Two British branches of Starbucks were given a two-star hygiene review by the Food Safety Agency as customers complained of “lazy” staff, “filthy” tables and “upset stomachs”
A struggling two UK Starbucks branches have been slapped with two-star hygiene reviews by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Customers have slammed “filthy” tables, lazy staff and complaining of “upset stomachs”.
The under-fire chains of the ever-present coffee brand are; the airside café in Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the coffee house on Coney Street in York.
The FSA evaluates eateries under three categories – hygienic food handling, cleanliness and condition of facilities and management of food safety. The airport Starbucks was given “very good” on food handling, “improvement necessary” on cleanliness and “generally satisfactory” on food safety.
The York branch needed “improvement” on food handling, cleanliness was “very good” and food safety was deemed “good” by the agency. Despite the low rating from the FSA, the reviews from the public were much better – 4.6 out of 5 stars for the Liverpool Airport Starbucks and 3.8 for the York outlet.
In some of the less favourable Google reviews, customers were especially critical of staff — with one person concerns they may have to check the pulse of their slow-moving barista – and dirty tables. A Google review of the airport Starbucks read: “Needed to charge my phone so I got a cup of tea.
“The staff were too busy slagging each other off to serve me so that was a long wait. The tables and floor were filthy, the milk for the tea had turned and the plug sockets were turned off so I couldn’t charge my phone.”
Starbucks responded: “We apologize for your poor experience at our establishment. Our team is working on improving service quality and cleanliness. Please give us another chance to impress you. Thank you for your feedback.”
Another customer said of the airside branch: “7am, 2 very bored staff, thought I’d need to check her pulse, service was that slow, unfriendly, unacceptable.”
Starbucks responded: “We sincerely apologize for your poor experience, and we will be addressing this with our staff. We always strive to provide friendly and efficient service, and we appreciate your feedback. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
A third wrote: “You’ll be lucky if you find a clean table”. Starbucks responded: “We apologize for any inconvenience and will ensure our tables are regularly cleaned. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
The reviews of the York coffee house were similar in their criticism of staff, with one reading: “The worst flat white I’ve ever been served. Off-hand service too by disinterested staff. Not sure what’s wrong in this shop, but it needs fixing!
“Oh, and they didn’t have the tea my wife wanted. Tables not cleared or cleaned, floor dirty.”
Another said: “The staff don’t know what they’re doing and hardly anything food wise was on offer and shelves nearly empty after our last visit my friend and me, who may I add have often visited had toasties and coffee and ended up with very upset stomachs, this place needs a total overhaul, after sitting there we realised how the tables weren’t cleared, the floors were filthy & the toilets dirty too.
“If it’s not given a huge overhaul, they’ll lose any custom at this rate. We won’t be returning.”
A third wrote: “This Starbucks experience surprised me a lot! I asked for light ice but the ice level was even more than half of the cup. Wonder how they trained the black apron lady to make the drink.”
A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The health and safety of our customers and partners (employees) is always our top priority. Where we fall short of our high standards, such as in the case of these two ratings from 2024 and 2023, we take action to address these issues.
“Since the inspection in May 2023, the John Lennon airport store has been completely renovated.”
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