Simple. She stuttered and ordered a "Vanilla Vanilla Latte". She should speak more clearly next time.

If a Vanilla Latte is on the menu at $2.95, point to it and tell them that's the price. If they argue, point them at the menu. Repeat.

Personally, I would notice if I ever was overcharged for my regular beverage at my local Caribou Coffee. Actually, I once made my purchase in a location outside of my county, where sales tax was higher, and thought a scheme similar to this was running when the price was $.01 higher than usual.

Good job catching it, but next time, draw a scene.

....maybe it's one of the Starbucks trying desperately to stay open:) (hey, if we charge everyone an extra 30 cents we might not shut down!)

Something similar has happened to me in the past at Starbucks. I have tried to order a latte with cinnamon dolce syrup and instead of being charged for a latte plus $.30 syrup, I get charged for a "Cinnamon Dolce Latte," which is a latte, plus syrup, plus whipped cream and sprinkles. I do not want whipped cream and sprinkles -- I just want a latte with one of the syrups listed on the menu board. I've had countless arguments with the baristas about this. Finally I just gave up ordering it. A complaint to Starbucks headquarters did land me two free beverage coupons, though.

I know the exact price of my regular drink and when it's wrong in either direction I call them on it.

Definitely report it, and be polite. I went to one once where the service was abysmal. A far cry from their normal standards. One politely worded complaint to their website an they sent me several free drink vouchers.

I find this usually gets a better response. Instead of saying how horrible it was and how you'll never go there again, try explaining that you usually love their stores and are looking to help them out since they usually pride themselves on good customer relations.

Above does not work for Sears.

In before all the Starbucks bashers chime in...

Oh damn, hillsrovey already beat me!

Just buying a coffee from Starbucks means you got overcharged. This kind of thing just adds insult to injury.

Wonder why this cancerously-expanding organization is suddenly closing stores (after buying up so much of their (often better quality) competition)? This kind of additional screwing of the customer ain't gonna help their bottom line.

Wouldn't break my heart to see them squirm to come up with any viable reason for doublecharging like this. Class action, anyone?

@TheSpatulaOfLove: You're welcome! :)They bashed a couple excellent local chains into oblivion, and I shed no tears for them violating the law like this.

I know this makes me a bad person as well as a bad consumerist, but I'm all for gaming people who aren't paying close attention to the menu-- if *my* drink's being subsidized by this kind of slight of hand, I'll happily keep my mouth shut and watch the register closely when I order.

Twice in the past few weeks, the local Baskin Robbins has tried to charge my husband $2.50 for a scoop, when the posted price is $1.99. The first time, they said the prices had gone up and they hadn't changed the sign yet, so he went ahead and paid it. The second time, they tried to convince him the extra $0.50 was "tax" on the $1.99 posted price (uh, 25% tax???). He refused to pay it. The manager finally came over and charged $1.99 with the normal tax (coming to $2.16).

If there is "no manager available" I have held up the line until one was. That usually helps motivate the desired outcome. The absolute key is to stay very, very calm and make your point very clearly and politely. It works for me. The second I lose my cool I lose the battle.

Next time order a Regular Latte with a shot of vanilla.

Problem solved.

Return, ask for the manager, complain. And/or write to the chain's PR department.

Then either go to the Starbucks across the street, or [preferable] go to a McDonald's.

My guess is that if you write to Starbuck's corporate, you'll get two free drink coupons. That's always how it works.

It's possible this certain Starbucks has a poorly programmed cash register (computer) and that the grunt behind the counter doesn't know anything than to push a button and charge what the machine says.

Chargebucks does it again! Just lovely customer service here, too. What happened to "the customer is always right"?

@Valhawk: Or next time you go in you could threaten to punch the worker in the dick.

Seriously y'all? SERIOUSLY?!

The cashier is a poorly trained idiot. That's all it is.

Go to another Starbucks and you'll see what I mean.

This doesn't need to be reported to the attorney general, for crying out loud, this needs to be reported to a manager so the idiot can get yelled at and stop thinking like a retard.

@Ein2015: Agreed. Methinks there is no conspiracy here.

This lady needs to talk to the wieghts and measures people in her state. Probably can be found by googling "weights and measures" department & whatever state she's in.

Ask the cashier what the price listed on the menu is. Then ask the cashier how much she charged you. If the two amounts differ, ask her why they differ. Take up as much time as you can, because other customers will be listening in as to why you're being charged non-menu prices for a menu drink. If there's a manager present, they'll want to wrap things up as quickly as possible to get the line moving again.

As a sidenote, I despise Starbucks and their patrons. Starbucks is a fashion botique that markets burnt water as liquid jewelry, usually to SUV drivers.

a dumb cashier overcharges $.30 and now we're getting the attorney general involved. Methinks there are worse crimes being committed right this second

@LucasAnderson: Exactly what I was thinking. If she's pushing the button that says "Vanilla Latte" and $3.25 is the price that pops up, then the POS (point-of-sale, not pile of ****) system is to blame. The employee, however, should be empowered with the ability to override the system to make such a correction, and nothing can excuse her poor customer service skills. If it is on the menu, I don't understand why the OP doesn't just tell her to turn around and look at their posted price. That would at least start the ball rolling in making a correction.

Sounds like a employee wasn't trained properly. This happened to my wife at our local Starbucks and the manager fixed it when it was pointed out to her.

@Ein2015: It happened twice, although the poster doesn't specify if it was with the same barista each time.

Was it the same person on the register each time? Could be that a underpaid Starbucks employee is earning some extra cash on the side by stealing from customers. Wouldn't surprise me I've seen things like that before. Next time you should definetly talk to a Manager they'll probably be glad you pointed this out.

