Just a short lesson on what a refill is at Starbucks: I think this is valuable information for many people!
If you order a Starbucks tall latte, and then want Pike Place Roast as a refill, the answer is “yes.” I should clarify, the answer is “yes” only if you have stayed inside the store. Once you leave the store, when you return, you will be paying full price for your beverage again. The refill price is available only for same store visits. The refill only becomes free if you are paying for your beverage with a registered Starbucks Card, at the green level of benefits. And there is no refill price for any handcrafted beverages. Iced tea, iced coffee, and hot brewed coffee all have a refill price available to them. In other words, if I drink a grande Frappuccino, stay in the store, and want grande iced passion tea as a refill, then I should be charged the refill price for the passion tea, not the the full price of the iced passion tea. However, there is no way to order a Frappuccino as a refill.
I bring this up because I noticed (thanks to a comment in another blog article!) that Starbucks has finally updated their website to truly clarify the refill policy. This had been in an area, where in the past, the website had had ambiguous language. Thank you Starbucks for this! Here’s the official Starbucks page on the refill benefit.
In previous articles, I have talked about the theories behind the refill policy. As many people know, iced coffee, iced tea, and brewed coffee are beverages that are low cost to the business. Furthermore, those who stay inside the store are more likely to linger and purchase food or other items as well. Also, it makes no sense to tell customers, you must only purchase the lowest cost beverages to be able to receive the refill price. In other words, there’s no logic to saying that a customer who spends a premium for a handcrafted drink may not receive a refill because he or she didn’t start out with a cheaper beverage. And of course, there is never a refill price for drive-thru customers.
And you really do have to stay in the store to get a refill. If you have left the store, and you return later in the day with your cup, the baristas should tell you there is no refill price available.
Hope that my readers find this helpful!
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What is the refill price on the handcrafted drinks like lattes and cappuccinos because those are what I order 98% of the time? I like this update to their policy. Thanks for sharing.
There is no refill price on a handcrafted beverage. But if you order a Mocha, and then want Pike Place Roast, that IS a refill, assuming you’ve stayed in the store.
Iced tea, iced coffee, and brewed coffee are available at the refill price.
Melody I was at my local SB when I read the earlier comments re refills in the other posts and was going to share my experience of two days ago. My husband ordered a pumpkin spice latte and then wanted a regular coffee. Told him he can get a free refill. Partner at register that knows us said no that is not the policy. Did not want to get into a yes it is no it is not discussion so paid for the coffee. Overheard by another partner and she came over and corrected the situation and said yes indeed we were eligible for a free refill of coffee. Not a big issue – first partner apologized and we were not upset. But, again, this just brings to the surface how many partners really know all the refill policies. (yes, we stayed in the store btw)
@purple1 – Your example is a perfect example of the problem. I agree. Many partners don’t know the current refill policy. I see problems here in downtown Seattle. Sometimes I’ll say, “this is a refill” if I am switching from a Grande Refresher to a Grande Iced Passion Tea. And then they say “yes” even if the barista had started to ring it up as full price.
This is definitely a daily struggle for baristas and customers, especially with the gold card, customers always ask/tell me, “I get free refills b/c I’m a gold card member” I have to explain…
You get free refills when you QUALIFY for the refill price, when we run your card the price will change to $0.00
Then I explain how/what you can get for a refil.
As said the refil policy states, regardless of first purchased beverage, during the same visit, in the same size a person can get a refill…
What about espresso? If a customer orders a solo, doppio, triple, or quad, should they be eligable for a refil? And what size?
What if they get it in a short cup? Tall cup? Iced grande?
@Rainbowpaws – Good question. I’ve always thought the policy should be (though it appears I’m wrong) that you go from hot to hot, and cold to cold, and not switch between. So if I ordered a doppio con panna, and wanted a short Pike Place Roast as a refill, that would make sense to me, but nothing else. That’s just a perfect example of an area of ambiguity.
Yes, peoples’ experiences are just another example of baristas that work for Starbucks to only take home a paycheck and cannot be bothered to look at the portal or even their own employee bulletin board.
There is a rapidly disappearing work ethic, exasperated by Federal Regulations brought about by the few employers that took advantage of employees. If a person has a job where they do not feel it is their responsibility to know about their company; its policies, history, vision, etc., then they need to go someplace where they do want to know that. A person cannot say they are satisfied with their job if they think only clock in to clock out.
