Customer refuses to 'pay forward' the $42 coffee order from the car behind him after a kind stranger pays for his $4 coffee: 'The cashier looked at me with total contempt'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Oct 6, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

I'm so glad I never worked in a drive-thru window because if I did, I would've floundered the second somebody wanted to pay for the person behind them. I don't know how to pull up the credit card information of a customer who just left! What are you, nuts?

Against all odds, drive-thru employees find a way to manage a "pay it forward" line, especially at Starbucks. I would surmise that pay-it-forward lines at Starbucks are popular because customers need to cancel out the guilt of using a drive-through to purchase their coffee, a beverage that they should make at home, and do so by sending over a few measly dollars to the passengers behind them. While that's all well and good for customers who only have to pay for a $4 coffee (which is still unreasonably expensive for a breakfast drink, in my opinion), but what about when the car behind you is a group that bought $42 worth of coffee? 

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    HANDCRA Matcha Green Te Chai Latte Den Roa ICED FAVOURITES TRAPPUCCING Cerama Robo Crunch Mocha Coke Crumble Mancha Green Tea Creme ICED ESPRESSO & STARBUCKS COLD BREW Brown Sugar Cat Shaken Espress Salted Carame Starbucks Cold Brew 11 1 43523 195 3
    via Jonathan Cooper

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITAH for not "paying it forward" in the Starbucks drive thru after the person in front of me bought my coffee?
    via u/ViciousViper44
  • 03
    Ok I'll start with the fact that I'd prefer to just order and pay for my own coffee and leave. Other than normal pleasantries like the usual "how's your day going? Fine and yours" I'd prefer not to converse with the individual in the drive thru. It has happened a few times where the barista informs me that someone in front of me bought my coffee and queries if I'd like to do the same for the person behind me. Usually I have no problem doing it as I was
    via u/ViciousViper44
  • 04
    gonna pay for mine anyway. Today this happened and I said "sure, what is their total." I was handing her my cc when she told me the total was $42. I put my card away and said "I guess the streak ends with me today". This girl looked at me like she thought I was the biggest on the planet. Total contempt. In this instance Idc if people think im the AH because I'm not going to ever pay $42 for an entire cars drinks and food because some other nice individual paid for my $4 cup.
    via u/ViciousViper44
  • 05
    MystiQued8 You're not an AH. It's great to be generous, but $42 is way too much for one person to cover.
    via u/MystiQued8
  • 06
    ShimmerxBelle Absolutely agree. It's really nice to pay it forward when it's a reasonable amount, but $42 is just too steep for one person to cover, especially when your coffee was only a few dollars. You shouldn't feel pressured to take on that kind of expense just because someone else was generous OP. NTA
    via u/ShimmerxBelle
  • 07
    orangeobicone And considering it's a group order that the person recieved funds for from said group, I don't think OP is AH at all here.
    via u/orangeobicone
  • 08
    Tabby-trifecta I've heard those are a mess for the staff to deal with, and agree with others that it's silly because everyone in line has the money for their order. I say "wow, what a surprise that's so nice! I would like to pay it forward to the baristas actually" and then I tip what I was going to pay for my coffee, or just tip a $5.
    via u/Tabby-trifecta
  • 09
    That ends the chain, ends the pressure, and you're still doing something nice for someone. And you won't get a surprise $60 bill for coffee for someone's entire office, if that's the order that was behind you. (Edit: formatting)
    via u/Tabby-trifecta
  • 10
    Wisherball I do this every time. The chain ends with me and the barista gets a tip equivalent to whatever the cost of my order was. I have heard baristas hate these chains as they often cause confusion and errors.
    via u/Wisherball
  • 11
    GeneConscious5484 I've heard those are a mess for the staff to deal with It reminds me of when drivers at a four-way stop will just start waving people into the intersection at random... yes, on some technical level you're "being nice" but but what you're actually doing is taking a process that's so streamlined no one should even have to think about it and disrupting the out of it for everyone around you. A thing you especially shouldn't do to people 1) driving an automobile or B) who don't have
    via u/GeneConscious5484
  • 12
    Bit_Goth No. I never participate in pay it forward chains. Defeats the whole purpose to have to pay for the next person in line. If the goal is to make a nice gesture then it shouldn't come with obligations for me.
    via u/Bit_Goth
  • 13
    R1ckMick It's funny because if everyone is paying it forward the only person who really benefits (aside from order total discrepancy) is the person who ends the chain. So just a headache to the staff and potentially a free coffee to the only non participant
    via u/R1ckMick
  • 14
    quidscribis Those pay it forward chains are stupid. People who are in line to buy their whatever have the money to pay for it. If you want to actually pay it forward, buy a meal for someone who can't afford it, donate to a food bank or other charitable organization, or something else that can actually make a difference. NTA.
    via u/quidscribis
  • 15
    Aim2bFit Thank you. I was going through comments above and was planning on saying exactly this if no one says it. Why would I pay for someone who can afford a luxury coffee from a chain outlet (I mean, nobody NEEDS coffee from Starbucks)? Of course people can argue we don't know their story but to simplify people in dire needs would not think of queueing at a Starbucks drive thru.
    via u/Aim2bFit
  • 16
    ViciousViper44 OP I agree. I've never started one of these things. Like you said. Anybody in the drive thru was already planning on paying so it's pointless. Last year on Thanksgiving the wife prepared a huge plate of food and we drove it out to a homeless guy that camps at an intersection pretty close to us. Now that guy was appreciative, more so than anybody in line at Starbucks would be.
    via u/ViciousViper44

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customer service coffee shop generosity cash customers Starbucks paying drive thru restaurant customer driving food service coffee restaurants expensive Reddit money
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