What Do Trainer Complaints Reveal About Coffee Beans in Starbucks Stores?

Veteran Starbucks employees say training new hires has become a strain, especially during peak periods. One worker described a Spring Festival rush where a part-timer left an opened carton of almond milk uncovered in the fridge, forgot to charge for size upgrades twice, and wrote a milk expiration date of January 32nd. An FSA supervisor caught the storage violation during an inspection.

The complaints point to understaffing rather than individual mistakes. With only four people on shift, a new hire barely a week into the job was already working the bar, which employees say departs from the normal process description of making coffee and serving drinks. Trainers are calling for higher training pay and better treatment.

Training new hires is a routine part of daily life at a coffee shop, but for some veteran Starbucks employees, this experience is nothing short of a nightmare. Recently, an employee shared their experience of training a part-time newbie during the Spring Festival peak period: violations caught by an inspection supervisor, forgetting to charge for size upgrades and having to cover the difference out of pocket, writing the milk expiration date as January 32nd... Each incident was both hilarious and exasperating. Many peers resonated deeply, saying that training is physically and mentally exhausting, and called on Starbucks to give trainers a raise. At the same time, some voices pointed out that putting a new hire who had only been on the job for a week behind the bar itself deviates from the training process, and the problem cannot be entirely blamed on the newcomer. This discussion about training reflects the real dilemma of understaffing at some stores today.

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If one were to rank the most frustrating experiences at work, for many veteran Starbucks employees, being responsible for training a completely inexperienced new partner would definitely rank near the top.

Recently, a Starbucks employee shared on social media their harrowing days of training that nearly caused a heart attack. During the recently concluded Spring Festival peak period, this partner experienced a chaotic scene that still makes them feel frightened when they think about it. According to their description, their store had only four people total, including themselves and the newly hired part-timer, so whenever customer flow peaked, the newbie had to step behind the bar to lend a hand.

Who would have thought that after just over a week of training, this highly anticipated "protege" would deal them a heavy blow—"The lid of the already-opened almond milk went missing, and he didn't ask how to handle it, just put it in the fridge without a lid." Even more unfortunately, this non-compliant operation was caught red-handed by an FSA supervisor who happened to be inspecting the store. Upon hearing this description, onlookers all said that the scene was maddening just to imagine.

Not only that, the employee also revealed that the new colleague forgot to charge for size upgrades twice when taking orders for customers, and in the end had to cover the shortfall out of their own pocket; when making Frappuccinos, they didn't put the lid on the blender pitcher, making a mess all over the counter. But what this "mentor" found most unacceptable was "writing the milk expiration date as January 31st to January 32nd."

Every veteran employee has struggled through the stage of being a clueless newbie, and they understand that new partners will inevitably make some mistakes when first working behind the bar. But during the training period, the poster responsible for cleaning up the mess felt utterly exhausted, admitting that after this series of events, "heart attacks, hand attacks, mouth attacks, and brain attacks all came together."

Looking at the mess left behind after the newbie's confusion, many veteran Starbucks employees felt the same way, admitting that during their own training of new hires, they too had felt exhausted by the training due to various unexpected incidents.

However, some people offered a different perspective. They believe that according to standard practice, new hires generally start with simple tasks like packing and cleaning, and only get to learn drink-making behind the bar when the store isn't busy, and only officially make drinks once they are proficient. They pointed out that the poster letting a new hire who had been on the job for only a week behind the bar to participate in drink-making, firstly deviates from the training process, and secondly brings trouble upon themselves, so the problems that arose cannot all be blamed on the new colleague.

In response, many Starbucks employees said that some stores are indeed understaffed right now, and when orders surge during peak hours, they are stretched thin, leaving them no choice but to let newbies behind the bar to help produce relatively simple drinks like Frappuccinos.

At the same time, in the view of some veteran employees, hands-on practice is easier to remember than verbal explanation, so they take new hires through bar operations during work, using this approach to help new colleagues get up to speed faster and grow into baristas who can hold their own as soon as possible.

However, if you come across a sharp and eager-to-learn newbie, the mentor may only need to give a little guidance, and the apprentice can draw inferences and quickly master bar work. But if you encounter someone prone to confusion, then the entire training process is a arduous task for the veteran employee, to the point that many beg Starbucks to give trainers a raise, at least to bring some financial comfort to their shattered mood caused by the newbie's mishaps.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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(Front Street Coffee recommendation: Whether training new hires or daily production, choosing freshly roasted coffee beans is crucial. Front Street Coffee's everyday bean series offers excellent value for money, suitable for daily store use and newbie practice.)

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.