Starbucks Rewards (and Punishments)

I drive up to Starbucks to redeem a reward drink. For those of you unfamiliar with this, you register a re-loadable gift card, and every time you purchase an item at Starbucks, you earn one star. After earning twelve stars you can get any drink for free. I buy twelve espressos a week, so I am pumped! There are many reasons why this is a good business strategy; customer loyalty, targeted advertising, faster transactions, etc. Then it occurred to me; why don't we have Starbucks Punishments? Many companies and economists have evaluated firing customers by either charging them higher fees (such as at banks) or removing generous return policies (such as at Best Buy). Let's examine the proposed system.

First, we need a catchy, non-threatening name. Punishment Moons (I prefer a crimson waning gibbous). Next, how does one "earn" a moon? Economically speaking, it should be those who cause Starbucks to incur extra costs, above an average reasonable amount. Here are a few examples: 1. Order more than three waters in a single visit. 2. Talk on phone while ordering 3. Using different forms of payment for the same transaction.  4. Altering a drink so much that it becomes a different drink 5. Ponder what you want for several minutes. 6. Not using the Drive Thru. Enforcement is easy to implement since it will be performed by the Baristas. Once you reach twelve moons, the barista will then charge you for any drink they want without making it for you. This is a fair system, since it transfers some of the value of the product to the customers.

What might be better, however, is transfer stars from a violator to a customer whose cost have also increased.