Starbucks,

6435 Lee Highway, Warrenton, VA 20187

"I am torn about writing this 1 star review. To some extent, I don't want to send the negative energy out into the world. On the other hand, I work in customer service, I work hard to provide the best service possible, I take responsbility when performances fall short, and think we could all benefit from improved communication, procedures, effort, and policies. I'm going to leave 2 asterisks everywhere in the story that I think they could have improved. I should start by saying I don't feel particularly aggrieved. In the grand scheme, this is not a big deal to me. I called the Starbucks about a day in advance to ask the best way and ideal lead time to order a "Traveler" of coffee. I wanted to give them plenty of time to be prepared. I like to be a good customer. I was told "the more time the better" and that "we could take care of the order right now. Let me get a piece of paper and leave them a note.**" --13 hours pass-- I arrive at Starbucks. There is no box of coffee**. They look at me like I'm crazy**--which might be because I look crazy with this new mustache, but I suspect it was because the barista was completely unaware there was supposed to be a traveler waiting for me. The barista unapologetically says it'll be 10 minutes**. This wouldn't really be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, just your run-of-the-mill people not doing a good job, and a non issue if I wasn't trying to time the whole morning out effectively. Then I overhear her ask her manager if he knew about a Traveler order. His response: "Oh. Yeah. There's a note here. 7:45. Oops.**" ** Anyway, I just order 4 ventis and hit the road and everything works out fine. I pay and leave.** Whatever. I'm sure Starbucks will survive."

"I've been coming to this Starbucks every morning for years. The service is great, and the staff are very friendly. The guy happily reading his newspaper there at 5am with a coffee and muffin is me."

"Breathtaking rudeness by the tall barista on 11/17 who copped an attitude when I asked her to fix the lid and remove the (wasteful) second cup from the venti coffee that had just burned my hand. I was scolded for not saying please. Okay, please fasten your lids so your customers don’t get burned and please don’t double the garbage your product puts into the waste stream with extra cups. They obviously don’t prevent the tops from popping off and the cardboard sleeves have always worked just fine."

"You'd better learn Starbucks pig-latin words like dopio if you don't want them to talk down to you and make you feel dopey. And they have to add the sugar and cream and you'd better get back in line if you want to touch it up. And THEN you need to go back to the old sugar and cream counter for the trashcan."

"Ordered a seasonable Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato. Drink was prepared quickly. Several employees but not a lot of business. Bathroom was clean."