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Former Starbucks barista sparks backlash after claiming he purposely gave some customers decaffeinated coffee
‘That sounds like you shouldn’t have had your job,’ one viewer wrote
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Your support makes all the difference.A man who claims to be a former Starbucks barista has sparked backlash on TikTok after alleging that he used to give customers decaffeinated coffee when they asked for regular.
On Tuesday, the TikTok user, who goes by the username @dolltin on the app, where he has more than 38,000 followers, created the TikTok in response to another user, who claimed that she gives “rude customers decaf espresso to start their day”.
“It’s 100 per cent true,” @dolltin said in the video. “I worked at Starbucks for two years, I decafed so many rude people.
“I would decaf people just if I felt like it.”
The former Starbucks employee then went on to share an example of when he would give a customer decaf, such as if a customer ordered a croissant and ordered it using the French pronunciation.
The video, which has been viewed more than 2.9m times, has been met with mixed reactions on the app, with many expressing their discomfort with the user’s claims.
“As someone who needs caffeine for medical issues, this kinda makes me feel icky,” one person commented. “Like f**k those rude people but uhhh.”
Another person said: “Or you could just do your job? I work in food retail and get awful people but I still do my job, you never know what someone is going through.”
“Don’t work in restaurants if you are going to mess with people’s food,” someone else said.
The video also prompted concerned responses from viewers, with some pointing out the potential dangers of not giving someone exactly what they ordered.
However, in response to one viewer’s question about whether he ever gave people caffeine when they asked for decaf, @dolltin said: “No, the only ‘bad’ thing that will ever happen to any drink is decaf. That’d be a little more than a prank.”
In follow-up TikToks, @dolltin continued to defend himself against the backlash, revealing that he wouldn’t just give decaf to “anybody,” but that he would do it “randomly” if he could “tell you were sh**y”.
“Last response because some of you are genuinely upset. How easy is your life that this is what upsets you?” he said in one follow-up video. “Calm down, sweetheart. But I wouldn’t just decaf anybody. Yeah, I would do it like randomly, if I could tell you were sh**ty. If you were a sh**ty person, yeah, you’re getting decafed.
“But if you were genuinely a nice person and you come into a restaurant, any establishment, Starbucks included, you have nothing to worry about, you are going to get what you asked for, because you’re a nice person.”
In another video, the TikTok user appeared to suggest his original claim was a “joke,” telling his followers: “So for anybody new here today, I do comedy. I make jokes. Not controversial jokes. So why is everybody mad about a joke about Starbucks?”
The Independent has contacted @dolltin for comment.
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