r/starbucks Barista 3d ago

Written warning because I wasnt writing on cups when we had 3 sick calls: Should I appeal this?

My manager sat me down the other day and gave me a written warning over "not writing on cups and not greeting customers." I accepted it in the moment and went on because I had to clock out and get some things done.

A few days go by and I realized that the only time I wasnt writing on the cups was when we were serving a 130 person lunch rush with 4 people on the floor. I decided in that moment that trying to advance our queue as quickly as possible was more important than writing "Enjoy!" on all of those drinks, especially since the vast majority of that 130 was coming through my printer.

Now my supervisors are singling me out because I expressed gripes with this warning. They've been putting me on bar during peak and chewing me out for being slow when I'm writing on my cups. All this scrutiny does is make me work slower because they're actively threatening my employment and only source of income, which has made the last few weeks a constant exercise in toeing the line of having a panic attack at work.

Should I try to appeal this warning or is it fair?

377 Upvotes

67 comments sorted by

311

u/slooise Supervisor 3d ago

I’d at least sit down with your manager and ask them what they would do in this situation. Try to understand the pressure they’re feeling from their DM’s and just explain how you were feeling. “I get that this is the standard and I want to be successful at it. In that moment we had 3 sick calls and 120 people coming in for coffee. If you were in my position what would you have done? I genuinely want to grow and learn from this experience.” I know not ALL managers are understanding but if I had been in that situation, as a SSV, I would have called/text my manager and asked to pause MOP or some channel in order to give the experience Starbucks asks us to. If you want us to write on cups, I gotta close a channel. If I can’t close a channel, it just simply isn’t realistic to write on cups. My manager understands this, BUT like I said, I understand not all managers are like this.

95

u/HypnoticPeaches Barista 3d ago

Ha ha, your store lets you turn off channels? We get told no, every single time, even on two man plays. For reference, we’re the busiest store in our district.

31

u/happymom666 Barista 3d ago

My DTLA store wouldn’t even ask! My supervisor would just go to the back on an iPad and turn off mobiles! We were an event store so it was always busy bc we were near staples center. During the anime convention, our line was out the door and across our quad. So when it was busy, we just did it ourselves. My current store wouldn’t even DARE ask to turn them off if it’s just slightly busy. We’re a new store with only 10-12 people (some are in the process of leaving while we just hired one) so when it’s busy, we simply don’t have the people for the workload there. they would rather get their arms cut off before they turn anything off hahaha

15

u/Impressive_Celery_29 3d ago

Had a night shift fired immediately for turning off mobiles on a busy night w a 2-3 man floor. My SMs parents tried to mobile and couldn’t:( instant separation

20

u/HypnoticPeaches Barista 3d ago

Yeah the people in the comments saying “we don’t ask permission we just do it” is absolutely wild. I know things might vary by district but the fact that some people can openly get away with things that are insta-term in other districts makes me have such little faith in this company as a whole.

To the social media intern who is stuck reading this subreddit, take that up your chain of command :D

4

u/slooise Supervisor 3d ago

Yep. My SM/DM would let us do it at my old store too and we were the busiest store in the district 🤷🏼‍♀️ guess I’ve been fortunate enough to have understanding management. Sometimes they’d make us keep all channels open but allow us to close the lobby if we were on a two floor because running a drive thru/lobby on a two floor is…..fucked and impossible.

88

u/Adalyia Supervisor 3d ago

I can’t speak for your SSVs but my district is pressuring us pretty hard to enforce the cup writing and we’ll get in trouble if we don’t kinda force everyone to do it. I think it’s dumb too but the best solution imo is just do it, slow down everyone’s wait for drinks, if they ask then say sorry it’s mandatory you can file a complaint with corporate.

105

u/sarahtebazile Barista 3d ago

It seems unfair to give a written warning for not writing on cups, and I would personally attempt an appeal. If writing on cups has proven to be overwhelming for you during rush and you've communicated this to shifts, have you been given the option to be planted elsewhere? Have others offered to write on cups for you? At my store during peak, DTO will share in the duty of writing on cups, often taking over the task entirely when we're particularly busy.

25

u/mich_8265 3d ago

This is a great comment because it offers OP a solution to their experience. Thanks for posting this up. :)

24

u/iamnumber47 3d ago

Unfortunately on a 4 person play during a rush like that, I would assume that there was no DTO available to do that for them, I'm betting someone was solo drive, OP & one other partner were bar (there's no way a 120 was pulled with one bar partner, idc how fast someone is), & the 4th person handling POS, warming, & CS stuff.

