Starbucks tip jar thieves hit Chicago suburbs

I suspect that tip jar thievery happens more often than most people think, but this string of thefts in Chicago's wealthier suburbs is getting a lot of press and TV coverage here. In the past, Starbucks Gossip readers have posted ways they prevent tip-jar thefts; perhaps it's time to re-post them.

Comments

[jeclasse]

THIS JUST HAPPENED IN MY VERMONT STORE LAST NIGHT!!!!! Ridiculous, we were never off the floor! I don't know how it happened and who steals people's tips?!?!?! Really????

[chicagoshift]

the man police suspect is responsible hit 8 stores on the near north side of Chicago, all in less than 1 hour. police also believe he is responsible for 6 other tip thefts in the north suburbs. he waits till there is no line, orders drip coffee, then when the barista is turned around pouring it, says he is double parked and will be right back. he doesn't come back, and a few minutes later, employees notice the tip jar is gone. grrrr! thats my grocery money!

[name is required]

Velcro tape..bottom of jar..and the place it sits. Can't be grabbed quickly and makes alot of noise when moved.

[Hipsterdufus]

Some tips:
-break the bottom of the plexis out so if they were to grap the 'jar' the plexi would fly up (because it's lighter than they though since there's no money 'holding' it down. All the money stays on the counter.

-velcro the plexi

-call the espresso supply company (i think it's called, people with starbucks know the number) and order locking tip jars that you can then have screwed to the counter by facilities or yo ucan yourself screw them to the counter.

There's no reason for tips to get stolen.

When you turn around to get something (ice water, hot water, coffee,) always 'cheat out' to the customer, kind of facing them. Expecially when there is no one else in line. This is most often when tips get stolen.

[Noah]

Simple win-win solution - buy some Via and stick it in the tip jar. The store gets credit for the Via sales and nobody steals the tips.

[Stan]

Some tips:
-break the bottom of the plexis out so if they were to grap the 'jar' the plexi would fly up (because it's lighter than they though since there's no money 'holding' it down. All the money stays on the counter.

best one...

[Darth Sidamo]

When the tips get to larger amounts (something worth stealing) we move the dollar bills to the DT tip jar or a tip jar not in the reach of a would be thief. We still leave a little in there so customers know it is okay to leave gratuity but it is nice to know the worst they can ever run off with is five dollars.

[BPH]

running after tip thieves is fun. just don't tell your DM.

[short drip]

Empty the tip jar OFTEN and leave 1 dollar and about 6 coins. This makes it look like you really need more tips.

A Full tip jar not only encourages theft but also discourages more tips. Looks like you have "plenty".

Additionaly, velcro worked well at my stores.

[Doppio Con Karma]

I've seen tips stolen from the drive thru, really funny seeing it happen and having time to write down their plate number while they try and turn into traffic.

[...]

I find that the high school mafia is our biggest tip stealers. They don't grab the whole plexi just the top dollars. EMPTY OFTEN but leave a bit of seed money. This is especially necessary on Friday or Saturday nights.

[Aaron]

Starbucks should be reimbursing for a reasonable estimate of how much was lost anyway. Tips are PERSONAL PROPERTY and Starbucks has no right to force us to pool them or leave them under their protection. We should be allowed to pocket them immediately when they are given to us, but we are not allowed to. So Starbucks is taking responsibility for protecting them by not allowing us to treat them as our personal property, which they are.

I do think pooling tips is a good thing, but it is legally the choice of each worker, not of Starbucks.

[hearbutloud]

How do you keep customers from "making change" out of the tip jar?
That one really pisses me off. They might as well go reaching right into my wallet.

[Coffee Drinker]

"How do you keep customers from "making change" out of the tip jar? "

My local SBUX uses a curved glass vase. Money goes in fine through the wide top, hands wouldn't make it past the neck

I imagine they shake the money out later.

[nycsm]

Seriously...as mentioned above, lock the jars and screw them to the counter. This should not be an issue and should not be happening to our partners.

[nycbearista]

@BPH - careful...

