Why did a Starbucks Reserve order draw a really expensive coffee complaint?

A customer paying with a Starbucks card at a Reserve store found that two drinks had been quietly upgraded to Reserve coffee, and staff never said the word "Reserve" during ordering. The customer could not taste a clear difference from a regular latte. After an initially vague response from customer service, the store admitted the mistake and promised a refund.

Starbucks Reserve sells the top 3 percent of beans the company buys globally and releases different varieties by season, and Reserve stores differ in design and staffing, so prices run higher than at a regular location. Former employees have linked such default upgrades to KPI pressure. The case centers on the customer's right to be informed about really expensive coffee before paying, not after.

A customer at a Starbucks Reserve store, when paying with a Starbucks card, discovered that two drinks had been upgraded by default to the more expensive Reserve coffee, and during the ordering process the staff never mentioned the word "Reserve." This "default Reserve" incident sparked widespread discussion, with many netizens sharing similar experiences, and former Starbucks employees also revealed it may be related to KPI assessments. Starbucks customer service initially responded vaguely, and ultimately the store admitted the mistake and promised a refund. The core of the incident involves customers' right to be informed and their right to choose, and it also makes people wonder where exactly the boundary lies between ordering at a Reserve store and a regular store.

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Recently, a netizen reported that when buying coffee at a Starbucks Reserve store, only after using a Starbucks card to complete payment did they notice the price was different from before. Could it be that the price had increased without their knowledge?

Since no receipt was printed initially, the netizen asked the staff member responsible for taking orders and requested a reprinted receipt.

The staff member explained that the price difference was because both drinks had been ordered as Reserve coffee. But the netizen emphasized that neither they nor their companion had ever said the word "Reserve," so how could it have been quietly switched to the more expensive Reserve coffee?

Since it had already been ordered, if the flavor difference between the regular version and the Reserve version were obvious, then it would be fine, just treating it as an experience. But the poster themselves had no need to order Reserve. "I simply can't taste any difference between Reserve and a regular latte. I'm extremely speechless. Is ordering at Starbucks now so full of 'schemes'?"

What exactly is the difference between Starbucks Reserve and regular Starbucks? According to information, Starbucks Reserve™, namely Starbucks Reserve, is positioned in the high-end coffee bean market and sells only the top 3% of coffee beans that Starbucks purchases globally, and it launches different varieties seasonally. Besides the beans, it also differs from regular stores in store design, dedicated staff, and other aspects, so the price is relatively higher.

Comparing prices on the Starbucks mini-program, a regular latte at Starbucks costs 33 yuan, and a regular Americano costs 30 yuan, totaling 63 yuan, which is exactly ten yuan less than the 73 yuan the poster paid at checkout for Reserve coffee.

Is "default Reserve" only aimed at the poster, or is it widespread? Some netizens shared the same experience: when ordering food at a Starbucks store near their home, the staff directly defaulted to Reserve pour-over, which costs 49 yuan for one cup, and they seemed to prefer doing this for customers using Starbucks cards, directly deducting the balance. If you didn't pay extra attention, you would spend money unjustly without knowing it. "Recommending it is one thing, but for normal counter ordering, to just say nothing and order Reserve for you is really disgusting!"

Because the store where the poster made the purchase was a Starbucks Reserve store, this also triggered a discussion about "do you default to ordering Reserve coffee once you enter a Reserve store?" Some netizens suspected the poster went to the wrong counter in the store and ordered at the Reserve bar, while others believed that defaulting to Reserve coffee was understandable and that the poster simply didn't pay attention, so the store was not to blame. "The coffee beans in Reserve stores are different to begin with! Some Reserve stores don't even have regular Americano beans, so what's strange about that?"

However, this claim was immediately refuted. The poster was very certain that they had not gone to the wrong bar and had gone to the regular bar. Many netizens also pointed out that Starbucks Reserve stores also include regular coffee beans, and the store's mini-program menu shows that both Reserve Americano and regular Americano can be ordered at the same time. Even putting that aside, even if one really ordered Reserve beans at the Reserve bar, according to procedure, the staff should have confirmed with the customer a second time which beans they chose, but at the time there was no such process. Therefore, "default Reserve" had no justification at all.

This post also "flushed out" many employees who had worked or were currently working at Starbucks, who speculated one after another that the staff did this under KPI pressure. A former Starbucks employee revealed that for the sake of average transaction value and Reserve targets, some colleagues would directly default to ordering Reserve beans for customers, but they also sized people up. "This is unbearable! Customers have the right to choose whether to drink Reserve. This really means the till partner failed to give the customer a good experience!"

Later, Starbucks Customer Care Center called, saying that Reserve stores default to ordering Reserve. The poster retorted, so without communication, the coffee beans were still chosen? Customer service responded that they had matched the best beans according to the drink. The poster then retorted, is the best bean for Americano this Kenya one? The response received was "not clear," and they would have the store follow up.

The netizen involved believed that the Starbucks staff member's actions violated the customer's right to choose and right to be informed, and demanded that the store refund the money for the two drinks. In the end, the store called to admit the mistake and promised to process a refund.

Image source: Internet

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