Starbucks: Over rated, Bad service, Worst coffee ever!
 

We Went to Starbucks in Rotorua, New Zealand. Went to order coffee - 2x Flat Whites to have there - and I was asked to give my name then handed a table number display sign. I thought asking for my name was a nice gesture, friendly and welcoming. I was Wrong! We sat at their tables outside and waited for our coffees. Then I heard the shouting; "ROSE" , "ROSE"
My husband said " they're calling you" I went inside.
"Coffee's ready!" that was it, the extent of our 'conversation' - And I had to fetch it outside myself. So - Most Expensive, Most Over-rated, Most Horrendous Coffee - ever! Rose

WEll, you haven't mentioned anything about the taste or etc of the coffee. the experience you had, was just poor customer service, nothing else. If anything, they need to work on their people skills. You can have a big and genius brain but unless you know how to "Talk" to people, you're getting nowhere. that's the case with them. They have the best product, but just didn't pay attention to "HOW" to present it to the customer for a good impression.

"They have the best product"

You're kidding, correct? :-)

Starbucks coffee is absolute rubbish. As someone who lived in the U.S. for 25+ years but now lives in Melbourne, I can assure you that Starbucks (and Americans in general) have absolutely no idea what coffee is supposed to taste like. Apart from the weird flavours (or flavors), who needs all that pretentious claptrap about 'tall', 'grande', 'venti' - if you're going to have different sizes, what's wrong with small, medium and large?

OK, I'm a coffee snob. Come to Melbourne and you'll find that, after footy (that's Australian Rules Football, not that stop-start version played in the U.S. or that other game with a round ball), coffee is the number 2 religion - and taken very, very seriously. No self-respecting Melburnian would be caught dead in a Starbucks. I can't speak for the quality of the coffee in Rotorua and it may be that Starbucks is as good as it gets, I don't know. Whenever we're in the U.S. and end up in a Starbucks (where else is there?) and ask for an extra couple of shots (in the vain hope that it might make it taste better than the weak and watery coffee you get otherwise), they look at us as if we've got two heads. Perhaps we have .... I guess too much good coffee does that to you.... :-)

HAHHAHA,, TT7 really enjoyed your reply, it's more than what I could say. however, I haven't had Starbucks in US or Aus. I tried one in Dubai though. that was fine. however, what I can say is that the product and it's marketing are two different aspects. you can sell crap at very high rates if you have the right marketing techniques, that's what Starbucks is all about I guess....!!!

oops sorry you are right Mohsinmalik1 - I forgot to talk about the crap coffee I was given. At the very expensive price of almost $5.00 per cup - 0.50c more than any other cafe charged.
Does crap coffee need explanation..? I think not.
TT7 you are right and far more polite about the coffee. Haha, Extra shots to rescue the coffee - not a chance unless those shots come from a double barrelled gun...

The only time we visit a Starbucks is when we are in the US, and then just because it is familar and they serve hot tea!!. We live in NZ and never have coffee at a Starbucks here. Weird I know.

nelsonian, not weird at all. We have starbucks, costa, and all the rest here [Cornwall, UK] and i never drink their coffee either.

nor did we patronise a Starbucks in NZ or OZ on our recent visit.

Rose - do you normally patronise Starbucks when you are at home? no? then why go there when you're on holiday? IME NZ is full of independently run cafes serving excellent coffee, tea, and serving lots of home made cakes and other goodies. Virtually any one of those would probably have been an improvement on a chain.

It seems RoseHala has left the building. Fodors, anyway. I was curious as to whether she had joined to post this curious rant & the "page not found" message popped up.

Starbucks' fast retreat from Australia & the abundance of independent coffee bars both side of the ditch underline the Aussies & Kiiwi preference for authentic Italian style coffee.

With so many better options available, I could only imagine Rose went to Starbucks to use their loo & felt obliged to buy something in return.

Sounds like she got her coffee in the loo.

I've been to that Starbucks in Rotorua a few times and it is, indeed, crap. I always swear never to go back again but when we're on our school trip there it makes a convenient meeting place for the kids.
When we were in the US we drank lots of Starbucks - no better, no worse than any of the dreadful coffee there but like tt7, I wouldn't dream of entering one here in Oz. Funny the things we do on holidays!