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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Hello all,
Brenda, I get a Venti Sweetened passion tea. sit down drink it and get another refill. comes up as $.053 then they swipe my card and it is free. I even got a passion tea lemonade once and got a passion tea (no lemonade) as my refill. Sometimes they re-use the cup sometimes they give me a new cup.
The way I read the policy is you can get free refills on same size iced coffee and tea and you can get a passion tea and get an iced coffee as your refill. Keep in mind you have to stay in the store.
IzzyJ, you cannot get a refill with additional items. A misto does not have a refill price. Only iced coffee, hot brewed coffee and tea have a refill price.
@David and @IzzyJ – I have been meaning to come back to this thread. Just busy.
As to a Coffee Misto as a refill. I would be inclined to say “no.” The website lists only 4 items that ever have a refill price: Iced Tea, Iced Coffee, Hot Brewed Coffee (but not Clover-brewed), and Hot Tea. Since a Misto isn’t one of those 4 things, my answer would be “no.” But I know I have had a couple of conversations with Starbucks partners who insisted that a Coffee Misto is available as a refill perk. I wouldn’t count on that.
Please refer to the image and comment I posted previously (above). This clearly identifies Misto as a refill option, even if that was not the original purchase. Thanks.
There is no Iced coffee on menu. I always order Ice Cafe Americano and I always got a free fill. Today, my free refill was refused, I was told Ice Cafe Americano is not eligible to free refill.
What if you sit outside because non patrons are taking inside seats??
Very informative, thank you so much! Can you clarify where it says you can get a misto as a refill? I do not see it. Thank you.
I was wondering… Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade is listed under tea. Can you get this as a free refill?
@Kelly – If you ordered a Grande Black Tea Lemonade, you cannot get the exact same thing as a “refill,” but you could order a Grande Black Tea as your refill. The only items which ever have a “refill” price associated with them are: (1) Iced Coffee (2) Hot brewed coffee (coffee of the day, whatever is available) (3) Hot Tea and (4) Iced Tea.
Hope this helps. Iced Tea Lemonade is not considered to be the same drink as Iced Tea. The lemonade is an expensive component.
As an Ex Barista I had to take time to read this, (the post) AND all the comments to go with it. Listen to Melody, she generally knows what she’s talking about. I personally haven’t found anything she said to be incorrect yet.
As far as Carl Black goes. Any store, including licensed store (Stores that have their own policy) Could have posted that piece of paper. In fact, I could print one out right now, that looks just like it, go to a starbucks even, post it up, take that picture, and come back here continue my string of BS.
The best way to go about this, is simply to look at starbucks website and absorb their policy, which I’m sorry my Misto drinking friend, it DOES NOT include Coffee Misto’s.
The part that tripped up the barista’s I have shown the policy too (as in I brought up the page on my phone and showed it when they tell me no), they read “regardless of the original beverage purchased” and say that yeah as long as your original purchase is a brewed or iced coffee or tea. I think Starbucks needs to reword the policy so that it doesn’t make it seem that the original beverage has to be an iced/hot coffee/tea.
I think Starbucks Corp. needs to send an email out to all district and store managers reminding them of this policy.
As a Barista, I can tell you what we are trained to do. a refill for the price of .50 can be given to anyone who orders a tea (iced or hot) or coffee (iced or hot) and the green level or above registered SBcard will make that .50 into 0.00… it is only for the same in store visit (its cool if you are hanging out outside, but if you are not visible to the barista, then it runs into a grey area where the barista makes a decision on rather or not to give the refill to you.) you can not order a frappuccino and then expect a refill of coffee or tea that is just ridiculous. Also I personally (the rest of my store included) give the refill to anyone who asks regardless of the same in store visit policy… we just want to make people happy and get them in and out of the store asap, we’d rather not argue the point. Please dont be the kind of person who tries to cheat the system and get free or nearly free drinks… it just pisses us off. Most baristas will go out of their way to take care of you and save you money if possible, but dont get carried away and dont come up to the register with “official starbucks rules” in hand… it just makes you seem deoushie (to be clear, deoushie is the act of being a deoush.) and the last thing I think anybody would want is to mess with the people who handle their food and drink, its just not smart.
@Barista: I hear what you’re saying but the plain language of the refill policy says something different. Those words “regardless of original beverage” have a real meaning. I know you’re following as trained and want the best experience possible for your customers, but I hope you’ll consider that you haven’t been trained correctly. If I were in your shoes, I would reach out to an SSC partner for further clarification.
