The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
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Coffee Bean stole the money from my family's gift cards
My family and I have several Coffee Bean gift cards. Two of my family members wanted to give their money to me because they know I (used to) like Coffee Bean. I emailed customer service to see if they could be combined into one card. Instead of honoring that request, they said that I had improperly accessed other people's (my family's) accounts. They shut down those accounts and zeroed out the gift card balances. They would not return the money even after all the cardholders asked for the money back. They confiscated about $59 of gift card money from us. California law states that the value on a gift card belongs to the beneficiary, not to the issuer, so I don't see why they think they can confiscate the gift card funds, but it's just me against them. After weeks of emails with customer service, they will only return the money if we provide receipts for the gift cards, which we don't have because most of the cards were gifts. I strongly advise avoiding Coffee Bean--but especially their gift cards. I hope you consider my experience--where Coffee Bean steals our money and demands a receipt to use our gift cards--before buying a Coffee Bean gift card or giving them any of your business.