My coffee shop horror story took place during one of the busiest shifts I've ever worked. I had been working as a barista for about six months at this point. On this day I was making drinks alone, and we had stayed steadily busy the whole day. It was finally starting to slow down, when a woman about in her 40's came in. She got in line like all the other guests, but I could hear her talking to someone else in line.
She was complaining that she hated our coffee, but that there were no other locations close and that they were too expensive. So I heard her griping about our coffee, and I understood; I didn't think much of it. When she gets to order she asks for less chocolate in her mocha, because she doesn't want it to be too sweet. So I suggest that we only put half the chocolate in her drink; she agrees.
So I finish her drink, and hand it over to her and tell her to have a great day. She takes a sip, and immediately exclaims that her drink is too sweet. I tell her I'd be willing to remake her drink with even less chocolate. So I make the drink again; this time I hand the drink to her and she asks why it's so light. She proceeds to take the lid off to check and make sure I filled it all the way, which I did. She takes a sip, and some liquid escapes out on the side, hits her in the face and dribbles down. Immediately she yells at me "YOU F-ING BURNT ME."
At this point, I'm already exhausted. Everyone in this coffee shop is now staring at me, not knowing what to do since it obviously wasn't my fault. I offer to make the drink for a third time. So I'm making this drink, and bubbling with anger on the inside. I am furious, this lady is making a scene, over something that is completely her fault. So I finish up her drink, put some whip on it, take it off because she gets mad about the whip being on it, add a bit more milk, and hand it to her, wishing her the absolute best day. At this point I walk into our back room, and burst into tears.
I was so exhausted from the long and busy shift I had, and then this lady thinks she can just bark orders at me, and belittle me because she is the customer. Overall I was just shocked that a woman in her mid-40s would yell at me, and accuse me of burning her when I clearly didn't. The top of the cup says that the contents are hot, she knew she ordered a hot drink, and I had no contact with her once she picked up the cup.
I will never understand how someone could be so utterly rude to a barista, a waitress, a cashier, or any other human being.