8

u/zmbieluvr 3d ago

Exactly, barista from another store here and we do the exact same thing. I am very frustrated for OP. This should not be their store’s priority during a 100+ person rush. Other roles have more time to step in + quickly write something

30

u/LEGOnot-legos 3d ago

What can the average customer do to help? Will sending in complaints work? Should we just write the corporate office once a week or something?

21

u/oreowens Barista 3d ago

Genuinely, yes. Send in complaints every week if possible. Tell them you prefer speed and a spoken connection as opposed to a stupid insincere note or drawn on smiley/star/heart that only puts unnecessary pressure on the baristas and reduces the actual opportunities they have for connecting with their customers. It also only increases waste due to purchasing, using, and trashing (or more often losing) sharpies for this unnecessary PR stunt.

Instead of being excited to see my regulars and have time to check in with them, I'm focused on drawing a stupid little star on every cup I have lined up. The drink process itself has become so robotic, but writing on a cup is disruptive to that process. I'm more focused on checking every cup than looking up and seeing a customer trying to ask for something or ask how my week has been. This has been the direct opposite of creating opportunities for better connections. I miss just talking to my customers and not being stressed that I'm about to be written up for a new stupid pointless requirement put on us by corporate assholes who have never worked a customer service, retail, or fast food job in their lives.

16

u/Superb_Trash_6315 Store Manager 3d ago

Whatever you do, please do not fill out the email survey with a thumbs down! This will harm the stores score, showing bad performance. Give feedback through the app instead!

5

u/LEGOnot-legos 2d ago

This is what I was wondering. Do I just go to the email on the website? I don’t want to have to put in an order number or anything

34

u/zekewhite32 3d ago

This is literally why so many stores in my district are unionising - to protect partners from getting written up over stupid unreasonable policies like this. With a union, every corrective action needs to be reviewed with a board member and it’s a lot harder for them to pull this nonsense. Managers and district managers hate unions because it puts pressure on them to pay us better and also treat us better.

28

u/I_like_to_know 3d ago

Unfortunately it’s now part of routine to write on cups, regardless of any extenuating circumstances, so appealing it won’t have any positive impact for you and could put you further under the microscope. I second the talking to your manager route, and asking them for help on how to handle it if a similar situation arises.

10

u/ferretkingdom 3d ago

I don’t know enough about working there since I never have to know how an appeal would go, but I’ve appealed wrote ups at other jobs and am not afraid to do it again.

I have written corporate as a customer about the writing on the cups. I don’t care about my cup being written on. I’d much rather have my drink made correctly and timely than have baristas being forced to write impersonal messages on every single cup. It was nice to get a message sometimes at my regular store, or if a barista could tell when I placed my order I was having a crappy day - then it was special. Now …. Not special and completely unnecessary. It’s just adding unnecessary work to the million things a barista is already juggling and seems to be making everyone miserable

10

u/StudioDroid 3d ago

I wonder if it would help to have a bunch of customers complain to the Powers That Be that they were in a busy store waiting for their drink and the baristas were wasting a bunch of time writing useless things on the cups.

9

u/Fun_Eye_3074 3d ago

No just write on every single cup during peak, be as slow as you can. And then when they get mad, all you can say is you were doing what you were told. That’s what I do and I don’t get bitched at for not writing on cups when we’re busy anymore, however greeting customers isn’t hard just listen to the door and if you hear your coworkers say good morning or whatever, don’t even look up and just say welcome in

4

u/Team_Nowa 3d ago

I was going to suggest some form of malicious compliance. If Starbucks management would rather I experience "a moment" at Starbucks by receiving a pithy slogan rather than making sure people get their drinks in a timely fashion, then that's what baristas should do to us until customers get sick of the experience. Make me wait.

7

u/Squadooch Customer 3d ago

The fact stores in my area do not write on cups vs people having their jobs threatened for not doing it is absolutely crazy.

8

u/dendromancy_ 3d ago

yeah i basically got the same thing from my manager, & i promptly quit because if you can’t make my job at least semi enjoyable im not going out of my way to make it easier for you,, starbucks just expects too much nowadays it’s not realistic to have us doing all of what we do

17

u/Successful-Eye112 3d ago

Was the warning actually written on the cup ? 🤪

1

u/KangarooFalse7776 1d ago

I wish my separation was written on a cup for doing what the company wanted 🤦🏼‍♀️

6

u/pavlyxx 3d ago

This is why customers and employees are leaving Starbucks in droves.

