Apparently, Starbucks has not been abiding by the provisions of California’s gift card law in effect since January 2008; they haven’t been redeeming balances below $10 on gift cards for cash on request. However, they now claim that they are taking steps to train staff appropriately and add a redemption button to their cash registers to make the process easier.

Just a subtle reminder, if you live in California, or your state has a law that requires retailers to redeem small gift card balances in cash, stand up for your rights! (story)