Starbucks in South Tyneside

Every single time I come here there’s an issue. They don’t have this, they don’t have that, they can’t make this, they can’t make that etc etc. and it’s not even complicated orders, I go to the SB at Cineworld Boldon and there’s never any issues which is ironic as they’re just a franchise. Most of the staff at Sima are lazy, lack people skills and are pretty poor at making the drinks as numerous times they serve a watery, milky mess. More times than not my order is wrong and this time I wasn’t offered a replacement, bearing in mind the price of the drinks. One time I asked for oat milk in my coffee but was served semi-skimmed? They don’t even sound the same - purely a result of bad listening skills. There’s a reason it’s rated so low.

I visit here via the drive thru at least 4 times a week I really like the coffee and the staff are always friendly I sometimes sit in with friends and find it a nice venue with good opening hours to suit. I was taken a back to see this only has an average of 1.5 stars It appears to be that those minority with issues are leaving reviews and the thousands that love it and are regulars aren’t so I thought I’d try and balance it up as the stars are certainly not a reflection of my experiences and I am very fussy!

First time visiting. There was only a handful of people in. After I ordered a tea🫖 & coffee ☕️, I was surprised how expensive it was £6.90. We were told to take a seat and they will call when it was ready. After a while we heard a staff member mumble something and walked away. My partner decided to have a look on the counter and our drinks were there. The tea was very milky (partner doesn’t like loads of milk in, it would be much better if the milk was put separate, like other coffee chains.) I also think the drinks could of been served on a tray instead of just picking them up. In fact after being told to sit down I think staff could of brought them over to us. To be honest we would have enjoyed a tea and coffee along the road in McDonalds, hotter drinks, tea as you’d like it and a heck of a lot cheaper. £2.38. Also better service ☹️ Unfortunately we don’t think we’ll bother returning.

Shocking customer service, I went in to collect a "Too good to go" bag that cost me £5.50 to he rudely told I wasn't able to collect it as they had to see the app (On my other phone I didn't have with me) Even though I had all the details and reference numbers on the phone I had with me, THIS IS FOOD IVE PAID FOR THAT IS GOING TO GO IN THE BIN ANYWAY!!!!The rude staff member didn't even look at my phone nor did she bother to even look at me as she continued cleaning. Avoid like the plague. Not the first review on here about rude staff.

I often grab a treat when I can - being a new Mum o. Maternity leave, I often like a lovely coffee. Today, I wanted a caramel coffee frappuccino and got a mushy coffee with no caramel at all and no cream. Not the first time Simonside Starbucks has disappointed. They often get my drinks wrong. I think I'll stick to other Starbucks franchises and if I want a drive through drink, there's always Costa!!

Went for couple of drinks and had a terrible experience, with a member of thier staff especially overhearing him calling my mother in law a KAREN and we all know what this means, only because she wasn't too keen on her drink, im sure the man is a supervisor and his name was JOE absolutely terrible customer service and terrible manners towards customers, shocking how starbuck allow this to happen, they should train their staff on proper customer service and to treat everyone as equals and always treat customers with kindness and respect. This type of behaviour needs to be replaced with someone that actually treats people fairly and respect all customers. This was at simonside starbucks

First time Trying this Starbucks was a bit hesitant after reading some of the reviews,but had everything we wanted got served quickly,four members of staff ,friendly staff.Sat inside place was clean and nicely laid out.Did seem a bit more expensive than other Starbucks though.

Friendly (well trained) staff and a reasonable selection of food and drinks. Coffee taste isnt very consistent from visit to visit or even close. Not sure if thats drastically different blends or different baristas not following procedure to the letter. Biggest gripe is the massive prices. As good as it "could" be it still isnt worth the price, not by a long shot. The pastries just arent good enough for the prices charged, very very ordinary. Typical franchise prices are keeping customers away in droves. Push the quality up and the prices down and watch the profits soar.

Visit every wk and the manager is lovely, always helpful, he goes out of his way . Even having to deal with a large group of ladies after our keep fit sessions he looks after us all .