It is a shame that most Starbucks have some long time loyal core customers with more knowledge than even the Store Manager.
For the true Baristas (remember I recognize them with a capital B) please do not take my comments as an indictment against you. I recognize your excellence and effort and sympathize with your frustration. Just don’t give up. You may not be properly rewarded or recognized in this job, but you never know when that gem of an opportunity will come your way (and Melody, that is a bit of a pep talk for you too).
I went to a new Starbucks near my work and sat outside the store during my lunch break with my coffee. Had a heck of a time convincing the barista I had not completely left the store and come back (all they saw was me coming back in through the doors, so I guess I understand).
I know of one man that reused his used cup every morning for refills. He would walk in with a plastic bag take his cup out. I was baffled on why the Partners did not tell him “No Sir.” I thought, maybe it was part of the “just say yes” policy. I no longer see him after he repeatedly bothered customers like me by making weird comments. One regular, gave him $1 every morning to “go away because he had was having a meeting.” After this particular regular refused to give him money, he disappeared.
https://twitter.com/coolrock_/status/287995388462514177
^ Really a perfect example of how the refill policy has different meaning in different places. I’m surprised. Not angry, just surprised. Charging for a iced tea + refill at the same time would still mean that the refill would be free for the customer who is using a registered card at the green level.
@melody YES! You can switch between hot and cold! 🙂 also to add you can get a refill of tea! Which includes a new tea bag! Also if you get a refill of iced tea that does NOT include lemonade, juice is more expensive. 🙁
I encountered this issue earlier this week at the only store in Jackson, MS (with truly abysmal service, which is likely why there are only two out of seven locations remaining in this part of the state). I’d consumed a “for here” latte and there was quite a bit of foam remaining. I asked the barista at the register for a tiny amount of Christmas Blend (I used my fingers to indicate an amount of that was about two ounces) to add to this. She angrily rang me up for a grande. I explained again what I was asking: not an order to go but a refill in my current cup, per SBUX policy. She then lashed out and said that this has never been the policy, and that refills are only permitted when one has purchased drip coffee. She very begrudgingly agreed to ring this as a refill and then placed my cup on the bar, as if she was unable to fill it with coffee herself. The barista received no instruction and I explained it to him. What did he do? Took the cup directly to the sink to rinse it out! This was the same barista who’d argued with me multiple times about the Amazon Local discount and had to manually refund my transaction so I could get the 20% discount for which I’d paid (and whose redemption instructions I’d both showed him in print and read aloud). At this point, I understandably stormed out and said I wouldn’t be back. The response from the surely employees was essentially “good riddance.” Up to that point, I’d been in that store every day for over a week, a record for me (but I never would’ve been there without the 20% discount, except perhaps on Christmas Day).
Oh my god Carl. Please email the district manager. That is horrible customer service. Email someone! I have no ties in Mississippi, but if I can help you figure out the right person to go to, I will. That is horrible customer service.
On the flip side of this, I have a friend that goes to “Tarbucks” (fake SBUX run by TGT employees) and they charge her 50¢ to fill her grande mug. Of course then she can have unlimited refills for free. And yes, she earns Rewards every time, so 12 days = $6, which is essentially returned to her in the form of a $5.95 sandwich redeemed for free at a real SBUX. It’s not just her, though; there’s a large group that does this at that location (possibly others) every day. They pay 50¢, drink their coffee, and then get a free refill to go. 🙂
@Carl – Where more specifically is the store in Jackson, Mississippi? Do you know the store number?
I’d have to locate an old receipt to find the actual store number, which I’ve forgotten. For some reason the SBUX site uses fake store numbers (it shows this one as 7409). It’s the only location in Jackson, MS.
I exclusively drink reserve coffees via clover. If I am in the store, have a reserve venti Sumatra via clover with a scone, come up in 30 minutes for a refill. Can I get the same drink? I’ve been wondering this for a while.
@AdamJackson – The Clover drink is considered handcrafted so there is no refill price for it. But you can get a refill of drip.
Actually, I did this at some point within the last month or so: I was at the Bellevue Starbucks (on 8th NE, store #303) and ordered a tall Colombia Valley of Gold from the Clover. Later, I asked for Christmas Blend (on the brew) as a “refill” and the register barista didn’t bat an eye. It was no problem. But sorry, no refill of exactly the same Clover drink.
