Don't forget to get your free brewed coffee from Starbucks between 10 a.m. and noon today

Tall cups of free brewed coffee will be served in Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada on Thursday. The company says a survey indicates that 55% of Americans say they need a coffee break before lunch. While teachers and stay-at-home parents tied for the title of most worthy of a coffee break (19% each), several other professions topped the list, including police officers (16%), nurses (15%), fire fighters (10%), and airline pilots (10%). (Starbucks press release)

Comments

[daniel]

can i get my usual white mocha?

[Darleen]

Daniel, if you read the post you will see it states you can get a 12oz. cup of brewed coffee, no white mocha's, sorry...

[Prosumer partner]

Yeeey! We will finally be able to go through an entire pot of coffee before its timer goes off. Hopefully, we will be brewing on of my favorites....

[lilith]

You can still come in and purchase your white mocha...but only tall drip coffees will be free.

I think I'm going to set up a table outside with a couple of cambros.

Deep breath....

[licensed store manager]

prosumer partner, everyone SHOULD be brewing House Blend this week, which is one of the most requested coffees are my store.

that doesn't necessarily mean stores will brew what they're supposed to though.

[A Teacher]

Wait - if teachers tied for first in who needs a coffee break the most...then why are they having it from 10-noon? I hit my Starbucks at 7 on the way to my school! (and trust me...my poor students can tell when I haven't had my coffee)

[Tall Drip]

I don't think that's the greatest time period. I know that I'm in much greater need of a cup of coffee *after* lunch. Of course, I'm sure the stores would be far more crowded from noon-2PM than they will be from 10AM-noon.

Stop complaining- you're getting coffee for FREE!!!! When you usually complain about how expensive it is....

In New England it's free from open to 4p!

[BaristaSince04]

You mean we brew House when that is what the RP decides to send us! Last week they decided that chai and mild were optional...arg...

[the_dmr]

BARISTASINCE04,
I feel your pain, RP decided that decaf bullets, decaf espresso and classic syrup were optional for us. You figure since Decaf Breakfast is the new coffee, you would figure all stores would have at least recieved a 5lb autoship.

My SM said that an e-mail was sent out switching Decaf Espresso for this weeks COD and Decaf breakfast for next weeks, anyone else heard this in South Central Region?

~~the dmr~~

[chi-town's best/angriest barista]

you think you guys have it bad, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that espresso was optional. luckily we were able to call around and beg other stores for some so we didn't have to resort to decaf everything. meanwhile, we got a shitload of those stupid pink bunnies that we're never gonna sell, and unfortunately can't turn into lattes.

[teacher]

One of the populations noted as needing a coffe break is teachers - teachers for the most part are in class from 10 - 12

[416shift]

"espresso was optional"
"chai and mild were optional"
"decaf bullets, decaf espresso and classic syrup"

what am I missing?? why are these optional?? how can these be optional??

dude stop telling people about this!!

Wait...don't cops usually get drip coffee for free anyway?

[njbaristachick]

...What pink bunnies?!

My store is supposed to be putting away the retail order tomorrow morning...During the coffee break...Now THAT will be interesting. I'm just assuming that more people will just come through drive-thru for lack of parking and go "I WANT FREE COFFEE NOW" and when they demand a free white mocha and tell them that it's not available, it's going to cause a huge-ass wait...mmmmm fun!

[NOLA-rista]

Cops, free coffee? Every city I've lived in that's a big no-no that comes from the boss cop. Seems that can be considered "bribing" an officer of the law for "special" services or some such nonsense.

[Deusx]

Police officers cannot accept free services or goods. They do it once, all it takes is a phone call and their asses are under review.

That being said, how many cops have you actually seen that respect the laws they enforce? Speeding w/o siren or lights, flipping on lights to get through a light then shutting them off, tailgating, turning and lane changing w/o signaling...etc.

[Charles]

Not all Starbucks participated in the free coffee promotion. I went in to my local Starbucks this morning, asked about the promotion, and they said, "um, no we are not doing that."

[STARBUCKSGOSSIP webmaster]

My COFFEE BREAK report: I was at the downtown Evanston Starbucks, where it was busy but not overwhelmed during the free-coffee hours. Many Northwestern U. students have already left for spring break, so I suspect that cut down on the store traffic.

[111652]

I was just at the coffee shop at Starbuck's Headquarters and they are still pouring free home brew......Yum!

[AZBarista]

The hours they picked were dumb. I think they should have let the stores decide when to do it. We were swamped all moring with all our regular coffee fans, but the minute it hit 10 o'clock we literally couldn't give the stuff away. This is Arizona. People wake up early to enjoy the cooler weather and by mid-morning you don't even want to think about anything hot. At least nobody tried to talk me into giving them their frou-frou drinks for free, but the looks people gave me when I asked them if they'd like a free hot coffee--you would think I'd just told them I wasn't wearing underwear.

[Darleen]

AZBARISTA:, you crack me up! I do agree, it would've been cool if they had let it be store specific, I was at my store and after 10 we didn't get many customers wanting that free drip, they all wanted those frappuccino's. Where was tall drip when you need him? LOL

[duh]

People! They specifically picked 10-noon because it is NOT a busy time! Starbucks is not giving away free coffee just for the sake of giving away free coffee! It's to get people into the stores at a time when they might not normally be there, and also to attract first time customers. If we're already swamped between 7 and 9 with PAYING customers, why give away free coffee? Makes no sense!

