Category: | Coffee Shop |
Address: | 12577 Bandera Rd, Helotes, TX 78023, USA |
Phone: | +1 210-372-9265 |
Site: | starbucks.com |
Rating: | 3.9 |
Working: | 5AM–10PM 5AM–10PM 5AM–10PM 5AM–10PM 5AM–10PM 5:30AM–10PM 5:30AM–9PM |
BR
Brian Hundley
One word to sum it all up...INFERIOR! Allow me to explain: the coffee being served is half the strength that it used to be at Starbucks, the service is mediocre at best and I have to request half and half almost every time I go into this location! Heres the thing, for the longest time Starbucks has boasted that they serve a premium gourmet coffee which used to be true, but that hasnt been true for quite some time. I did always find it an oddity that premium coffee was served in paper cups, that you finish preparing yourself at a little counter, co-op style, filled with paper bits and wooden sticks. I digress, but I merely bring that up to illustrate that though the coffee may be somewhat approaching a premium roast, the overall experience is anything but gourmet! Its a dichotomy in motion! That all is the customer, but I would like to return to the management and why I stated that Starbucks is inferior. The coffee, as I previously stated is much weaker than what Starbucks used to serve when the Venti coffee was $1.50 pet cup! Now its fast approaching $3.00 and its pathetic at best! Also this thing of serving the same mediocre, medium roast, "Pike," for the last fifteen years in a row is hardly gourmet. I remember when Starbucks used to change all of their flavors daily or weekly and they also served decaff! The service at Starbucks used to be very professional, you know, like the employees had been trained and like Starbucks had Standards, but that was sometime ago back in California! Since Starbucks has become global they seem to have just lost control of their organization! Now the customer service is almost non existent! Ive had the same experiences that others have noted here at this location as well as at other locations here in San Antonio, TX and Phoenix, AZ. The staff is completely preoccupied with serving the drive through customers and they all but abandon the walk in customers. Here in San Antonio theres never more than one employee at the registers though there are two or three at the counter. I left a Starbucks in downtown the other day because I came in and stood there for five minutes and no employee attended to me or even acknowledged that I was there! They were however all abuzz with the drive through customers! It would appear that their planning and staffing levels are woefully inadequate! Also in the past if one had to wait for Starbucks to brew a batch of coffee the waiting customer was given the coffee at no charge! That seems to have fallen by the wayside if it ever even existed here in TX as it did in CA. Of course I would be remiss if I failed to mention the lack of interpersonal skills or attention to detail when serving customers which is just rampant! That could be the result of a generation of young people that grew up sitting in front of computer screens pushing buttons where they had a lot of input and little output! That is vastly different than the intricate and subtle dynamics of personally communicating face to face to include inferences and body language. Now, theres the poker faced employees that subtlety let you know that your interfering with something as they hurriedly take your order with no expression or emotion or joy that they have a customer, hence, a job! Did I do something wrong that the employee is so displeased that I walked in? What did I interfere with? Oh, I pulled them away from the drive through, thats it! Then theres the indifferent, Im here, but elsewhere at the same time stare! When I pose a coffee related question theres no answer...because their ears are on vacation as well...probably at a rock concert! Then theres the "I dont know anything about coffee so dont ask attitude..." At a place that only makes coffee and related drinks! Then of course theres the all but too familiar feigning ignorance when I bring up that the coffee is weak or tepid. "Trust me, its not my fault; "I put in the coffee grounds, poured in the water and pushed the button! I cant imagine what went wrong, sir!"
PE
Peter De La Cruz
The quad shot espresso over ice was good however when I walked in I waited two minutes at the register to order (there was no one in line in the cafe), two baristas working did not acknowledge me or say hello even though the drive through was not very busy (2-3 cars in que). The barista who did come out from the back of house to take my order was very friendly however. When I went to the condiment bar there was no half and half out so I went to the hand off plane to ask for some. The barista obliged but then asked me to bring him the empty carafe and put the new one out. I planned on taking the fresh carafe to the condiment bar anyway, but asking me (a customer) to do his job and bring him the empty carafe was not cool.
KA
Kat Pina
As someone who frequents this is establishment quite often, I was dismayed to experience what is the worst service ever today. I wanted to order a strawberry acai refresher with coconut milk instead of water, only to find out that they were all out of coconut milk. So I settled on the regular refresher only to be served something that was a sad excuse for the strawberry acai drink. It didnt have a single strawberry in it (like its supposed to) and the barista failed to notify me about it. I will definitely not be returning to this location anytime soon.
JE
Jeffrey Kennedy
U.S. Army Soldier here. I placed a mobile order here this morning. When I arrived at the location, in uniform, I went to the pickup area as usual. After numerous hateful glares from the employees and more than 5 minutes of absolutely no one asking what I needed, I finally spoke up and asked about my order. The reaction was like I was asking them to do pushups! There is clearly an anti-military attitude by the employees at this location. They failed miserably this morning and are permanently on my off-limits list!
LE
Leslie Rd
I have been a customer since it opened. I spend money there everyday, but for some reason I happen to get a refill through the drivethru and they pretty much were upset about giving me a coffee. They asked me to get off and come in and get it. I never use the drivethru. Once I got there the manager made one of the employees there inform me that they do not do refills through the drivethru. All that for a refill of coffee. Very petty and very bad customer service.
AL
Allie Swadick
Every time I attend this Starbucks, something goes wrong. Wether its them messing up my drink order or taking insanely long. They cannot seem to manage having a drive thru. Whereas if I go a little down the road to the Starbucks by the Academy, I can be in and out within 5-10 minutes even if there is a line. I used to come here all the time, now every time I do I regret it.
TR
Tressa Bbygurl
I come here everyday but from now on I will no longer come here the staff through the drive thru never smile at you they act like you are bothering them and I mean always mess up my order I get so discouraged to even com through the drive thru that is bad because they never get my order right so I have had enough no more starbucks for me