I had my newborn baby with me this morning, after taking him to his first sensory class. It was my first time out with him on my own that early in the day so I was stressed and didn’t have time to have any breakfast/my morning coffee. I thought I’d treat myself and nip to the Starbucks drive-thru after his class hoping to get a vegan sandwich and a decaf iced mocha. Unfortunately they didn’t have the sandwich I wanted but also the lady on the speaker system couldn’t hear me despite me raising my voice. I shouted “decaf iced mocha” a couple of times and she asked me to drive round to the window. When there she asked “iced mocha?” and I said “yes, a decaf one please”. I noticed her face change and then she turned to speak with her colleague. I only slightly heard their voices as they were talking quietly but I could see the colleague vigorously shaking her head in a “no” motion so I knew she was confirming whether the drink she was making was decaf or not. After paying, the colleague making the drink handed it to me. When I grabbed it, I realised that she had purposely left the lid on loosely so naturally when I took it from her it spilled all over me and the inside of my car. I knew it was on purpose because not only did she clearly have an attitude problem, she was quick to move away from the window and act like nothing happened. In my defence I shouted “you could have put the lid on properly!!” knowing she’d hear but she blatantly ignored me. So I’d just like to say thank you to the rude woman for staining my light grey trousers, dirtying my car and ruining my day. If I didn’t have a newborn in the car I’d have went inside and complained to her face. Even if it was an accident, she could have apologised and handed me some napkin’s, perhaps offered me a refill/new drink. Absolutely disgusting behaviour. It’s a shame because few times I’ve been, the staff have been lovely but she had to spoil it.

When you can find this store open,which is not very often its always freezing,i asked if they could put some heat on and was told it was against company policy,what sort of company wants customers to freeze!!!,also at 7.20 pm most of the seats were up and it was evident customers sitting in weren't welcome.Dout if I'll return until the warmer weather,thats assuming they haven't just decided to close

Not the first time but definitely the last. Waited with 4 yes 4 other Cars oat the drive thru for over 35 minutes without been served, when I got to the intercom to place the order i was left waiting for 10 minutes without anyone asking what I wanted, so much so my daughter asked to go Home without her favourite Caramel Frappuccino, as I drove round to the kiosk I stopped and asked the girl who was serving Customers inside was she the only one working, she replied “pretty much so”, what do you want me to do? Been let down so many times before with this place and only go back because of my Daughter, I’m afraid even she won’t return again!! If this is a franchise, whoever owns it needs to get behind the counter and see how badly their Business is being run, I’m sure Starbucks would cancel his agreement immediately if they did.

Visited here this morning. Asked for a tall decaf Americano with milk. Waited a while to receive order because there only appeared to be two staff working. When I received my order the milk had been added and there was barely any evidence of coffee. I asked for the drink to be made stronger. I was greeted with a scowl. I waited ages to be served again but the order was passed to a male colleague. He then told me they had run out of decaf. I suspected this was not true. I asked the previous girl if she had literally sold me the last decaf. The male worker confirmed this was correct. I had a sachet of decaf in my bag so asked if they could make me some hot water & provide cold milk. They agreed. I was presented with half a cup of hot water. I was losing my temper internally at this stage. My husband asked to have the cup filled up, plus a refund as we’d paid for a tall drink. He was refunded only 75p. This is terrible service showing lack of attention and concentration by staff. Why would a customer want to drink barely tasting coffee full of milk and hot water???? Then it be replaced with half a cup of water and to be charged virtually full price for this and a small amount of milk is disgusting. Other venues don’t charge for hot water and milk at all. Staff do not care about their customers at this branch and we will not return again. I will also spread the word. Very very disappointing.

Visited Monday at 1pm. Man on intercom was very rude and derogatory. He clearly dislikes his job. He barked ‘you’re welcome’ when he handed over coffee and said that there was no manager to complain to. Really disappointing as some staff really go above and beyond.

Waited 25 minutes for two drinks, will definitely not return. People ended up getting money back and leaving, really poor.

Have now visited this coffee shop twice and on both occasions my order has been incorrect, giving me smaller sized drinks than I ordered and then giving me a drink when asked for skinny I watched them use full fat milk, and when reminded them it was a skinny drink was given the full fat one. Won’t be visiting again! Disgusting service

The staff were friendly. I ordered a sausage sandwich. The bread was stale and only one and a half sausages in it. The coffee was awful had to throw it away. All at a cost of £6.80. No wonder Greggs does so well

Drive through is always quick even if there’s 6 cars in front. Staff are always friendly. I can’t wait for the branch to fully open again.

