Is it fair that the "mayor of Starbucks" on Foursquare is a Starbucks employee?

A Starbucks Gossip reader writes:

I use Foursquare. I recently moved to a new city and went to a local Starbucks. When I checked in it showed me the mayor of this particular Starbucks. I was shocked that the mayor was the guy making my drink!

So Starbucks runs a promotion with Foursquare and gives discounts to the mayor, but at this Starbucks the mayor was an employee. If this is allowed then there's no way to become a mayor since the guy works there and can check in basically daily. So just out of curiosity I wrote Starbucks to ask about this because, although I really don't care that much, it seemed wrong. This was the response I got:

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Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us.

I am truly sorry to hear about your frustration with foursquare Promotions.

I want you to know that we take feedback from our loyal customers seriously. Because you know better than anyone else what you want from Starbucks, I will share this with the ------------- store Management.

However Foursquare is open to any one that can access it and it happens that the Mayor of this location is the Barista again I do apologize for any type of inconvenience that this may have caused. ....

Thanks again,

Orlando C.
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company

Comments

[Rob]

1. The promotion was very poorly thought out. I would be very simple for Sbux to provide a file of employee names for Foursquare to use in deleting their visits from Sbux locations. This is a simple game requirement that would have taken one minute to realize, and a couple hours to process and execute.
2. All of the Sbux employees on here complaining about customers demanding promos/coupons, "whining" about missing ingredients, or other problems - should be fired immediately. If you don't realize that the customers provide the money to support your store and pay your wages, and that it is your job to facilitate it in any and every way you can, then you need to find employment somewhere else.
Do the math - any and all promotions that bring customers in and lead to long-term customers PUT money in your pocket. Every promotion that you intercept, or customer that you disparage or insult is money REMOVED from your pocket. If you're too dense to figure that out, you need to be working somewhere that doesn't care about customers or revenue.

[shift.misto]

I agree. hate the customers who think cream is free and costs us nothing.

re foursquare.
in the middle of all the whining and tantrums and gimme gimmies... people do realize this is human gps, right? I mean sure, I don't mind using a credit card online or having a facebook (modestly).. but uh. this is just a little too creepy.

[enough]

Here's an idea: melody stfu!!!

[Jeff]

The purpose of foursquare, from their website: "...When you check-in someplace, we'll tell your friends where they can find you and recommend places to go & things to do nearby..... You'll find that as your friends use foursquare to check-in, you'll start learning more about the places they frequent. Not only is it a great way to meet up with nearby friends, but you'll also start to learn about their favorite spots and the new places they discover..... As you check-in around the city, you'll start finding tips that other users have left behind. After checking-in at a restaurant, it's not uncommon to unlock a tip suggesting the best thing on the menu. Checking-in at a bar will often offer advice on what your next stop should be....."

I get that some people think it's "stalkerish", but only your friends can see where you are, and I think the premise (discovering new things around your city) is pretty cool.

I also agree that if Starbucks is going to continue this promotion, employees should be ineligible to become mayor. But also, I think that a better way for Starbucks to drive business is to have a foursquare promotion not restricted to mayors. There's a jewelry store near where I work that always flashes up with a promotion, for ANYONE who checks in at their store. So something like "check in between this time and this time and get $1 off" would be cool, and maybe bring in more customers.

[camachiatto]

Um. Who cares? You don't get your discount. Move on with your life.

[Craig]

people need a life seriously. this is why so many starbucks employees come and go, its because they have to deal with this whiny fastidious bs day in and day out.

[Don Vivanno]

I stopped checking in at the Starbucks where I work. None of the mayors since are Frappucino drinkers.

[Ranhalt]

http://foursquare.com/help/#b7

"This title is up for grabs for customers that visit you often, but is not achievable by employees, owners, or manager."

[cducket]

DaveC:

Your comments just made my day. I emailed the same thing to Starbucks a few weeks ago. I, too, don't care about holding a "mayorship"; I just wanted to know their policy. And to all of the people who don't understand marketing: 80% of business comes from 20% of your customers. This promo was designed to increase purchase frequency.

Absolutely priceless: dude finds blog, writes in to complain about people wasting time to complain about unimportant things. Love it.