Starbucks Coffee

A wonderful idea, with incredibly poor planning on the part of Starbucks.  I picked this item out as the one "12 Gifts of Christmas" item I really wanted.  By the time I arrived at my local Starbucks store at 7:30 in the morning, they had 'sold out'.  The store only received 12 mugs, sold out by 6 AM.

I called every store within a 30 mile radius of my house.  Same deal.  Online?  Sold out.

I understand the concept of 'limited supply', but seriously?  Not very customer friendly at all.  Rather upsetting actually, to many Starbucks faithfuls, including myself.

Starbucks needs to think through these promotions better instead of taking the risk of really upsetting their customer base like they have today.  I won't go so far as to say I'm giving up my Gold Card and never returning to a Starbucks store, but this most certainly didn't do anything positive for the relationship that Starbucks and I have cultivated over the years.

Great idea. I hope this is a dry run of starting an annual "bottomless mug". I had to stop by two stores but I found one and they had two left. Now I'm kicking myself for not buying both.

I am sure disappointed in how this was promoted with little to no stock in the stores.  When big box stores have a black Friday sale, they at least are honest in their ads that there are only four of the special items per store.  After visiting five stores today I am so annoyed I plan to skip Starbucks for the month of January.

Thanks for nothing StarBigBucks.

12/13/2011 2:40 PM

I think that I win the 12/12/2011 free coffee in January promotion ridiculous prize. The Starbucks that I go to almost every day was out of the mugs before they opened! They said that the mugs had all sold before the promotion started. Not the baristas' fault-but they took on a load of misery over that. I asked for a raincheck, but instead they offered 2 for 1 cold cups-alas, not the promotion that I was thinking that I was going to get. Negative points to SB's corporate on this one.

I do think that the baristas deserve combat pay or some kindness bonus for being so calm yesterday! Kudos (always) to the staff at the Cooper Point Starbucks in Olympia, WA!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought bucks already gave free drip refills.  So if the tumbler is $20 you might save (what's the cost of drip?) Let's say $1... In 30 days you'd save maybe $10.  If you don't by the cup and reuse your own its just the cost of the first drip a day.  :¦

I only drink the $5 coffees so I'm not sure of drip costs.  :¦

A great thing about these cups is that they are the ONLY cups that I could find in the entire store that are "Made in the USA".  Thank you and keep more USA-made products coming.  Help put more of your customers back to work!

What a disappointment!!  I was also unsuccessful in trying to locate one of these tumblers at 7 different stores in the area and online :(  Definitely disappointed with this promo

Since the original tumbler that was offered sold out, Starbucks should now make this offer good for any of their other $19.95 tumblers. Thanks!

Same experience as all the above... I went to three Starbucks in my city and none of them had any. In fact, one barista seemed confused about what I was asking (was it that traumatic??) The twelve days of Christmas was a bit of a let down this year. I normally purchase everyone on my Christmas list something "Starbucks" but this year just didn't feel like Starbucks hit the mark.. I purchased only one mug! The refillable tumbler was claimed to be the golden ticket item for "stashing under the tree for the coffee fans"... but with none available my gifts are from elsewhere and Starbucks lost my business.

I feel your pain, y'all!  Went to 7 stores, took up 2 precious hours of a workday/night.  Some stores never got them.  I'm pretty sore at the mighty S right now, and I really hope they make this right.

Really Starbucks, you should make this right.  Y'all can't treat your loyals this way!

As I said in the email to them, it felt like I was being tricked, and nobody likes that.

I found 1. Got it yesterday for my gf for Xmas.

I got mine ahead of the 12th day of Christmas-I did think they might sell out because the mugs on an earlier day had sold out and they weren't even as valuable.  The problem I'm having now is that the Baristas keep trying to ring up my tumbler and have no idea what it is....I have to tell them what it is and tell them how to enter the code

That's terrible.  You absolutely should not have to do that.

About this whole idea of "not fair" "Starbucks should make this right" BS. First off I had no idea they existed. I was approached at my local Starbucks and asked if I wanted to buy the tumbler. I originally answered no but was talked into it. I already have 4 stainless steel cups. I'll admit that it's nice to just walk up and get "seemingly" free drip coffee.. but people!! calm the duck down! By pissing and moaning the way some folks are you're making yourself look like the kid who finished 6th in track and thinks he deserves a trophy. Now I've been going to Starbucks for quite some time. It's my choice to spend the dough that I do. I love the coffee and atmosphere. In memory I cannot recall them promoting anything like this, correct me if I'm wrong. That being said perhaps we should give some credit to Starbucks for coming up with, or borrowing, the idea. Let's give hope that they have the same promo again this December.

Great idea.

Unfortunately, most of the stores in NYC don't know what this is.

I've been asked to leave a store because they thought this was a fake promotion. They actually called the police on me.

Other stores want to charge me for a refill or discount for bringing my own tumbler.

I've had too many arguments that it hasn't been worth the $20 I spent on this.

We were very fortunate that we were able to buy two mugs.  Love, love the idea.  One for our son in California and one for my husband in Buffalo, NY.  

NOW, keep it going.  Why doesn't Starbucks offer the same thing throughout the year.  Pre-pay with debit or charge card say $20 per month and bring in a designated mug throughout the month just like the 12th day of Christmas mug for free drip coffee.  

