Get a free cup of coffee at Starbucks from 10 a.m. to noon March 15

Next Thursday, all company-operated and licensed Starbucks stores in the U.S., Canada, and other countries will give away free Tall (12-ounce) cups of coffee to anyone who drops by for the second annual Starbucks Coffee Break. (Slashfood.com)

Comments

[Sheik]

I didn't work last year during this event but this year I will be.

All I remember hearing was that last year [who i thought was one of our cool] regular customers arrogantly said of this promotion, "You'd think on a day like today I'd get my 'usual' for free instead of a free tall coffee."

He gets a Venti No Whip Mocha Frappuccino with 2 extra shots.

[dc]

i didnt even know about this...

[Patrick (Dublin - Ireland)]

We has the same here in Ireland and the UK some two weeks ago, in fact the first day of lent. Also launched on the same day was the cinnamon latte, bad timing as I've given up coffee for lent. Or perhaps deliberate timing on starbucks behalf. My local store couldn't be slag me!

[HopkinsBella]

Sweet. This lets me volunteer to be coffee bitch for a coworker (we sometimes trade Starbucks runs in the morning), and get his drip for free.....

blah....why'd you have to tell people about it man!!!! Jeez....its not like we WANT to make all this stupid coffee...

well gosh, than maybe you shouldn't work in a COFFEE shop. jeez.....

I'm taking a day off that day.

[John Mgr]

I remember this horrible day in Starbucks last year. Everyone got in line for the free coffee and cooperated with the fact that it is JUST a cup of DRIP coffee. However, we had a few customers that complained that we weren't giving away lattes for free. I kept TRYING to explain that the promotion is for DRIP and we cannot honor any other deal. "Just say yes" cannot apply here unless the company wants to lose money.

[chi-town's best/angriest barista]

all i can say is i'm glad that i'm not working that day. very very glad. but who wants to bet that i get called in anyway?

This won't be nearly as bad as when my manager decided to do "Buy one frap get one free!" or "add a shot wednesday!". I'm sort of glad i don't work at that store anymore.

[Darleen]

If you don't want to serve coffee, why do you work for starbucks? You guys are unbelievable!!! Don't worry with that attitude you won't be getting called in for long....

[Ol' 55]

I'm not sure if it's a "don't want to make all that coffee," or just a "don't want to work" thing. I feel that. I do. I would always rather be somewhere else. But come on. Drip coffee's just not hard to do, and wouldn't you rather be busy than standing around doing nothing all day? The only problem I forsee here is the usual freeloaders trying to talk me into giving them something besides coffee. People are usually pretty cool about this kind of thing tho.

[Darleen]

ol'55 ...is your name from the old eagles song? Just wondering....I understand not wanting to go to work everyday, who does? But some of these posts are outrageous. If they were at my store, I'd be terminating left and right. I am lucky that I have partners who still love what they do and the atmosphere I provide them.

[Ol' 55]

From the old Eagles song--never mind that Tom Waits guy, I like the Eagles version--and also 55 is the # of the driver I root for in NASCAR.

I don't know if my partners "love what they do," but I do know that they really hate not having anything to do. They're always restless and grumpy on slow days. And so am I. I'm in a mall store, and this is our slow time of year. Getting fairly tired of it. Bring on the busy!

[Lou Sussler]

Great, I'll have to go to Dunkys that day b/c the line at the Bucks will be out the door.

b/t/w, my local Bucks now offers one breakfast sandwich w/o meat (they used to be all meat) but they sell out of it every day. I would like to try it just to see how it is but I typically arrive at 9:30 and it's always sold out.

One day, the barrista told me she would hold one for me the next day but she wasn't there then or since.

One would think that a basic rule for retail is that if you sell out of something every single day, get more.

The people who work there are friendly enough but all they say is "It sells out early." The manager says she orders all she can but I don't see how that could be.

I call shenanigans.

[Tall Drip]

I feel sorry for you guys. I'm sure you will get a bunch of morons trying to talk you into making them a free 10-zillion-sugars with 5 pumps of syrup latte. It's only degenerates like me who enjoy the drip coffee, and black at that ;) The rest of these people just come in for a little dash of coffee with their cup of sugar. Real coffee tastes "too burnt" to these people. These are the same bland, boring palates that prefer Bud Light to real beer.

[Darleen]

Tall drip, you crack me up! Give me a real beer any day! Who cares if it has a few more calories, I love me some St. Paulie Girl!! Ol'55, I agree the eagles rock that song! Happy day all :)

[Tall Drip]

hehehe - I actually don't know if I will come in for this promotion. I feel kinda silly making a special run from the office in the middle of the day, for the same cup of coffee I always order anyway. And Lent? What's that? I certainly didn't give up coffee. I gave up Lent for Lent.