Remember the guy who was a customer who ran after tip thieves because he was a regular and loved his store and his baristas and got run over and died?

Empty often, screw it to the counter. lock the top so it can't be lifted. Done.

[nyssssa]

@hearbutloud, I *constantly* make change out of the tip jar. I put in a dollar and take out 50 cents.

How am I reaching into your wallet?

Do you really want to take time to give me change out of the register? It doesn't seem right to not tip just because I don't have change.

[A Non eMoose]

nyssssa, nothing wrong with using the tip jar to make change but only if its the barista/shift doing it. It is really quite rude to put your hand in someone elses' jar of money, even if you have good intentions. No offense meant, but try to look at it from the perspective of people who have probably had that money stolen right under their noses multiple times.

[Flint]

nyssssa,

I know many a barista that would kick you out for doing that. You will see this a lot where people will put in a dollar, then take a large handful of money. The register has to be opened either way, so just let the barista do their job so they will have no reason to be suspicious of you trying to steal the tips that mean the difference between them eating that day or not. Trust me, I know baristas who would kill to protect their tips, especially if it's their kid's food you're messing with.

Rule #1 of being a good customer: you put money in the tip jar, you don't take it out.

[AB]

The Starbucks I go to most often is in Malibu, California. Land of movie stars and millionaires.

When I first started going to this location, I had to ask where the tip jar was (I was trying to put $1 in) and they showed me it was semi-hidden behind the register. They told me their tips were stolen often.

Just a week or two ago they were talking about the last thieves getting arrested. Can you imagine a criminal record over $10 or less?

[Barista G]

Tip jars are supposed to look inconspicuous. The idea is that Starbucks doesn't want customers to feel that they are required to tip, but have the option to do so. I'm reasonably sure that screwing them to the counter would get you on the bad side of most DM's. Velcro is a good idea, so is frequently making tip drops or having a jar the is inaccessible to customers someplace behind the counter that you frequently make deposits to. Also, paying attention to your customers is still the best way to prevent this. Don't give me some crap about how hard it is to do that job and pay attention either, I've done it and trained it over and over. As cheesy as it sounds, a genuine connection with your customers helps a lot too. I once had a customer in drive-thru pursue a tip jar thief in their car to another shopping center. Another time a car came through and stole our tips shortly before close (with the whole $4.00), but he was easily recognized the next day and I managed to persuade him that the $20 he gave me to pay for his drinks belonged to us. Once in the lobby a customer noticed somebody trying to snatch up tips at the same time I did and had her dozen strong church group surround the would be thief before I could even react. Care about these people, know them, and it makes the job so much easier.

[Thrivity]

The tip thief is hitting more then just the suburb stores, the same guy has been hitting stores in the city to. I work in the city and he got our tip jars about a week ago. The tip jars were secured with Velcro and he kept coming in and leaving until he could find a good opportunity to take them. He has hit up all the stores usually between 4 and 5, which in that area is usually when someone is going on a ten or a lunch, so he seems to know the best time to do it. Some of us have been sending his picture across our cell phones to each other so we know who to look out for since it seems to be the same guy at a bunch of these store in Chicago and it's surrounding suburbs. If you work in the Chicago area Starbucks just keep an eye out for a dude in a gray car who wanders around your cafe for awhile and asks a bunch of questions. He might even get a drink and drink it too as he did at my store, before waiting until the number of partners thinned out.

[Ken]

What kind of lowlife steals from the tip jar.

[Hipsterdufus]

@Barista G: DM's don't mind the jars screwed to counters in fact most of mine have encouraged it. You do it thorugh the inside of the plexi so you can't even see the screws.

[rachael]

I came across this blog, talking about a similar topic:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Barista

[javagirl666]

We haven't had a problem since cutting out the bottom of the plexi cubes.

[nyc barista]

After our was stolen a dozen times we drilled it into the counter and it has a lock on it. Haven't had a problem since!

[Justin]

We cut a hole in the bottom of ours and take most of the bills out and drop them. If someone picks the jar up it spills all over the counter. They haven't been stolen since.