I was annoyed enough to write all of this up. I used to go regularly, and the rewards program was genuinely a good deal, and made it worth going to Starbucks. Now, even if I set aside all of the horrible things they’re doing, I wanted to show just what an absolute shit program this is, and why there is absolutely no use in trying to “gain starbucks status”.
I’ve noticed the whole system has crashed over the years. I’ve been a ‘loyal’/repeated customer since 2006, (even working there for a year or two after college), at or over 20 years now, and can’t believe how much more spending is required to get a free drink. Hell, they used to have buy-1, get-1 receipts a few times a year, for a full week at a time.
I think this’ll end up being the end of it, for me. I already moved to making TAZO chais in the office, instead of purchasing their chai lattes.