Ending a 35 year relationship!
I will give praise where it is due and most of the staff deserves praise for being quick and efficient and they do make a killer iced latte for me and they are the only Peet's in the Walnut Creek, Concord, Clayton area that stocks enough of Peet's Egg, Bacon and Cheddar Brioche sandwich so that you can actually enjoy one after nine in the morning. Several of the more senior Barista's recognize me here and already know my drink which is pretty precise.
Praise stops here.
Last week I stopped in to order an iced latte with five ($20 value each) Peet's debit cards in my possession (that I had previously purchased at my local Costco) to have them consolidated onto my own personal Peet's debit card. I have done this approximately once per month for at least the last 4 years now since I retired after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. These cards are issued by Peet's and also sold through Costco stores. Five cards, pre-loaded with twenty dollars each for $100 value all for $79...a good deal.
The clerk helping me was new and unfamiliar with doing this task so he had to ask another employee who, I believe, was the Manager or a Supervisor working behind the bar. The store wasn't crowded and there were only a couple of customers in line. The clerk came back to me and said, "Sorry, but we are not allowed to consolidate these onto your card". I replied that this store and others have been doing this for me for years in a calm, controlled voice. The Manager or Supervisor looked up from what she was doing about 20 feet away and in a loud and impatient voice said "No! We are not allowed to do that." So I told the Barista in a calm and quiet voice that I would go somewhere else and left the building. I wasn't happy.
Outside the store as I fumed the customer who was in line behind me and witnessed the whole thing commiserated with my situation and the rudeness of the Manager/Supervisor.
My point is that even if Corporate had laid down new rules overnight this was no way to explain it to a good and loyal customer!
As it turns out, Peet's Corporate had changed the rules about 6 months prior but (and I can only guess) was just now clamping down on enforcement. A call to Peet's corporate and follow up email to complain fell on deaf ears. What is the reason they no longer allow this card consolidation?
Fraud.
Are you kidding me. You strike a deal with a major Peet's customer, Costco. You pre-load the cards for Costco. They sell them to me and I just want to consolidate the value onto my own Peet's issued card for convenience and I am the bad guy?
This is the epitome of really bad, large corporation, customer service and why, after my card funds are spent, I will find another coffee business that deserves my money. After 35 years of Peet's, I'm done.
If Peet's has a fraud problem then get your IT department to find a solution, don't penalize the customer.
(BTW I went to another Peet's store about an hour later and they happily consolidated them onto...
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