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Same Place, multiple locations: Starbucks
A location list or place verification. If I type in Starbucks, there is only one listed in my area. I get something different if I type in Starbucks Coffee. Both of those are different then Starbucks Coffee @ 91st Ave & Bell. When I checked in today @ Starbucks Coffee, it pulled the one on Agua Fria in Phoenix, and I could not see that till I finished & actually checked in.
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?I have the same problem - I check into a Chicago Starbucks and it shows up as a suburban location
I’m annoyed
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Inappropriate?Not specific to Starbucks' but generally chain locations - I checked into Popeye's last night and the automatic entry for it was at a different location. Has also happened to grocery stores, etc.
I’m frustrated
2 people say
this solves the problem
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This solves the problem
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Julie - when you put in a chain - like Popeye's in the name - put in the street name it should solve problem. -
1 person says
this solves the problem
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Inappropriate?Since there is no way to get an accurate fix with like GPS you'll have to title it a certain way - via store # or put spot location in title. Only way so far3 Comments Add a comment
This solves the problem
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Well, it's not really a GPS accuracy problem... we're talking about two Starbuck's (or whatever chain) that might be 20-30 miles apart. The problem is Foursquare appears to be using the name (if it's a name that it already has in its database) and disregarding GPS altogether and assuming you're at the one it already knows about. So, yeah, calling it something else like "Starbuck's #254" is fine but it doesn't fix the core problem. Plus, you end up with wildly inconsistent naming conventions. It seems to me this is an issue Foursquare needs to fix, not the other way around.
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true... but foursquare doesn't use GPS at all. For now just have to name them differently - hopefully it's in their roadmap to fix
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Or perhaps display the same name along w/ the address. Allow the users to select which one... OR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD add a new one if the ones in the list don't apply!!!!
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Inappropriate?When I check into my local Starbucks in Chicago - I type in Starbucks Broadway as the main street. Then Starbucks asks me is that a new venue. I agree it is (knowing it isn't). When I go to add as a new venue - I take the name Broadway out of the first line - so it is Starbucks only and move Broadway to the second line. I then get checked into the correct Starbucks and it does NOT get added as a new venue. It works for me.
I’m confident
1 person says
this solves the problem
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Inappropriate?Same problem, where it automatically checks in to another location without even letting me ok the location of the place (e.g. Panera or Starbucks...)
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?With chains, you have to search for Starbuc or Paner (leave the rest alone) and it will pull up all the Starbucks or whatever in your area. I think they are fixing chains though soon so it won't be an issue.
I’m amused
2 people say
this solves the problem
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This solves the problem
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And yet it shouldn't be necessary. Hopefully they fix this so you don't have to "mess up" (and type extra words) just to do something correct.
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Inappropriate?you know, another thing you could do is make a unique TAG for the starbucks you want with a small identifier that you can search for when you're there. Goto the venue page online and bottom right you can add a tag or a few whatever
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Inappropriate?I just wish "my" Starbucks showed up when I check in @foursquare - its a block from my house - I am a chai tea addict!
I’m amused
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Inappropriate?When I add a venue that has different locations, I add it with a "- city" at the end. So, for example, "Buffalo Wild Wings - Mt Clemens"1 Comment Add a comment
This solves the problem
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That might work for Buffalo Wild Wings, but not a large chain like Starbucks, McDonald's, etc where they have 10's-100's in a single major city.
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Inappropriate?I find that if I put in: Starbuck - Broadway (street its on) - foursquare says "add new venue" and I do. It then shows up as Starbucks - Broadway. Then I edit it - to be Starbucks and then the next line location: Broadway and it recognized my Starbucks and it adds me to the right location - and it does not add it as a new location. But its a hassle! And I think my local Starbucks that I check in to every day should just come up.
I’m not being taken care of
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This solves the problem
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Sounds like you're doing something wrong. I found the Starbucks you added (http://foursquare.com/venue/100645) and the location data doesn't make any sense. There are also at least 5 Starbucks on Broadway, so I would suggest updating the address information for the Starbucks you frequent.
For others who are seeing similar issues, I would recommend titling the venue with something that makes sense like "Starbucks at Broadway and Elmdale" or "Starbucks at Bryn Mawr and Winthrop". Yourself and others can then easily distinguish between venues later based on the venue name. -
Inappropriate?Well, does your local starbucks have the correct and complete address in it? If it just has a street name then I'm not surprised it doesn't pop up automatically. If you're the mayor of it or added it originally, you can go edit the address.
Hopefully now that there are more superusers this kind of thing will be tidied up eventually. Basically though, ALL chain locations should have some indicator of the location in their title. If you type in just "Starbucks" and someone created one that has only that in the title, then the system sees it's an exact match and goes with that one. If you edit the title of your location to be "Starbucks - Broadway" then you'll be able to skip all that fake-adding rigmarole you've been doing.
I’m waiting for the promised improvements around chains
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Inappropriate?Pelly - I agree with you. I am waiting for the promised improvements around chains. But, my local Starbucks, and my local gym should come up immediately - *maybe a most frequented places.
I’m waiting, too
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Inappropriate?Pelly: This may work for a lot of areas, but take the Phoenix metro for example. There are currently 369 Starbucks Coffee shops. Of those, 13 are on Bell Rd. 11 on Camelback, etc. Now, That would mean identifying both streets (if you even know them), like Starbucks Coffee - 16th St & Camelback Rd, or Starbucks Coffee - Grand Ave & Reems Rd.
