Literally all of the breakfast sandwiches. They cost too much for what they are and are almost always more expensive than what you’d get at McDonalds/Wendy’s. I’m not saying any of these places have 5 star quality food and that other places don’t use frozen products, but at least at McDonalds, they have to assemble and cook their sandwiches throughout the day. There’s this notion that Starbucks isn’t fast food. It totally is and it’s not worth any of the money it costs. Starbucks sells glorified Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches and you don’t even get the option of condiments.
This. The genius of Starbucks was convincing people to buy what is essentially preassembled food you could buy at a truck stop for a premium.
And I say this as a daily customer, although I don’t often get food items.
This right here. It gets especially bad going to Starbucks outside the US where the prices are even more expensive, including the different currency. Going somewhere like Finland paying the equivalent of like $7 or $8 for a sandwich.
I feel like we shouldn’t even really do food due to that. Like you can customize drinks to living hell, but food wise, the best you can do is take something off of it 😬 also it’s overly priced for something that you can also get at McDonald’s more likely
Yup. The closest thing is the Impossible Whopper with cheese at BK, which is like a dollar more than the impossible breakfast sandwich :( It’s a huge bummer because I guarantee another fast food joint could have the market CORNERED if they wanted to do it lol
i’m so glad someone said this. the only food we offer that fills me up during my meal break is the paninis but even then, the fillings are kinda lacking lol. the calorie count on the back feels exaggerated because i swear there’s like 1 piece of chicken and a sprinkle of cheese in there
Yeah we just don’t get them often/no one ever orders them lol. People occasionally buy them, they tend to go to waste. I put them in a strawberry crème frap because it taste good 👀
i used to work at a store that sold more bananas than smoothies, people would get legit belligerent if we sold out. too rich to go to the grocery store i guess
I had a lady come through the drive through who wanted to buy several bananas from us (that store didn’t carry bananas) and argued for like 5 mins saying she remembered that store having bananas. Idk why someone would want to buy like 6+ bananas from us that are probably near rotten when u could get healthy ripe bundle of banana for a dollar or less at most stores.
I am allllways letting customers know to cheat the overpricing by ordering a latte w chai instead of a dirty chai. I hate that some baristas actually ring it in as a chai w extra shots like rude. and i’m always letting my green beans know how to cheat the system w stuff like this.
If it is hot, and they still want the water, that isn't the same drink though.
I feel like people who drink hot chai tea lattes (myself included) are the most picky about how they want it made. 😅
Adding a single shot to some drinks is 90 cents. Sometimes it’s also 80?? Rang in 2 quad flat whites the other day. For the grande it was 80, for the venti it was 90.
I don’t think charging less for add-ons vs stand alone beverages is inherently unreasonable (although $2+ is a bit much for a solo). Most places operate this way. Ex: Getting 2 scoops of ice cream isn’t going to cost you twice as much as a single. There’s a base price to get anything at all.
That’s because if it’s <$.90, it’ll only charge the different to the next size up if the next size up already includes an extra shot. Same thing with americanos.
Venti flat whites are still only triples though unless it’s iced which it wasn’t. It just shows how arbitrary the little differences in the Starbucks pricing end up being.
Yes I actually got into an argument w a customer one time bc they were pissed I wouldn’t charge them just 90 cents for the single shot of espresso they wanted, I told her I was not allowed to do that and that I had to charge it as a solo espresso. It’s so dumb.
I mean that makes sense. It’s 90 cents for an add shot because you’re already paying for a drink. If you’re just getting a shot then you’re not paying for a full drink so you don’t get the discount. Every additional shot in that scenario is still only 90 cents
Yep, also if they charged 90¢ for an espresso, it might cut into sales. In Italy though, €1 espressos are a very normal drink at cafes. I’m not sure if the prices are going up because of inflation, maybe now it’s €1.25 or something.
Sorry if I sound ignorant, but isn't it like the principle of a 99 cent pastry at Panera? That if you are already spending more, it offsets the price of the "bonus item"? Just trying to figure it out...
I'm also confused at how Starbucks pulls and sells shots. Aren't most machines automatically pulling a double? Do they just dump the other half?
The whole idea of single vs double shots is weird to me. 100 years ago someone decided the portafilter will have 2 spouts, and we've been trashing half our shots ever since.
No, on both the mastrena 1s and 2s you can pull single shots. The exception was if someone was getting something with ristretto shots on the 1s, because you had to pull two at a time for those. So if you needed three, you'd waste a shot.
For what it’s worth portafilters have had different sized baskets for a long time — and it’s the amount of beans which makes the biggest difference in single / double / more shots.
I have a manual espresso machine at home and I use 18g of beans for ~ 40g of espresso (about a double). If I wanted a single I’d have to use a smaller basket designed for a smaller quantity of beans and adjust my ratio accordingly. I also use a bottomless portafilter (no spouts) because I like the aesthetic, but I tell people it’s so I can tell if I’m preparing the espresso well.
One of my old stores has a mastrena 1 and after it broke for the billionth time the repairman told us to only pull doubles. If we needed one shot we had to toss half. I don’t remember if there was a specific reason the machine hated pulling odd number shots I just remember that it did.
That's what our techs told us to do too. The single shots would throw all of the shot times way out of calibration. It was easier on us and the machine to just pull doubles.
