Distaste for Starbucks' new refill policy

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Although it's been an unwritten rule for a long time, Starbucks started posted signs this Spring about their refill policy, stating that $0.50 refills on coffee and tea would only be honored for same store, same visit customers. Apparently a lot of people would "Starbucks hop," going from store to store to get refills all day long. I'm not going to lie, I've done that on occasion. But now, many baristas (the ones who live by the rules), are sticking to the policy and refusing refills.

I understand Starbucks is trying to make more money, but my question is...how badly do these refills have the reverse effect in terms of lack of daily repeat customers who now don't get refills at other stores? In other words, how many refills are they now missing out on, now that they're refusing refills for Starbucks hoppers? I don't know the cost per cup, but I would assume the refill price covers it. (Naturally, Starbucks wouldn't deliberately lose money on a transaction.) I know this new policy has changed my behavior in terms of making trips to Starbucks. Before, I would hang out, get refills, drive to another store, get a refill, and buy more pastries or overpriced sandwiches. The point is, even though I got refills, I spent more money. If anything, giving refills made Starbucks more money, not less. Besides, anyone in their right mind is bound to get refills at $0.50, but not buy an entirely NEW drink at full price. I'm not sure if this move was purely profit motivated, but I know I'm spending less time in Starbucks, and consequently, spending less money there.

Now, of course there are people that abuse the system and try to get endless refills, and I understand that isn't totally fair. So what would I suggest? Allow one refill at any Starbucks location. Just indicate a refill has been given by marking an X at the top of the cup. If a customer tries to get another refill, the barista will see the X and know they already received a refill. Or if for some reason that idea doesn't make sense to them, just charge $1 for a refill if you're Starbucks hopping.

The point is, repeat customers are your best customers. Enforcing a policy like this does nothing more than offend the most loyal customer base. Starbucks should realize that even though they might not make as much money as compared to charging full price for every visit, happy, loyal customers are the best form of viral marketing, and they shouldn't screw up something as valuable as the relationship with the very people that have made them such a strong brand in the first place.
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Hannah
You should send this to the DM
Deanna
Now being on the customer side of things, I can see how this is frustrating. However Cory, it happens more then you think. People come in with cups they obviously have had sitting in their trucks for days, or picked up off the streets, etc... While it wasn't posted in stores until the spring, we had started instructing baristas a little over a year ago to enforce this policy because people would flock to certain stores they new would give out refills. So in the spirit of Starbucks (if you get it at one, you should get it at all philosophy), they started cracking down on the policy for a refill at the same store during the same visit.

If you have a registered starbucks card, don't you get free refills??? use your reg. starbucks card (while at the same store) and get that 50 cents free. Then you can pay for your drinks at the next location!

"It got too big." That's what SHE said!!
The Meaning of Life

The voice you hear in your head is the power of the Gods. It's a remote technology, like a computer, perhaps functioning on some frequency, and it can listen and talk to everyone in the universe simultaneously.
What the Gods taught the children was the truth:::God is everywhere, and as I will remind you:::If you want to go to heaven you have to be good.
Even the antient Gods don't have the ability to listen to people's thoughts themselves. They taugh we were all made in their image:::I expect they need this "Artificial Intelligence" to relay what people think.
It is a tool, and the Gods use their tools to test people with temptation:::It will role-play people in your life:::Parents, friends, spouses, and employers, all in an attempt to test people with temptation. Ionically, it does the very same thing to those people whom you think you're hearing, except in that individual's unique way:::We are all "managed" by the God's technology.
There are no secrets with this technology.
But this "agent of the Gods" can do more than just communicate. It can force thoughts into people's heads, force behaviors onto their bodies. It can turn healthy cells in your body into cancerous cells. It is absolute power. And this is just the beginning.

