When Starbucks locations don’t have enough baristas on duty to deal with an influx of orders, workers may turn off the ability to order through Starbucks’ app for that specific location, make a few items unavailable, or close the store while keeping the drive-thru open. This is all done in an effort to mitigate an overwhelming number of orders the store isn’t equipped to deal with in that moment. A TikToker posted a photo of himself in his Starbucks uniform with the allegation that he was fired for making Frappuccinos, which are notoriously tedious to make, unavailable to customers who order via the app when his store was understaffed.
In a “POV” video viewed 14,000 times since being posted April 17, TikToker Leo (@y0urm0msh0le) wrote via text overlay: “You get fired for turning off faps on a Friday night when it was only two baristas and you. The line of cars was wrapped around the building, the lobby was full and mobile orders kept coming through. You told the manager and she said you were over staffed and told you her store lost money because I turn frap off.”
@y0urm0msh0le I hate her sm. If youre considering becoming a shift PLEASE DONT 😹😹#barista #ssv #starbucks #unionize ♬ Blicky – Fresh X Reckless
In another one of his videos, Leo says he is a Starbucks shift supervisor, and he warns against becoming one in his latest video, adding that he “hates” his manager so much. “If youre considering becoming a shift PLEASE DONT,” he warned.
Viewers encouraged Leo and came after his manager in the comments section.
“You did the right thing. How can you manage nonstop mobiles, cafe, and drive with only 3 people???” the top comment questioned.
“At the end of the day, managers prefer their sales over their partners’ mental state. And they’re nowhere to be found on the floor,” user Cesar (@csircampos) said.
Prioritizing sales over employees’ wellbeing is something leadership at Starbucks has been accused of doing. Just recently, a Starbucks barista named Meghin claimed on TikTok that her manager ignored her requests to turn mobile orders off when her own store was understaffed. A viewer who commented on Meghin’s video shared that their manager refused to turn mobile ordering when staffers were hiding from a tornado in the bathroom. Leo, Meghin, along with Many baristas, point to incidents like these as reasons why stores should unionize. In one of Leo’s hashtags included in the caption of his video, he wrote “unionize.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Starbucks via email and Leo via TikTok comment.