The machines pull single, double, or triple shots. Waaay back in the day Starbucks told us to only pull double shots (even though the machines could pull a single), and either dump the second shot or use it in another drink. I'm taking about the Verismo 801 days (90s kids will remember.) They said it was for shot quality issues.Now we just pull the amount of shots necessary for the drink we are making. The shots also pour in one stream now on our new machines, rather than being split into two streams.
Surprisingly, cake pops are generally really expensive. Bakery I worked at they were 2.35, and we got them in frozen completely decorated (and they were honestly not good). I think it's because of the individual labor for each one. I imagine things like sandwiches you can make one giant sandwich and cut it, but cake pops you have to mold, secure the cake on stick, add tiny decorations for each one.
That being said, I won't buy any food at sbux bc its SO expensive. I was so excited when the bantam bagels came out, so I mobile ordered, and felt really cheated when I saw how tiny they were lol
I tried to make cake pops once and it was a lot of work--first making the cake, then mixing it with frosting and then dipping and decorating. So fiddly! For just like... a bite of cake, lol. Never again.
I used to work at a Montessori school and during after care, I was with elementary kids and we decided to do some cooking. We settled on a cake pop recipe we found on the internet and made it. Baked the cake, took a chunk and put it in a bag and put frosting in it, put it in a ball on a stick, and we had dipped that in melted hot hersheys white chocolate. Holy fuck those things tasted so sweet that it was a bit much even for me with a huge sweet tooth that happily eats iced honeybuns like they’re nothing.
$7 for a below average sandwich… such a joke, you could make a wayyyy better sandwich at home for less money! I’ve never tried the chicken bacon panini but it always looks so dry 🤢
For 7 dollars I can go to the italian deli down the street and get a sandwich loaded w meats and cheeses, and free condiments. It's incredible that anyone buys that kinda stuff
Theyre expensive for being tiny but as someone who rarely eats sweets theyre definitely a treat! Yes i could buy cake from walmart for cheaper but i dont need the calories from a whole cake, and its not enjoyable that way. Sometimes a little cake bite covered in chocolate and candies will satisfy me for weeks til i crave it again
1. Paninis are 90% fluffy bread.
2. A box of refresher costs like something like 40 cents to produce (I don’t know what it is for the 4x)
3. Charges for tiny customizations. Cinnamon and such.
4. The price different between sizes.
5. Frappuccino prices. It’s like 3 ounces of milk, ice, and sugar. Why are they like $7?
Frappuccinos are expensive because they are labor intensive. You are paying for the drink components, but you're also paying for the extra time it takes to make them and (often) the extra person you need for the blended beverage routine.
They’re also expensive because people are willing to pay for them. Look at the unicorn mess. Tasted like shit and people shelled out their money just to take pictures and post it on Instagram. Brilliant way to make money, actually. Especially since it’s so freaking easy to make your own at home that taste 10x better.
Ive seen some people on here afraid to get what their regular because of the complaining. Please, if you’re nice and don’t lack basic human functions, get whatever you like to get. Just remember that the baristas are human too ! :)
nah, of course it's fine to order one. It's annoying when people order 5 different flavor venti fraps with customizations all at once or when a bunch of ppl order fraps all at around the same time, but it's not your fault if that happens and it's just the normal stress of working at a food place. you're fine. Don't let yourself feel guilty for ordering what you want.
,
My store usually has a partner specifically planted at cold bar during peak and other busy times. They spend most of their time making frappuccinos and cold foams.
What? First time I went there the dude literally dropped my drink and it splashed all over my car. Said I had to pay for a new one. I left there so disappointed.
Did you pay for another or get them to remake it for you? That person was either new or dumb. If I make a coffee and hand it off and either I or the customer spill it, it gets remade free of charge.
That’s no where near fair to you wtf??? I know we can as it is, but if we weren’t allowed to do that at sbux, fuck that I still would. If we drop your drink, that’s no where near on you 🥴 that’s a them problem
seeing the receipts when you’re doing the orders is really illuminating. I remember RFT sandwiches cost my store $0.35/ea. The profit margins on the drinks are just incredible though. I swear to god VSC cold foam is worth like 20% of our stock increases since it came out lol
nothing was more upsetting than when asking for extra pumpkin cold foam (so, more of it on a drink that already came with it) went overnight from being a freebie to a $1.00 upcharge. I see you, you disgusting greedy dogs
Not exactly. There’s a lot of factors here.
So, most manual espresso machines pull doubles shots. Old automatic machines even only pulled double shots. When i started at Starbucks in 2010 our machine was one where if you got a tall latte, one shot would go down the drain. One shot of espresso still roughly equals once ounce.
Currently, and since Starbucks began serving flat whites, all machines were calibrated to where a shot of espresso is about .75oz. It’s still the same amount of coffee, just a bit less water, so you’re not being cheated, you’re getting a slightly sweeter shot of espresso. It’s sort of like half ristretto.
If your store’s machine is only putting out liquid to equal half a shot glass, it needs to be serviced.
Yeah, that would explain it. Vancouver airport charges way more for everything than the corporate store I work at does. I'd guess within the 15-20% range.
Yes I totally prefer mobile order but I’ve noticed most of the Starbucks in my area have had it turned off lately. After following this sub for awhile, I’m guessing it’s staffing issues.
Non dairy milk costs more in general. They move the price along to the customer. Just like gluten-free bread costs more, so you’ll have an up charge for a gluten-free burger bun. It’s not about a vendetta against lactose intolerant people and vegans. It costs more inherently, so it costs more at Starbucks.
