Posts Tagged ‘free coffee’

Free Coffee

August 11, 2019

On my way to Brighton Coffee Festival at The Open Market I encountered outside Costa on London Road a small van giving away free coffee.

No idea why.

I think it was to promote the hemp milk they were using, though it could have been a protest against Costa.

The coffee was undrinkable, though probably still better than Costa.

If drinking undrinkable coffee may at least drink free undrinkable coffee, though I would prefer to have neither and pay for good coffee, or failing that a beer or water or fruit juice or tea.

I did not try until I reached The Open Market, a little further up the road. It was scaling hot. I have never had coffee this hot.

I poured it down the drain and the cup I dropped in a bin.

— to be continued —

Tags:, ,
Posted in Brighton, NotoCosta | Leave a Comment »

Pret a Manger gives away free coffee

March 20, 2018

Pret a Manger to give away 300,000 free coffees this week.

It sounds generous but is it?

Many people have coffee loyalty cards. How many coffees to buy to get a free coffee?

How many coffees do Pret a Manger sell in a week?

I do not know, but I would hazard a guess the free coffees is a tiny percentage of what Pret actually sell.

And that puts into context the ‘free coffee offer’ if we compare with a coffee loyalty card.

In other words everyone is giving away free coffee.

As with the coffee at 49p, Pret a Manger has once again pulled a very clever PR stunt, and once again the media has fallen for it.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in NotoCosta | Leave a Comment »

Waitrose: free coffee, wifi and newspapers

March 15, 2014
Waitrose free wifi

Waitrose free wifi

I was aware Waitrose was giving free coffee to its customers, but had no idea how you obtained the free coffee.

As I was leaving, I noticed a sign free wifi and a lady drinking coffee.

I walked out, then thought, why not, and walked back in.

A little shelf, two high seats.

I asked the lady how she got her free coffee? She pointed to a coffee machine and said help yourself.

The coffee was not great, but it was free free, and far better than the overpriced vile tasting coffee served by Costa.

The lady asked how it was, and said make the most of it, accept it with grace, the generosity of Waitrose, there is not much in life that is free.

She asked, did I buy a newspaper?

I said no, they were propaganda sheets.

She asked had I been shopping in Waitrose?

I said yes.

She asked how much had I spent?

I said a little over ten pounds, which was surprising as I had bought very little.

She asked, did I know that if I spent over five pounds, I could pick up a free newspaper?

News to me. Asked did I have a Waitrose card, did I park a car, anything bar, would I like a free newspaper?

I asked, how did she know, as I had seen nothing to say free newspapers.

I asked how did she know?

She said her sister had told her.

I then decided to make use of the free wifi whilst drinking my free coffee.

Google Nexus 7 found and tried to connect to 02, but had difficulty obtaining an IP address. Nothing was connected.

I tried Google Chrome. I was redirected to O2. I was asked for my mobile number, to send me a code, allegedly for security.

Nothing happened.

I tried Starbucks. Connected, but so slow as to be unusable.

I tried O2 again.

Same problem as before. Then I found I had missed a digit from telephone number. Once corrected, a code was indeed sent.

Now, I am asked to enter personal data. Aha, not free at all, a scam to collect personal data. The excuse, a legal requirement to know who is using the network.

Then, I noticed I was connected, messages were coming through.

I ignored the questions, and used the free wifi.

On leaving Waitrose and heading to The Barn for lunch, a noticeable drop in temperature, now quite cold.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Farnham, NotoCosta, social networks | Leave a Comment »