New York, NY – The coffee giant has raised the cost of all its drinks, with the exception of the lowly cup of joe, which is now actually 10 cents cheaper.
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Under the new pricing scheme, customers who shout out complicated orders to the barista are hit with the biggest hikes, while those who keep it simple see only a modest change.
An extra shot of espresso, formerly 55 cents, is now 70 cents, a 27 percent increase. Adding syrup to a drink has jumped 33 percent, to 40 cents. And those who prefer soy to regular milk in their espresso drinks will now have to shell out an extra dime.
So, while a tall latte jumped only 2 percent, from $3.20 to $3.25, a triple grande soy vanilla latte, which was already an absurd $5.55, is now an astronomical $6.25.
The company quietly announced the hikes in September and put them into effect last week, yet most customers failed to notice the increase yesterday.
“The price change should be clearly labeled — I had no idea,” said Cecile Hanau, 43, not realizing she had just paid an extra nickel for her usual tall cappuccino at one of the company’s Union Square outposts.
“If they are going to change their prices, they should let customers know. I try to have my coffee at home more than at Starbucks, and I guess now I will come here even less,” she said.
Debbie Anne Pascqual, 25, whose grande caramel macchiato cost 30 cents more than it did a week ago, said the spike could be enough for her to abandon the Seattle-based chain.
“Living in the city is already expensive,” the cocktail waitress said. “I’m shocked they raised prices without telling anyone. It seems like they cared about their customer base, but they don’t. Now I’ll go to Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Not all caffeine fiends were quite so steamed.
Sondra Maren Schneider, 22, said she didn’t fault Starbucks for the increase.
“I don’t think any bar or restaurant announces when they raise their prices,” she said. “That’s just capitalism, whether it’s fair or not.”
Some customers were even smiling yesterday.
“I’m glad I like simple coffee,” said Kathleen Burke, 20, whose usual tall regular coffee dropped 10 cents, to $1.70.
“I drink coffee every day, and this was a pleasant surprise. That extra change will go toward future subway fare hikes.”
Starbucks coffee is so overrated. I’ll take DD coffee over Starbucks any day.
Good title for the article. LOL! 🙂
I always wonder how pple go so wild over drinks. In BP walk into any cafe and the drinks can run between 5 and 7 bucks, you drink the whole thing in 3 slurps.
Dear Starbucks,
Not to worry. New Yorkers won’t stop buying because of the hike they will just complain.
We are too busy to change our life style.
it is oser to drink coffee because starbucks coffee is terible
I never understood the fascination with Starbucks. Their coffees sit around for hours on end and always taste burnt. Even when you buy the grounds it tastes burnt, like there is something wrong with their roasting process.
Typically I brew Dunkin Donuts coffee at home with great success. It always tastes balanced and fresh.
Starbucks is a silly yuppie fad. A Starbucks cup is like a trendy fashion accessory. Dunkin Donuts is and always has been the “gold standard”…. at half the price.
I’ll stick to my Taster’s Choice instant, at home, any day. 12 oz. for $9.99 on sale, makes an awful lot of coffee.
Great business decision!!
If you can’t get enough people into the store to make money, raise prices. That will really start pulling in the customers…
The only good thing about Starbucks is the symbol in the Company Sign: Queen Esther according to the Saudi Arabian King !!!
Good for them that they can get these suckers to pay such high prices for a just ok product. I buy ground coffee at Fairway. 40% cheaper and a much better product. Bigger selection and the beans are fresh roasted in the store.
VIN readers have comments about everything!
Starbucks does not force anyone to buy their coffee or products, so no one need worry about anything. Perhaps some people will have an initial surprise about the increase costs, but “fool me once ….”
As to quality control, they do NOT leave the coffee on all day. Those little timers on the pot let them know when it’s time to spill out whatever is left over and brew a new batch.
Certainly for the (many) people who stay there for hours, with their laptops plugged in, using the store’s internet service, there is no cheaper place to do so — even if you have odered a grande skinny double soy latte.
This is good news. Corporate coffee sucks anyway
when i was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s if you ever told us people would stand on line to pay 3,4 …….. dollars for a cup of coffee,naturally they’d say you were nuts.it’s all about the marketing which makes you think you need /deserve it.i take a thermos to work.
Their caramel macchiatos are delicious! Gotta go get me some……