Starbucks said buy something or leave: How people feel about it

It has been over three months since Starbucks reversed its ope

n-door policy, requiring customers to make a purchase to use the coffee chain’s bathrooms, internet, get water, and use the chain’s lobby areas.

Starbucks announced a policy in May 2018, defining a customer as anyone who enters Starbucks − whether they buy something or not. That policy was reversed in January. 

While some customers understand the change, others feel it’s inhumane. And some Starbucks employees feel the policy puts a strain on already overworked and underpaid workers.

Starbucks previously said the company wants to give customers a "third place" to go when they need it. Per the company's website, third places are not home, nor are they work. They're more like "somewhere in between."

A Starbucks spokesperson said in order to give customers a "third place" to frequent, the company must be clear about what it expects when customers come to its spaces.

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"We have been listening to partners and customers to understand what the company can do to keep customers coming back time and again and make partners feel as though they have the best job in retail," the spokesperson said. "It starts with the coffeehouse experience-- creating and maintaining a warm, welcoming and inclusive place where customers can comfortably gather and partners are empowered to focus on providing exceptional service.”

The company also said the policy change is "consistent with other retailers and restaurants in the industry."

In addition to reversing its open-door policy, Starbucks also announced on Jan. 27 that customers who have their first drink in the lobby can get free refills on hot or iced brewed coffee or tea, a potential incentive for customers to stick around while enjoying their beverage.

Here’s how some customers and employees feel about spending money to take a load off at Starbucks.

Customer cites ‘gray area’ and ‘human element’ to Starbucks pool of patrons

Cat Wack, 35, lives in the Glen Allen, Virginia area, about 14 miles northwest of Richmond, the state capital. She works from home and sometimes needs to get out of her home office. 

When asked about the policy on April 18, she said she had mixed feelings.

“I'm more comfortable with it than not,” she told USA TODAY on April 18. “It's a business, and so there’s this unspoken but implied social contract to use their space that they pay to maintain. You are a customer, and you pay for the goods and services to use that space.”