In a viral video posted to TikTok, a patron at a Goldsboro, North Carolina Starbucks called out the store’s baristas for “talking trash” about her mobile app username. They didn’t realize she was working on her laptop, waiting in the store for her drink.
User @richblackwomantv said this was not the first time she had placed an order at that location under the same name, providing both a picture of her drink and a screenshot of her mobile app’s homepage as evidence.
She sat in front of one barista who said she “can’t wait to see who this is that comes in here to get this,” but said nothing as she waited for them to finish making her drink. When another barista set it on the counter, calling out “Rich,” she then confronted them.
“I said, ‘It’s OK to say Black Woman,’ and you should’ve seen them freeze. Everybody froze,” she revealed in the video, which has been viewed 1.1 million times since it was first posted on June 15.
@richblackwomantv WHEN TALKING TRASH BACKFIRES #greenscreen #starbucks #starbucksbarista #startbucksdrink @Starbucks #trashtalker #roasting #badcustomerservice ♬ original sound – Influencer + Speaker
The baristas made fun of her in front of a Black male Starbucks employee working in the drive thru, which @richblackwomantv said she found “disgusting.”
“I said to them, ‘You never know who is ordering from the app right in the store,’” she said in the video.
The store was silent for the next hour and a half as she finished her drink, she said. She then approached one of the baristas who had made fun of her. When she asked her if her manager was standing nearby, the barista confirmed that they were.
“I asked that so that I can 100% confirm that the manager was participating in this behavior. Disgusting. Thank God I learned how to make my chai at home, huh?” she said before ending her video.
Users expressed their disbelief at the situation, with one pointing out that even if @richblackwomantv hadn’t been the one to place the order under the name, the baristas shouldn’t have been talking about a customer in front of others.
“We have to stop blaming the companies and blame the individuals. CEOs don’t know who they’re hiring unless we tell them,” user T Lewis (@ebonisartistry) wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to @richblackwomantv via Instagram direct message.
