Starbucks Customer Relations,

Let me start this letter by addressing the fact that I have always tried to support my local coffee shops. Although your establishment was started as a small and genuine operation; it’s sincerity has been compromised by the very corporate masters that have made so many of our lives an incessant annoyance.

I will get to the point of this letter. As I said, I have always tried to support my local coffee joints. Starbucks has made its image present from every angle; a chain with links conveniently placed next to any small coffee house in America. I do however from time to time visit my local Starbucks, because it’s convenient and the coffee is not too bad. I usually order an Americano on Ice and sip on it through out the day. Other places get it wrong from time to time. I live in Southern California and I usually hit the Starbucks on my way to work. I particularly enjoy the people that work at this location, so I don’t mind going in there from time to time…

This past Saturday there was some work being done to my house, so I grabbed the kids and decided to go to Starbucks to kill some time; buy the kiddos some Hot Chocolate and a bagel; maybe catch up on my emails, etc. After getting our beverages and bagels, I proceeded to sit down and cozy up with my laptop… After turning on my trusty computer I noticed to my surprise that I had a nice AT&T logo staring at me with its hands out, wanting my qualifying Starbucks card information or $$$… $3.99 per 2 hours to be exact.

In this day and age charging for WI-FI as an established coffee house is beyond my comprehension. What nerve! I am not a qualified Starbucks card holder, nor do I ever plan to be. I am however a paying customer who has regrettably spent more than I care to admit in your establishments over the years. Now Starbucks and AT&T have bedded each other in the latest corporate sham? Even McDonalds offers free WIFI. Many cities in this country AND most of the small Mom and Pop shops I can name offer free WIFI. How dare you charge paying customers who don’t want credit with Starbucks for WIFI. I hope you have seen a dramatic decline in profits because of this asinine decision and that you continue to do so. I will never frequent Starbucks again. I will get up 10 minutes earlier to drive a few minutes out of my way to support my local community. I will post this letter on my website in the hopes it reaches more concerned people sick of corporate giants like you taking advantage of your position in corporate the food chain; so to speak. I am a capitalist, I believe in Capitalism in every sense. What I cannot fathom is trying to profit on something that should be free for paying customers, it’s beyond ridiculous. I just can’t believe the nerve.

Signed,

Joshua Riddle

joshua@liquidstardesign.com

X-Customer