It's (almost) a month down the road and I've heard nothing back from Starbucks. Zip. Nada. Absolute Zero (which is technically less than nothing).
I had a couple of $2 gift cards for Subway I got in the mail (as a result of a Class Action Lawsuit) so I thought I'd eat there today. I couldn't pass up a (as it turned out) $1.46 Footlong Sub. It was funny walking over there because they're right next to the Starbucks...which I almost walked into. By sheer force of habit I started to walk into the Starbucks store and had to stop myself and continue on into the Subway.
Where I ran into one of the Starbucks' girls getting her lunch.
I told her I hadn't heard anything back from Starbucks and she said, "You won't, they don't care" and she's probably right.
At the very least I expected something along the lines of:
"We're sorry you feel this way, but this is a long standing policy of Starbucks. Please note that we only request our staff cover any tattoos, we do not discriminate against our customers."
I've been steadfast in my resolve, and while I've only been to Coffee Bean a couple of times during the last month, I've also not given in and gone to the much closer Starbucks.
The natural result of this is I've also greatly cut down on my coffee consumption, both at work and at home, with the result that when we went out for breakfast last weekend and I drank my typical 4 (or 5) cups of coffee I could feel it kicking in. It wasn't pleasant, and actually left me feeling nauseous, or maybe it was just that breakfast was at IHOP :P So now I have one or two cups of coffee from our machine here in the office, and a couple of cups during the weekend, and that's it.
To Anon (who disagreed with me in the comments of the last post, but was so polite about it) - I really hope you weren't serious and you didn't ramp up your coffee purchase (& consumption) on my behalf. While that was a noble gesture, it would seem Starbucks don't care about me not going there any more, and they probably don't care that you're going more often, either. We're just a drop in the ocean to them.
That said, I'm going to send them one last letter, explaining what I've done so far, and how I'm disappointed that I haven't received any response from them at all, so clearly they don't care about losing me as a customer. I don't really expect to receive a reply to that second letter, and yet I've done things like this before with different companies and have received responses, so if other giant corporations can take the time to respond to concerned customers, why can't Starbucks? Perhaps they've been losing so much money that they've laid off their Customer Service staff...
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6 comments:
I am the anon from last posting. Thank you, I was thinking of a way to disagree without taking any issue with any of your actions. So I figured proposing an action of my own would be the only way to do that.
And no, I was not really intending to double my coffee intake at Starbucks. It would be bad for my health and wallet.
I am negative on tattoos, but it's not that huge of a deal. I prefer not seeing them, but if I do see them on employees at a coffee shop, I won't boycott the place or anything like that.
I've always preferred the taste (and service!) of our local coffee shops to Starbucks anyway. I know you live in "The Big City" but do you have any local owned or smaller coffee shops in the area? Sorry, I'm not familiar with Coffee Bean either so I don't know if that's a chain or not.
Sad that they didn't respond and I am a little surprised that you didn't at least get a generic response!
I'm not to keen on tattoos myself. It really bothers me to see some drop dead gorgeous woman with incredible abs or something, only to have some stupid tattoo scrawled across them. It especially bothers me in that I have some artistic talent and it appears most people have no clue. Yes, I've heard all the BS about how "these 3 flowers are symbolic of my 3 sisters," but I'm still not buying it. Having, what looks like a 5 year old going to town on you with a box of crayons, does not an sentimental artistic monument make.
It should be especially evident once you notice that a lot of people get the same type of tattoo in the same spot. The infamous tramp stamp, the tribal armband, etc. Everybody say it with me now, "We are all individuals!" /sarcasm off
My dislike actually first started with the fact that I could never get a tattoo; because I know there isn't any piece of artwork that I would like... forever! My friend Liza, who is beyond a 10, was thinking about getting a tattoo at one point. I told her it would be like having to keep your hairstyle from 5 years ago, forever. I guess she really didn't like the way she used to style her hair so it sunk in really hard.
I think you should give Starbucks a little credit in that they are at least still hiring the tattoo'ed people. I also remember seeing my first bank teller with his ear ring in, a little diamond stud. I always wondered if some little old lady would come in, see it, and run screaming from the place offended.
I think your efforts would be better spent, flying back to Australia with an actual Venti cup and yell at them for cheating me out of 4 ounces. If need be, take my 100 ounce Convenience store cup with you to beat them with. Its only $1 to refill.
Anyway, sorry I'm rambling. I've had the tattoo thing build up for awhile since all the girls I hang around with now have at least 3 and I can't say anything about it. I could care less if my Starbuck's barista has a some scribbling as long as they get my order right. I wrote a short story ages ago about a guy meeting a girl in a coffee shop, and at one point the main character describes the girl behind the counter as having enough tattoos and piercings so as to guarantee her highest level of employment would be night manager at a record store.
In the end I agree you should hold out for a letter and some coupons. I once wrote a letter to taco bell complaining that their new rasberry ice-tea meant that they now didn't have any non-carbonated, sugar free drink (that wasn't just water.) They sent me coupons for free stuff, free as in I didn't even have to purchase something of equal or greater value. They also assured me they were just using that store to test market the new tea. Well, I guess the test was a sucess because now they have removed their regular iced-tea from all their stores. And since I found out I have type 1 diabetes while I was away in Australia, I really want my regular iced-tea! Time to write a new letter. Oh by the way, hand write the letter, it has more weight than something you printed out.
I contemplated getting a tribal armband tattoo, but as far as I'm concerned a tattoo is something personal to me, and I can't make that claim, so why would I get something that proclaims I'm something I'm not? That's not a jab against anyone who does have a tribal arm band tattoo, that's just why I didn't go with one.
Instead I went with a Tiger, which is something very personal to me. I'm not saying I think my animal spirit is a Tiger, but for some reason the Tiger is my favorite animal and always will be, so knowing that I was getting my tattoo for life I had no problem going with a tiger. My tiger tattoo is also nothing like any other tattoos because it's one I designed myself. My wife's tattoo is a stock design from the artist's collection with two cherubs, but she added our kids' names to the tattoo to personalize it for her.
I had heard that handwriting letters carries more weight. Apparently it works with politicians, too. Hand-written letters get read & responded to a lot more than typed or printed letters. So this final letter to Starbucks will be hand-written.
yeah I don't see it really going anywhere, but you deserve to let them know.
Even if they sent you a coupon, though, then what? 'Yes, we hate tattoos, please come back for a free coffee'?
I guess at that point you could mail the coupon back to them, etc, but then it just goes on. The only way any action would be taken is if you were some huge public official... like if you were Bono or something, and boycotted Starbucks over the policy while freeing tibet.
Sadly, I doubt they give 2x shits about cap'n john :(
I once wrote Gillette telling them how much I loved their Mach 3 razors, hoping I'd get a coupon or something. I got a thank you letter, but no coupon.
And I have no idea why I just shared that.
Good luck on your quest. We don't have a ton of Starbucks around here. We have Joe Muggs. Personally, I always sort of felt out of place not having a tattoo when I went in there.
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