I feel like "dont take it" should be pretty obvious

If a customer hands you a fake bill, it’s better to say you need another form of payment or that you can’t break it. Making the accusation leads to an uncomfortable situation that can quickly escalate. I’m mentioning this for your safety and not having people scream at you over a scam, not to correct you. :)

But for actual policy, it’s to not accept the tender. You were correct.

Oh. My. God. Your lead is horrible. The policy is not to take the money. Because it's not money. And Starbucks is a business.

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure it's a federal crime to have fake printed money. Monopoly money is one thing, but if it was deposited and sent to the bank, your shift or SM is gonna have a very stern talking to, if not termination.

Fuck starbucks thats why I quit. The customer always gets their way even when breaking the fucking law. A karen could punch me in the face and cut my achilles but I would still have to hobble to the cafe to apologize for being in her way. “The customer is always right” policy is outdated. I never want to work for stabucks again and you just solidified it. Call HR, accepting fake money is illegal and it will fall back on you even if they promise it won’t.

How did you know it was fake?

I once took an American 20, it was crisp new so I thought it was all good. Looked at it clearly later and it had Russian writing all over it lmao

Give it back to them and say you can’t take it, and then, because we’re assuming positive intent, recovery right now their drink. (The cost of drink ingredients is less than taking the counterfeit and giving them real money as change.)

I would say I can't accept this tender. It doesn't meet our standards. Do you have another form of payment? If they don't just give them the drink for free. It's better than them getting real cash as change and a free drink.

Double confirmed as a fake since they tell you to use the pen. There are common counterfeiting techniques to make the bill pass the pen test like spraying it with hairspray

In short, just say you cannot verify the bill and ask if they have another form of payment. If they question it, just repeat it.
I got the counterfeit pens for my store after we had like three fake 20’s in a month.
If you do accept it, treat it normally and make sure it ends up in the deposit for the bank to handle. Starbucks (or you if it happens in your life) get a tax credit in exchange for handing over fake money to get it out of circulation.

I work for *licensed starbucks* and our policy is to just accept it, take note of what they look like, what direction they’re headed, their name, license plate (???), and then check it once they can’t see what you’re doing.

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SM here- I'll say something like "oh no! Looks like someone gave you a fake bill. You might want to take this to the bank" So that it doesn't sound like I'm accusing them. 9/10 times, they act surprised and pretend to get another form of payment and never come back.

It does happen (even I've taken them by mistake) but you won't (or shouldn't) get into trouble. I'll pass the bill around for my partners to feel and see so they have a better idea next time.

Now if you take multiple, everyday for a year, maybe then you'll get in trouble 😅

Corporate bux usually have agreements with whatever bank they deposit cash at. Banks essentially reimburse the value of the bill, and remove the fake bill from circulation.

You can always report the incident via the non emergency police line. Could help ID culprit if they have passed counterfeit bills at nearby businesses as well.

yeah if they wanna accept counterfeit bills let them do it on THEIR till. Otherwise I treat it like maybe they “didn’t know” it was fake. Then i’m not accusing them of anything i’m just saying i can’t take the bill. How large was it?? Like are they counterfeiting fives? lol

It's literally illegal 😂 every job I've had told me we have to call the police immediately. Obviously that's kinda dramatic though so no one really does it. Definitely not accept it though, I feel bad that you work at a store with such management.

You don’t take it. Your lead shouldn’t say to take it either. You can get in trouble.

I have had this happen a few times. It happened once when I was covering a store too. I found one in the drop box when I was pulling a drawer too. My manger says we deposit it as normal and the bank will handle it. That doesn’t me just accept fakes anyway because they will come back to your store again if they know you’ll accept it. Someone came back two days later and tried to use a fake. Since I let everyone know this had happened we caught them the second time around.
There are a few ways to check a bill without the pen. The easiest I think is the groves on the collar. You can run your finger against it and feel the change in texture on the bill without the person even noticing you are doing it.

That just became the lead's transaction on their till.

Ummm no...lol an SSV should never accept fake money

It’s illegal to accept it lol

I never take money if I can tell it’s fake. I just kindly tell them “I can’t verify the authenticity of this bill. Do have another form of payment?” They just leave and don’t come back. But I think your lead is in the wrong to willingly take counterfeit money.

Honestly just take it cause people are crazy and you don’t wanna risk your life over $20

I was told that one of my 5 dollar bills was fake even though I just got it as change from another store. should I keep the fake or throw it away?

I feel like a no, this is fake. Is a good answer but I guess just call your district and tell them

You are more likely to get in trouble for refusing suspicious money than you are for taking fake money. I’m not saying they should have taken it necessarily but I’m just saying the company is ridiculous.