Starbucks deserves to fail - rant.

[Globalti]

Had the misfortune to end up in Starbucks in St Mary's Square in Manchester today - what a filthy place! The stairs and the floor were covered in filth, this wasn't just today's dirt this was long-term encrusted grime. The toilets were gopping.

Places like this have ditched their cleaning contracts to save money and are relying on unwilling and untrained staff to clean the place, with the predictable result. We had a huge barney with the management of Pizza Express about 8 months ago over the filthy state of their restaurant in central Manchester. They sent us a free meal ticket, which we threw away.

Then the drinks - the Starbucks menu give three sizes and even the smallest, a "tall" coffee is too much. When I moaned that I didn't want that much and why didn't they do a smaller size the cashier showed me a "short" mug, which isn't advertised.

Hope they go bust soon.

 

[Fnaar]

I rarely go in these places, but had a "regular" coffee in a Costa the other day... it was like a bucket, I tell you!

 

[TVC]

Macky D for the middle classes - I never bother with them.

 

[BearPear]

Starbucks will never go bust, IMHO. Our local branches are fine (one in a renovated Victorian building with a Waterstones on-site, bliss!). The place is clean and the staff are lovely & friendly.
I agree that the sizes can be a bit much, but you can always take out what you don't drink in store. I prefer their coffee over Costa, but I also like Cafe Nero.

When they can sustain a shop literally on every street corner in NYC, and they are still in private hands, I think they will be safe for some time to come.

Having said that, there is no excuse for filth in a foodstore and I can understand why you would never want to set foot there again.

 

[02GF74]

What is wrong with filth? Don't lick the stairs or touch them with your hand and you'll be fine.

I never go to those places so have no idea how dirty they are.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

And why do they heat the coffee to million degrees C?

 

[Greedo]

They are all franchises and therefore ran differently.

Any ones I've been in have been fine. Clean and tidy. Nothing wrong with them IMO if you fancy a quick coffee.

The thing that amuses me though is the folk who buy the huge pint size coffee. They would be the first ones to say WTF if you made them a coffee in the office and gave them it to them in a container that size.

Anyway, all this talk of pints!!! I'm away out to guzzle plenty of the alcoholic kind

 

[Over The Hill]

You are never that far from a proper cafe (without the ') or a hotel that will serve you coffee and treat you like royalty. One is half the price the other is double the service!

 

[automatic_jon]

I don't much care for the atmosphere but the (filter) coffee is reasonably priced if you know what to ask for, a 'tall' filter coffee is about a pound and a half and you can get free refills. I'm not sure how many you're entitled to but the more I flit with the girl behind the till, the more I seem to get. I tend to sit in there and work until my laptop battery runs out as they don't have wifi in out local one here so there are less distractions than at home.

Hang on, speaking of distractions, I should be working now...

 

[amnesia]

A branch opened near where I work recently... their skinny caramel machiatos are awesome.

It's also very clean, pleasant, and has free wifi

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Starbucks isn't a coffee shop, it's a place for overgrown kids who like vaguely-coffee flavoured milkshakes...

 

[Globalti]

Correct as well.

 

[Over The Hill]

A branch opened near where I work recently... their skinny caramel machiatos are awesome.

As I had no idea what a "skinny caramel machiatos" was I looked it up. Starbucks describe it as-
"Foamed milk marked with espresso and vanilla, then topped with a distinctive caramel pattern. Sweet, buttery and intense."

You know that feeling at easter when you have eaten about five easter eggs... Well it came flooding back to me after 30 years!
Is is me or is a cup of coffee made with milk and loaded up with vanilla and caramel just a wee bit sickly.
Does anyone else really fancy a drink described as "Buttery".

 

[Simba]

I don't like starbucks, if I were to go any of these coffee shops it would be cafe nero.

 

[hackbike 666]

I rarely go in these places, but had a "regular" coffee in a Costa the other day... it was like a bucket, I tell you!

Never been in one in England as far as I remember but have in Thailand and Hong Kong.