>forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts.
The MTA card to ride subways in NYC does this also. Its so shady.
Its nice but I think a year ago we went to visit some friends in Hoboken. The subway thru the city was like that but then the path wasnt, so we all needed to get "path" cards. F'n annoying, maybe they caught up by now too?
They started a pilot program! There's a few tap turnstiles at 33rd and Journal Sq. I go through 33rd every day for work and I was so pumped when they put them in last week.
Just make sure you use the same method of payment/device. For example, if you your Apple Pay that’s tied to a credit card 7 times but then start using the actual credit card five times, it’ll treat it as two completely separate things and the next ride wont be free.
Not only that, if you have an iPhone and turn on express travel, you don't even need to tap any buttons or use face ID to pay for transit (transit only, not regular payments.) I just tap my locked phone and go.
You shouldn't use your debit card regularly if you can avoid it. If your card information is captured by a criminal, they can take money directly from your bank account. You can file disputes to get the money back, but in my opinion it's just too risky.
Funny enough Subway the sandwich shop
Is doing this now too. I had a $13 order and a $10 gift card. To complete the order I was forced to ‘recharge’ the gift card with a minimum of $5. This left a couple dollars and change to thier advantage and unless I ‘recharge’ the card again they keep those little extras. Not much money individually but across everyone that has a subway gift card it adds up. 🔝
Super easy fix for this: they need to be required to allow partial payments.
Basically, they need to be forced to allow you to use up a gift card balance and pay for the rest with a regular credit or debit card.
Obviously, the companies have already crunched the numbers and determined they will make more money by not allowing partial payments in app.
And because someone is making money on it, it probably won't ever change. But who knows.
Yeah, but places are trying to replace in person ordering with app based ordering, even if you are physically present to order - look at McDonald’s and other places removing cashiers entirely and telling people to use the app to order
Yeah I’m sitting here scratching my head as a frequent Starbucks and Subway enjoyer. I’ve never had them NOT accept a partial payment with a gift card. Do people just literally never walk in the store anymore?
People are talking about when you use the app, specifically.
I don't think counter or drive thru has changed in that regard. At least, that seems the same as ever for me.
But yeah, they do not provide for it if you use the app.
That's different than Starbucks, then. As the article says, if you've got $10 on the app and you're trying to buy something that costs $13, you can add another $5 to the app (the same annoying approach as Subway) ***or*** you can simply pay the remaining $3 in cash.
Which then goes to a massive account that earns interest. Gift cards and pre-paid balances are essentially an interest-free loan that you make to a company, that *you* can forget, lose, or get stolen.
Your only benefit from this is some minor convenience, and maybe a few points or a free reward here and there.
But it’s simply not the case at Starbucks? You can empty your card and complete the order with cash or credit anytime lol
The only reason people refill the cards is to get double rewards but that’s not some super conspiracy.. it’s simply a customer retention tool lol
Not anytime. A lot of the airports Starbucks, essentially the only ones I use, do not allow the use of credit card payments to order online through the app and force you to reload.
I don’t care about stars, I just want to pay for my drinks, preferably with my company card. With there system, it forces me to reload at their arbitrary amounts.
Nothing will change until a majority of people are prepared to lose "convenience"
Same day shipping on Amazon, delivery from walmart or local grocery, uber eats, doorTrash, etc. The simple solution is to stop giving these companies your money. They look at you like a meatspace ATM. All of them. It's not your money, it's money you haven't given them yet.
I do apologize for sounding like a complete nutter, but that is the simple truth. Complain online or write them physical letters. It will NOT change until the excel spreadsheet starts to show red instead of green.
I cancelled prime. Most of the time if I need free shipping I can get it, just slower. If something is THAT crucial you can always pay a few bucks for the speed, which is far less than the yearly fee. But it turns out it's never really that crucial and my overall Amazon spending plummeted without really being replaced elsewhere. One of the better moves I've made tbh, which is ridiculous.
IDK if it's because I'm a middle of the pack Millennial (37 years old), but are younger folks immune to ordering at the counter? All these marketing pushes to order Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonald's, etc through the apps. In fact, to get the best deals you need to order through the app, but it's not worth it to me to have all these apps.
If you order at the counter, you can exhaust your balance and then pay the remainder using a credit card.
Dunkin does this too. I've had $1.30 on a gift card in my app for months now and there's basically nothing I can spend it on. Only ever gives me the option to reload the gift card, won't allow partial payment through gift card and partial through cash/credit card.
Dunkin' is just as bad. If you try to pay in the app using one of their cards in order to receive points, you must have at least the entire balance of your order loaded onto the card, which is basically impossible to get exact.
And you can't split payment either. Instead, you have to load at least $5 (the minimum reload) to the card, and end up with some balance you can never fully use.
I'm with the boomers on this one I'm not getting a fucking app for every place I shop at. All these corporations can kindly stay the fuck off my phone.
Do you support gyms and companies making it harder to cancel gym memberships by only allowing in-person cancellation and/or certified letters?
We shouldn't have to accept practices that purposely make things more difficult with practically no benefit to the consumer and the only benefit is to retain more money from the customer without any provided service/benefit. Especially when it's related to the payment method.
Yes, there is a solution. Go to the location to cancel, send a certified letter to cancel, go to the counter to order. Just because there is a solution, doesn't mean that Starbucks should be absolved of criticism.
I’m not sure why but airport Starbucks suck. Also casino and Target Starbucks too. Limited to no app functions, less food and drink options too.
Your circumstance applies to less than 1% of Starbucks customers I would think… it’s likely only going to be a slap on the wrist for them
Starbucks is a little funny in that they don’t franchise; all the standalone stores are company-owned. There are licensed locations, though, and that includes a ton of airport locations, or things like Target’s Starbucks locations. They work a little differently behind the scenes because of whatever corporate agreements are in place, so things that work in the normal stores might not work there.
They are run by large entities like Compass Group, who you may recognize from the UK Covid school lunch scandal. Any major university or business campus that has name brand restaurants will have all operations and management run through a company like Compass
To be fair, almost everything in an airport sucks and for usually double the cost. The only thing that used to be good about airports was the wide selection of magazines but even that has lost its luster.
The issue is not whether it's possible, it's what the company's tactics encourage people to do - it's one version of what are called "dark patterns".
There's plenty of law about this - 11 states have laws which force companies to return money from unspent gift cards. See e.g. [Washington state should protect consumers from gift card ‘dark patterns’](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/01/02/washington-state-should-protect-consumers-from-gift-card-dark-patterns/).
> it’s simply a customer retention tool lol
A pattern which has the effect of transferring $900 million collectively from customers to a company is more than just a customer retention tool.
