Starbucks Refuses to Refund Over $30,000 in Customer Tips?! Police Investigation Launched

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more premium coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat. WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Starbucks Tip Controversy: Oklahoma Couple Charged $4,444.44 for Two Drinks

According to the New York Post, on January 7th, a couple from Oklahoma, USA, visited a Starbucks drive-through and purchased one large Americano and one large Caramel Frappuccino. The two drinks cost a total of $11.83 USD (approximately 81 RMB).

Before checkout, they selected the "no tip" option and paid with a credit card without carefully reviewing the receipt.

It wasn't until several days later, when the couple tried to use the same credit card at a supermarket and were told they had exceeded their limit, that they discovered Starbucks had charged an astronomical tip of $4,444.44 (approximately 30,264 RMB). Not only was their credit limit completely wiped out, but they were also forced to cancel a planned trip to visit relatives in Thailand, and the purchased tickets couldn't be refunded.

The couple returned to the Starbucks location with their tip receipt, hoping the store could refund this charge. However! The store manager stated that the charge was legitimately collected and refused to refund the tip. The couple found this refusal completely unreasonable, as they had clearly selected "no tip," and the tip options only went up to a maximum of $2, yet they ended up being charged such an enormous amount.

After several days of continuous communication with several Starbucks managers, the store finally agreed to mail a check for a full refund of the tip. Just when they thought the problem would be solved after receiving the check... they discovered the check couldn't be cashed when they took it to the bank!

Corporate Response and Police Investigation

The store's regional manager told the media that the first check couldn't be cashed due to a spelling error. They also claimed that this issue occurred because the customer had voluntarily paid the enormous tip when placing their order.

The couple believed Starbucks was "beating around the bush" and finally called the police, hoping for an official investigation to determine whether the tip was charged due to a system error or was intentionally collected by staff.

The couple also denied the regional manager's account, pointing out that the manager had initially told them it was caused by network issues: "I know how to press those buttons, and I didn't press that one. If it wasn't the barista's mistake, then it must have been your network error, and this is a very serious problem."

With police involvement, Starbucks management quickly sent a second check. On February 10th, they responded to media outlets stating that the couple had successfully cashed the check on the 6th of that month, and the full tip amount had been refunded.

Investigation Results

After police investigation, authorities determined that this incident was likely caused by a machine malfunction or accidental addition of charges. Given that Starbucks officials actively handled the refund afterward, they found no evidence of fraud.

Image source: Internet

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473