What's missing at the Robarts Starbucks today?

Fuck Yeah Toronto!: moranabroad: A few more Canadianisms

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:32:15 -0500

Fuck Yeah Toronto!: moranabroad: A few more Canadianisms:

More things I’ve learnt, as a British girl, from my eight months in Canada.

A huge holiday home in the country is called a cottage, even though it doesn’t have a thatched roof, and an actual cottage is called a “pioneer house”

Whether talking Bond or talking phone numbers, you wouldn’t say…

It’s even funnier if you go to Northern Ontario — a cottage is a camp, your knapsack is that thing you sling over your back to hold your books, and we don’t say ‘aboot’ but we do say ‘mooovie’, just to give a few examples.

Calculating Your Wait Time

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:28:56 -0400

The Robarts Starbucks defies all logic when compared to normal businesses that are run well, so I decided to help you out in determining how long a wait you’ll have when you arrive.

Keep in mind all this would change if they bothered to use more than one cash, but I guess workers who can handle a cash machine are in very short supply when it comes to the Robarts Starbucks.

The equation for calculating your wait time (in minutes) is:

Wait = (number of employees * 2) + 1 if the lineup exceeds one person + (number of customers ahead of using debit/credit/Starbucks cards * 3)

So, if there are 4 employees, 3 customers ahead of you, and 2 of those customers are using cards of some sort, your wait time is 4*2 + 1 + 2*3 = 15 minutes.

Notes:

-the number of customers doesn’t matter, so long as there is at least one, there will be a wait. Remember, you have to wait both for your coffee and then again to pay for your coffee. It’s like two lineups in one! Wait, it actually is two lineups.

-the more employees working, the longer the wait. I know, this doesn’t make sense, but neither does the way this Starbucks is being run. Usually, employees are tripping over each other, getting into conversations and delaying your beverage, or labouriously trying to train one another, all at the expense of your wait time. If there are more than two working, you’ll be waiting much longer

-customers ahead of you will increase your wait time if they are using some kind of card because apparently this way of paying is always problematic and time consuming for Robarts Starbucks staff

-this equation only applies to the Robarts Starbucks. Other Starbucks are run much more efficiently and you can expect good service there

So there you go! Once you arrive, you can now accurately guesstimate your wait time at the Robarts Starbucks.

Monday March 19, 2012

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:58:14 -0400

Been a while since I posted anything.

Things have indeed been better since the start of the year. But still missing - Starbucks employees who can use a cash register. Why is the only one? There could be 5 people working, a line-up out into the seating area, and still there would be only one person working cash.

So, it still stands that you order your coffee, continue to wait in line as some idiot in front of you suddenly wants to pay in the most time-intensive, sucky was possible, your coffee is RIGHT THERE and yet you must wait for it because no one’s figured out that there is actually another cash register there that could be used.

Of course, that would take some thought, and I guess thought is in short supply in a Starbucks located in a fucking university.

Thursday January 19, 2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:16:31 -0500

Wait in line, get your coffee, continue to wait in line to pay. Wait in line, get your coffee, continue to wait in line to pay. Wait in line, get your coffee, continue to wait in line to pay. Wait in line, get your coffee, continue to wait in line to pay. Wait in line, get your coffee, continue to wait in line to pay.

Rinse, repeat, marvel at the inefficiency and stupidity.

Wednesday January 18, 2012

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:17:45 -0500

Well, this year is better than last, there are coffee condiments (vanilla and chocolate), and the coffee stand seems well-stocked most times.

Of course, they still have that stupid system they force you to go through where you wait in line, someone pours your coffee, then you have to keep waiting in line, THEN you are allowed to pay.

I mean, your coffee is RIGHT THERE GETTING COLD, but no, wait some more.

It seems to me that the other non-cash people have the brainpower to be able to use a cash machine, but for some reason Robarts Starbucks either thinks they are too stupid or too untrustworthy to do allow them to serve us better.

Sad, but apparently true.

Tuesday December 20, 2011

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:18:29 -0500

OH MY GAWD THERE’S CHOCOLATE POWDER.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Monday December 12, 2011

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:36:25 -0500

No coffee condiments, but you already knew that, right?

The mouse-maze is back again, winding around the counter for no real reason. And, it’s a long wait until you’re served, no matter how many people are working behind the counter.

To top it off, once you’ve waited the long wait for your coffee, you’re handed your coffee and told to wait some more in order to pay. Is it too difficult to train someone to pour coffee and work the cash? Really?

And, after all that, no half-and-half. I guess that must be difficult to find, what with the world milk crisis* going on and all.

