Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT: Greedy Starbucks…bring cash or be prepared to pay 5X too much!
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May 11, 2010 at 10:50 pm #594801
breanna43MemberOn the 19th of April, my sister and I went through the drive-thru Starbucks on 35th and Avalon. We ordered 2 short hot-chocolates. The total should’ve been no more than $5. A couple of days later, I noticed on my Bank of America statement that I was charged $26.40 for those hot chocolates. I contacted Starbucks customer service and they said they’d re-search it and call me back. They didn’t call. I called the next week. They said the same thing, didn’t call. I spoke with a supervisor both of those times, as well as today when I called, and after 40 mins on the phone today, (half of which was spent on hold) I was told, once again, that they needed to re-search and they’d call me back. They also rudely told me I could go to my bank and get a print out of my statement to speed up the process. This is all over approximately $21.00. I have spent nearly $800 at Starbucks in the past year, not knowing I was supporting a company who cared so little about its customers. I won’t spend another dime there. And I would encourage others who still want to support this awful company, to bring cash. I know it’s not a lot of money, but it’s MY money….and I am not pleased about loaning them it for this month! Oh…and I’m STILL waiting for that call back!
May 11, 2010 at 10:57 pm #694376
MargLMemberYou should definitely call your credit card issuer rather than continue to fight with Starbucks. Credit company Customer service can usually issue a chargeback that credits you the money for over-charges like this then -they- get the money back from Starbucks. It probably would also put a black mark on Starbuck’s credit processing service record to have the bank contact them.
May 11, 2010 at 10:58 pm #694377
JanSParticipantMay 11, 2010 at 11:18 pm #694378
JustSarahParticipantSounds like you were charged for another car’s order. Five years ago or so, I worked as a barista at a Starbucks drive-through store. Every once in a while, the person cashiering the drive-through would accidentally mix up the order of transactions, and would have to double-check with each car that he was ringing through the correct transaction. It would continue until we’d “cleared” that line-up of orders, and was always a headache when it happened.
Even worse, if that is what happened, that store will show completely valid transactions: for example, your transaction probably doesn’t show $26.00 for two hot chocolates, but rather $26.00 for, say, three Frappuccinos, two lattes, a hot chocolate, and two drip coffees. So, when the store or customer service looks up your transaction, it appears completely accurate.
That said, yes, they should have been more proactive and you should have received your refund by now. I’d file a dispute with your card issuer and let them fight it out. I highly doubt Starbucks is trying to steal your money; unfortunately, your issue is not being passed through the proper channels. Also, the 35th/Avalon store had a pretty poor manager, last I checked, so it’s certainly possible the customer service rep has attempted to look into the issue but isn’t receiving a response.
Last pointer: if you do contact Starbucks again, make sure you get a reference number (“ticket” number) for your problem so you can track it.
Unfortunately, my extremely close contact at SBUX is in IT, not customer service, or I’d offer you more pointers. Also, remember the SBUX customer service reps are losing their jobs this year as the company is contracting out that portion of the business, so there may be a bit of apathy at play, as well. :-( Hope this helps a bit, though.
May 12, 2010 at 1:24 am #694379
hopeyParticipantStarbucks announced a while back that they were going to close their in-house Customer Care Center and outsource customer service to someplace in the midwest. I don’t remember when that was supposed to happen, but based on my own experiences working in the CCC, I’d say it already has. The CCC would have resolved this issue without the need for a callback. They would have already sent you a gift card and made it all better. That is the Starbucks CCC standard of care. You are clearly not getting that level of service.
While I agree with the people who have advised to just let your credit card company handle it, if you choose to call again: the magic phrase is “I’d like to escalate to a supervisor” and keep escalating until you find someone who can resolve your issue. Simply tell them that whatever evasive answer you’re getting is not acceptable, and that you’d like to escalate the matter to the next level of service, whether it’s Tier 2, supervisor, manager, whatever they’re calling it. You shouldn’t have to call back.
May 12, 2010 at 2:46 am #694380
AimParticipantBreanna, what number did you call? Was it 1-800-23-LATTE? If not, try that number. I would HIGHLY recommend asking for a call center *manager* (not supervisor) and ask them if you can fax a copy of your receipt. This will speed up the process.
Please report back here, and if you don’t get any further, contact WSB and ask them to forward me your contact info and I’ll see if I can put you in touch with someone more directly, ok?
May 12, 2010 at 4:35 am #694381
johnnyblegsMember$800 in lattes? Geez…I like my Mr. Coffee at home. Saves a little money.
May 12, 2010 at 3:40 pm #694382
mannamcParticipantFWIW, the outsourcing of the CCC has not happened yet.
May 14, 2010 at 2:12 am #694383
arborheightsdadParticipantMy suggestion would be to deal directly with the store. I think they could probably find a quick solution for the amount in question.
Another thought: you can buy a REALLY nice espresso machine for $800 (or less).
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