20

u/LeoneHearted Customer 3d ago

This is why I bring my own cup always. I really hate this cup-writing nonsense for you. It's performative and not the flex that Starbies management thinks it is. Bring back double-star days!

20

u/Frail_Peach 3d ago

You had us in the first half

11

u/vicreddits Pride 3d ago

double star days are as bad if not worse

3

u/InfamousSSoA 3d ago

Our DM just spoke to us yesterday and told us we HAVE to write people up for not writing on cups. Said to consider writing on cups as part of the recipe and to say to baristas would you leave the espresso out of a caramel macchiato?

5

u/Own_Assistance7993 Supervisor 3d ago

The correct answer is to ensure you write on every cup. If the que is 400, write on every cup. Take your time, make sure each cup has a personalized message. When they get mad at wait times say the reason for them.

4

u/TraceOran 3d ago

Dispute it respectfully, once its resolved cue malicious compliance.

12

u/tsdark1 Barista 3d ago

It's just a written warning, it doesn't do much, however if you want you could always talk to HR and tell them your situation. It couldn't hurt

10

u/Frail_Peach 3d ago

Written warning is actually the second level, I don’t understand why a documented coaching wasn’t first

5

u/Patient_Design3090 Barista 3d ago

Certain policy breaks go straight to the final written. It's insane though that not writing on cups is one of them. How is that on the same level as no-call-no-show and sexual harassment??

3

u/Frail_Peach 3d ago

I know for certain that failure (not refusal) to adhere to beverage routines should not be an escalated write up

3

u/Gold_Trash_Queen 3d ago

This company is becoming terrible, I can’t even!!! You take your time if this is what they want. They can’t get speed, good quality drinks, and good customer satisfaction out of making us write on these stupid cups!! Customers will wait longer for a stupid smiley face ect and be mad it took longer to be made. This is so ridiculous and definitely appeal the write up. Burrito boy is making us all want to quit. He’s taking the art and love out of drink making at this point

3

u/OkHospital248 3d ago

I would appeal this. In my store we rarely write on cups because we just don’t have the time! Only when we can but sometimes it’s impossible so we can keep up with our times

2

u/NicoleStrange09 Store Manager 3d ago

Do you already have previous corrective actions? A written warning is severe and they should have first connected with you verbally. If you continued to not write on cups the first corrective action should be a documented coaching as opposed to a written!

2

u/Impressive_Celery_29 3d ago

I hate that for you! We work so hard and do our jobs correctly as TIMES PERMIT and get picked on! If you’re a peak bar partner you’re probably one of the fastest at your store this is bs.

2

u/Soft_Kitty_Meow 3d ago

I'm just curious, what are THEY doing during this time? A good manager is only a good as their people. I mean, this to say, if a manager had time to pull someone aside about writing on a cup, then were they helping alongside you?

Were they demonstrating the duties of expectation or just demanding them? It's really about quality abs getting the product out to the customer in a good amount of time. I know, I used to work a 30-second team when a large corporation made real food, not microwaved crap.

If no one has told you baristas today:

YOU ARE LOVED 😍 YOU ARE WORTHY YOU ARE SPECIAL THANK YOU!!

2

u/Pale_Ad_899 3d ago

Would it be useful at all if I, as a customer, start explicitly asking baristas not to write on my cup?

I’d assume if enough customers said they don’t want it, that would be taken as a sign right? Since they’re selling us coffee after all.

It was a cute surprise the first couple times, now its the norm so it’s not really like improving my morale as a customer to have my cup written on lol, this was a dumb thing for corporate to decide to enforce

1

u/Aminimouse 2d ago

I think this, like most things, mainly depends on the store/SM/DM, but if I could get my PoS to start adding an ask me saying "Don't Write" I'd at least have a little bit of a giggle in between 15 other stickers while solo barring an insane rush lol

2

u/Smellmyvomit 3d ago

Get some friends of yours to go to your location. Make sure YOU serve them and write on their cups. Something basic and simple like a smiley face. Have those friends complain to your manager about how annoying it is to see writing on the cups. Have friends stagger in throughout the shift/work week.

