Former Starbucks worker and TikToker Gingy (@gingy8759) explained why he thinks you should never work at Starbucks in a viral video. In the 3-minute clip, he shared lengthy examples and scenarios of the work environment that would ultimately cause him to leave the company.
The first anecdote started on a slow day when he was working at the drive-thru. “It was crazy slow, so instead of writing their names on their cups, I was instead writing like compliments and stuff on their drinks.”
The customers loved Gingy’s compliments, Gingy recalled. “They were telling my shift leads, ‘Oh my goddess, that’s so amazing. It makes my day,’” he shared.
Although it was loved by the customers, management felt differently, according to Gingy. Gingy said management questioned why he was writing compliments on the cups.
“I go, ‘Oh well, I was just writing it down to be nice to people.’ She gets really close to me in front of the customer and starts to whisper-yelling at me in front of everyone,” he claimed. Gingy said the manager told him that his actions are “hurting the company” and that writing on the cups is strictly for “customer names and names only.”
“From that point on I wasn’t allowed to write any more compliments,” Gingy said.
Gingy accused the company of inadequate training of employees. “We were supposed to get two weeks of training and a one-on-one experience. Instead, I got one week of training,” he alleged.
During the short training, Gingy said he was not taught everything he needed to know to succeed at the job. “I was put on drive-thru 90% of the time because they were busy during those hours. I was taught very little about drinks because there was no time, and we weren’t staff enough. We were always short-staffed. In the end, I just never knew how to make drinks,” Gingy said.
He went on to describe the tipping system at Starbucks as “the dumbest thing in the world.” Explaining that Starbucks, “puts all the tips together, so if you worked Monday, Tuesday, but you didn’t work Wednesday—they would combine all three and split it down the middle and split it with everyone.”
Lastly, Gingy warned viewers about the quality of their beverages. “Y’all should also be more conscious of how disgusting your drinks are. I’ve seen cups dropped that were used. I’ve seen ants in the syrup. …I’ve seen people stick their hands into the utensil area and then use those same utensils,” he said.
He continued, “I never ever could recommend Starbucks to anyone.”
@gingy8759 Also manager got fired after i left so cant just be me who was a bad employee #starbucks #work #tired #money #crazy #storytime #story #karen #annoying ♬ original sound – Gingy
Gingy is not the first Starbucks employee to voice frustrations about working at the coffee chain. There are plenty of Reddit threads where current and former employees often commensurate about shared experiences and struggles.
Gingy’s viral video has 438,000 views, and thousands of comments, where many former and current workers also express their concerns with the working environment at Starbucks, some experiences very similar to Gingy’s.
“One time I was taking drive-thru orders, making them, handing them out, running to fulfill food, and taking front-of-house orders. My manager’s response was to yell at me for the cafe orders backing up,” one TikToker recounted in the comments.
Another shared, “I got sepsis and my coworkers wouldn’t let me leave my shift and by the end of it I was lying on the floor in pain and they were stepping over me as I was fading in and out LOL.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Gingy via TikTok comment and to Starbucks via email.
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