Full-price refills if you leave the store? I work from home and my favorite ‘Bucks is around the corner. I get my coffee in the morning, then stop by several times a day for refills. Last year, I spent nearly $1,800 at Starbucks. Now they want to squeeze me for refills at every visit. No thanks … newest Starbucks flavor is Greed. Never used to be that way. Guess the emphasis is now on the ‘bucks’ in Starbucks. Competitors take heed: You’re about to get a whole lot of new customers. What kind of company is willing to hold up customers for a few cents more and lose thousands of dollars in the process? The good news? I’m about to save a bunch of money.
@Eric – I think I understand why people think they should pay less for a refill when they’ve left the store. There are places like Specialty’s Cafe here in Seattle where brewed coffee is always 99 cents if you have your own cup. However, given how generous the refill policy is, I see no problem in drawing the line at once you leave the store. If you really want to make your voice heard on this, call Customer Service or use MyStarbucksIdea.com – I’m going to have to agree with Starbucks though, once you leave the store, the refill price ends.
I just was told by a local manager that took my order today that I could NOT have a zen tea refill because my original order was an Americano and Starbucks refill policy ONLY applies to tea/drip coffee for tea/drip coffee. I am fuming because I have been to Starbucks all over the country and there are so many misinformed Starbucks employees…hate it even more that it was a “manager” that this occurred with today.
Thanks for your reply to my comment, Melody. I completely understand the motivation for the Starbucks refill policy. It is smart business to push the envelope on pricing and product policy to the limit. I’m sure (at least I hope) Starbucks did the appropriate research on the risk/reward of its policies. It is just unfortunate that the company has increasingly targeted the high end luxury market, where discretionary spending is plentiful. That, too, is smart; more and more businesses are focusing on the high-income brackets because that’s where the money is these days. I guess I always thought of Starbucks as a “peoples” company. I loved Starbucks; it’s too bad they couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) devise programs to retain those of us who simply cannot afford to pay those kind of prices. Thanks, though, for the tip on Specialty’s Café. Hopefully, I can find something similar here in Denver. All the best, Eric.
John-It does include Mistos. They are rung as a coffee refill add dairy. I checked this out in the Beverage Manual as we have several Misto customers who do get refills.
@Melody, Oh My Goodness. Two months later and this thread is still going and still just as frustrating. A couple of pages back you said “where is the just say yes” policy? Remember I told you on another thread of yours that the company seemed to have “relax” the “just say yes policy” or is just not mentioning it when training new managers or DM’s and this refill thing proves it! New SM’s and DM’s (usually outside hires since 2007) aren’t trained to “just say yes” as well as “just be nice”. As a Partner going on fifteen years I feel it’s my duty to write a “mission review” card to corporate. It obvious that customers, Partners, managers in 2014 are confused. I’m aware of it because I work with 23 year olds that were 8 years old when I started with Starbucks so assume the customers are too. In 1972 this policy was fine but now it totally absurd. So is a 10 cent cup discount. In ’72 10 cent was OK but now in 2014 reeeeeediculous should be more like a dollar (but that’s another thread) As I said in ALL my comments on this tread the solution is OPEN REFILL POLICY with “brewed coffee or brewed tea” on the same day ( I date my cups). Not hand crafted beverages. However because I’m very sensitive to my customer cues (at 15 years I’m good) I just GENTLY remind people of the “Official Policy” AFTER I give them a refill. Just like the 3 shots in an iced Venti cup customer, they know they are stealing a Breve Latte. So refills on Mistos-no (because I wanna pay my Barista to steam milk and yes I will measure 4 oz of dairy to charge you if you want steamed milk in your drink and you’re gonna be a jerk and tell me before I even ring you up that you called corporate and should not be charged for less then 4 oz) tea lemonade, sure why not refill it we gotta shake it regardless if it lem or H20. Since you have a mix of Partners and customers on your site I think everyone would agree that it’s spiritually depressing to get an argument at a place that has publicly stated that we’re here to “uplift your day” As I have said and been agreed with in earlier posts it should be an open policy.
I have a question for whoever wants to answer me,, I have a starbucks iced cup can I get a refill???? I been looking thru all starbucks page and there is nothing, please notify ASAP thanks in advance
@Laura – Just because you have a re-usable cold cup, there’s no special refill price for that alone. All refills have to follow the same rules: Stay inside the store. The first beverage is a full price beverage. Your second beverage can be one of the four things mentioned (at the same size as that first beverage, or smaller) – iced tea, iced coffee, brewed coffee of the day, and hot tea.
If you walk into a Starbucks with a re-usable cup, and order a beverage, you will receive a ten cent discount.
@Patrick – This is never going to end until all of this is managed by the card. This is, in terms of page views, one of the most popular articles I’ve ever written. People Google “Starbucks refill policy” all the time – that shows you what a challenge it’s become to manage.
