Tuesday, November 18, 2008

What the Buck?? er, Starbuck

A while ago I wrote about a problem I had with Starbucks and that I did not have a satisfying experience at one of their stores. I had emailed their customer website to explain my situation. They promised me free drink coupons. This was in September.

Last week I emailed them again and said this: "I have to tell you that I did appreciate the sentiment behind the kind email that was generated due to my poor customer service experience. I was touched that you thought to send coupons for free beverages. I probably would have returned to Starbucks if I had ever received the coupons but after 2 months I figure it's become a non issue and I'm not going to get them. We had a great time together and I'm sure we will see each other from time to time but I'm just one customer and losing my business will not effect your company's bottom line and I do prefer other coffees and mostly just patronized your stores for the convenience."

Then the next day I read this in the Seattle Times: Profit takes big hit as Starbucks readjusts to bad economy
It's been a rough year for Starbucks, which saw a 97 percent profit drop in the fourth quarter and a sharp decline in traffic and spending at U.S. stores.

So now I'm feeling guilty that my boycott really may have effected the company and I feel badly for sending such an unfeeling email when they are definitely suffering. So I am going to go back to Starbucks and use those coupons that came in the mail yesterday. Okay, that won't help their bottom line at all, but I get free coffee and that's what is important.

6 comments:

  1. Ok sis...I'm almost convinced you're feeling guilty-yeah right! If you really felt guilty then wouldn't you just throw out your coupons or give them away to any of your coffee-loving friends and use your hard-earned cash instead to "support" them in a monetary way?! That's where they're hurting...don't feel bad for them...I'm sure their muckety-mucks are doing just fine pool-side at their fancy mansions!!! They probably couldn't send the coupons before cuz they couldn't afford the postage!

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  2. Don't ever feel bad for reporting problems or boycotting when you feel something isn't right. Companies have to step up their customer service or people will stop going, even above and beyond those who stop for monetary reasons. You go girl! And yay that the coupons finally showed up.

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  3. er...like I'd really feel guilty about something like this...

    I'm always writing or emailing companies when something bothers me. I'm not always looking for hand outs but I want to know that at the very least my concern/issue matters, that they actually listen to their customers. I haven't heard back from Duncan Hines and the brownie fiasco with my Girl Scout troop. The brownies tasted like someone poured a cup of salt into the mix. They did not response, so I doubt I will buy their products again.

    Come on companies, throw us consumers a bone!

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  4. I do the same thing if I'm really unhappy about something. I try to send the positive emails, too, when I'm ultra pleased. We need more bones and less salty brownies!

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  5. I've had issues with starbucks and I wont buy coffee their either.
    Large retailers (and I know 'cause I work for one) could care less!

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  6. I'm going to check out that Google Analytics! Thanks for the tip. My reading list keeps growning, and I'm having to cut some out as I go, just to keep up with what I really want to read! It's kind of an awesome problem to have though :)

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