[Layla]

If you want to avoid the lines and have some free time, come on up and visit us in Montreal. We don't have the promotion, so we won't be dealing with the problems you guys are mentioning. And since you'll be in Canada, you can enjoy some real beer while you're here!

Sold out or breakfast sandwiches by 9:30, its because breakfast is over. You want a sandwich go earlier.

[Ol' 55]

Just came back from a trip to Canada...and I have to agree with you, after extensive sampling, that Canadian beer Rocks!!! But once you get past the usual watery suspects, we Yanks have our fair share of good stuff, too. Otherwise I might be looking into dual citizenship. :)

Tall Drip--thank you. It makes me happy to know that somebody else out there just drinks black coffee. I do not understand all this milky, sugary crud. And I work for SBUX!!!

[Tall Drip]

Oh, the employees at my regular store (many of whom have become bona fide out-of-uniform friends) have educated me as to the best way to drink coffee (black, from a press). Really does have more flavor that way. I never could stand the SBUX Sumatran coffee, because I thought it tasted like volcanic ash - but that was before I tried it from a press.

[burnt bean]

i say bring on more drip coffee for free....heck, make it a (gasp) whole day special! reckless, i know. but that's me, a rebel without an alliance.

Canada is as well running the promotion for the first year ever. Maybe Quebec is not?? They always have their own funny little rules.

[Layla]

anonymous, you would be correct, it is only Quebec that is not having the promotion. It is because, due to Quebec law, an international company cannot be the direct owner of a company that runs within quebec. As a result, all Quebec stores are LCs, with a Canadian Company running the LC. Since we are all LCs we don't get the same promotions as you guys do in corporate stores, this being one of them. Although, having been to other LCs (in airports, bookstores etc, in other provinces and in the states), our LCs are much closer to the real thing than most out there.

[HELP ME PLEASE]

I thought Starbucks only verified time worked, and not circumstance. What information is released if someone calls to do a check?

That explains so much, especially when contests and such are not valid in Quebec. Thank you for explaining it to me. And when i said funny little rules....I wasn't being derogatory....just being funny.

Help Me Please....when someone is phoned for a reference only time worked and rate of pay can be disclosed.

[Darleen]

Actually help me please, the only thing you can legally tell someone is that the partner did indeed work there, and when they left. No pay rate should ever be discussed...

[Lou Sussler]

Wrong Anon,

They have every other variety except the vegetarian one at 9:30.

I guess it does depend on the area you are in or the federal/provincial laws. Here it absolutley can be disclosed as to how much a person made. When I applied with Starbucks I let them know what my current salary was, if I lied and told them something different for bargaining power they could check up on it, legally, with my former employer.

[Darleen]

What I meant was if someone calls a store and wants to know how much a partner made or makes, it is illegal to divuldge that info. All you can say when someone is calling about a partner is if they worked there and when they left. Hope that helps...

[chi-town's best/angriest barista]

i think you misunderstood me. it's not htat i don't want to make coffee, i don't mind drip, and i actually really liek working bar, it's just that i don't want to make that much coffee on that day. since my store is already incredibly busy (understaffedly so) and badly oranized, so tomorrow would be a nightmare for anybody's sanity. and we're sort of notorious for customers trying to demand more than they're supposed to get.
"it says for free coffee, but i don't drink coffee, so i think i'm entitled to a venti cup or sugar and whipped cream with extra extra caramel and 35 pumps of sweetener tripple blended. and i'll throw a fit and call corporate if you don't give it to me. NOW!" i just don't want to have to deal with that.

[NewShift]

Yeah, guess who is the shift who opens that day. Me!

Not that I don't love most of my customers, but we do a pretty low percentage of drip compared to most stores, even in the morning.

And of course I can think of a small handful of people who will come in shortly after opening and demand their coffee for free because they're at work later.

But don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like going to work and such, it's just that I don't enjoy being harrassed by annoying people. I love my customers; I despise idiots, as a general rule.

Anyway, good luck to all of you other partners working that day!

Cheers!

[Darleen]

Sorry, but from reading some of those posts it did sound as if a lot of partners were burnt out on their jobs and complaining a lot. Although I guess this is the forum for that. I have been with Starbucks for a many years, and have had a few jobs before where the work environment was horrific. I think this company as a whole really cares about us and it pisses me off when I hear so many partners bad-mouthing it. Guess I'm just a mama hen protecting her young. I really do believe though that if the passion is gone then its time to move on and for some of the partners posts that I've read that time has come, yet they stay and bitch about everything and bring the other partners down who are happy to be there.I know everyday is not a picnic, I'm realistic, but life at the bux is still better than a lot of other places I've seen.

