All companies need to be on the lookout for fraud at some point, but many customers are fuming over Starbucks cancelling thousands of Gold Accounts because they suspected holders of possibly not being over the minimum age of 13. This was done as a precautionary measure, but involved a great deal of inconvenience to many customers who were simply waiting to get their cups of coffee.
A Starbucks representative told GeekWire that this was “a normal course of doing business, ” and customers with cancelled accounts were greeted with the message “Recently, we have discovered that a number of account holders had their age listed as being under 13 years old. If this doesn’t apply to you, please know you can create a new registration account in compliance with our Terms of Use by registering your new card.”
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This sounds simple enough, but who needs the hassle? Some momentarily panicked because they would lose their points that would entitle them to discounts on coffee and food until they discovered that their points would be replaced or money would be reimbursed. Okay, fair enough, but why should the customer have to do the legwork when the mistake when it is up to the company to verify information? One customer complained that he was put on hold for 45 minutes by Starbucks customer service. And if the customer in question hadn’t had his morning coffee yet, no doubt, he must have been really steamed.
