Ok, a new day has dawned on IHateStarbucks.com.
I no longer want to keep hacking the old, tired php on the site, so this is what I propose. These messages will remain up for all eternity. In addition, there is a new Guest book. So if you want to share your opinons, i.e. post to the site, go here. As always, if wish to rant or rave, send me an email:
| Name: | sharon 02037 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 09:05 PM |
| I hate Starbucks because the coffee is weak. I think any coffee shop that sells watered down expresso is evil and must be stoped. |
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| Name: | Jason Dobrovodsky 02036 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 01:06 PM |
| i hate starbucks~! lol/lmao $10 for coffee come on |
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| Name: | Hmmm 02035 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 11:39 AM |
| Has anyone ever noticed that the Yukon Blend Has "Yuck" to start off the name? |
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| Name: | jain 02034 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 12:54 AM |
| WANNA HEAR SOMETHING GROSS about the bux I work at??
My store is rotting...LITERALLY!! The floor under our bar is rotting so bad that customers make comments when they enter the store and we've been trained (of course) to say "I don't smell anything" and brush the comments off. My manager finally told our D.M. so 6 months later some suits came down from Seattle and decided to fix it...they pooh-pooh over how its going to cost $90,000 CND because of the nature of the problem and the fact that even the sub-floor HAS NOW ROTTED as well, and the BLACK MOLD has spread throughout all the floors in the store. To add to this problem- it has been recently discovered that our hot water tank that was instaled 10 years ago when we opened, has been leaking ever since and one wall that runs the entire length of our store is complettly rotten...mmm..makes you really want that latte eh? It's been almost a year since the suits came and no nothing is fixed and hundreds of people everyday are exposed to mold....mmm make it a double tall!! |
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| Name: | Competitor 02033 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 12:53 AM |
| Hey bazdazzle! Where are you in So Cal? If you want probably the best cofee you have ever had, send me your email and I will contact you. With all of the names you called Starbuck's, I thought you would have used the name Starchunks given that being the end result after drinking it. |
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| Name: | Gringo 02032 |
| Date: | Feb 15 2004 12:53 AM |
| Hate Starbucks??? Not me. Let me explain just why I feel this way... I love making heavy whipping cream lattes for all of those folks on the Atkins diet (I still have to tempt them some carbs from the pastry case. Corporate says so. Sorry, yuppies). I love getting berated by middle age jerks who can't even pronounce the drink that they order and by 14 and 15 year olds that pay for their daily Chocolate Brownie Frappuccino "blended coffee" (I would never leave out the trademark) out of their Louis Vittoun wallets that they got as a reward from their parents for getting straight D's at the local high school. Did I mention that I love to wake up at 4:30 in the morning? Nothing I like better than whipping up some decaf, sugar-free vanilla, non-fat (Extra hot for real this time, please) lattes for a group of housewife power walkers before I can even tell if it's tomorrow or not.
And one last thing...to all you male Starbucks patronizers that gratuitously and disgustingly hit on each and every female partner at my store...thank you so much!!! It's great that you don't even mumble a word to me because you're just that darn creepy. Keep on stalking in the free world!
In closing, yeah, I guess that I really do hate BUX. But there are jobs out there that are so much worse. Who didn't know what they had signed up for the moment that they were given their "Coffee Passport"? C'mon people. I suggest that all you whiny SBUX partners should either buck up (get it?) and look at the positive, or quit...there are plenty of other crappy minimum wage jobs out there for you all to complain about. All clear? Okay.
