Reader Dave says that he’s a regular at his local Starbucks, and last week when he stopped by, the employees handed him a flyer. It promoted some special events this week surrounding the release of the chain’s holiday gift items and themed beverage items. Part of that is a buy one, get one free deal for holiday beverages every afternoon for the rest of this week. That was what the press release and e-mails to customers said. Dave’s flyer said something different.

He knows to always read the fine print, and the fine print in this case says that the promotion let customers buy any handcrafted beverage and get one of equal or lesser value free. Not any holiday-themed beverage. Not any beverage with praline or egg nog syrup. Any handcrafted beverage.

He tried to get his local Starbucks to honor exactly what the fine print on this flyer says. The store manager refused to apply the promotion to two non-holiday beverages. He took to Twitter to complain to the chain, and the social media team tried to defend the non-fine-print position.

“We will honor the beverage offer, because that is what is described in the fine print,” a Starbucks spokesperson told us just before the second day of this promotion began on the East Coast, where Dave lives. Starbucks also promised to get in touch with Dave to straighten this out, because arguing over fine print is not the kind of experience that the company wants its visitors to have.

Sure, most people get irrationally excited over the prospect of eggnog or pumpkin spice lattes, but we understand why Dave just wanted what the flyer promised. After all, a trusted barista handed it to him: why would they hand him a flyer that lies?

If you’re interested in bringing a pal to your local Starbucks to enjoy this deal, it runs from 2 to 5 PM (until 6 PM if you’re part of their Rewards program) until Sunday, November 16th.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.