If being charged for your coffee three months after you drank it wasn’t bad enough, some Starbucks customers in Saffron Walden have now been charged TWICE.
Many patrons of the Market Street coffee chain have seen two lots of the same card transaction taken from their bank accounts.
Several people have contacted the Reporter in anger over the double charges, which have caused more mayhem with their banking.
Starbucks says the issue has been caused by another technical error with their system, which has now been fixed, and they will refund customers’ money.
Mark Coutts, who owns the company Saffron Building and Renovations, said he saw just over £40 taken out of his account for three Starbucks transactions dating back to March last week.
But on Saturday (June 4), exactly the same amount was removed again and after spending over an hour on the phone to his bank, he was told the money taken was for the same purchases.
Mr Coutts said: “I just do not see how they can even do it. I’m gobsmacked that they are even allowed to take it out a second time. The bank said they can keep taking it out, so they could do it again next week.
“The delayed payment thing was annoying enough, but this is something else. If they take it out again, I will go through the hassle of changing cards.
“It’s isn’t the money, but the fact they can do this. I will be alerting everyone I know about the situation and telling them not to go in there.”
Lucy Trimnell, 32, who told the Reporter last week that she had seen just over £140 removed from bank account in delayed transactions, has also been charged again.
She said: “I had money taken out for six transactions on May 25 for nearly £70 and a further £74 for nine payments on May 27. On June 7, I had the £74 come out again and the bank confirmed it was the same transaction number from May 27.
“The bank has repaid my money. Starbucks said it will pay for any charges incurred through the delayed payments and sent through goodwill vouchers for drinks, but I won’t be using them. I shall give them to charity. I won’t be going in there again.”
Helio Flores, 34, who lives across the road from Starbucks in Saffron Walden, contacted the Reporter to say £712 was taken from his account in delayed charges dating back two months.
Mr Flores, a data analyst, said he does not dispute he spent the money as he visits the coffee shop more than seven times a week, but he is angry at the lump sum being removed.
He said: “Little by little you don’t notice it, but it one big go, it’s too much. When I spoke to the girl at their customer service I said ‘How would you feel if it came out at once’.
“It’s like having a £400k mortgage and the bank sending you the bill for the whole lot. I’m angry with the company, and I’m angry that they left the poor staff in the shop to have to take the brunt of it. It isn’t the staff’s fault, I would urge people not to take it out on the staff but go through the proper channels to make a complaint.”
A spokesman for Starbucks said: “A technical problem which caused some customers using debit or credit cards to be charged twice has been identified and fixed.
“We can confirm that this issue was isolated to a small number of stores and has now been fully resolved. Customers will be automatically refunded and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
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