Visited the drive through for a couple of hot chocolates on Sunday evening. I'm still asking myself why I subjected myself to such an ordeal. It was, quite possibly the worst mistake I've ever made.The service was abysmal. There were only a couple of cars in front but it took 40 minutes to get to the service window where I was handed (without apology) two cold, half full hot chocolates.I looked into the serving area to see what can only be described as a disaster area. Spillages everywhere, rubbish on every surface and 3 members of staff that looked like they were wishing the Lord would take them now.I'm doing better now, starting to get my life back together one step at a time. I haven't managed to drive past the branch yet but I'm hopeful that one day I will regain my confidence and put the ordeal behind me.This is my first ever review.

Visited here tonight at 7:20pm few cars ahead of us in the drive through. Took 20 minutes for us to eventually get to the order point. Took forever to order, more bothered about telling you their name!?!? then getting your order. Eventually once we ordered ( 2 hot chocolates with coconut milk ) it took a further 20 minutes to actually get to the payment point and to get the drinks. Was 8pm by the time we left. Literally could have gone to a restaurant and eaten a sit down meal in the time it took. To top it off they were £8 a bloody rip off!!!

Prior to Covid 19 restrictions me and my friend frequently liked to visit this Starbucks branch for a quick coffee, however a quick coffee it never was. If anyone was wondering where covid originated, it was this branch. Tables never cleaned, therefore limited places to sit (even though staff had time for cigarette breaks.) Staff are rude, abrupt and incompetent. When ordering there is always an unfriendly attitude. If there is items on the menu that are unavailable (never communicated by staff prior and still left on the menu), staff make you feel as if you’ve done something wrong by trying to order this item. Finally, the Starbucks drive thru is always atleast a 20-30 minute wait. On time I was asked to wait in one of the bays for 2 cheese toasties, however I was left to wait there for an HOUR, then when I went in to see what was taking so long, they had forgot all about it and also didn’t have any available even though this wasn’t communicated when we ordered and payed.

Staff are so rude ! No customer service At all made me feel so so uncomfortable 😳 it’s so slow to get round also

Use this Starbucks as it is so friendly and my 6 month Grandson gets excited and kicks when we enter. He loves to watch the cars in the drive through outside. Can’t believe the negative reviews as staff are really nice and it’s well run. So putting this review on to say don’t be put off we use it a lot and it’s great.

I went into the drive thru and paid cash !After the server handled the cash and gave back the change I noticed they don't sanitise their hands before handing your beverage over to you ! I didn't drink the coffee it went straight into the bin I think the management need to provide more training to the staff to get in top of this !

* horrific customer service Wrong coffee and didn’t even bother to toast the fruit toast! Gave us it as bread!!!!! Never any stock in and Thes been a few times we’ve been given the wrong coffee beans!

The customer service was horrendous the staff stood and spoke to friends / family/ who ever for 20 minutes known we were sat waiting for our order then when my husband said would you like to make my order was apprubtly spoken to and said these were first. Then when I tried to use my blue light card the gis said use the proper one then horrendously. My husband then thanked the staff to be greeted with a dirty look and no customer service or reply which was disappointing. All to get a coffee for working fornightshift for the nhs

Disgusting customer service from the woman working in the store today at 2pm who then finished her shift Can not believe her rudeness

Today as I went through the drive thru, I payed for my drink through the app, then the starbucks got shut and they said that there are problems with the machines.g.e. which means they have taken the money and havent been given me it back, this starbucks I go through all the time, the women that are working there right now are extremely extremely rude, they do not know how communicate with the customers at all, a bad alteration with the machines is forgivable, but bad customer service is not needed at all, it needs to be sorted out before more people start complaining, it's actually disgusting

Waited nearly 15mins in the drive thru queue. Had 6 cars infront of us then an employee came out and put a closed sign up. I asked for a reason but she just walked off. No explanation.

This branch is filthy beyond belief. The counter top around the coffee machine looks like it has been wiped with a rag from the garage next door. The staff are so slow and didn't bother telling me that the filter coffee machine was being cleaned before they made my coffee while I was stood waiting at the counter with no explanation of the delay. The guy making the coffee had an apron on that clearly had not been washed for some time in fact quite a long time. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR STARBUCKS.

Terrible service, place is dirty and tables left uncleared even though it wasn’t particularly busy. They prioritise the drinks for the drive thru so my food arrived really quickly but I still hadn’t received my coffee even when I’d finished my panini. Had to chase it up to be told I was a few orders away. When they did shout my order it tasted awful so I left it. Won’t be returning any time soon.

