Thursday, May 02, 2013

Thank goodness for Starbucks.com

One of the things I found in the cleaning of my closet (way back when) was a Starbucks gift card inside an old wallet.  I had no idea if it was still good so I called the phone number on the back of the card.  I pushed the required buttons until the automated voice told me to enter the account number on the back of the card.  I did this, but then the voice asked me to enter the 8 or 9 digit security number found under the scratch off bar on the bottom of the back of the card.

Before I go further with this I have to confess, these types of things make me nervous.  By things I mean places where I have to give information to a voice.  When we go through the drive thru at a fast food restaurant my kids know that they have to have their orders ready to give to me so that I can quickly give it to the faceless voice at the speaker.  As soon as I pull up and I'm spoken to through that speaker I'm a nervous wreck.  I envision long lines behind me and irritated personnel behind the stove just waiting while I hem and haw.  I've been known to break out into a sweat while the passengers in my car read the menu, and more then half the time I'm grouchily yelling at them to hurry.

When the voice at the other end of the phone prompted me to enter the security code I felt myself starting to sweat because the silver bar at the bottom of the card was not scratched off.  This meant that I would have to take time to find a coin, scratch the code, and then enter it all while the headless voice at the other end of the phone waited for me.  I was in my bedroom using the phone that sits by my husband's side of the bed.  There were no coins handy in his drawer so I jumped up and stumbled to my dresser where I usually have a handful of quarters in a bowl decorated by one of my children in an art class.  Unfortunately I had moved those quarters into my car where I was using them to buy a paper for my mother who was at the time in a rehab facility.  Again the voice prompted me to enter the security code.  The sweat started rolling down my back in two little rivets.

I got into our piggy bank that holds our loose change.  The first coin I pulled out was a nickel that did not put a dent into the silver bar at the bottom of the card.  I tried a quarter, but that too did not do the trick.  Again the voice told me what to do.  "I'm trying," I screamed, scaring the dog from his napping spot.  I left the bedroom and headed into the kitchen where I found a knife.  At this point the voice informed me that I had failed this simple task and would now be connected to a customer service representative who would be able to assist me.  Knowing this would be a real human, I quickly hung up.

I ranted and raved some about the injustice of it all.  I used the knife to try to remove the silver bar, but it took me several tries with lots of pressure before I could even put a scratch into it.  What the hell? I thought.  How hard is this thing?  A couple more scratches revealed nothing underneath and suddenly a small light began growing brighter in my head.  This was not the silver bar I was suppose to be scratching after all, but the silver bar that is scanned into the register when making a purchase.  The silver bar that deducts the amount from the card.  The silver bar that will now not work with all these scratches in it.

The security number was not where the voice had told me, but was to the right of the account number and it had already been scratched off.  I went through the phone process again, punching in the correct numbers, to reveal that I had $10.47 left on the card that would now not work due to my knife scratchings.  What to do, what to do?

I lay awake quite some time that night trying to solve the issue.  Then I remembered that several months prior I had registered yet another gift card with Starbucks online and that one of the perks available was transferring all of your gift card money on to one gift card.  That way you didn't have to keep track of but one card.  All I needed to do that transaction were the account numbers of both cards.

I like Starbucks.  I especially like it during our winter months when I can drop off Darcy at school and zip through the drive thru, knowing my order ahead of time to avoid unnecessary stress.  I use to never veer from my drink, but lately I've been experimenting.  I find that I enjoy the chai tea latte, but not the caramel macchiato.  My favorite is still the peppermint mocha.  People love to give me gift cards and registering online allows me to earn points and free drinks.  The only downside I see is that you have to use the gift card to get the rewards so you have to keep refreshing your card with money.  Hopefully, they will come up with a key tag or something.

I transferred my money from the corrupt and useless card on to my good card.  Then I drove through the drive thru and lived it up ordering not only my tea but a pastry as well.  Thanks Starbucks!

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