I took the advice of free coffee refill and was told that I was at a training store and that they could not refill of my venti cup a Chino with coffee.
Well, that training is going just swimmingly. I’ve found that the knowledge of Sbux policies by the baristas is only as good as the knowledge of the manager. When I trained as ASM, my training manager was great about having me reading a becoming famiar with policies. He was also fantastic about customer service. I’m sorry your experience lacked both.
Hello everybody,
I was just wondering is a chai tea latte would be considered a iced tea? ( for a free refill)
You would not be able to get another iced chai latte as a refill just as you are not able to get an iced latte as a refill. You would be able to get a regular iced tea, iced coffee, hot tea or hot coffee of the same size as a refill since you purchased a beverage of equal or higher value and have stayed in the store.
@Valerie – You’re really good. Thank you for your help in this thread!
Just got out of the Starbucks located inside of Target. I ordered a iced chai tea latte and then after finishing my drink there, I asked for a refill of iced coffee. I’m a gold level member, usually I order iced coffee and get a refill of either iced coffee or hot coffee fine for free. The baristas said my original drink must be an iced coffee to be able to get a free refill of iced coffee. I didn’t bother showing them this website and just walked away.
Unfortunately since the Sbux in Target are licensed concept stores, I’m not sure that they are obligated to follow official Sbux policy. It would be nice for consistency across the board.
Hi Eva – You’ve got a lot going on in that comment. Whether you’re a Gold card holder doesn’t make a difference. The refill policy is what is and the difference is that if you don’t participate in MyStarbucksRewards (at green level OR gold level) you have to pay a small amount – about fifty cents, depending on your region. If you do participate in MyStarbucksRewards (at the green level or higher), then there’s no charge for a refill.
And Valerie is right – Because you went to a Starbucks inside a Target, they don’t necessarily have to follow all the refill rules. Sorry!
I am in a Official Starbucks store and the barista is telling me that I can’t get an iced coffee refill as I ordered a brewed coffee as my original order, that I can only get either a hot tea or another brewed coffee. I mentioned to her what the website states regardless of original order, she gave in but was very rude about it. I don’t think I will continue to patronize them if they take it so personal I follow the rules, so I don’ t know why they get so upset ;(
@Virginia -I’m sorry that happened to you. I think you should call Customer Service and give them your feedback. In any case, there’s no need ever for rudeness. The four drinks that are available as a refill (iced coffee, brewed coffee, iced tea, hot tea – regardless of original beverage) are all super high profit margin drinks – I can’t see why a Starbucks would get upset.
Sometimes I think Starbucks is improving. I took a road trip and dropped in and out of several Starbucks. There were two Starbucks where I stayed long enough to drink my first beverage and use this refill poicy – in both cases, one in Salem, Oregon and the other in Sacramento, the baristas were superb. I was impressed: there was no problem what so ever, and the partners knew the refill policy backwards and forwards. And then I see posts like yours and I think there’s still some opportunity to get all baristas on the same page.
Hi Melody, this is the official reply I got from Starbucks about my experience.
“After purchasing any regular priced beverage you may purchase a brewed hot or iced coffee or tea at the reduced refill price, during the same store visit. That last bit is the important part, once you leave the store, your visit has ended and any subsequent coffee or tea refill thereafter would be considered a new purchase.”
Please note that those who are in the Green or Gold level of our My Starbucks Rewards™ program can receive unlimited free brewed hot or iced coffee or tea refills, regardless of the original beverage purchased, during the same store visit. This is our way of thanking customers for using the Starbucks Card. The original purchase must be made with the registered card. The card must also be presented at the store POS in order to redeem the refill
Thanks Virginia! I think we’re saying the same thing. Refills at the green level or higher. Stay in store. Four things are at the refill price regardless of original beverage. Iced tea. Iced coffee. Hot coffee. Hot tea.
I go to a lot of different Starbucks and noticed some charge me for ice tea refills even though I am a gold card holder. Case in point a Starbucks in Universal City, Ca…. And at Pavilion’s…
Toby-I’m assuming that you purchased your first iced tea at the store and have stayed in the cafe to be eligible for your refill. We do have to ring in the refill but when your gold card is run, it zeros out the refill price and your card isn’t charged. Ringing up refills is necessary to account for product used.
@Melody & @Virginia:
This refill policy of starbucks in nothing short of ambiguity and customer dissatisfaction. I say this, from my experience:
I’ve being a silent follower of your blog and all the comments that follow. From what I’ve learnt about the policy:
1. You purchase any beverage and when staying in the store you can get free refill(s) on your next iced/hot coffee/tea (same size).
