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‘Lesson learned’: Woman says she was scolded by worker in the Starbucks drive-thru over common ordering practice

Since Starbucks launched its mobile order system more than a decade ago, users have encountered issues.

Although the app is generally convenient for customers, who can customize their order at the press of a button and pick it up when they want, that doesn’t mean the app makes life easier for workers. And sometimes the app makes life hard on both parties.

TikTok user Sierra (@curlyheadsierraaa) said she learned her lesson to wait longer to pick up her Starbucks mobile order.

Woman scolded by Starbucks worker in drive-thru

In the original clip with over 177,000 views, a Starbucks employee handed her drink in the drive-thru. “Next time, can you wait at least five minutes when waiting for your order?” the employee asked.

“OK,” the content creator responded, nodded, and drove off. After processing the interaction, she parked her car, shocked. “I didn’t love that interaction and didn’t really process what she was saying until I drove off,” she said. “I’ve never been told that before."

“The order says it would be ready in three minutes. So, I waited three minutes and then I went through the drive-thru," she explained. “There was one car in the parking lot.”

Is this common ordering practice bad form?

Because people had questions, Sierra posted another clip, answering any questions. “[The employee] basically asked, ‘Next time you order, can you wait five minutes before coming through the line?’” the content creator reiterated in a video with over 363,000 views. “And I was just like, ‘OK, no problem’ because I wasn’t really processing what she was saying at first.” Furthermore, she waited three minutes, exactly how long the app told her to. “The app said it would be ready in three minutes,” she clarified.

Once she pulled up in the drive-thru, the employee appeared irritated. “But she didn’t look very happy based off her facial expressions,” Sierra shared. “I didn't think she was, like, insanely rude; I did think she had a little bit of an attitude in her facial expressions and her demeanor was giving, ‘You’re an inconvenience.” Overall, what bothered Sierra was how the employee handled the situation.

“I just think it wasn’t really what she said, it was how she said it, and her demeanor behind it,” she explained. Before signing off, the content creator suggested the improvements the app needed. “Maybe you should fix your app. Like, maybe the standard should be five minutes minimum because I came when the app told me to,” she stated.

Viewers have also experienced this

“This has happened to me before and it was so awkward,” one viewer wrote.

“It happened to me yesterday; they said to order at the speaker next time. The barista was rude about it," another recalled.

As previously reported by the Daily Dot, Alyssa Hickey was also reprimanded for this by a Starbucks employee. “But [the employee] scolded me and told me that they just got the order two minutes ago and that it’s not ready, and for next time, I need to give them more time,” she said.

Starbucks employees chime in

“No, because the apps be screwing us over [and] giving y’all such a little wait time when the order just popped up,” a third commented.

“It’s only frustrating in the morning when people come to pick up less than two minutes after ordering and we have 25 mobiles that were ordered first and we have to pull 25 tickets to find it. Otherwise, we shouldn’t care,” a fourth stated.

“There is a delay from when you place your order to when the order is received in the café. The app isn't always correct on timing,” a fifth user explained.

How Starbucks plans to improve mobile order system

According to GeekWire, the new CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, plans on tackling the mobile order system by:

Changing the algorithm with a new one to give mobile orders an accurate estimate time
Limiting how customers customize their orders
Separating the mobile order pick-up areas from the in-store ones

@curlyheadsierraaa
Lesson learned, next time I'll wait 10 minutes even if it says to wait 2 LOL
♬ original sound - Curlyheadsierra ????

The Daily Dot reached out to Sierra via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as Starbucks via press email.

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The post ‘Lesson learned’: Woman says she was scolded by worker in the Starbucks drive-thru over common ordering practice appeared first on The Daily Dot.