<p>Apparently a coupon for a free cold drink at Starbucks got out from the intended employees only distribution and they had to give away 1000’s of drinks yesterday( I had one). Today they have put an end to the promotion. Anyone else get in on the deal??</p>
<p>I have never liked Starbucks; have always found their coffee to be o.k. but way overpriced, and, I dislike the whole specialty drinks concept. It’s like serving swill for way too much money. Of course, it’s very difficult to argue with their success, and it’s become sort of a consortium of “virtual offices” for professionals who want to meet, but whose offices are under heavy security and it’s too much trouble to meet in a real office. </p>
<p>I prefer the Cuban open air cafes - $.40 gets a very powerful shot of expresso, no waiting in line for weirdly-named drinks, two swallows and you’re done, and speeding right along for the next several hours LOL.</p>
<p>My officemates did, and very happily too.</p>
<p>So did mine! I missed it, though…</p>
<p>Wow LTS, those open air Cuban cafes sound great! I’m a Starbucks fan but they don’t have much competition in my neck of the woods. Sorry I missed out on the free coupon…</p>
<p>Mmmm…Cafe Mocha Frappuccino…how did I miss that??? Barons - I thought only liberals go to Starbucks??? ;)</p>
<p>Tookie, they’re awesome. Just point, say “that”, it’s there, two dimes on the counter, you’re done. Very fast. Except I meant to type espresso not expresso - whoops. </p>
<p>Starbucks simply drives me crazy. First, there are always impossibly long lines. (I’ve never seen an empty Starbucks, have you?) Then you have to have this ridiculously long conversation with fabricated language to even order whatever you want. I always say “coffee of the day”, so that I can have the shortest conversation possible. But I refuse to use their language - for some reason it just bugs me. So I say “medium” which of course makes them respond, confirming, “grande” or whatever word they use. But then you still have to wait forever, and, even if you TELL them very clearly to leave room for cream, and then ask again when they don’t do it, they still never actually hand over anything that leaves room for cream. So that leaves no choice but to discretely dump some out in the trash recepticle by the condiments, and hope that the people you’re with don’t notice. </p>
<p>Then, when you actually try to use the condiments, there’s always lots of people. I cannot for the life of me get why people have to stand there and stir and stir and stir. Pretty much, if you just dump in whatever stuff goes in the coffee, put the lid on, and walk away carrying your coffee, it mixes all on its own. There’s no need to stand there and stir, like you’re in exercise class or something. Plus the stuff tastes disgusting no matter what you do to it, and the containers and everything are usually all dirty anyway.</p>
<p>I really dislike Starbucks. I go to them of course, because everyone else does, and someone will say “meet me at Starbucks” so I’m not going to refuse. </p>
<p>I once read a cute tagline in a newspaper - maybe they were quoting Leno or Letterman - something about “did you hear about the Starbucks that opened up in the bathroom of another Starbucks”. Much as I don’t like them, it’s hard to not recognize - and even envy - their success.</p>
<p>I am surprised Barrons goes to Starbucks- I assume not in Seattle?</p>
<p>When there are so many other choices out there- if you have to have someone else make your coffee for you- why take the obvious path?</p>
<p>“but way overpriced, and, I dislike the whole specialty drinks concept. It’s like serving swill for way too much money.”</p>
<p>Why latetoschool? I can not believe what I am reading. I do declare that my “Eating out: A Costly and Unnecessary habit” thread has influenced the way you spend money. Bravo to you! I, too, find Starbucks to be a costly and unnecessary habit.</p>
<p>Why would anyone pay for Starbucks when Dunkin donuts exists, and they know what tall means, and doesn’t mean?</p>
<p>(Actually, I especially like to buy my coffee, when I buy it out, at the local deli place–wonderful, truly eclectic and eccentric staff, and a large (which means “large”) coffee is a buck twenty-five.)</p>
<p>I have THREE Starbucks in my building so I go twice a day most days. No need to go outside and waste time. I stick to Americano’s most of the time–cheap and smoother than the brewed stuff. I lke the friendly staff and the speed as they know my usual and have it ready unless I let them know quickly if I am in the mood for something else.</p>
<p>I love Starbucks. They sell a reasonably priced and good tasting addictive drug that may even be good for you. I bought stock in 1995.</p>
<p>As for Dunkin Donuts, it’s only available on the east coast and I am incapable, in any case, of going into DD without buying a glazed donut.</p>
<p>i used it yesterday, so sad that its down 
was planning on getting a iced mocha before class tommorrow</p>
<p>
I can’t go to Dunkin Donuts because the closest one is in Arizona. (Oh wait, there’s one in Oregon. One.) I kid you not.</p>
<p>That’s why I go to the east coast to visit my brother in NJ and my kid in MA (yes! a Dunkin Donuts <em>right in the airport</em>!), and why I fly JetBlue to get there (they serve Dunkin Donuts coffee! 
