Something which happens increasingly more often at Starbucks, especially when being the sole barista on shift, is customers that try to get a free drink by assuming when the barista collect the cup and goes towards the coffee machine that we aren't going to know they haven't paid.

You know you haven't paid because the card machine is still requesting payment which means you won't get an app notification about it either. I know you haven't paid because the transaction still remains on the POS (called a check) and that the label for your drink hasn't printed out.

I'm waiting for that label to come out (sometimes the POS is slow so it isn't necessarily immediate) to stick to the cup before making the drink. It isn't peak time so getting a head start on an order has little benefit and knowing so many people are trying this I am avoiding wasting ingredients.

Think about it... nobody will design a system to print the drink or food label before payment has been secured. That would make no sense especially when a different person is operating POS to the baristas making the drinks or preparing the food-to-go.

I am THAT barista when on the odd occasion tricked by this to slowly pour the drink down the sink whilst you watch. There is no "might as well give them the drink for free as its made". It is 2026, you don't need to go to the bank or use an ATM to find out your balance, you have an app for it... you know in advance if you have funds and you know how the card payments work. If it is a fault with our card reader however, the drink is yours, on the house...