News Forum - Starbucks ruins family’s dream holiday to Thailand by overcharging US$4.5k for 2 coffees

[Thaiger]

An American couple had to cancel their dream holiday to Thailand after a Tulsa Starbucks outlet charged them almost US$4,500 for two cups of coffee. The US multinational apologised for the mistake and sent them cheques to cover the cost. They bounced! The drama unfolded when the happy couple, Jesse and Deedee O’Dell, and their …

The story Starbucks ruins family’s dream holiday to Thailand by overcharging US$4.5k for 2 coffees as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Pinetree]

Never go near one, they look good and that's about it. Way too expensive, especially here in LOS, where a very decent coffee costs no more than 65 Baht. 

[Marc26]

15 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Never go near one, they look good and that's about it. Way too expensive, especially here in LOS, where a very decent coffee costs no more than 65 Baht. 

There are great local cafes all over Thailand that are very reasonable 

[KaptainRob]

23 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

There are great local cafes all over Thailand that are very reasonable 

Agreed, and Amazon is the best chain, always consistent quality.  We always order the regular 50 baht size for a full strength hit.

Starbucks .... tried once about 16 years ago and never again, absolute crap coffee.

[Grumpish]

48 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Never go near one, they look good and that's about it. Way too expensive, especially here in LOS, where a very decent coffee costs no more than 65 Baht. 

I find Starbucks Coffee mediocre at the best - it is mediocre everywhere though,  you can walk into any Starbucks and you know exactly what to expect. I don't agree on the easy to find decent coffee though. As far as I  am concerned the nearest decent coffee shop in Thailand is in Laos - but then I am very picky about my coffee, strong dark roasts such as Old Brown Java are my preference.

[socal]

After i read that Starbucks has some of the lowest caffeine content in the business thanks to a private undercover study, I'll never go there again. Some of it tastes ok but  I drink it for the caffeine ffs

[TSS]

if the beans came out of an elephant's or civet cat's ass, it would be understandable but sbux regulars? nah...

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Agreed, and Amazon is the best chain, always consistent quality.  We always order the regular 50 baht size for a full strength hit.

Starbucks .... tried once about 16 years ago and never again, absolute crap coffee.

Yes Amazon is good

Ao loves it so much she bought the PTT OR IPO!!

 

But there seems to be so many good smaller cafes as well now 

 

Much more than there used to be

 

And Coffee Club is FANTASTIC!

Their food is great but can be pricey as well 

[Ev7]

What story is this?  It has nothing to do with Thailand.  Sounds like a scare tactic to keep people away from Starbucks.  Even comments are pushing Amazon.

[Fanta]

2 hours ago, Ev7 said:

What story is this?  It has nothing to do with Thailand.  Sounds like a scare tactic to keep people away from Starbucks.  Even comments are pushing Amazon.

The wife in the story is as American as a bowl of som tum  

[TedG]

This is why I charge everything on my VISA.  It's easy to reverse charge these errors. 

[Skip]

What credit card in the USA doesn't have a consumer protection department that can be contacted 24/7 and have something like this reversed immediately... also if your vacation hinges on this type of incident happening then maybe it's not time for you to take a vacation.

[Donald]

Probably the same people that think we should go cashless. Wait till they force the digital money on us.

[Marble-eye]

Good job they didn't get the Banoffee pie as well.

[WilliamG]

I get a phone message whenever anything is charged to my cards. Why not in USA?

[TWS60]

9 hours ago, Fanta said:

The wife in the story is as American as a bowl of som tum  

The method used to prepare som tum is a simile for America.

Somtum is a distinctive-sour and spicy dish that is made by using a pestle and mortar to crush and mix all ingredients together.

[Grumpish]

Don't US banks and credit card providers have anti-fraud software that would pick up an unusual transaction like this? 

[Polkadot]

Bit thick to not check receipt

[Polkadot]

3 hours ago, WilliamG said:

I get a phone message whenever anything is charged to my cards. Why not in USA?

They may not have internet banking.

[Khunmark]

On 2/10/2023 at 11:09 AM, Grumpish said:

I find Starbucks Coffee mediocre at the best - it is mediocre everywhere though,  you can walk into any Starbucks and you know exactly what to expect. I don't agree on the easy to find decent coffee though. As far as I  am concerned the nearest decent coffee shop in Thailand is in Laos - but then I am very picky about my coffee, strong dark roasts such as Old Brown Java are my preference.

Don’t know where you live, but in CM it’s getting hard to find a bad coffee. I’m from Melbourne Australia, so I know my coffee. Why anyone who lives in CM would buy a coffee from a major chain is beyond me.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Khunmark

[palooka]

38 minutes ago, Khunmark said:

Why anyone who lives in CM would buy a coffee from a major chain is beyond me.

Agree with the major chain criticism. tried Starbucks once, what I didn't spit out was dumped.

Amazon -- tried and it is barely there, ??? seems to me to now be trying to cash in on the Starbucks patrons with the "load it with sugar" attitude.

Had some of the best coffee from street vendors here in Thailand. Menu is short and the coffee excellent.

Some of these people put in that missing ingredient that Starbucks etc lack. (They make and sell to survive) 

 

[KaptainRob]

6 minutes ago, palooka said:

Amazon -- tried and it is barely there, ??? seems to me to now be trying to cash in on the Starbucks patrons with the "load it with sugar" attitude.

How can that be?  Sugar comes in a pack for you to add as desired.  AFAIK only iced coffee comes with sugar (syrup) pre-loaded but you simply ask for 'not sweet' ... my wife hates sugar/loves Amazon iced coffee.

[palooka]

28 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

but you simply ask for 'not sweet'

or NOT too sweet as my wife does.

[longwood50]

I am a bit surprised by the fact the bank did not contact them by SMS about the charge.  One way or another if this was a credit or debit card they could have contacted the bank and disputed the charge upon its discovery.  MasterCard and Visa regulate what the banks must do and if a dispute is filed, the money is put back into the account until the dispute is resolved. 

 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

Yemeni coffee, now that's real coffee. 

None of this starsucks sh**e.