If some jerk grabs the bills from your tip jar, you’re supposed to just stand there and take it, but one Starbucks barista was having none of that. She chased the thief until police eventually caught him and charged him with robbery by assault, a second degree felony.
The crime-fighting barista followed the man out into the street, where she, another employee, and the alleged thief got into a shoving match.
From the Austin American-Statesman:
“I wasn’t scared. I mean, I fell down when he pushed me and it hurt later, but I kind of felt like I was in the right by trying to get our money back,” she said. “All I kept thinking was, ‘He can’t just take our money. That’s our grocery money, our gas money; we need that money.’ ”
Palawski said she offered to forget the incident if he returned the money. She said he responded, “Follow me, if you can.”
Palawski and another worker called police about 7 p.m.
Palawski ran down the street, following the man to a bus. She said she called out for the bus driver not to leave, saying, “That man stole our tip jar, and the police are on the way.”
The man ran again, and, again Palawski followed as he headed down an alley behind the Paramount Theatre, she said.
She eventually flagged down the cops and they arrested the guy. Meanwhile, the barista got written up for her trouble.
This particular Starbucks is so plagued with tip jar thieves that the employees actually cut the bottom out of the tipjar so that when people just try to grab it, all the money falls on to the floor.
We guess she’s just had enough of that sort of thing.
Starbucks declined to comment on the specifics but said they were cooperating with local law enforcement.
Starbucks barista helps nab man accused of taking tip jar [Austin American Statesman via Starbucks Gossip]
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Can we just hit the reset swich on the world, now?
Can we just hit the reset switch on the world, now?
“This particular Starbucks is so plagued with tip jar thieves that the employees actually cut the bottom out of the tipjar so that when people just try to grab it, all the money falls on to the floor.”
I like this idea. Maybe do what some people do with the keys to bathrooms and attach the jar to a cinder block, or something equally heavy.
Like the key they used to keep in gas station restrooms so you wouldn’t walk off with it…
I would call that a double win.
Make the tip jar out of lexan and cable-lock it to the table. Problem solved.
Same here, I really like this idea. It seems like it would solve the problem much more eloquently than chasing down a dude.
Don’t they have to record the tips they get in the tip jar as income?
A certain amount of tip income is expected and reported as an average, rather than using actual tip numbers. So, if your tips are stolen, you still have to pay taxes on what you were supposed to have gotten.
And if you make more than the average, you don’t pay taxes on that – right?
Right, but don’t get too many visions of plenty.
Tips are also divided based on hours worked as well, so I got anywhere from $6 to a whopping $28, for the week. Not exactly going to pay of the mortgage with that.
Yes, but what does this have to do with anything?
On re-read, that sounds rude…I’m just curious as to why you’re asking in relation to this story.
i thought the question related this way [but i could be wrong] : if the tips get stolen, do the tips get reported by the employer anyway, costing the employee part of their paycheck on money they didn’t actually get?
It’s not rude at all. “I’d like to know if they paid taxes on the tips” should be on the next version of Consumerist Bingo.
Read literally, however, blogger X could just be asking the question out of legitimate curiosity.
When I worked at Starbucks, they automatically claimed 70 cents per hour in tip income for every employee. At first they left it up to the employees to report, but of course that never happened, so they started claiming a certain amount. We usually made more than 70 cents per hour in tips though.
What are the tips for??? A starbucks worker has an easier job than a McDonalds worker.
What does that matter? The tips aren’t mandatory. You don’t have to give a tip. I do just because I know they don’t make nearly as much as all the people buying the coffee.
yeah, but they don’t report everything. most places just report $5 or $10 instead of counting every single bill.
The tip jar money is the Barista’s money, not Starbucks’ money. While I don’t really have a problem with any company having a policy that employees can’t prevent theft from the company (although the rules never made much sense to me) I think it’s pretty reprehensible for Starbucks to write the Barista up for this. What if someone had stolen her purse from behind the counter? What if someone had tried to break into her car in the parking lot?