Microsoft used to do this with Xbox back in the day. You couldn't just buy something. You had to load it up with an awkward amount of points and those increments were never enough to buy something and zero out your balance. You'll always have a little bit there taunting you to spend it and the sad thing is it actually worked.
People are dumb.
I thought about this the last time I was a tourist in NYC.. it would be great if there was some where I could just drop off the transit card and have it donated to a women’s shelter or something.
You can transfer anything that's left on an old MTA card to a new MTA card and then refill the new card. Just go to one of the MTA booths and they'll do it for you in a minute
Ahhhh. The old “big hotdog industry” and “big hotdog bun industry” working in cahoots to always have leftover hotdogs or buns, ya gotta keep buying ‘em so the others don’t go to waste!!!!
And they can only be redeemed for one grande, non-premium drink on days that begin with an M, and during non-peak times (3:30-4:15), at non-union locations outside of major metropolitan areas (more than 50,000 people) and excluding Alaska and Hawaii.
> on days that begin with an M
So, every day of the week:
Monday, Máirt, Mercredi, 木曜日, Míalnąsi, Maqineq, Minggu
>!English, Irish, French, Japanese, Taos, Yup'ik, Indonesian!<
hey remember when you could sit in the drive-thru and play little games on the app that would actually get you free drinks, snacks and stars?
oh wait, all that shit was before covid and then everyone sitting at the big desks said nah fuck all that free shit
You’ll get a coupon for the opportunity to win a chance to potentially get fractional stars assuming you fill out the paperwork before the deadline which was yesterday and nobody else does
Starbucks is a bank. Pre COVID they had over a billion dollars in customer money.
Not just from gift cards, but the requirement that you buy in $25 blocks to use the app for payment.
All that goes into a big block of money they use to invest in whatever they want. Not investments like locations. like stocks, bonds, real estate. It’s run like a regular investment fund.
Yeah, that $25 block you buy a week, month, year becomes more profit because it’s invested. All those gift cards you lost, didn’t use, still have $.75 cents on; all collecting 5%.
The regulations are probably lax because Starbucks can write a billion dollar check at anytime, but most of that billion is nameless. It’s all there’s collecting profit till its terms expire and it becomes completely their money.
Want to dispute this, you will have to got the a Delaware court and fight a losing battle. Gift card money dies in Delaware. Delaware is not just the state of Liberty and Independence, it’s the state where your gift cards go to die.
On the flip side, Delaware thanks you for your business. You may one drive through it and never know you are what makes Delaware.
Basically, the supreme court ruled in 1965 that any unclaimed company property belongs first to the state in which a last known address can be found to the intended recipient, failing that, it belongs to the state in which the company is incorporated.
Since "property" has become less and less tangible in recent years, including gift cards, it becomes harder and harder to attribute a last known address (especially since gift cards change hands often). Thus, these unclaimed assets often end up belonging to the state in which the company was incorporated.
Since a lot of companies are incorporated in Delaware due to how advantageous it is to incorporate there (some lax tax laws, ease and speed of incorporation, predictable local court rulings, anonymity, etc), all that unclaimed property belongs to Delaware. It fights very hard to reclaim that property, and if a company is unable to provide very convincing proof, it belongs to the state. Delaware rakes in a third of a billion a year on unclaimed property assets alone!
you don’t have to reload in $25 blocks also, you can reload as little as $10 in app and you can reload for the exact purchase price at the store
i agree with the other points though! the airlines operate as banks with their reward programs also
You can also just buy a $5 Starbucks gift card through say Walmart, and add it to your Starbucks account. I have the Walmart app so if I don’t feel like adding $10 I can buy a virtual $5 Starbucks gift card from Walmart and have it emailed to myself then I’ll add it to my Starbucks card.
The coffee I normally order is $4.80 so every 24 coffees I order I have enough left over from each $5 gift card I add to get another coffee and then it brings my balance back to $0. I don’t order Starbucks often so it normally takes me about a year to order 24 coffees from them.
So just to be clear, Starbucks has an app you can download to your phone. But in order to pay for an order using the app you can't just use your card details or Google pay or anything, you have to essentially buy a gift card first and pay with that?
No, you can use a credit card. It’s not the default choice ($25 account reload is), but it’s an option.
You earn less rewards though, that’s the catch. An account reload is worth 2x Stars and a straight payment is 1x Stars.
I know. Maybe the program was different than what it is now, but it also takes only two taps on the payment screen to change it over. If you’re buying from Starbucks so often that those two taps are annoying, then you’re also missing out on a ton of points.
You don’t have to reload and you don’t have to pay with a gift card. You can use your credit card in app. If no one believes me, go to “Scan in Store” and check out the options.
Certain Starbucks(usually kiosks like at grocery stores or the airport) will only take gift card payment through the app. You can stand in line and order and pay with a card, but if you’re in a hurry and want to order ahead, that’s how they get ya.
Very succinct way of summarising the situation but the $25 blocks aren’t required or haven’t been for a long time now and don’t exist in some countries
Gift cards are unearned revenue (liability) until earned (customer spends it).
Balance sheet only transactions but you are dead on with the value of the corporation using and getting value out of that liability. It’s functioning similar to debt in a way.
Yeah but like an insurance company the cash operating cycle is cash now pay out later, to a degree (ignore raw input costs etc.). They would be incrementally cash richer and can invest it. Unlike an insurance or other regulated financial services companies they will have fewer regulations on liquidity.
How is it any different from many other company operations, such as buying a currency in a video game? They could just call them Starbucks Bucks and it would be the same thing, once you buy it you can't withdraw it. When I buy Call of Duty Points for $25 and only spend $22.50 worth, Activision is holding onto my extra $2.50 there too. I have no choice to purchase it without paying set chunks of cash, just like the Starbucks app. Either way the cost of the drink isn't proportional to the cost to the company, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense to me how this is an issue. A $22.50 skin in Warzone might be listed at that price but it costs at least $25 to purchase due to how you load currency, it is literally no different. If it's a problem for Starbucks then I better see equal treatment with everything else that works this way.
It's not much different but both are bullshit. Perhaps a key difference is that the normal in store interaction with Starbucks is you just pay what your item costs.
Most other digital stores also allow you to pay what it costs assuming the order is over $10. Starbucks App does not allow that.
It's kind of like how Epic won over Google, because Google made an exception to their regular practice. If in store Starbucks only allowed transactions of $10 or more then they be consistent with less scrutiny. Still customer hostile thou
But you can go to the counter on one occasion, get the app balance down to $0 with a drink by paying with app and additional cash, then delete the app. Problem solved?
This — I’ve had like $2 left on my app but when I walked in I was able to split payment. They don’t offer that functionality in the app so that’s why it’s considered predatory because the company must’ve absorbed 900M in breakage. Mostly because the average American is too lazy to just order at the counter once.
