "right now" anything longer than a second is too
long. As a former retail clerk, I have witness folks browsing around
the store (not in a rush) only to have an attitude for waiting in
line. My morning routine only allows for a few moments of spare
time--which hitting a few red lights will send me to a unspeakable
rage (: However I also know time is relative. It appears to go much
quicker when I don't have the time to spare.

It is nice to see that you aren't demanding something free or have an
entitlement issue like most posters on this site.

I have been to this location, and almost wrote this letter! If I'm
looking to get my coffee the way that I ordered it, in an efficient
manner, I don't go on days when I'm cutting it close to being on time
to work! They often make mistakes! I find that the employees there are
very friendly, but often spend so much time talking to customers, that
efficiency and accuracy are compromised!

Finally! Someone gets it!

This letter is fantastic. You describe exactly what the issue is, the
cause of it, and you have realistic expectations on how they can fix
it.

It seems to me, that the baristas tend to get overwhelmed when there
is a higher volume of customers. This is something that can be easily
fixed with just a little bit more structuring.

Everybody keeps saying this is an excellent letter, but I don't know
that it is. Sure, it's better than some of the stuff that people write
here, but is that enough?
Essentially, I do not know if the writer has realistic expectations. I
do not know if service is too slow. He writes he goes during his
morning commute. I'm sure that's probably one of, if not the busiest,
times of the day. I don't know if his expectations on time is
realistic. There was nothing specific along the lines of, "Though
there were only two people ahead of me, it still took 15 minutes to
get a coffee."
Maybe he's right in his criticism, but he might not be.

What an absolutely stellar letter! Not only do you pose it as a
suggestion, you also put it in a way that makes whoever gets it to do
something to remedy the problem. Thanks for posting this one, it's an
approach that's effective and refreshing.

Mike P.,
Good letter.
I gave up coffee 14 years ago but have been watching Starbucks since
their inception.
I am confident your feedback will not fall on deaf ears.
Howard Schultz, company founder, is back as CEO so hopefully the
company will get back on track.
Again, good letter.
BillR.

I agree with Venice, and think the letter writer did a nice job
articulating a potential solution. I'm sure many of us would have
been annoyed if we were in a similar situation. I've no doubt
Starbucks has the magic formula somewhere it its training manual, and
it simply needs to be translated to the front line. Thanks for
sharing your letter. If I ever meet you in person, I'll certainly buy
you a free cup of coffee.

- Pete, Founder, PlanetFeedback

Not only is this a terrific letter, but I love that you turned it into
a suggestion instead of a complaint. I think most companies are open
to suggestions, but I have a feeling you already know that.

I agree with Red. There is bound to be some slow-down when a store
gets busy, just because they are working on more orders at once, but a
well-trained staff should be efficient enough to keep moving through
orders without a huge slow-down.

I especially like the fact that your title makes clear that you aren't
commenting on all the employees, just the ones at this specific
location, and that you aren't saying they are stupid or bad at their
jobs, just that they need some more training. This good attitude will
likely make Starbucks much more likely to listen to your suggestion.


Great letter!

I think this is a very respectful, polite suggestion letter. I don't
do coffee shops (trust me, you don't want me on caffeine!) but I trust
that you're not expecting unreasonably fast service, just that what
you're getting at this location isn't up to par with others.

I hope they look into this and get back to you.