Does Howard Not Tip?

One thing that's been bugging us about Howard Schultz's rah-rah at the Starbucks annual meeting yesterday is his attack on the "myth" of the $4 coffee. Why? Stop, stop, you've winkled it out of us! Look, you can't deal with a perception by defining it out of existence: "Half of the beverages we sell are under $3," says Schultz, knowing he's misrepresenting the issue. People think a latte at Starbucks will cost them, with tax and tip, closer to $4 than $3.

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By MvB in Food on March 19, 2009 10:05 AM

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Katelyn

Honestly I rarely go to non-independent shops (why would I go to Starbucks when Vivace is the same distance away?), and when I do it's on the go, usually, when I have no cash. And they don't let me tip on my debit card. So spare change it is.

Troy Morris

I wonder why so many people are making a differentiation between tipping baristas at independent place than at a chain?

Do we think that independent baristas make less per hour? Because of tip sharing at some chains? Because you want to stick it to the man?

Unless it's with the reasoning that the indie baristas make less per hour than their chain counterparts, all a person is doing is punishing the barista for the chain mentality, while still putting cash into the chain.

I can understand over tipping the independent baristas assuming less traffic, but in Seattle... that may not actually be true. In fact, some of the nicest and kindest baristas were at the chains. Some of the rudest (and yes, worse drip coffee) were at the indies.

Katelyn

I tip a dollar at independent places no matter what I order, and usually apologize on the occasions that I can't give the whole dollar. At Starbucks/Tullys I tip whatever spare change I have. I think I've not tipped maybe twice in the past two years. I just figure the tip cost into the price of the coffee--and usually I get an Americano, every few months I'll splurge and get a soy latte.

It occurs to me now that maybe I'm over-tipping. :(

Troy Morris

I always intend to, but tend to forget. I always get a drip so tipping more than a quarter is silly, but since I forget more often than not, whenever I remember that barista gets a buck and change.

MvB

Srsly? I tip every time at a cafe--usually 50 cents to a dollar. Quarter for a cup of drip. Baristas always have that hungry look to me.

Burgin99

Who in the world tips their cafe worker regularly? I mean sure if someone goes that extra mile or you're feeling extra flush (or if they're wicked cute). But regularly? Jeez.

Audrey

I don't regularly tip at Starbucks, but I do at small independent cafes.

rjh

The price of a straight-up latte at Starbucks is not much different from any independent coffee shop. Of course, once you make it a Soy Marble Mocha Macchiato, which is the kind of drink you see a lot of there, the price shoots up.