The issue is not the theft from her, it is her behavior while an employee and on the clock as an employee. IT is her money once she walks out the door and is not on the clock. Based on your reasoning, if somebody put a lousy tip in the jar she could be a smart ass and say, no thanks, you must need it more than I do. The company also has an obligation to protect the safety of ALL its employees and therefore can tell them, give up everything and claim it on their insurance.
Yeah, except they’ll never claim tips on their insurance. They’ll never reimburse the employees for the lost money. They don’t provide a secured receptacle that will keep thieves from taking the employees’ tips, and they don’t do anything to help if/when the tips are stolen. I don’t blame the employee for one second.
Agreed but Starbucks remains liable if she is injured while on the job – this is all about liability, not asset protection. Just because the barista had the right to chase the thief doesn’t mean that there aren’t repercussions for having done so. She ought to be thankful it was just a writeup – many have been fired for similar behavior.
I’ve got to wonder if Starbucks wrote her up for chasing the thief, what’ll they do when they find out she wrote to Consumerist/the press about this? She may well get fired yet… but she got her share of the tips!
This is exactly it. They may secretly be applauding her action, but they can’t outwardly encourage this sort of thing. It’s the same reason that the police won’t openly praise her bravery.
Also, who was covering the store while she’s off playing Batgirl? Who’s helping her coworkers ring up and make drinks. There’s not usually a whole lot of room for coverage in these places. I bet she was written up for leaving the store during her shift and while she wasn’t on her break.
I’d just yell “I’m clocking out” as I am chasing after the bad guy. Then I’d be off Starbucks time and on my own.
oh man, I love this. Next time i want to punch a customer’s face in, i am yelling that as i run out the store after them.
I can’t stop laughing. thank you.
I don’t think just saying you’re clocking out counts.
It might work. When i was a licensed “Unarmed” guard in Virginia, when we got into some crap and we needed to defend ourselves, we were instructed to yell “I Quit” loudly and then draw a weapon from under the counter. Once i quit i was a private citizen and well within my rights to defend myself.
I heard tell of a blackjack dealer who was being harassed (somehow) by a player. She finally got to the point where she just had to clock the guy, so she ripped off her bow tie, yelled, “I quit!” and threw herself across the table to deck him. After whatever melee ensued, she back into the pit to gather her stuff and head home. The pit boss looked at her and said, “Turns out I just got an opening and need to hire a dealer. Are you interested?”
Or so the story goes.
What about declaring bankruptcy by just shouting it in public?
You can do ANYTHING while you’re on the clock. At my old job we weren’t even allowed to go outside the store doors on our two 15 minute breaks because an employee had once been hit by a car while walking through the parking lot. He was on his break but still on the clock so the company was held liable. We also weren’t allowed to help customers in any way after we clocked out.
the employee left the location while still getting paid. that and every retailer in the world tells employees not to give chase to a robber because the employee can get hurt and or the robber can sue the business.
my wife worked as a manager at a local coffee shop chain a couple years back. some guy stole their tip jar, she followed procedure and called the cops instead of chasing the guy down. she was mad he thought he had some right to steal but she knew it wasn’t worth it.
that and she got the amount of money back when customers doubled tipped after they asked her why their tip jar was gone and a trooper was parked out front.
It’s the same thing as the people that chase down a shoplifter and get fired for it. Policy for businesses, especially large chains, is usually that you don’t go after a criminal. Doing so not only puts you at risk, but also potentially puts other customers at risk and if anything should happen to you or another person, the business could be held liable.
Yes, but what about gparlet’s point above? I understand the policy as well, but this is a lot closer to the thief stealing the money from her purse than, say, the till.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d get written up for chasing a thief out of the store if he’d stolen money from her purse as well. I’m guessing the issue isn’t who suffered the damage but who’s going to be involved if it all goes pear-shaped: the company.
Yes but this isn’t someone stealing from the company, this is stealing from the employee personally. I think that’s different, and should be treated differently.
Problem is they’re on clock when they did this. What we have is a conflict between protecting your personal property (not the company’s property) and corporate liability (if you’re injured while on company time, they can get in trouble I believe). The two are pretty much at odds with each other when it happens.
