In recent years, with the rise of various milk tea and coffee brands, the beverage industry has become a profiteering industry in people's eyes. Starbucks has long been considered a luxury coffee, and it's more than twice as expensive as a common coffee. Every time Starbucks launches a new product, it will gain a lot of popularity, and this time Starbucks is on the hot search again. According to news reports, Starbucks' unused gift cards worth 6.4 billion customers were actually given out as executive bonuses! People are talking about this, why should Starbucks executive bonuses be borne by consumers?
The customer is God, this sentence has always been a wise saying in the catering industry, there are customers to have a catering brand, and the reason why some brands can be popular is the strong support of customers. If there are no customers to consume, then no matter how big a brand is, it is nothing. Starbucks was founded in 1971 and it is the largest coffee chain in the world. In recent years, as it has become more and more popular around the world, Starbucks is no longer limited to the coffee industry. It has launched a lot of co-branded products, but it mainly sells coffee.
Globally, Starbucks already has more than 22,000 locations, which is a staggering number. These stores make huge profits every year, and the Starbucks brand is very trusted, after all, Starbucks has indeed built a brand effect around the world. Fortune magazine reported that the Washington Consumer Protection League accused Starbucks of using all of the unused gift cards that customers had topped up over the past five years to give out executive bonuses. Starbucks consumers around the world were shocked because the incident had never been reported in the news, and Starbucks had never told consumers about it.
This can't help but make people wonder why no one has found out about Starbucks after five years of doing this? The Washington Consumer Protection League has vividly exposed the inside story of Starbucks, saying that Starbucks is making small payments behind the scenes. Here's how it works: If the balance of the Starbucks card in the consumer's hand cannot be used to buy the cheapest Starbucks product, then the balance is basically idle, and the balance in the card cannot be used through coupons. This means that consumers can only top up the balance before they can use it. In fact, this behavior is similar to forced consumption, because the minimum recharge amount of the Starbucks card is $10, but the Starbucks payment procedure shows a minimum of $15, which is obviously the overlord clause.
Consumers believe that Starbucks' unused gift cards are equivalent to a sum of money, like depositing money in the bank. Everyone is very relieved about Starbucks, thinking that even if it is placed in the Starbucks account, it will not disappear inexplicably.
But people didn't expect that Starbucks' corporate culture is not so understood, and they may think that these unused gift cards are the property that users voluntarily give up, so Starbucks blatantly cashes out these so-called voluntarily given up assets, and then uses them to pay executive bonuses. It's a win-win, allowing customers to spend their gift cards early, and helping Starbucks save a lot of money on bonuses given to executives.
As consumers, people have the right to know what Starbucks disposes of the gift cards, and these gift cards are ultimately purchased by the consumers themselves with their own money. Starbucks' behavior is a clear violation of consumer rights, and some Starbucks members expressed disbelief in this behavior. They had been spending at Starbucks for many years, and they didn't expect the most trusted brand to do such a thing. Some netizens said: Starbucks capitalists' hands are really black! When users buy gift cards, they are used to spend better next time. But Starbucks clearly goes against the customer's original intention of buying gift cards, and they treat them as their own property and can be freely distributed.
This kind of behavior is obviously a forcible snatch behind the customer's back, which has been going on for five years, and only came to light this year, which shows Starbucks' disrespect for customers. If this incident had not been exposed, they would have continued to use this kind of trick to make huge fortunes from customers around the world. As a world-renowned company, the bonuses paid to executives should not be borne by customers, after all, executives are for Starbucks, which has nothing to do with customers.
After the incident came to light, Starbucks' shares have shown a downward trend. This is also expected, after all, no matter how big the brand is, it must respect the consumer and take the customer as God. The reason why Starbucks can become popular is that customers around the world are constantly holding it, and if Starbucks regards customers as "fools, wool", then Starbucks' fate is destined to be no better. Whether it is a global brand or not, as long as there are no customers, its downfall will only be in a short period of time.
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