Small Adventure 76

I drink coffee. There, I've said it, and I'm not afraid of what anyone else thinks.

I used to drink a lot more, but I have cut back for various reasons. However, I still drink often enough that I try to get the shop points cards where I can to benefit from whatever rewards programs they may have. Case in point is Seattle's Best. They have one shop I know of in Kagoshima, located in the main Chuo train station. I used to drink at Seattle's Best in the U.S. all the time, and I liked them better than Starbuck's. So, when SBC opened in the station, I naturally chose to hang out there when I was up at Amu Plaza for shopping or visiting live events. Over one year ago, I got the SBC points card. One point for 500 yen, 40 points for the full card. On the card are "stage" markers, 6 total.

I made it a practice to stop at SBC on Sundays to read manga or cryptography books for an hour to just relax, and get a coffee plus a cookie or egg biscuit to snack on. As I hit each stage marker, I waited to see if the person at the register would say anything about my getting a present, free coffee, or a dessert or something, but that never happened. The rewards are all in Japanese small print, and I had trouble reading it, so I couldn't get details that way. Finally, a few weeks ago, I filled up the card. The next week, I brought it back, along with a friend who asked about redeeming the card. I got a regular cup of coffee, she got a small, and we both got desserts. The clerk discounted the coffees, and put two stamps on the stage icons on the card. So, that was nice. When I went back a week later, I asked what I could use the remaining 4 stage points for, I was told that I could get free drink toppings, which normally run for 50 yen each. I settled on a dollop of whipped cream, and left to drink my drink and read my manga.

I'm spoiled. American points cards have generally been pretty good to me. And even when I was in Akihabara, having points cards at the maid cafes would get me a free maid photo, free iced coffee or a free dinner much faster than with the SBC card. But, Japan as a whole is horrible with things like points-back rewards cards, averaging 1 point for every 100 to 500 yen, worth 1 yen in store credit. Even so, with the SBC card, and a minimum of 500 yen per point for 40 points, that's a minimum of $200 USD on the card, for rewards of a regular coffee ($3.60), a small ($3.25) and 4 toppings at maybe 40 cents each, giving a total of maybe $10 of store credit. I don't get coffee toppings, and a Japanese "regular" sized cup is an American small.

I realize that I'm not paying for a cup of coffee, I'm paying for rental of a place to sit down and listen to music for an hour, but still, this feels like a rip-off. The coffee at a Japanese SBC doesn't taste as good as in the U.S., and the desserts and sandwiches are smaller than at Starbucks. Admittedly, the only reason I was getting the sandwiches was to get the price up over 500 yen each time (usually between 600 and 750 yen) just to get the points, because I wanted to know what I could get from a full card. And now I know. But I don't like the answer. I think I'll just go back to buying a regular-sized 7-11 hot coffee at 150 yen to drink while I'm walking back and forth between Tenmonkan and Amu Plaza, and eat at home if I want a place to relax and kill time.

Goodbye, SBC. It's not you, it's me.