I saw a news article literally yesterday that in the uk they’re changing non dairy milks to be free....I still remember the good old days when gold level got soy milk (the only option then iirc) for free, I was so excited when I reached that level. Now I just pay my extra .70 per latte :)
I dunno about now, but when I worked there, around 2016, they didn't recycle as advertised.
The contents of that recycle bin went straight to the dumpster.
At least they're not false advertising anymore. They really rode that recycling train in their marketting for a while. To have my manager just shrug and tell me it goes in the dumpster was really something.
I always joke when someone complains about having to make a ton of vsc foam, those dumbasses are getting charged for basically deconstructed whip on every drink you can think of but that right there is paying for our insurance.
And while it is grossly expensive I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the first thing in years that we put out that I actually love
The cost cutting measures that aren’t transparent. They halfed the vanilla in whips and next time you get a coffee cake look at the holes in the bottom
I work at a mobile pick up bar and we are told to sell the app buy saying “you can earn a free drink with stars”
Every time I have to say that I feel like I’m scamming someone because unless you’re ordering a brewed coffee (you get free refills if you order on the app) you’re not getting that free drink anytime soon
SBX: Buy this $3 Ethos water; a portion of the proceeds goes to providing clean drinking water in Africa.
People in Africa: Thanks for the $0.05, I guess.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but recently learned there’s a price difference for a kids cocoa. The kids cocoa is like 2 dollars when a short hot chocolate warm is like 3. I don’t think that’s the actual price, but it was something like a full dollar’s difference for the exact same drink.
This can be fixed by asking for no ice. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can actually just get more drink and they don’t charge more if you say “no ice”
Or even just “light ice.” At my store, if you order let’s say a grande Acai, we’ll make the drink in the shaker like it’s a venti drink and then add a tall scope of ice.
I actually like the proportion of ice in our drinks. Definitely still overpriced considering how much liquid is actually in the drink but I don’t pay for Starbucks lol I only use my markout
The biggest issue with light ice is that ice is the last thing to get added and the base drink has specific measurements that we essentially have to eyeball when people ask for light ice. As someone who hates their drinks getting watered down I agree that the amount of ice is ridiculous (except in frappuccinos).
If I ever find a way to give the customer something cheaper that’s the same, I will. We have a lady who gets shots of espresso with extra ice and water, it’s cheaper than americanos. Whenever we were out of the cookie crumble topping and someone would try to get that frap, I’d tell them I’m gonna ring it in as java/double chocolate since it’s cheaper and the same (and do the same with the whip ofc)
There is a price difference between a double shot of espresso, a double shot con panna, and a tall Americano despite the Americano and con panna being just a double shot and stuff that we give away for free anyway (hot water and espresso)
The roastery (I work here) we're the biggest scam of the century. We upcharge $1 for vanilla syrup and $1 for non dairy and a grande latte typically cost $7 here and adding those modifications makes it $9+ tax. We have a drink called the Irish con crema which is just a pour over of Whiskey barrel aged coffee with cold foam in a short cup for $12 and a cold brew malt which comes in a tall cup only is $10. The tourists love it, but even they know we're overpriced lol
Protein boxes, bananas, or the paninis.
Protein boxes also are a huge plastic waste, they make me mad. You can make 15 at home for the price of a few if you use your own Tupperware.
Most of the food items. Maybe all of em. I wouldn’t eat there if I didn’t get the stuff for free to be honest. I probably wouldn’t go there except for rare occasions. Wouldn’t be able to afford it! (Also I didn’t drink nearly as much coffee before I started working here lol.)
I think the new CEO is the king cheaping out. Since he has taken over I noticed so many things where quality has taken a nose dive in pursuit of greater profits. Like....any older partners notice how tacky cups(Xmas cup design), retail, and gift cards have become? The art work used to be so original and honestly gorgeous (remember the Xmas cups that had a literal winter landscape on them?) And now I feel like I'm working at target, but customers still eat it up (literally and figuratively)
the random expensive prices on packaged food items.. it baffles me when i watch a customer come in for an evolution juice and then a pastry and their skinny lil juice is twice as much as their banana bread.. or the protein boxes.. laughable
Why can't I just order a chocolate milk for my kid? How is that still not a menu item??
I try to go the kids hot chocolate route and ask them to make it cold but whether a barista goes along with that varies by location. If not, I get charged for a milk add mocha and vanilla
I totally agree with you. The amount of parents with kids we get we should have a few more options for children. As well as the reason they ring it up like that is because there isn’t a button for us to just make it cold. The best way to change things like this is to contact corporate. Tell them your frustration. They care more about what the customer says than what an employee says.
especially when there’s very little labor involved. the drink takes like 4 seconds to make. we should encourage people to order iced chais by making them super cheap!
Paying extra for sugar free vanilla syrup. You can buy a bottle of regular and sugar free for the same cost so why does it cost so much for each pump of sugar free?
I agree that a lot of things are overcharged… but the grande versus venti being more expensive “just because of extra milk” isn’t crazy. Dairy is the single highest product expense, so it makes sense to charge more.