@Melody – I have been told that there is no refill allowed giving a drip after a Reserve purchase on a Clover. Does a Regular Starbucks Iced Coffee count as a refill after a Reserve purchase? I now would assume so, but I can’t believe how many partners have their own interpretation of policy. They have me all confused. Glad to see you have cleared some confusion up. Its a lesson learned for me.
@Chgo – The answer is yes. You should not have been told “no.” Actually, you can switch between hot and cold beverages. I don’t usually do that – for some reason I have a harder time wrapping my head around it, but the way iced tea, brewed coffee, and iced tea are handled is a bit like the image of food places where you can just get up any time and get a refill from the soda machine – you could switch between tea and pepsi. Well, that’s a terrible analogy, but the only thing I can think of right now.
How I wish the whole country were on the same page with what Seattle says the policy is.
I find these comments so interesting and melody your last comment how you wish the rest of the stores outside of Seattle would be on the same policy page says it all me and the earlier comment from Dad cooks I think about having a training person in the district.
Isn’t that the bottom line? Training and customer service go hand in hand! It still seems so strange to me that customers often tell partners what is happening. Thanks to you Melody.
Just to give another perspective, it is hard to believe how many customers abused the refill policy. Our store is not “strict” but if you open at 4:30am and were there all morning and someone comes in with a cup and asked for a refill and you know you have not served them that day it is hard to swallow and it happens all the time. My favorite was when we switched to Holiday cups and folks came in with the WHITE cups asking for a refill. Believe me when I say we do our best to give world class customer service at our store – but customers abuse this policy as much as partners do not understand it.
Cardiffgal, I’m on my phone and cant write much. I understand many customers ask for refills when it’s not a refill. Then baristas have to be to stop and explain the policy. I’ve seen time and time again that the refill abuse is fostered by misunderstanding. Partners who won’t say no and explain it. I would hope, just because baristas are rightfully upset by the many people who came into the store with a cup, that shouldn’t stop giving a refill to someone who bought a latte, stayed in the store & now wants Pike Pl. Roast. I understand the frustration but I never assume any mal-intent on either customer or partner. One of the things that I hope is that customers read this and notice my emphasis on having stayed in store.
@Cardiffgal – I truly understand your perspective.
However, Starbucks is missing a simple solution. First, refills should require the use of a Starbucks Card and the POS system should remember a customer’s visit and “authorize” the refill.
Another solution is that if Starbucks would fully implement the printed tag system and add to it a location, date, and time stamp.
Or simply no receipt, no refill 😉
@DadCooks – I sooo wish something like this was in place. As it is in Canada, refills are full-price unless you pay with a registered card, so that cuts down a little on the confusion – no arguments about the $0.50.
I always err on the side of the customer being right on the refill policy (with some exceptions) because if I mistakenly deny someone a refill who deserves one, the ramifications are worse than if I mistakenly give someone a refill who didn’t qualify. There are all kind of cases where I didn’t see someone, or wasn’t on the floor when they got their first one, or they were sitting on the patio or something.
Seems relatively simple to implement (though I know nothing about IT stuff – could be much more complicated than it’s worth…), but I would hazard a guess that because we aren’t moving quickly to implement something like this, the cost to the company isn’t that great.
Personally, I think the simplest solution would be to say ‘for here beverages qualify for refills.’ Bring me a for-here mug and I will refill it for you, or put your next beverage in paper cup for you to go. Simple, no cheating, as you would’ve had to get the for-here mug from one of us partners, ensures the for-here part is adhered to, even if I couldn’t see you or you were on the patio or something and requires no IT support/changes.
Wow, nice info! Its just one thing that is confusing me, what is the difference between refill price & the full price? So there are two sets of price for the refillable drinks? Sorry, there is no such policy here, that’s why I’m confused! Anyway, would welcome such policy here, pay by card and get refill for free! Great post as always… =)
@Rebecca – your point about refills being only for “for here” beverages is a point I should have made too and to honest with you should be the way it is.
For those who might complain about “what about my personal cup”, I would say to get your beverage in a “for here” cup and if you are going to get your final refill for the road take your personal cup up to the counter as you return the “for here cup” and allow the refill in the personal cup.
