Charbux

In 1971, three local Seattle residents opened up a small coffee shop in Pikes Place Market in Seattle called Starbucks. Since then this local, independent business has grown into one of the largest corporations in the world. Starbucks is a large part of many peoples mornings, a lot of people rely on their morning coffee in order to start their day. Something that a lot of people tend to overlook when they are getting their coffee at Starbucks, however, is the customer service. Almost every time that I have been into Starbucks, whether they are busy or not, the barista never seems to show any sort of patience or emotion. They don't take the time to be polite and smile, or ask how you are; they just want to take your money and give you your overpriced coffee. I have not once had a barista there that is smiling and looks as if they are happy to be working there. This in no way makes me want to go back and order another $5.00 coffee if I know they are not going to take the time to show a little courtesy to their customers. Not only do the employees show very little courtesy, but they also show a lack of knowledge and experience in preparing coffees. The last time I was there, I ordered a latte with one pump of peppermint, a simple order for anyone with any knowledge of making coffee. When I got the latte, it tasted plain, I soon realized that there was no peppermint in it. When I told the barista what was wrong, they replied by saying this, "Oh, we don't serve peppermint flavored espresso." I had to explain to him several times that I didn't want peppermint flavored espresso, I wanted peppermint flavored syrup added to my drink. When he finally understood what I was asking for, he looked at me with disdain and took the previous drink from my hand, saying sarcastically, "Well sorry, this time I'll make it perfect for you." 

     It is not only the customer service that gets me, that alone I can look past, but there are other reasons why I dislike Starbucks, one of which is the quality of their espresso. When the espresso is mixed into a drink with other ingredients such as milk or chai, it tastes fine, but itself alone is unbearable. This is partially because of the way that Starbucks roasts their beans. They purposely over roast their beans so that they can get a uniform flavor throughout all their products. It is a shame that this uniform flavor that they try to accomplish is absolutely horrible. While some coffee shops will use a dark roast to create a spicy,smokey flavor in their espresso, Starbucks seems to roast past this point, that is why theirs turn out to have a burnt, chalky flavor. Another reason for this flavor is greed. Starbucks wants to make the most and spend the least money possible, that is why they keep their beans much longer than they should. They tend to keep their beans up to about six months at most after being ground, this however allows a lot of the flavor to escape. So instead of buying new beans and only keeping the ground ones for a few weeks like they should, they server the customers month old beans that aren't at their prime. This isn't complained about often, however, because most customers there don't know what good espresso should taste like, and are happy with being served this sad excuse for coffee because they get it quick.

     Now some people would say that they are able to look past these things because Starbucks represents something much larger than just coffee, it is an example of the American dream. It started as a small coffee shop being run by three teachers, and became one of the largest corporations in the world. I can't argue with the fact that this company is extremely successful, especially with such humble beginnings, but what I can say is this; in many places where a Starbucks opens up, it destroys somebody elses hopes and dreams for creating and expanding their own business. Independent coffee shops often stand no chance against this corporate giant, the fan base for Starbucks is obviously larger and it sucks away customers from the local businesses. The way that Starbucks kills other companies is no accident, in fact, a common practice for Starbucks is to buy out their competitors' leases in order to keep competition down. This practices in turn takes away the chance of many others to successfully become an example of the American dream. Wouldn't you say that destroying other businesses with your financial superiority just to gain the upper hand is a little unethical?