At least she didn’t get fired. She got written up. Her boss probably said, “I don’t want to do this but its policy that I write you up, now go get me a coffee.”
Solution to stolen tip jar: Pay a proper wage and don’t ask for tips, duh. Tipping is one of the most customer-hostile practices out there, and I loved being in Japan where it’s never expected, and even considered bribery.
How is it customer-hostile? If you like the service, leave a tip. If you don’t, don’t. How is that worse for customers that a system where, if you like the service, the tip is in the price, and if you don’t, then it’s STILL in the price?
Because in a place with good food, but poor servers, you have to either tip more than you should, or risk someone messing with your food.
It’s customer-hostile because it’s lying about the price. The menu says $5.00, but there’s a hidden extra 15% that isn’t advertised. Plus, there is the hostility of having to pull out the damn calculator after already having paid the bill to calculated the tip. Again, in any other situation, this would be considered bribery.
Restaurants are showing themselves to be out of touch by not only maintaining tips, but actively expanding the practice to coffee shops. This is so they can continue to underpay employees on the backs of their customers.
They don’t ask for tips. It’s there just to be there. There is no expectation of tips, but if you want to, you’re free to tip. Starbucks, AFAIK, pays pretty well.
If it’s there, it’s asking.
And just by having a starbucks there, they’re asking you to come buy their coffee. You’re free to ignore it, and frankly, I’d rather there just be a jar sitting there in-obtrusively than to have the cashier ask if you’d like to leave a tip the way they’ve started at grocery stores for charity donations.
Yes, because of course there’s no other alternative but those two. That’s why McDonald’s is such a failure.
The Starbucks in Corpus Christi starts at $8.50/hour. In this town, most places start at minimum wage. So yeah, Starbucks FTW.
There is no expectation of tips
That depends greatly on where you’re at. I take it you’ve never had a tip jar shaken at you.
Restaurant tipping, I get. But this ferengui-style ubiquitous tip jars at counters, which is a relatively new phenomena (last 10yrs or so?), bugs me, too.
When I was slingin’ lattes at a local coffee ship 14 years ago, we had a tip jar. The tip jar is a critical compensation component when you’re making minimum wage.
It’s times like this I think back to the era of Deadwood. If you tried stealing coin that was sitting on the bar at the Gem (and were noticed), do you really think you’d make it out the front door alive? Pretty strong deterrent for those smart enough to learn from others mistakes.
We had a tip jar at the deli I worked at in CA. We got paid by the hour, but it was only about $5.50. That extra money at the end of the day really helped.
Heh, we had one guy who was so mellow and cool he always raked in the tips when he was on the register, so we kept begging him to be on it. The customers loved him. On a six-man crew, we would get like $10 each when he was up there. Sometimes he would refuse and do another job that day just to get away from the damn thing.
Yeah, I bet the employees have a lot of control over what the boss pays them – it’s not as though the person putting out the jar in most cases is deciding what the wage will be.
You think that’s bad? Man…I guess you have never heard about those guys on the internet that read about theft and immediately dismiss the fact that a crime was committed in favor of their feelings about tipping. I hate those guys! Sheesh.
I used to tip at starbucks when I was single but I never do anymore, in fact now I consider people who tip at starbucks to be saps, the workers there make substantially more than your average restaurant server and get health benefits to boot. Also there are really not that many opportunities for ‘excellent service’ to begin with (your drink isn’t going to get moved up in line because you dropped 40 cents in the tip jar) and half the time they can’t even get the relatively simple orders right like “leave room for cream”.
“Solution to stolen tip jar: Pay a proper wage and don’t ask for tips, duh. Tipping is one of the most customer-hostile practices out there, and I loved being in Japan where it’s never expected, and even considered bribery”.
So where do you think the employer would get the money to pay higher wages?? They would raise their prices and instead of paying $10.00 for a meal and adding $2.00 for tip a meal you would pay $12.00 for a meal and no tip would be required. Same cost to you, but you have no option to withhold tip amount if service was poor.
I am really glad that she didn’t get fired.
