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I can't understand the fascination with Starbucks. Super strong, overpriced coffee. I can get very good coffee from a local store that specializes in different varieties of coffee and I make it at home for a fraction of the cost. Just my opinion of course.
I agree completely. I bought our small medical office a coffee pot, filters, and starter can of Folgers for Christmas because all the girls in the office were not only leaving the office too much and blowing off work to get it, they were also whining about how expensive Starbucks drinks are (big surprise, not). I was dubious about whether my gift would actually reduce the number of Starbucks visits my coworkers made, but thought it was worth the $30 investment to see. There are 6 of us: 3 of us are 38+ years old, and the other 3 are 20-30 years old.
The age/Starbucks spending differential is striking. 2 of the older women who have more money and can afford more Starbucks buy it the LEAST often, and use the coffee pot for regular coffee about 5 times a week while getting a Starbucks the other 2 times (we're open six days a week, and there's always at least one multi-trip day). I'm the lone zebra employee, 38+ years old, who never buys Starbucks. The 3 younger women have NEVER drunk the regular coffee and continue to buy at least one Starbucks drink EVERY DAY since I bought the coffee pot. They don't get the cheap drinks either: They buy those $4-5 large drinks each day with the whipped cream and shots and all that stuff. Expensive habit indeed. . .
I'm not crazy about it. I'm not the most frequent Starbucks customer, but still reach the 30 stars necessary to keep Gold status. I often take advantage of the "bonus stars" promotions to get to the 30. So I don't have to spend a ton of money to stay Gold.
Now it's 300 stars to keep Gold status, meaning with the new scheme, I must spend $150 a year. That's not likely to happen. The new scheme puts how much you spend above how often you visit Starbucks. So you can show up once and buy a round for your 5 friends, and I would have to show up 6 times to get the same number of stars you got for showing up once.
But in the end, it doesn't matter. I'm not going to start spending more money at Starbucks just to keep Gold status. It's hard to imagine many people will, but you never know.
Or who is smart enough to roast/grind his own beans...
I don't think people who buy Starbucks "swill" are dumb, lazy maybe, or way too willing to part with $5 for a .35 cent item but I wouldn't call them "dumb".
That's what would make me mad if I was a Starbucks customer. Trying to pass it off as something their customers want, and something that benefits the customers. BS! I hate being manipulated and treated like I'm stupid.
As a few others have mentioned, it's a free rewards program, so they have every right to change it any way they see fit.
That being said, what ticks me off is the message via email the other day about the new program. Telling me they have "exciting" changes that they just know I'll love to the rewards program. They go on to say that they are making the most commonly requested change in the program....blah, blah blah. So they expect me to believe that the most common Starbucks customer complaint was that they gave out to many points and people got a free drink to soon ? Sure, I'm absolutely sure that's correct.....NOT !
Starbucks has ever right to change their program, I'll defend them on that.....but they are making a mistake in assuming most of their customers are morons or idiots and will believe this was done at the request of most of their customers....lol. It's truly laughable !
In my opinion, the best way to run a business is to assume most of your customers are at least of average intelligence and astute enough to easily tell the difference between cow dung and a new Corvette.
Explain that in order to be more fair and equitable, we will now be awarding points on the basis of dollars spent rather than simply units purchased. We feel this more accurately and fairly reward our many loyal customers. You spend more and you'll enjoy a free drink a bit quicker under the new reward program. This would be an accurate and honest way to present the new program.
That being said, what ticks me off is the message via email the other day about the new program. Telling me they have "exciting" changes that they just know I'll love to the rewards program. They go on to say that they are making the most commonly requested change in the program....blah, blah blah. So they expect me to believe that the most common Starbucks customer complaint was that they gave out to many points and people got a free drink to soon ? Sure, I'm absolutely sure that's correct.....NOT !
Starbucks has ever right to change their program, I'll defend them on that.....but they are making a mistake in assuming most of their customers are morons or idiots and will believe this was done at the request of most of their customers....lol. It's truly laughable !
Yes, this!! An insult to everybodys' intelligence to think that we can't figure out that this program is far less beneficial to us! That's what irritated me above all else!
Instead of complaining, why not boycott for a week? They would immediately change it back, but coffee drinkers are like crack addicts and wouldn't be able to last more than a few hours.
I think the new program is better. It rewards more. Back then you get rewarded 1 star per drink regardless of price. Now you are rewarded more appropriately. So if I buy that latte or frapp that cost $4+ I get a 2 stars per dollar. The price of each grande drink is about $2.30 these days you get 4 stars in this case, usually if I get a drink and something I only get one star. Now I get credited for the amount I spent. So if I count the drink + sandwich I bought last week. $7 total, it will be 14 stars. I can earn that reward in less time by counting all the items I spent at Starbucks.
According to this new program sheet:
This is great news, that I go there and spend like $14 on drinks and food and now they all get credited. If I bought a mug that cost $24, I get 48 stars for that.
If I go pickup starbucks for other people I get even more stars. A lot of people who drink Starbucks don't even have the gold member or cares.
Last edited by vision33r; 02-27-2016 at 08:05 PM..
They sent me two hot cocoa k-cups yesterday, a classic and a salted caramel. Although I use my Keurig daily, I don't drink cocoa but I'll give these a try.
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