What prompts someone to act like this? (Stealing someone else's Starbucks order)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I'm honestly just fascinated by what it takes for someone to get to the point where they're willing to do this.

A couple days ago, I was picking up a mobile order for DH, DD, and me. We were on our way to DD's practice on a Saturday morning and DD and DH were waiting in the car while I ran into Starbucks.

Anyway, the barista went to hand me a bag with a bagel and cream cheese in it. The barista called out my name and I went to take it. Before I could grab it, a woman literally took it from right in front of me and said, "This is mine now. I've been waiting." Then she walked straight out with the bagel and cream cheese.

The barista, a few others who saw it, and I were incredulous. The barista made me another bagel and I went on my way, but I remain just amazed at how someone can do that. I'm not really upset by it, more just flummoxed.

What has to happen in someone's life to lead them to the point where they're willing to literally grab someone's order and walk out with it?

Describe her

[Anonymous]

One of the craziest things about all the rich people insisting on living in the same neighborhoods is that you have great amenities but they’re always too crowded. Bethesda Ave on a nice weekend day is like being in Manhattan except you have to park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you did a mobile order by name how did the person waiting know what you had? Or did she just grab a stranger’s random bag of food hoping she’d get something she liked?

I smell a troll.

OP here. I promise this happened. The barista calls out the orders by saying what you ordered and then your name. So he said, "bagel with cream cheese for larla!"

So you ordered 1 bagel and cream cheese for you, DH, and DD to share and no coffee drinks from a Starbucks?

Yeah, the other person may have been checked out, heard her order, grabbed it and left, and didn't think too much about it because she had been waiting long before you were there. I have almost down this myself, and now prefer places that have a different pickup location for the mobile orders so there is less confusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you did a mobile order by name how did the person waiting know what you had? Or did she just grab a stranger’s random bag of food hoping she’d get something she liked?

I smell a troll.

OP here. I promise this happened. The barista calls out the orders by saying what you ordered and then your name. So he said, "bagel with cream cheese for larla!"

So you ordered 1 bagel and cream cheese for you, DH, and DD to share and no coffee drinks from a Starbucks?

Yeah, the other person may have been checked out, heard her order, grabbed it and left, and didn't think too much about it because she had been waiting long before you were there. I have almost down this myself, and now prefer places that have a different pickup location for the mobile orders so there is less confusion.

We had a coffee each for DH and me, and a bagel and cream cheese for DD.

The barista clearly said "bagel and cream cheese for larla!" I said, "oh that's mine" and went to grab it. She said, "it's mine now. i was waiting."

To the person who said to describe her: middle aged white woman.

[Anonymous]

Don’t really feel like she was that wrong.

If you just strolled in the door and she has been waiting for the same thing for a long time, why wasn’t she given the food instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t really feel like she was that wrong.

If you just strolled in the door and she has been waiting for the same thing for a long time, why wasn’t she given the food instead?

We found the culprit OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t really feel like she was that wrong.

If you just strolled in the door and she has been waiting for the same thing for a long time, why wasn’t she given the food instead?

The problem is that the people waiting in the store do not know when mobile orders were placed. It could be that the OP’s order was placed before the woman entered the Starbucks at all.

While I’m sure the woman was frustrated at having to wait for a bagel, there is no way it was acceptable for her to simply take someone else’s food, with their name on it. The OP had nothing to do with the time it takes the Starbucks people to toast a bagel.

[Anonymous]

I’d be mildly annoyed by the inconvenience and mildly amused/impressed by the ballsiness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t really feel like she was that wrong.

If you just strolled in the door and she has been waiting for the same thing for a long time, why wasn’t she given the food instead?

The problem is that the people waiting in the store do not know when mobile orders were placed. It could be that the OP’s order was placed before the woman entered the Starbucks at all.

While I’m sure the woman was frustrated at having to wait for a bagel, there is no way it was acceptable for her to simply take someone else’s food, with their name on it. The OP had nothing to do with the time it takes the Starbucks people to toast a bagel.

This should be self evident to the first PP. Goodness.

[Anonymous]

I use the app then pick up at drive-thru (if there isn't a long line). Last week at drive thru they said someone swiped my drink from the inside counter, so they had to make another. Seems there should be an option to tap on the mobile order that you plan to use drive-thru to prevent them from setting out your drink/food.

[Anonymous]

Stealing a mobile app order is too easy. Even if you get caught, the crook could just feign it's an accident. I bet this is an epidemic at certain locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stealing a mobile app order is too easy. Even if you get caught, the crook could just feign it's an accident. I bet this is an epidemic at certain locations.

Some NYC locations don't put the mobile orders out. You have to ask for them. I'm sure it's because otherwise tons of them would just get swiped.

[Anonymous]

I have stolen an order before. My name is Kristen. There are a lot of people named Kristen, Kirsten, or Krista. I thought the order was fast, but didn’t think much of it. I don’t go to Starbucks a lot, and didn’t notice it wasn’t my order until I had drank a few sips of it. And then I was embarrassed and decided to just go.

I will say that the other Kristen apparently goes to Starbucks a lot and ordered something much better than what I had gotten, and it’s become my new order.

So, Kristen, Kirsten, Krista, or Kristina, I am sorry I stole your order that day. And thank you for introducing me to a new drink. If we ever meet again, I owe you one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never do this myself, and I would react in much the same way as the OP.

I DO understand the motivation. The Starbucks mobile ordering system has made in-store ordering a sh*tshow. When transacting as a walk-up customer I’ve waited as long as 15 minutes for my order to come out. With time spent in line, I can wait around longer than I spend consuming my food. I think this customer was trying to express to the employees that they aren’t doing a good job of balancing the onslaught of mobile orders against the people who are right in front of them. However, most rational people understand that’s a corporate policy, staffing, and technology issue, not a choice the baristas are making.

I don't condone the behavior of this particular customer but I do notice daily how online orders are affecting service at various places. For example, I now wait a lot longer at Chopt for a salad than I used to but that has made me basically stop going there as much as I used to. It's just another element of the downfall of everything ... we strive to improve yet it often backfires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never do this myself, and I would react in much the same way as the OP.

I DO understand the motivation. The Starbucks mobile ordering system has made in-store ordering a sh*tshow. When transacting as a walk-up customer I’ve waited as long as 15 minutes for my order to come out. With time spent in line, I can wait around longer than I spend consuming my food. I think this customer was trying to express to the employees that they aren’t doing a good job of balancing the onslaught of mobile orders against the people who are right in front of them. However, most rational people understand that’s a corporate policy, staffing, and technology issue, not a choice the baristas are making.

I don't condone the behavior of this particular customer but I do notice daily how online orders are affecting service at various places. For example, I now wait a lot longer at Chopt for a salad than I used to but that has made me basically stop going there as much as I used to. It's just another element of the downfall of everything ... we strive to improve yet it often backfires.

+1

Agree. I do think that if a customer is standing right there, in line, they should not be made to wait while a slew of online orders are processed. There are many reasons people don't order on line, and an unpredictable ETA is one of them. OP, that woman thought she was entitled to the next one order that she thought was similar to hers - but I am guessing she would not have done it to someone else (ie: a man).