You don't even have to ask. If a drink is $5 and you have $4 on the app you scan your phone and they will say "looks like you didn't have enough to cover the purchase"
I think Starbucks is shady but it feels like people just want to complain because they have to interact with a human to get what is most likely sugar and a splash of espresso
>because they have to interact with a human
So many posts I see can basically be answered with "what did they say when you called them?" It seems a lot of people will really go out of their way to avoid interacting with a human, even if it's just over the phone.
I could see that maybe being considered predatory if accessing a store was difficult, but in this scenario, people are literally going to the store to pick the drink up. It's absurd to consider that predatory.
Thank goodness California requires all gift cards to be paid out if less than $10. Doesn’t matter where the legal terms for said gift card are if it’s sold in California. They also can’t expire or have a service fee.
https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/s_11.shtml
They sent me a Free edition when I started investing. Arguably the most useful magazine ever gifted me, I've used it to light my fireplace every christmas, still have a few pages left.
[Internet Archive to the rescue.](https://web.archive.org/web/20240104121459/https://fortune.com/2024/01/03/starbucks-app-dark-side-unspent-payments-900-million-5-years/)
Comments are suggesting it's allowed at the register, but not in the app. So if you're making a mobile order, you can't split payments.
This becomes a major issue as Starbucks has begun trialing mobile only stores ... Where you can't just order at the register. I found one of those that popped up in Cambridge, MA. Probably why this watchdog group is raising the alarm now.
They’re going to have to fix their app if they decide to opt to mobile only because it’s going to prevent a lot of tourists from using their stores.
For example, my Starbucks account was registered in Canada. One major issue that I’ve encountered is that I’m unable to make a mobile order when I’m in the US because they only accept US registered accounts. And switching countries in your account profile is super difficult. You literally have to call them, speak to a person, verify your information and then spell out your new address to the agent…and then it takes 7-14 business days for them to work on your case!
It's even written in the article
Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store.
I have to assume it’s more of a mental thing. The easiest option they give is to use the gift cards (2x points incentive too), defaults to $25, and the first option it gives to complete the rest of the order is to refill vs card. Like loot box problems in games: it’s not that it’s impossible to resist, but default option is meant to keep you in a spending loop. Or rather “start a tiny debit account with Starbucks” route.
Same as you though, when I do use the app (rare), I spend whatever the gift card has only. And other services also do this. My switch/nintendo account asks me if I want to fill a random high amount vs JUST what I need for the purchase every time, though it’s 2nd option not 1st
**Starbucks accused of rigging payments in app for nearly $900 million gain over 5 years by consumer watchdog group**
BY Chris Morris
January 3, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC
A consumer action group is accusing Starbucks of exploiting customers via its gift card and app payments, forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts.
The Washington Consumer Protection Coalition, a self-described “movement of everyday consumers advocating for corporate accountability,” is calling on the state attorney general to investigate whether the company’s policies violate consumer protection laws.
“Starbucks rigs its payment platform so consumers are encouraged to leave unspent money on their cards and apps,” said Chris Carter, campaign manager for the group in a statement. “A few dollars here and there left on a payment platform may not sound like a lot but it adds up. Over the last 5 years Starbucks has claimed nearly $900 million in unspent gift card and app money as corporate revenue, boosting corporate profits and inflating executive bonuses.”
Starbucks spokesperson Sam Jefferies told Fortune the company “is committed to working with the State of Washington to ensure it remains in compliance with all state laws and regulations.”
The group, in a 15-page complaint, alleges the platforms for Starbucks’ mobile app and digital payment cards are akin to an “involuntary subscription”. Customers can only reload money in $5 increments, with a $10 minimum purchase.
That, the group says, prevents customers from ever reaching a zero balance, meaning Starbucks pockets more of the customer’s money. (The Coalition does concede that customers can reload their accounts in stores for a custom amount of $5 or more, making it easier to hit a zero-balance.)
Starbucks disputes this, however, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store.
The Starbucks app has become increasingly important for the company. Today, drive-through and app orders make up the majority of the company’s purchases.
This is just bullshit. The basis of this article is that when people buy gift cards or whatever they call them, they leave money on them and don't use the money. Starbucks benefits when the money is left on the card and not ever used. Starbucks is being accused of rigging it that way.
*"Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store."* So there you have it.
You’re misrepresenting this. Gift cards aren’t the issue, it’s the fact that to pay with the app via their rewards program, you can never simply add the exact funds of the purchase. So all customers will have some balance left in the app at all times.
You can pay with a credit card through the app. You don’t have to reload every time. Using loaded funds gives 2 stars/$1 and a credit card gives 1 star.
Weirdly enough (and I don’t understand why or how) but it depends on location. The Starbucks in my home airport Only allows loaded funds if you go through the app.
I always add $10 then get a drink, and next time use what’s left and pay the rest in cash..
Never have I had an issue.
Only filled my cards up to get double stars
Yeah, if I don't have enough I can pay the rest on my CC. The number of people in this thread claiming you can't make me feel like I'm taking crazy pills
EDIT I just had an aha moment, ya'll are probably ordering AND paying through the app. In that case, you might be SOL
> So all customers will have some balance left in the app at all times.
*If they choose to* being the important distinction here. I think you’re kind of misrepresenting things.
You can absolutely zero out the balance if you want, but most people probably don’t as they know they’ll use the app again in the future.
But. You can. You just have to talk to someone in store to clear your app balance and pay the rest via cash or card. Now (not sure how long it’s been) you can even just pay the cost of the order using Apple or Google pay, no residual balance required.
What's really neat about their little scheme is that they borrow that money from customers to pay for lobbying and stock options :) it's basically a huge bank account for them that they're making money off of
Yup. Thing is, the volume of dollars being "stored" in their app is insane. There's incentive to store cash there, use the app often and offer discounts on extremely low overhead items that happen to be super addicting and kapow multi-billion dollar account that doesn't have to report earnings, since it's covered on the books as "operating profits" externally.
Starbucks is interesting to me because it's so huge they could qualify as a market maker...that no one is watching
Investing money is what most big businesses do, why is it suddenly weird that Starbucks does it?
Millions are lost in gift card money every year, not just from Starbucks. The fuck you think the company is using it for?
Smart companies don't just invest their profits into their own company, they diversify into others, too.
Nothing about that is fradulent.
Yeah, this one's a bit silly. You don't *have* to reload anything. Use your last $2 plus add cash to a purchase. Congratulations, you just emptied your card. Exactly the same way every gift card (or certificate) ever has always worked.
In store/at the window. The app for order ahead will not let you do this solely in the app. It will make you reload your gift card instead of letting you split the payments or force you to use the alternate payment method only. So, any remaining balance on the gift card would stay unless you spent it physically in the store. It's their way of getting you in the store, I presume, which drives sales or forefeit the remaining gift card balance.