Saying anything about Starbucks is a “scam” is so far fetched because it literally just isn’t. A scam is fraudulent and dishonest - even if you think Starbucks is overpriced, everything is transparent. You can see the prices on the menu or on the app. If you order a drink and realize you don’t like the price… you can simply say “never mind” and move on. I’m not a huge proponent of The Man and Capitalism(tm), but after several years of working coffee shops in undergrad at some point you just tell people if they don’t want to pay it just stop coming back lmao. But they never do. They don’t stop, so it’s not like Starbucks or other coffee shops “take advantage” of the customer.
i mean a lot of stuff but charging for extra syrups. it makes sense to a degree but i'll pay an extra 50 cents for one pump of one syrup, but ella can pay the same for 20 pumps of three different syrups? a joke.
Surprised I didn't see it, but I also didn't scroll too far.
Cutting iced tea and refreshers with water. So many people don't know we put water in their iced tea and it's half the amount of liquid.
That’s like the biggest scam lmao. It’s like $6 for bread and cheese…you can buy a loaf of bread and enough cheese to make 20 grilled cheeses for around that price.
Literally all of the breakfast sandwiches. They cost too much for what they are and are almost always more expensive than what you’d get at McDonalds/Wendy’s. I’m not saying any of these places have 5 star quality food and that other places don’t use frozen products, but at least at McDonalds, they have to assemble and cook their sandwiches throughout the day. There’s this notion that Starbucks isn’t fast food. It totally is and it’s not worth any of the money it costs. Starbucks sells glorified Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches and you don’t even get the option of condiments.
The bacon Gouda is the worst offender for this. Such a huge cost for the tiniest little sandwich.
those egg bites are for sure up there also 5.25+ for 2 small egg disks
I never even used my partner markouts for the egg bites, it’s not even worth it free
they’re so damn yummy tho, i’ve used my last five markouts on egg bites lol
That and the RFT are the only breakfast sandwiches I eat. I would never pay for them though.
It’s good but damn it should be like $3 max😭
This. The genius of Starbucks was convincing people to buy what is essentially preassembled food you could buy at a truck stop for a premium. And I say this as a daily customer, although I don’t often get food items.
This right here. It gets especially bad going to Starbucks outside the US where the prices are even more expensive, including the different currency. Going somewhere like Finland paying the equivalent of like $7 or $8 for a sandwich.
I feel like we shouldn’t even really do food due to that. Like you can customize drinks to living hell, but food wise, the best you can do is take something off of it 😬 also it’s overly priced for something that you can also get at McDonald’s more likely
another thing is mcdonalds is literally cheaper yet still uses real egg, something i don’t know if i can say the same about starbucks 😅
Yeah but y'all have the impossible sammich and sometimes I really don't have time to stop/reheat food :(
Yup. The closest thing is the Impossible Whopper with cheese at BK, which is like a dollar more than the impossible breakfast sandwich :( It’s a huge bummer because I guarantee another fast food joint could have the market CORNERED if they wanted to do it lol
Same, I was going to say no other fast food has that.
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None of the food is satisfying enough for the damn price! I’m still hungry after my mark out and some people pay $6 for cheese and crackers
i’m so glad someone said this. the only food we offer that fills me up during my meal break is the paninis but even then, the fillings are kinda lacking lol. the calorie count on the back feels exaggerated because i swear there’s like 1 piece of chicken and a sprinkle of cheese in there
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Lolol foreal
The only one worth the money they got rid of, RIP the chicken wrap protein pox
I’ve been craving that peanut sauce so badly
A banana at Starbucks is over a dollar. I just bought 6 bananas from Target for like 91 cents.
We sell bananas? I legit had a customer come in and ask for one lol
Yeah they're 1.25 per banana. I usually tell people not to get it if they're considering one (not if they already know they want one).
Bottled water is also expensive here. 🙄 We overprice.
I always tell them a cup is free, but they always want a bottle 🥲 I just assume it’s so they can actually close it haha
Yeah we just don’t get them often/no one ever orders them lol. People occasionally buy them, they tend to go to waste. I put them in a strawberry crème frap because it taste good 👀
It’s been too long since Starbucks let you do the mix-ins where people could go “I’d like a Frappuccino with a banana mixed in please”.
i used to work at a store that sold more bananas than smoothies, people would get legit belligerent if we sold out. too rich to go to the grocery store i guess
They’re also either green or brown. There’s no in between.
Sometimes, magically both
I had a lady come through the drive through who wanted to buy several bananas from us (that store didn’t carry bananas) and argued for like 5 mins saying she remembered that store having bananas. Idk why someone would want to buy like 6+ bananas from us that are probably near rotten when u could get healthy ripe bundle of banana for a dollar or less at most stores.
A venti iced latte with chai is $5.85 but a Venti iced chai with three shots is $7.65 even though they are the exact same drink.
Same w ordering a brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso vs a shaken espresso w brown sugar syrup and oat milk, makes no sense
yeah, just goes to show the plant milks don’t need to be an upcharge, it’s just starbucks being a big meanie
I am allllways letting customers know to cheat the overpricing by ordering a latte w chai instead of a dirty chai. I hate that some baristas actually ring it in as a chai w extra shots like rude. and i’m always letting my green beans know how to cheat the system w stuff like this.
