Starbucks drops the ball: Howard Schultz, we've got a problem
I don't mean to invoke the name of former and current CEO Howard Schultz every time something at Starbucks pisses me off, but the problem is that when you don't have the basics, what do you have?
I'm at the Sherman Oaks Galleria location on Saturday, watching all the "Sex and the City" moviegoers hobble on by in too-high heels, and I go to order a drip coffee.
My choices?
Pike Place ... and Pike Place decaf.
No dark roast. Not even House blend, which is better than Pikes.
If you think this Pike Place thing is working, Howard Schultz, rest assured that it is not. I don't know if you've done market research and concluded that 90 percent of customers prefer a weak blend to a traditionally Starbucks-ian dark roast, but please know that I am not among them.
This is grounds for ... just make sure there's dark roast brewing all day, every day, OK?
LMAO!!!! Sorry. Don't let my maniacal laughter fool you - I'm taking your problem VERY seriously!!!
This whole idiotic Pike Place thing should go away in the near future. Sbux does this kind of thing now and then - promote the hell out of something awful, take forever to realize they can't force customers to like something awful, and then -finally- the promotional period ends and it dies off, and SBUX acts like it never existed in the first place.
I mentioned you to our assistant manager. He agreed that we CAN brew a dark roast on a customer's request, but he added that it all depends on what kind of customer service you want to provide. So the lazy employees can just tell the customer that there is no dark roast available. A good employee will tell the customer that we aren't currently brewing any dark roast, but if you're willing to wait a few minutes, we can brew you some.
I seriously don't recommend doing this if there is a long line, but you should really just insist that they either brew a batch of dark roast, OR French press you a cup. Or demand free shots! Don't take no for an answer!
Lastly, let corporate know what you think. Call 1-800-23-LATTE and complain!!!
If this doesn't help, I swear I'll brew some myself, put it in a "Coffee Traveler", and deliver it to the Daily News in person!!! >:-P
Chrystal, thanks for the good word.
What I'm saying is that if you can't get good coffee at Starbucks, something's really wrong.
I had a nice dark roast today from the Tampa and Victory store. Can't remember the blend, but it was good, and it was ready.
And everybody at that location, as well as at Canoga and Oxnard, is extremely nice and skilled.
I kind of understand that Starbucks isn't making a mint on drip coffee, and that the real money is in sugary blended drinks, but don't cut off your drip business with this weak s--t.
Please remember your investors who bought your stock and believed in your company. What has happened to such a decline??? I was in Costa Rico at a coffee farm that said they sold you 80% of their coffee beans. The coffee was delicious there and I was proud to be one of your investors.
Yep, I understand. Well,we had this idiotic publicity stunt recently, and we received a couple emails from Howard. According to him (and from what we were told), this whole stunt was about getting back to basics and focusing on the quality of our coffee and espresso shots. We now have to grind the (daily brew) coffee fresh every day (as opposed to using pre-packaged bags of ground coffee), brew it, and throw it out after 30 minutes (as opposed to an hour, which is what we used to do).
I don't think SBUX has fooled anyone, however. I've gotten lots of complaints. Several regular customers dislike the Pike Place. And it's silly that we only offer Pike Place or Decaf.
Besides, drip coffee customers are my favorites. They just want a good,plain,simple cup o'joe! None of that 3/4 decaf, half a shot, ez foam, 185 degree, 2 pump, half a Splenda, stirred, latte BS!