There has got to be a better way.1 Comment Add a comment
This solves the problem
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I don't see that as a problem, at least with naming or searching. When I want the McDonald's at Keele and Finch, I type in McDonald's Keele and up pops "McDonald's - Keele and Finch" (which I added).
However, I agree with earlier posts that a search for "McDonald's" should turn up more than one result. OR provide the option to narrow your search. AND when I'm in the vicinity of said McDonald's, I see it on my iPhone automatically. (Just hit Refresh in Places to reload the list of nearby places. This works best outdoors with a good GPS signal.) -
Inappropriate?We pushing some code this week that will fix this problem for mobile_web and for SMS users. And soon after, we'll push these changes to iPhone users.
You'll see already that most of the "duplicate key" errors we used to see all over the place are now gone. That's because you can now add places to the database that have the same name.
There's no longer a need to do things like "Starbucks - East" and "Starbucks - West" - you can add as many "Starbucks" as you want and we'll figure it out w/ the geocodes.
Small steps, but a lot of the code we've been writing this whole time gets pushed starting this week (thru Thanksgiving). We expecting almost 100% of these issues to be solved by Turkey Day.
Thanks again for your patience!
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This solves the problem
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That is awesome to hear. Now, with this be true of the non-GPS (1st Gen) iPhone?
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That is awesome to hear. Now, with this be true of the non-GPS (1st Gen) iPhone?
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So, you are going to be able to use some type of positioning to make sure texts are coming from the actual venue? I am new to FourSquare. I am actually writing my grad school paper about cell phone technology and I joined the site for research and for my presentation. It's fun, but it seems REALLY easy to cheat. Like you can check in by text from a place you aren't at. Is that a fix that is coming by Turkey Day? Just wondering :o)
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So, you are going to be able to use some type of positioning to make sure texts are coming from the actual venue? I am new to FourSquare. I am actually writing my grad school paper about cell phone technology and I joined the site for research and for my presentation. It's fun, but it seems REALLY easy to cheat. Like you can check in by text from a place you aren't at. Is that a fix that is coming by Turkey Day? Just wondering :o)
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Actually, we are tracking that now (distance from your actual location to the location you're checking into). Right now we don't call out the cheaters (we're still tweaking the rules to prevent false positives) but I'm hoping this is fixed by ThanksG
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Thank you so much! I think your site is perfect for my paper and I really like how you are making a game out of going out on the town. Great work and thanks again!
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I know you guys have been working on the geolocation stuff and have had it running the backend... Unless you JUST added that like a couple days ago I still had an issue of searching for a place and I checked in to a place way north in Phoenix as they hadn't titled it "place - location"... I did'nt know there was another one but my checkin was far from my geo-coords.
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So now that you have the style guide, someone has gone and removed all the location appellations from Starbucks in Seattle. But texting @ Starbucks to Foursquare doesn't check you in to the correct venue. So how's about explaining exactly how we're supposed to check in to a venue via SMS now? Are we supposed to tack on the address with a * character or something? Help. This rolling out of new features without directions on how to actually use them is pretty effed up.
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Inappropriate?I have been having this issue on the iPhone. I was at Target yesterday and I when I added it it put me at a Target 40 miles away. -
Inappropriate?Yeah it's still not working because I did that with a Chilli's in Chandler and it checked me in at the one on Mill Ave... Fail... hopefully soon it'll work... until then created "Chilli's @ Chandler Mall" :)
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Inappropriate?I found a "temp" solution.
When I check into a chain, like Starbucks, I don't click the "Not in list" at the bottom. Instead I click the search icon in the upper left. When I type in "Starbucks", it lists all of them in the region, starting with, assumed, the closest one. I then just search the list for the correct one, or add it from there.
I still hope Four Square fixes this.
1 person says
this solves the problem
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Inappropriate?I love that BrightKite shows the Google local entries that match your search, elegant solution. -
Inappropriate?This problem is now SOLVED, folks! Hooray! *dance of joy*
Check out the new foursquare style guide -- no need for suffixes anymore, just name your place "Starbucks" instead of "Starbucks - Milton & Ste-Catherine", for example. Same for Apple Stores, etc.
I’m happy foursquare came up with a solution!
2 Comments Add a comment
This solves the problem
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Not really. THere's still no way to check in via SMS when multiple venues have the same name.
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Yeah, this isn't resolved at all. It makes checking in via mobile web unnecessarily more difficult, and checking in via SMS impossible to do consistently. Since I don't have an iPhone or Android phone and need to use one of the alternatives, I find myself unable to check in somewhat often...
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Inappropriate?It's not solved in the m.foursquare.com interface, yet.
But I think there is a pretty simple way to make it work. All foursquare needs to do is just always list the address at check-in, just like when there are multiple locations to pick from. And have an option to add a new location for that chain below it.
The first part should be pretty simple to program, because it looks like they are actively suppressing it when there is just one entry - just display it, and you know you're in the right place.
Currently many people probably don't even realize they are checking in at the wrong location.
I’m surprised, because it seems so simple.
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Inappropriate?I have been complaining about this forever. I just wish my local Starbucks would come up in the immediate directory - as it's a block from where I live. I find it really annoying and not user friendly.
I’m annoyed
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