Starbucks - Problems with Online Top Ups
 

Hi,

Hope this is ok - would like to find out whether anyone else in the FlyerTalk community has had similar problems to me with Starbucks. Let me know if this is in the wrong forum. I appreciate it's not specifically related to flying or travel etc.

I've had problems with Starbucks top ups since the start of the year - I can't top up online with any of my credit cards (all sorts - Amex, Visa etc). It just says an error occurred in processing my top up, but I've checked with my credit card company, and the payment was approved but Starbucks doesn't claim the money from the credit card company.

Just wondered whether anyone else has had any problems?

I have found having no passcode set in the app doesn't work, it pops up asking for a passcode but the one I had set doesn't work.
Turning on passcode seems to make top-up work.

Not the same as your problem, but perhaps worth a try.

Not quite sure what you mean by passcode?

Do you mean on your mobile?

I have had the same problem which led me to buying Starbucks gift cards and loading them onto my Gold card. The app makes it really easy to manage multiple cards and you'll still earn stars, miles/pts on your CC and maybe even gas discounts from the grocery store you buy your gift cards from (Vonn's, Safeway, etc).

The top up feature has been buggy for over a year IME.

I have a starbucks account, and every time I opt to add money to my card, it asks for my password, which is the same, both for online and mobile.

On the rare occasion that it's not been able to process the payment transaction, I try again, and it works for me then.

Never an issue here. Just reload on the mobile app.

Nope, never an issue. I use "auto top up" and pay by card(s) and, usually, my phone app. Worth a try turning on the auto feature?

Adey

I can tell most of the replies are from our US colleagues. I should have mentioned that I am based in the UK.

I've tried all ways to pay including auto top up, and nothing works. I've formally complained to the Financial Services Ombudsman and they have seen the Starbucks "commercial" checks they have done, and apparently I fail some of them. But of course they can't tell me which checks and why I fail.

What is surprising is that my wife is registered with Starbucks at the same address, uses the same credit cards as I, and doesn't have a problem.

Stuck in limbo. What annoys me more is that I love their coffee. Otherwise I would go to Costa instead.

If your wife has no problems, can she add extra to her card and then transfer it to yours?

Or ask your wife to get an additional card registered with the same credit card (shared with you and proven to work) which you can then carry and use


Adey

That's the next thing to try. Ask ny wife to register another reward card that I can use.

I may even be able to use her credentials on my phone I wonder whether Starbucks allows the same account ti be used on multiple phones!

Have you tried contacting starbucks? What do they say? From what I've read you've contacted everyone BUT starbucks to try to resolve it...

Unfortunately been there and done that. Starbucks were the most unhelpful customer service team I've ever come across, and their systems/apps are misleading to say the least.

They had no interest in resolving my issue. I did have a long telephone conversation with one of their customer service team who told me their backend IT systems held details about my address that I couldn't see on their web app (the county) - how barmy is that? Holding info in their systems that I can't easily change. This came up because one of the potential issues we looked into was that my address didn't fully match the address that my Credit Card company held for me. This was completely irrelevant since the credit card company had already authorized the charge to my card. The problem was that Starbucks wouldn't claim the money since it decided (in its wisdom) that I failed some other internal checks.

As I say my wife can use exactly the same cards as me, registered at the same address and tops up without any problems at all. And what annoys me most is that the cards are in my name!

Barmy...

Hi all,

Sorry to dredge up an old thread. I've recently had problems reloading my sb card via the app or online.

US account, US credit card.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Robin

You followed one of billinghamn's live trip reports and Starbuck's decided to punish you for it?

Starbucks has its own support forum. You could also contact them directly or deal with a manager at a store. I know they get a lot of hate, but unlike a lot of indie coffee shops, they do actually go out of their way to take care of people.

My only gripe with them is that a Starbucks card is useless for a corporate traveler. Loading up a Starbucks card, even if you only use it for business, with a corporate credit card will earn you unemployment benefits pretty quick. They need a corporate program.

FYI, for anyone looking for this in the future. I had this problem too and it started after I had to dispute charges on my credit card when someone made fraudulent Starbucks charges to my card. I'm pretty sure my Starbucks account online got hacked at some point.

Ever since, online topups and auto-topup always fails for me. I end up just refilling whenever I'm at a store with some time. I'll try the Starbucks forums though.

Hi there! sorry for the late question, I'm just asking were you able to get your money refunded? and if your did how were you able to do so?

firo kre

Join Date: Oct 2015

Posts: 1


Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I have an odd Starbucks card issue. Mine tops up OK, but one register at my usual *$ shows that the card is "unregistered," and thus I don't earn rewards (it does accept payment from the card), and can't redeem rewards at that register.

The other register works fine... assuming there's a clerk there who is or can sign in to it.

The local store is baffled. The online support is worthless (they just blame the store, saying my card is fine). I've called twice and have gotten nowhere. I'm tempted to report the card lost, have them mail me a new one, and use it instead.

Reporting it lost seems like it's the best option. :)

Get a new card and register it to your online account. Customer service will delete one and consolidate balances for you.

Or use the phone app.

Pretty easy to acquire a new card at Starbucks. I had one that didn't work and they handed me a new one. I registered it online and transferred the balance from the non-working card.

It's the fancy gold card, though! (But given that's a function of the account and not the physical card, it shouldn't really matter...)

I would probably feel that way if they had ever sent me mine. But, as long as I get my perks, I don't care. In fact, they call me by name at 2 out of 3 local Starbucks. Not my real name of course, my Starbucks name, which is Frank.

Order by your pimp or stripper name. :D

Only if I had a physical gold card. I mean, a pimp with a green and white card? C'mon.

:D C'mon, it would be fun.

Anyone ever run into the message "Sorry, this card is closed"? Like when your card gets disabled for some unknown reason?

I was affected by the false "T&C violation" shutdown wave in summer 2014. Because of that and some barista's related meddling, corporate gave me $25, my MSR level + bonus Stars enough for 3 drinks, and a new Gold card with my old "Member Since" date. Anyway, every card my old account touched was shut down.

Online top up never worked for me, tried several browsers, devices and credit cards...

Have you tried Apple Pay in the iOS app?

No, but I'll try.

Thanks for the tip!

No problem. If that doesn't work, I recommend double-checking your billing address on Starbucks.com, as AVS may fail if anything (even the abreviations) differs from what your bank has on record.

If that still doesn't work:
- Put your FI on conference call with Starbucks and tell them to figure it out.
- Reload in-store (where you can also use Apple Pay).