Starting July 18, 2011, the treat receipt has returned to Starbucks. For those who don’t know, this is a promotion where you purchase any item before 2:00 p.m., then hang on to your receipt, and return to any Starbucks after 2:00 p.m., and use your receipt to get any cold beverage (Grande size only) for $2.00. You must go back on the same day that you bought your purchase before 2:00 p.m.
Starbucks has offered the treat receipt since 2008. It was a promotion implemented to help people feeling the pinch of the downward economy yet still wanting to visit Starbucks often, and to entice people into a second trip into Starbucks in one single day. The earliest 2008 treat receipt promotion is mentioned here.
The current treat receipt promotion started today and ends September 5, 2011, and is offered at participating Starbucks in the U.S. and Canada.
So how does everyone like this promotion? Are stores busier in the afternoon because of it? Do you use it?
Alright, I’m going to be honest here. This promotion does very little to excite me. It seems like most people are really glad when the treat receipt comes back, but I have difficulty being enthusiastic about. I sometimes lose my morning receipt by afternoon. I often visit Starbucks twice a day anyways. I rarely order Frappuccinos – those customers see the largest savings with this promotion. I really enjoy a “Venti” size Passion iced tea, but the treat receipt is not designed for Venti size. The treat receipt doesn’t fit my own personal habits at Starbucks. I feel like I am alone in that, so probably in the comments everyone will love this treat receipt but it just doesn’t do much for me. So sorry Starbucks! I still love you. In any case, if I haven’t been quite clear, I should say that even though the treat receipt is not my thing, I totally understand how and why many others love it.
Are you taking advantage of this year’s treat receipt? It is a good deal if you are the kind of person who grabs something small in the morning, and then you want to get an afternoon Frappuccino or Vivanno smoothie.
52 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Socialize
Wow, interesting promotions! But like you, I also don’t really enjoy cold drinks. I prefer brewed coffee or CM to frappuccino or other iced drinks. I also don’t usually order grande, I prefer tall (but I get free upgrades to grande usually! LOL) or venti. To save most, you have to order the most expensive iced drink right? But its good, just to help the customers… =)
For me the treat receipt is not helpful because of what size drink I order. I have never really used it myself although there have been times I have passed it along to others.
I knew this was coming yesterday (and I was wondering where was the pre-announcement by Melody;)
This is something I do take advantage of, a few times a week at least. My summer drink is a quad doublehot so….. nice to have this around. I most often would actually use it as a frapp treat for someone else after 2P.
also glad it’s a little longer-running than usual this yr. makes sense.
And, one more thing: I would think Sbux might put this out in an email to gold-carders, at least. I guess they realize they don’t need to, we’ll find out eventually.
I got my treat first receipt yesterday WOWWIE – ZOWWIE – ZONKERS. Now to decide what I want. My oh my those tough decisions. I am going to get another one today after my Greenlake walk. Gotta love those treat receipts.
@Steve – Glad you like the treat receipt. 🙂 @Purple1 – If you like an afternoon iced passion tea, or iced green tea, or the iced black tea, then the treat receipt isn’t terribly useful – I think that you must order a Venti too when getting an iced tea? And I don’t think $2 is much of a savings on a grande passion tea, which would be gone in a few slurps.
I had a customer yesterday who thought that the treat receipt made her coffee free. She thought that it was to take $2 off the cost of a drink. So she really only saved 35 cents on her drink. It is a frustrating promotion if you are an iced tea or iced coffee drinker, because it saves you almost nothing, but if you like a frappuccino, it’s fabulous.
It is so true that the treat receipt is of no value to someone like me that drinks iced green tea and almost always the grande size. Although in the total picture of the promotion, I suppose there are benefits to it and many people use it, however, the bottom line is that I feel it is not one of the better promotions that SB has offered.
Treat Receipt = meh
Does not fit my beverage profile, waste of more expensive receipt paper, too easily misinterpreted by entitled attitude customers.