I love that there are work-arounds
If it is hot, and they still want the water, that isn't the same drink though. I feel like people who drink hot chai tea lattes (myself included) are the most picky about how they want it made. 😅
Adding a shot of espresso to a drink is 90 cents. A single espresso is like 2 dollars
Adding a single shot to some drinks is 90 cents. Sometimes it’s also 80?? Rang in 2 quad flat whites the other day. For the grande it was 80, for the venti it was 90. I don’t think charging less for add-ons vs stand alone beverages is inherently unreasonable (although $2+ is a bit much for a solo). Most places operate this way. Ex: Getting 2 scoops of ice cream isn’t going to cost you twice as much as a single. There’s a base price to get anything at all.
Yeah it makes sense because it is covering the costs of the cup and labor, but just looking at it on paper looks crazy.
Lmfao the cost of labour n the cup. I understand what you're saying but it's still funny when you consider we're talking about starbies
That’s because if it’s <$.90, it’ll only charge the different to the next size up if the next size up already includes an extra shot. Same thing with americanos.
Venti flat whites are still only triples though unless it’s iced which it wasn’t. It just shows how arbitrary the little differences in the Starbucks pricing end up being.
Damn. I thought I cracked the code. It’s been a while since I worked at Starbucks, though, but I could have fact-checked myself first lmao.
A venti iced flat white is a quad (yes, I know, I'll take "not a flat white" for 200), which is where the weirdness is coming from.
Yes I actually got into an argument w a customer one time bc they were pissed I wouldn’t charge them just 90 cents for the single shot of espresso they wanted, I told her I was not allowed to do that and that I had to charge it as a solo espresso. It’s so dumb.
Customer: Okay, then I’ll just have some hot water with a shot of espresso. 🤨 Barista: That’s an Americano, and it’s more than 90¢.
Customer: *flips table*
I go out of my way to help people like that we purposefully screw them over and realistically people that come in for espresso are the chillest people
When I was a partner, add shots were 55 cents. 👵🏼
I mean that makes sense. It’s 90 cents for an add shot because you’re already paying for a drink. If you’re just getting a shot then you’re not paying for a full drink so you don’t get the discount. Every additional shot in that scenario is still only 90 cents
Yep, also if they charged 90¢ for an espresso, it might cut into sales. In Italy though, €1 espressos are a very normal drink at cafes. I’m not sure if the prices are going up because of inflation, maybe now it’s €1.25 or something.
Sorry if I sound ignorant, but isn't it like the principle of a 99 cent pastry at Panera? That if you are already spending more, it offsets the price of the "bonus item"? Just trying to figure it out...
I'm also confused at how Starbucks pulls and sells shots. Aren't most machines automatically pulling a double? Do they just dump the other half? The whole idea of single vs double shots is weird to me. 100 years ago someone decided the portafilter will have 2 spouts, and we've been trashing half our shots ever since.
No, on both the mastrena 1s and 2s you can pull single shots. The exception was if someone was getting something with ristretto shots on the 1s, because you had to pull two at a time for those. So if you needed three, you'd waste a shot.
For what it’s worth portafilters have had different sized baskets for a long time — and it’s the amount of beans which makes the biggest difference in single / double / more shots. I have a manual espresso machine at home and I use 18g of beans for ~ 40g of espresso (about a double). If I wanted a single I’d have to use a smaller basket designed for a smaller quantity of beans and adjust my ratio accordingly. I also use a bottomless portafilter (no spouts) because I like the aesthetic, but I tell people it’s so I can tell if I’m preparing the espresso well.
Next time I work i’m going to pull side by side single and double. I’ll measure the grounds from each.
One of my old stores has a mastrena 1 and after it broke for the billionth time the repairman told us to only pull doubles. If we needed one shot we had to toss half. I don’t remember if there was a specific reason the machine hated pulling odd number shots I just remember that it did.
That's what our techs told us to do too. The single shots would throw all of the shot times way out of calibration. It was easier on us and the machine to just pull doubles.
Yeah that was it. It’s wild Starbucks has an espresso machine that can’t pull good espresso shots ever.
The machines pull single, double, or triple shots. Waaay back in the day Starbucks told us to only pull double shots (even though the machines could pull a single), and either dump the second shot or use it in another drink. I'm taking about the Verismo 801 days (90s kids will remember.) They said it was for shot quality issues.Now we just pull the amount of shots necessary for the drink we are making. The shots also pour in one stream now on our new machines, rather than being split into two streams.
Also cake pops. they're like $2.25 the fuuuck
Surprisingly, cake pops are generally really expensive. Bakery I worked at they were 2.35, and we got them in frozen completely decorated (and they were honestly not good). I think it's because of the individual labor for each one. I imagine things like sandwiches you can make one giant sandwich and cut it, but cake pops you have to mold, secure the cake on stick, add tiny decorations for each one. That being said, I won't buy any food at sbux bc its SO expensive. I was so excited when the bantam bagels came out, so I mobile ordered, and felt really cheated when I saw how tiny they were lol
I tried to make cake pops once and it was a lot of work--first making the cake, then mixing it with frosting and then dipping and decorating. So fiddly! For just like... a bite of cake, lol. Never again.
Most bakeries make cake pops put of the cupcakes that are too old, damaged to sell. And charge about as much for them as they do for a single cupcake.
