We live in a fast-pace world where people want things instantly. Even the most patient person like myself sometimes likes things right now - like wifi.
Today I was reminded of the reason why Starbucks is no longer my first choice when I need to get out of the house to work. To put it quite bluntly: Their wifi access sucks!
Please excuse my crying and complaining for a few minutes....
If you want to use wifi at Starbucks, you have to register with a Starbucks card, which means you have to create an account and get login information. However, you have to keep this card "active" every month by adding money to the card. If you don't have an active card, you can't login and use their wifi. On top of that, you only get two hours of wifi per visit.
Oh, and heaven forbid if you have problems signing in, which was the case for me today...I had to call AT&T to figure out why my login wasn't working.
Now I remember why I always go to Borders or the coffee shop up the street... That's what I was thinking as I was maneuvering my way through the menu options trying to reach someone at AT&T to talk to about my login issue.
99% of the coffee shops and businesses I go to now have instant access to wifi. You don't have to create an account. You just go in and connect. They make it easy for me to do business with them. I don't have to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out why I can't log into my account.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. There are tons of people who think Starbucks should make wifi easy to use.
Starbucks Is No Longer My First Choice
Posted by Admin | 3/26/2010 | Business Reviews, Customer Experience | 3 comments »
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As you probably, I hate Starbucks. But I'm stuck with it everyday since that's what my property uses!
You are so right on, but I would guess that Starbucks knows this too. My theory is they secretly don't want you spending all day hanging out because they see themselves more as a fast food place than a traditional coffee shop. (I sometimes call them McStarbucks.)
The thing about Starbucks that gets me is that they brand themselves as "an experience" - the smells of brewing coffee, the comforting lighting, the colorful chalk, the happy baristas. And then they try to upsell me, and cross sell me on Via instant coffee (to brew at home) - or open up drive thrus. Now - how are any of those "experiential" in any positive sense? There's a brand identity crisis going on -
Still, I love the coffee - especially in a pinch. But I'd rather support coffeeshops that keep the money in the community, so generally I'll support the smaller local shops.