I Hate Starbucks

1. twinArmageddons
   

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   A few weeks ago, on Cafe Reg this guy comes in and orders a coffee with a gift card. He only has about $2.05 left on it so he asked to cash it out. To be frank, anyone that even asks to cash it out usually puts a red flag in my head because most people would rather use it up than get the $2 back, but it's whatever, I do it. All is dandy until he asks to do more, then holds a stack of about 10 gift cards. I took one and checked the balance first and I saw it had a balance of $10 on it, so I went to get my shift and she gave him some **** "We aren't allowed to cash out this many gift cards, you'll have to call customer service for the rest."

   Scams are a big deal in this area, I remember two girls went out and around the district cashing out gift cards and using a credit card with the magnetic strip replaced. They got busted at the Starbucks my friend works at up the road, because my SS Lois (Pseudonym) called every Starbucks in the area after we got hit. Lois is very savvy and knew how to void the order after they left, so we didn't lose any money.

   So, how do you guys deal with scams? Do you guys have anything that triggers you?

   Posted 8 months ago #

2. SbuxClerk
   

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   I had that happen to me. Some guy tried to buy a fruit from my grocery store kiosk with a gift card, which I couldn't charge since it wasn't an sbux item. But then, he just wanted me to charge for adding a banana to like a frapuccino. Then, he wanted to refund the banana and cash out the card. But then, my system couldn't refund an sbux giftcard. So, I just gave him four dollars and charged an americano to the card to even it out. idk. he was madddddd it took so long. Not a scam, really. But annoying, nonetheless.

   Posted 8 months ago #

3. shumway
   

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   your shift handled it properly. you can usually spot fake credit cards because they dont have raised numbers or letters on the front and they dont swipe. which is usually followed by the scammer asking you to type it in. just say your machine doesnt recognize it and watch them zip outta there.

   the biggest scam is YA CAN I GET A REFILL??? no, no you may not.

   Posted 8 months ago #

4. Unsweetened
   

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   I don't think I could ever spot a fake credit card. :/ I see A LOT of cards without raised numbers. Too many for it to be suspicious. They look like debit cards from small banks.

   And my register has trouble reading about 75% of cards, though mostly only certain types (American Express, Discover) or colors even... because our machine is shot to hell and needs to be replaced.

   Posted 8 months ago #

5. twinArmageddons
   

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   Lois said that a way to check if a card is fake is to check the final 4 digits of the card against the receipt.

   Posted 8 months ago #

6. GreenMachine
   

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   I've never cashed out a gift card never been asked to, at any Starbucks I've worked at. It's insane how cheap an stupid people are though. I feel for you people.

   Posted 8 months ago #

7. Human Soul Frappucino
   

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   Good idea, SkyIsland21.

   I understand why some people would rather cash out their gift cards (legitimately) though. They don't usually come into Starbucks so they'd rather have it as pocket change to spend somewhere else.

   Posted 8 months ago #

8. thestateofconfusion
   

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   the one scam I remember is a lady coming in claiming that she asked for two venti pumpkin spice latte's and instead she got white mocha's, she didnt have a recipet and she said that she talked to someone on the phone, the two shifts that work in the mornings are dating so in the afternoons they shut off their phones because they are "busy" so its not like we could confirm the lady was so persisent that my SM ended up giving her a cash refund. until the next day the two shifts said they never talked to anyone on the phone. we understood that we got scammed until she came back with a whole new night crew, and tried it on them they were about to give it to her until I stepped in and told them about the story and they refused. my shift was over in 5 mintues. if would have waited 5 mintues she would have gotten away with it, but anyways the happy ending goes, she stormed off and was never to be again ;)

   Posted 8 months ago #

9. RAGE-ista
   

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   We've been getting a ton of fake recovery certificates lately. No store stamp, faded coloring, different font. Does anyone know the procedure for reporting these? I mean, we're getting between 2-3 a day. There HAS to be something corporate can do, right?

   Posted 8 months ago #

10. oneohoneohfive
    

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    Ban the person from the store. Rinse, repeat.

    Posted 8 months ago #

11. Free to Fly
    

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    We had some lady come in just last week trying to cash out a number of 10-25 dollar starbucks gift cards. I found it very strange from the start, as she kept her sunglasses on even though she was inside, she kept making very random small talk, which I took for nervous cues (she literally at one point said something along the lines of 'I think its so cool that starbucks sells bananas'.. lol). If I was on register I would have denied her, but my shift was handling her and she decided to take all of her cards...