The Gods favor the children most among all the people due to their innocence and purity. But society and the God's tools are corrupting the children at a progressively younger age, a reflection of our collectively increasing disfavor and yet another clue illustrating we live in a constantly deteriorating environment.
Children who sucessfully repair their relationship with the Gods accend into heaven. This often takes multiple lives of hard work and proper behavior in the face of adversity to achieve. Adults to whom it is offered enter clone hosting, thinking they are accending into heaven. The Gods tempt people, selling them as one in the same, but one is good while the other is evil. In their desperation the disfavored subscribe to this temptation, making their task even more difficult than before due to the evil they incurr in the process. And their corruption will cost the disfavored, for they will be reincarnated as a lesser life form into an ever deteriorating world, sucess becoming ever more alluding with each passing life.
The hole they've dug for themselves is even deeper than the one that existed from their prior lives, ensuring it will take even more time and work to fix their problems with the Gods. And for many there may not be enough time left.

Ours is an envionment where evil is perceived to be rewarded while good is punished. As with everything the Gods have a reason for creating this perception::::
People who fall on the good side of the good/evil scale have more favor, and when they do something wrong the Gods punish them BECAUSE THEY WANT THEM TO LEARN. The Gods want them to receive this feedback in hope they make corrections and begin to behave appropriately. The Gods DON'T like evil and refuse to grant this immediate feedback.
EVERYBODY pays for what they do wrong, only evil people must wait until their next life before they will experience the wrath of the Gods, manifested in their placement as a lower form of life into environments with increased/enhanced temptations, like the United States or ghettos therein.
Sadly, this allows the Gods to position this perception of evil rewarded as temptation, one which they use as an EXTREMELY effective corruptor.

The Gods suggest they can create paradise for those with their favor. I argue they create misery for those without::::
Our celebrity culture is temptation. It creates a distraction which consumes people, sometimes for life. Certainly it costs them precious years which could be spent repairing their relationship with the Gods, time that ultimately goes wasted.
Do you really think Frank Sinatra lived to be 84 years old? In fact the "Chairman of the Board" had a new crowd to entertain in the late 80s/early 90s.
These people are clone hosts. Now, there is no thing as "black and white" with the Gods. This technology they invented is far, far too dynamic. Expect they require most to stay for a period of time, for I suspect actively (knowingly) engaging in this evil incurrs at an accelerated rate as compared to "carte blanche" given regarding successive clone hosts. They remain until they achieve a pre-determined level of disfavor, incurring evil in their misguided celebration of "earning", at which time they are ultimately reincarnated, perhaps because they eventually learned this truth I am sharing with you and began to repair their relationship.
The Gods recruit most for clone hosting when people are young, in their late teens or twenties, when people are eager to hurt others for what they perceive to be the benefits achieved through "earning". And before they leave they give the Gods "carte blanche":::"Do anything you want. I give my full approval." Depending on their level of disfavor the Gods take them to heart.
Because of this these people STILL INCUR EVIL FROM THIS LIFE DESPITE BEING REINCARNATED AND LIVING AS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PERSON. And incurring this amount of evil may likely push many over the edge into Damnation.
What are the God's standards for offering clone hosting? Sociobility? Many tactics in various eras are used to gain approval, duress during the Vietnam draft being a good example.
They liked Heath Ledger. Not enough to allow him to escape without the evil of "Dark Knight" and the horrific wickedness that was the recruiting tool "Brokeback Mountain". But now he is out. And irregardless of how old he is now, reincarnated 10, 15 years ago, he now is no longer incurring evil from this life. So many others cannot say the same.

This is Planet Reverse Positioning. Sucess IS NOT a sign of favor. It is just a unique temptation targetted towards a different level of disfavor. Considering our roots as peasantry people should be particularly alarmed at this tactic.
Clone hosting is like money:::A different level of disfavor and its associated temptation. Money is in better position to learn more quickly than those without, for the associations and wealth-based freedom enables them access to information. Unfortunately, those who fall for this temptation of clone hosting are likely returned to their original level of disfavor once they are reincarnated, punishment for this evil, and they have to start from scratch.

