A lot of times it’s just taking advantage of a loop hole with no particular extra burden on the wage-slaves out there. THIS guy, though, isn’t doing some clever Life Hacking. He’s simply lying, and not only that, he’s a complete asshole to the poor Starbucks guy. Who should, by the way, refuse him service–he has ample grounds knowing he’s already got his birthday freebie.
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I see this as Kirk wining the Kobayashi Maru. He found a way around the constraints of the “rules” while staying within the “rules”. Whats the issue?
Also…so many people blast big corporations and how they somehow screw over the little people every day. So why bash the little person who pulled one over on them?
Don’t hate the player…hate the game.
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Yep. I know a Starbucks employee who said that’s the goto for asshole customers. He says they would NEVER give caffeinated to someone ordering decaf (they might have a medical issue) but decaf-for-assholes is fairly common.
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Why is this the fallback for everyone who is highly annoying to others?
I don’t care that the likely fictitious person is saving .money. In this scenario they’re being rude to the employees beyond necessity.
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Well here’s the thing. There are two separate things happening here. First is the guy using a fairly ingenious method to get a free drink daily. The second is him being such a micro managing twit that he is the stereotypical PITA customer like Sally ordering a sandwich in WHMS.
The first part he is a player playing the game. He’s within the rules of the game. Call it what you will, its the game that Starbucks created,m he’s just better at it.
The second part is just him being a PITA customer and while annoying and we all hate them, they exist. It’s part of working retail especially within food service. THAT IS LIFE.
And my counter point to yours is simply…he’s probably the same twit to everyone. Not just the barista at SB. Does it make it ok…no. But good luck trying to change folks like that.
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So why doesn’t the manager just throw the guy out of the shop?
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No need to change him, just get rid of him.
It’s a better deal for SB management to just tell him to piss off and never come back.
He’s not a customer, he’s a fraudster, and his ridiculous order inconveniences all the actual customers stuck behind him.
If he’s real.
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Technically he’s only breaking even after about 280 days (at $6.50 per drink), what with the initial outlay of $1825 on gift cards.
This is a very large part of what makes me doubt this story. If he was scamming a free cup of coffee every day, but being quiet and not obnoxious about it, I could see it maybe being plausible. But being an obnoxious asshole, and not only scamming a free drink, but also trying to scam it such that he can get a drink that doesn’t even qualify for the free drink? I can’t imagine any retail manager that would put up with THAT.
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Is he playing by the rules of the game when he lies about his birthday on multiple cards? I don’t think so. The rules are, they’ll give you a free drink on your birthday. On. Your. Birthday.
No, he’s not playing by the rules, and there’s nothing ingenious about lying to get free stuff.
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If he’s drinking one of these drinks every single day of the year “pretentious” isn’t the word I’d use to describe his asshole.
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So I’ll ask you what I pointed out…if the Corporation is screwing people over with what they say is the cost of something…let’s just say they mark up their prices by 200%. That’s totally part of the game of Capitalism. They can do that.
You going to have as much criticism and derision for them too?
Again, this is the game within a free market. Companies will do anything to make more money on what they provide us; and consumers will find a way to pay less and free if they can get it for said goods or services.
But… he still has the gift cards, so, while he’s locked up his money in them, he hasn’t lost that $1825 (if that’s what he paid).
I do agree though–the utter flamboyance of the guy makes me doubt the story. If I was trying this scam, I’d be mumbling “Grande Latte” in a quiet voice–wearing different clothes every morning–and maybe a fake mustache on alternate days.
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You’re changing the subject, and lying is not playing by the rules.
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If you live in Seattle, it’d be easy enough to find 365 different Starbucks nearby.
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Yep. In Seattle, there are Starbucks within Starbucks.
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Enjoy the Utopia inside that head.
The corporation is not screwing customers by charging what they want for a luxury beverage. Please. No one’s forced to go there, they aren’t hiding their prices, they aren’t even a monopoly. So… no. I don’t consider them marking up their prices to what their particular market can bear is a problem whatsoever. And lying to get free stuff isn’t clever or ethical in this case, anymore than stealing silverware from them.
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They’re not really screwing anybody over. People can feel free to go elsewhere to buy their silly sugar drinks.
… And I see that Daneyul already beat me to it.
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It’s all that caffeine. Makes me type fast.
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