    So she got all the money she wanted and left. Afterwards I told my shift I found that extremely suspicious, but she reasoned that there was no way she could have made fake sbux cards or whatever... Anyways, I let it go.. I'm still not entirely sure whether she was shady or not.

    Posted 8 months ago #

12. notpikespeak
    

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    Yeah I don't understand how people can make fake credit cards or fake Starbucks cards...if they're fake they wouldn't work, right? Obviously, I've never dealt with scams!

    Posted 8 months ago #

13. notpikespeak
    

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    Also, for the fake recovs, all I had to do was google it and found a bunch listed on eBay and this:

    http://reviews.ebay.com/Counterfeit-Starbucks-Recovery-Coupons-on-Ebay?ugid=10000000012872267

    Basically a guide for exactly what they're supposed to look like.

    Posted 8 months ago #

14. JoJoSchmo
    

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    We never allow returns on gift cards. Ever. Even for small amounts of change. I was told this was the company's policy.

    Posted 8 months ago #

15. tall-ina-grande
    

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    Lots of people bring in old cups for refills. One old guy in particular brings the same venti cup with day old iced coffee and uses a gold card. Every time he comes in, I ask to see his receipt or when he was in (especially when I'm on POS all morning). I think he realized that he can't pull that with me, so he's started paying full price when I'm around. Though he did pull his scam on a fellow partner who didn't know/care. My manager recently encountered him and recommended writing the date/time on his cup each time he comes in.

    We also have people who order their drinks wrong on purpose, assuming we'll just hand over the "mistake." I'll admit to giving away mistake drinks, but only when the person is particularly nice and the screw up was my fault. Otherwise, I take the drink off the hand off plane and dramatically dump it down the sink. Or I'll take it back and give it to the next pleasant customer.

    Posted 8 months ago #

16. eightpumpchai
    

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    We don't offer cash back for gift cards either. I've been asked a couple times and I was told that it is not policy and we can't do it- works for me. LOL. Something I can say no to legitimately, YAY.

    Posted 8 months ago #

17. thinkdeep
    

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    The only reason that the system allows cash back on gift cards is because in some states it is THE LAW to have the ability to return cash ON TOP of a purchase. There are only a few states like this though.

    Posted 8 months ago #

18. extrahotsoy
    

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    RAGE-ista, I've been noticing fake recoveries at my store too! We had a person come in and hand it to us. Apparently it had never even been folded, the color and the font were just a little bit off, and the fake ones do not have the note about the post consumer fiber. (I was doing some comparing on a slower afternoon)

    Posted 8 months ago #

19. coffeechick
    

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    I've never cashed out a gift card. I don't think we have that ability? I've only had people ask if they only a few cents left. Most of the time they drop the card in the tip jar or pass it to the person behind them.

    We've been getting several fake cert too. We just explain they are fake and judge their reaction. Those that are surprised I give them their drink on us. Those that argue with me get sent away. One idiot came back and tried to use another fake one. Threaten to call the police and he disappeared.

    One woman will hit a couple of the stores every few months. She calls and says she got the wrong drinks. She's tried to pull it on me twice. The first time I told her to come in and I'll try to find the order on the register. However, since she had supposedly come in earlier, that register was closed and I couldn't pull up the check. Offered recovery cert but she said she was going to x country where they didn't have Starbucks. Started to call my DM and she ended up just taking the recovery cert. A few days later she comes in trying the same thing. I asked her how x country was and I didn't know you could fly there and back in 24 hrs. I've never seen anyone run so fast out of the store.

    Posted 8 months ago #

20. Captain Mocha
    

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    we dont have store stamp ours i didnt know that was a thing til I was in another store across the state and they messed up my drink and just handed me one since I told them not to bother making a new one.

    Ive also never given money back on cards, its my understanding we arent allowed. so im kinda confused as to how people are getting away with this, or how theyre fake loading the cards to get the cash off them?

    Posted 8 months ago #

21. shumway
    

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    california law requires that if they have a giftcard that's $10 or less they can cash it out. so scammers in CA use this as a way to get cash.

    steal a credit card --- buy a huge amount of $10 credit cards at a starbucks with stolen credit card ---- go to various stores asking them to cash the gift cards.

    Posted 8 months ago #

22. IceandSlice
    

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    We had the fake recovery certs up here, we took a few in my old store and then the manager caught wind of it and they worked out the perp and it stopped, haven't had them since and that was a year ago.

    Posted 8 months ago #

23. Jadineamber
    

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    How do you cash out a gift card?

    Posted 8 months ago #

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