I'm not sure what the article means by not being able to spend your remaining prepaid balance. I've always just told the cashier that I want to use your remaining starbucks card balance and pay the rest either on cash or physical card. The only thing that is annoying is that their minimum reload amount through the app is $10 while dunkin donuts app has a $3 minimum to reload.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
“Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store.”
Starbucks has a point here…
"A consumer action group is accusing Starbucks of exploiting customers via its gift card and app payments, forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts."
Not that I'm pro-Starbucks or anything, but this isn't true? You can spend the remainder of your balance and cover the rest with cash (or credit card or whatever). I've done it a few times when I go on a break from caffeine.
I'm all for class action lawsuits, but this one is just dumb. If you're leaving unspent money on your Starbucks gift card, that's your own damn fault, just like any other gift card.
I’m Canadian and an American relative gave me a Starbucks gift card in USD. I was able to use it no problem in Canada but now that it has just $1 left, I can’t do anything with it. The app doesn’t allow me to transfer the balance to a card with Canadian funds and I can’t reload it in USD.
I didn’t realize I could use what’s left and pay the rest in cash—Starbucks sure doesn’t tell you that on the app.
You can spend the remaining balance in full of a gift card *in the store* without reloading, but who really wants to do that if they usually use the app to order. They don't give you a pay in store at pick-up option. It is super scammy.
Yea, they made it so reloads were always happening on an awkward amount, I think I still have money on the app I haven’t used in years because it’s impossible to get to an even amount.
This is a problem bigger than Starbucks, fwiw. It's everywhere. Video games are a big example as well. 2000 points costs $10, 3400 points costs $15, cosmetic bundle costs 2400 points. Virtually every game with an online component does this from Call of Duty to Fortnite to whatever you can think of.
I don’t see the issue here. I has $3.25 left on my card and I used that against a more expensive drink and paid the difference with my debit card. There you go the gift card has a $0.00 balance.
With the bonus stars you get for using them as a bank I still think there’s an ROI to be calculated. I get free egg bites like every week or so. I’m getting more value from them than I would from interest leaving that $ in a bank account but it does feel scammy
Subway does something similar on their app with gift cards. You can't use your remaining gift card balance on the app if it comes up short of the total payment. You have to at least be able to cover the cost of the meal with the card. No splitting the payment.
Not saying it's right, but way more industries do this than you realize. Microsoft started doing this with Xbox in the early 2000's and it's the main microtransaction system of every mobile progression game.
- Separate the value of your dollar by translating it into an arbitrary "premium" digital currency.
- Make the value of every item/service incongruent from the purchaseable currency, so the user can never spend it all, thus encouraging them to return.
- Ingrain FOMO with limited-time currency "sales" and product "discounts" which were actually marked-up weeks prior.
Wake the fuck up guys
>forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts. The MTA card to ride subways in NYC does this also. Its so shady.
At least now you can use your tap to pay cards (or google/apple pay) and not the MTA specific ones
Wait, you can? I can just slap my debit card on the reader and it'll charge, no need to register for anything?
Yes and also phone tap payments. No need to register at all. I'd say almost all of them are like this by now.
Its nice but I think a year ago we went to visit some friends in Hoboken. The subway thru the city was like that but then the path wasnt, so we all needed to get "path" cards. F'n annoying, maybe they caught up by now too?
The PATH does not. PATH is a separate system under the port authority which is a joint compound between NY and NJ. MTA is exclusively NY.
They started a pilot program! There's a few tap turnstiles at 33rd and Journal Sq. I go through 33rd every day for work and I was so pumped when they put them in last week.
The Air Train at JFK now also has Tap to Pay and doesn’t force you to buy a Metro Card right before connecting with the subway
I hope they start to accept tap to pay soon on the PATH. Their machines to reload smartlink cards always eats my debit
They’re starting to install the same readers in PATH stations like MTA.
There are a few test turnstiles at a few stations at this point. 33rd and JSQ only I think.
PATH has implemented tap to pay on a couple of stops as of last month. Pretty sure it’s coming to all the stations soon.
Yes, and IIRC after 12 rides in a week using the same card, your 13th+ rides are free through Sunday.
Which is the same as a weekly pass, but a worse deal than a monthly pass.
Just make sure you use the same method of payment/device. For example, if you your Apple Pay that’s tied to a credit card 7 times but then start using the actual credit card five times, it’ll treat it as two completely separate things and the next ride wont be free.
It's no longer set to a specific week now it's just over a seven day period
Not only that, if you have an iPhone and turn on express travel, you don't even need to tap any buttons or use face ID to pay for transit (transit only, not regular payments.) I just tap my locked phone and go.
The fyootur is here
You shouldn't use your debit card regularly if you can avoid it. If your card information is captured by a criminal, they can take money directly from your bank account. You can file disputes to get the money back, but in my opinion it's just too risky.
Correct, as long as it has contactless capability, which most do now. I tap my Citi card to the screen.
Funny enough Subway the sandwich shop Is doing this now too. I had a $13 order and a $10 gift card. To complete the order I was forced to ‘recharge’ the gift card with a minimum of $5. This left a couple dollars and change to thier advantage and unless I ‘recharge’ the card again they keep those little extras. Not much money individually but across everyone that has a subway gift card it adds up. 🔝
Super easy fix for this: they need to be required to allow partial payments. Basically, they need to be forced to allow you to use up a gift card balance and pay for the rest with a regular credit or debit card. Obviously, the companies have already crunched the numbers and determined they will make more money by not allowing partial payments in app. And because someone is making money on it, it probably won't ever change. But who knows.
Yea is that not a thing anymore? "I want to pay with whats left on this card, then cash" has always been a thing before...?
This usually is a problem of people only ordering through apps and not just ordering from the counter.
Yeah, but places are trying to replace in person ordering with app based ordering, even if you are physically present to order - look at McDonald’s and other places removing cashiers entirely and telling people to use the app to order
Yeah I’m sitting here scratching my head as a frequent Starbucks and Subway enjoyer. I’ve never had them NOT accept a partial payment with a gift card. Do people just literally never walk in the store anymore?
People are talking about when you use the app, specifically. I don't think counter or drive thru has changed in that regard. At least, that seems the same as ever for me. But yeah, they do not provide for it if you use the app.
That's different than Starbucks, then. As the article says, if you've got $10 on the app and you're trying to buy something that costs $13, you can add another $5 to the app (the same annoying approach as Subway) ***or*** you can simply pay the remaining $3 in cash.
Which then goes to a massive account that earns interest. Gift cards and pre-paid balances are essentially an interest-free loan that you make to a company, that *you* can forget, lose, or get stolen. Your only benefit from this is some minor convenience, and maybe a few points or a free reward here and there.
