Starbucks employees, like most food service employees, knowingly have it rough—no matter the shift, there’s usually a rush at some point, people can be rude, and making drinks exactly to people’s liking isn’t easy. This, on top of product shortages, makes for an especially hard time to be a barista. In a viral TikTok video, one Starbucks employee shared how customer interactions went when her location only had one type of breakfast sandwich in stock.
In the video, the barista (@ekkokunkle) acts out an interaction she had with a customer, who allegedly continued to ask for different sandwiches, despite the barista repeatedly explaining the store’s current sandwich stock. The barista revealed she explained multiple times to the customer that if they’d like to order a breakfast sandwich, the only one the store has is the double-smoked bacon, cheddar, and egg sandwich.
@ekkokunkle daily starbucks things😁 #fyp #coffee #starbucks ♬ original sound – ekko
“Can I get the impossible [sandwich]?” she says, acting as the customer. “So, unfortunately, we only have our double bacon today,” the barista responds. “That’s our only breakfast sandwich. I’m so sorry.”
The “customer” then asks for the sausage, egg, and cheddar sandwich, to which the barista reminds them the store only have one sandwich and suggests they order the egg bites instead. The customer says they don’t want egg bites and tries to order a bacon gouda sandwich. The barista bites her tongue and asks if the customer would like a drink instead.
“Daily starbucks things,” @ekkokunkle captioned the video.
The video was viewed over 97,000 times, evoking sympathy from many viewers.
“The fact that it’s not even a joke this is an actual real life,” one person commented.
Many viewers who said they were also Starbucks workers shared this was an all-too-relatable experience, with one even saying “this exact conversation” happened to them.
“Working at Starbucks really tests my patients,” one said.
Another alleged Starbucks employee said they had to deal with something similar regarding drinks. “Me yesterday, when I tell them we are out of ALL refreshers and this guy, continues to order a mango dragonfruit lemonade three times,” they wrote.
Another shared a response for dealing with customers like these.
“My coworker started saying ‘again, I only have the one I named.’ And it’s my favorite response to them,” they said.
Over 180 Starbucks locations formally unionized, with more than 300 stores awaiting union elections, per the Guardian. Organizing baristas reportedly stated they hope to create better working environments for the employees who deal with difficult customers every day. “Baristas alternately found themselves alone behind the counter with a long line of customers and twiddling their thumbs with other workers when business was slow,” the Washington Post reported. “Workers wanted a bigger say in how baristas were recruited, retained, and scheduled. And with inflation, they wanted to be paid more.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @ekkokunkle via TikTok comment.
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