[Valentina]

Wow, sounds cool. Just a doubt though, does anyone know if this goes in Chile? If anyone knows, please reply or send me an email. Many thanks!

[CuteBarista!]

yes!! on vacation on the 15th!

[ninja-rista]

not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but most of the idea behind this is to get people into the store for the Annual Brew Sale. each store has a goal to meet in sales and, as i understand it, the National Coffee Break was started to get people in the store to be made aware of the sale (and subsequently buy something related to the sale). Not unlike Hallmark creating Valentine's Day. ;-)

[Detroit Barista]

Newshift: Yeah...you're not the only one who gets to open :P

This is so not the best week for half of my brewer to be broken...only being able to brew one pot of coffee at a time is problematic enough on a regular weekday morning.

[NewShift]

Detroit Barista-

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe this would be a good time to demo a couple of the new drip brewers? It's like killing two birds with one stone! Or maybe a cambro on the back counter is in order... :)

Darleen-

You're right, there's a lot of bitching on this site. But it's one of few places where baristas from all over can compare experiences, and there's probably some one-upmanship going on as well. So it's only natural that there's a disproportionate number of negative posts compared to real-life experiences. And the way I figure it, better for partners to vent on this site than at work. For some people, I'm sure, having a forum to express frustrations keeps them from losing it at work.

But I do understand your feelings. Starbucks is a pretty swell company to work for, and how many other people do you know who get paid to hang out in a coffee shop all day?

I work 5AM-10AM. Out just in time. With our luck we'll get 10 Coffee Travelers for 11AM.

[Sally]

There are many partners on this site who should be promoted to customer.

[Starbucks Barista PHX AZ]

Oh sweet lord... -_- This is not what I am interested in. Lucky for me I am not working that day! HURRAY! I'm glad I only have two weeks of Starbucks left.

[chi-town's best/angriest barista]

well, murphy's law coems true again and i picked up a shift that day, 630-1030, but i'm taking bets on how late i will have to stay.

Nothing like extra work thrown in the middle of a period where a lot of stores are in a labor crunch.

Don't they realize the ramifications? Baristas will be too busy making coffee that they'll ignore what a true Starbucks barista should be doing, that being putting unused objects that serve as platforms into the sanitizer! Forget keeping enough coffee brewed to satisfy customers, just remember to clean the garbage cans and sign off on the duty roster and you'll be a-ok.

[Barista to the Stars]

NIGHTMARE!!!!

First of all, store managers are being squeezed for labor. 10 - 12 is a lull in most stores so that computer program isn't going to throw on an extra partner to help out. ****shudder****

Second, you'll be moving right along and some customer will whine "but I don't drrrriiink coffee. I don't liiiiike it. Can't I get my mocha for freeeeeee?" OR: "My daughter likes fraaaaapucinos. Can't she get one of those?"

Happens all the time. Corporate sent out a postcard for a free tall coffee when my store opened IN OCTOBER. We're still getting them IN MARCH. They expired in JANUARY. Every time one is presented, I point out the expeiration date and the person will pull an "Oh....well, that's the only reason I came in. Can't you give it to me anyway?" Or, when they were valid we got "But I don't like coffee. Can't you exchange it for a frappucino?" Or, "I get a venti mocha. Can't you credit me for the tall coffee and give me a venti mocha?"

People take whatever you will give them for free and demand more.

That's why we hate these type of promotions Darlene. I like my job. But I don't like people who know the promotion and try to manipulate it. It's awkward.

Barista to the Stars

[Maggie]

What is up with all the negative attitudes. Its great we are getting FREE coffee. Thanks Starbucks.

[sully]

Yep...nothing beats FREE coffee. I'll be getting my FREE tall drip cofee with no complaints tomorrow!

[darleen]

Okay barista to the stars, I get it...people will try to manipulate you if they can. Thats not what I was talking about though. But thanks for setting me straight, hehehe

[lilith]

I sometimes think we breed bad customers.

[GEM]

Darleen,

Wow, I could have bet a million bucks that somewhere through my scrolling you be terminating people and I would win.

Then you have a sense of "reality" that perhaps it's not all peaches.. took you long enough.

And lastly you actually said something I agree with "we do breed bad customers"
We "suggest" to customers how to cheat the system. EX.. ICED venti americano, no water. $2.50 or so... then they go to the condiment stand, fill it up with breve..
HMMM isn't that a ICED venti Quad Breve Latte.. $5.00 or so..

doppio esp, with a little milk and foam.. hmmm can you say double short latte? I'm sure the list gets longer..

I am glad that I am not working on free coffee day... I say stick a cambro and cups out in the lobby and fill your own.