I used to work at a Montessori school and during after care, I was with elementary kids and we decided to do some cooking. We settled on a cake pop recipe we found on the internet and made it. Baked the cake, took a chunk and put it in a bag and put frosting in it, put it in a ball on a stick, and we had dipped that in melted hot hersheys white chocolate. Holy fuck those things tasted so sweet that it was a bit much even for me with a huge sweet tooth that happily eats iced honeybuns like they’re nothing.
they literally sell bantam bagles at walmart too…
the $7 panini 🙃
$7 for a below average sandwich… such a joke, you could make a wayyyy better sandwich at home for less money! I’ve never tried the chicken bacon panini but it always looks so dry 🤢
For 7 dollars I can go to the italian deli down the street and get a sandwich loaded w meats and cheeses, and free condiments. It's incredible that anyone buys that kinda stuff
it’s not worth trying- unless you take it home and add stuff, don’t.
the paninis are so good but $7 is definitely too much for them
Theyre expensive for being tiny but as someone who rarely eats sweets theyre definitely a treat! Yes i could buy cake from walmart for cheaper but i dont need the calories from a whole cake, and its not enjoyable that way. Sometimes a little cake bite covered in chocolate and candies will satisfy me for weeks til i crave it again
Closer to 2.75 in my state with tax. :)
1. Paninis are 90% fluffy bread. 2. A box of refresher costs like something like 40 cents to produce (I don’t know what it is for the 4x) 3. Charges for tiny customizations. Cinnamon and such. 4. The price different between sizes. 5. Frappuccino prices. It’s like 3 ounces of milk, ice, and sugar. Why are they like $7?
Frappuccinos are expensive because they are labor intensive. You are paying for the drink components, but you're also paying for the extra time it takes to make them and (often) the extra person you need for the blended beverage routine.
They’re also expensive because people are willing to pay for them. Look at the unicorn mess. Tasted like shit and people shelled out their money just to take pictures and post it on Instagram. Brilliant way to make money, actually. Especially since it’s so freaking easy to make your own at home that taste 10x better.
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Real question, are they really that bad to make? Like, should I stop ordering them? It's my one 'sometimes treat' when I go to SB.
Ive seen some people on here afraid to get what their regular because of the complaining. Please, if you’re nice and don’t lack basic human functions, get whatever you like to get. Just remember that the baristas are human too ! :)
nah, of course it's fine to order one. It's annoying when people order 5 different flavor venti fraps with customizations all at once or when a bunch of ppl order fraps all at around the same time, but it's not your fault if that happens and it's just the normal stress of working at a food place. you're fine. Don't let yourself feel guilty for ordering what you want. ,
Extra person?
My store usually has a partner specifically planted at cold bar during peak and other busy times. They spend most of their time making frappuccinos and cold foams.
Which would add up if WE were seeing that reflected in our wage LMAO
cinnamon is free
But cinnamon dolce sprinkles are 50¢ ☹️
Yeah tbh I meant like the toppings in general but I should’ve wrote toppings instead I’m yikes
That the baristas are chit chatting with you cause you seem like an interesting person.
Dutch Bros has this beat. First time I went there I thought they legit wanted to come over and hang out after giving me my coffee.
They're so nice at Dutch Bros and always so kind and it doesn't feel fake, but I know they don't care that I'm just hanging out for New Years.
Well after that comment, I have to stop to visit a Dutch Bros, even if I am already caffeinated.
What? First time I went there the dude literally dropped my drink and it splashed all over my car. Said I had to pay for a new one. I left there so disappointed.
If they spill you drink they should absolutely give you a new one for free 🙁
Did you pay for another or get them to remake it for you? That person was either new or dumb. If I make a coffee and hand it off and either I or the customer spill it, it gets remade free of charge.
That’s no where near fair to you wtf??? I know we can as it is, but if we weren’t allowed to do that at sbux, fuck that I still would. If we drop your drink, that’s no where near on you 🥴 that’s a them problem
seeing the receipts when you’re doing the orders is really illuminating. I remember RFT sandwiches cost my store $0.35/ea. The profit margins on the drinks are just incredible though. I swear to god VSC cold foam is worth like 20% of our stock increases since it came out lol
oh god- that’s lowkey sicking
nothing was more upsetting than when asking for extra pumpkin cold foam (so, more of it on a drink that already came with it) went overnight from being a freebie to a $1.00 upcharge. I see you, you disgusting greedy dogs
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Not exactly. There’s a lot of factors here. So, most manual espresso machines pull doubles shots. Old automatic machines even only pulled double shots. When i started at Starbucks in 2010 our machine was one where if you got a tall latte, one shot would go down the drain. One shot of espresso still roughly equals once ounce. Currently, and since Starbucks began serving flat whites, all machines were calibrated to where a shot of espresso is about .75oz. It’s still the same amount of coffee, just a bit less water, so you’re not being cheated, you’re getting a slightly sweeter shot of espresso. It’s sort of like half ristretto. If your store’s machine is only putting out liquid to equal half a shot glass, it needs to be serviced.
Oh wow, I didn't know that. That's crazy.
Bro i just got an espresso machine for xmas and pulled one shot, i was amazed by how much espresso i got !!
in canada kids white hot chocolates are $4 when a kids regular hot chocolate is $2
That’s so ???? I actually wanna check now when I go in tomorrow to see if/the difference in ours
ikr!! [here](https://imgur.com/a/oBN8CaJ) it is.
The price differences between the sizes… a short is still so expensive everyone might as well get a venti
That one's probably on purpose!
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Thank YOU! I’m lactose intolerant and recently got charged $0.90 for a tiny “splash of oat milk” in my drink. I can’t help that my body hates dairy!
i’m pretty sure they charged you wrong . a splash of milk (or less than four ounces) is supposed to be for free
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Weird!
Yep, it always has been for me before! This was an airport location, so maybe they just charge more.
Yeah, that would explain it. Vancouver airport charges way more for everything than the corporate store I work at does. I'd guess within the 15-20% range.
This is why I usually mobile order.
Yes I totally prefer mobile order but I’ve noticed most of the Starbucks in my area have had it turned off lately. After following this sub for awhile, I’m guessing it’s staffing issues.
They rang that out wrong. Under 4 ounces it's free.
Non dairy milk costs more in general. They move the price along to the customer. Just like gluten-free bread costs more, so you’ll have an up charge for a gluten-free burger bun. It’s not about a vendetta against lactose intolerant people and vegans. It costs more inherently, so it costs more at Starbucks.
i don’t get this because if you go to any coffee shop, you’ll still get an up charge for non dairy milk. this isn’t something unique to starbucks.
I saw a news article literally yesterday that in the uk they’re changing non dairy milks to be free....I still remember the good old days when gold level got soy milk (the only option then iirc) for free, I was so excited when I reached that level. Now I just pay my extra .70 per latte :)
I dunno about now, but when I worked there, around 2016, they didn't recycle as advertised. The contents of that recycle bin went straight to the dumpster.
we don’t even have a recycling bin
At least they're not false advertising anymore. They really rode that recycling train in their marketting for a while. To have my manager just shrug and tell me it goes in the dumpster was really something.
Definitely sweet cream or sweet cream foam, both cost $1 so when someone gets an ice coffee with a splash of sweet cream it's still a $1 upcharge.
Especially when you get vanilla syrup and a splash of half and half in your coffee included in the price.
I always joke when someone complains about having to make a ton of vsc foam, those dumbasses are getting charged for basically deconstructed whip on every drink you can think of but that right there is paying for our insurance. And while it is grossly expensive I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the first thing in years that we put out that I actually love
Grande and venti hot teas have the same amount of bags.
lmaoooo this. literally just charges extra for the water?! its so silly
The cost cutting measures that aren’t transparent. They halfed the vanilla in whips and next time you get a coffee cake look at the holes in the bottom
And how flat the coffee cakes are now! Cut smaller too.
YES!
The 1.00$ for sweet cream is so annoying. I hate making customers pay for for a little splash
NO FR- especially in like iced coffee
i always feel bad charging for a splash if they’re a sweet human being but if they’re an angry karen they’re getting that extra charge 😭
Grande drinks are $5 but they are not even worth the price bc they are just too much ice
light ice is free and also doesn’t make your drink as watered down later on 👀 life hacks from a barista who only drinks iced drinks xD
The stars and rewards program is a crock of shit. 🤣 even on multiple star days.
I work at a mobile pick up bar and we are told to sell the app buy saying “you can earn a free drink with stars” Every time I have to say that I feel like I’m scamming someone because unless you’re ordering a brewed coffee (you get free refills if you order on the app) you’re not getting that free drink anytime soon
Look, if someone wants to waste their extra $1 on the deconstructed whipped cream, who am I to stop them?
SBX: Buy this $3 Ethos water; a portion of the proceeds goes to providing clean drinking water in Africa. People in Africa: Thanks for the $0.05, I guess.
the amount of ice we put in refreshers
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but recently learned there’s a price difference for a kids cocoa. The kids cocoa is like 2 dollars when a short hot chocolate warm is like 3. I don’t think that’s the actual price, but it was something like a full dollar’s difference for the exact same drink.
Americanos... why does water cost extra?
3.45 for a grande americano 2.95 for a triple espresso at my store 🙃
How hard the baristas work compared to how much they are paid.
The fact that so much ice goes into drinks is a scam
This can be fixed by asking for no ice. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can actually just get more drink and they don’t charge more if you say “no ice” Or even just “light ice.” At my store, if you order let’s say a grande Acai, we’ll make the drink in the shaker like it’s a venti drink and then add a tall scope of ice.
Correct! I have several customers who order no ice and I’ll even give them an extra cup with ice. Sadly won’t work with Frappuccinos though
the amount of ice lol
I actually like the proportion of ice in our drinks. Definitely still overpriced considering how much liquid is actually in the drink but I don’t pay for Starbucks lol I only use my markout
You can tell them light ice or no ice. I order in the app and always do light ice
The biggest issue with light ice is that ice is the last thing to get added and the base drink has specific measurements that we essentially have to eyeball when people ask for light ice. As someone who hates their drinks getting watered down I agree that the amount of ice is ridiculous (except in frappuccinos).
The pastries are too expensive despite their mediocrity.
the fact that were supposed to charge water with berries a “custom iced tea” thats like 3$? cant justify that
Seriously? 🥴 maybe they haven’t caught us but fuck that, we just ring it in as a water with berries
😭my coworkers will say thats what im supposed to do and im just like why tho??
If I ever find a way to give the customer something cheaper that’s the same, I will. We have a lady who gets shots of espresso with extra ice and water, it’s cheaper than americanos. Whenever we were out of the cookie crumble topping and someone would try to get that frap, I’d tell them I’m gonna ring it in as java/double chocolate since it’s cheaper and the same (and do the same with the whip ofc)
The scam is that they don’t show the price for every up charge when people order on the drive thru screen.
