I am actually sitting in one now. The reason why I am impressed with Starbucks is because they are seeing the problems that the economy is having and coming up with ideas that I honestly thought they wouldn’t look at doing. Some of their ideas have flopped of course ($1 coffee anyone?) but they continue to implement others.
When you purchase a Starbucks Card (of any amount) you can go online and register that card (I registered mine in about 30 seconds – www.starbucks.com/cardrewards) and then you get the following:
- Select syrup and milk options on the house
- Brewed coffee refills at No Charge during your visit (this one excites me)
- A complimentary tall beverage with your whole bean purchase (453g or more)
- Two hours of free Wi-Fi service
Okay, so not all of these are that exciting but it’s exciting to see a large company thinking like a small one and making adjustments to what the economy is dictating. Instead of making a plan to ‘ride out the storm’ Starbucks is looking for ways to work within it (I’ve already emailed some colleagues who spend alot of time in Starbucks about the refills).
Oh, but don’t feel to bad for them though. I’ve read that they still made a 19% annual profit.
Cheers,
L.
January 20, 2009 at 3:46 pm |
A barista was kind enough to educate me about this ‘special’ back in April last year. Later in the day I went home registered my card on their site and read what was covered – the same things you mentioned in your posting.
I quickly found out how much of a joke the ‘special’ is. Starbucks have turned me off their ‘special’ with the registered card. The original idea (regarding the syrups) is that you are able to get your syrup free in a drink that contains a syrup (except for those that are made with chocolate powder) OR you can have soy for free.
Time and again from Starbucks downtown Vancouver to Langley, I argue with each Barista and at times the Managers. They keep telling me it’s only with ‘extra shots of syrups’ not the first syrup. I filed a complaint with Starbucks in Seattle and was in contact with the western Canadian Manager of Starbucks for a time. She did confirm for me that yes, I was right, it was based on any drink that contains a syrup, it is not for ‘extra’ shots of syrup and it does not include drinks made with chocolate powder.
There’s always a different story from each unit. IMHO Starbucks needs to implement a corporate wide training plan for their managers and staff on promotions like this, this was handled poor from the beginning and still is failing miserablely in my experience as of November.
January 21, 2009 at 12:09 am |
Hi Robert,
Thank you for the comment and for letting us know. It looks like some companies just put out these programs but if there isn’t the follow through to implement them then it can just create even worse issues for the company and completely backfire. I have never had the experience with the syrups just the refills and so far no complaints.
A similar company who offers a ‘guarantee’ on their products is Presidents Choice foods, in their commercials they claim that if your unhappy with any of their food they guarantee a refund, no questions asked. But just try and get a refund…