Starbucks in Saudi Arabia refuses to serve women, tells them to send their male driver to order

Revealed by a user on Twitter, a Starbucks was photographed in Saudi Arabia with a sign posted on the door that reads “Please no entry for ladies only send your driver to order – thank you.”

The image was accompanied by a message from the original poster, reading “Starbucks star in Riyadh refused 2 serve me just because I’m a WOMAN & asked me 2 send a man instead."

In addition to being banned from driving, women in Saudi Arabia must be accompanied by men to perform a list of tasks, including voting and opening a bank account.  These incredibly backward laws are a result of the State's Islamic guardianship laws.

After the image was tweeted and went viral, Starbucks responded “That was a temporary sign during a store renovation. This store now accommodates all customers in accordance with local law.”

It seems like a strange time for renovations, if they really were taking place (some users have noted that no renovation sign was in place before Starbucks seemed to do damage control).  Still, incredibly backward and weird that this could possibly take place.