How are you dealing with bootlegs of this coupon for a free Hazelnut or Caramel Macchiato?

Just Say Yes to it, or tell the customer that it's a not an authentic freebie? (I heard the store manager at my favorite SBUX tell the customer it was a fake coupon that he wouldn't honor it. The customer seemed OK with that.)

How often are you seeing this bootlegs/photocopies of this coupon and how are you handling it?

* How many bootleg coupons did you have to deal with today?

Comments

[Soraka]

I had a free tall macchiato loaded onto my card but surly that isn't fake

[Violaine]

I'm not a barista, but a customer. I hadn't used mine yet (and now I won't), but I didn't realize it wasn't legitimate. It came through Coupons.com, so I assumed it was good. All of their other coupons I've used - which do come with barcodes - are legit, as they seem to partner with the companies offering the coupons.

[Chloe]

How do you know it's fake? I got that coupon 3 times from my Starbucks, once being handed it by the manager??

[Shane Mason]

I'm seeing about a hundred per day. I honor them because we are told "Just Say Yes" and also, as a part of the Customer Service Basics rollout, "Assume Positive Intent". Also, I'm not trying to deal with a hundred really unhappy people each day. And finally, I feel badly for those customers who received the coupon from an otherwise legitimate website or as a forward from a friend. They had no way of knowing it's a fake, and maybe they took the time out of their busy day for a trip to my store. I would hate to be turned away at the gate, if it were me.

[lynn]

How can it be fake? I got this coupon from my local Starbucks when they were being handed out to customers.

[Barista Ben]

The "real" version is either a small photocopy high gloss one that was handed out at Starbucks stores for a limited time. There is also a version "loaded" onto your card with a barcode. If you didn't get it in a email on your GOLD ACCOUNT or it wasn't handed out to you from a Starbucks Store, then its a copy of the one we handed out and its no good.

So, for example, if you got yours from somewhere like coupons.com, its just a photocopied version that isn't valid.

Corporate told us to not accept those, and I think thats pretty understandable, as its for a free Caramel Macchiatto or Hazelnut and some people, before they told us not to take that version, were coming in daily with the print out getting free macchiatto's.

[That Guy]

We take time to educate the customer and tell them no. If they seem really upset barista can use discretion. All you have to do is read the last sentence of the terms of the coupon.

[Barista Ben]

I've sort of given up trying to explain to people in the busy morning why we can't take it, so now I just say "sorry we can't take that, its a fake!" and they just say "oh.." and stop yelling at me.

[Betty Boop]

It says right on the coupon that reproductions will not be honoured which means photocopies or scans. Unless I get a coupon directly from the store I assume it is a scam.

[Cassie]

Some coupons available online to print (I'm thinking like Jamba Juice's) still have the standard blurb about reproductions not being allowed. So just because a coupon has that blurb does not necessarily mean that it is a physical coupon available only in-store and that it can't be printed out. At the very least, it can be confusing.

Both my sis and my friend got the coupon emailed to them from friends - the Target near work will accept them, while I've heard that the Starbucks that they tried would not. Meanwhile, I've seen online chatter (it's on the internet so it must be true!) that people have emailed corporate and have been told the coupons (presumably copies, not the original versions) are legit.

[shift supervisor]

we received instruction via email not to accept any coupons other than the ones we handed out, as they are not legitimate. This goes accordingly with the 50% off espresso beverages that have been floating around. With the changes made to the gold card system, the majority of these special coupons are loaded right on to the card itself and can only be redeemed if you have the gold card with you.

[KDH]

We not only get people w/fake coupons, we get people who come in demanding a free drink because it says on the internet that all you have to do is ask for it. No joke.

Bad Starbucks. No more coupons for you.

[Bill]

The funny part, there were people selling these on E-Bay and other sites.
They were all copies or fakes.
One girl bought 50.00 for a book of them. she knew they were fake, but she tried anyway. she said; she would just keep going around to different stores until someone would take them. That became her target store from then on.