STARBUCKS fans have begun noticing that the coffee giant is tacking on an extra charge to receipts, labeling it an “Employee Benefits & Retention” fee.
The 3% fee, bumping up customers’ bill totals, has many fans up in arms and complaining about the coffee giant’s operations.
Starbucks fans are having to dish out more cash for their orders[/caption]
Starbucks customers have begun spotting an extra 3% charge on their receipts[/caption]
High inflation, interest rates, and cost-of-living have all placed pressure on businesses, many of which have raised their prices to increase their profit margin.
Consumers have been forced to shell out more cash over the years for the same goods and services, and many establishments have begun rolling out additional fees to help make ends meet.
Starbucks, for example, has started implementing a “Employee Benefits & Retention” fee at select locations.
Customers at the location in the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, for example, are subject to the 3% fee.
The fee is not a corporate-wide charge but rather a localized surcharge implemented by businesses at certain airports.
The extra charge stems from a policy approved by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, permitting airport vendors to add a surcharge of up to 3% on pre-tax sales.
Following the expansion of the minimum wage policy to include automatic annual pay increases, the new Starbucks fee was rolled out to help offset the costs of increased minimum wages and benefits for airport workers.
The new regulations also permit businesses at the airport to hike their prices up to 15% more than at traditional locations, up from the previous 10% cap.
The U.S. Sun reached out to Starbucks for comment on the Employee Benefits & Retention fee.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
A LinkedIn post about the coffee giant’s new 3% Employee Benefits & Retention fee sparked a debate among Starbucks customers, many of which were disapproving of the charge.
“This is so dumb. Just list your price. I’ll pay it if I want to. Stop being dumb, Starbucks,” cried one user.
Another Starbucks customer called the 3% charge a “forced tip,” complaining that they “can live without the coffee” and would rather spend their money elsewhere in the terminal for water or at McDonald’s for a cheap coffee.
“I yearn for the European non-tipping and non-customer responsibility for paying the wages of their employees,” they wrote.
“Oh, hell no!!! This just shows that Starbucks is focused strictly on their profit margin,” fumed a third shopper.
What is ‘guilt’ tipping?
Recently, tipping has become optional for services such as getting groceries delivered, ordering rideshare, or even getting a coffee to go.
Tim Self, an assistant professor of hospitality at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, told CNBC that many people are tipping out of “guilt.”
“Customers are being asked to tip at the more traditional service encounters [and] also app-based services, ride-share and delivery apps.
“This gives the perception that tipping is everywhere, which does seem the case.”
Self says that Americans are becoming more familiar with tipping prompts on payment screens, saying “the guilt kind of washes over you.”
The average tip left for a full-service restaurant in 2023 was 19.4%, down from 19.5% in 2019, according to a restaurant trends report by Toast.
Tipping habits also differ between different generations, according to research by Blueprint.
Millennials are the most generous while those as from the Silent Generation are less likely to leave a big tip.
“Constant turnover already speaks to an employer’s priorities, but expecting customers to pay for Starbucks’ failure to invest in and retain employees is beyond ridiculous.”
Other fans defended Starbucks itself, arguing that franchised locations are not technically owned by the company.
They “are allowed to set their own prices, establish their own pay and benefits, and are completely separate from Starbucks,” according to a former Starbucks employee of eight years.
Another LinkedIn user and HR expert delved into the financial implications of the 3% charge, revealing that it would generate a significant profit to be used on worker benefits.
Based on the John F. Kennedy Terminal 5 traffic and industry estimates, they estimated that the 3% fee could bring in approximately $334,880 per year for employee benefits and retention funding.
“To put that in context: it’s enough to FULLY fund industry-average benefits for 30+ baristas,” they wrote.
Other establishments have similarly begun tacking on extra fees in an effort to generate a customer-funded pot that can go towards employees.
For example, diners vowed to never eat at a restaurant again after a man checked his receipt to find he was charged an extra “living wage fee.”
Meanwhile, a diner was “bugged” after a popular restaurant chain mysteriously added two extra fees.
