Getting your name misspelled on a Starbucks cup is practically a modern right of passage at this point. But one woman was extremely confused when her drink order came out with a name that wasn’t even remotely close to hers.
In the viral TikTok video, Mandy Bardisbanian (@mandybardisbanian) asks if someone who works or has worked at Starbucks can explain how and why the workers on her recent coffee run managed to write a completely different name on her drink cup.
While misspellings are common, Mandy’s name wasn’t misspelled. Instead, she was given a completely new name that didn’t even sound close to her own.
In the video, she explains that she ordered a drink at the Starbucks in the Empire State Building in New York City and wasn’t asked for her name. She’s standing around for a while waiting for her drink and initially doesn’t think anything of it since it’s a busy location.
There was a drink order exactly like hers, a grande Caramel Crunch Frappuccino, on the counter, but it was called out under the name Xavier (nowhere close to the name Mandy) so she didn’t think much of it.
“I’m waiting, and I’m waiting, and I finally get the balls to go up and ask,” Bardisbanian says.
@mandybardisbanian Is this a thing? #starbucks #starbucksname #starbucksemployee #fyp ♬ original sound – Mandy Bardisbanian
Bardisbanian says the guy at the counter laughed and told her Xavier’s drink was in fact her drink.
“So is it code for something? Like, is this a thing?” Bardisbanian asks viewers.
The video has nearly 650,000 views and over 200 comments as of Wednesday morning
Commenters offered several possible reasons for the name mistake. Some said that the worker who put in her order may have “marked out” the drink for her—meaning they gave her a free beverage but had to put their own name on the order to do it.
“Nah when we “mark out” drinks for ourself (basically the way to type it in for a discount or free) our own name pops up on it,” a person said.
Another fueled the rumors that Starbucks wants employees to spell names wrong.
“Some Starbucks employees are told to purposely misspell names or mismark for this exact reason. You posted and now I want Starbucks,” another wrote.
And yet another person chalked it up to be a simple mistake.
“Most likely a mistake. They probs misheard you. There are so many different sounds it’s hard to hear/stay focused on a name. I do it all the time,” a barista shared.
The Daily Dot has covered several other Starbucks-related TikToks including a woman getting banned for pretending to be an employee to get a discount, a hack for getting cheap pumpkin cream cold foam, and a person who ordered just a cup with syrup at Starbucks.
The Daily Dot reached out to Bardisbanian for comment via email.