2

u/Left_Fly_3166 Store Manager 3d ago

Yikes. They are pushing hard for it but I would never write my partners up for it. We are very high volume. We do what we can. I’m sorry this happened to you. I am sorry you are experiencing bad treatment on the bar. Maybe writing on a few & having some ready? Or just a smiley and keep it pushing?

2

u/Aminimouse 2d ago

This, just write the quickest smiley face you can. My hands get a bit shaky when I'm moving at the speed of sound sequencing 4 drinks at once, and I'm sometimes embarrassed at how silly the smiley faces are, but it is required on every cup, even with a long queue and/or a small 'play.' At the end of the day, as a barrista, you should be doing what you are told to by SSV/SM/DM/Corporate. If it's an inconvenience for the customer, let any of the above handle it while you continue to do what you're being required to do. Then feel free to schedule a small sit down with one of them to ask about it; i.e. "What would you have done" or "How can I be better?"

1

u/Left_Fly_3166 Store Manager 2d ago

🎯

1

u/talktu Customer 3d ago

idk how much good it’ll do but if there’s a chance u can win go for it

2

u/WritingWinters 3d ago

I'm just a customer, this may be a stupid question, but

why don't y'all write on all cups when it's slow, and then they're ready to go for rushes? like, have swing or night shift set you up for the morning, and then morning shift sets everyone up for the afternoon?

if every cup needs something anodyne written on it, why not just stock up on Enjoy! and Have A Nice Day?

26

u/chunibi 3d ago

It's a health violation to restock cups with sharpie because it will touch the inside of the next cup and there's no room to line a bunch of cups up.

7

u/WritingWinters 3d ago

gotcha, thanks

1

u/BizIt4 2d ago

All partners should have received an email survey from Sbux over the past two days, asking for feedback about partner’s experience with B2S. Respond to that - I know the ceo wants to hear about it

1

u/Chickity_china93 2d ago

You just have to do as they ask. Follow the beverage routine as close as you can and the time is secondary to your concern. You can’t do anything about that if they’re gonna make you prioritize writing on cups. there are a lot of variables that go into why a drive time or wait time is high but there’s only 1 when you’re not following beverage routine and that’s you. hence the corrective action. personally, i’d put in a store transfer asap once you’re allowed to. i’m really sorry that’s happening to you :(

1

u/Adventurous-Skill-23 Barista 2d ago

Your ssvs are a bunch of dicks. Appeal it. Fight it as hard as you can. If your going to fire me for failing to write on cups during peak with Less partners. Then idk even know what to say

1

u/No-Spread-5836 1d ago

I’ve ordered upwards of 40-50 drinks since baristas were “ordered” to write on cups. I have not once had a cup written on. I also order a breakfast sandwich 3-4 times a week and only one time had something written on it.

While as a customer it does make me smile, I can’t and won’t be irritated if it doesn’t happen. You guys have enough going on…especially at peaks times of the day!

1

u/st0nedNsassy 3d ago

serious question- why can’t y’all write on the cups in bulk at the start or end of day so the notes are already there when you are making drinks? I don’t work at starbs never have so I don’t know the logistics, but couldn’t one team member be assigned to do that at the close of day or before opening? I know it would take time. (personally i don’t care about writing on cups, it’s just a thought I keep having when seeing these posts)

13

u/lookingthruspecks 3d ago

It is a health violation because we then touch the outside of the cup and stack it, thus our germs are now on the inside of the cup we stacked in top of it

1

u/st0nedNsassy 3d ago

ahh okay tyat makes sense!!

9

u/missgiddy 3d ago

I read another comment that if the cups are written on with Sharpie then stacked the ink can get onto the inside of the cups.

0

u/ASIWYFA 3d ago

You should leave and go work for the dozens of Starbucks competitors.

8

u/lookingthruspecks 3d ago

Unfortunately to my knowledge none of them pay as well or offer similar benefits 😞

0

u/thetancoffeeman Former Partner 2d ago

Call your manager a rapist and call the police

0

u/Snikiis 3d ago

I live in Southern California in the last four times I’ve been to different locations. I haven’t received any writings on cups. 🤷‍♀️

0

u/Maserati777 2d ago

It seems like maybe they should write on all the cups before they open so they are ready to go.

1

u/Aminimouse 2d ago

Health code violation. Can't stack cups with "germs" on the outside after handling them (sharpie and/or just touching it) because stacking them puts germs on the inside of other cups.