Starbucks Responds After Baristas Drag Their Customers' Complicated Orders

Updated September 4, 2021

I spent a longer period of my life than I'd like to admit being a picky eater. So when I went out to a restaurant, it was rare that I'd come across a menu item that I would want to eat in its natural state.

At the time, I always wondered about those instances when my plain orders came back with a a bunch of undesired condiments. But in the years since my palate has expanded a little, it's easy to see that my requests kind of threw a wrench in the rhythm they were used to working by.

But even with that in mind, it's still pretty staggering to see what can happen when customers go to the other extreme. But what isn't surprising is that this habit would be a source of major frustration for those in the service industry.

On May 1, a Starbucks Barista who goes by @ProjectJosiee on Twitter posted a photo of a complicated order with the caption, "On today's episode of why I wanna quit my job."

Twitter | @avadagrtest

Although it appears he has since deleted this tweet, a clip he posted to TikTok shows that orders like this are an everyday struggle for him.

Because not only does it take a lot of planning and effort to get all of this together, but he often gets berated by the customers responsible if they're not exactly as requested.

But as bizarrely specific as that order was, other baristas replied with their own intense examples that show it only scratches the surface.

Twitter | @victoriasarberr

You know you're in for a rough day when the order can just barely fit on a Venti cup.

Sharp-eyed readers will also notice that this is a mobile order, which another user identified as a likely source of complexity for these orders since the Starbucks app gives us an extensive list of options.

And when making a Franken-drink is that easy, it's understandable that some would be tempted to do so.

But however these customers came by their inspiration for these over the top orders, the results seem like something you'd need a mixology class to prepare you for.

Twitter | @binxsicle

For instance, this one is about as long as the drink we just saw but it has the added bonus of looking like somebody wanted to blend their entire grocery list into one beverage.

The buzz ignited by @ProjectJosiee's tweet eventually got big enough that a representative from Starbucks itself stepped in for a response.

Reddit | aabajian

But as People reported, what they had to say isn't likely to make baristas any less frustrated about this part of their jobs.

As they said, "Customizing beverages at Starbucks and our baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always will be the heart of the Starbucks Experience.

"There are many ways for customers to modify their favorite beverage at Starbucks and most customizations are reasonable requests from customers."

From the sounds of things, that means employees will just have to put up with the unreasonable ones.

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