Chatime Midland Gate — Attraction in Midland

We ordered a large Butterfly Citrus with lychee jelly ($9.85) from Chatime at Midland Gate today. About 5 minutes after we paid, the male staff member informed us that the drink we wanted was unavailable and asked us to choose another option.

We then selected a large Passionfruit Black Tea with lychee jelly ($8.60) instead and asked the same staff member if it was the same price. He replied, “Don’t worry about it,” and proceeded to make the drink.

When the drink was ready, I asked again whether the original drink we paid for was more expensive than the replacement. The staff member confirmed that it was and then went to the counter to process a refund of $1.25 for the price difference. However, not a single apology was provided, and another staff member looked at us with an unfriendly expression, as though we were at fault or making a fuss over the small amount.

Although the price difference was minor, I believe customers should always be charged the correct amount for what they receive. In this situation, it appeared the staff had no intention of refunding the overcharge unless I specifically asked about it.

This experience makes me wonder whether such practices are common at this store. I hope their profits aren’t made by ri-pp-ing off or...

I come to this place regularly as I love their bubble teas, but yesterday I suspected that this Chatime had new owners. There were 3 of them working but only 1 was making the drinks and had some knowledge on what to do. The older male working was friendly but he didn’t know how to make the drinks and just stood there. They had a son that looked way too young to be working as well. I waited 20 minutes for my drink, which is a very long time, and normally I’d accept the fact that they’re new and training but they had no one experienced working. The drink is normally worth the wait but the pearls were undercooked. I love being served by Darcy and Bach, they’re both very friendly and can always have a good chat with them. There are other experienced workers who I love being served by as well, but yesterdays experience made me not want to give them my...

Just doesn't feel right. It lacks the charm and authenticity of a bubble tea place - the drinks and toppings are expensive, the ordering system is clearly optimised to create the most amount of orders at once, and the range for drinks and toppings, to a person who frequents places like Presotea, is utterly disappointing, and lacks innovation and any proper nod to the roots of bubble tea (no, carbonating fruit tea until it's glorified fruit soda is NOT innovation). It especially sucked because there weren't many low-calorie topping options that would have actually tasted good, and I ended up settling with sago. In the end, I'll give it two stars because the drink was okay, but I definitely won't be...