Another wonderful Robarts Starbucks kind of day.

*There is no world milk crisis.

Thursday October 20, 2011

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:01:02 -0400

So, they now have a lovely long maze for us mouse-customers to follow to the cash, where there may be 8 employees working but you’ll still have a hell of a wait no matter what the lineup is like.

Still no - wait for it - coffee condiments at the coffee bar which today only had whole milk and coffee cream. (On a diet? Screw you!) You’d think that with so many employees this kind of thing would never happen, but what you have to realize is that this *is* the Robarts Starbucks, after all.

Wednesday October 12, 2011

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:32:45 -0400

Asked for pumpkin loaf (‘tis the season!), got poppy seed loaf instead.

Sigh.

Tuesday October 11, 2011

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:20:00 -0400

Fresh back from the Thanksgiving weekend, let’s see where we stand with Starbucks in the Robarts library.

There are still large jars of coffee condiments behind the cash, never to make it to the coffee stand, apparently. No cane sugar, either. Guess that’s hard to find.

Wooden stir sticks make a re-appearance, now individually all wrapped in plastic, just like Laura Palmer. No lids larger than a tall, though.

Is it just me, or is it that with the new configuration, we’re waiting twice as long for service? I dread seeing more than 2 people in line now :/

Thursday September 22, 2011

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:24:00 -0400

Large jars of coffee condiments are stacked neatly on a shelf behind the cash, teasing. No coffee condiments at the coffee stand. That would make too much sense.

Also, no wooden stir sticks. Are they really that difficult to keep in stock? Really?

And the napkin dispensers require needle-nose pliers to grab a napkin. Either they aren’t loading the napkins properly, or they’re doing a great job ensuring there’s always something irksome about buying a coffee at the Robarts Starbucks.

Friday September 16, 2011

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:57:28 -0400

Battled the long lineup of students to once again sample the weird wonder that is the Robarts Starbucks.

Noticed that right behind the counter, there were large jars of coffee condiments - nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate. So, they do exist!

At the coffee stand though, no condiments, or even napkins for that matter.

I’m starting to think that staff there have major addictions to coffee condiments, and take it all home with them (or snort them at work). I mean, something has to be preventing them from sharing!

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:34:00 -0400

Mom took me to a Starbucks. Not a lame, university-based Starbucks run by some spendthrift lowest-common-denominator food services company, but a real Starbucks. One with coffee condiments and lots of everything else you might need. And gosh, that coffee she put in my baby bottle was hot, but there was enough cold milk and cream in thermoses available to cool it down so that I could drink it. I was never happier as a baby! Now, I’m sad that the only Starbucks with decent supplies and coffee is too far for me to get to in my stroller. Mom never lets me go out on my own, anyway. Too many kooks out there, she says!

Friday September 9, 2011

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:05:20 -0400

It’s a whole new Starbucks! New counter, equipment, and staff.

Sadly, still no coffee condiments. And my bold was way less than hot.

Sigh.

Tuesday September 6, 2011

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:03:00 -0400

First day of the school year… and no Starbucks in Robarts Library to fill all those new students with coffee for their long, long registration lineups. Still under construction.

Monday August 15, 2011

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:37:24 -0400

Well, the Robarts Starbucks is missing everything now - it’s closed and under construction until September.

Goodbye, ye old Starbucks, we barely knew ye.

Except that we did, and you sucked.

What Robarts Starbucks customers get. Sigh.

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:52:49 -0400

What Robarts Starbucks customers get.

Sigh.

What Starbucks customers deserve. (Starbucks at Beverley and...

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:52:09 -0400

What Starbucks customers deserve.

(Starbucks at Beverley and College, Toronto.)

Thursday July 21, 2011

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:24:39 -0400

The coffee stand was a thing of beauty today - no coffee condiments except for a huge container of cinnamon, no half-and-half (or even third-and-third-and-third, thanks Futurama), only one kind of artificial sweetener, coffee lids were mislabeled, no raw sugar, no honey, and it was all messy as hell. Sweet!

Wednesday July 6, 2011

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:58:10 -0400

Ah, after a few weeks away in Starbucks Country (read: Vancouver), I’d actually become used to full, fresh coffee stations where I could add any condiment I wanted, there was always every type of milk and cream, and service was prompt.

And now I’m back, sigh. No coffee condiments, 10% cream was empty, and I waited at least 15 minutes for the lone barista to get around to my simple coffee. Note to Robarts Starbucks manager: the university doesn’t close over the summer, and so perhaps you should staff the cafeteria and Starbucks accordingly? Just a thought.