P.S. There is not such thing as half-decaf. Pick one or the other, guy. Seriously. |
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| Name: | D-Mac 02031 |
| Date: | Feb 14 2004 01:12 AM |
| Okay, on that last post that I wrote, I should have clarified what I meant when I said that "everybody hates Drew..." All I was trying to was rhyme something with Crew, and all that came to mind was Drew. There are many things that rhyme with Crew, but only one person in my store with a name that rhymes. Personally, I don't hate anybody, much less Drewseph. I may get annoyed sometimes by certain individuals, but I'm sure that people feel the same way about me. But, Drew, since you apparently read this site and I won't be seeing you for a while, rather than letting you stew in anger over this whole situation, I'd rather address it now. First of all, I didn't really mean what I said, but as I mentioned, I was trying to be clever and it really didn't work. My sincerest apologies, friend. I don't know why I didn't realize how mean it was of me to say something, especially even having the gall to even jokingly speak for anybody else. My only excuse is that I wrote that post after having driven 400 friggin miles at my new job, and was totally burnt out.
Moving on, Starbucks still sucks big time and everybody who works there should get the hell out...like now!
D-Mac |
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| Name: | DonO 02018 |
| Date: | Feb 14 2004 01:11 AM |
| I have been employed with Starbucks for a little over a year now and have been exposed to many of the facets, good and bad, that make this company as successful as it is today. The following is an essay pointing out a few of my thoughts concerning Starbucks as an employer. Please note and disregard or enjoy my sarcastic tone:
Through my employment at Starbucks I have come to realize that it is not so much the “highest standards of excellence in purchasing, roasting, and freshly delivering” coffee (as is noted in bullet three of the heartfelt mission statement) that contributes to the success of the company as it is the daily contributions of the hard-working, truly-amazing people that have decided to work there. (Ladies and Gentleman, we are part of a cult, and if you think about it, Howard Schultz seems to have similar facial characteristics as David Koresh) Our store was lucky enough to have had a store manager who cared about the personal development and growth of each individual partner as much as the profitability and success of our store. I speak for myself, and most likely many of the other employees of our store as well, when I say that this store manager has contributed to the growth and development of my character in a monumental way. This is a person who has supplied a level of inspiration that can be equaled by some but overcome by none. The unfortunate part is that as a corporation Starbucks is almost unable to see this deeply into the happenings of a store; all that matters is that each store makes budget, which, in my belief, is set to be slightly unattainable by a number of stores so that the managers of these stores will not need to receive a bonus check. As one can obviously realize the withholding of a number of store manager’s bonus checks will in turn increase the companies profits, and we must not forget that “profitability is essential” to the future success of Starbucks (as is noted in bullet six of the sincere mission statement).
Through my days at Starbucks I have witnessed bribery, blackmail, fabrication, subornment, the ostracizing of good people, and overall corruption on many accounts. These acts have all been carefully acted out however to be sure that the law is being followed on the surface, and that nothing that is done can be documented. A certain upper-management person, we will just call them C-dog heretofore (this is following the example set by my employers in remaining within the legal boundaries and thus avoiding any accusations of libel), has been my main source of exposure to many of these happenings. Of course I am not limiting these actions to C-dog alone, for the company is profitable world-wide. To dive into further explanation would consume more of your time than it is worth and unfortunately would not prove to be of any justice to those who have been victimized. C-dog has been kind enough to allow me to experience first hand the type of person that I am never be willing to be. Dignity, self-respect, and the care for the well being of others will not allow me to act even a fraction as inhuman as C-dog. Possibly I am being too harsh with not knowing the ins and outs of this particular person’s life. Possibly they are under a tremendous amount of stress in relation to keeping their own job and are acting more out of desperation and less out personal ethic, but in my opinion, this does not make it right.
