Luckin Coffee Baristan Frustrated with Ordering Strategies on Xiaohongshu!

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The Luckin Ice Controversy

Recently, Luckin's iced drinks sparked widespread attention due to excessive ice and reduced cup volume when requesting "no ice." Although many netizens had complained about too much ice in Luckin drinks over the past two years, the issue had never been taken seriously.

It wasn't until this March when a netizen shared that their Luckin drink contained only 2/3 of the cup volume after requesting no ice, leading them to file a complaint with Luckin's customer service. The customer service representative acknowledged that the drink in the shared photo did seem somewhat insufficient. Following this incident, how to order a more cost-effective iced drink from Luckin became a hot topic among netizens. Many began sharing their ordering tips on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu...

The Baristas' Dilemma

However, Luckin's baristas were going crazy!!! Many baristas expressed that faced with subsequent order requirements, they felt like taking off their aprons and hats in front of customers and saying: "Here's my hat and apron! You make it yourself!"

Counting Ice Cubes

What frustrated Luckin baristas most was counting ice cubes... Because after the excessive ice incident, many netizens suggested they could specify the exact number of ice cubes in their orders. Consequently, more and more orders began requesting specific quantities of ice cubes... Sometimes having one cube more or less would result in complaints...

In response to consumers who didn't understand, baristas explained that Luckin's positioning is convenience and speed, and counting ice cubes during busy periods significantly affects production efficiency, especially during peak hours. Another source of frustration was various flavored milk coffee products. The various low-calorie ordering methods circulating online all involved less milk and less sugar, sometimes even requesting no sugar/no milk...

Misunderstandings About Drink Composition

However, the flavor of many products comes from flavored syrups. Less milk can't fill the cup, and no milk is even more impossible... But even when explaining this to customers, they would still receive complaints because the drinks weren't made according to the order notes... Baristas also complained about requests for less ice in frozen drinks - who taught people this!!! Some even requested no ice... Has anyone considered that they're ordering frozen drinks...

The Standardization Challenge

Most challenging was that due to the diverse consumer demands, many stores received notices from higher authorities that non-standard operations were not allowed. Baristas were caught between worrying about negative reviews and complaints for not following order requirements, while having to produce standard drinks... Some consumers, seeing various DIY products shared by netizens - such as adding fresh fruits, cake ingredients, or even cilantro - would believe these were brand products. They would request extra fruits or order a latte with notes requesting cilantro flavor... When informed that such ingredients weren't available, they would still leave negative reviews...

Public Response

Seeing the tearful accounts from Luckin baristas, many netizens agreed that unreasonable requests had gone too far... Everyone thought they were challenging the capitalists, but in reality, they were making things difficult for the working people.