Everyone knows that it’s good practice to tip. But what if you didn’t get the actual product or service you needed? This was a predicament faced by Starbucks customer Lucy Pearl (@lucypearl726) in a viral TikTok that has amassed 449,500 views.
Pearl began by explaining that she wanted to order a cream-based Caramel Brulée Crème Frappuccino. She recalled how she told the worker she wanted it cream-based multiple times before paying for the item and adding a tip.
But Pearl says that when she saw the drink, she realized it had coffee in it. She flagged this to the worker, who got another “rude and nonchalant” worker to check. This worker, Pearl claims, told her that there’s no Caramel Brulée left. In response, Pearl says she requested a refund, which the worker carried out. However, she noticed that they didn’t refund her for the tip. Once again, Pearl flagged this to the worker, who consulted the female worker.
The workers were reluctant to refund the tip
“And she was like, ‘You want a refund of your tip?’” Pearl recounts, “And I said, ‘Yes, I do … because tipping is for good service,’ I said, ‘and I did not receive that. … Actually, I didn’t even receive a drink.’ And she was like, ‘How much did you tip?’ And so I told her, and then she looked at him [and asked], ‘Did she really tip that much?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’”
At this point, Pearl says she got “really irritated” because the woman was, in her opinion, “trying to throw shade.”
Things then went from bad to worse after the workers claimed they couldn’t issue a refund because no one had ever asked that before, but Pearl asked them to refund her from the cash tip jar.
“So she kind of got irritated, and she gave it to me, and she just kind of, you know, threw it at me, kind of is how I felt,” Pearl added. “So I took my tip, and I left.”
However, Pearl says she ended up feeling bad because she’s usually a regular tipper.
“I do know that people that work in, you know, certain industries, they depend on tips,” she said. “You know, they support their families, and I feel bad, but tipping is for good service, and in my mind, I received bad service, and not only that, I didn’t even get a drink. So what am I tipping for? I don’t know.”
She then asked viewers what they thought: “Was I wrong for asking for my tip back?” she asked. “I didn’t get a drink, and I got bad service, in my opinion. I don’t know. Anyway, was I wrong?”
Pearl didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment and Instagram direct message.
@lucypearl726 #tips #foodservice #hospitalityindustry #waitress #customerservice #trending #viral #fyp #fypシ゚viral #storytime #starbucks #a #goodday ♬ original sound – Lucy Pearl
What did commenters say?
For the most part, commenters were on Pearl’s side. The top commenter, whose comment has amassed 6,000 likes, tells Pearl, “You did the right thing.” A second echoed that “refunds should cover the entire amount paid,” while a third wrote, “No service, no tip, them being rude, no tip. You’re justified.”
A fourth commenter, who claimed to be a Starbucks supervisor, said that Pearl was “totally right” to ask for the full amount back. They also noted that if they wanted to refund Pearl the total amount, they could have voided the entire transaction. “A refund can only be done for the food and beverage items, not the tip unfortunately,” they added.
On the other end of the spectrum, Starbucks workers have also gone viral for refusing tips altogether. In the clip, TikToker Ky (@kyleeraevyn) recorded her interaction with a Starbucks drive-thru worker who refused a tip because there was a long line.
“I cried because why wouldn’t he deserve a tip?” Ky added. “And why did he apologize????”
Starbucks didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.
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