I thought I’d share news and updates from the mailbag and more … All of this was interesting to me, and I thought my readers might enjoy it too:
1. A Starbucks experiments with different coffees as the espresso shot:
A Portland, Oregon reader wrote to me saying that his neighborhood Starbucks offers more than just “Espresso Roast” espresso as an espresso shot. Apparently, that Starbucks has been authorized to fill one of its decaf hoppers with an alternate coffee offering, such as Guatemala Antigua or other coffee. The store is testing out the popularity of alternate espresso options.
I think this is a great idea. I’d love to try Espresso Roast Christmas Blend available as a shot in my beverage. Also, Pike Place Roast is surprisingly good when pulled as an espresso shot. The Starbucks store puts up chalkboard signs indicating their special espresso offerings. I hope this catches on!
2. Check your rewards!
If you are part of MyStarbucksRewards, check to see how many free reward coupons you have! They are valuable – remember you can use them on both food and drink. You simply walk up to the register and say, “I’d like to use a free drink reward” and let the barista know the item that you’re using it on.
I noticed that the number of free drink coupons awaiting me digitally seemed very high. As it turns out, Starbucks did not want anyone to lose any beverage coupons in the transition. All of September’s rewards, as well as the rewards from October up to the 18th, were pre-loaded on to customers’ cards. Simply stated, this means that even if you already used a free drink coupon in September, you got that reward a second time digitally.
For many customers, the rewards available right now are higher than expected because of this back-loading of all September rewards as digital rewards.
Check your rewards and use them! Remember, they will digitally expire in a month, so use them up!
Here’s a MyStarbucksIdea.com idea thread exactly on this topic.
Thank you Starbucks! That’s a lot of extra free drinks!
3. Digital touch screens in the Starbucks aisle of a Safeway:
A reader in Highlands Ranch, Colorado emailed me to say that his neighborhood Safeway has digital touch screens in their Starbucks coffee area! I thought that was pretty interesting. I’ve never seen a grocery store with a Starbucks set up quite like this one.
I would love to know if other readers have something like this at their local grocery store.
////
Hope you enjoyed the news and updates. Thank you to the many readers who reached out to me in emails. Looking forward to your thoughts on any of these tidbits!
To the Starbucks enthusiasts in Chicago (Chicagonians?) reading this, Happy 25th Birthday Starbucks in Chicago! On October 19, 1987, Starbucks opened their first store in Chicago. And today is the grand opening of the first Starbucks in India!
41 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Socialize
Enjoy the chalkboard art above. I am not sure what the purpose of the digital screen is at that supermarket? Have never seen it around here. Enjoy the extra rewards on my account for sure. I think perhaps SB should send out emails to correct the confusion from customers don’t you think?
Just as an fyi, it doesn’t look like those of us in the test market of Pittsburgh got the bonus rewards, since ours were already non-paper.
Also, I’m not seeing it in my transaction history on the phone app, which would be nice. Also, I don’t see on Starbucks.com an indication of when my awaiting rewards expire. Maybe I’m missing something, but … I don’t want to miss something 😉
Sweet thanks! That definitely explains why I had so many. 🙂
@Theatrenut – Ah I didn’t realize that Pittsburgh didn’t get the extra stars. Such a nice gift. Sorry. Thanks for clearing that up.
@Purple1 – It’s a nice gift to have the duplicate rewards available. Just a gift. I guess I don’t see any email needed – customers should be checking their rewards.
@Kristian – Glad I could help!
We should be able to see our Reward status in the iPhone app. I hope and assume that’s on the roadmap. Especially since the baristas never told me I had a reward waiting, the way Panera employee’s do *at every transaction* in regards to their loyalty program.
HI I am trying to figure the new rewards process. I have a reward marked on the calendar and with the expiration date of 11-22.
How do I transfer that to a card that is registered?
I did contact customer relations but no reply. I suspect their IT dept. is jammed with questions on the transition.
