Starbucks has come under fire from its customers after attempting to write a blog justifying its tax expenditure in the UK.
Kris Engskov, managing director of Starbucks Coffee UK, posted a blog last month to "share the facts" about its tax payments after weeks of criticism in the media for its lack of corporation tax payments.
"The truth of the matter is, the one tax that has been debated in the media, corporation tax, is based on the profits we make in this country – and regrettably we are not yet as profitable as we’d like to be," Engskov wrote.
"Is our ambition to be much more profitable, and therefore pay more corporation tax? Absolutely right, and that is why we are making long-term investments in the UK, creating new jobs, opening new stores and delivering new and innovative products for our customers."
However, his pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as more than 100 people have taken to the comments section underneath to berate his post - accusing him of deceit and of lying to customers.
Starbucks' attempt to reassure its customers resulted in a *facepalm* moment
It also appears that the original blog post made some reference to Starbucks' PAYE payments, which resulted in ire from the comments board who correctly pointed out that PAYE was paid for by the employee, not the company.
Many of the commentators joined the Starbucks community purely to leave a comment under this post, highlighting the anger UK customers feel towards the coffee chain.
You can read the blog post - and the reactions - here.
The comments board has gathered quite a following on Twitter too:
Should Starbucks' spinners have just left well enough alone? Or is it a good thing they're trying to reach out to their customers? Let us know your views in the comments below.