TikTok Is Arguing About This Starbucks Barista's 'Hack Refusal'

A Starbucks barista is attracting a lot of criticism on TikTok for mocking a customer who tried using a simple trick to save money at the coffee shop. Per The Daily Dot, many viewers are upset with the barista and believe that her behavior was uncalled for.

Let's be honest: there are many resources on the internet that guide consumers on the best ways to save money while eating or drinking at Starbucks. For example, a Redditor shared a clever suggestion in a post from seven years ago: "Purchase one of the reusable Starbucks cups for a $1 (it's grande size). When you order drip coffee ask for a 'tall, no room for cream' and they usually top it off, or close to it....giving you a grande for the price of a tall." This trick can help a customer save 0.35 cents for every cup of coffee at the shop. However, the Starbucks barista who was called out in the TikTok video clip clearly disagrees: she even posted a sarcastic caption that read, "YES I'm petty."

The barista, who identifies herself as Arri and uses the handle @thebrattylibra, took to TikTok to express her frustration in a video clip that showed coffee being poured in a cup filled with ice cubes and milk. She added overlaying text that read, "POV: you ordered espresso over ice with milk, expecting me to fill it to the top but instead I tell you anything over 4oz is a latte." The video has attracted attention from many TikTok users and has already received more than 323,000 views, with many people lashing out at the barista for her attitude towards the customer.

One commenter wrote, "People care too much about their work as if corporate America cares for them," while someone else asked the barista, "Is it coming out of your paycheck or something?" Arri didn't hesitate to defend herself and wrote, "Literally a joke. I love my job. Period. As well as it's a known rule to make a drink as written on the cup. Period. Thanks for the lovely debate tho."

However, someone did take Arri's side and wrote that if they fill a drink that's technically meant to be a small amount of liquid up "all the way, the customer gets mad...there's no winning." Someone else took a similar stance and said that "this is how the drink is supposed to be made" and that the barista was simply doing their job.