Thanks for any info on this..
@Evergreen – You don’t transfer the reward. All of your rewards are associated with your starbucks.com/card profile, not the actual card. Just hand the registered card to a barista and say, “I’d like to use my reward for this beverage (or food) item.” You don’t have to go through any transfer step – just pay with any card registered to your starbucks.com/card profile. https://www.starbucks.com/card
Hope this helps! Give it a whirl, and let me know how it goes using your reward.
@DaveZ – I can easily see the benefit of more functionality to the cards being swiped at the register. When you pay, not only should your balance appear at the bottom of the receipt, but it would be great if the bottom of the receipt printed a current tally of your rewards available. That would make a lot of sense.
Based on the way they did it in testing, you definitley have to ask the barista to use your reward before it’s rung up. Once I waited until the barister told me how much I owed, and she said it was too late to make that choice. Not good, since there are special items I only order when they’re going to be free 😉 Maybe things have been refined since then.
@Melody
@Theatrenut
Thanks for the info…I’ll check it out today…I assume the redemption applies to any one of my many registered cards
Again …appreciate the info
theatrenut, the barista I dealt with today had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and wanted my postcard. The manager eventually came over and was vaguely aware – she figured something out to remove the charge (after placing the order). Was tedious… but maybe reasonable to trade their training for a free (duplicate) drink. 🙂
Wow, I already have 8 !! rewards. Awesome! I’ll use my first one today with my gold card and see how it goes – next time I’ll try my phone. Obviously some of the rewards are duplicates but I think others are simply rewards earned late September / early October that I didn’t get postcards for. Also, I never received a postcard for my birthday even though online it said it was issued Sept. 20th. Either way, this is very generous!
On another note, how obnoxious is the alarm bell thingy when you look at the rewards on your phone?! First time it went off I had no idea what I’d done or how to make it stop. I really hope there’s an option to turn that off cuz it’s reeeaally annoying!
Thanks Melody for pointing out that our rewards are now loaded on our cards! After doing a little digging I was able to see where my rewards were and how many were available. I’m happy that Starbucks gave us a little bonus. I agree that it would be nice to see the rewards status printed on your receipt, or even an alert on the app of how many rewards are waiting so you don’t have to navigate multiple screens to find the info. Perhaps new features like this will roll out in the future. As always, thanks for keeping us informed!
I’m SO glad you wrote this Melody! By clicking on the link I was able to verify that I have 4 free rewards awaiting me- otherwise I would not have known. I haven’t received any emails telling me I have these rewards, and I don’t see any way on the app to tell I have rewards. I suppose if you hadn’t written this they would of just gone unused and expired :-/ THANKS!
I remember something in the Barista info about $5 rewards and I didn’t understand it. Today I had someone order a drink that was over $5 and the balance was charged to her card. Not so free after all!
Whoa. Okay, I didn’t know that. There is a $5 cap on your free drink? I wonder if that’s true with food too. On my phone. Sorry short and sloppy.
Melody I agree Wow if there is a $5 limit to your free reward I would be a bit upset. I can surely see many unhappy customers and further more what kind of reward is that? I am not aware there was a limit with the rewards before October 16.
@Toabtay – Is that something that is being “tested” in your area? I can see the idea that Starbucks might still be doing ongoing tests that relate to the rewards. I just ordered a chocolate smoothie add soy, add PS, and it was $5.45, and came off as a free drink. That’s so weird Toabtay!
@Darla – once the star thingy on my app went bonkers and it just kept filling up – even overflowing the cup photo. And the alarm went off with each star. I think it got up to 87.
Mine sounds, even if I have my phone on silence, so I’m careful where I am when I access it.
