I’ve worked as a Barista for a couple years now, and I’ve come across many things that seem to happen on a regular basis. Before joining the team, I never realized how working with the public in this way was going to be. It seems as though customers forget to acknowledge the fact that we are human as well, and most importantly, it’s never a good idea to piss off the person making your drinks. These are a few things that I’m sure many Baristas can agree are very annoying for us as workers.
Whispering as you are trying to order, and not raising your voice even after the third time of me saying, “sorry, what was that?” -- Within the coffee shop, there are drink machines running, the ice machine, the air conditioners, possibly a fan and most likely music playing in the background. Not to mention coworkers chatting in the background as well. We need you to speak up.
Not tipping your barista after ordering 5+ drinks. -- When there is an entire line of cars or people behind you and you order numerous drinks and maybe even some food, it backs us up a little and causes other customers to get angry at us for taking a long time. A little appreciation is appreciated.
When a customer looks at you and just says, “I’ll just have a coffee.” -- Okay, hot or iced? What size? Is there anything in it? Be specific. It’s even more annoying when after asking all of these questions, it turns out they wanted the most complicated drink they could have ordered. Sorry, we can’t read your mind.
After I have made you your entire order, please don’t ignore me when I hand them to you and nicely say “Have a great day!” -- I don’t like talking to myself which is exactly what I’m doing every time a customer ignores my entire existence.
Do not sit there with 5+ cars or people lined up behind you and complain to me about everything you think is wrong with our coffee shop. -- I am not the manager. Complaining to me is getting you absolutely nowhere because I am not your therapist and I literally have zero control over how the shop is ran.
Please try to at the very least have your wallet out when you come to order. -- When a customer orders their drink and you tell them the price, it’s a waste of our time to stand there and watch you wait until I’m ready so that you can then look everywhere for your money and dig for exact change even when you don’t even know if you have any damn change. Time is money. You could have your drink by now.
Do not talk to me like I have no idea what I am doing as a Barista when I accidentally make your drink wrong. We are human. We make mistakes. -- I understand that maybe you are in a rush, but I didn’t mess up your order on purpose. Please give me a break I’m probably working a ten hour shift or had to open at 5am anyway.
Don’t try to pay with $100 bill. Just don’t do it. -- At my coffee shop, we have to drop money every $100 we make. Along with that, we need to make sure there are always 10’s, 5’s, and 1’s in the drawer. If you are trying to pay for a drink that costs $3.50 with $100 bill, odds are I can’t break it. So sorry.
You order at the first window. -- When you come through the drive thru, wait a minute at the first window before you take it upon yourself to drive up to the second window. We have cleaning and stocking to do, we don’t wait at the window for customers. And please, when I tell you that you order at the first window next time, don’t reply with “Well, there was no one down there.” You didn’t even wait two seconds.
Lastly, do not come back the next day and demand a free drink because we made the one your ordered yesterday wrong. Also, don’t come back with a drink more than halfway gone and request a new one. -- I don’t understand why or how customers always feel so entitled.
