Starbucks is rolling out ‘free’ wifi today, but don’t be fooled - it’s not really free.
You have to buy a Starbucks card (basically a gift card to Starbucks) - and put at least $5 on it. You only get 2 hours of consecutive ‘free’ wifi when you use the card.
Yes, you can keep refilling the card, but what Starbucks is banking on is that you won’t use up that $5 card. That’s what retailers love about gift cards. They make money from those couple of bucks left on the card.
Think about it for Starbucks. You get a latte for about $3-4. That leaves money on the card. If you want to use wifi - you need to put more money on the card.
This is ridiculous and consumers will ultimately see through it. I can still go to Panera and hop on the internet quite easily. Caribou will give me an hour if I give them my email address (it’s far too easy to give them several email addresses). And most local indie coffee shops will give it to me for free.
Why buy the cow?
This thing has 3 Comments
I am sooo weary of this particular battle. Starbucks is leveraging the fact that they’re the biggest (or is it McD’s?) in the field right now. But the world is demanding free internet access and getting it everywhere except Starbucks (and McD’s). SB will probably continue to try everything — like this ridiculous ploy — to pretend they are offering what the customer wants. I hope that eventually they have to give it, or lose market share. The fact that they haven’t, yet, is precisely why I don’t frequent Starbucks.
Well, that plus the fact that their soy cappuccinos are made with vanilla-flavored soy milk ONLY and I prefer plain.
Don’t you wish they would relent, and serve the customer what they want?
Hey, kids, Starbucks is a business, not the public library. Just because you exist does not mean you are entitled to permanently park yourself in a private establishment and utilize resources that others have paid for. Like bathrooms and tables, wifi is an amenity for CUSTOMERS. Most free places, like Paneras, ask you to leave after 30 minutes during peak hours, so other customers can have a seat. 2 hours/day should be more than enough to check your email and do what ever else is necessary, and at the fairly reasonable price of one coffee a month. If you need more time, you should consider finding public facilities, or maybe getting your own service account.
Lisa -
Thanks for your comments! I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing through SB’s actions.
pinktech -
Starbucks can run their business any way they want, but calling their new Wifi plan free is borderline false advertising.
The company has publicly been asking customers what they want, and most said Free Wifi. They’ve claimed they’ve complied but they haven’t really.
If I’m going to go to a coffee shop with free wifi, of course I’m going to get a cup of coffee.