Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • Rants
  • Starbucks Encounters

Starbucks Encounters

Posted on April 12, 2008 By Tom 3 Comments on Starbucks Encounters
Rants, Restaurants

Yesterday I read in my fellow Flickr photographer Duckhunter’s blog about his problems with ordering a regular coffee at a Starbucks. My first thought was, “Nah, this has got to be an over-reaction.” Well, this morning I had an opportunity to jump in with my own criticisms of Starbucks.

First, the setting – I normally don’t frequent Starbucks. I don’t particularly like their regular coffee, and the espresso drinks are just too pricey and fattening for regular patronage. On this occasion, I needed to drop of my car at our local garage to have a headlight replaced, and the only place to hang out for the 40 minutes or so while this was happening was across the street at Starbucks. I was prepared. I had my laptop and the book I was reading. I was going to get coffee, a muffin, and use their WiFi to check e-mail, etc.

I didn’t have the ordering problems that Duckhunter did. I was able to get my coffee and muffin with no problem. Finding a seat was a challenge as this happened to be a crowded place, but I found a perch. However, here are the things that I thought could be improved upon. These may be part of the reason why Starbucks is loosing part of its market share to competitors…

  • Price – compared to other coffee options, it is more expensive.
  • Refills – I ordered just a regular cup of coffee. Every other coffee shop I visit (Panera, Atlanta Bread Company, etc) has free refills. I didn’t see that option here. In fairness, I didn’t really need a refill, but the option would have been nice.
  • WiFi – The only option was a T-Mobile hot spot, which isn’t free. Atlanta Bread and Panera, as well as many other coffee shops in the area offer free WiFi.

Customers don’t like feeling nickled and dimed to death, and that was the feeling I got from Starbucks this morning. So, I just left my laptop in my backpack, sipped my expensive coffee, ate my rock-hard muffin, read my book, and waited for my car to be fixed.

[tags]Starbucks, coffee[/tags]

Tags: coffee reastaurant Starbucks

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Creative Uses of GPS
Next Post: Heavy Processing on Falls Park ❯

3 thoughts on “Starbucks Encounters”

  1. Ken C says:
    April 12, 2008 at 10:22 am

    I’m pretty sure the Starbucks in Clemson has free wifi. My gripe is that there is no cost discount for getting coffee in a mug for “there” instead of in a “to go” cup. Where I go, it’s $1.25 for an in-house mug (lots of coffee), and .75 for each refill. A “to go” cup purchased outright would be more, but still cheaper than Starbucks. Plus, MoJo’s dark roast coffee is top of the line. REALLY tasty.

    I kind of think that going to Starbucks is for older folks (twenty-somethings) what going to McDonalds is for little kids. For many of the same reasons.

    Reply
  2. PUSkunk says:
    April 12, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    I have never been to a starbucks in my life. I don’t drink coffee, and when I had someone from work go there and offer to get me something, I asked for Chai, my usual coffe house beverage. It was NASTY. No reason for me to ever try them again.

    Reply
  3. DuckHunter says:
    April 14, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    Starbucks isn’t getting much praise around here. Thanks for mentioning me.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (200)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (121)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (99)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (266)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (451)
  • Miscellaneous (550)
  • Music (196)
  • Paddling (248)
  • Photography (779)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (227)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (34)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (411)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (60)

Recent Posts

  • In Search of the Road Builder
  • The Phoenix Riots and Dr. Benjamin Mays – An MLK Day Ramble
  • An Obsession with Steak Knives
  • An Epiphany on Patriotism
  • Kayaking Bates Old River and Running Creek

Recent Comments

  • Tom on The Children’s Graveyard
  • Jani Trusty on The Children’s Graveyard
  • Shanel on Exploring Underground Anderson
  • Kris Chappell on The Sad Fate of Chappells
  • Joel Nagy on Old Pickens Court House

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Jan    

Copyright © 2023 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown