Horrible cinnamon dolce latte, three times in a row. Didn't taste like cinnamon at all, to me or others who tried the same. One thought it tasted more a little like gingerbread... kind of. Cinnamon? Nope.
But the staff basically told me I didn't know what cinnamon tasted like after this many tries, my insistence that I know what it's supposed to taste like (wondering wtf kind of conversation is this that I have to justify my knowledge and experience of the flavour of cinnamon!) AND even after I tasted the actual syrup from their bottle and immediately identified the syrup as the problem. It was rubbish. If it ever touched a cinnamon stick, it has since been watered down beyond a trace.
Still trying to have a civilized problem-solving conversation, I suggested they check it, but they had no interest in finding the problem. Instead they insisted, in mock sympathy that maybe they could get me something different next time. At first I took the belittling comments to be cute, coming from a young barista who for some reason needs to impress upon others the superiority of their understanding of the situation (something we do in our teens and 20s), but is caring enough to be nice to you in your stupidity. I'm old enough to find that sort of thing cute mostly, but I'll admit. I started to get annoyed at the thinly veiled insult in the undogged insistence that I don't Know what cinnamon tastes like.
A. I now have very little faith that I will ever taste the yummy deliciousness that is the cinnamon dolce latte again as long as I live in this town. B. I'm a little shocked that there are people out there who can even entertain the possibility that a person (who says they know cinnamon, and who in the modern, international world doesn't know cinnamon??) is just not smart enough to recognize cinnamon. I'm not so much insulted as I am baffled.
Not that I should need to justify knowing what cinnamon tastes like (SRSLY), but I will clarify that not only do I know very well what cinnamon tastes like, but I have also had this particular Starbucks drink a million times at other locations. It is so delicious I die and go to heaven every time I have it. And it really is too bad there's not another Starbucks in town. This has been the worst $18 I ever spent. (Wow $18 for 3 coffees.)
Probably go back to ordering the proper syrup online to mix at home (exact same stuff but with cinnamon dolce syrup inside the bottle).
A few bad lattes is one thing, but here's the thing. Maybe the barista can't really be blamed for belittling and petty, stubborn arguing in place of customer service and problem solving. She could just be doing her job, flogging $6+ drinks filled with watered down fancy flavours that only the most sophisticated of Starbucks patrons can truly appreciate (British accent, pinky in the air). Is this a thing now? Is it a rude set of staff (I could hear the attitude right off the bat through the intercom tho misguidedly chose to give the benefit of the doubt, the same courtesy not even a whiff of offered to me), is it boldfaced Starbucks snobbery reaching new peaks (Can I get a large coffee please? Oh you mean a grande), or is it just plain shady? I'm not sure which is worse.
Hmmm. I remember when it was the other way around. The customers were the ones making the drive thru workers take their bad attitudes and frustrated egos with a smile.
Dont let this happen to you. Don't be so nice and cooperative like I was in response to this? I think it was the shock and surprise, but you dont have to go through this. Here's what you can do differently when someone accuses you of being too stupid to know what cinnamon tastes like. Right away, "What's your name," and "who's your manager?"
And that's a wrap. read more