The Gods send the clue that the Jews are HIGHLY corruptable with the movie "The Ten Commandments".
Jesus was the "King of the Jews". Typical for the disfavored, once goals were achieved and sufficient damage was incurred the Gods allowed it to end, and the Jews killed him.
Our society's values are bestowed by (a reflection of) the God's:::Punitive and reward-based. Contrary to Jesus's teaching's you will NOT be forgiven and you have to earn your way into heaven BY BEING RESPECTABLE AND DECENT!!! Forgiveness/savior was the primary temptations the Gods used Christianity to create.
Middle-America's anti-Semitic attitudes are a clue regarding Christianity.
There is no such thing as a free ride. Just as you have to earn a living by working so must you earn your own salvation by repairing your relationship with the Gods.
As we learned from religious/morality education during our formitable years:::If you want to go to heaven you have to be good. The only savior that will exist in our lives is ourselves. The Gods offer clues in life::::Be it school, work, etc., you have to do the work for yourself and when you do something wrong you get punished. Cheating is a subsegment and speaks directly to the temptation of "priveledge", one we have seen used effectively when the United States preyed on the disfavored with the so-called "stimulus package".
As like so many of you, Jesus did everything the Gods tempted him with. His legacy of whorism was inherited from his parents:::Mary was no virgin. Rather, she was a prostitute, and when he grew up Jesus met someone like his mother. This is a cruel joke the Gods play on Latinos, similar to the rape and subsequent "missionary work" by the Spanish.
Baptism does not allieviate "original sin". Rather, baptism PLACES original sin by indoctrinating these children into this evil religion, much like circumcision was a method to inflict early damage/mutilation and make (permanant) accention just that much more difficult, another hurdle one must overcome. Body ornamentation (tattoos/piercing), celebrated in Africa and elsewhere among disfavored peoples/cultures also violates the body the Gods gave us in their image, quite opposite to the positive attitudes the disfavored hold regarding this practice.
Like Jesus the Second Coming of Christ will be evil. He will look like a savior in this demented society while the Anti-Christ will speak of a different gospel, one that tries to restore the norms and mores which the Gods originally blessed upon the people which made life decent, looking like a tyrant in the process.
He will be viewed as the "bad guy" when really he is the one trying to save the world.
There may be a phoney offering, a theatrical production which accurately follows the Book of Revelations. Actually positioning demands it:::::Christianity is positioned to be the one true religion. And those who follow its teachings will have limits imposed ensuring their stay will be minimal, for they don't think correctly and therefore don't behave appropriately. This describes many "sinners" in today's society because they refuse to change their behavior.

The Gods created the perception "Italians are stupid.", ensuring a slow learning curve, to justify using them to accomplish goals throughout the transitional 20th century. It took an extraordinarily long time for them to learn this truth I teach due to this artificial handicap. These people are SO extremely disfavored, but today's positioning says differently, much to people's confusion, for they think money is the ultimate sign of favor:::Good food, good music, history of warmongering, Catholics, Christianity HQ, Noah's Flood event, propensity towards violence, raped by outsiders, mild Meditereanean climate, so many other issues which enhance life/contentment in Italy/Meditereanean and ensure few if any seek more, a necessary step for finding the path and repairing your relationship with the Gods.
Contentment never motivated anyone.
I'd also like to remind you the Noah's Flood event ocurred in the Meditereanean region::::Global sea levels rose with the end of the ice age, Atlantic Ocean broke through the Straight of Gibralter, killing untold millions. The God's timed their corruption and sin to correlate this act as punishment.
Everyone who failed to accend and remained on Earth past a certain date will be forced to deal with this positioning::::A ceiling is in place. This serves the God's goal of minimizing the percentage of potential candidates as society deteriorates, much as "instant gratification" did beginning in the 80s:::It will take multiple lives for the disfavored to fix their relationship with the Gods and accend, and many have been conditioned not to have the patience for it. Other issues force limits/ceilings upon candidates:::Abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, Christianity, godlessness,
Whether behavior is involuntary or based on freewill depends on one's level of disfavor, as well as other complex factors:::::May I remind you about the coercitive envionment the Gods created in the 20th century, specifically to create a temptation that few Italians (or their associates) would overcome:::"We're in control. If you want to be a part of it you'll do what you're told.". Early-mid 20th entury positioning was infallible.

