The Latte Fairy
Once upon a time I received a Starbucks gift card and I used it diligently to purchase Grande White Chocolate Mochas and Venti Cinnamon Dolce lattes until the balance reached zero and I tossed it out. Unfortunately a few weeks later I received a note from Starbucks stating that they had added $5 to my gift card. Instead of being excited about the prospect of a free latte I was annoyed as that card was long gone.
Fast forward to a few days ago when this anecdote was pushed back into my memory after reading a post about money being added to registered Starbucks card via the Starbuck’s Gossip website. And I wondered… had I registered that card? I quickly logged into starbucks.com and happily discovered that I had and it even showed the infamous $5 balance still intact. After reading through the FAQ, I learned that I can call Starbucks customer service to receive a replacement card. How cool is that?! So the moral of the story is to hang onto those used gift cards and always register them. You never know when the latte fairy will strike again!
You might try posting this on www.measuredup.com - it’s a consumer website where people can post their experiences at stores in their area. It would be helpful for folks to realize that the Latte Fairy can come even without a card.