Caffeine capers on the rise?

It’s a weekday morning and you’re waiting for your chai latte with the other sleepy Starbucks customers crowding around the pick-up counter. Finally, the barista shouts, “John, chai latte.” A fellow a few yards over utters a “Right here!” and picks up the drink. A coincidence, sure, but not exactly one for Ripley’s.

So you wait and wait. Finally, you approach someone behind the counter. The drink was served up long ago, they explain. Someone else took it. And there’s not another chai latte for John on order.

That sequence of events has been happening frequently enough to prompt Starbucks outlets at the University of Tennessee to start checking a customer's receipt before handing over a drink, according to a website run by the school’s journalism program.

Given the economy, does anyone doubt it’s a mild scam that’ll soon be on the rise?