Our son is an officer in post-graduate school in Monterey, California and walks to his Starbucks on his way to school.  He says it was his best Christmas gift.

How about keeping this going.  

We were very fortunate that we were able to buy two mugs.  Love, love the idea.  One for our son in California and one for my husband in Buffalo, NY.  

NOW, keep it going.  Why doesn't Starbucks offer the same thing throughout the year.  Pre-pay with debit or charge card say $20 per month and bring in a designated mug throughout the month just like the 12th day of Christmas mug for free drip coffee.  

Our son is an officer in post-graduate school in Monterey, California and walks to his Starbucks on his way to school.  He says it was his best Christmas gift.

How about keeping this going.  

Calm down jimmymac.  It's a simple and valid complaint.  Company promised something, company didn't deliver, and company jerked people around in the process of not delivering on their promise.

Not nice, you bragging you got something you didn't even want, while knocking those of us who shelped all over town for it and never got it (because it was never there in the first place.)  Was that you saying we were acting like children?  

Hmmm, a pot and kettle comes to mind! :-)

Advertising a sale and having only a few of the item at each store is illegal. It's called "Bait and switch".  If I had this happen to me I would be filing a complaint with the attorney general of the state I lived in or with the federal trade commission.

Read the article in Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/.../Bait-and-switch

I was lucky enough to get a mug during the 12 days of xmas.  That morning I had hoped to get one and went in on the way to work at 7ish and there were a handfull. I do know they sold out by 8:30 but many regulars got them.  My understanding for limiting them was two fold. 1) all 12 days of xmas items has quantity limits - understanding that, sometimes I got there too late. 2) if everyone has a tumbler with free coffee in january, Starbucks would go broke! Having a limited # per store helps them handle the estimation of product required per location to handle the volume of the freebees.  Also it creates a buzz for next year doesn't it? I personally have enjoyed it very much and hope they do this a few times a year.  Especially after the holidays, it was nice to not have to worry about coffee money. Though I do usually order espresso-based beverages, I was happy to adjust for the month. Great idea Starbucks, thanks!

I was lucky enough to get a mug during the 12 days of xmas.  That morning I had hoped to get one and went in on the way to work at 7ish and there were a handfull. I do know they sold out by 8:30 but many regulars got them.  My understanding for limiting them was two fold. 1) all 12 days of xmas items has quantity limits - understanding that, sometimes I got there too late. 2) if everyone has a tumbler with free coffee in january, Starbucks would go broke! Having a limited # per store helps them handle the estimation of product required per location to handle the volume of the freebees.  Also it creates a buzz for next year doesn't it? I personally have enjoyed it very much and hope they do this a few times a year.  Especially after the holidays, it was nice to not have to worry about coffee money. Though I do usually order espresso-based beverages, I was happy to adjust for the month. Great idea Starbucks, thanks!

I understand the point that 'limited supply' is standard, normal, legal, etc. That is ok; I get that.

But, some stores did not get any, while some got only 4.  That is not ok.

That is why people feel wronged.  They WERE wronged.

Again, it's a simple and valid complaint:

Company promised something, company didn't deliver, and company jerked people around in the process of not delivering on their promise.

I use the term 'jerked around' because I drove to seven different stores. 3 said they never got them, and 3 said they only received 4.  (4 and 0 seemed to be the magic numbers for our region for some reason.)

After I emailed a couple of times, they sent me 2 free drink coupons.  Not free coffee every day, but it's something.  I'm content with that.  

But the fact remains that this was botched, that a whole lot of people feel wronged, and I hope they learn from it and don't try it again.

I still *heart* Starbucks though!

We’ve crossed another milestone. Thanks to all the ideas, votes and comments from the My Starbucks

This promotion caused me nothing but hassles from the beginning.

I thought this was a great idea, and after calling three local stores and tracking one down, I picked it up after work and was excited for the month of January.

When January rolled around, the disappointment began when for three weeks of the entire month, the only Bold Pick of the Day that was offered at all my local stores was the Italian Roast (this happens to be the ONE bold that I dislike the most, with Pike Place coming in at a close second). So for three of the weeks that should have been used getting free coffee with the tumbler, ended up turning into three weeks of making my own Starbucks at home. When I asked the stores what the deal was, they stated that the orders for the area came in wrong, and all they had in stock was the Italian Roast, and they needed to deplete the supply.

The second disappointment came last week, three months into owning this wonderful tumbler, when it started leaking. Not only was it leaking coffee everywhere, but it also managed to leak inside the layer of the mug where the design was, so now I had a faulty mug with a nasty, coffee stain all over the design.

The third and final disappointment with this mug came when I called the corporate offices last night, spoke with an extremely unprofessional associate, and was informed that there was actually a recall on these mugs, and that Starbucks was sending call tags to customers that purchased these tumblers, which are to be used to send back the faulty mug. As a result, when the company receives your faulty mug, they will mail you a check for the full amount of $19.95 for it.

The associate was supposed to email me a call tag, immediately after our conversation, but failed to do so. I had to call in this morning to request that they send it to me, and I was informed that I would get it in my inbox by 5pm.

What a hassle, and a waste of my time and energy considering I now have to wait all day for this call tag, then pack it up myself, and get it picked up, and then wait even longer for a refund for the hassle.

I will definitely be thinking twice before participating in another Starbucks "promotion" since this first attempt doesn't seem to be very well worth the hassle.