).</p>
<p>Let’s not make a big deal out of the fact that around about 1991 a shady investment counselor bought a huge bunch of stock in some weird company that was going to open coffee shops, some Starbucks or some such, and we decided it would never go anywhere and dumped it.</p>
<p>Story of my life.</p>
<p>Oh gosh, DD is not universal? How sad…:)</p>
<p>(I have trained myself to not even look at the donuts when i buy coffee.)</p>
<p>Although I love DD donuts, and because of that am thankful that there aren’t any in Toronto, I have never liked their coffee. Starbucks has a lot of competition in Canada with Second Cup, Timothy’s, and, of course, the purveyor of the best coffee here, Tim Horton’s. There are still many small, independent coffee shops, too, which is nice because they seem to be almost extinct in many areas of the U.S.</p>
<p>I really hate Starbucks coffeee - it tastes like it has been burned. I’m with Robert E Lee on this one - buying coffee from any sort of vendor is a waste of money. For me, I buy coffee beans from Dunkin Donuts, grind them myself and make a pot of coffee in the morning and take it to work in a thermos (my way of keeping in touch with my inner blue collar self). I get much better coffee than the swill sold in the building cafeteria at a substantial savings. If I rationalized my savings versus going to Starbucks, I might consider using the savings on a Lexus or something - but I don’t.</p>
<p>I should add that I overall don’t buy coffee out too often; I get my beans through the mail from Dean’s Beans (fair trade, organic) and then grind them (does that sound stereotypically lefty, or what?)</p>
<p>So many financial advice columns, books, articles are panning the Latte cost as throw away money. They are right in that it can really add up. But as stay at home mom in a relatively new environment, I’ve found that Starbucks is by far the best place to meet people and catch people I already know. There are the regulars in the one I frequent, and it is a social picker upper for me (yeah, pathetic I know) , and as far as venues go, a relatively inexpensive one. I volunteer for a lot of school and comm service activities which is another way I have made friends and stayed in touch with people I’ve met, but the Starbucks is a quikie, something I can squeeze in on a busy day.<br>
I always shook my head at the many college and highschool students at Starbucks–where on earth are they getting that kind of money? Now I subsidize cards for my kids and give the gift certificates to teens. There are far worse places for them to frequent. I wish they were open later and give the bars a run for their money.</p>
<p>Ive been drinking double tall lattes in Seattle since 1987- but I hardly ever go to Starbucks
[my favorite place in Seattle]( <a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003099339_vivace02.html”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003099339_vivace02.html</a>)
I have been buying Starbucks cards I admit for the teachers at my Ds school for holiday gifts- since there was one right * there*, but now that the school has moved, and Howard Schultz wants to take the only two teams who have ever won national championships out of Seattle- I have an even better reason to avoid them.</p>
<p>The local groceries sell fairtrade beans, often locally roasted. Trader Joes, when I get over there, also has organic beans that are half the price of Peets or Caffe Vita. My H drinks quite a bit of coffee in the morning before he even gets to work- I only drink a cup or so, but I also drink black or green tea. ( Tazo- before the enormous sucking sound)</p>
<p>I like that Starbucks sells local music, but really they should have free wireless like everyone else.</p>