Starbucks launched its mobile ordering system in 2011. It made ordering and making customizations more seamless for customers. However, it also hasn’t been without problems—one of those problems being overly eager customers. One Starbucks customer says she learned the hard way that workers don’t appreciate customers who try to pick up their orders right after placing them.
And her story is all too relatable for fellow customers and familiar to workers.
“I think I just got in trouble in the Starbucks drive-thru, and I’m very confused as to why,” Dr. Alyssa Hickey (@dr.alyssanhickey) tells her 411,000 followers.
Hickey says she was on her way to her nail appointment when she stopped for a coffee.
“So, I sent my little order in, and the Starbucks is usually, like, super, super busy,” she says. “I pull up, and there’s like, two cars in the drive-thru, and there’s no one in the parking lot.”
“I’ll just go through the drive-thru, thinking that, like, when you order your drink anyway in the drive-thru, they have it done by the time you pull through,” she further explains.
However, Hickey learned that wasn’t the case when she drove up the speaker.
“But she [the employee] scolded me and told me that they just got the order two minutes ago and that it’s not ready, and for next time, I need to give them more time,” she says.
“You just scolded me for sending my order in early,” she says. “If anything, it made your life easier because you didn’t have to push any of the buttons, right? There was no one else in the line, so it wasn’t like I was holding everyone up behind them.”
“So, it would’ve been the same if I pulled up and then ordered it in person, right?” Hickey asks.
The Daily Dot reached out to Hickey via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as to Starbucks via press email.
Viewers weigh in
Hickey isn’t the only one who’s gotten reprimanded for trying to pick up an order early.
“I literally choose the drive thru option and wait for it to say it’s ready and they still get upset,” one said.
“I’m glad I’m not alone. The exact same thing happened to me!! And I didn’t understand either and it upset me,” a second commented.
“This happened to me once. I think about it every night as I’m falling asleep. Help,” a third wrote.
@dr.alyssanhickey #starbucks #starbucksholidaydrinks #chestnutpraline #whyamiawkward #scolded #starbucksdrinks ♬ original sound – Dr. Alyssa Hickey
Starbucks’ mobile order system, explained
One viewer shared that ordering in-person vs. through the app produces “a different ticketing system.”
“The app does tell you approx how long to give them. Sometimes it’s up to 10-12 mins. I get it bc other places don’t work that way,” they explained.
“I’m a barista and can probably help! When we get a bunch of mobiles, they pile in with delivery, drive thru, and other orders at the same time. when you order and immediately pull up we might not have even gotten your sticker yet,” another elaborated.
This has been a longtime gripe of Starbucks baristas. Four years ago, a Starbucks worker complained about this on Reddit.
And in 2023, a Starbucks worker named Leiza went viral for calling out customers who order while they are sitting in the drive-thru, claiming that doesn’t give workers enough time to receive the order and make it. “It can’t be ready like magic. It’s not ‘poof’ you place your order, and it’s ready,” Leiza said at the time.
Leiza also gave some insight into how the mobile ordering system works, and her explanation backs up what some of the viewers said.
“If you place a mobile order while you’re in the drive-thru, it puts your order at the back of the line, and then the worker has to search through all of the other order tickets to get your order that you literally just placed,” Leiza explained.
The app should tell customers an estimated timeframe of when their order will be ready. And one of Starbucks’ most recent updates lets customers see the lifecycle of their order, from when they place the order to when it’s ready for pick up.
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