Starbucks Passion

The importance of good customer service

People always ask me: “Why do you love Starbucks so much?!” And I always find it difficult to answer this question in one sentence. I usually say something like: “Well, the products are top-notch, the atmosphere is welcoming, the partners are friendly, the corporation is socially responsible, etc. etc.” Basically, I can’t narrow it down to just a few reasons. I usually just tell that person to visit this blog and see why I love Starbucks.

For this post, I want to talk about the importance of customer satisfaction again. (I’ve already posted a post about customer service… check it out here).

Starbucks partners are dedicated to customer satisfaction – simple as that. They stop at nothing to bring you the best products and the friendliest service. To highlight this truth, I want to compare a recent experience I had at an independent coffee shop and about an experience I had at a local Starbucks.

Experience at Dolce Cafe in Toronto

I walked into Dolce Cafe on a warm, Wednesday night with a few friends. The atmosphere was nice, the staff seemed friendly enough and a lot of people were scattered around the cafe. It was a nice place.

My friends all wanted gelato, I wanted an Americano. I ordered the Americano and waited by the barista bar. The barista asked me: “how do you take it?” I thought it was unusual for the barista to ask this because I’m used to the self-serve condiment stations in Starbucks stores. But I answered the question; “umm 1 sugar please.” He passed me the drink and I sat down with my friends at a table.

After the first sip, I realized that the barista must have put in a huge, heaping tablespoon of sugar in the drink – it was way too sweet for my liking. I don’t like being picky, but this drink was extremely sweet and I just couldn’t handle it. So, I took the drink back up to the counter and asked if they could remake the drink and skip the sugar step (I’d add it myself). This is what happened:

Me: “Excuse me, hi, sorry, this drink is too sweet for me… can you please remake the drink without the sugar? I feel bad asking, but I just can’t drink this.”

Cashier: “Umm, what do you want me to do about it?!”

Me: “Can you ask the barista to please remake the drink?”

Cashier: “Umm, I have to ask my manager.”

She leaves to get the manager. I wait.

Manager: “Hello sir, apparently you want us to remake the drink? Is this correct?”

Me: “Yes please. I feel bad for asking, but I would really appreciate it if you could remake the drink without sugar; it’s too sweet for me.”

Manager: “Well, you ordered the drink that way, we made it already… sorry, but we can’t remake it.”

Me (growing impatient): “I understand, but the barista made it with too much sugar. Can you please just remake the drink?”

Manager: “No, sorry, there’s nothing I can do.”

Me: “Ok, I know this isn’t an expensive drink and it won’t take much time to fix this situation… so could you please find it in your heart to remake the drink?!”

Nearby customer listening in: “Just remake the drink for this guy, coffee is cheap!”

Manager (visibly irritated): “No! That’s not our policy! The drink was made and that’s it!”

Me: “Okay. Well, keep the drink … I won’t be back.”

End of interaction.

After that last word, my friends and I gathered our stuff and left the cafe. I vowed to never return to this store. It wouldn’t have taken much time or effort to just remake the drink and keep me happy but because the manager refused to fix the situation, this store just lost 5 future customers; myself and my 4 friends.

Now, let’s move forward to the next week. My same 4 friends and I went to a nearby Starbucks.

Here’s the Starbucks Experience

I ordered an Americano and waited at the barista bar. I received my drink promptly and headed to the condiment station. Ironically and much to my surprise, as I tilted the sugar jar towards my cup, the top of the jar fell off and several tablespoons of sugar rushed into my drink. Obviously, I couldn’t drink this coffee – it was ruined!

I walked back to the barista bar and told the barista what happened:

Me: “Hi, sorry, the sugar jar lid fell off and now there’s way too much sugar in my coffee… can you remake it?”

Barista (sympathetic): “Oh no! That sucks! Yes, of course I’ll remake it! Sorry about that!”

Me: “Thank you!”

End of interaction.

See how simple that was?! I didn’t have to beg or argue – the barista didn’t ask any questions and a new drink was ready for me within 2 minutes. Simple as that.

That’s why I love Starbucks. They put the customer first and always make sure their guests are welcome and satisfied in their store.

Starbucks understands that a happy customer today means a return customer tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on.

This simple gesture by the Starbucks barista made my day and gave me the inspiration for this post. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that when you make the customer happy, your business will thrive.

Thank you Starbucks partners! You are all the best customer service representatives any company could ever hope for.