A COSTA Coffee super-fan has shared her top tip to nabbing a free drink.
Maddy Alexander-Grout – founder of the Mad About Money app – shared details of Costa’s reward scheme.
2
2
You earn one bean every time you buy a drink at the coffee shop.
You get a free drink for every ten beans you collect – so shoppers will have to buy two more coffees at one of the chain’s 2,600 outlets before bagging a freebie.
Maddy said: “I just got a free cup of coffee from Costa because I’ve got Costa rewards.
“If you go into the store with your own cup – it doesn’t have to be a Costa Coffee branded one – they’re going to give you two stamps.
“Then you get your free coffee after five cups.
Up until August 1, customers only needed eight beans to be offered a free drink – one after every drink.
But now that number is ten – in a move which left shoppers fuming.
A flat white coffee might cost you £3.90, so you’d need to spend an extra £7.80 to get your free drink.
Most read in Money
Prices will vary depending on stores and their location so it’s worth working out how much you’ll need to pay at your local Costa Coffee shop.
However, if you bring your own reusable cup, you’d get an extra bean per drink you buy – as long as you pick it up yourself in store.
Shoppers were left fuming after the chain made the announcement, but some are only just realising – and they’re not happy.
Taking to Twitter today, one said: “Why you changing your eight beans = a free coffee to now 10 beans = a free coffee.”
They added: “So you have to spend like around £35 to £50 on coffee to get one free drink now!! Disgusting.”
Another said: “Changing from eight beans to 10.. prices already ridiculous for a coffee and you make this worse.”
Meanwhile a third furious diner said: “Proper stingy now you need 10 beans rather than eight for the free coffee!!
“How much you turning over I think you’re doing all right c’mon.”
Susanah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, previously told The Sun Costa’s move was “not a surprise” due to the rising cost of labour and packaging costs for coffee roasters.
However, Marc Gander of the Consumer Action Group, added at the time: “These [reward schemes] are meant to encourage customer loyalty towards Costa Coffee.
“Costa, like most other stores, hasn’t understood that it is they who should be loyal to their customers and they probably reckon that the Costa loyalty is too costly for them but not for their customers.”
In July last year, Costa hiked its prices again, taking the price of some drinks soaring past £6.
In April, the chain was slammed for slapping a 10p “surcharge” on the price of drinks at NHS outlets.
Costa has defended the changes to its rewards scheme.
A spokeswoman said: “We’ve made some changes to Costa Club, including how many Beans customers need to collect before they can redeem a free drink in store.
However, the coffee giant has also introduced another change to its reward scheme this week – and it might be good news for customers.