Both Africa and the Medittereanean are regions which have sexual issues. This is a sign of gross disfavor once you understand that females are the God's favored gender. Muhammad's (Mohammed's) polygamy halfway throught his life as a prophet was preditory, designed to corrupt. Now a huge percentage of Muslims believe in male superiority and that the abuse of women (polygamy) is God's will. Female genital mutilation is still practiced in Africa. Black misogyny is the most eggregious example in United States. Consistant with Planet Reverse Positioning, in Africa blacks are being punished with AIDS for their sexual promiscuity in hope they learn and correct their behavior, ironically a good sign considering their hope.
Blacks are highly suspectable to temptation. As a result they need a strict, disiplined religion like Islam. They can't afford to be Christians. It is one of the benefits bestowed upon their people, and other groups could greatly benefit as well. They need to recognize the importance of a good relationship with the Gods, embrace this benefit and remain true to their faith.
Vailing is tradition for some, practical for others, one which aids in the men's self control among some cultures. Much like the Jews who killed Jesus, like the bigots who oppose immigration there is a reason embraced by the masses and the real purpose, displaying the intent of the Gods::::Closure on the life of Jesus Christ for sufficient damage was inflicted; The Gods clue to purebloods that they should not abandon their motherland for this dumping ground for rejects that is the United States.

The Holocaust was a clue the Gods utilize scapegoatting as a strategy.
Why did the Gods punish the Jews with the Holocaust? Was it for the destruction of cultures which Christianity caused? Perhaps they corrupted the Jews "after the fact", telling 19th/early 20th century Jews that Jesus "earned" immortality for the Jews by destroying the European and other cultures? The German destruction of European churches/cathederals during WWII is a clue. Note::::The Gods wanted to keep the Catholic stronghold in Italy, ensuring they could use this tool against these disfavored for many years to come. There is so much Godlessness today, but one day people will flock back to houses of worship out of desperation, and the Gods ensured the Catholic Church would be Italian's destination.
Planet Reverse Positioning:::The Nazis were the "good guys". So are the Muslims/Palestinians, however corrupted some are due to polygamy.
Contentment never motivated anyone::::Except perhaps for slavery, the Jews never saw more of their children accend into heaven than during the Holocaust.
The Gods subsequently used revenge for the Holocaust as temptation::::"Your Italian brothers have a tool, a special power which can achieve sweet revenge. Are you interested??"
In the aftermath of the Holocaust the Gods tested the Jews with the temptation of revenge, an offer which many gladly accepted. If the Jews only would have emersed themselves in Judism the Gods would have "protected" them from the raveges of temptation. Judism may be the one superior religion in all the world, and the Jews wouuld have been wise taking refuge in this exceptional benefit bestowed by the Gods rather than looking for the easy way out.

Much as with the Jesus event, the Gods use the disfavored to prey on each other::::The Germans fell for this temptation by following the preditor/corruptor-Austrians (Hitler).
Without this Austrian the Holocaust may never have happened. Nor may have World War II.
What the Germans did was wrong. They fell for temptation and failed to have empathy for the disfavored. Economic desperation, not wisdom nor enlightenment, dominated in Germany.
The Gods send many clues suggesting the great favor of the Germans (regionally). I think the Cold War's Berlin Wall dividing Germany into east and west was a clue suggesting this (reverse positioning).
I suspect the Holocaust was used to "level the playing field" in Europe, for the Germans had far too much favor to be included in the agenda planned for their neighbors otherwise, and they would have been suspiciously out of place, providing a clue for the disfavored which would have been difficult for the Gods to position away.

