Wookalar's Journal: Starbucks -- makes me angry, very angry indeed

I was angered yesterday when at starbucks I attempted to connect to the internet - Much to my suprise it is now being controlled by T-Mobile's service.

I wrote to complain about this change in policy. I know I've sat in Starbucks in the past and jumped right onto Wi-Fi. Now it is a $30 a month service metered by T-Mobile. Or, $10 for the first hour and ten cents a minute for all follow on.

I received a response from Starbucks, and though I know my first email obviously did little other than make me feel better I replied to this one as well. My little one way fued with Starbucks.

---------------------------------------------------

Hello Alyssa ,

I am not in the least convinced by your response. My original position is valid and correct. You contracted with T-Mobile for this service, and if Starbucks isn't getting a portion of the proceeds -- well lets just say I would need to see a letter from your lawyers and a corporate financial statement to believe that. Why else would Starbucks have decided to choose a method such as this? There is NO value added service that is otherwise unavailable to the internet user that T-Mobile can provide the consumer that I don't have access to with out suddenly having to use them if I were to ever go back to Starbucks.

You don't have to have T-Mobile -- there has to be some financial gain to Starbucks or you would not have gone that way. To lay it off on the provider that Starbucks agreed to work with is diversionary at best. Starbuck's attempt here to disassociate your corporate self from this is sad and pathetic.

Exactly how naive does Starbucks think the public is? And to gouge me for more to sit in your establishment than it would cost me for full time DSL at home that I can use all the time ($20 a month in my area)? Exactly how many hours would I have to sit in Starbucks for this to be a worthwhile investment of my money?

I repeat [refering to previous email] - internet access in coffeeshops is a standard non-charge draw across this great country. Appearantly Starbucks has missed the point again in what exactly customer service is. In a city where there are many internet choices, and being an IT professional who has contracted said services many times under many conditions and plans, I contend that Starbucks is not being honest nor fair in this service.

Appearantly high prices on coffee just doesn't bring enough profit. Now that needs to be suplimented in an unnecessarily expensive provision of "T-Mobile" internet offerings. The only service they are providing is that of Billing and revenue generation. I doubt that internet access would not exist in your stores without the service of T-Mobile -- for your employee and coporate requirements if nothing more.

You are not powerless in this regard as you intimate in your letter. It is a corporate choice that has been made at the expense of a service attitude towards one's customer base.

Your reply here appears to have been largely a broiler plate response to this complaint -- which makes me wonder exactly how many other (former like me?) customers have written, called, or otherwise attempted to communicate with you about this.

David

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Response from Starbucks Coffee Company - Case # 4630248
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 13:25:22 -0700

Hello David,

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

In partnership with T-Mobile and HP, Starbucks Coffee Company is proud to be offering T-Mobile HotSpot high-speed wireless Internet access in over 1,200 locations throughout the United States.

I can assure you that Starbucks values your comments and I shared your feedback with the appropriate department for their attention. However, T-Mobile, not Starbucks, is responsible for the pricing of this internet service.

For a list of Starbucks locations that offer this service, please visit T-Mobile's website: http://www.t-mobile.com If you have questions about or need help with the high speed Internet access at Starbucks, please call T-Mobile customer service at [phone].

Thank you again for contacting Starbucks. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us at [e-mail] or call (800) 23-LATTE to speak with a customer relations representative.

Sincerely,

Alyssa R.

Starbucks Coffee Company