😉
@DadCooks – Very well put. I was truly surprised by my encounter yesterday, since the customer is a regular, and has been since the last treat receipt. I was also surprised that I had a customer upset over a treat receipt before I had a customer upset over not being able to order a Trenta frappuccino.
My customers have been loving the Treat Receipt. We had 54 redeemed yesterday which was more than I expected to get back.
Something worth noting is that Smoothies are part of the promotion, which is unusual. They’re usually excluded.
I just noticed the Treat Receipt the other day, but have yet to use it. I intended to, but it’s so easy to misplace a receipt! Or to forget about it until the next day. It would help me out, though, as I tend to get Frappuccinos or iced drinks, especially in this crazy Texas heat! Maybe next time I’ll remember to make use of it. 🙂
Pencil to Paper – Do you drive? Stick it to your steering wheel, that’ll help you remember!
I always get so excited when this comes back…but honestly I’ll be lucky to use it a few times by the end of the promotion.
It seems like a great idea, but then for some reason when 2pm or later rolls around I never seem to be in the mood for a Frappuccino since I don’t drink them much anyway.
I’m still happy they’re back, it’s nice to have the option! 🙂
@purple1 – I agree with your thinking. (As well as agree with kitenarie & DadCooks). I guess I should just be happy the option is available.
@Michelle – I don’t ever recall that you couldn’t get a smoothie with it before? I thought the smoothie was included in all the previous treat receipt years too.???
As someone who usually gets a venti iced coffee or tea, I usually downgrade to the grande when treat receipts come along. I appreciate the value.
I enjoy the treat receipts. I like to grab my sister a frappacino on the way to her house to pick up my baby after work. I also like to try new things, and the treat receipts allow me to do that at a lower price.
Oh! I forgot to add that I did get an email today outlining the return of the treat receipts along with descriptions if the new Bistro Boxes.
Someone made the comment that they thought the treat receipt was not a very good promotion but I couldn’t find it. I tend to disagree with them since it gets people back in the stores in the afternoon who probably, like me, wouldn’t normally go in and a few might even buy something else to go with their 2 buck drink. Others have commented that they misplace their treat receipts or forget about it. How can one misplace or forget their treat receipt when they can get a cold drink for two bucks that usually costs more? Just put in in a special place that you won’t forget it. Someone even suggested taping it to your dashboard if you have a car, I have suggested last year that they might think about starting the treat receipt at noon instead of 2:00 so as to catch the lunch crowd and possibly continue the treat receipt during the winter months and have it good for a warm holiday drink.
Steve – If the promo works for you then awesome!! I think most people like this promo.
To anyone: On another website I saw a discussion of what does it mean to buy something in the “morning.” I hadn’t given that too much thought before. Would anybody here think you can’t use a treat receipt because the customer bought something at 1:50 pm and wanted to use the TR at 2:01 pm?
Interesting question Melody. Is there small print anywhere that outlines the time frame you need to buy the something? I would think if not, then someone can purchase an item at 1:50 pm and then use the receipt after 2 pm. From a legal standpoint, what is your view?
Yes Melody it works for me and I think it’s awesome. Gotta go now so have a nice day Malody and everyone else floating around in cyber space.
I saw an ad for this the other day and was surprised that it’s in Canada! This is the first time! I usually don’t go to Starbucks twice in one day, and if I do, it’s on the weekend when I make a bunch of visits to my favourite stores in a couple hours. I think it might be useful for me if I got a coffee in the morning, and on the way back from work got something cold. With the weather though, it’s been dreary and rainy, so it doesn’t look like anything cold will be as refreshing. Not to mention in the morning I have to make connections since I take public transit; if I grab a coffee and the baristas take too long, it could mean I miss my next bus.
I have never thought it was a great discount until it dawned on me that I could get an iced kenya tana river or JBM for $2.00. So I’ve had it twice this week 🙂 I don’t know if many people have thought about it using it on clover coffee.
@Amy in Boston – Holy moly you’re right. That’s a great idea. In fact, our mutual friend Marcus got me hooked on iced JMB. A grande iced JMB from the Clover is normally $6.05 after tax. ($5.50 before tax). I definitely think that would be a great after 2 pm treat receipt idea!
