Maddie Brown (@maddievbrown) has a running bit on her TikTok videos: she walks into Starbucks locations, grabs a mobile order off the pickup shelf that doesn\u2019t belong to her, and reviews it from her car.<\/p>\n
In a recent installment, she tagged Austin, Texas. There she reportedly made off with a grande s\u2019mores Frappuccino belonging to a customer named Katy C.<\/p>\n
Brown rates it a 6.7 out of 10.<\/p>\n
The Starbucks caper<\/p>\n
Brown opens the clip by re-establishing the premise for anyone new to the feed. \u201cCome with me to take somebody\u2019s mobile order and, like, find a drink that I like,\u201d she says. \u201cAustin, Texas edition.\u201d<\/p>\n
She acknowledges the pushback from a previous installment before proceeding. \u201cI did see comments on my last one. People [said I was] cold and heartless, so I waited till the afternoon so I wasn\u2019t pissing anyone off before work,\u201d she says. \u201cI do have a heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside, she scans the pickup shelf and lands on her mark. \u201cSlay, we\u2019re back. I did want a coffee, but this\u2026 banging,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have Katy C. Katy C. got a grande s\u2019mores frappuccino. I didn\u2019t even know they made this s***.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are Starbucks mobile orders prone to theft?<\/p>\n
The nasty part of why Brown\u2019s series works is that the pickup shelf is functionally unguarded. It\u2019s a vulnerability the restaurant industry has quietly conceded is expensive. Apex Order Pickup Solutions stated<\/a> that operators lose roughly six to eight orders a day per location, translating to roughly $100 a day in a quick-service format.<\/p>\n Restaurant Business Online framed the same problem<\/a> more bluntly, arguing that a countertop or a pickup shelf gives shoplifters easy pickings because the handoff step usually has no verification technology attached to it at all.<\/p>\n A review of the s\u2019mores frappuccino<\/p>\n Back in the car, the verdict. \u201cI do love s\u2019mores, so just a great pick me up. I probably would not get this again,\u201d she says. \u201cThat tastes like a s\u2019mores. So I\u2019d rate it a 6.7 out of 10.\u201d<\/p>\n The bit lives in a gray zone that seems intentional. Starbucks will typically remake a missing mobile order for the paying customer, meaning only the chain absorbs the cost, not the Katy C\u2019s of the world. This framing lets some viewers read the videos as soft anti-corporate performance rather than straight theft. Others are less charmed.<\/p>\n \u201cKaty C. was not watching her sugar intake today,\u201d joked one person.<\/p>\n One person wrote, \u201cDude, you\u2019ve saved me so much money since i\u2019ve started using this hack.\u201d<\/p>\n Some people still did not appreciate her timing. \u201cyk afternoon shifts\/ night shifts exist right,\u201d one wrote. \u201cIn no way is this right.\u201d<\/p>\n It is at least possible that she\u2019s simply ordering in other names for content\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n Neither Maddy nor Starbucks responded to emails requesting comment.<\/p>\n @maddievbrown<\/a> i don\u2019t know anyone over the age of 14 that would like this #starbucks<\/a> #austintx<\/a> #mobileorder<\/a> #coffee<\/a> #fyp<\/a> \u266c original sound \u2013 maddie b<\/a>
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