Guest Grouser: Starbucks Leaking Mugs

Ed. - Ladies and gentlemen, our very first Grouser guest post, from fellow blogger Tommie-Ann T. I have a few other letters that I'll be posting over the next few weeks. Keep sending them in!

_______

James Donald
President and CEO, Starbucks®
PO Box 3717
Seattle, Washington 98124-3717

Dear Mr. Donald:

I am writing you today with a complaint about your paper coffee cups and Starbucks branded travel mug. Presumably you get so many complaints you have a hard time determining which should and should not be taken seriously. I implore you to take my complaint – nay threat – to discontinue my patronage seriously.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? I was once an avid and loyal Dunkin Donuts customer, but alas, the allure of Starbucks reeled me and I have yet to return to Dunkin since I crossed over. I have been frequenting Starbucks on a daily basis for roughly six years and often my habit is a twice-a-day ordeal. I cannot even begin to calculate the amount of my retirement fund that I have flushed into your bottom-line. But, I digress, that is not the matter here – although it probably should be.

My issue is with your paper coffee cups and even more so with your Starbucks branded travel mugs. Can you make an item that actually holds the coffee inside of a cup or is that asking too much? As a general matter I typically brew Starbucks at home in the morning and pour the liquid into a Starbucks travel mug and off I go on my commute to work. I probably do not need to tell you the cost of the Starbuck brand travel mug, but I will – the cost is in excess of $10.00 and I own six of them. A few months back I began to notice that the Starbucks branded travel mugs were allowing the coffee inside to leak over me, thus spilling coffee on myself, on my nicely dry-cleaned clothing and frankly, making me look messy and unkempt for work. I am sure you know your clientele is no longer alternative-types blasting Nirvana. And while I am bred and born on Nirvana actually- I now have a big kid job – one which requires me to not have coffee spilled all over me when I enter the building.

Allow me to explain how I got to the point of using Starbucks branded travel mugs in lieu of picking up a coffee at my local Starbucks every morning. You see, my routine used to include picking a coffee up at Starbucks until the coffee began to literally explode all over me. It seems that the coffee is so hot it actually causes a bit of pressure on the plastic lid and coffee spills all over you. Since that course of action was not working for me I decided to take matters in my own hands and brew at home. Now, once I decided to brew at home and go the way of the Starbucks branded travel mug can you imagine my frustration when even the mug leaked and spilled coffee all over me? At this point, I know you are thinking that I am either (a) clumsy or (b) suffer from some sort of mental deficiency that causes me to spill liquids all over myself, but I assure you that neither is true. I have now been through not one, two, three or four, but six, yes six, Starbucks branded travel mugs that have leaked all over me. Just to resolve any doubt you may be having about my level of competency to function in the world please allow me: I am 29 years old, college educated, in no way do I lack common sense and I am a manager at one of the biggest media conglomerates in the country. I assure you, I am neither an idiot nor am I lacking the skills to properly close a Starbucks branded travel mug.

Simply put, it is not a coincidence that all of your Starbucks branded travel mugs that I have purchased have leaked all over me. Clearly, there is something incorrect in the design and I suggest you fix it. I would bet dollars for Dunkin Donuts that others have complained about this issue, I know I am not the only one. I threw away the first four mugs that spilled coffee all over me and I have the remaining two. Since I no longer have a use for them (except for possibly using them as tiny vases) and since they are taking up much-needed space in my cabinets I have enclosed them for you. I suggest you use them as a protype for how not-to design the next batch of Starbucks branded coffee mugs. Also enclosed please find my dry cleaning bill (for only one outfit, if I actually had the sense to include them all I would have to dig through my receipts dated back to October). Finally, I have enclosed a receipt for 1lb ground hazelnut coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I decided to go back to whence I came, if for no other reason, on principle. In a nutshell, I am sick of spilling your coffee all over myself.

I can only speak for myself, but I know there must be others out there that feel my pain –I would be grateful if you could find a way to fix this. It shouldn't be hard. Many companies have figured out a way to serve a drink without expecting their customers to wear a bib. I don't want to wear a bib on my way to work in the morning; I just want to drink a cup of coffee.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am posting this letter also to my Web Log "BLOG", and my readers and I look forward to hearing your response.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Very truly yours,

Tommie-Ann T.