I can vouch that there was an action item that we were not to accept cups brought in from outside for refill (10c off, not the 53c refill). It is a sanitary/safety thing. But if you are in cafe, bought a coffee and want an iced tea refill, it shouldn't matter if you want to keep your cup.

That's not to say that another action item hasn't changed the policy and I just missed it, but I can't see why you would have to give up your cup to get a refill.

Also, it either used to be 2 hours on the refill policy or it was an urban legend passed among managers in my district because that was the way it was between stores I worked at. But again, I think that has been done away with or ignored for the most part.

You should not be charged for new tea bags on tea refills. I got in trouble for this and was shown the BRM section that covers it.

To CYA, I would always bring up my cup for a refill. If I don't know you on a first name basis, I might not remember ringing you up. It's nothing against you, some of us just have poor memory and see so many faces in the time it takes you to drink a cup of coffee, we might need a reminder.

Please don't get offended. The new training material is not great and we are often not given enough time to train people on the basics of making drinks, much less on the nuances of our refill policy. Plus, things change so often or get passed around as fact that if the communication is not spot on in a store, you will get different policy from different people. Messed up, sure. Worth calling corporate, maybe. But understand we aren't stupid or mean or out to get you (the vast majority of us), we are just trying to get through our 8 hours and make a little scratch.

If you consistently receive poor service at a store and you can give your business to another close by, do that. I guarantee it will raise awareness when numbers plummet at one store and rise in a sister store.