Revisiting Starbucks

Maybe I was painting to harsh a picture with my first posting about how much money I was saving monthly by not going to Starbucks, but today I was shown that maybe Starbucks is not as a money pit as it may appear.

How many of you are avid Starbucks drinkers?

And, how many of you are aware that Starbucks offers a membership rewards program?

Well I for one, was glad to see that Starbucks was offering such a program. As a long-time Starbucks drinker it was nice to see that they had not forgotten about the customers. Sure, they are a business and we can't fault them for that, but $4 for a cup of coffee? That's where you start, or did, lose me.

However, in my never ending quest to not only find a way to tighten my budget down, while at the same time enjoy my life, and the simple pleasures, it was nice to hear that the almighty Starbucks had taken a look in the mirror and realized that they should offer their loyal patrons something more then just a friendly smile. Which as a side note, they have some damn good customer service. I mean at the height of my Starbucks endeavor, everyone in the shop new my order, and the time I would show up, and I was being treated like a celebrity by being asked to step to the front of the line, receive my order, pay and go, and yes sometimes, they would just say here you go, it's on us!

But, it was not until three week ago, when in a local Barnes & Noble I decided that I would treat myself to an in-house Starbucks. Now please keep in mind that this is a completely different store on the other side of town. Well, I walk in and there is the same Starbucks rep from the other store! And to top it all off he called me by name (which he learned by looking at my credit card over a year ago), and then said the name of my drink like no time had passed!

Now, if I drank a Coffee black with no sugar, that would something that caught my attention. But my drink is said, and follow me here, "An Iced Venti Solo Soy Iced Chai Tea Latte". Hell, it took me a month to learn how to order the thing, and this guy just said it like I had called it in only minutes ago.

But, back to my point. Had a been aware of the rewards program, I would not have spent as much, and maybe through spreading it out to only a couple of times a month, it would not have been such a big number coming out of my wallet.

So, with the help of a friend, I wanted to say that whether it is Starbucks or anything else, check to see what  they offer their customers.

And in a mention of serendipity, I was told this information today, and tonight I took at ten minute survey regarding, that's right, you guessed it, Starbucks!!! And it paid $2.50!!! Not bad for 10 minutes of mindless Internet play, huh?

So, my question to you is, were you aware of this program, and does this change your review of Starbucks?

As always, thank you...The Runner