I Heart Starbucks... but I Dislike Their New Drink-Making Guidelines!

(I've been known to write open letters to companies on my other blog if I disagree with a company's business practices, mainly when they've screwed me ~coughexpediacough~, or sometimes if I really love their services ~POTTERYBARNKIDS! This follows the first. I disagree with the new drink-making guidelines at Starbucks. Not of huge issue really in the grande (ba-dum ching!) scheme of things but sometimes it feels good to get the words out there! And maybe "Mr. Starbucks" will read this and change things back!)


Dear Starbucks,

My name is Meg. I am a Gold Level Rewards Cardholder. I love Starbucks coffee!! I've been a loyal customer since the time I was a junior in high school (1998). That's right! I've been drinking Starbucks exclusively for 12 years. Okay, well one time I tried a to-remain-unnamed-but-they're-popular-CoffeeBrand and I just really didn't like it. I've never looked the direction of a different coffee bean since. Even walking into a Starbucks store and smelling the delicious aroma of your coffee makes me smile. I walk in and... it's like... I've arrived. My husband swears I'm a different person once I've had a Starbucks. He might be right!

That all being said... I really don't like the new guidelines you handed out to your employees regarding making one drink at a time. And the one where they have to heat up milk separately for each drink instead of steaming for two drinks at once. I totally get the reasoning behind your changes for making drinks. And it's not just the "food safety" reasons that I understand. Getting coffee shouldn't be a rush-rush thing; it should be relaxing. I should be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the wait for my coffee. The made just for me, you'll make it right or fix it, personalized coffee experience. I should use that time to breathe and reflect; Or maybe just to sit in silence.

As the mother of three children under the age of three... well... silence is golden. I realize that. And the opportunity to take a "forced" break in my day to get coffee ("Mommy Coffee Place", as my girls call it when they come with me or we drive past it!) really is needed somedays. But as the mother of three children under the age of three & the wife of a man who needs to get to work in the mornings ~ well, I really used to relish that I could sneak out of my house for a quick 15 minute round-trip excursion to "Mommy Coffee Place" and jolt myself with the sweet nectar of my life that is a Starbucks Grande (somtimes with an extra shot) Cappuccino Bone Bone Bone Dry with a tiny bit of Caramel Drizzle on top (or an Iced Triple Tall Caramel Machiatto on hot days), while still allowing my husband to leave for work on time. And without having to wake up extra early just for the excursion.

With the new rules in place, I'm finding my "quick" trip is now 30 minutes most days. Today it took me 40 minutes to get coffee!! It takes 6 minutes to drive to the Starbucks by my house and 8 minutes to get back. That's 26 minutes in the drive-thru at Starbucks. If I didn't really "need" coffee this morning ~ and if I didn't love my Starbucks so much ~ I totally would have left. I also know that you changed your rules, so I did patiently wait. (I don't think my wait would have been much different had I gone inside.)

This is just an open letter stating my opinion for the new drink making guidelines you've passed on to your stores. I'm not going to stop drinking Starbucks over it. I probably won't say anything publically about it again unless I'm contacted by your company. I love Starbucks, I just wish it didn't take as long for us to get our coffees now! That is all.

I do have to say another positive thing before I close this letter. I REALLY LOVE that you're now doing a Rewards program. Hopefully it will continue to be awesome (with the free drink every 15 stars, hook-ups on drink preferences, my really cool gold card, etc).

Thanks for keeping me awake and alert for the last 12 years ~ I don't know where I'd be without you! (Probably a little richer. Ha ha ha.)


Most sincerely and with warmest regards,

Meg
Mommy-Blogger, President of SFL ~Starbucks For Life {fistpump in the air}