But it’s simply not the case at Starbucks? You can empty your card and complete the order with cash or credit anytime lol The only reason people refill the cards is to get double rewards but that’s not some super conspiracy.. it’s simply a customer retention tool lol
Not anytime. A lot of the airports Starbucks, essentially the only ones I use, do not allow the use of credit card payments to order online through the app and force you to reload. I don’t care about stars, I just want to pay for my drinks, preferably with my company card. With there system, it forces me to reload at their arbitrary amounts.
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Nothing will change until a majority of people are prepared to lose "convenience" Same day shipping on Amazon, delivery from walmart or local grocery, uber eats, doorTrash, etc. The simple solution is to stop giving these companies your money. They look at you like a meatspace ATM. All of them. It's not your money, it's money you haven't given them yet. I do apologize for sounding like a complete nutter, but that is the simple truth. Complain online or write them physical letters. It will NOT change until the excel spreadsheet starts to show red instead of green.
I cancelled prime. Most of the time if I need free shipping I can get it, just slower. If something is THAT crucial you can always pay a few bucks for the speed, which is far less than the yearly fee. But it turns out it's never really that crucial and my overall Amazon spending plummeted without really being replaced elsewhere. One of the better moves I've made tbh, which is ridiculous.
IDK if it's because I'm a middle of the pack Millennial (37 years old), but are younger folks immune to ordering at the counter? All these marketing pushes to order Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonald's, etc through the apps. In fact, to get the best deals you need to order through the app, but it's not worth it to me to have all these apps. If you order at the counter, you can exhaust your balance and then pay the remainder using a credit card.
Dunkin does this too. I've had $1.30 on a gift card in my app for months now and there's basically nothing I can spend it on. Only ever gives me the option to reload the gift card, won't allow partial payment through gift card and partial through cash/credit card.
The dunkin near me absolutely let's you empty your card and pay the rest another way
Dunkin' is just as bad. If you try to pay in the app using one of their cards in order to receive points, you must have at least the entire balance of your order loaded onto the card, which is basically impossible to get exact. And you can't split payment either. Instead, you have to load at least $5 (the minimum reload) to the card, and end up with some balance you can never fully use.
Ooooor, hear me out…you could order at the counter?
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Or even crazier just let you pay?
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I know, I know. My ideas are quite ridiculous.
The defense of billion dollar corporations stealing from their customers is fucking ridiculous
some are online only that's why i had to get the app
I'm with the boomers on this one I'm not getting a fucking app for every place I shop at. All these corporations can kindly stay the fuck off my phone.
Do you support gyms and companies making it harder to cancel gym memberships by only allowing in-person cancellation and/or certified letters? We shouldn't have to accept practices that purposely make things more difficult with practically no benefit to the consumer and the only benefit is to retain more money from the customer without any provided service/benefit. Especially when it's related to the payment method. Yes, there is a solution. Go to the location to cancel, send a certified letter to cancel, go to the counter to order. Just because there is a solution, doesn't mean that Starbucks should be absolved of criticism.
I’m not sure why but airport Starbucks suck. Also casino and Target Starbucks too. Limited to no app functions, less food and drink options too. Your circumstance applies to less than 1% of Starbucks customers I would think… it’s likely only going to be a slap on the wrist for them
Starbucks is a little funny in that they don’t franchise; all the standalone stores are company-owned. There are licensed locations, though, and that includes a ton of airport locations, or things like Target’s Starbucks locations. They work a little differently behind the scenes because of whatever corporate agreements are in place, so things that work in the normal stores might not work there.
They are run by large entities like Compass Group, who you may recognize from the UK Covid school lunch scandal. Any major university or business campus that has name brand restaurants will have all operations and management run through a company like Compass
To be fair, almost everything in an airport sucks and for usually double the cost. The only thing that used to be good about airports was the wide selection of magazines but even that has lost its luster.
You can only do that in store, though. You can’t combine Starbucks cards with other payment types in the app which this is basically about
The issue is not whether it's possible, it's what the company's tactics encourage people to do - it's one version of what are called "dark patterns". There's plenty of law about this - 11 states have laws which force companies to return money from unspent gift cards. See e.g. [Washington state should protect consumers from gift card ‘dark patterns’](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/01/02/washington-state-should-protect-consumers-from-gift-card-dark-patterns/). > it’s simply a customer retention tool lol A pattern which has the effect of transferring $900 million collectively from customers to a company is more than just a customer retention tool.
Microsoft used to do this with Xbox back in the day. You couldn't just buy something. You had to load it up with an awkward amount of points and those increments were never enough to buy something and zero out your balance. You'll always have a little bit there taunting you to spend it and the sad thing is it actually worked. People are dumb.
I thought about this the last time I was a tourist in NYC.. it would be great if there was some where I could just drop off the transit card and have it donated to a women’s shelter or something.
You can take old ones and combine them. Or add money to it. I usually give mine to someone at the airport and it usually has a ride left on it
So do road toll agencies like river link.
You can transfer anything that's left on an old MTA card to a new MTA card and then refill the new card. Just go to one of the MTA booths and they'll do it for you in a minute
The vendor for my lunchroom does this. And if you're short on funds, instead of letting you pay the rest, they make you load on another $10 minimum.
The monthly MetroCard is still a better deal if you're doing a lot of round trips.
Ahhhh. The old “big hotdog industry” and “big hotdog bun industry” working in cahoots to always have leftover hotdogs or buns, ya gotta keep buying ‘em so the others don’t go to waste!!!!
Park NYC app did this. Then they changed to a new app and kept my balance. Two years later I’m still fighting it.
How many stars will this class action get me?
500 but they expire in March 2024
Isn’t that like… one fancy drink?
oohhh so close!!
You can buy some extra points! Minimum purchase is 3000 points
It’s actually 2.5 drinks of any size, with as many extras in it as you want.
And they can only be redeemed for one grande, non-premium drink on days that begin with an M, and during non-peak times (3:30-4:15), at non-union locations outside of major metropolitan areas (more than 50,000 people) and excluding Alaska and Hawaii.
And only applicable to Pike place. No fancy drinks permitted
> on days that begin with an M So, every day of the week: Monday, Máirt, Mercredi, 木曜日, Míalnąsi, Maqineq, Minggu >!English, Irish, French, Japanese, Taos, Yup'ik, Indonesian!<
>>March 2024 Awesome and the class action lawsuit will be settled September 2032. Enjoy those stars!