Treat receipt is my second favorite time of year, just behind Christmas. I love it! It fits right into my personal habits. I have been anxiously awaiting it’s return!
Oh, and, as a gold card member, I did get an email yesterday that mentioned it. It was buried between a few other announcements, but it was there.
Melody, I can give you a definitive answer to the “morning” question. Any store operating with the Symphony registers is set to automatically print treat receipts from opening until 2:05 PM, and they are redeemable beginning at 2:00 PM.
I do have a lot of customers that only drink hot drinks, and actually refuse their treat receipt. Sometimes, I hang on to them anyway, and give an extra one to someone who looks like they need something to brighten their day.
Kitenarie thanks for the info re the time frame for the treat receipt. And it is so nice of you to save the receipts and give one to someone that needs a smile for their day! I know if I could use the receipt and you gave it to me out of the blue it would surely make my day. Thanks.
@Melody – actually we’ve never had the treat receipt before. However generally the smoothies are just excluded from promotions here. So, the first thing we all said was how surprised we were that they were included.
wow, i’ve never heard of this promotion, but it sounds like a great deal! i’m not a big coffee drinker, but i could get some iced soy chai haha.
Yup, it’s a great drink idea and apparently one of the stores that I go to is using that as a way to sell more clover coffee-
http://postimage.org/image/2oac6i96s/
as long as you have a receipt from ANY time of day before 2P, (here, anyway) you can retrieve it for whatever grande cold anything you want (for $2.00) after 2P.
@Amanda: I got that email too but after the promo had been out already for almost 2 days. They seem often to be a little late on the email notices. That’s been my experience. (but, I knew of this from the baristas, so, it didn’t matter)
ok..here’s a small question. My regular store manager is saying that the previous ‘treat receipts, at least last yr., were only redeemable from 2-5P. I do NOT remember it being that way. was it? I’m thinking he’s confusing it with the “frappy hour”.
anyone?
I also asked if alot are being redeemed. He said, yes, but not a really lot of them (which I think is due to the really nearly UNbearable heat wave….there’s almost no one out and about) but he thinks the ‘extended’ time…until close, to redeem them helps. I really do not remember a 2-5P thing from last yr or the yr before.
(plus it’s running a little longer this yr, I bleieve…do not remember going into Sept. before, as it is this yr.) ??? thanx
@Denise, I know that wasn’t the case at my store – it was any time between 2 and closing. I know that 2-5 was generally the busiest time for redemption, but we had people coming in with 5 minutes to closing and we redeemed it. I think it’s running a few weeks later (I feel like it ended around August 21st last year?), but I also think it started quite a bit later than it did last year.
@kitenarie the Treat Receipt promotion went for almost 4 months last year, this year it’s only 6 weeks. I think that the company probably feels that sales are strong enough currently that they don’t need to offer such a deep discount to get incremental sales.
In our store, the majority of redemptions are either Frappuccinos or Refreshers. Because the Refreshers are noticeably more expensive than the Iced Coffee and Iced Tea, lots of customers are giving them a try at $2 for a Grande.
Around here you seem to be able to use the treat receipt anytime after 2 pm until closing. Last night we used it after 8 pm. BTW can you use a treat receipt anytime once you get it until the promo ends or does it have to be used within 24 hours of receipt?
@purple – The treat receipt is supposed to be used the same day as you receive it. I wonder how many baristas are remembering to check dates on the receipts though?
@Chris W: this promo (treat rec.) definitely did not go for four mnths last yr here. in fact, we were talking about that in the store the other day…last yr it ended in August sometime here and started sometime in the summer but this (here) is definitely the longest period of its promo.
@Purple1 and @Michelle: I have been told (but NOT this yr…whole different grp of baristas)..maybe in ’09, that they really were not checking the dates and don’t really worry about it if it’s from, say, yesterday. That was NOT policy, but that’s what was happening. It never affected me, since I had a receipt from every day, before 2P.
