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Want your Starbucks Card Balance without a Receipt? Read on!

Sep 02, 2009 by _sbx_jbak2

14 comments

RSS

Starbucks Card, Shared Planet

Hello again, this is Jeff Carroll from the Starbucks Card team, here to share some exciting news about our POS (point-of-sale) system.

Many of you have asked for this and today I’m proud to say that we’ve delivered it. When checking your Starbucks Card balance at the POS, you no longer have to print a receipt!

Now when you want to check your Starbucks Card balance, you will have the option to print a receipt or have your barista tell you your balance. I’m particularly excited about this new feature because it touches upon three issues that are near and dear to the hearts of our customers and partners– improving operational efficiency, reducing/minimizing our environmental impact and enhancing the Starbucks Experience.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful ideas, and please keep them coming!

Jeff

This blog was inspired by an idea: Get My Card Balance Without a Receipt

(14 items)

purple1

9/2/2009 7:46 AM

This is nice. Is this operational at all starbucks now?

cafeuno

9/2/2009 11:43 AM

Thats cool. what about displaying the balance on the screen for theam. think about it.

purple1

9/4/2009 5:06 AM

Ok I knew would happen. Went to my starbucks this morning and asked to have them check my balance without a receipt and the barista looked at me like I had two heads. They do not have the system to check this and she had no idea when it would be up nor did she know anything about it. So, my question- why mention it on MSI if it is not total wide in use or mention it with a starting date. Shame on you!

purple1

9/5/2009 8:23 AM

Ok again today September 5 there still is no way the baristas at my SB could access my balance from register. They had to print out a receipt and again they looked puzzled at my comment that it could be done. Where is the communication with the stores? And again why announce it if it is not going to be implemented?

Melody13

9/5/2009 1:46 PM

@Jeff - Please come back to your thread! In all my regular downtown Seattle stores, baristas excitedly tell me, "<i>Gold Card only needs one swipe now!"</i> Is this just a Seattle thing? I thought the register changed when this new feature of balance without printing a receipt went into effect.

Here, I am writing you this post from inside store 11828 in Anderson, California, and when I just handed the barista my Gold Card who swiped it and handed it back to me. I stood there - an awkward moment, and she says, "It's $6.06 how do you want to pay?"

Melody replies "There's money on the card - thought it was a one swipe process now."

Barista looks at me like I have 2 heads: "No. One swipe for the discount, and then another to pay."

Melody: "Oh, all over downtown Seattle it's just one swipe now."

Barista: "Nope. Well they always get everything first in Seattle! It's two swipes"

Please clarify Jeff.

purple1

9/5/2009 2:07 PM

Melody it is nice to see that I am not the only one being perceived to have two heads. And I agree someone has to come back and respond to these comments if not Jeff then someone. And I find it interesting that Jeff posts this on the website and it only seems to be working in Seattle and not throughout all stores. Did someone forget to tell him it only works in Seattle? So, again I ask when will the rest of the country get this new system?

xyoru

9/5/2009 11:00 PM

Well it may take time to transfer all over the country. Since sbux has to update their pos system when there is time, and it takes a while to update the system.

purple1

9/6/2009 9:10 AM

Let's say it takes time to update the pos system although I am not totally sure of that, I then think it was silly to introduce it to the MSI community. Introduce it when it is fully functional at all starbucks!

Melody13

9/6/2009 9:21 AM

I agree that there is some work involved in updating 7000 registers to have the funcationality discussed in this thread. However, purple1 is correct - If ONLY Seattle has this new register technology then now is not the time to make huge announcements company wide about new and improved registers.

sbx_gcho

9/10/2009 1:54 PM

Hi there, Grace here from the register and business systems team. I wanted to share an update on the rollout.

This functionality should be fully rolled out by the end of this month. Right now, we only have this functionality in roughly 2500 stores, but we continue to roll this out to more stores each day. We do have some constraints – network bandwidth, size of the software package, risk, etc. – that prevents us from going to all stores at once with this new functionality. In reality, it takes about 4 weeks or so just to get new functions out to all stores.

So, although we’re in the process of delivering this functionality, it isn’t completely delivered to all stores yet. It’s on it’s way, though!

We wanted to be sure to tell the MSI community right away about this idea in action!

purple1

9/17/2009 7:38 AM

Ok what I don't understand is this- Today, September 17 I asked the manager of the store I go to if the system was up and running to be able to see what your balance was without a receipt and she said yes, however, only after 2 pm because they have to print out a receipt before 2 pm for the treat deal going on. So, my question is this- Why can't we ask for the balance without the receipt either way? Makes no sense to me to have this option and only be able to ask for it after 2 pm?

Customer

10/2/2009 4:20 PM

We're making progress on ideas that you've shared with us on My Starbucks Idea. Your ideas continue

VaSbux

10/25/2009 10:55 AM

This has been an ongoing issue.... if you want to announce new ideas, announce them, but TELL us where they are available (like the iPhone app phone-card-ordering: selected stores in CA, and Seattle, etc.). Do NOT act like it's nationwide USA when it's not. It makes you and us look and feel like idiots.

This has been going on since the first registered card bennies rolled out 18 months ago and no one in the stores had a clue, and I would thought you would have learned something by now!

solomon1980

10/31/2009 9:53 AM

Keep up the good work! I always keep my Gold Card with enough $'s to always be able to PARTY! Nuff said!!!!!

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