A former Starbucks barista shared some of the “fun things” that happened on the job, including a customer throwing their hot chocolate at her because it had Reddi Whip.
The video featured TikTok user Chelsea Gerbeshi (@sagittariusicedlatte), who revealed some of the most memorable moments when she worked at Starbucks. First up, she detailed an encounter with a woman threw her hot chocolate because Gerbeshi used Reddi Whip instead of whipping cream. “She tasted it, didn’t like it, and threw it at me instead of complaining,” Gerbershi explained to her 36,000 followers.
The next incident, Gerbeshi said, was a common occurrence that happened multiple times per day. “People would come up to the register while on their phone and put their finger up at me,” she said. Gerbeshi said they would press their fingers against their mouth in a “shushing” motion, implying for her to be quiet. To make matters worse, they would do this even if there was a line of people behind them.
Another time, Gerbeshi accidentally made a drink wrong and apologized for it. The lady’s response? “‘I don’t hold your class of people to the highest standards, but what I do expect is for my drinks to be made right,” Gerbeshi said. Furthermore, somebody called her “incompetent” because their upside-down caramel macchiato didn’t have the espresso on top. Finally, a man called Starbucks a “scam” after Gerbeshi gave him a brownie from the display case instead of a “fresh” brownie.
@sagittariusicedlatte #starbucksbaristastories #starbucksstorytime #customerservicestories ♬ original sound – chelsea gerbeshi
The video garnered over 97,000 views. In the comments, viewers shared their thoughts.
“uuughhh, I hate these kinds of ppl,” one viewer wrote.
“customers r actually so horrible,” a second user stated.
In addition, other former and current Starbucks baristas recalled their similar experiences.
“I got yelled at because this man’s refresher wasn’t pink he ordered a dragon drink with no berries,” one user shared.
“I had some man reach over the counter and dump his coffee in the ice bin during peak. He said he thought it was a sink,” a second recalled.
“back when Starbucks was selling random candy, 1 lady started throwing stuff from our display case and screaming at me b/c we ran out of banana taffy,” a third commented.
The Daily Dot has reported on bizarre customer experiences in the past. Last year, former Starbucks barista Chlo shared her most “ridiculous” customer interactions. Another Starbucks worker named Jordan Perkins did a skit about when a customer “didn’t understand the concept of white mocha.”
Update 4:20pm CT, Nov. 20: Gerbeshi told the Daily Dot she worked at Starbucks for two years. Over the course of those two years, she said how minor incidents would happen daily, but “having the drink thrown” was the worst.
“It didn’t hit me directly so I wasn’t injured but it was very belittling,” she said.
Furthermore, the content creator urged people to treat service workers with respect.
“I was overly friendly as a barista because I was a 19 year old student that had just moved out of my family home and needed to make a paycheck to pay my bills so I let a lot of this slide,” she said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of other people working these jobs in similar situations and they have to let people assault them in order to keep a job and it’s awful.”
