'Drama in Dunkin world': Coffee shop hit by boycott for 'ruining' rewards program

Fans of Dunkin' are up in arms after the coffee chain changed its rewards program to devalue points and remove free birthday drinks.

Last week, Dunkin' rolled out its new rewards program across the US, which claimed in a press release that people would get "more food and beverage rewards."

However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

People on the company's subreddit say the new program does the exact opposite and requires them to spend more money to get the same rewards and bonuses.

The newest program axed free drinks for birthdays and instead grants people a 3x boost to their points on their special day.

Although Dunkin' stated that they increased the rate at which customers earn rewards points from 5 per $1 spent to 10 per $1 spent, people say the coffee giant drastically raised the reward prices.

One person on Reddit wrote: "If you needed 200 points for a free drink under the old system and mobile Mondays was 100 fine. Under the new system 500 points for a drink mobile Mondays should be worth 250. 100 points is a slap in the face under the new reward system. What is the point of mobile Mondays for 100 points now??? 2x times the points under boosted for a medium drink is like 76 points. What an awful system."

"As someone who almost exclusively orders cold brew at Dunkin, I find that my free drink goes from 200 points to 700 points. Of course, we all know this new rewards program was done to cut costs. So, a big thank you to Dunkin - I'll now save $300/month not buying your coffee anymore! Cost cutting successful!" another added.

A third commenter, who shared a screenshot of the email they received from Dunkin' highlighting the new reward system, wrote: "This email might even piss me off than the last one. Does Dunkin corporate really think we're that stupid? How about you mention in this email that you now need 700 points ($70) instead of 200 ($40) for a free beverage?"

Someone else who suggested another coffee competitor visit instead added: "Know everyone hates the new reward program but wondering if they'll end up revising it further due to backlash? I don't expect them to go back to the old one (sadly) but maybe a revision of the rewards benchmarks or something.

"In the meantime lol if you claim you're just gonna go to Starbucks now. Their rewards are basically the same thing except you still get a free bday drink."

Indy100 reached out to Dunkin' for comment.

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