An Arizona woman who worked as a Starbucks barista for seven years has filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly discriminating against her because she’s deaf. She claims she repeatedly asked for reasonable accommodations to help her on the job and was repeatedly denied, and that she was finally fired because of her disability. [More]
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Discrimination Lawsuit: Starbucks Fired Deaf Worker Who Asked For Sign Language Interpreters
By 10.20.15
Starbucks Will Add Live Barista Video To 2,400 Drive-Thrus
By 10.14.15
When shouting your order into a personality-free loudspeaker at Starbucks, do you ever wish that you could make eye contact with the barista? The chain will be adding video screens to drive-thru lanes after successfully experimenting with the idea in Seattle. The screen will have a selection of menu items in addition to the potentially cheerful face of the person taking your order. [More]
Starbucks Launches “Green Apron Delivery” Pilot At Empire State Building
By 10.13.15
After months of will-they-won’t-they, Starbucks has officially begun tests of what it’s called the most-asked-for service: coffee delivery. About 12,000 coffee-lovers in Manhattan’s Empire State Building will have the opportunity to have cups of java dropped off at their workplace with the launch of a pilot program called Green Apron Delivery. [More]
Starbucks, KFC, Chili’s, And Delta Start Accepting Apple Pay For Almost No One To Use
By 10.9.15
Mobile wallets still aren’t catching on with Americans, even a year after the introduction of Apple Pay and a month after the introduction of Android Pay. There are hundreds of millions of capable phones in consumers’ purses and pockets, so it’s not due to technical restraints. Maybe the answer is to make the system available in more stores? Yesterday, an Apple executive announced that three more large chains will accept their payment system. [More]
Starbucks Shrinks Redemption Time For Birthday Reward To 4 Days
By 10.5.15
It’s lots of fun to spend your birthday scooping up your favorite rewards from restaurants and stores, and some are even kind enough to give you a longer deadline to redeem them. Watch out, though: as of the end of September, Starbucks shrank the redemption window from one week around your birthday to just four days. [More]
We Should All Be So Lucky To Have A Friend Who’ll Buy You A Coffee From Thousands Of Miles Away
By 9.25.15
Times used to be, if you wanted to let a friend living thousands of miles away know you were thinking about them, you’d have to write a letter, give it to a guy on a pony who’d race away with it into the sunset and then wait for days or weeks for the mailman to bring their response. At least I think that’s how mail used to work. But now, you can just order up a coffee for your buddy and let them know they’ve got a free pick-me-up waiting for them to pick it up. [More]
Starbucks Faces Another Lawsuit Over Drinks Tainted With Chemicals
By 9.24.15
For the second time in three months, Starbucks has been accused in a lawsuit of serving up a drink with some unwanted extra ingredients. This time, a customer says she suffered months of medical problems after Starbucks sold her a hot chocolate containing industrial-strength cleaner — and that the coffee giant offered her a free drink as an apology. [More]
Starbucks Debuts Toasted Graham Latte, The Chain’s First New Fall Flavor In Four Years
By 9.23.15
Because there are only so many pumpkin spice lattes a person can handle, Starbucks has decided to mix up its autumnal menu a bit with its first new fall flavor in four years: the Toasted Graham Latte is available at the chain’s locations in the U.S. and Canada as of today. [More]
Starbucks Mobile Ordering App Is Now Available To All Coffee Lovers
By 9.22.15
Just weeks after Starbucks said it would roll out its mobile ordering feature to all U.S. stores by the end of the month, the coffee chain made good on its promise, extending the feature – on both iOS and Android devices – nationwide on Tuesday. The coffee chain had previously anticipated mobile ordering would be ready by the end of the year. Executives for the company said that the service was so popular – allowing coffee drinkers to skip long lines as they order and pay for their beverages with their mobile devices – that the company sped up implementation. [The Seattle Times] [More]
Starbucks Introduces Pumpkin Spice Bottled Frappuccinos As Costco Exclusive
By 9.21.15
I live in a rather deprived part of the Northeast: I can only reach a Costco store by driving more than two hours in any direction. (Except north. That’s Canada.) Today, we learned about a Costco-exclusive product that leaves me wondering whether I’m extra-deprived or better off. Starbucks is selling bulk packs of its bottled Frappuccinos in pumpkin spice flavor, but they’ll only be available at Costco. [More]
Starbucks To Roll Out Mobile Ordering Nationwide, Accept Android Pay By End Of Month
By 9.11.15
Android users – and those living in areas of the country where mobile ordering isn’t available at their local Starbucks – can soon order and pay for their morning cup of coffee straight from the comfort of their phones with little human contact, as the coffee chain announced today that it would expedite the rollout of its mobile ordering feature to all U.S. stores by the end of the month. [More]
Starbucks Takes Its Booze, Small Plates Menu To Two Dozen More Stores
By 8.17.15
Over the past several years, Starbucks has toyed with the idea of offering customers beverages with a bit more bite —testing an evening menu with booze and more substantial food than its typical bakery fare. Now, the company appears to be taking the plunge, announcing an expansion of its Evenings menu, which includes wine, craft beer and savory small plates. [More]
Police: Man Punched Through Window Of Starbucks And Fell Inside, Injuring Two Customers
By 8.13.15
A coffee break turned dangerous for customers at a Houston Starbucks, when a man punched his way through a window from the outside, shattering it. Police say he then fell through it, injuring himself and two customers who were sitting inside at a table near the window. [More]
Woman Sues Starbucks For $2 Million Over Drink Allegedly Tainted With Chemicals
By 7.31.15
A Utah woman has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Starbucks and several employees claiming she was given a drink that contained a cleaning solution. [More]
Starbucks Teams Up With Lyft To Give Drivers, Riders Extra Points Through Its Rewards Program
By 7.23.15
Take a Lyft, earn a free cup of coffee? Well, something like that anyway. Starbucks and ride-sharing service Lyft teamed up on Wednesday to unveil a new arrangement that gives customers – and drivers – of the car service extra perks through the coffee chain’s loyalty program. [More]
Starbucks, 17 Other Companies Partner To Provide “Opportunity Youth” With Jobs, Internships
By 7.13.15
Teaching young adults responsibility — and showing them that responsibility can have financial benefits — pays off in the long run by cultivating a solid work ethic. That’s the thinking behind a new multi-company initiative spearheaded by Starbucks. [More]
Starbucks Takes Cold-Brewed Coffee Nationwide
By 7.7.15
Coffee fans and snobs, rejoice: For those people who prefer their coffee to start cold and stay cold, Starbucks is expanding the availability of its cold-brewed java to all stores nationwide, after testing the stuff in limited quantities in some locations this past spring. [More]
Starbucks Increases Prices $0.05 To $0.20 For Many Drinks… Again
By 7.7.15
Does your wallet feel a bit lighter after paying for your morning cup of Starbucks coffee? It just might (unless, of course, you used the company’s order-ahead mobile app or any other form of payment besides cash), and that’s because the coffee chain has once again raised its prices for many drinks. [More]
