Under Review: Stickers to cover lid openings???

What the hell does that even mean? How much packaging does a cup of coffee need?

a cardboard cozy, sometimes a double cup for americanos, a plastic cover, and straws for lipstick wearers, and now you want stickers?...give me a fucking break.

If I buy a coffee in a Starbucks container at certain places (like a grocery store) I'll often get coffee for 50 cents. It's meant to keep me shopping and slowly put crap in the cart, but I just leave. Now that's not a bad idea (for me).

What does this mean?
"Stickers to cover lid openings"

@kublaconsumer: It is for people who can't carry their coffee without fumbling, getting hot coffee all over themselves.

@kublaconsumer: SB already has something like this. They're green things that look like stirrers, but if you stick it in the mouth opening it will keep the coffee from spilling out.

@wesa: It's not necessarily fumbling... every time I put a cup of coffee from Starbucks in my cup holder the moment I turn the corner half the cup has splashed out.

@investigator: You can also request flat lids, whcih are closed until you remove the tab.

How about just one food offering that doesn't contain wheat?
At least the Starbucks at Barnes & Noble has rice krispy bars in the case. All the stand alone stores only have regular baked goods.

(x) Lower prices, proportional to the quality of your burnt swill.

How about stop burning your coffee?

@Meg Marco: Under Review: "The difference between Venti and Grande should not just be MILK. I never understand why extra milk is the only difference between Vanti and grande drinks. It is expected that there should be an extra shot!!!!!! Most of people don't even know this "secret"."

The few times I go to Starbucks I get a Grande in a Venti cup and add the milk myself at the milk bar. Saves money.

30 cents for an extra inch of milk is a rip off.

@ohgoodness: Amen!

How about not charging $4 for a cup of coffee that you can get for $1 across the street at McDonald's?

venti? grande? why can't they just call it S/M/L/XL? which brings me to that Dunkin Doughnuts commercial...classic.

How about teaching your damn baristas not to hold my cup by the lid with their nasty thumb dirtying up the side of the lid at the sipping opening?

@gmss0205:

Which coffee is this? Last time I went, SB had a coffee for 2.05$, MCDonalds charged 1.95 and DD charged $2.10 (for large).

They already have stickers to cover the lid openings at stores in the Seattle area. Unless I am confused and am thinking of Tully's. At any rate, I never liked it when they did that. The sticker sticks to their finger, and then they pull it off (along with their skin fleckings and germs) and put it where you're going to be putting your lips. Not the best idea, imho.

@Me: Word. Sometimes I think they do this deliberately.

@wesa: Sadly enough, I carry tape with me in my car to cover the opening. I always get my lattes with "no foam" and they tend to spill all over my car every time I hit a bump if I don't.

It is too hot for me to sip enough where it won't spill, and I ask for no foam because I want the cup to be full for what I pay for it. Otherwise my cup is more foam than latte.

If I ask for a sticker here, they give me what they tear off of the coffee bags. Ew. No flat lids either.

@Sherryness: It's likely that the finger of a wage slave is much cleaner than your noise hole.

@BugMeNot2: I've never heard of using a sticker to cover the opening, but out here they have lids for coffee at other places (like gas stations) where there is a little plastic "plug" that can be pulled back (and sticks into a recessed knob on the top) and then stuck back down to replug the coffee so it doesn't spill. I'm sure Starbucks could adapt something like this with no problem.

[www.illwillpress.com]

@sketchy: thanks for making me laugh out loud. What a bunch of lazy crybabies. Just make your own coffee folks.

It's no surprise to see that Drawback's "listening" was just a pretext for doing what they wanted to do anyway. Maybe one person in a thousand "suggested" this (or it was a Drawback executive using a sockpuppet account), but this is the one they go for.

The suggestions which I saw appear the most often on their site - get the service right and get the product right - is the last thing they want to do.

Feel free to use this new term of derision for them: Drawbacks, because that's what buying from them is.

Seriously? I feel ripped off by the venti (not that I go often, but still, jeez). Screw off, Starbucks.

If you haven't tried this already, I highly recommend secretly placing clear tape over the opening of a friend's coffee lid. Maybe while they're in the bathroom, or something like that.

Oh, and by the way, the difference between Small and Tall is also just milk ... lame.

@sketchy: That doesn't mean I want to suck down someone's finger dredge with my coffee. If a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's, it would follow that it is also cleaner than the barista's hands; but I wouldn't drink after my dog slobbered all over the lid of my cup - would you? Theory would follow that the cup would actually be cleaner after the dog slobbered on it. Hmmm, there's an idea...

@Sherryness and Me: You ARE kidding, right? Or are you a couple of those who carry hand sanitizer in your purse and use it compulsively? God help your immune system.

oh look... Free WIFI is coming for sure :) Well now I only have to go up the road a little to get wifi outside my APT... happy me!

Is that Venti/Grande milk thing true? I didn't know that. I feel cheated. I always went for a Venti when I wanted a hard core wake up drink... Didn't realize I could get the same damn thing in a Grande. What a rip off.

@TheRealAbsurdist: I get plenty of germs from my 5 year old boy. I don't need any extra from the coffee lady.

I'm guessing this milk-differential that you speak of applies to things like lattes and macchiatos - I don't really buy too many of those at the local SBs, but it makes sense that a tall vs. grande latte each only have 1 shot of espresso, and the rest just steamed milk. Lame. I bet this is the same for Americanos.