I will be leaving Starbucks in two months time, until then I will continue to work on my star skills, devise great new ways to reduce bottleneck, let C-dog know about all of the great new best-practices that I have discovered, be sure that I use L.A.T.T.E. every time an upset customer brings back their cup of joe with a pretentious attitude, time my shots every hour (13-17), up-sell using the nifty drink triangle, provide the best darn 3rd place atmosphere that I can, slide every ten minutes, connect-discover-and-respond, be very concerned with our store making budget and getting upset when we do not, utilize tell-show-do for it works the best, kindly explain the difference between caramel syrup and caramel sauce, be sure to point out what-what-and why, never open the back door past dusk, be sure never to abbreviate it frap because we may lose our trademark............................................ |
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| Name: | Tracy 02023 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:54 PM |
| I sympathize with people who are simply trying to find some culture in our podunk, shoot at it, piss on it and drink beer with it small town, narrow minded, uneducated society. I can't find a lovely coffee shop owned by people who make things from scratch, care about their customers and take pride in their products as I did in my home town of Wichita, Ks. I moved to Texas for a job and am now forced to make an occasional purchase at Starbucks. But I still can't get my Italian Cream soda because corporate says you can't make anything that isn't on the menu. Will someone PLEASE open a coffee shop west of Dallas. Hmm, maybe I'll do that. Oh, and by the way, I am always friendly and courteous to the people who serve me at Starbucks. I know you kids will move on someday. More power to ya. |
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| Name: | Sick of California 02022 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:53 PM |
| I am considering applying for a job at Starbucks because I have "heard" that they are a good company to work for. I would like anyone's feedback pro or con so that I don't risk working for anymore unethical companies. I've already seen too many! Thanks for you time. |
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| Name: | Hazel Mafia 02021 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:53 PM |
| Scott- You forgot that frappuccinos are made with corn syrup,and milk fats, and they have as many calories and fat as a burguer from McDonald's. |
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| Name: | bazdazzle 02020 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:53 PM |
| My sister worked at Starsucks for SEVEN YEARS. She had to deal with a broken sewer main under one store - she was opening and discovered the problem and was told to stay there until the proper authorities could arrive - gagging, choking on the stench...at another store she worked at the store was robbed (yeah she was there that time too), she had countless horrible managers, but in all that time she seemed to "love to hate it." I am so thankful that she came to her senses and QUIT last November. Even working there part time is working there far too many hours. Everyone who supports the delicious 7-11 coffee is so right. Mostly I make coffee at home with beans I have purchased from Trader Joe's. I moved 4 times in the last year. 1st place I left: smallish New England town, NO STARCRUDS in that town at all. Yaaaayy!! 2nd place I lived/left: much more urban area, San Diego, CA but amazingly, amazingly, only Starjunks I knew of close to where I lived (3 long blocks away) was in Vons. Since I don't shop at Vons, I didn't have to think about it. 3rd place: San Francisco. Generally most people in San Francisco HATE Starblecchs. Good thinking. There was one only a block away from me but I avoided it. Now, here I am back in Southern California and there is one about 2 blocks away. It's part of this scary "4-plex": a Laundromat/Subway/Starbuttcheeks/Check Cashing place. Sigh. The world has so many gross things in it! Why, why? |
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| Name: | D-Mac 02019 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:53 PM |
| Hey, Shmoopy...these pretzels are making me thirsty! Thanks for the kind words, and it was a pleasure working with you for nearly the whole year I worked for ya. I just found out today that the DM, little miss C-Dawg, as Don-O puts it, actually sent a spy into our humble abode to search for any small piece of wrong doing. This is quite...amazing. It's amazing that Starbucks would use such underhanded subterfuge and stealth to try and make sure that all their stores reach their budget. So what if a few stores in the district don't make budget? There are only a million other stores out there who are making a ton of money, anyway!
As much as I have learned of the ridiculous business practices of Bucks, I realize now that I haven't yet reached the tip of the iceberg when it comes their morally bankrupt business practices. I am just very happy that I haven't spend a good portion of my life working for this corporation.
