Oh, Starbucks. You’re one of our most fulfilling relationships, but sometimes, it’s simply hard to trust you. Case in point: that time you promised free reusable mugs just to run out in literally minutes. A simple error? Well, maybe. But by now, Starbucks should know what products will be in high demand. Kind of like how it’d be a rarity for them to order minimal supplies for Pumpkin Spice Lattes at the start of the season. It just wouldn’t happen.
Here’s the full story. After Starbucks shared their 2018 seasonal drinks and showcased their brand new holiday cups, they announced that they’d be giving away reusable cups on November 2nd. They stated that you could get them while supplies last, but a ton of locations weren’t prepped at all, or just had very limited supplies. And that’s not all — Delish reports that those who tried to order through the app early, thus securing them a cup, faced app crashes. A few others reported their drinks came in a standard holiday cup. Nice, but not what was advertised.
The fact that they made such a big announcement about the cups, but then failed to deliver, upset many fans. As expected, they tried to make sure Starbucks knew about their fury through Twitter.
I understand it’s while supple last but stores in my area ran out at 7am and you’ll restock to sell them by the dozens 😡😢🤫
— Linda Durgana (@disneymom0f2) November 2, 2018
Yes. Ridiculous to send an email promoting the offer at 8:56 am et when most stores that opened at 5 am et were sold out by 7 am.
— EmmPD (@PDEmmDee) November 2, 2018
I asked yesterday at my Starbucks and they said come after 2pm today. So I did. They said they gave them all away starting at 6am. I actually even had it on my calendar and skipped lunch to go there. Very unorganized effort. pic.twitter.com/THkogW1yHe
— INTY AYDAK (@Ignoretheroar) November 2, 2018
Here’s the part that’s especially frustrating. Technically, many stores still had red cups available — just not for free. So it seems as if they set aside just a couple for a few lucky Starbucks fans, but everyone who came in later would have to pay up. It’s a misleading promo for sure.
The good news is, this means that a lot of people are interested in helping the environment by using reusable cups this season. It’s a great thing that Starbucks is promoting, but it’d have been a lot better had they been totally upfront about the whole thing.
