Why Reddit Was Fuming Over A Starbucks Customer's Nearly Impossible Order
Perhaps one of the best parts of working in the fast food industry is dealing with all the crazy orders. (That's sarcasm, by the way.) Assembling a dozen footlong chili cheese dogs, a double meatball sub, or a customized-beyond-recognition Frappuccino is not fun for employees, nor can it be done within a matter of a few minutes.
In fact, with larger or more complicated orders, most restaurants prefer that you call ahead to give employees additional time to complete your request. Even chains like McDonald's appreciate it if you call ahead when ordering for more than just a handful of people, though not doing so is just one of the mistakes everyone makes when ordering McDonald's. While such chains are equipped to handle crowds, it's unfair to other customers if the entire kitchen has to devote itself to a single large-scale order.
In this vein, Starbucks employee was understandably upset when a customer expected a huge order completed within 15 minutes, and their story had Starbucks employees across the nation cringing.
Starbucks is 'not a catering company,' per Reddit
According to one Starbucks employee's Reddit post, someone ordered 11 travelers. A traveler, for those who don't know, is a Starbucks coffee carrier that comes with 96 oz. of coffee and several cups to dispense it into. This customer ordered 11 of those, which is 1,056 oz. of coffee, or about 132 cups (assuming each cup holds 8 oz.).
The employee added that the customer called back 15 minutes later, expecting the order to be complete. Other Starbucks employees hopped into the comments, one saying that each traveler takes at least eight minutes to brew. Another employee wrote, "People need to realize that we are not a catering company! If someone 'needs' 11 travelers, they should've called ahead or made arrangements with other places."
Several others said they usually give people a wait time of 20 minutes per traveler. Others said their Starbucks location turns off traveler mobile orders during peak hours because they slow the system down too much. Nevertheless, not ordering this many travelers is just one thing Starbucks employees wish you knew.