Starbucks Rewards program

Earlier this week, Starbucks sent an email to its rewards patrons that said beginning Feb. 13, the coffee chain will require more points, aka stars, from ...

In order to acquire stars, a customer has to use the Starbucks rewards program. [Currently](https://www.starbucks.com/rewards), customers only need 50 stars to get a brewed hot coffee, bakery item or tea, 150 for a handcrafted drink, hot breakfast or parfait, 200 for a salad, sandwich or protein box and 400 for select merchandise, such as a signature cup or coffee accessories or a full bag of coffee to take home. Customers can cash in 200 stars to get a free handcrafted beverage, such as a latte or Frappuccino or any hot breakfast item — and 300 stars can be redeemed for packaged salads, packaged protein boxes, a lunch sandwich or a packaged coffee item, such as whole bean coffee.

Starbucks Rewards is updating the Terms of Use for Reward redemption starting in February. You can read the updated Terms of Use in the link below. That's it.

I generally think it's a bad idea to make it harder for a customer to be loyal to your business, but it's especially bad if you do it in a way that catches them by surprise. It's better for them, and, by the way, it's better for your business. Sure, no one wants to call attention to bad news, but what happens when your customer goes to redeem their stars for a free drink, only to find out that they either don't have enough, or the amount required has changed? I guess it's not surprising that Starbucks doesn't really want people to pay much attention because, in some cases, the number of stars required for a free drink has doubled. It knows that most people never read anything with the words "terms of use" in the headline. Starbucks Rewards is updating the Terms of Use for Reward redemption starting in February.