However, on my visit over the weekend, the employee told me that the refill is limited to ONE(1) per customer. Irrespective of any other criteria of staying in, type of drink etc.
So the first refill you get is marked ‘Refill’ on the cup and they don’t give you another refill after that. The next drink be it just brewed coffee is full price (no refill price.. forget free for green+ members).
I was totally bummed by this policy change.. Since, the employee said that they’ve being told specifically by the district manager about the ‘Limit 1 refill policy’) and she even asked other employees in the store to re-iterate the same for verification.
The starbucks website although having a FAQ about free refill doesn’t provide much info.
FYI: this is for Queens, NY location. I’d assume the same for NYC although not strictly enforced.
@Morphius – Sorry I only have a minute for a short comment. I would call Customer Service if I were you. Stores can’t create new rules for the refill policy. And you’re right – the refill policy is a huge problem – largely due to experiences like yours. The refill policy is almost the number one way that random people find this blog (in terms of Google searches) – that shows how inconsistently it is applied. What you experienced was not an inspired moment.
I agree with Melody. Call customer service. For store personnel the refill policy is very clearly spelled out in our Beverage Manual. No one can change it in a whim.
Morphius I copied & pasted the reply I got from Starbucks via an email from them and it specifically states unlimited free refills at the green & gold level. A friend told me you can actually call & voice a complaint. Good luck.
I purchased an iced cafe americano today at full price at a Charlotte , NC Sbukz today (been there 20 times before). I drank it there and asked a clerk if they had free refills, she said yes. I then went in line. The barrista said i could have an iced coffee refill for $.53. I told her i did not have any money, and she would not give me a refill.
P.S. I am 73 years old, and was wearing my US Army baseball cap, and today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day……nice to be treated like a vet!
I love this policy, I always go to starbucks and order a premium drink, then subsequently get an Iced Tea and/or an Iced Coffee.
If you stay long enough this policy can really come in handy!
I go to SB every morning and order a trenta iced coffee. I sit for a half hour or so then off to work I go. I have not finished my IC yet can I ask for it to be topped off as a refill?
Tom-topping off as a refill shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m early here in the morning in Starbucks at the crosstreet of Plaza Blvd and Grove St in National City, CA. I ordered my regulars tall Zen tea. The male person in the register said I don’t have money in my Starbucks Gold Card when I tried paying with my mobile app from my iPhone. However, it clearly stayed that I still had $4 dollars in my account. I ended up paying cash to him and missed a “star.” When I got my tea and sat down, I was compelled to buy a butter croissant just to prove to him that there is money in the card. And he did scan my mobile app again to pay for the croissant and it went through fine. I then asked him if I can get a “star” added to my account since erroneously scanned my mobile app a few minutes ago. He said I have to get a refill on my Zen Tea for .50 cents and it’s only cheap so he can add the “star.” I said nevermind. What great consumerism! Basically, he screwed me over by his mistake. And mind you, this all happened when the supervisor was around and she didn’t do anything from the situation. Not even an apology! This is just crazy! Oh yeah, by the way… I found a cockroach crawling on the wall from where I was sitting down drinking my tea last month in one morning on this same Starbucks branch. But this is another long story.
Wow. That’s a terrible experience. As a past manager, teaching our baristas how to recover a sticky situation was of utmost importance. As a barista now, those skills are hardly taught to our newbies. There are times when our computer lines are down and I have offered card members a receipt so they could call Customer Service to see if they would be able to recover the star especially since there was obviously money in your account. As for the roach, don’t know what to say. We are serviced by a contracted pest control company every month. Please understand that they are hitchhikers and could have come in with someone. If you mentioned it to the manager, he/she should have been all over it.
Tuesday of 2 weeks ago, i went to the YYJ location and purchased a VENTI extra hot, non fat, unsweetened green tea latte. I drank it sitting on the sidewalk on the west side of the store. When I finished, I went in and waited in line and asked if I could get a refil of a venti skinny peppermint mocha, they said no and said i could only get an iced or hot tea or coffee. So, am I able to get a refil of a Venti iced passion tea?
Yes. You would be able to get a venti iced passion tea (not passion tea lemonade) as a refill since your original beverage was of a higher price and you stayed in store.
@Ryley, The iced passion tea is allowed as a refill, the skinny peppermint mocha refill you asked for is not.
@Marvin – In the stores, we are not able to just “add” stars to customer’s accounts even it was a mistake on our end. We have absolutely no way of doing that at the point of sale. You could try the customer service department, but I can’t promise the outcome.
Hey, as a Barista and gold member myself I’m still a little confused by some of the stores conflicting policies. My only question this time around is, are refills unlimited as long as you are in the store?