Being written up for that sucks, but the company has to. Hopefully its just a slap on the wrist, nudge-nudge-wink-wink kinda thing where they tell her “You can’t chase a theif while on the company time, it puts you at risk, it puts other customers at risk, and it puts us in a liable situation if you were to ihurt someone, but good job…”
Not at the Bux. As I recall, a certain number of write-ups gets you fired. The end. It doesn’t matter what they were for.
Oh, and once you’ve been fired from SBux, you pretty much can’t work for the company ever again.
I understand the policy. It’s to protect the employees from injury or, god forbid, death at the hands of a thief. That doesn’t make the situation any less sucky though. Steeling tips is LOW.
I don’t blame her at all for going after him. Like she said, that was their money, not the company’s.
If Starbucks would allow it, one solution to the problem would be a piggy-bank slot in the counter with the tip jar underneath.
Here in Center City Philly, a Starbucks manager was murdered by some high school-age thugs who roughed him on a subway platform, causing a fatal asthma attack. VERY big story here. And not just because he was nice guy-he served me coffeee quite a few times, and was always efficient & courteous. So,. whatever can be done todefeat criminals, I favor strongly.
Holy hell. I looked up the story. I can’t believe that happened. How can people even think of such a thing? I mean, I get that he died from an asthma attack, and none of the wounds he sustained were fatal – but who in the world can find it in themselves to actually hit another being, and to cause him injury. It’s baffling to me how people can get so dark, and want to hurt others.
This is the story, for anyone else who wants to read it: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20091029_3_teens_to_be_sentenced_in_death_of_Starbucks_manager.html
DAAAAAMMMN. I don’t believe in the death penalty, but how about the “I get to spend five minutes alone in a room with the unarmed thug and my own set of brass knuckles” penalty?
I’d be down with giving some people that penalty.
Starbucks might be quick to write them up, but I wonder what they would have done if the thief had managed to simply get away? I doubt they’d reimburse the employees who just lost a bulk of their income to any degree.
A police report would need to be filed and the company could reimburse or use their insurance to recoup their lost income.
Once again, this is not the company’s money. They don’t care.
That’s why they encourage tips, so they aren’t paying their customers and there is no liability if this portion of their paycheck disappears.
Ballsy to pull something like that in Texas, the same state where you get a pass for shooting 2 people breaking into a neighbors house.
Not that the sort of scum who’d steal a tip jar in the first place are thinking it through, but I’m guessing that Starbucks has a no-weapons policy for their employees so you’re not nearly as likely to get plugged nicking the tip jar from Starbucks as you are breaking into my house at night.
True enough. But doing things like that in front of a customer can be rather risky as well, especially in a shall issue state.
in a not really but sort of related story, my roommate was standing out in our little half-yard/concrete slab last night, and some lady started screaming about her purse from the bar down the street. a truck came tearing around the corner and people jumped out and started yelling. my roommate went out the gate and hid behind his car. suddenly, he saw a dude running with something in his hand, so he sneakily crept out as the guy was running and then clotheslined him. the dude fell over, dropped the purse, and took off again, so my roommate chased him down and tripped him. the dude got back up and ran down some stairs to a main roadway, where he then thought he was safe and started walking. my roommate took another route down the stairs and snuck up behind him as he was about to jump over another fence and put him in a sleeper hold ala MMA. the dude gave up and I ran up (I was inside playing video games) just as some other guy and my roommate were picking him up off the ground. The cops, upon arrival, were so pissed off at the guy I thought they were going to start beating him right there. The dude overall was really nice about it and even thanked my roommate for taking it easy on him. He’s kind of lucky though that it was my roommate and not me, because due a recent string of total fuck overs, I am no longer very tolerant of this type of thing.
Your roomate is lucky the guy didnt have a knife and turn and stab him instead of running, or a gun and shoot him.
I’d gladly take a write-up for that. The employee keeps her job, and Starbucks gets to stick to its safety policy without causing any real additional problems for the Employee.
Sounds like win-win.
I realize that a letter in the file is not exactly the greatest thing on earth when it comes to annual review/increase scenarios but c’mon it’s Starbucks. Unless this barrista is on tenur track for store management or corporate (unlikely given her location), then it’s moot. It’s not like she got docked, suspended, or terminated over it.
