Thursday, August 20, 2009

STARBUCKS LETTING ME DOWN


Here's my Friday Starbucks roundup. And it ain't pretty:

Starbucks Raising Prices on Some Drinks

As if a $4.00 coffee wasn't high enough, Starbucks is raising the prices on some of its drinks, with the price changes are already taking effect in some markets.


Starbucks Workers Protest Rise in Health Premiums


And since Starbucks is raising prices on drinks, they decided to increase the amount that eligible employees need to contribute to keep their health care coverage.

And finally...

NYC Coffee Shops Pull Plug on Laptops


Kiss the marriage of Starbucks and working on the internet goodbye. Several New York coffee shops are plugging up their electrical outlets and asking laptop users to check their Facebook pages elsewhere. Café Grumpy in Brooklyn and Chelsea have outlawed laptops completely.

Hey, Cafe Grumpy, I am so not being your friend on Facebook.


Posted from my computer at Starbucks.

6 comments:

Masked Avenger said...

All I hear is... WAAAAAA WAAAAA WAAAA.

Good for them, not letting people sit for 18 hours when only paying for a $2.00 drink. Why do you feel that it is their responsibility to pay for your internet usage? Maybe you can lobby Nancy Pelosi to force them to do it. Thats right. Lets have the US Gov't force Starbucks to have a bunch of losers sit in its stores all day and not spend any money.

However, I do agree with you that the raising of the prices are rediculous.

The Phantom said...

The prices are too high, which is why the only thing I ever buy there is the beans themselves.

Could never, ever understand why they let people hang out there for hours on end, some who never even bought anything. That's just stupid. They have a business to run.

Mark said...

Masked Joe, Starbucks offered the wi-fi. No one demanded it. As for me, I buy multiple drinks while I'm there. But I do agree they have to do something about people who just hang out there all day, whether they're using the internet or not. I see people reading books for hours. What to do about them? Should coffee shops limit how long anyone should stay there?

The Phantom said...

You would think that people wouldn't be so rude ( by hanging out all day for days on end, without buying anything ) so that any rules would be required.

Those are the real bad guys here. And they will be the ones who howl the loudest

Mark said...

Phantom, it'll be interesting how it all plays out. At the Starbucks at 75th and 3rd, I see people studying for classes, doing homework, playing monopoly, playing chess, a knitting club. Will the coffee shops have to start limiting everyone's time? I don't see how they can say people can't use computers but you can come in and knit for hours on end. There's a guy who sits on the couch all day. He reads. Takes a nap. Reads some more. Who's to say he's not taking up valuable space but someone who's using a computer and paying for the internet (yes you have to pay) is taking up valuable space?

Time will tell. And you can bet that someone with a lot of time on his hands will sue if he gets thrown out for using his computer too long while someone who's napping on the couch doesn't get thrown out.

Anonymous said...

There have been times I've wanted to get a coffee at the Starbucks @ 3rd & 75th but didn't because there were no seats available.