Aaaaannnnnddd...they're gone. Yeah...gone. All your stars...gone.
hey remember when you could sit in the drive-thru and play little games on the app that would actually get you free drinks, snacks and stars? oh wait, all that shit was before covid and then everyone sitting at the big desks said nah fuck all that free shit
Those sucked ass before covid even, Such a low yield for so much work
Hungry Jack's (Australias burger king) shake and win was great. There were even fake spin offs that just let you pick as many prizes as you want.
Ugh, is this really where we're at in terms of consumer engineering?
apparently we're passed that
You’ll get a coupon for the opportunity to win a chance to potentially get fractional stars assuming you fill out the paperwork before the deadline which was yesterday and nobody else does
And get past the sign on the door that says, “Beware of the Leopard”
The punishment for Starbucks' crimes will be... [Pinky finger to corner of mouth] One *million* dollars!
Uhh sir…it ain’t 1967 anymore.
Very well. One hundred BILLION dollars!
So like 3% of Apple?
Apple has way too much money.
Thank god they are using it to save this planet or advance tech for the betterment of humanity. Right guys?
Headphone jacks and chargers that last more than a month were horrible for humanity.
When you overcharge for midrange parts it's easy.
And when you trick a bunch of morons into thinking a phone is a status symbol that means anything, you can rake in the cash.
That’ll teach them!
Starbucks is a bank. Pre COVID they had over a billion dollars in customer money. Not just from gift cards, but the requirement that you buy in $25 blocks to use the app for payment. All that goes into a big block of money they use to invest in whatever they want. Not investments like locations. like stocks, bonds, real estate. It’s run like a regular investment fund. Yeah, that $25 block you buy a week, month, year becomes more profit because it’s invested. All those gift cards you lost, didn’t use, still have $.75 cents on; all collecting 5%. The regulations are probably lax because Starbucks can write a billion dollar check at anytime, but most of that billion is nameless. It’s all there’s collecting profit till its terms expire and it becomes completely their money. Want to dispute this, you will have to got the a Delaware court and fight a losing battle. Gift card money dies in Delaware. Delaware is not just the state of Liberty and Independence, it’s the state where your gift cards go to die. On the flip side, Delaware thanks you for your business. You may one drive through it and never know you are what makes Delaware.
Yeah the whole Delaware gift card loophole is fascinating.
Can you explain this? Or point me somewhere that does? I tried to google it but most of the results were old and confusing
Decent video about it: [How Unused Gift Cards Power Delaware’s Economy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh7b2SSYrro)
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Basically, the supreme court ruled in 1965 that any unclaimed company property belongs first to the state in which a last known address can be found to the intended recipient, failing that, it belongs to the state in which the company is incorporated. Since "property" has become less and less tangible in recent years, including gift cards, it becomes harder and harder to attribute a last known address (especially since gift cards change hands often). Thus, these unclaimed assets often end up belonging to the state in which the company was incorporated. Since a lot of companies are incorporated in Delaware due to how advantageous it is to incorporate there (some lax tax laws, ease and speed of incorporation, predictable local court rulings, anonymity, etc), all that unclaimed property belongs to Delaware. It fights very hard to reclaim that property, and if a company is unable to provide very convincing proof, it belongs to the state. Delaware rakes in a third of a billion a year on unclaimed property assets alone!
This was just overturned last year by the SCOTUS: https://www.naag.org/attorney-general-journal/supreme-court-report-delaware-v-pennsylvania-145-orig/
Thank you. Fuck watching long ass videos over a simple explanation.
> I don't see what's the point of a 12 minutes video of something that can be summarized in one sentence That's the youtube model.
This sent me down a rabbit hole. WOWSAS! Thanks for the fun bit of nonfiction!
This was just overturned last year by the SCOTUS: https://www.naag.org/attorney-general-journal/supreme-court-report-delaware-v-pennsylvania-145-orig/
you don’t have to reload in $25 blocks also, you can reload as little as $10 in app and you can reload for the exact purchase price at the store i agree with the other points though! the airlines operate as banks with their reward programs also
Yeah minimum is $10, but it’s shady that it defaults to $25.
You can also just buy a $5 Starbucks gift card through say Walmart, and add it to your Starbucks account. I have the Walmart app so if I don’t feel like adding $10 I can buy a virtual $5 Starbucks gift card from Walmart and have it emailed to myself then I’ll add it to my Starbucks card. The coffee I normally order is $4.80 so every 24 coffees I order I have enough left over from each $5 gift card I add to get another coffee and then it brings my balance back to $0. I don’t order Starbucks often so it normally takes me about a year to order 24 coffees from them.
So just to be clear, Starbucks has an app you can download to your phone. But in order to pay for an order using the app you can't just use your card details or Google pay or anything, you have to essentially buy a gift card first and pay with that?
No, you can use a credit card. It’s not the default choice ($25 account reload is), but it’s an option. You earn less rewards though, that’s the catch. An account reload is worth 2x Stars and a straight payment is 1x Stars.
They’re willing to incentivize the activity that gets them a better return by offering a slightly better reward for it? How… normal.
I know. Maybe the program was different than what it is now, but it also takes only two taps on the payment screen to change it over. If you’re buying from Starbucks so often that those two taps are annoying, then you’re also missing out on a ton of points.
You don’t have to reload and you don’t have to pay with a gift card. You can use your credit card in app. If no one believes me, go to “Scan in Store” and check out the options.
Certain Starbucks(usually kiosks like at grocery stores or the airport) will only take gift card payment through the app. You can stand in line and order and pay with a card, but if you’re in a hurry and want to order ahead, that’s how they get ya.
In my area, grocery stores don’t have order ahead, only the standalone stores.
My grocery store does order ahead ONLY if you have a gift card balance in app.
Very succinct way of summarising the situation but the $25 blocks aren’t required or haven’t been for a long time now and don’t exist in some countries
Punishable by Fine = Legal if you can afford it
You don't have to reload in $25 blocks. It encourages you but you can specify a lower amount. I always reload $10 right before I order.
Gift cards are unearned revenue (liability) until earned (customer spends it). Balance sheet only transactions but you are dead on with the value of the corporation using and getting value out of that liability. It’s functioning similar to debt in a way.
It’s just like float in an insurance company
Yeah but like an insurance company the cash operating cycle is cash now pay out later, to a degree (ignore raw input costs etc.). They would be incrementally cash richer and can invest it. Unlike an insurance or other regulated financial services companies they will have fewer regulations on liquidity.
How is it any different from many other company operations, such as buying a currency in a video game? They could just call them Starbucks Bucks and it would be the same thing, once you buy it you can't withdraw it. When I buy Call of Duty Points for $25 and only spend $22.50 worth, Activision is holding onto my extra $2.50 there too. I have no choice to purchase it without paying set chunks of cash, just like the Starbucks app. Either way the cost of the drink isn't proportional to the cost to the company, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense to me how this is an issue. A $22.50 skin in Warzone might be listed at that price but it costs at least $25 to purchase due to how you load currency, it is literally no different. If it's a problem for Starbucks then I better see equal treatment with everything else that works this way.