[Darleen]

I think it was also a way to say thank you to our customers, I know if I am swamped at work in the am then I'd like to get out of there for a few minutes and pick up a free cup of coffee. Why do we always want to put a bad spin on things? It was a nice thing to do...how many cheese burgers does McDonalds give away? I don't see dunkin donuts giving away free donuts. But because its starbucks it has to be a ploy.

[Ol' 55]

We aren't the only ones putting a bad spin on things. I'd say better than half of the people I offered the coffee to this morning eyed me as though I was attempting to put one over on them--as one of my shifts suggested, "they think that by accepting that cup of coffee, they're locked into a timeshare in Florida or something." The question of the day was, "and why are you doing this?" I eventually just started answering with "so people won't be so cynical." Somehow, I don't think it worked. Oh well.

[wind it up]

i was at the table i set up to give away the free coffee and in the hour and a half that i was there i only managaed to give a away 35 cups.

seems like a lot but it really isnt.

[duh]

who's putting a bad spin on things? Starbucks is not a non-profit organization. It's a business. I think it's genius to have a coffee break... It's great PR and marketing. It surprises and delights our regulars, and it also brings in customers who might not be Starbucks customers. I think a goal is to get people into the habit of taking a little break from work and grabbing a cup of coffee (hence the time of 10:00-noon and calling "Starbucks Coffee Break") hopefully from Starbucks instead of just having coffee before getting to work. The marketing department is paying for the whole event. Everytime you rang in your discount code 73 for each cup, it charges the Marketing dept. Yes while McDonalds don't give away cheeseburgers (at least not to my knowledge), Starbucks is not the first or only company to do this kind of event. I've seen Baskin Robins Ice Cream do it, as well as Krispy Kreme, and 7-11 even gives away free slurpees every July 11. Just because it's a brilliant marketing tactic to generate revenue and sales doesn't mean that it's a "bad spin." We are a business afterall and the money we get from selling our coffee pays our checks!

[praxisguy]

So what was great about the coffee break is that when I asked if I could get my regular drink for free instead of coffee, the woman behind the counter said "sure" without missing a beat.

Yeah, the coffee break was for a coffee, but your willingness to be flexible--so that I could drink a beverage I wanted?--that's outstanding.

When you provide service like that--going the extra mile--I give thanks for the stock I own. That's when you're living your mission statement.

[Prosumer partner]

Manager was there looking over my shoulder to make sure I rang ONLY tall brewed coffee.

[Justin]

If a regular comes in during free coffee break, there's no reason to not just give them their regular drink (assuming it isn't one of those drinks that ends up being like five dollars+ lol)...

I think if you KNOW someone is coming back, what's the loss on giving someone a latte instead of a coffee, in the end? Just a few ounces of milk, really. Woopie-doo. If someone with a great attitude comes in, regularly, it can't be bad customer service to give them a free size upgrade or something for a random surprise and delight :]

[Scorpio370]

We had a really good turn out for this. In Florida, we are on spring break, and even with everyone out of town at the beaches and what-not, all the regulars were there and were able to be talked into a tall and wound up coming back later for another. Oh, and for those of you who worried about your SM or ASM biting your head off about giving away a tall beverag of their choice, just remember 3 words... Just Say Yes. My SM says that if I can justify anything I do by the support of the mission statement, guiding principal, star skill or green apron behavior, then we won't get in trouble. It would be good if more SM's and ASM's did this too.

[Chi1227]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I saw absolutely nothing good come out of this promotion. In two hours, we managed to give away 410 cups of tall coffee, leading to mass chaos and confusion (tiny store, literally 50 people in line at one time). Was the point to showcase the "Starbucks experience?" Because all I got from it were nasty looks that we weren't giving away anything else for free. The partners didn't like it, our regular customers didn't like it (because they couldn't even get in the door), and the people in line didn't even like it because they expected to be able to get more for their money...oh wait, they didn't pay.

out of those 410 people even if 20 come back, starbucks prooved their point. it costs the company NOTHING to make a tall drip but to have them come back even ONCE, they make profit. its genius.

[BaristaSince04]

Ours went well...first time in my life I brewed full batches of decaf and ran out!

[Charles]

Regarding my earlier comment in this thread on the store I went to not particiapting in the "coffee break" -- did anyone have a similar expereince?

your star skills and green apron skills and positive third place attitudes make all the difference when giving out free coffee to mobs of people. When Dunkin Donuts does their free iced coffee on March 21 lets see if there staff can handle the mobs with the same awsome service. I bet not.
Boohhaa

[Melina]

I happily visited the Oceanside, CA Starbucks at the intersection of El Camino Real and Mission Avenue at 11:45 a.m., and there were six or seven custies in the store. I asked if the promotion was still going on, and the barista cheerfully presented me with a free tall Verona brew. It was delish!

Thanks for the late morning drug fix #$!

[CALIFORNIA STARBUCKS REBEL]

DEUSX -

I've been a Police Officer with a transit district for 9 months, and a Starbucks partner for just over a year. I work for Starbucks on Saturday mornings, because I enjoy it. (I'm 19.)

We, as Officers, are prevented per department policy from accepting any form of gratuity. This includes free coffee. But they will usually partner beverage it for me, which is (or is not) against company policy, but since it is a benefit for working for Starbucks it is not covered by the whole "gratuity clause" of our contracts. Talked to my Sgt about that one. All law enforcement professionals should not accept free product from anyone for any reason, as it is a conflict of interest.

If it were to be given to me because I'm a cop, and not a partner, it would mean immediate termination of my position as a police officer.

CALIFORNIA STARBUCKS REBEL
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