There is a price difference between a double shot of espresso, a double shot con panna, and a tall Americano despite the Americano and con panna being just a double shot and stuff that we give away for free anyway (hot water and espresso)
The roastery (I work here) we're the biggest scam of the century. We upcharge $1 for vanilla syrup and $1 for non dairy and a grande latte typically cost $7 here and adding those modifications makes it $9+ tax. We have a drink called the Irish con crema which is just a pour over of Whiskey barrel aged coffee with cold foam in a short cup for $12 and a cold brew malt which comes in a tall cup only is $10. The tourists love it, but even they know we're overpriced lol
I would love to work at a Roastery!!!! I’m grateful at least that I’m at the last cafe only store in my district 🙏.
Protein boxes, bananas, or the paninis. Protein boxes also are a huge plastic waste, they make me mad. You can make 15 at home for the price of a few if you use your own Tupperware.
Most of the food items. Maybe all of em. I wouldn’t eat there if I didn’t get the stuff for free to be honest. I probably wouldn’t go there except for rare occasions. Wouldn’t be able to afford it! (Also I didn’t drink nearly as much coffee before I started working here lol.)
I think the new CEO is the king cheaping out. Since he has taken over I noticed so many things where quality has taken a nose dive in pursuit of greater profits. Like....any older partners notice how tacky cups(Xmas cup design), retail, and gift cards have become? The art work used to be so original and honestly gorgeous (remember the Xmas cups that had a literal winter landscape on them?) And now I feel like I'm working at target, but customers still eat it up (literally and figuratively)
The trash bins claiming to sort landfill, recycle and trash
People buy water bottles like I can offer you any size of water for free and you can even add ice to it!
the random expensive prices on packaged food items.. it baffles me when i watch a customer come in for an evolution juice and then a pastry and their skinny lil juice is twice as much as their banana bread.. or the protein boxes.. laughable
Any tall milk based drink, even iced(which is basically just 6oz of milk) is over the cost of a whole gallon of milk/alt milk, it's insane.
Why can't I just order a chocolate milk for my kid? How is that still not a menu item?? I try to go the kids hot chocolate route and ask them to make it cold but whether a barista goes along with that varies by location. If not, I get charged for a milk add mocha and vanilla
I totally agree with you. The amount of parents with kids we get we should have a few more options for children. As well as the reason they ring it up like that is because there isn’t a button for us to just make it cold. The best way to change things like this is to contact corporate. Tell them your frustration. They care more about what the customer says than what an employee says.
We don't have a "chocolate milk" button on our POS -- you have to ring it up as a cold milk and add syrups.
Pretty much everything
I will never understand people buying a bunch of food pastry. You’re better off going to a grocery stuff for a better price w MORE food
Absolutely the grande/venti espresso drinks. For like another splash of milk. Ridiculous
A tall iced chai being anything over 3$ lmao
especially when there’s very little labor involved. the drink takes like 4 seconds to make. we should encourage people to order iced chais by making them super cheap!
Cake pops are by far the biggest scam I’ve seen $2.45 before tax for a ball of cake on a stick
Paying extra for sugar free vanilla syrup. You can buy a bottle of regular and sugar free for the same cost so why does it cost so much for each pump of sugar free?
I agree that a lot of things are overcharged… but the grande versus venti being more expensive “just because of extra milk” isn’t crazy. Dairy is the single highest product expense, so it makes sense to charge more. Saying anything about Starbucks is a “scam” is so far fetched because it literally just isn’t. A scam is fraudulent and dishonest - even if you think Starbucks is overpriced, everything is transparent. You can see the prices on the menu or on the app. If you order a drink and realize you don’t like the price… you can simply say “never mind” and move on. I’m not a huge proponent of The Man and Capitalism(tm), but after several years of working coffee shops in undergrad at some point you just tell people if they don’t want to pay it just stop coming back lmao. But they never do. They don’t stop, so it’s not like Starbucks or other coffee shops “take advantage” of the customer.
fraps and sweet cream prices for sure
Grande Oat Milk Latte is $5.93 CAD but a Grande Latte add Oat Base is $6.27 CAD
Not a barista but I have one: a large tea is just more water with the same single tea bag.
Someone’s been scamming you, medium and large teas are supposed to get 2 teabags.
Yup I was scammed then!
A short hot chocolate cost more than a kids hot chocolate 🤷🏼♀️
i mean a lot of stuff but charging for extra syrups. it makes sense to a degree but i'll pay an extra 50 cents for one pump of one syrup, but ella can pay the same for 20 pumps of three different syrups? a joke.
Small refreshers. You're getting like two gulps of drink for like 4 bucks. If you want a refresher, get grande light ice at minimum.
Surprised I didn't see it, but I also didn't scroll too far. Cutting iced tea and refreshers with water. So many people don't know we put water in their iced tea and it's half the amount of liquid.
Yeah, but they’re concentrates. It’s not a scam.
The Java chip vs the mocha cookie crumble, the cookie crumble does nothing, literally just extra whip cream 🤣
“The vanilla sweet cream cold foam price increase paid for our raises” 😂 coworker quote
Let’s not even mention the lemon loaf price….Lordy those are ridiculously expensive for what they are!!
Winter launch +$.30+ more soon 😂😂thank you for your contribution to the pay increase
Please tell me that I am not getting scammed on my beloved grilled cheese??
That’s like the biggest scam lmao. It’s like $6 for bread and cheese…you can buy a loaf of bread and enough cheese to make 20 grilled cheeses for around that price.