No employer tells me what to do when it comes to my money. If someone wanted to steal my tips, then they are going to get chased the f$$$ down. Starbucks can fire me and I’ll take my money and leave. But the purse analogy above was very good. No one takes what is mine that way, and no employer tells me how to handle it. The fat cats making these policies don’t deal with this kind of thing.
Then you are a fool. If your property is taken in the course of your employment, all you need to do is file a claim with insurance. If you bring anything that can not be replace dot work, you are even more foolish. As an EMPLOYEE, you are earning tips ONLY because they allow you to. They can say they willnto allow a tip jar if you want to be obnoxious about it. The company has an obligation to the other employees and customers, not just your selfish ass.
Nothing like losing an $XXX.XX per week job (and possibly your life) over $X.XX amount of change. The 10 o’clock news would be so boring without tough guys and heroes.
I think of it this way. I can lose $50 in tips, or I can lose my life, in which $50 in tips is useless to me. So is the $700 in pay I would have lost by risking being fired. So either I don’t go after a guy over $50, or I keep my $700 and more importantly – my life.
This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode, where George is trying to be cool with the pizzeria guy, after his boss, Steinbrenner, sends for calzones.
They should switch to something with a narrow-enough mouth so that you can’t stick your fist in, but wide enough so you can put money in.
That, in combination with the hole in the bottom, should be sufficient.
There really is a reason that companies have that policy. Is a few bucks in a jar really worth your life? It worked out this time, but if the guy had a knife, or a gun, it might have been different. Most companies have similar policies. Basically don’t be a hero. If theft there is such a big problem then they should periodically empty the tip jar into a can under the counter that can’t be grabbed by anyone.
Easy answer to this. If you aren’t capable of doing it, don’t pursue it. Me? I’m not scared of some scumbag with a gun stealing tips. Maybe some mastermind criminal yeah. But I’ll chase any idiot with a gun grabbing tips. And a knife? Please, don’t make me laugh.
Agreed. If someone were to come into my place of business waving a gun, it’d give me a bit of pause (but only a bit). A guy waving a knife in my place of employment is asking for hospitalization (not only do we have bigger bladed implements, half the workers in the place are one form or other of martial artist).
Seriously. I can understand being upset and angry, but the best way of getting yourself killed in these kinds of situations is to go after the perpetrator. If your life isn’t in danger, it’s better to just let it go and call the cops. After all, the perpetrator has probably done this before, and you got a good look at him, too.
Should’ve pulled a Desert Eagle out of her purse and blown his head off. Would make future would-be thieves think twice.
Why didn’t she just shoot him with her legally registered concealed handgun? Keep in mind, under Obama-care this employee wouldn’t have Starbucks healthcare anymore and might be too worried about potential injuries to protect her tip money. Parents need to control their kids, and honestly get what is coming to them by being barred from the plane. And seriously — just show your receipt, it takes 2 seconds !!
(I’m sorry, I just thought that every Consumerist post these days needed comments like these as a rule, plus I have to actually blame the OP in this case)
I will never show my receipt.
You will sit quietly and listen to my screaming kids whether you like it or not.
Obama-care will save the universe.
And yes, she should have shot him.
She should OF shot him. Get it right.
You forgot to mention that you make your own tips at home.
Actually, Obamacare would be awesome compared to what Starbucks offers its employees.
Starbucks doesn’t guarentee hours for its baristas, and so if they want to work work full-time hours , they must be available 80.5 hours a week. In addition, they routinely prevent baristas from hitting the 240-hour mark for the quarter on purpose, so that the employee isn’t qualified for coverage.
Starbucks provides less than 42% of its 127,000 U.S. employees with health coverage — lower than Wal-Mart, which insures about 47% of its workers. Starbucks employs illegal union-busting tactics and bullies or fires anyone who tries to negotiate a better deal.
Watch: “Starbucks’ Health Care Policy Is Sickening”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InOc4LEJbWc
Because the private employer exercises their own rights by not allowing employees to carry weapons on their property or the clock. Your right to carry a weapon doesn’t extend to someone else’s private property.
