'Tip Culture Is Getting Insane': Starbucks Customers Furious Over Company's New Tipping System The coffee chain implemented a new digital tipping system that prompts customers when they pay by card.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The holiday season is in full swing and it's around this time of year that people tend to be a little bit more in the giving spirit.
However, being forced to do so is one way to make any paying customer livid and Starbucks' new tipping system seems to be doing precisely that.
The coffee chain's new system will prompt users who pay by card to leave a tip in the amount of $1, $2, $5, or a custom amount. In order to not leave a tip, customers have to hit the "No tip" button which makes the transaction uncomfortable, according to baristas, and feels "rude," according to customers.
Some of Starbucks' loyal fans took to social media to sound off on their issues with the newly integrated system.
I'm really not trying to be rude bc I know customer service jobs are hard work but now they want tips at the drive-thru at my Starbucks when you pay with a card… you're literally just handing it to me…
— Kel L. (@doll_kelkel) November 19, 2022
Tip culture is getting insane smh Starbucks got 7 dollar coffees and Is one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Pay your damn employees and stop trying to push the cost on your customers
— kirstën (@kdrizzle___) November 26, 2022
What's up with Starbucks asking for a tip at the damn DRIVE THRU?
— Quentasia (@Qventasia) December 2, 2022
why tf Starbucks just ask for a tip on the pin pad ?????
— notorious tig (@_treagan) November 28, 2022
starbucks stresses me out every time they ask me to tip
— . (@toxictajin) December 3, 2022
Baristas also don't seem to be loving the new system, as one Starbucks employee shared via TikTok in a video that's been viewed nearly 316,000 times.
@kniifes so embarrasing when customers go "its not going through!!!!" bae theres an extra step now #starbucks #starbies #starbucksbarista #baristalife #baristatok #starbucksdrinks ♬ EHHHHHHH EH EH EH - sk.Ninga
"So embarrassing when customers go 'its not going through!!!!' bae theres an extra step now," one barista captioned her clip, calling the new system one of the worst "disasters to ever happen to human kind."
The expansion of digital tipping is a part of the company's overarching "reinvention plan" which aims to increase the company's revenue and both digital and physical footprints over the course of the next three years.
"As we execute on our Reinvention plan, we are building on our 51-year history of market leading innovation to position our business and our brand for the next chapter of growth," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a company statement earlier this year. "Guided directly by our partners, we have already begun to take action on an inspired roadmap to build the future of Starbucks, all while staying true to our mission of uplifting communities through a shared love for coffee and further extending our coffee leadership and innovation."
Starbucks was down just shy of 9% as of Monday afternoon.
