A Starbucks cup reseller and collector has gone viral after a Starbucks employee refused to sell her cups.
Rayah (@4rayah.sunshine) attempted to buy a glass mug and a studded tumbler at a San Francisco Starbucks location when the employee claimed they were closed.
“They’re not letting me buy it,” Rayah says in the TikTok video featuring the encounter.
“Because we are closed,” an employee responds.
According to the overlay text in the video, Rayah was not aware the store was closed until the worker said it since the doors were open and the hours stated otherwise.
In the video, the TikToker says the “disappointment was so high” that she went back in to talk to the manager. The manager agreed to hold the cups for her so she could come to pick them up the next day. But when Rayah said she wanted the studded tumblers, too, the employee allegedly hid them.
“Can you believe it? What a jerk!” she says in the video. “I’m glad the manager was there to catch the shitty behavior, right?”
Rayah posted the interaction on TikTok where hundreds of comments accused her of acting like a “Karen.” The video has since garnered 191,000 views in three days.
“It’s just a fking cup. I never understood why ppl are so obsessed with them ??” a commenter wrote.
“Kim, there are people dying,” another said.
In a follow-up video, Rayah makes the one-and-a-half-hour drive to the store the next day to pick up the cups. She explains in the video that she was able to get both types of cups and some more to “make the trip worth it.”
When a user asked her why “adults cry over Starbucks mugs,” Rayah responded that she is a “collector.”
“Do you have a collection? Do you understand how collections work?” Rayah replied to the comment.
But some pointed out that Rayah is a reseller. She buys the Starbucks cups, customizes them, and resells them at a higher price. Her Instagram page, @rayahsunshinecreations, is dedicated to the customized merchandise.
“I have a bundle idea for this one, so if you’re interested make sure to follow along!” Rayah states in the video.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Rayah via Instagram and Starbucks via email.
Source: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/starbucks-employee-refused-sell-cups-tiktoker/