The next time you make a Starbucks mobile order, wait.
There’s no need to wait to make the order, but after you have, don’t proceed immediately to the pick-up counter. That’s what one barista is calling his biggest pet peeve.
Jaime Carriedo (@jrsintergalactic_), a dancer and barista working in southern California, wants people to know that the Starbucks mobile app isn’t an immediate wish-fulfillment machine.
He posted his advice video to TikTok on Jan. 17. Since then, the video has picked up over 86,400 views.
‘If you’re gonna mobile order, …’
“Word of advice,” Carriedo tells his viewers. “If you’re going to mobile order, do not come two minutes after [you made the order] and be like, ‘Is my drink ready?’”
“Because I will look at you, look at your sticker, and look at the time, and judge you hard.”
He concludes, “At this point, I’m going to give you the [order] sticker, and that’s all you’re getting.”
How long does a Starbucks mobile order take?
While Starbucks mobile orders significantly cut out the middleman in terms of ordering directly at the counter, they still require the same time to make the actual drink.
If you enjoy a complicated coffee beverage, you can expect the team to take exactly as much time to make it as they would if you put your order in at the register. And that time may increase if the location is busy.
Mark Graban, reporting for Leanblog, writes, “If I’m about five minutes away from a location, I’ll put in my order via the mobile app with the expectation that the drink might be ready for me when I arrive. It usually is. Or, I’ll have a shorter wait.”
However, Graban also notes, “When I arrived, I could see the store was busy. I stood there for at least ten minutes, patiently waiting.”
According to CX Drive, as of May 2024, mobile ordering is up at Starbucks, with three out of ten orders being made through the app.
As a result, wait times to pick up orders have increased. Customers have “said long wait times and lack of product availability” have resulted in some app users abandoning their orders altogether.
Bottom line? Give the team at Starbucks some time before you walk up to the counter or pull up in the drive-thru.
The Daily Dot reached out to Starbucks via email for a statement.
@jrsintergalactic_ #fypシ゚viral#starbucksbarista#tobeapartner#barista#starbucksdrinks ♬ original sound – jaime carriedo
Viewers speak up
Some viewers identified as fellow service industry workers and commented in sympathy.
One viewer wrote, “I always say ‘We JUST got it, give us a few minutes to make it before pulling through.’”
Sofia Vasquez (@sofia.vasquez16) commented, “If in [drive-thru] I ask ‘Oh the one placed 2 minutes ago?’”
“Had a 7-item order that came through the [drive-thru] 1 MIN LATER to get it, we had to tell her the tickets didn’t even print yet and she seemed genuinely shocked. how do people think this works I’m so confused,” another person added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Carriedo via TikTok direct message.
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