FYI: Starbucks is having a nationwide problem with the Duetto Visa cards

Starbucks tells one blogger that this issue only involves the Starbucks portion of the Duetto card. (Read the GearDiary.com posting)  

Comments

[aperock]

I was just on the phone with a customer service rep and they said the someone accidently erased all the balances on the Starbucks portion of the duetto cards. Oops!

[Ken]

How does that happen? Seriouslly, I work for a major credit card company, that doesn't even seem possiable?

[extrafoamy]

yeah, yesterday, a guy tried to use his as a starbucks card it it came back "inactive account"..good to know why i guess now i have something to tell the customers other than "uhhh i dunno"

[Wayne Schulz]

uh - ohh -- I have (had?) over $200 on my card...

[Adina]

Yup, my Duetto card was inactive yesterday and this morning as well (just the Starbucks side, not the Visa side). When will it be fixed?

[Adina]

I just went to the Starbucks site, and got this message when I tried to view my account balance:

A special message for our Duetto customers – we are temporarily experiencing technical issues accessing your account. Please be patient as we work to fix this problem, and your balance will be available shortly.

so for duetto card users all drinks are on the house!?!
Didnt think the benefits went that far...
Oh, happy day!

[SEADAVE]

Ha, ha, ha. Would you rather have a five dollar bill in your pocket or a Starbucks gift card? I'm buying a latte with my five dollar bill. [Very Big Grin]

[BostonPete]

LOI

Oh, dear God, I am so grateful I have today off.

[amy]

I just got my second coffee of the day free because they couldn't explain why this happened.

[Jake]

Finally something comes out acknowledging this. I was unable to use my card yesterday and I checked my starbucks.com account which told me that I needed to activate my card.

Hopefully this is resolved very soon

[Legendary or Bust]

Jake, are you ever on iChat?

[Alistair]

I just called Sbux customer service and got the same story -- somebody over at Chase goofed yesterday and they still haven't figured out what went wrong. Amazingly, the call was answered almost instantly by a human -- the poor woman must be having to regurgitate the same story hundreds of times over today.

(And there was I thinking that Chase were just reissuing my card because it was among several million skimmed by hackers at a local grocery store. I'm surprised they haven't, actually -- my local credit union reissued their cards automatically.)

[Jake]

Legendary: yes, I am pretty much always on iChat, why do you ask?

(I don't use my email for it)

[TORONTOWYLD]

Yikes!

[punkin]

I used to work at Chase in the credit card division and I can totally believe that this happened. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair.

I hope Starbucks is keeping a record of all the free drinks they have to give out to customers so they can charge it back to Chase.

[B]

once again I find somthing out here, before through the company.....but when they recall a mug we get an emergency message phone call

[coffeekitty]

I knew something was up.

I comped a few drinks for Duetto card holders because something simply didn't seem right.

[atownsbuxrules]

so true, b...

[DD]

This is too strange. When I called the number on the back of my card, I was told it was Starbucks' fault, not Chase - the opposite of what someone else posted here. Something is fishy, if you ask me.

[johnny]

did not know this was goin on at my store hopefully we will be notified on wednesday. Did not see any I tunes cards from the crows either for today.

[johnny]

I love the new spill stoppers..I get tired of cleaning up my car from sticky white mochas that get spilled. I have used and then kept them in my car for later. Those stickers never really stayed on tight and stuff would still fit through!!!!...Now if we could just have some sugar free goodies in the store for folks to buy.

[Coffee Man]

I called Chase, and a recording transferred me to a Starbuck's representative, or at least someone representing the Duetto Card. The phone did not even ring once and a real human picked it up. That's incredible and frightening at the same time!

But she did assure me that they have a record of my previous balance, and any recent purchases would be credited to my gift card once the problem is resolved.

I've tried 3 times at 3 different Starbuck's in the past two days, but no one offered a free drink. I paid cash. That's fine, I've had enough free drinks from Starbuck's to last a lifetime. I love Starbuck's.

[Coffee Man]

One more thing, one of the baristas at Starbuck's said that they were having trouble with all the Duetto cards, not just mine. That was very reassuring to hear, if you want to keep that in your memory bank when/if it happens at your store.

[TORONTOWYLD]

I guess I hadn't noticed because Canadian Duetto Cards are backed by a different bank (RBC), but now I know if someone from the States has a problem with their Duetto to empathize and comp. Or if they offer to pay another way force the Card Benefit (at least for now it has an override option when I was checking it out in a slow period)

[Me]

To me it sounds like it has to be the banks problem. Why? Because the regular starbucks cards still do work and we are not affected at all with this duetto card mess in canada. Might be because we have a different bank providing the cards (RBC Royal Bank of Canada). Would you like to come up north? :-)

I work for a bank a little larger the Chase, I use to work in Credit Card, and honestly, I have NO idea how this could happen? Someone can't just go in and "delete" balences" on all the cards? Unless they have no checks and balences there at all? Either way, they would have data to back up the previous balences, and should be fairly easy to correct I would think.

[Wayne Schulz]

Everything seems back to normal. Stopped in this AM and the card processed normally. Did not seem like it had been that much of a problem in the Glastonbury CT Starbucks.

[Clint]

This is why I never fool with any type of card system. No matter what benefit is advertised, it will inevitably be erased by the inconvenience of the inevitable system failure.

[Jimmy]

Not only did I get couple free drinks, but I had called to ask what was up. Lady said they are working on it and will send me a few coupons for my trouble. I forgot about it until yesterday when 3 "sorry for the invonveniece" coupons arrived. For me, I love the card system!

[phantom barista]

to L.M. the new manager at a store in north jersey.: you are alienating your partners. You have nothing nice to say to us. everything is negative. Your face lights up when those who trained you across the highway, come in. show us the same respect. you have no people skills. I guess best buy didn't teach you that. work with us and we'll work with you.

[jana]

I got a pound of Espresso Roast in the mail yesterday from Starbucks, apologizing for the Duetto card error! I didn't even really notice it because I don't carry a large balance and didn't try to buy anything when it happened...but it was super nice of them to send that. Wow.

[Barbie]

This week, I have not been able to use my Starbucks gift card (not Duetto card). I'm traveling, and so far I've tried it in New York, Pennsylvania, and (today) Ohio. Is this a nationwide problem, or just my bad luck?