Thanks for this post Melody. It’s great to have this and shed light on what the correct policy is. I actually “flagged” this blog in my iPhone & the next time I encounter an issue, I plan to pull up the policy. Thanks again!
I just wanted to give this a little boost. This is one of those areas where there is confusion in the stores, so I hope that both customers and partners will spread the word about what the refill policy really is: Yes, you have to stay in store. Yes, you can start with a more expensive drink and get a refill.
My store is a drive thru, right off the freeway. We get at least two people per day trying to get refills when they bought their original beverage at a different store (sometimes hundreds of miles away). We will give them a cup discount, but we follow the refill policy and won’t give them the $.50 price. It’s actually worse for us in the summer when more people want Iced Tea refills under the same circumstances. Glad to see the revised verbiage on the website, it’ll be easier to point customers in that direction for feedback.
What if I redeem a free “lucky dozen” and then try to get a refill on drip coffee?
Is that allowed?
Hi Aaron Z – So let me see if I understand you: You’re asking hypothetically, if you order a Grande Mocha (using a free reward coupon), stay inside the store, and then ask for a Grande Pike Place Roast, is that a “refill”? I would say that’s a little bit ambiguous, but I think the answer should be “yes.” At least here in downtown Seattle, I am confident that the partners would say “yes.”
I would agree with you Melody, and would coach my partners the same way. It is ambiguous, but the ‘free refills’ doesn’t state how you need to have received the first beverage – recovery coupon, promo, what have you. You need a gold card, you need to have stayed in store, and you need to have a beverage to refill. Therefore, I would say yes. I *would* try to convince them to buy a pastry, haha, but that’s because I’m an SM 🙂
@Aaron Z – I have never had a problem getting the refill after I have finished my reward treat. However, since the new rewards went into place I get a food item as the reward to go along with my usual drip coffee.
@Rebecca – I am sure your common sense is much appreciated by your customers and your Partners. Thank you.
It’s funny because I stopped at one location on my way to work today for a Grande in my mug. (Love the Espresso Roast BTW) and on lunch I went to another location for a coffee in my cup. The partner asked me if it was a refill and I honestly said That I had one earlier today but in a different store. She did ring it up as a refill which I was not going to argue about.
Then again I was purchasing a food item as well.
@EmanuelLevy – Yup, Espresso Roast makes a fine drip. In any case, I have often heard partners ask, “Is this a refill?” or even, “Is this your first today?” sort of implying that you only need to pay once in a day. I am sure at some point it’s a wash since you don’t have to sell much coffee to a profit on a pot of coffee, but nonetheless, I hear partners all the time describe the refill policy as, ‘free refills!” and not mention that you have to stay in the store. So it again during a store’s morning rush this morning – Clearly the guy had just arrived with his personal cup, and the partner encouraged him that it was a “refill.”
Melody, thanks to this blog post, I just proved the SS at this Starbucks wrong. After finishing my grande Hazelnut Macchiato, I took my cup & registered customized card up & asked for a refill of iced Passion tea, sweetened. The guy looked at me like I was crazy, then asked “in the same cup?” I replied, “well, you could rinse it (milk based before) or just use a new cup” – he agreed, then told his shift supervisor (I think) what I wanted. The SS told me that they’ll go ahead & do it this time, but I’m supposed to have bought a tea to get a tea refill. I replied “what if I prove you wrong?” I asked if they heard of your site, & that I read it on Starbucks’ official site as well. He agreed to my offer of showing him. I opened up your blog post, as well as the official answer on Starbucks’ CS site & showed him. He read yours & said “oh, it has to be officially from Starbucks.” I switched to the other tab, showing him the “official” truth, and all he said was “ok, thanks. Have a good day.” Ha! I hope I don’t have to go through that again, but will if it’ll help partners learn their own policy better. Thanks again, Melody! 🙂
@Laily – a small sweet victory, maybe, time will tell.
Fortunately, while I often complain about Starbucks training and ongoing training, one of the things that my regular Starbucks gets right is the refill policy.
@Laily (and DadCooks) – Sorry I am so late in replying to you. It sounds like you met a partner who open to learning more about the refill policy – I am glad it worked out for you, and I am glad this blog article was helpful. It’s interesting, everyday lots of people do Google searches on some combination of the words “Starbucks refill policy” and this little article gets quite a few views, despite not all that many comments.