Moving on, the store I work at (used to work there full time, now...not so much) had a meeting to discuss the biggest day of the year. Or maybe it was the biggest event of the year!? I don't know, because as I've found out, store meetings are just a way to try and coax you into believing all the pro-Starbucks propaganda. Anyhow, as it turned out, this most ginormous occasion was just another damn Brewing Event. Ahhh, all hail the mighty Brewing Event. The funny thing is, Starbucks actually expects you to get really fired up to sell espresso machines so that the company can make more frickin money! I find it hard to get fired up to harass someone into buying a 300 dollar espresso machine, when my only possible reward is maybe a 10 dollar gift certificate to McDonalds. You want to motivate your damn employees? How about sharing some of the friggin wealth with those of us who have spent countless hours slaving away, dealing with people that are tired, late for work, cranky, or all of the above. And if they're not tired, late for work, cranky, or all of the above, then they're usually just pretentious and stupid for spending $3.50 for a hot chocolate with coffee in it. When it boils down to it, that's really all a Mocha is, right?
I'm going to try and do my best to spread the word of this website around as best I can, so that maybe someday, Starbucks will be knocked off of it's throne. Or at least, knocked down a few pegs so that some of the really good locally owned coffee shops can survive. It amazes me that Starbucks fools everyone into thinking they're the best place to work, and that Fortune names it one of the best every year. I was fooled into believing that S-Bucks is a good place to work, but once the awesome crew I was working with started transferring to other stores or just quitting, I realized that it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Shmoopy, email me soon...Don-O told me you picked up the letter I wrote my email addy on. We all need to get together sometime and chit chat about all this. I miss the old crew, and everybody hates Drew! I'm a poet...and I know it!
Sincerely,
D-Mac |
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| Name: | Lauren 02024 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:47 PM |
| Scott's message has some incorrect information: Starbucks does NOT own Coffee People, but rather Seattle's Best Coffee (which was part of the same company as Torrefazzione). Dietrich's Coffee owns Coffee People.
Also, it's T-H-E-I-R.
One more thing, I don't have to like/dislike Starbucks to know that Scott probably drinks a Venti Mocha Frappuccino with extra caramel and whip everytime he thinks mama isn't watching. |
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| Name: | Japz 02025 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:47 PM |
| I'm from the Netherlands..and i've had Starbucks coffee once, when I was travelling trought the US. Damn.. if that coffee is reprazenting the american taste I do feel sorry for all of you.. but all average american coffee by my opionion should be marked 'not for consumption' it tastes like mud mixed with sour rainwater.
But last month I was in France, and what dit I see? Starbucks!!! whats next.. taking over Italy? Holland? germany? its like 'the (american) empire strikes back' but now their taking the world commercially, after invading iraq with illegal reasons.. now invading Europe.. |
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| Name: | regina falangi 02026 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:46 PM |
| i finally plucked up the courage to leave my former employers StarF***s after years of torment from my bosses and other colleagues.
the final straw came when they poured burning coffee down my pants and made me dance in just whipped mocha cream.
before this they had also force-fed me gone off pastries and made me lick the floor clean.
I advise u never to get a job here, unless you have a fetish for being tortured!!! |
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| Name: | KIM 02027 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:46 PM |
| I am writing a graduate paper on the affect of American business on Central and South America. One side of my paper will discuss the movement not to buy coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton, etc from non "free-trade" businesses. I also will explore the consequences of uneducated consumerism(the lifestyle of the latin-american farmers, harmful pesticides used to grow more of whatever crop for American consumption that harms the environment and hurts or kills the local population) If anyone has info or web site refernces on this topic please post!
Thanks.
