Starbucks customers outraged as barista admits manager advised using decaf over regular coffee

A Starbucks barista claimed that their manager asked them to use decaf coffee after the store ran out of regular espresso, and people can’t believe it. 

Starbucks is undoubtedly the most popular coffee chain that fans flock to, to pick up their morning caffeine hit. The grounds are even sold in stores so people can take a bag to brew at home. 

But what if customer’s aren’t purchasing what they really think they are? In a popular Reddit thread, a Starbucks barista created a post that issued a shocking claim. 

They said that they didn’t know whether or not what they’d been asked to do was ‘ethical,’ and this was their reason for posting. 

‘We ran out of espresso and all backup blends to use in the machines… except decaf. Management now wants us to use decaf in all the hoppers, which we instantly saw as a red flag,’ the post reads. 

‘We were also told now to not tell customers that we are serving them decaf… Which obviously feels borderline unethical… And on top of that, most of our baristas aren’t even supposed to know, but it’s not hard to figure out.’

I guess we’re using decaf for everything (and keeping it secret?)
byu/LundyHFL instarbucks

Reddit weighs in on Starbucks baristas’ decaf coffee claims

After the thread was posted on the platform, people were eager to weigh in on the claims the barista had made. 

“Chronically sleep deprived parent of multiple disabled kids – I get a Venti coffee when I have to drive long distances so I am wide awake. I might still get a decaf coffee if that was the only option because the act of drinking helps when you are tired but I’d need to know so I can make appropriate adjustments,” one stated. 

“Yeah, my husband hates coffee. But he uses caffeine to help when he has a migraine… Pretty sure he’d be upset if he ordered a coffee to use as medicine and it wasn’t caffeinated!” another wrote. 

Some other Starbucks baristas weighed in, one them a supervisor: “If it were me, I would just disclose it with customers. If your boss has an issue with it, ask them why you’re bring asked to lie to customers. Make them explain it.

“If you have some sort of employee relations/HR representative I would call them immediately and ask them, especially if you don’t feel comfortable working like that.”

A Starbucks customer also went viral in January, when they destroyed a display after claiming staff weren’t listening to her.