Barista at Starbucks licensed store admits stealing $600 from the register -- $20 at a time

The 22-year-old employee reportedly admitted to police that once or twice a week he would put $20 in an envelope, stick it in the check slot of his till and retrieve it later. He used the money for "necessities like food and cigarettes" for him and his roommates, he said. Read "Bremerton Starbucks worker caught with hand in till"

Comments

[abc]

Thet was his bonus.

[flbarista]

i don't understand how he thought he could get away with something so obvious... once or twice you might be able to get away with, but not $600

[white_knight]

no comment, besides that the store he worked at was a...wait for it....LICENSED store, sooo..yeah.

[formerSCSM]

Are you kidding? I had a partner in one of the stores I worked in in Northern California who stole $8000 over the course of two years! The shocking part was that Seattle didn't catch on until he reached that amount!

[lujac]

wowwww

[erstwhile]

Managers are trained to be able to pick this out, pretty easily. There are *so many* tools that they can use to pinpoint this going on. I guess it just takes having a competent manager for them to notice or do anything about it.

But seriously, people steal from their jobs everywhere. I'm not sure what makes this interesting at all.

[Me]

And this is news because...???

This is happening everyday everywhere. It's very sad but the truth we all have to live with.

And if you keep it civil and don't get greedy, you can get money aside at any cash handling position. I'm actually still quite surprised we are allowed to wear our wallets or cash on the floor. How is anyone to tell whose money is in my pocket?

But just to be clear, I never ever even stole a penny, even though I've seen lots of opportunities. But if it isn't a risk free 10 Million, I wouldn't dare to even try it. My integrity is worth more than a few measly bucks.

[Kenya Cup]

How many billions have Starbucks mismanagement cost investors? Isn't that like theft?

[Katarina]

I've stolen $3800 from my store over a months time and still haven't been caught. And I still get the hours I want, good tips, hehe.

[-p@P<]

If you steal from your team, each time you get caught it should cost you a finger...watch how quick that Isht would stop..DO NOT EVER DO THIS (SHAME ON YOU!)

[Sedg]

I've seen it done in so many places, in so many ways. Sooner or later everyone gets caught, though - and I know guys who are jobless three years later for the theft of £400 (~$650). It's just not worth it.

[Mysticboi]

I'm sure there are ways to work the system. Stealing from tips maybe? That wouldn't leave a trace if done correctly. If you're a shift...stealing something less than $5 from each person that has a till when you're doing deposits? Anything less than $5 can be auto corrected. But of course if done often, it will raise a red flag. As for stealing directly from the cash register, its almost impossible according to the manual. So many visual ques that give you away if the shift decides to open your register. The only way to make lots and not get caught...you have the best odds when a barista is working with a shift. But hey, why take the risk? You only need to be caught once.

[McPat McNerr]

I guess since they've cleared out P&AP, it kinda puts a green light on the employee theft routine... But then, how many hundred of thousands have the executive team wasted on trips and "offsites" so they can feel better about their work?... a few hundred bucks is chump change...

but then Schultz is a chump, so it fits...

[klbarista]

taking what isn't yours for any reason, is stealing, period. It takes away from the profits of the store, and can lead if higher amounts to people getting laid off. bragging about it like a few others above have isn't something to be proud of. When my husband who is self employed had to take a few days off, i called other area stores to get extra hours... licensed or not, we are representing Starbucks to our customers and fellow employees. If you don't want to adhere to the expectations, don't... but please for those of us who want to do a good honest day's work, find another job.

[Will]

Yeah, our PA&P lady got canned a while ago. I haven't seen an instore audit done in a coon's age, and I'm surprised this isn't done more -- although, most of the people dumb enough to steal from the store probably don't know what PA&P is...

as for me, I'll stick to stealing those new oatmeal cookies via markout. THOSE THINGS RULE

[Holden Caufield]

It is even easier to steal from the company when you ring up customers and charge them less for products than you should. Charge for no extra shots in a latte and then the customer informs you to keep the change. You are then adding additional cash to the tips via cheating the store. I've seen it happen, I've also seen employees barter drinks for free food from other food services establishments.

[Op@P,]

I've also seen employees barter drinks for free food from other food services establishments.
Posted by: Holden Caufield | May 18, 2009 at 11:43 AM

Usually other establishments "take care" of each others Fellow Workers, especially if they are in a close distance to one another and employees know each other, and help out to each others needs(or stores) as possible, SM's know this and it's fine, this is a "Grey Area' and it is different from community to community and the Management, It Is Not Stealing...

[Venti Urnex Latte]

That barter thing is a very gray area, except that a few years ago there was a memo prohibiting it, so it is definitely considered stealing by corporate.

I don't mind barter on a small scale but it can be easily abused. We used to have a partner who arranged for barter with the nearby movie theatre. Free tickets for free drinks. So we would have movie ushers come in every night demanding eight venti caramel frapps with caramel in the cup. I simply refused to participate.

We also have a partner whose good friend comes in often and when he isn't there, expects someone else, like me, to make his free venti frapp. I complained to the manager that I didn't see why I was expected to give free drinks to other people's friends, and the partner and manager had a big fight over it.

[Argentius]

At the store I worked at, I did a little bit of this with a nextdoor Quiznos, but it was the sort of "someone mismade this frappucinno, does anyone want it?" Sometimes, mis-made was accidentally the employee over there's favorite drink.

