A Starbucks customer stole a tip jar with $25 in it from a drive-through in League City.
League City Police Lt. Bruce Whitten said the theft happened just after 3 p.m. Sunday at the Starbucks at 100 E. Main Street.
A white man in his early 20s pulled into drive-through line in a 2000 Chrysler PT Cruiser, ordered a drink, drove up to the window and then stole the tip jar when the employee turned to get his order, Whitten said.
The employee didn’t notice and the thief drove away, but the driver of the car behind him saw the theft and wrote down the culprit's license plate number.
The vehicle was involved in a marijuana arrest earlier this year, Whitten said. Police plan to find its owner and determine who was driving when the tip jar was stolen, he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 281-338-4182 or 281-338-8210.
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Comments
Why ask for info? They have the plate number and the employee
Why ask for info? They have the plate number and the employee has a description.
Rule #1 - Don't leave a tip jar within a drive thru reach. What's the reason for a tip jar in a drive thru anyway? It's a drive thru. Businesses should not be promoting this type of activity.
tip jar
How do they know how much was in it?
Tips at drive thrus are insane
I hear the McDonald's on 518 has a tip jar at the drive thru now. Well, maybe not yet, but it might be coming soon.
tip jar?
What the heck was a tip jar doing there in the first place?? Why do people expect a tip for doing their job all the time? And I think the only way they knew how much $$$ was in the jar was because they loaded it themselves to make it appear that drive thru patrons were leaving tips, so as to get more....
loser
What a loser, to take a tip jar with less than $30 in it. Get a damn job!!!
Tip Jar
...tips are a necessary part of many industries. Employees are paid very little over the minimum wage and many people depend on their tips as part of their income.
However, a tip is an appreciation for a doing a good job. It used to be that Barristas at Starbucks used to have to grind the espresso, pack the shot properly and then pour it well as well. Espresso can be easily burnt and tastes very bad when not made properly. This was worth a tip for a good Barrista. Now, though, they have machines that do all the work, and they buy ground coffee. Hard to want to tip a coffee pourer.
"coffee pourer"
If you have not frequented a Starbucks as a loyal patron I totally excuse your ignorant comments regarding tips, but if you gotta have your espresso before your day really gets running please give a little respect where it is due. I was once one of those coffee shlepping, green apron wearing, piercing and tattoo hiding baristas and I guaranteed you to the only thing being poured at Starbucks is the brewed coffee.
Hand crafted beverages are still frothed by hand and yes the espresso machines are push button (when they are not breaking down during a morning rush) because of the shear volume of customers that Starbucks receives during their rushes. We were expected to get 45 cars through the drive thru in 30 minutes and that is with warming pastries. My record was 42 in a half hour, but alas that still was not consistent with every barista.
For those of you that truly care for that barista making your coffee and appreciate the care that goes into a really good cup of coffee, please tip. Those guys really work three times harder than you think and put up with way too much bullshit for what they are paid.
For those of you who think tipping is ridiculous and that baristas have some machine to do all of the work for you, go to McDonalds, you are the customer they are looking for!
I usually just read these posts and laugh especially since I have left Starbucks after managing a store for 4 years, but someone has got to stick up for those baristas working their asses off and living tips to tips sometimes.
Thanks Chronicle...
...for the hard hitting journalism!
Tips for what?
Starbucks got what they had coming to them.
#1. It's not even a restaurant. Nobody brought you food to your table and waited on you throughout your meal.
#2. It's the drive-through, which creates about as little work as you possibly can for the coffee shop employee, and yet still they ask for a handout.
#3. I think the IRS should do an audit to make sure everyone working there is claiming their tips correctly.
Who knew Starbucks promoted their employees panhandling while they worked?
For C to the J....
Have you EVER worked for Starbucks? How about a DRIVE-THRU, at any restaurant? Well I have and it is a lot of hard work! Just because they are working the window doesn't mean they don't have other responsibilities inside the store! And just because they have better machines there is still a lot of work involved in making someone's drink correctly, especially for those customers who want more than just a cup of coffee! Can you make a latte? and as far as the tips go...starbucks reports a certain amount as tips on all hourly employees, you just have to hope you actually make that amount or you get taxed on tips you didn't get! and those tips in the drive-thru aren't just for the person at the window, all the tips get pooled and are split between everyone who worked based on the hours they worked that week...so get a clue and stop assuming that people at starbucks don't deserve tips. why don't you be appreciative to ALL people working in customer service because it's hard dealing with people like you all day! God Bless You!
LOL why is this in the news?
A tip jar gets stolen and it made chron frontpage?
Idiot
You really have to be a total loser and idiot to steal a dang tip jar.
Ground Coffee?
They do NOT use ground coffee at Starbucks. They grind their beans daily, probably several times daily.
Slow news day?
Must be a very slow news day if this makes the headlines of the Chronicle.
Bring the manual bars.
I wouldn't mind tipping a $1 at Starbucks, if the drinks were a buck cheaper and the shots came from a manual bar.
Tip jars
I agree about the tip jar in the drive thru. They shouldn't be there. For that matter, tips are for waiters and waitresses who wait on customers, not for employees whose customers wait on them. As such, there should not be tip jars on "to go" counters at restaurants.
C for the J?
I feel like I need a tip after reading about half of your rambling whine. If you don't like your job then quit. There are millions of jobs much harder than working at a drive through. I never see a construction worker with a tip jar.
Businesses are taking the too convenient route of not paying their employees and expecting their customers to pay the employees for them. Start a union, demand more money, quit your job if you don't like it.
Clearing things up
The tip system at restaurants typically involves servers being legally paid beneath the minimum wage, with the average tip intake included as part of their expected salary--kind of like working partially on commission. So for waiters and waitresses, the Reservoir Dogs "only tip for something special" is wrong because your tip is necessary for them to make a livable wage.
Starbucks employees, and drive-thru workers in general, may not make a ton of money and it may be a lot of work, but they receive minimum wage or above. Comparing Starbucks or drive-thru workers to waiters and waitresses just because they're both a lot of work is irrelevant and entitled. I'm sure Drive-Thru workers work hard; so do nurses and you don't tip them.
At a certain point it just seems like everyone in food service wanted in on the tip market, even though they're not in the same bracket at all. I agree that the tip jar had no place there.
Just so you know, when you complain your drinks are 'special' :D
To all of you giving crap about tips...Um.. You cheap bastards! It is soooooo much work being a barista! It's people like you, who treat food service people as if they are below you and get all your 'McSpitties' specially made for you.
RE: What the heck was a tip jar doing there in the first place??
RE:
What the heck was a tip jar doing there in the first place?? Why do people expect a tip for doing their job all the time? And I think the only way they knew how much $$$ was in the jar was because they loaded it themselves to make it appear that drive thru patrons were leaving tips, so as to get more....
WOW really its a job that involves not only amazing customer service dealing with people at four in the morning who wake up angry and the first faces to see are the ones handing them their addiction. come on now do you not tip at restaurants? Just because you may not be lounging in the lobby doesnt mean tips arent deserved in the front and drive thru just as much work but im just your much higher than any of these minimum wage workers, so have another cup of joe from your krups brewer like your coffee wasnt handed to you by someone that didnt deserve their tips for doing whats necessary in their everyday tips included
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