But yes, I am sure my manager is wrong about the time limit (2-5P) last yr. I really think he is thinking of the ‘frappy hr’ thing….
denise – We’ve had a whole whack of 2-5pm promotions lately. Frappuccino Happy Hour, Tea Time (which I think was Canada only and happened twice), BOGO Holiday Drinks…and I think another that I can’t remember. It’s easy to get confused! 🙂
@Denise – I definitely don’t think the treat receipt has ever been limited to two to five p.m. I linked to the 2008 notice of it in the original blog post. I just went to MSI to see if I could find any other announcements:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2009/06/30/the-return-of-treat-receipt.aspx
^ The 2009 Treat receipt went from 6-30 to 9-29-2009 – No limitation of 2 to 5.
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2010/06/29/treat-receipt-is-back.aspx
^ The 2010 treat receipt went from 6-29 to 10-4 – So it had a full extra week almost. It probably did feel longer.
I can see how all these promotions can get confusing for partners but you are right my friend. No 2 to 5 limit on the TR.
In the heat of the summer I always order a raspberry java chip light frapp on my way to work. A grande fills my 20 oz. tumbler and with all the card member discounts comes to a cool $4.71. Knowing I can buy an afternoon one for $2.00 puts a smile on my face!
it was a much bigger deal last year than this year, but our blended drink buyers LOVE it!
Isn’t there a way that a registered Starbucks card holder could earn a treat receipt and that information could be stored on the card to alert the barista next time, rather than having to save the receipt? Now THAT’s a card perk I could get behind!
I think the technology just isn’t there yet. The point of sale software was just finally upgraded this year from software that was purchased in the 80’s. Probably once they’ve got the kinks worked out on the new software they’ll look into updating things. I’d hope that getting rid of paper coupons would be a priority as there is both an environmental impact and a financial one associated with physical coupons, but there may be more important things to focus on first.
I’m hoping you’re right, Michelle. The new system can do some pretty cool things, so I’m hoping that eventually, it can eliminate a lot of the paper. I hate how much paper we waste.
As a partner, I hate to say this, but I don’t think the paper coupons or postcard rewards are going away anytime soon. It sounds perfect, right? Why aren’t rewards automatically placed onto a card holder’s account and redeemed automatically? Because then there isn’t the chance for these rewards to not be redeemed. The attrition rate for coupons more than pays for the additional cost to actually print and mail the physical coupons to customers. With an electronic version, the redemption rate would move much closer to 100%, costing the company in additional discounts.
Sorry to be such a pessimist, but at the end of the day, Starbucks is a business…..
I think Chris has a very good point and is not pessimistic but realistic. Starbucks is really not in the business to give drinks away for free even though you do pay for them in the added markup of the 15 seperate purchases but as Chris points out if the free drink is electronically added to your Starbucks card Starbucks would have to honor every one but being very shrude and sagacious business people Starbucks knows if they mail out post cards a certain percentage will either be undeliverable or forgotten about or just lost and those are the free drinks Starbucks does not have to provide.
@ChrisW and @Steve – I think the official term for that is “slippage.” (I think?). I have wondered about that. Starbucks adamantly denies that aspect of the cards and redemption, but it must factor into all of this. Sigh. There are times I wish we were still in the era of Starbucks that had no rewards at all, but prices were a little lower, and baristas seemed happy.
Melody – I believe you’re right about the term being slippage. Before I came to work for Starbucks I remember hearing what the amount of slippage was on gift cards at my last employer and I was stunned. Imagine having a gift card and never using it??? It just doesn’t compute for me.
This promo has definitely worked on me. My new fave drink to get in the afternoon is a chocolate banana smoothie with hazelnut. I should try the Clover iced drinks though.
@ea12l – Welcome to the blog! I like your comment – That’s partly because I really like the smoothies too. I’m a fan of the orange mango with coconut syrup, and the choc banana one, but with white choc and added java chips. I realize that it’s probably not so healthy – a lot of added sugar, but I like it anyway! Thanks for dropping by. I will have to try the choc banana one with hazelnut. Sounds good.
If you like this blog, please click “like” on the facebook widget in the column on the right-hand side. Thanks!