Sorry for another post, but I noticed I got an update to the Starbucks phone app today. Just tried it and there’s no sound on the stars, and if I click on it, it does show “Available Rewards” now. Unfortunately, mine says I have one, while online it said I have two ;(
Re: the $5.00 possible reward limit? So FAR, I have NOT seen this. I’ve had 3 of my regular ~$6.00/drinks as rewards, so far. I know of a few other folks who have used theirs on a fully-loaded-venti-frapp, well over $5.00. Plus, I just called my sm and asked him: he said he has seen/heard nothing to this $5.00 limit (so far). I would be really ticked! (just for the ‘scam-factor’ of it alone!) Remember all those “bistro boxes” one could now get as a reward? bla bla bla. In any case, it appears that so far, there is no $5.00 limit!
I do see plenty of customers who know nothing of the new system (not to mention the partners, who do seem to be catching on slowly…or, TOLD about it slowly) I check my email all the time and I’ve had only ONE email saying I had a reward. I know (altho still not feeling it’s so accurate!) from checking my account online. (MSR….with the stars) I don’t feel anyone should have to learn about it from Melody’s blog! Sbux wins on this one, for sure. There’s too much unknown to too many reward-holders. Of course, they should (?) win…they’re a business. but there was that business about ‘transparency’…..oh wait, that’s another subject!
I just discovered that you can get a customer voice survey receipt when redeeming a free drink reward. I didn’t pay – just got a free tall sun dried Sumatra, and got a survey receipt.
Melody I didn’t even think about but I too got a survey after redeeming one of my rewards.
Oooh, a variety of Starbucks shots would be great. I would love to experiment with different shots in my drinks.
That touch screen in Colorado looks like a nice attention getter. I like it.
that safeway display is nothing short of amazing. the ‘cafe’ lamp is an awesome touch, and their prices are lower than any i’ve seen up this way in a while. i would love a grocery store display that authentic-looking!
(quick note: i worked in a safeway starbucks for about three years…we were never given that much coolness to work with)
the store with the multiple espresso choices is neat too. i kind of think that should be standard, but i get the space constraints and so on, as well. i worked with sbc-selling stores for a while, and loved henry’s blend as espresso. i think it would be very intriguing to get to compare other blends as shots, for sure!
I am guessing the $5 reward was a different $5 in value reward (like one of the drink races). We already know the card is good on “any food” and the paninis are $5.45 and $5.65. The $5 limit should clearly be for something else.
Also so far baristas are one for three in accurately ringing up the free reward. There is a button on the screen baristas have to push before ringing up your drink. Be patient while they all learn the system. And learn to recognize a barista who flinches. 🙂 It might be a hiccup ahead. Not everybody has worked since Tuesday and even more will not have had practice ringing up drinks the new way.
I went to a Target Starbucks on Thursday afternoon to get two venti pumpkin spice lattes for me and my husband. The barista told me they ran out of lids for grande and venti cups so I could get only get a tall. I declined and left without drinks. Running out of lids? That seems strange to me. Would I complain to Target corporate or Starbucks corporate?
I then drove to my regular Starbucks store and placed my order and I asked to use one of my free drink rewards and the barista rang me up and said I had no free drinks and charged me for both.
While I was waiting for the barista to make my drinks I showed her my phone and said, “does it not say I have two free drinks?” She said yes and then went back to the register, credited my card, and then used the proper entry and used both of the my free drink rewards and they rang up and I owed nothing.
I checked my phone today and I got a star for my transaction and I still have 2 free drinks showing left to use. I will try again this week to use a free drink reward and see if it works. If they want to keep giving me free drinks, I will gladly accept them. 😉
The $5 thing happened again today and I’m ringing the transaction strictly by the book. I’m so relieved that the rest of you aren’t having this issue. My SM is going to check it out as we obviously have a problem.
I’m showing I have 1 reward waiting for me when I log into my Starbucks account via my laptop. But when I use the Starbucks app on my iPhone, it says I have 0 rewards waiting for me. Confused. I wonder if the app will update at some point, but I would guess that it would show the rewards in both places. The number of stars I have matches on both app and the web.
