Starbucks says all double-charges reversed

updated 1:49 p.m. ET June 10, 2009

NEW YORK - Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday it has repaid all one million customers the gourmet coffee chain inadvertently double-charged on Memorial Day weekend.

A processing computer problem caused the company to bill some credit and debit card customers twice on May 22 and May 23. The error occurred at about 7,800 company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Starbucks spokeswoman Trina Smith said in a statement that once the company learned of the error, it began crediting any card with a duplicate charge. Smith said all the double-charges were resolved as of May 29.

"We apologize for the inconvenience to our impacted customers and are relieved that the issue has been fully rectified," Smith said.

Similar processing errors have caused problems for other retailers as well. Department store Macy's Inc. accidentally charged some customers' debit cards multiple times for purchases made before Christmas because of a system glitch.

Smith said Starbucks is not aware of any outstanding charges but said any customers with questions should contact the company's customer relations hotline at 1-800-23-LATTE.

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