An alternate to the sticker (not that anybody asked) is to order your drink in a cup size larger - this means the coffee will not be poured up to the rim of the cup and therefore more likely to slosh onto your clothes. I.e. "Grande X in a Venti cup." This doesn't work for Ventis, though, until they make a Super Big Gulp equivalent cup size.

Oh yeah, and if you really want quality coffee, make it at home and don't bitch about SB to those of us that love burnt up funny tasting over-priced coffee.

On a side note, what is up with the whole "McDonalds coffee tastes better" thing? Their coffee is sometimes good, sometimes all watered down, so inconsistent at best. At least SB is consistently burnt. And for crissakes - McDonald's coffee comes from McDonalds. McDonalds! You stand in line at McDonalds for coffee because it tastes better? Or is it to make a point about Starbucks? And talk about overpriced coffee - they charge almost the same amount as SB for a cup of coffee. But I guess that balances out if you don't want to feel pressure to leave a tip (although we tend to easily ignore any pressure to donate to the Ronald McDonald house).

Free wifi is long past due. Panera got this right from the start. People don't want to go through the t-mobile bull for 10 minutes on the net before work.

A couple of comments complain about milk being the only difference among the various sizes. Lest people be confused, these commenters are not talking about plain old coffee -- they're talking about espresso-based drinks like lattes. And as noted above, SB does nto charge $4+ for coffees. At my local store, a grande (medium) is the same price as a Dunkin Donuts medium -- $1.94.

@zentex: Fritalian!

Cosi has had a free drink program for years, and last year they moved it from a stamp card to an electronic (keychaiin) card. Very nice.

@brennie: Wow, it took 21 comments for the standard "Make your own, otherwise quit whining!" comment to rear its ugly head! I'm surprised; when dealing with a restaurant, it's usually in the first 5!

The actual winning ideas are somewhat underwhelming, to be honest. Punch cards and free Wi-fi have little to do with the coffee, which should be the main concern of any such place ....

@BrockBrockman: On a side note, what is up with the whole "McDonalds coffee tastes better" thing? Their coffee is sometimes good, sometimes all watered down, so inconsistent at best. At least SB is consistently burnt. And for crissakes - McDonald's coffee comes from McDonalds. McDonalds! You stand in line at McDonalds for coffee because it tastes better? Or is it to make a point about Starbucks? And talk about overpriced coffee - they charge almost the same amount as SB for a cup of coffee. But I guess that balances out if you don't want to feel pressure to leave a tip (although we tend to easily ignore any pressure to donate to the Ronald McDonald house).

Yes, McRottens' coffee is shit. But at least they get my order right, which is more than can be said for Drawbacks. If I want good coffee, I make it at home.

And McRottens' price is about 2/3rds of Drawback's for the same size.

@KJones: Actually, McD's coffee appears to be no more than 10% cheaper than SBs.

@Machete_Bear: Yes, the knee-jerk "burnt coffee" response comes in at #7. We have a winner!

@KJones: Drawbacks? Is that supposed to be clever?

And could we please stop comparing the cost of a whipped no-foam vanilla soy concoction with a cup of plain coffee at McDonald's? Apples to apples, for a plain cup of coffee, the prices are comparable. If you prefer the taste of one or the other, fine. But at least let's have honest comparisons.

In defense of the thousands of baristas suing to get tips or whatever, if you're in line for your beloved drip coffee and see a little red light blinking on the machine, yes your coffee is burnt and/or cold. Just tell/yell at someone to remake it - its an oft overlooked, mostly accidental thing at 250+ customers per hour. Or, your particular store hasn't been cleaning the machines properly at closing.

Aw, f**k it, I quit that company long ago. My bet is that NONE of these wishful thinking pipe dreams will be implemented.

I like my Starbucks coffee, especially their iced coffee - anywhere else tastes too watered-down. And free Wi-Fi will be excellent.

And Starbucks gets major kudos for offering a decent wage and health insurance benefits to part-time employees. So I'm happier to spend my dollars there.

@zentex: Stop with this complaint already. It's tired. We've been over it and over it and over it. It's been beated to death. Just don't go to Starbucks for Chrissakes.

Here's an obvious alert for people - they're not changing their sizing names... Let's bitch about something constructive.

@nequam: So, then, what's Dieci?

@wesa: It might also help if Starbucks's cups weren't precisely engineered for maximum spillage. Haven't had this much trouble with Dunkin' Donuts or Greenwich Coffee (smaller chain in the area) coffee... although Greenwich Coffee provides lid stickers, too, so they're generally good there. Now if only they could get the hang of this "paying your rent" thing...

@ManPurse: That is .. "beaten"

@ManPurse: Somebody didn't get the memo that "WHY CAN'T STARBUCKS USE NORMAL SIZES?!" is the new "CHARGEBACKS!" and "CREDIT UNIONS!" in one neatly-wrapped bundle of joy. ;)

Lid Opening Stickers:
I've seen these for a while now at Starbucks (pre-dating the december holidays, at least). Some places stick them for you, others hand you a ripped off sticker from a roll. Well, actually, thinking about it - I'm not sure if the first place stuck it on there for me or not. I forget.

@pal003: No, they don't. They say they offer decent benefits, but you need a minimum number of hours. Then they overstaff and give people 15 hours a week so they can get out of paying for benefits.
Trust.