How Starbucks Responds to Complaints About Wait Times of Up to 40 Minutes

Starbucks baristas have begun implementing a new system aimed at speeding up service and easing bottlenecks that have customers complaining of wait times of up to 40 minutes for their coffee orders.

The system partly means changing the order in which hot and cold drinks are produced. Under the old way of doing things, Starbucks baristas would prioritize cold drinks from start to finish even if hot drinks were in demand first.

Workers who provided feedback to senior company officials said the system led to longer wait times at the car service.

Starbucks also plans to assign one of its employees the role of “play caller” who steps away from the production and helps ease bottlenecks in addition to performing other key tasks like restocking cups or helping out when an unexpected crowd arrives.

“One of the pain points we saw was [that] “Our espresso machine was often running all the time, and that was one of the things that prevented our associates from being able to check in,” Katie Young, senior vice president of store operations, told CNBC.

“Another thing we saw that we didn’t necessarily know was which part of the store would get crowded.”

Starbucks locations “needed a dedicated partner at a time when things were busy pulling out of production and he was just helping out,” Young said.

“It’s the ability to respond flexibly to things we can’t predict,” she said.

Starbucks expects more customer engagement through its mobile app, which became open Monday to non-rewards members who can place orders.

The company also recently took a page from the playbook of fast food chains including McDonald’s, launching a high-value combo meal last month.

Starbucks’ new “Comparisons” menu allows customers to pay up to $6 for a large cup of hot or iced tea or coffee with one of the store’s snacks, such as a breakfast sandwich or buttery croissant.

In an era of stubbornly high inflation, Starbucks is seeking to win back the hearts, minds and wallets of frustrated customers who, according to one study, have to wait up to 40 minutes for coffee.

Company employees blamed management, which laid off about 29,000 store workers during the 12-month period beginning in October 2022.

Starbucks stock has fallen more than 22% in the past year, and the company’s new CEO, Lakshman Narasimhan, has come under fire following its recent quarterly earnings report.

Starbucks Corp. lowered its fiscal 2024 earnings and revenue outlook after reporting that same-store sales fell 4% while foot traffic fell 6% in the three-month period that ended in April.

The situation had become so dire that Narasimhan’s predecessor, Howard Schultz, who is credited with building Starbucks from a small Seattle coffee chain into a global giant, posted a long essay on LinkedIn urging the company to revamp its U.S. operations.

The newspaper has requested comment from Starbucks.