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Starbucks outdoor seats are locked! Employee: Helpless move

Published: 2026-02-16 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/02/16, ▲ Click to pay attention| Daily Boutique Coffee Culture Magazine Coffee Workshop Recently, a consumer posted a post on social platforms, reporting that the outdoor seats in a Starbucks store were locked during business hours and could not be used normally. They believed that the store's approach was not very friendly to customers. Pictures taken from netizens

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click on the attention| Daily Boutique Coffee Culture Magazine Coffee Workshop

Recently, a consumer posted a post on social platforms reporting that the outdoor seats in a Starbucks store were locked during business hours and could not be used normally. They believed that the store's practice was not very friendly to customers.

According to pictures taken by netizens, there are several tables and more than a dozen chairs in the outdoor area of this Starbucks store, but you can see a circle of hose passing through the gap between the seats around the table and being locked together by a combination lock.

Customers who noticed this situation said that they arrived at the store at around 2 p.m. on May 13, and then sat in the outdoor area for an hour. During this period, the locks on these tables and chairs placed in the outdoor area were never unlocked."I heard a waiter say to open the locks, but the others did nothing. I thought someone would come and drive it, but after I finished my coffee, no one came."

After the post was posted, it aroused discussion among many netizens. Youtong, a netizen who had purchased the store said that he had ordered an order last time and wanted to sit outdoors."After telling the clerk, they unlocked the lock for me." He speculated that the customer found that the lock on the seat had not been unlocked at noon. It may have been the employee in charge of opening the store who neglected to unlock the lock in time.

As for the reasons for locking these outdoor facilities, some people think that the store may be worried that tables and chairs will be stolen when unattended. Some people speculate that this practice is to prevent outdoor facilities from being occupied by unconsumed passers-by. Some Starbucks employees also appeared in the comment area, saying that if no measures are taken to prevent it, tables, chairs, parasols, potted plants, etc. placed outdoors in the store may be "stolen" by passers-by.

In response to feedback from the public, some media reporters learned that the store involved was the Starbucks Aegean Shopping Park store in Dali, Yunnan. According to the staff, there are four tables placed in the outdoor area of the store, each table equipped with four chairs.

Employees said that when the store closes at 9:30 p.m. every day, night shift staff will use a combination lock to string up and lock the chairs around the round table after cleaning the outdoor area. He also explained that if this was not done, these tables and chairs might be moved away by passers-by during the store's closure, and the morning shift staff the next day would have no choice but to have an extra task of finding tables and chairs.

In addition, when asked by reporters, the store employees emphasized that they had no choice but to lock the tables and chairs in the outdoor area. It was not that the store was asking customers to consume first and then sit down in disguise."If a customer needs to sit outside during the day, we will also unlock the door in time."

At the same time, the customer service staff of the mall responded in an interview with reporters that after communication with relevant personnel, it was determined that the tables, chairs, sanitation, etc. in the outdoor area of the Starbucks store were the responsibility and management of the store staff. The other party said that the store management had no way to interfere with the practice of locking tables and chairs in the outdoor area at Starbucks stores.

After learning about the incident, Starbucks customer service staff said,"I am sorry for the bad experience caused to customers, and will contact the stores involved to strengthen store service management."

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