On Campus Starbucks Fixes Espresso Machines

Photo by Georgina America

“We Proudly Serve” Starbucks at Belmont has been having technical difficulties serving coffee as finals season approaches, causing frustration for both students and employees. 

“I just got my test back in my previous class, and I got an A on it. I wanted to come down and get my caramel macchiato, and I couldn’t so I just left. I was disappointed the rest of the day,” said Belmont freshman Sydney Matthews 

The on-campus Starbucks began serving only select drinks on the menu before Thanksgiving break. 

At first, it seemed that the issue was having low stock in key drink ingredients such as espresso or syrups. 

But on Nov. 18, written and typed signs were put up at the counter letting customers know that the espresso machines were having issues.  

“I don’t know how as a coffee company, you can’t serve espresso,” said freshman Reese Nagy. 

An employee working the cash register announced to students on Monday that it would be a better idea to not wait in line if they were in a hurry because they only had one working espresso machine. 

“The machines were broken, and a lot of the drinks that the students want have espresso in them, so we couldn’t serve them,” said a “We Proudly Serve” Starbucks employee who has chosen to remain anonymous. 

Coffee is in high demand for college students, especially as finals begin rolling around.  

The line for Starbucks stretches to the door at various times of the day between classes, and with so many people crowded in the same space, the posted signs can be easy to miss. 

“We can only hand-write signs. We can’t always tell every single customer, and sometimes they just won’t look at the signs,” said another Starbucks employee who has chosen to remain anonymous. 

With both employees and students out of luck in this situation, Belmont auxiliary services stepped in as quickly as they could to resolve the issue. 

However, it seems to have gotten worse. 

“We got it fixed this past Monday, but the machines ended up being worse than before,” said a Starbucks employee. 

The two espresso machines at Starbucks are less than 2 years old. 

Chuck Couture, resident district manager for auxiliary services at Sodexo said that there are no current plans to replace them since they are relatively new. 

As of Wednesday, the issue seems to be resolved with both machines up and running to speed. 

“We will continue to monitor their performance to ensure consistent service, especially during peak times like finals season,” said Couture. 

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This article was written by Georgina America