Starbucks Hong Kong 4+

I have a reward - a free drink - to redeem. I tapped the rewards button already and naturally one would think that this could redeem my free drink. However my money was deducted instead!! I didn't realise that until I left the store because at the moment when I was paying, the app wasn't refreshed instantly (it didn't say it deducted my money, it didn't say I used the reward either) so I just thought that there could be a time lag until the app would eventually be refreshed. This time lag creates a problem as well because I can't dispute this to the cashier immediately. I have left the store now. That's bad experience.

Why relaunch an app that was clearly never tested? In fact, why change something at all if it was working perfectly fine before?

There has been problem after problem with the new app, including not being able to log in and it saying your password was incorrect, not allowing you to stay logged in and for the last 5 - 6 weeks, not being able to reload your card using the app, meaning the Citi promotion is completely meaningless because there’s no way to reload!

I’ve sent emails to customer service but after 2 months, still no reply and still no apology from management for the worst app relaunch of all time. Shame on the company they paid to mess things up!

Moreover, promotions have become thin on the ground, there have been cutbacks (E.g 3 Stars for doing a survey rather than a Buy 1 Get 1) and many promotions on Alipay etc that do not allow you to earn Stars or get the internet access as Gold if you avail of them. Starbucks has no respect for its customers and takes us for mugs (pun intended). After many years as a Gold member, i’m going to give my hard earned cash to a more deserving company.

I’d like to preface this by saying I never write reviews, but the latest update has made me so upset I’ve decided to write one.

I can’t believe that even ever through its poor optimization and clunky user experience since the new app’s launch, I was still able to use this almost daily. I’ve waited patiently for updates so that I can once again top up my Starbucks card via the app, or I can save my customized drink for quicker ordering, or where drink orders don’t take forever to load. All of these functions, as mentioned by other users, were previously available in the old version.

But why bother making updates to this app at all if it solves none of the core issues. In fact, the latest update is so bad I spent 30 mins trying to log in and just add a drink to cart. By the time I could get to the payment screen, either the app crashed or multiple errors are thrown saying I have no internet connection.

Seriously, do something, anything to help improve the app. And maybe don’t release updates on a weekday when most people will try to buy coffee in the morning on a workday…