If you’ve ever been to a Starbucks, you know that things can get very busy and people can be very particular about their coffee. Grande, venti, soy, whip, no whip, upside down — the variations are endless. With so many different ways a person can order a coffee, I don’t blame Starbucks employees for getting a little frustrated every now and then.
But one particular Starbucks employee from Queens, New York let her frustrations get the best of her and verbally attacked a customer. A video surfaced on YouTube of this employee, who has since been suspended from her job, having an insane meltdown and freaking out on a customer on May 12.
The argument began after Ruby Chen ordered a Frappuccino with what she called a “special straw,” which was probably one of Starbucks’ new cookie straws, according to Huffington Post.
According to YouTube, after Chen ordered she opened her Starbucks rewards app on her phone to pay and didn’t hear what Melissa (the Starbucks employee) said. After that all hell broke loose.
Melissa started shouting at Chen and berating her saying things like, “hey, hellooooooo!” Chen says she requested to speak to the manager to which Melissa responded with, “you’re talking to the manager,” according to Elite Daily.
The shouting and berating ensued with Melissa accusing Chen of stealing the cookie straw, which she was trying to pay for in the first place. At this point, Melissa was shouting so loudly that everyone in the entire Starbucks was engaged in this meltdown. A group of people chimed in to defend Chen and as soon as they did, Melissa turned on them and told them to leave.
A Starbucks spokeswoman said Melissa (who was not a manger, but a shift supervisor) is no longer employed at that Starbucks location, according to NBC New York. Elite Daily reported that in a statement, the spokeswoman also said:
“This customer’s experience is not reflective of the service our partners provide to customers every day. Our leadership team is reaching out to the customer to apologize and make this right.”
It was reported that Starbucks has since given Chen a $100 Starbucks gift card. What do YOU think of this employee’s major meltdown? Can you relate to her or do you think she was totally out of line?
