$25 Cup of Experience

But not the kind of experience I've come to expect from Starbucks. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if they're losing their way.

I recently signed up for their newest "Gold" program. The 10% off wasn't a huge deal, but I liked the idea of being recognized as a loyal sbuxer & the free wifi seemed like it would be a nice touch when traveling.

I'll admit I neglected to read the fine print in the multi-page brochure and assumed the program was similar to the Starbucks Card I already have and the $25 would be loaded on my slick new "you're special and we appreciate you" card.

Imagine my surprise at the drive-thru early this morning to learn it wasn't.
   
    AND

• That I had to haul my still-in-sweats-sans-makeup self into the store to get the [now clarified] "membership fee" refunded

• Which was apparently "impossible" because I hadn't kept my receipt after ordering a couple of lattes the week before

• Therefore I needed to call the 800 number to get help versus from the onsite store manager that sold it to me

But it gets better

• The 800 operator told me their research team would look for the receipt after gathering a bunch more info, including the actual day I made the purchase, email it to me so I can bring it back to the store and start over again to request a refund. "Refunds could not be processed through corporate and could only be handled at the store level."

• To top it off, instead of an apology by either rep for the inconvenience, unmet expectations and overall hassle, I was pointed to the middle of section II, page 6 fine print that *clearly* states I needed to have a receipt and that *no one else* has asked for a refund before...

You'veGottaBeKiddingMe

When designing a program to serve our best customers, [and this applies to all organizations] it's ESSENTIAL to think through the entire experience. If the program isn't meeting expectations, we've already failed and need to be in service recovery mode.

Make it painless to opt-out, apologize for the inconvenience, reward them for hanging in there. Don't point fingers [or worse, to an 800 number] layer additional red tape and otherwise throw gasoline on a fire.

Comments

[GP]

Nothing beats Panera Bread!!

[Pete Wilson]

Wow. Thanks for the heads up.

[blair farley]

my wife almost bought one the other night on the same assumption that you made... namely that it was a $25 gift card and not some lame membership card. i buy the membership card to barnes and noble each year cause the savings is pretty good on a $25 book, but really... a 10% discount on coffee... and a free one on my birthday. shame on starbucks for not identifying their best customers and just giving this away.

on our recent starbucks visit we ordered the oatmeal and it was served with a FORK!! we mentioned to the manager that this was not going to work for the fairly runny version of oatmeal served. he looked at us like we were crazy and let us know that HE eats it that way every day, and that he was sorry it was a problem for us. he also reinforced how dumb he thought we were when he mentioned that they have not had spoons in their store for months and that we were the first to complain.

oh... and the best part... all of this conversation was taking place while another employee of the store was standing on a ladder over the coffee bar dusting the ceiling with a rag wrapped around a push broom... so yeah they are losing their edge.

//blair