My offer for a free refill was rejected this sunday. Haha.
Because of Melody, I know well about a free refill policy.
But they were too strict and against what I explained.
I got really upset after they rejected my request.
But I couldn’t go through ‘Laily’s work.
T-T Anyway, thank for making me understand clearly.
Sun, I am sorry that you could not get a refill. It actually bothers me a little bit when partners turn into the Refill-Police (and get it wrong) and at the same time, I’ve seen partners give free drinks to friends and favorite regulars. I recognize that may be a small percentage of cases, but it is a bit worrisome to me. I suggest that you call Customer Service: http://www.starbucks.com/customer-service/
Unlimited refills? :O
here’s another question.. does the refill policy include pour overs?
one of my partners swears that when the gold card first launched, pour overs were not part of the free refill policy. we have several customers that will hang out for hours, getting pour over after pour over, some request different blends each time, and all of them throw away their cup and want a new one, -and- they refuse to use for here mugs. (no idea why this is)
i love doing pour overs and french presses for people, i call it the slow-bar 🙂
@Jocelyn – That is a really good question. I would have guessed “no” but I am not at all certain! I recall reading on MSI one time that someone had called Customer Service about wanting a refill from the Clover. If the store had no “bold” on and the customer wanted a non-reserve coffee as a “refill,” apparently that could be a “refill.” That doesn’t make too much sense – a Clover is more labor. So when all is said and done, I don’t know.
As a very knowledgable partner I can tell you that technically pour over is not supposed to be for refills, refills are supposed to be quick an from what
As a very knowledgable partner I can tell you that technically pour over is not supposed to be for refills, refills are supposed to be quick and from what is currently available, so if only pike place roast is available afternoon, that is all you should be able to receive for a refill.
Doing a pour over takes time/labor that stores do not receive when they ring up a refill vs ringing full price for a coffee, doing pourable as a refill takes away from everything else that is the responsibility of the baristas.
But that being said… I’ve yet to be in a store that wouldn’t give that if requested.
It is so sad that this won’t go away. The refill policy of brewed or iced coffee or tea has been around for YEARS. At least a decade. Now, with the SBUX Card perks, they became free, but other than that, the basic policy has not really changed.
Anyway, as far as pour over, yes, that is fine. As you are aware, most stores do not have any coffee other than Pike Place Roast, available other than pour over, after 12 noon, so it is natural to expect that coffee would be included in the refill policy.
As far as Clover goes, I am not 100% sure, since we only have 1 Over store in AZ, but I would think that it is not really the machine, but the Reserve Coffees that would cause that variant of the policy. I feel it would probably just add to the confusion, if Starbucks said “you can have a Clover refill, but not this coffee, or this coffee, oh but this coffee is okay, oh but not that one either.”
…just my 2 beans
WO
This whole refill thing shouldn’t be so complicated but I think Sbux made it this way when the ‘re-fill’ became available to any drink purchased, so it was not exactly a ‘re-fill’, it was an entirely different drink (coffee or tea), so…that’s always been a little weird to me. That might as well just call it ” free coffee or tea” with the purchase of any drink, as long as you don’t leave the store.
As far as “pour-overs’: yes, it has always been my experience that if a BOLD coffee were not still being brewed, I got a pour over for a (real) re-fill on my coffee. There’s no way I am ever drinking PPR, and I’ve never had a problem getting a pour-over as a refill. A pour- over may even have been my initial cup of coffee.
so brewed coffees, iced teas & iced coffees. Does that count iced coffees with milk or iced chia tea lattes? or does the fact its a latte make it not included?
@Krystal – It doesn’t matter what the first drink was. Grande Vanilla Bean Frappuccino? Then the refill could be iced tea, iced coffee, or brewed coffee. Grande Clover-Brewed Tanzania – Same refill options. But the “refill” priced item can only be the iced tea, iced coffee, or brewed coffee. So if you had ordered an iced chai latte, (and of course stayed in the store), you could walk out with iced tea (but not tea lemonade) in your cup.
No matter what the first drink, refill-priced items are only iced tea, iced coffee, or brewed coffee.
I hope that helps. (And of course, the refill requires that you consume the beverage inside the store and not take it to-go.)