Oh, nevermind. I just did a refresh on the Starbucks app and now it’s showing 1 reward available. I posted too soon.
@Marty – Are you using the iPhone app? You must be. It seems like the iPhone app is a little more complete than the Android app. Yesterday, a friend from work was trying to figure out how many rewards she had coming. It was a frustrating conversation in the sense that I realized that she thought that there would still be postal cards coming her way. She has an iPhone, but even looking at the app together, it was confusing. When all was done though, at least she knows that there are no more post cards.
That’s one part of the updated Rewards program I’m happy about… no more postcards. Of course, I will miss the comped syrup and milk choices.
I use the Android and, after this week’s update, it’s pretty easy to see how many rewards you have coming (Rewards|click on XX Stars Earned > at bottom). Your level, Available Rewards, and Rewards History (mine, all the way back to April) are shown.
The app still shows 1 Free Reward while online it says I have 2, however.
A gentle reminder to all of you folks that use Apps of any sort on any smartphone; iPhone or Android: be sure you are using the most up-to-date Operating System (OS) update on your phone and the current version of the App.
Often a problem with an App can be solved by rebooting/restarting your smartphone. Sometimes if you go into your Task Manager, end all active applications, and clear memory your Apps will run better.
Back in the old days of manual espresso machines, getting different coffee for your espresso shot was an everyday option. Nice to see that they are experimenting. However, I do hope that they clearly label the machine being used for something other than decaf and when the change back do a thorough cleaning.
Formal training on ringing the rewards has still not been done at my regular Starbucks. The Baristas are developing some bad habits that are going to be hard to break.
Unfortunately there is often no formal training for things such as this. Someone prints the info off the store computer and tells us to read it. The document for the ringing procedure for the new rewards system is 6 pages long. No time is provided to do this on the clock, so, not surprisingly many Baristas as well as SS’s and SM’s don’t bother to give it more than a passing glance.
I’ve stopped going to Starbucks since October, a few people I know said they have stopped as well. It is ridiculous to charge for soy milk. Soy is about half as much as cream made from cow’s milk. This program really got me into Starbucks, and I was going 2 times a day 3 days a week. I have only gone once trying to use up the money on my card. I hope they reconsider this in the future. There is a petition out there just search for starbucks rewards petition and maybe we can get something done.
Melody, I think Starbucks launched the new rewards program
before the ‘bugs’ were worked out…It may be great but meanwhile the clock is ticking away the time now on the expiration.
Thanks for your post and valuable insight!
I love the digital display in the Highlands Ranch Starbucks and believe it is a great way to engage their customer base. I can’t wait to see it in my local Safeway.
So far I’m really enjoying getting free drinks digitally! I did like getting the postcards in the mail—something exciting to look forward to in the mailbox, instead of just bills and junk mail—but it’s definitely nice to not feel like any rewards get lost in the mail, and it’s really great to be able to redeem the rewards right away instead of waiting! 🙂
I feel like I have a couple of blog posts I could write, but I wanted to make a comment here just in case my readers see it – I downloaded the latest version of the Starbucks Android App (it’s dated 10-30) and I noticed that it functions MUCH better than before. Now it easily pulls up my transaction history, and will consistently tell me how many I rewards I have available. I couldn’t get the Android app to do that before. It’s well worth it to download the latest app!
I do not have a cell phone so I rely on signing into my account to check my rewards. What I don’t like is that I must hunt and peck through the calendar to find when a reward was issue and then hover over the cup to see when it expires. Why don’t they put for example: “you have 2 rewards and the EXPIRATION dates on the main page.
@Harry – I have to agree that the website makes it a little clunky to find your rewards.
There is now a “mini dashboard” – You sign into Starbucks.com and then hover right around the sign in –
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2012/11/06/a-quick-peek-at-your-rewards.aspx
^ That helps a little, but I totally agree, you have to dig through the website to find your rewards specifics.