It's not as though hourly food service workers can afford to eat out!

But, a shift there got canned for the same kind of thing from the same complex McD's. I really think it's because she was underperforming, and that's what they could get her for.

To those who say "stealing is stealing," no, it ain't. Taking the cash from the till? That's stealing.

They were stealing from Safeway, it sounds like...

[javajohn]

Stealing is stealing. You do it; you'll get caught and the cost to you will be 10x+ whatever you took. You'll be marked, have a routined reputation, not be trusted and have it on your consciousness. It will bring shame to you - and those you love. The guy who stole $600 for cigarettes and whatever now has a mugshot, record and will likely get a felony conviction. My guess is he still sits in jail. Whether it's a nickel or a thousand dollars, it doesn't matter. Either you have integrity or you don't.

[Christin]

everyone gets caught eventually. the people that get caught before it's a felony should be happy.

[whatwhat]

As for the bartering, its considered stealing. I even saw someone get fired because he wrote down his partner numbers for his mother and she was using it in several stores.

The partner discount is for you only.

[L@ p@_P]

using your numbers is totally different and yea it's idenity theft but not stealing...

[L@ p@_P]

What about all those SM's who partner beverage drinks for their friends and family when they come through the stores...they give drinks away for free and don't even partner beverage them a lot of the time...SO please with this non-sense it's up to the Barista if he wants to give away a drink for what ever reason it may be
"Just Say Yes"...
There you go

[a bit agrivated.]

bartering: Stealing. This is Starbucks product to sell to the customers. you have a benefit (if you are a starbucks partner) either 30% off the clock, or as many free beverages YOU want when on the clock. If you are giving drinks away for free to whomever... you are stealing. It is theft for you to not charge for product being put into people's hands. There is no grey area.

Also, undercharging someone and throwing the rest into tips only means theft, too. Someone has to pay for their syrup. There are many people that can pay for it and many ways about going at it : Customer. The right way. legit. The partner: If you "discount" pull that money out of your pocket. Management: When you are looking at the p&l and there is a big discrepancy, the manager looses bonus. In the long run, your SM looses money... when they get mad, store morale goes down, and you are left with a crappy store.

If everyone would adhere to rules... rules you agreed to when you started this job, stores would be in a much better place now.

Starbucks Partners at a store level need to understand that even though corporate may not be making the right decisions, the front line should be holding ground. Be responsible to the people paying your bills. It could just be that your store is the next to go down. Who is to blame then?

[Oh-p@P]

Management: When you are looking at the p&l and there is a big discrepancy, the manager looses bonus. In the long run, your SM looses money
Posted by: a bit agrivated. | May 18, 2009 at 09:51 PM

YEA-KEEP THIS UP!
Here's how you give it back to your SM :) for having favoritism when scheduling partners/issues arise...

SM's suck half of them don't work and take what they please, Rules yea right-you smokin LEAKIE!! There are different set of rules for everyone based on favoritism and thats how it works

[Anti ASM]

When I'm doing more work then the ASM above me and getting less pay, what then. I think it's criminal some of the idiots in the ASM role in my district. That's stealing. Paying someone who isn't doing their job.

[overitall]

to be honest, when people wanted to add 4 shots, I would feel bad, knowing that shots get wasted like nothing and so i wouldnt charge for the extra. Same if they wanted a iced venti quad latte. Sure, sometimes the customer would notice and be grateful with a little tip, many times they didnt notice (I would only really do this with regulars, not if this was the first time i saw someone)
May or may not have done a little thing with the pizza store next door, but it was NOT regular at all
Sure this is cutting the store from potential profits, but this brought in customers more often because they really appreciated my kindness, or it brought in more fraps from the pizza place because they wanted to establish a relationship.

I would NEVER steal from the till though.
I was short 20 bucks one time, NO Idea how, and my manager just let me know and said He should write me up but since i was moving in a week and may transfer somewhere he wouldnt put that on me.

Stealing? I don't see it like that
not what corporate wants... probly true
but I was 17 and hating starbucks more and more every day

[Sedg]

People complaining about what those above you, below you, beside you in your store do - why not make sure /you're/ doing the best damn job you're capable of, rather than what anyone else is doing? Unless you're an SM, you're not held accountable for what anyone else in your store does.

[just one man]

Hey Sedg

It gets old when you do the best job everyday and then the others around you slack. It's worst when the person not doing their job is payed more. I have a high work ethic and can't keep the store at my level of satisfaction. I am just one man.

[Former Barista to the Very Wealthy]

I worked for Starbucks for about two years. And in that time, I had two fellow employees fired for theft.

The first was stealing Starbucks cards. He would ring people up for their drinks using their cards, and then tell them the card was empty. Mostly, the people would just pay the balance and not think about it. But there usually was about 5 dollars left on their card, that this partner would steal. I think he finally got caught when he would go to other Starbucks with the cards, and they were registered to people who weren't him.

This same partner also tried to teach a lot of us how to make 10 bucks during a morning rush when everyone is just throwing 2 dollar bills at you for their Grande Coffee that costs 1.99 and don't expect change.

Another partner was a shift supervisor who had been mishandling cash for years and finally got caught. One specific time I was working with him, 130 dollars went missing from my till. Mysteriously it appeared again the next day.