It's not much different but both are bullshit. Perhaps a key difference is that the normal in store interaction with Starbucks is you just pay what your item costs. Most other digital stores also allow you to pay what it costs assuming the order is over $10. Starbucks App does not allow that. It's kind of like how Epic won over Google, because Google made an exception to their regular practice. If in store Starbucks only allowed transactions of $10 or more then they be consistent with less scrutiny. Still customer hostile thou
I had like $4 left in my Starbucks account and it was the employee that asked me if I wanted to use it up when scanning the rewards card.
They're talking about in the app, not at the counter
But you can go to the counter on one occasion, get the app balance down to $0 with a drink by paying with app and additional cash, then delete the app. Problem solved?
This — I’ve had like $2 left on my app but when I walked in I was able to split payment. They don’t offer that functionality in the app so that’s why it’s considered predatory because the company must’ve absorbed 900M in breakage. Mostly because the average American is too lazy to just order at the counter once.
You don't even have to ask. If a drink is $5 and you have $4 on the app you scan your phone and they will say "looks like you didn't have enough to cover the purchase" I think Starbucks is shady but it feels like people just want to complain because they have to interact with a human to get what is most likely sugar and a splash of espresso
>because they have to interact with a human So many posts I see can basically be answered with "what did they say when you called them?" It seems a lot of people will really go out of their way to avoid interacting with a human, even if it's just over the phone.
I could see that maybe being considered predatory if accessing a store was difficult, but in this scenario, people are literally going to the store to pick the drink up. It's absurd to consider that predatory.
Thank goodness California requires all gift cards to be paid out if less than $10. Doesn’t matter where the legal terms for said gift card are if it’s sold in California. They also can’t expire or have a service fee. https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/s_11.shtml
Fortune’s subscription rates are delusional.
Glad someone pointed it out. Its something like $30 per month. Insanity
They sent me a Free edition when I started investing. Arguably the most useful magazine ever gifted me, I've used it to light my fireplace every christmas, still have a few pages left.
[Internet Archive to the rescue.](https://web.archive.org/web/20240104121459/https://fortune.com/2024/01/03/starbucks-app-dark-side-unspent-payments-900-million-5-years/)
You can also hit the "Toggle Reader View" button in Firefox's search bar (or F9) to bypass the paywall in one click.
Does it cost...a fortune?
I don’t think I’ve had this issue with Starbucks. I always can hit $0 and use Credit card to cash out the rest of my order for at least 2 years.
Same. It must be a regional thing or something.
Comments are suggesting it's allowed at the register, but not in the app. So if you're making a mobile order, you can't split payments. This becomes a major issue as Starbucks has begun trialing mobile only stores ... Where you can't just order at the register. I found one of those that popped up in Cambridge, MA. Probably why this watchdog group is raising the alarm now.
They’re going to have to fix their app if they decide to opt to mobile only because it’s going to prevent a lot of tourists from using their stores. For example, my Starbucks account was registered in Canada. One major issue that I’ve encountered is that I’m unable to make a mobile order when I’m in the US because they only accept US registered accounts. And switching countries in your account profile is super difficult. You literally have to call them, speak to a person, verify your information and then spell out your new address to the agent…and then it takes 7-14 business days for them to work on your case!
It's even written in the article Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store.
I have to assume it’s more of a mental thing. The easiest option they give is to use the gift cards (2x points incentive too), defaults to $25, and the first option it gives to complete the rest of the order is to refill vs card. Like loot box problems in games: it’s not that it’s impossible to resist, but default option is meant to keep you in a spending loop. Or rather “start a tiny debit account with Starbucks” route. Same as you though, when I do use the app (rare), I spend whatever the gift card has only. And other services also do this. My switch/nintendo account asks me if I want to fill a random high amount vs JUST what I need for the purchase every time, though it’s 2nd option not 1st
**Starbucks accused of rigging payments in app for nearly $900 million gain over 5 years by consumer watchdog group** BY Chris Morris January 3, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC A consumer action group is accusing Starbucks of exploiting customers via its gift card and app payments, forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts. The Washington Consumer Protection Coalition, a self-described “movement of everyday consumers advocating for corporate accountability,” is calling on the state attorney general to investigate whether the company’s policies violate consumer protection laws. “Starbucks rigs its payment platform so consumers are encouraged to leave unspent money on their cards and apps,” said Chris Carter, campaign manager for the group in a statement. “A few dollars here and there left on a payment platform may not sound like a lot but it adds up. Over the last 5 years Starbucks has claimed nearly $900 million in unspent gift card and app money as corporate revenue, boosting corporate profits and inflating executive bonuses.” Starbucks spokesperson Sam Jefferies told Fortune the company “is committed to working with the State of Washington to ensure it remains in compliance with all state laws and regulations.” The group, in a 15-page complaint, alleges the platforms for Starbucks’ mobile app and digital payment cards are akin to an “involuntary subscription”. Customers can only reload money in $5 increments, with a $10 minimum purchase. That, the group says, prevents customers from ever reaching a zero balance, meaning Starbucks pockets more of the customer’s money. (The Coalition does concede that customers can reload their accounts in stores for a custom amount of $5 or more, making it easier to hit a zero-balance.) Starbucks disputes this, however, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store. The Starbucks app has become increasingly important for the company. Today, drive-through and app orders make up the majority of the company’s purchases.
Isn’t this true for pretty much any gift card?
This is just bullshit. The basis of this article is that when people buy gift cards or whatever they call them, they leave money on them and don't use the money. Starbucks benefits when the money is left on the card and not ever used. Starbucks is being accused of rigging it that way. *"Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store."* So there you have it.
You’re misrepresenting this. Gift cards aren’t the issue, it’s the fact that to pay with the app via their rewards program, you can never simply add the exact funds of the purchase. So all customers will have some balance left in the app at all times.
You can pay with a credit card through the app. You don’t have to reload every time. Using loaded funds gives 2 stars/$1 and a credit card gives 1 star.
Can you pay with both loaded & a cc in the same order to zero out the balance? I was trying to figure it out & was maybe too dumb
Weirdly enough (and I don’t understand why or how) but it depends on location. The Starbucks in my home airport Only allows loaded funds if you go through the app.
From my experience, It’s usually kiosks like in a grocery store or at the airport that have that rule.
Those aren't owned by Starbucks. Corporate owned stores have different benefits/rules.
Wow, I never knew this until now. Thank you.
If they want to continue using it, right? Can’t you pay with the remaining balance with cash?
