Calling corporate

[traag]

Hiya. I wanted to ask a quick question concerning homeless people. There used to be two that would come by, but there were claims that the male was stealing tips, so everyone was told to automatically call the police when he entered the store. The female came by one time, apparently, and the store manager automatically called the police even though

Comments

[silja]

Did they buy anything? If not, they are not customers and should not be in the store. I might make an exception on a very hot/ cold day, as long as it is quiet, but otherwise, store and store resources (seats, newspapers etc) are for customers only.

[traag]

ugh. fuck this mentality.

i can't say for sure. she wanted to buy something the first time i talked with her, but we ended up talking for a long time, so when i reminded her, she decided not to. I wasn't on shift the day the police were called so i'd have to ask if she paid for something.

i don't see what is wrong with her being there when she isn't threatening. and i certainly don't understand why someone would call the police when she exhibits no hostility. neither of them exhibit it, actually. they are asked to leave, they leave.

edit: guess this is answer enough.

[bear_woman]

Because Starbucks is a private business, and Starbucks corporate doesn't want people in corporate stores who are not paying customers.

You may not agree with it, but it's best to go with the grain on this one, especially if it's manager's orders. Calling the police does seem extreme to me, though; usually a simple, "This is for paying customers, I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave unless you're purchasing something" has sufficed for me in the past.

[dorkcore]

Where have you read that Starbucks does not want people in the store who is not a paying customer?

I only ask because I have a feeling that if a non-homeless person was in the store, just reading or waiting out a storm, there would probably be a different mentality.

[dorkcore]

I used to work in a downtown district and someone from another store asked what they should do in this situation. Our DM said that if they weren't bothering anyone, to leave them alone, which I was so happy to hear.

Her reasons were: they're human beings, we wouldn't kick out people who were not obviously homeless if they were just sitting in the store, and how it is perceived to other customers when we ask someone to leave because they're homeless.

I really firmly believe that it contradicts our company's mission statement in a multitude of ways to blatantly discriminate against someone because they are homeless. They may not be able to afford a coffee in that moment but might the next day. Furthermore, when they are back on their feet they WILL remember how our partners treated them and may not frequent our stores.

If you feel like they are being targeted unfairly, reach out to your DM or corporate.

[traag]

Ugh, thank you. I feel they are being treated unfairly, but I think that the DM will side with the SM. I'm going to call corporate about it later today.

[scrat_squirrel]

We have plenty of homeless, or seemingly homeless folks come in. Some do just come in the use the bathroom, which I absolutely loathe. Likewise, I hate the fact a 'normal' person not purchasing food/drink does it to, but there's not a lot that can be done about it. On the other hand, quite a few of them do buy something, so then what can we do? I mean, if it gets bad then you can do something - we had a guy last year who was sort of homeless (lived in a housing thing to help people get off the streets) and he would invite a bunch of people up with him, and they would try to swindle free re-fills off of us. The problem is that some would buy stuff, but some wouldn't. We later called security because they would steal shakers, drink alcohol in the cafe & were generally rude. Thankfully none of them come over anymore. The main guy does still come in, but he's nothing but friendly and does buy stuff

[traag]

I've no idea if the store has CCTV. But it was the male that supposedly stole from the tip jar. Neither of the homeless people take drugs. Well, the male might be an alcoholic, but he doesn't come up in the store inebriated, causing scenes. The female says she preaches the word of her good lord on the streets. I feel awful for her because she left a book in the store and she might not come back after the incident two night ago.