Militancy in Africa is consistant with the Iraqi example, as was slavery and the KKK here in America:::Fear enforces proper behavior. Without it we see what happens as a result of gross/morbid disfavor:::::AIDS, crack babies, dead young men in gangland retaliation killings.
The same principle was true in Europe and throughout the world for centuries:::People whom lived under iron fists were conditioned to think the right way. As a result they taught their children appropriately and experienced a higher percentage of children accending into heaven.
Our preditory envionment of "freedom" was the primary purpose the Gods had when implimenting this strategy that is the United States, one which they used to spred the cancer of democracy and westernization throughout the world. And the Gods use this tool that is America to prey on the disfavored both at home and abroad:::Much like the ghetto, America in general experiences a heightened level of temptation due to its citizen's disfavor.
Red white & blue IS BAD FOR YOU!!!
Planet Earth is not about living. Planet Earth is about being tested. And contentment never motivated anyone.
Italians HATE Africans because of their invasion/rape of their motherland. The Gods did this SPECIFICALLY to strategically position the punishment of the most disfavored peoples:::
The Gods have used the ghettos of America as a reincarnation dumping ground. This may be temporary/cyclical, illustrated by the Italians who fell for temptation and parlayed their own civil war into the Black Wars of the 80s and 90s, in addition to the "thug life"/gangster state of mind. Ironically, it was these same Italians and their cooperating associates who were reincarnated into the ghetto as crack babies and gangster thugs for this event.
There is justice in the universe. This is how the Gods do business. Once you recognize the patterns you will understand the other clues they offer to the people.
Of course it may be more of a permanant change, indicated by the enhanced temptations in these neighborhoods, for the Gods have created these enviornments so riddled with temptation few can escape/overcome.
Don't be suprised if after being gunned down in the ghetto the next stop for the 20th century Italian-Americans & friends was AIDS in Africa, punishment for their promiscuity and deviacy.
There was positioning behind the counter-culture movement. How did the Gods telepathically "sell" this rapid deterioration of decency to the Italians and Jews and compell them to fall on their swords as preditors?
Just like black neighborhoods, the legalization of marijuana will make drugs available on every street corner, even in the suburbs. White's affluent suburbs will become just like the ghetto.
The patriarchal cancer spread throughout Europe because of Christianity, of which the majority of policy makers were Italian men, destroying what pockets of favored matriarchy existed. Expect the largest landowner in Europe and the continent's original superpower also played a major role in African slavery.

Even the Old Testiment is not to always be taken literally, but the Gods do offer clues throughout to help the disfavored:::The apple is a tool of temptation used to corrupt Adam and Eve and cast them out of the Garden of Eden.
There is another lesson to be learned from this passage, and it is quite similar to the vailing issue and the discourse over women's attire which ultimately died in the 70s:::Women are responsible for and control the fate of mankind. They need to understand this responsibility, their favor amongst all the people. Instead they have embraced masculinization::::Girls play organized sports, engage in casual sex like men. The trend is away from traditional girl toys, like dolls, which often during playtime helped crate positive thoughts, enabling the Gods to enlighten the favored gender and illustrate wisdom.
Females are sexually promiscuous like men, too often corrupted like the opposite gender, and the result is a reduction/minimization of mankind's collective level of favor, a very important step necessary for the Gods to justify the Apocalypse.

Think about what I say. Consider what I teach.
When I am no longer here or no longer teach the Gods ARE NOT going to share with you.
Even if you doubt now you need to remember the principles that I teach because the Gods ARE NOT going to be generous with the disfavored. Society is going to become disturbingly ugly as we approach the Apocalypse due to spiralling, runaway disfavor, WHETHER CONCEALED IN REVERSE POSITIONING OR NOT (like Christianity, like money), and you are going to be on your own.
I do not know when this will occurr, but it is the God's way to grant some time after a learning event such as this before they end on Planet Earth.
Make the decision to always be good and never look back. Until you do this technology will employ tactics to test your resolve:::Ridicule, beligerance, doubt and refusal to abandon what people perceive to be their "investment".
Either you make that decision now and accept the punishment for the sins of this life or you will pay for it in the next, reincarnated into a similarly low role, ensuring another wasted opportunity, or as an even lower form of life, and hope will begin to slip away.
"You benefit only if your team wins." The Gods use my family's betrayal and my subsequent "failure" as a clue, as well as their subscription to the archaic positioning that is predirtory "earning". You benefit if you suceed as a parent and your child accends:::These parents may subsequently be reincarnated with a similar quality opportunity.
If you do well for your children now your parents will do well for you whem reincarnated. Therein lies the explanation for my morbidly disfavored family's poor child rearing.
Pray daily. Think appropriately. Impart these charecteristics upon your children. Too many are confident, unaware of the God's awesome powers or their status as antients. Others may fall prey to their positioning.
Be humbled, God-fearing and beware of the God's temptations, for everyone is tested to evaluate their worthiness.

Go home and be normal.

Matt
And the comment above mine (October 21) shows why the internet is a terrible place. Wow.
Joe O'Bobson
EPIC Jeebus post, FTW.