“Have a penny, give a penny.
Need a penny, you touch that jar and I’ll break arm.”
Would you like that tip jar with Whip or Double Whip as in I Whip-Your-Ass.
It’s not hard to imagine a similar article on The Consumerist titled “Starbucks Refuses to Pay Medical Expenses of Employee Severely Injured While Chasing Shoplifter”
It’s not in any companies best interest to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits (by the employee or the shoplifter) to catch someone who stole $10.00 worth of crap.
That’s it . Just pay a proper wage so tips won’t be needed to make what you should be making from the get go . Didn’t Starbucks go so far as to employees to court for not sharing their tips with supervisors/management ? To me that’s an admission that tips are part of the pay so how can they have a rule against protecting your pay . Baristas are working there for their benefit and not Starbucks .
At least it was just a write-up and not a firing but still…
As a former Dunkin’ Donuts employee who accepted tips, I kick myself for never making an awesome sign like that. When I worked there, anything under $20 wasn’t reported as income. We and/or later I, rarely ever received over $20 in a 5-6 hour period. If we did, it was split.
Anything over $20 would’ve have gotten recorded ’cause that’s just craaazy!
Maybe Starbucks can pay their employees a decent wage so they don’t need to “beg” for money for groceries and gas.
One simple question needs to be asked. Will starbucks personally cover the lost tips if the money is stolen? If not then this is no different than someone robbing the cashier and demanding their wallet. It no longer is theft of the store, but theft of the person directly. Unless the store reimburses people in such a situation, they have no right to order you not to go after the thief or fire you for it.
My guess is star bucks would not replace the cash in the cashiers wallet or even replace those tips if someone robs the cashier. They therefore have no control over this situation and are not involved.
Unfortunately the media doesn’t know how to report very well since robbery by assault isn’t a crime. The definition of robbery includes a theft and an assault. Good job redundancy department.
Here’s an idea, start paying proper wages and then this won’t happen again.
I wont go to Dunkin Donuts and since this article made me aware of Starbucks tip cup, I wont go there either. I cant believe a cup of coffee is worth more than a quarter. I think Ill start a tip cup for myself. When I make a 12 oz cup of Strong Folgers Instant, Ill drop a quarter in it. Great way of saving a few cents. Tip cups should be outlawed. Pay your employees more because soon everyone will feel the same as I do. Ill leave a tip for coffee, in a restaurant, not a carry out. Wasnt the reason a lot of us use the carry out is to eliminate the tip? Do you tip at Little Caesers or Chinese when you do a carry out? I dont and never will except for this tip, NO MORE TIP CUPS!
Thanks – It really wouldn’t have been an official Starbucks post if some old fart didn’t chime in with the classic “I can’t believe coffee costs more than a quarter”, “I don’t want any of that foo foo mucky oto vanilla stuff. Give me a good old cuppa joe”. You are correct Sir. Starbucks is clearly not for you. Keep on buying your .25 cups of joe at the corner Citgo.
If you read my post correctly I stated that I would pay myself 25 cents. A Tablespoon of instant is nowhere near 25 cents. If I go somewhere for coffee at a sit down or drive thru I expect to pay well over a dollar. I just dont feel its worth the prices that these types of places such as Starbucks charge. I like strong plain caffienated coffee with real half & half. Its not difficult to make.
I would have went after him also, since its a tip jar; Starbucks is not going to give the workers the money stolen back. With that said, why is the Starbucks located in a location where people steal from tip jars?
Then again this was in Texas, so why not just shoot the guy right there in Starbucks when he started to run after being told to stop.
She is lucky she wasnt fired, or hurt while chasing down the criminal. I dont suspect the amount of money in the jar was worth either happening.
Why the hell would they write her up? Don’t they know there’s this thing called the “internet” and on said internet people would attack such a stupid decision? It’s horrible PR.
what an idiot. Are you that much of a slug that you can’t go get a fricking job on your own? You have to steal peoples tips? Dude, your troubles run deep.
wow. we can’t even fight for what’s ours now. we’re so free here in America we’re __________.
Fill in the blank with replies.