Visited this Starbucks on New Year's Day. Staff were pleasant but gave priority to those driving rather than those queuing! Suspect the young lady on the till was new as she put our sandwiches & cakes in a bag even though we were staying in. Cafe in need of a good clean. Floor & tables dirty, upholstery needs steam cleaning.

I wish I had read the other reviews before wasting nearly £13 on a couple of coffees and cake. Everywhere and I mean everywhere is filthy. Floor, tables, furniture. Nothing is clean. Such a shame for a brand new building. I wont be back.

Went for birthday coffee and cake and I'm bowled over at how dirty and grubby this place is. Whilst we were there tables stood covered in dirty plates and cups for well over 1.5 hours even though 3 staff were there and the place was not remotely busy. I had wet wipes in my bag and cleaned our table and judging by the colour of the wet wipe it hadn't been cleaned properly for a long time. Chocolate and toys were strewn all over, floor filthy and not somewhere I would ever visit again. Downright grubby

Visited this establishment twice in last few months and unfortunately the second visit was as bad as the first. The tables are filthy and last time we visited we struggled to get a seat even though the place was virtually empty as most of the tables had dirty cups, tissues, cutlery etc. It wasn't as if the staff were busy, one was outside smoking a cigarette. To be honest my cappuccino was nice but because the place is a dump, it's not a relaxing cuppa.

It took them 7 minutes to order even though there were no people in the queue, we told them our order and they didn’t have it in stock, we asked for another order they also didn’t have that in stock so they had to customise a drink. It took 10 minutes for the order to be delivered even though they still don’t have any customers in the building or in the driveway. Drink wasn’t even that nice as they didn’t have what we wanted and had to get a snide verision, very watery and clumpy. Not properly blended. Also employee was on the phone half the time have a jolly chat with his mates. NOT ACCEPTABLE. Should get a 0 star rating

The customer service here was absolutely Appalling!! I will NOT be returning to this Starbucks again!

Cannot complain about the price because I know it's expensive, however service was slow and seating area was dirty. Not enough staff for a busy lunch time Won't be back

Stained seating, crumbs and puddles all over the floor and uncleaned table tops. The staff obviously couldn’t give a toss either. I have been to branches in the Third World that have higher levels of hygiene than this one. We should have held out for the one at Bardon Mill.

Tables & floor very dirty as you can see by the photo from today’s visit. You expect more from Starbucks - We won’t be returning here.

Staff need to stop standing around on headsets whispering to each other and often ignoring customers. It’s unfriendly, unhelpful, and unwelcoming. You don’t need headsets on the navigation bridge when taking a ship through Singapore Straits, how can you possibly need them to make a Latte?

Visited at Saturday lunchtime when there were about 10 customers there. There were only 3 members of staff behind the bar. We waited at the till for a little while (almost 5 minutes) before we were even acknowledged, never mind have our order taken. Once we gave our order, two of the drinks we ordered which were on the menu (one of which being a promotional item) were unavailable. Whilst waiting at the end of the bar, it took a while before our drinks were started to be made and no apology was made for the delay. As a Starbucks fan, I was disappointed by this visit as I am used to a better level of service that I receive at the Kingston Park or Stockton (Portrack Lane) stores. I won’t return in a hurry.

The line for the drive thru was still wrapping around the store even by 11am and things weren't much better inside yet there were still only three people on duty. The barista got our order wrong so slopped out the coffee from our reusable cups. When she handed them back they were dripping and stained. A quick wipe would have been courteous. Be prepared to wait for your coffee.

The cafe was almost empty when we arrived. We stood for a little while before a polite young man took our order. We couldn’t take the cakes as he was ‘waiting’ for plates. I said we could share the plate. The whole place was untidy with tables needing clearing. We got our drinks promptly and waited for the cakes. The polite young man said he’d bring them over. When he did he only brought one, I asked where mine was, he’d forgotten about it. At first I thought there wasn’t enough staff to do everything but we counted 5 people working there. I realise there is the drive thru to consider too but surely they could’ve organised themselves a lot better to keep the tables cleared and service good. The girl doing the coffee was very quick and organised. Shame about the rest.

Lovely coffee in clean surroundings. Not a great view of a petrol station and busy main road. Plenty of parking. Fairly relaxing but with the rise of independent coffee shops that offer that little bit more personality, starbuck, Costa, cafe Nero for me are great but can be stereotypical.