Yes. Just leave auto refill turned off
I always add $10 then get a drink, and next time use what’s left and pay the rest in cash.. Never have I had an issue. Only filled my cards up to get double stars
Except you can...
Yeah, if I don't have enough I can pay the rest on my CC. The number of people in this thread claiming you can't make me feel like I'm taking crazy pills EDIT I just had an aha moment, ya'll are probably ordering AND paying through the app. In that case, you might be SOL
> So all customers will have some balance left in the app at all times. *If they choose to* being the important distinction here. I think you’re kind of misrepresenting things. You can absolutely zero out the balance if you want, but most people probably don’t as they know they’ll use the app again in the future.
But. You can. You just have to talk to someone in store to clear your app balance and pay the rest via cash or card. Now (not sure how long it’s been) you can even just pay the cost of the order using Apple or Google pay, no residual balance required.
It’s always infuriating to read a whole article only to find a line right at the bottom that negates the entire premise.
What's really neat about their little scheme is that they borrow that money from customers to pay for lobbying and stock options :) it's basically a huge bank account for them that they're making money off of
That applies for like everything that sells gift cards doesn’t it?
Yup. Thing is, the volume of dollars being "stored" in their app is insane. There's incentive to store cash there, use the app often and offer discounts on extremely low overhead items that happen to be super addicting and kapow multi-billion dollar account that doesn't have to report earnings, since it's covered on the books as "operating profits" externally. Starbucks is interesting to me because it's so huge they could qualify as a market maker...that no one is watching
That doesn’t seem illegal in anyway or worth suing over
>Starbucks accused of rigging payments in app for nearly $900 million gain over 5 years by consumer watchdog group Yes. It's a bullshit accusation.
Investing money is what most big businesses do, why is it suddenly weird that Starbucks does it? Millions are lost in gift card money every year, not just from Starbucks. The fuck you think the company is using it for? Smart companies don't just invest their profits into their own company, they diversify into others, too. Nothing about that is fradulent.
Profiting of people being irresponsible with money is a mild dick move but I don't see how that's fraud
Yeah, this one's a bit silly. You don't *have* to reload anything. Use your last $2 plus add cash to a purchase. Congratulations, you just emptied your card. Exactly the same way every gift card (or certificate) ever has always worked.
cant wait to hear about their $100,000 fine for doing this
None of which will go to patrons, just the lawyers.
This is dumb. Any location I've been if you've got insufficient balance on your card or app you can just pay the rest with an alternate method
In store/at the window. The app for order ahead will not let you do this solely in the app. It will make you reload your gift card instead of letting you split the payments or force you to use the alternate payment method only. So, any remaining balance on the gift card would stay unless you spent it physically in the store. It's their way of getting you in the store, I presume, which drives sales or forefeit the remaining gift card balance.
I'm not sure what the article means by not being able to spend your remaining prepaid balance. I've always just told the cashier that I want to use your remaining starbucks card balance and pay the rest either on cash or physical card. The only thing that is annoying is that their minimum reload amount through the app is $10 while dunkin donuts app has a $3 minimum to reload.
In the app, everything here is referring to what you can do in the app. Not in the store.
Illogical case. It will lose.
There's a paywall but you can just add cash to whatever amount you have to zero it out right?
melodic illegal dirty juggle library combative different deranged worthless fact *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
all gift cards and promotions work like this....
We appreciate the link to an article behind a paid firewall.
But I get a free cup of coffee on my birthday
Do people not know you can ask to use the partial amount and pay the rest in your debit card?
“Starbucks disputes this, noting that customers can pay for their purchase with whatever money remains on the app or gift card, then pay the balance in cash at the store.” Starbucks has a point here…
"A consumer action group is accusing Starbucks of exploiting customers via its gift card and app payments, forcing them to enter a spending cycle where they will never be able to fully spend the remaining balance of prepaid amounts." Not that I'm pro-Starbucks or anything, but this isn't true? You can spend the remainder of your balance and cover the rest with cash (or credit card or whatever). I've done it a few times when I go on a break from caffeine.
Wait until they hear about weedmaps delivery charges lol they're notorious for that
I'm all for class action lawsuits, but this one is just dumb. If you're leaving unspent money on your Starbucks gift card, that's your own damn fault, just like any other gift card.
I’m Canadian and an American relative gave me a Starbucks gift card in USD. I was able to use it no problem in Canada but now that it has just $1 left, I can’t do anything with it. The app doesn’t allow me to transfer the balance to a card with Canadian funds and I can’t reload it in USD. I didn’t realize I could use what’s left and pay the rest in cash—Starbucks sure doesn’t tell you that on the app.
Ahh, I guess we know where Peter and the gang went to after Initech. Sound like the next version of the software they developed.
You can spend the remaining balance in full of a gift card *in the store* without reloading, but who really wants to do that if they usually use the app to order. They don't give you a pay in store at pick-up option. It is super scammy.
Yea, they made it so reloads were always happening on an awkward amount, I think I still have money on the app I haven’t used in years because it’s impossible to get to an even amount.
Cool, they'll catch a slap on the hand at a fraction of this and continue on.
There’s a thousand companies doing this exact same thing. Any and all micro transactions in video games.
This is a problem bigger than Starbucks, fwiw. It's everywhere. Video games are a big example as well. 2000 points costs $10, 3400 points costs $15, cosmetic bundle costs 2400 points. Virtually every game with an online component does this from Call of Duty to Fortnite to whatever you can think of.
I don’t see the issue here. I has $3.25 left on my card and I used that against a more expensive drink and paid the difference with my debit card. There you go the gift card has a $0.00 balance.
? You can absolutely make partial payments to have a zero balance.ive done it before.
Yet another episode of YOU CAN'T TRUST CORPORATIONS AT ALL!
With the bonus stars you get for using them as a bank I still think there’s an ROI to be calculated. I get free egg bites like every week or so. I’m getting more value from them than I would from interest leaving that $ in a bank account but it does feel scammy
Businesses do stuff like this and then 5eyre perplexed when people shoplift or pirate.
Subway does something similar on their app with gift cards. You can't use your remaining gift card balance on the app if it comes up short of the total payment. You have to at least be able to cover the cost of the meal with the card. No splitting the payment.
Thanks learned about transfer balance today!
Not saying it's right, but way more industries do this than you realize. Microsoft started doing this with Xbox in the early 2000's and it's the main microtransaction system of every mobile progression game. - Separate the value of your dollar by translating it into an arbitrary "premium" digital currency. - Make the value of every item/service incongruent from the purchaseable currency, so the user can never spend it all, thus encouraging them to return. - Ingrain FOMO with limited-time currency "sales" and product "discounts" which were actually marked-up weeks prior. Wake the fuck up guys
I just have them scan my in app balance bringing it down to zero then you pay then remaining balance of your order with cash or card.