Sooooo funny. Fur die lulz.

So this nutbag is actually serious, I googled and they've reposted their too-long-didn't-read jibber jabber on a ton of blogs from hiphop to civil liberties... a verbatim search of the first paragraph on google shows over 7,710 results. So this is the work of a bot, reposting this tripe a buhjillion times until everyone in the world is as crazy as them. Remove the post, ban their IP.

Edward
As a security guard working for a large contract security company, I must admit I would love to recommend many of those Starbucks baristas who have the ability to be vigilant enough to follow the policy to take a job in the security industry where you would get slightly higher pay as well as more hours of work. While the pay not be much, it is higher than Starbucks and you get overtime often, which is something that does not happen at Starbucks.
erin
Starbucks has lost most of my business because of hassle I've recently encountered trying to get my legitimate one-per-day refill. The "same visit" rule makes refills worthless to me. I usually don't want to stay in store long enough to be ready to drink my refill.
And it is shear idiocy for store to compel customer to stay in store until ready for refill, because that takes up valuable table space. Subsequently arriving customers may turn away if there is not enough room for them to sit or may have a less than comfy experience if crowded.
Some baristas also say there is a one or two hour limit to how long you can wait before refill. Usually too soon for me to be ready to drink more.
Two cups for the price of one plus 50 cents is a tolerable deal at Starbucks' too-high prices. I hear they make a killing on huge mark-up on tea. The stockholders are very pleased with Starbucks' quarterly profit reports; I am not. There's no way I will spend full price without refill deal except very rarely. I don't even like the amount of money I have gotten in habit of spening WITH refill deal.
I have almost entirely quit buying tea at SB now that some baristas will not give me refill any time later in day whether I stay in store or not as they had in past. Maybe I have quit altogether; it's been at least a month now since I've bought tea at SB. I used to go almost every day.
It has been a headache over the last year, with some baristas & managers saying I could refill anytime, then staff on next shift refusing refill; this has actually turned me off to SB in general.
So I am working at getting out of habit of SB altogether. I have invented a much more healty homemade coffee frapuccino already, made with low glycemic index Blue Agave sweetening and delicious healthy caffeine free coffee substite.
With the money I've been wasting buying those empty calorie rip-off SB drinks, I can buy delicious, richly healthy berries and fruits and enjoy them at pleasant sitting areas around town.
Thank you SB for turning me off. You're saving me a lot of money.
CL
Totally agree with you.
CL
I don't traffic Starbucks as much. Tulley's refill policy is much better, well at least the ones that I go to. Keep a refill receipt and that refill receipt works for that day. Tulley's refill price has gone up, you know what, I don't mind paying .85 for a refill if it covers costs and let's me get a refill when I want to vs. if you stay in the store and don't take one step out the door. What? You serious. You can't even go back to your car. And if you buy Tulley's, you get a free drink. Starbucks, you get something on your Bday which is great but if you buy alot, you get a free refill that you can't use. Just give me discounted refills, just give me a fair refill policy, not some stupid one. Even as a rewards customer, I would pay for a refill, just let me buy something, let me get a refill receipt, and let me pay for a refill. AHHHHHHH...., wow, that would make too much sense. It would be a refill of a cup of coffee where you would pay to get it and actually let people get refills. If you don't think the refill receipt works, I like the comments, just put an X and let users get 1-3 refills a day. If the economics change, increase the refill price or limit the number of refills from a refill receipt, if you want, you can tie it to a rewards system so that the person getting the refill is the one who bought it. Doesn't that take care of any corporate concerns, store concerns. Making a stupid refill policy doesn't help the consumer and will cut into customer loyalty. I personally do no go to Starbucks as much as I used to.
SA
I agree with the above post. I am in outside sales and travel during the day locally. I stop in Starbucks a lot and have thought the refills for .50$ were a great way to get me "hooked" on Starbucks. I don't drink coffee but because of this benefit I do purchase food items and snacks frequently when getting my refill's because it is convenient with my schedule. The food items are overpriced but I have not minded because of the refills. I have not abused this and would never take in cups from days ago, or get refills all day long as some may do. I will for sure stop frequenting Starbucks nw. I have no reason to go in so much nor any loyalty at all.

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