PS It still makes me mad the the riot in Seattle a few years ago where the Starbucks' were vandalized was blamed on Fidel Castro being in the city at the time and not the real reason of anger at greedy capitalist with no concern of the good for the owrld and its people. |
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| Name: | BaristaBabe 02028 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:45 PM |
| Ok, I've worked at Starbucks now for 3 months. my big problem with the company is the management. My store has had 4 Assistant Managers since I started there. Not only that but we have serious floor drain issues. It backs up all the time and it's embarrassing. Not to mention the roaches. Ew. |
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| Name: | Rick 02029 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:45 PM |
| I've worked for Star*ucks for a little over a year--the worst year of my life in this horrendous, George Bush, Orwellian, nightmare economy. The company are a bunch of crooks. They say they have "great benefits" knowing full well that almost no one who works for them qualifies, since everyone is a part-timer. And thats EXACTLY the way they want it. Great benefits that almost no one qualifies for! They pay you nothing--can change your hours at the drop of a hat. The district manager in this North East locale--has made it the single worse working experience of my life--and I've worked in the restaurant/service industry for 15 years. The "thank you" I get after a year at this one store (no one else has stayed that long--everyone-- some twenty people have left--and what does that tell you???) is that my hours have been cut by the new manager. It isn't hard to criticize a company that can't hold onto employees even in the worst job market since--THE GREAT DEPRESSION!! |
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| Name: | Competitor 02030 |
| Date: | Feb 13 2004 02:29 PM |
| I couldn't wait to share this one with all of you. A friend of mine went into the Starbuck's kiosk on Thursday, February 12, 2004 at approximately 8AM inside Von's supermarket in the Valencia Marketplace located on The Old Road and Stevenson Ranch Parkway. Howard, grab a seat, it get's good. Anyway, this person must have been a scab given the current food worker strike and he could not figure whether to make drinks first or ring up the order. Anyway, he made three blended drinks in a row given most people in line requested. Each time he made more than necessary, so there was extra. He dipped his finger in and licked it each time in front of customers. Yes, I said he licked his fingers THREE TIMES IN A ROW while on duty and did not wash them afterward. Hmmm, should I contact the Health Department? |
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| Name: | VendiDick 02017 |
| Date: | Feb 10 2004 11:59 PM |
| After reading about seven pages, I'm surprised I didn't see any posts from Portland, ME. I visited there in Dec. and according to local lore, the window at the Starbucks on Exchange St. has been broken (by bricks and rocks) more often than any other window at any Starbucks worldwide.
I walked by at about 3pm. The shop was just about empty.
Obviously the folks in Portland are onto something.
As far as hating SBUX, the ethics of their real estate division that are appalling. And yes, they've created a bizarre subculture of customers. People who could actually complain to a barista in Verona or Milan that, "This isn't how you make a latte!"
Drink locally. F*ck Globally. |
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| Name: | barista kid 02016 |
| Date: | Feb 10 2004 11:58 PM |
| I have worked for starbucks for 2yrs and in that time I have worked for some of the worse managers. And starbucks never did anything about it. Why oh why do we hire people to be managers who cant even make a freaking latte let alone run a store. I make $6.88 an hour I have only ever got 13 cent raises how the hell can you live on that. the best part of my job is taking 5lb bags of coffee and the odd espresso machine and selling it on ebay UP YOURS HOWARD SHULTZ.The shift kid |
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| Name: | Paul 02015 |
| Date: | Feb 10 2004 11:57 PM |
| I get some of my best coffee around Starbucks. The gasoline station, just across the street. The 7/11 just down the street. They all come in great flavors also. Coffee regular and decaf. I prefer the Regular myself.
You have a good site for those to express themselves. |
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| Name: | schmoopy 02014 |
| Date: | Feb 10 2004 11:57 PM |
| this message is for D-Mac.
i'm glad to see that something better came along and you will no longer have to work for peanuts or taste coffee that you don't like or differentiate one from another. your store is one of the best, because of people like you. your partners already miss you. your manager is ashamed every time she has to tell a partner how much raise they get. she probably has similar gripes about pay, so you're not alone. don't forget, "lies and falsehoods". now, go out there and be successful at your new business! |
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| Name: | Chaihead 02013 |
| Date: | Feb 10 2004 11:56 PM |
| I work for *$ (cause there are no better paying jobs where I live)I cannot stand their promo dept. They try so hard to be different chic and trendy. The posters and banners we have to put in our store confuse the slow people that have never been in our store. Anyone that work at *$ have people come in and ask for a "Superhero"???? c'mon please! |
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