Starbucks baristas are confused about receiving orders for waterless Frappuccinos and iceless Americanos via the coffee chain's app.
Current and former baristas told Insider that unusual mobile orders could cause headaches and lead to customers getting angry.
The baristas said weird mobile orders posed problems because they couldn't ask customers questions about what they actually wanted before they arrived at the store to collect their drinks. The baristas who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that in some cases they had to give customers refunds or alternative drinks.
The barista in Minneapolis said that some mobile orders couldn't be made until the customer got to the store.
Some of the customization options that baristas described weren't included in the latest version of Starbucks' US iPhone app.
The Starbucks experience will always include custom beverages and baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage.
Most customizations are reasonable requests from customers, and 75% of Starbucks beverages have fewer than three unique modifications.
One Frappuccino, hold the ice.
Customers had ordered iceless Frappuccinos on the Starbucks app.
The shift supervisor in Tennessee said that ice is an "integral" part of the drink. The Starbucks app should not allow that.
The "no ice" option was once available on the company's US app. This was not an option as of Friday. Insider found that customers could still order iceless Frappuccinos on the UK app.
The Starbucks UK app allows customers to order iceless Frappuccinos and waterless Americanos.
Grace Dean is an Insider.
A former barista in British Columbia, Canada, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she may return to work at Starbucks, said her store used to get at least three orders a day for iceless Frappuccinos.
Some baristas thought that customers were opting for Frappuccinos without ice.
"They didn't know what they were ordering," Kelly said.
Customers in the UK can choose how much ice they want. "No ice" is an option.
Grace Dean is an Insider.
Gary Ladewig, a former shift supervisor in Illinois, said he thought some customers had made a mistake. The former barista said she thought they were ordered by children.
Some customers told Ladewig and the former British Columbia barista that they bought iceless Frappuccinos to drink at home.
One Americano is holding the water.
Six former Starbucks employees in the US said they received mobile orders for Americanos with no water. A former barista in Canada and a former shift supervisor in the UK said they were asked to make waterless Americanos.
The "no water" option is no longer available on the company's US app, according to the baristas. Insider found that customers can still order waterless Americanos on the UK app.
Customers in the UK can choose how much water they want. "No water" is an option.
Grace Dean is an Insider.
Customers who ordered waterless Americanos would add milk from the self-serve station if they didn't want to pay full price, according to Preston.
Customers can order waterless Americanos with the Starbucks UK app.
Grace Dean is an Insider.
Nicholas Anderson, a former barista in Atlanta, said that customers often don't understand what a drink is made out of and so they might select 'Americano with no water' and then get angry when you hand them a cup of just espresso. It's always better to not make the drink.
Iced tea can be ordered without ice or water.
Grace Dean is an Insider.
Cup sizes that don't match drinks have excessive modifications.
Some baristas said customers had placed mobile orders.
The Tennessee shift supervisor said it was funny.
Starbucks uses cold foam. The Tennessee shift supervisor said that customers get in a little fit with him about cold foam being used on hot drinks.
The Starbucks US app still allows customers to order drinks with cup sizes that don't reflect the size of their drink.
Some customers ordered drinks in smaller cups, which Babin thought was so they could add more milk or cream, but she didn't understand. She would serve the drink in a cup that matched the size of the drink, but would also give the customer a cup in the size they requested.
Some baristas said that they couldn't fit the drinks into one cup because of the many modifications customers had asked for. A barista called these drinks "kitchen soup Frappuccinos".
The shift supervisor in Tennessee said that a customer ordered a Frappuccino with 10 shots of espresso and it melted the ice.
Some customers in Maryland added modifications just because they were there.
They said that people can make drink combinations that aren't intuitive but also don't make sense.
Some in-store customers had weird requests, like asking for cake pops, brownies, and even egg bites to be blended into drinks.
Do you work at Starbucks? Do you have a story to tell? Please email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.
