Looking at this TikTok reminds me of something I’ve experienced a lot at work at Starbucks. Which is selling Americanos (espresso and hot water) as brewed coffee. I believe this would count as fraud, however officially we are not supposed to do it. A lot of the time this happens is because all the Starbucks I’ve worked at, six so far, are terrible at managing their floor (I don’t know how much to actually blame not being given enough labor, their are times when their is clearly excess labor yet they still do a poor job of keeping things running), so when it comes to keeping up with brewing fresh coffee they almost always run out during peak hours.
The solution? Just give them an Americano which tastes similar to the brewed coffee they expected. Why? It’s quicker to have two shots of espresso come out of the espresso machine and put hot water on it then it is to brew fresh coffee. What disturbs me is how commonplace and how indifferent people are to it. My brother works at the Starbucks that apparently has some of the best operations in the district and he has gotten lectured before on somewhat small things when making a drink like making sure a tea is shaken, yet when it comes to brewed coffee they show indifference. They even joke about it over the headset about how they are about to “Americano” somebody. My brother pointed out this hypocrisy and the supervisor just broke down and said he’s mean.
This happens in part because of the need to keep the flow of customers going and reducing their wait times but instead of looking for actual solutions they just lie.
Checking the Starbucks menu a grande americano has 225mg of caffeine and a grande pike has 310mg of caffeine. Not only do you get a different tasting cup of coffee, you get less caffeine then you expected.
I believe this happens more often than not. All the stores I’ve worked at do it. Whenever we get people from other stores working at our store, if they see we are out of coffee they immediately make an Americano. If you ask any Starbuck worker if they gave you brewed coffee or an Americano they’ll say it’s brewed coffee, however if you’re going during peak hours the chances they’re lying to you and giving you an Americano is quite high.