She may have thought that you were patronizing her because corporate controlling the heat does sound like bullshit, still it is Starbucks.

At least you got nothing to worry about! If corporate controls the temperature, then they will know when the customer calls to complain that you did nothing wrong.

Tell her that as a barista, you have to power to bar her from all Starbucks. The company can afford to banish a few whiners! Maybe it'll shorten the lines a bit as I plow through the sea of Wifi parasites.

tell her you can't turn it up to 73 because she already looks like she's 80!

Losing a stupid customer like her is sure to improve sales.

When I worked in retail, I absolutely loved it when customers threatened to "never come back." Even better when they actually followed through... or thought I'd never notice how much effort they put in to avoiding me.

I read that feeling comfortable isn't about the actual temperature but having control over the dial. So designers put fake temperature controls in building when in reality it is all controlled centrally with no way to alter settings short of reprogramming the central control unit. So if this happens again, just tell her you will change the temperature and just fiddle with the dial without changing anything.

Tell the customer ok and walk over and pretend like you turned it to 73. This way you look like your executing her request and he/she won't make a scene. ( even though some customers just like to be a pain and cause a scene)

Based on how she conducts herself, she won't have to worry about it being too cold where she's going.

Gotta Love the "Empty Threats" people throw at you sometimes