Cake stop - but not at Starbucks!

The Lunch

Does anyone else use a Starbucks pre-paid card? If so, have you noticed your balance falling faster than it should?

I buy 3-4 coffees a day but noticed my balance falling faster than that - I now have the evidence (you can run spend reports off the internet) that when they say "your balance is zero, you'll have to pay cash" they should say "your balance is now zero".

So this morning - second time it has happened - they tried to get me to pay twice for the same coffee. EEVIL or what?

Sadly, I like their coffee ... (does that make me EEVIL too?)

Has anyone else encountered this? Anyway, the bottom-line is - check your Starbucks card statements for rogue transactions.

richardast

Ugh. Starbucks tastes like mud to me.

Caffe Nero and, at a push, AMT Coffee are much nicer (only my opinion).
Better still, frequent a little Italian independent and you'll probably find the informal regular customer discounts much better than any of the previously mentioned faceless corporations.
And the coffee will almost certainly be better.
And the paninis and pasta dishes.

I'm really hungry now. Thanks a lot.

The Lunch

"Caffe Nero and, at a push, AMT Coffee are much nicer (only my opinion)."

You'd have to push me a lot after my last Nero experience - tasteless! It reminded me of student days and re-used coffee grounds.

Sadly no independents nearby - the delights of working on a "campus".

Clever Pun

richardast wrote:

Ugh. Starbucks tastes like mud to me.

Caffe Nero and, at a push, AMT Coffee are much nicer (only my opinion).
Better still, frequent a little Italian independent and you'll probably find the informal regular customer discounts much better than any of the previously mentioned faceless corporations.
And the coffee will almost certainly be better.
And the paninis and pasta dishes.

I'm really hungry now. Thanks a lot.

that's more polite than I'd have put it... it's burnt overpriced shite

yes to the small italian places, they're friendly will remember your order and give you proper coffee, not all that iced nonsense either

if you live near london get yourself down to monmouth coffee (borough market or cov garden) it's stunning

spen666

why get a pre paid starbucks card?

you are giving them the benefit of interest on your money & forcing yourself to sepend that sum there instead of anywhere else

markos1963

Whatever happened to Maxwell House, a kettle and some UHT

iga

markos1963 wrote:

Whatever happened to Maxwell House, a kettle and some UHT

Welcome to my office...although even the UHT is looking more like cottage cheese. Still, someone seriously miscalculated the donut order for a meeting this morning so I'm off to slip into a diabetic coma

TheGreatGatsby

starbucks coffee sucks. tastes like mud is never ever hot enough or strong enough even with the extra options.

Costa for me. Nero at a push. Home brewed always the winner though!

Gats

mogrigg

markos1963 wrote:

Whatever happened to Maxwell House, a kettle and some UHT [/quote

or powdered milk!!!

gkerr4

i'll buck the trend here and say that "I like starbucks."

I like the coffee and the raneg of options - it's a bit on the expensive side, but overall i like it and it's my favourite coffee shop.

Mog Uk

I can take or leave the coffee, but a Starbucks Sausage & Bean Panini is just awesome...

SCR Pedro

Hi there.

I would sooner starve/dehydrate to death than eat/drink at Starbucks.

A muffin would set you back something like £1.80, and a black coffee the best part of £2. Neither of which justify the price.

Having worked for the company, I can tell you that the stupid Starbucks card is just a scam to get you to come back. My boss told us to ask every single customer if they would like to purchase one of these cards, or if they would like to "top it up". Oh, the humiliation!
Also, the system rarely worked, so paying by card took longer than paying with cash. And let's not even mention my store's hygiene!

I cannot possibly explain the hatred I feel towards Starbucks. I wish they would do an "Enron " so the smaller independent shops can flourish.

Cheers
Pedro

Mystique

Glad to see you're not bitter...

Squaggles

Starbucks pre-paid card ? Just how much do you spend there ?

grayo59

Grief! You folks got rocks in your heads? Just add up what you spend on lunch and coffee in a year ...

Grayo, of the flask and packed lunch class.

Lagavulin

A pre-paid card for a coffee shop? F*ck me!! I thought my uni used to take the p!ss with the printer/photocopier.

How much of a discount do you get for buying your coffee upfront so to speak?

gumball3000

markos1963 wrote:

Whatever happened to Maxwell House, a kettle and some UHT

Maxwell House??? Hark at you and your fancy coffee....

I am more of a Mellow Birds man....

pottssteve

Get a Bialetti and some good quality beans. And if you're out and about a camping stove to heat it on! It'll still be faster that your double soy milk Mochaccino with a vanilla shot, and a fraction of the price.

bagpusscp

Watching the telly early this morning SB appear to be in the mire.

Worst coffee is by far any powdered taken with tinned milk.UUAAGGKKK.

Camp coffee remember it :twisted:

DavidBelcher

bagpusscp wrote:

Watching the telly early this morning SB appear to be in the mire.

Worst coffee is by far any powdered taken with tinned milk.UUAAGGKKK.

Camp coffee remember it :twisted:

Camp coffee - urgh Likewise Mellow Birds - Mellow Turds, more like! Instant coffee isn't to everyone's liking, but speaking as someone who gets through a fair bit of it, there are better ones out there.
Whilst we're having a coffee-related rant - Coffeemate, and similar whiteners, are pretty grim too. And they seem to be pre-sweetened, which is no use to me as I don't take sugar. With mates like Coffeemate, who needs enemies?

David

Nuggs

pottssteve wrote:

Get a Bialetti and some good quality beans. And if you're out and about a camping stove to heat it on! It'll still be faster that your double soy milk Mochaccino with a vanilla shot, and a fraction of the price.

But it will taste like someone burned the arse off the coffee (which they did).

The greatest coffee-related invention of our time is the Nespresso system - it's so, so good. I wish I could have a machine next to my desk at work - I would be so wired!