Yes, it was BIG EVIL Starbucks who charged you extra; on purpose no doubt! Just one more jewel in their crown of evil. It's probably just a matter of days until The Consumerist uncovers the secret Starbucks memo that outlines their new "Charge Extra For Vanilla Project."
Seriously Consumerist, get over yourself. People make mistakes.

@FightOnTrojans: "The employee, however, should be empowered with the ability to override the system to make such a correction . . ."

Agreed, but big corporations don't often do that and instead require a manager/shift leader to override prices. Too many people would end up abusing it by giving out discounts to their friends or the like, which adds up to a lot of lost revenue. They like to keep the ability to act on that sort of thing restricted to the people who are paid to make those decisions.

It's a 30 cents conspiracy! I went to McDonald's yesterday and ordered a double cheesburger for 99 cents without cheese. When I got my order I had been charged an extra 30 cents and on my receipt there was a line item for cheese! Now I know they don't give you a discount when you hold the cheese on something, but they will charge you 30 cents if you add cheese. In my case, I'm assuming they charged my 30 cents for NOT putting cheese on. I could have fought it, but to have to stand in line again and fight the lunchtime crowds....it's not worth it, but you better believe I'll be watching for that next time!

I'm not seeing a conspiracy here. Just baristas who haven't gotten trained well, or missed their espresso fix that morning.

Use a registered Starbucks card and you'll get the syrup free either way.

I paid 3.25 for the vanilla latte as well. Please include me in the class action suit.

This really isn't worth an article. It's a poorly-trained employee. Write Starbucks Corporate and they will make it well.

Get a life ! Call the AG or Weights & Measures over 30 F*ing cents !

The customer here is just as retarded as the barrista. As was pointed out by others, if you are charged more than the menu prices, just refer the person charging you to the menu. This does not take in IQ in excess of one's shoe size to figure out...

@puddleglum411:

Yes -- write to Starbucks Corporate and spend 41 cents on postage to complain about being overcharged 30 cents. Makes a lot of cents to me!

@jackal676: As if they don't do that already! They probably charge their friends for a small coffee and give them an extra large whatchmacallit with all the works. Technology should be used to assist management in supervising their employees, it should not replace them. Sounds like the 'Bux is using their technology in place of supervisors. First this, next week we'll have Skynet!

That being said, I've been to a few places (and worked in a few places) that entrusted their employees with such things. That went a long way in helping establish a good customer service reputation as it allowed employees tot take corrective action right on the spot, rather than use the dreaded cop out "Let me ask my supervisor." Was it abused? Probably, yes. But I'm sure that in the long run, it created a more loyal customer base that paid back more than the companies lose.

Let's see a scan of the receipt. That way we can clearly see what the OP actually ordered and what she was actually charged for.

simple - take it out of the tip.

a great one at dunkin donuts used to cost $1.92. i'd leave the change & 25¢ in the tip cup (so drink costs me $2.25). they raised the price to $2.11 & i still only pay $2.25.

the way i see it, the company is charging more, therefore they have more money to pay their staff, ergo i don't have to subsidize their petty wages as much.

i know that's total b.s., but the fact remains that i'm just not prepared to pay more than $2.25 for 24oz. of coffee.

This is because when a newbie rings you up, they don't know which button to press. I order a Venti Cafe Vanilla Frap when I go to starbucks. The listed price is $5.75. I have been charged as little as $3.75 and as much as $6.25 depending which series of buttons the cashier decides equals a "Venti Cafe Vanilla Latte." Some times they ring up "Vanilla bean + coffee", sometimes plain "vanilla bean" sometimes "Coffee Frap + vanilla flavor"...the combos go on....
They don't know on page two, there is, in fact, a button for my particular drink.
Since most of the time, when i do get charged wrong, they under charge, I don't complain. I only complain if they make the drink with the syrup instead of the powder. if i wanted it made with syrup, I'd have paid a whole lot less at Caribu Coffee. Thanks.

it's probably a cashier error (I worked at Starbucks last year). There is a button for "VANILLA LATTE," which probably rings at $2.95. If you ordered an additional syrup, there is another button for that at $0.30 each. So the barista probably rang it up as a Vanilla Latte, add vanilla syrup. he or she probably was new and mixing up how to ring up a Latte+ syrup and a vanilla latte. The Sbux policy was always "just say yes." She should mention it to a manager or Shift supervisor next time she's in, or write in on the website.

I was reading my Mint.com reports today and I realized I have spent almost $800 at Starbucks this year. How horrifying is that??? The problem is I love chai but no matter where I get it, it's expensive. Now I'm addicted to the caffeine...I need to quit for the sake of my budget!

Also, does anyone ever really leave tips at Starbucks? They don't even have a tip jar at the one I go to regularly.

There is a reason the woman working the cash register at Starbucks doesn't understand what is going on, and it is the same reason she is working at the cash register at Starbucks.

@Wet_Baloney: Dumbass. Ever heard of email? Seriously, who writes letters?

@jaredutah: in my area, the double cheeseburger came off the dollar menu this past winter. now it's $1.49.

i haven't eaten mcdonald's since - & you know what? i don't miss it at all (ok, maybe the fries a little bit).

@Clipdat: That's just a phrase tossed around by people who never worked in either the retail or service industry.

@jaredutah: I'm surprised that you ordered a double cheeseburger without cheese, and that there was a line item for cheese, and you actually got a burger with *no* cheese.

Conventional logic would dictate that you'd have ended up with double cheese, or a helplessly inedible mess of melted orange plastic.

@dry-roasted-peanuts: Oh that's an especially hilarious comment considering I've worked in both.