The days of birthday freebies from customer reward programs seem to be dwindling. Dunkin rewards members are one of the latest groups to take a hit, as the coffee shop recently did away with free birthday drinks and replaced them with a “perk” that customers are calling “just sad.” Instead of getting a free Dunkin beverage on your birthday, you’ll now only get extra reward points. Find all the details below.
Dunkin customers upset over changed birthday rewards
Among other things, one of the best parts of turning a year older is getting gifts. Oftentimes, that can include freebies from your favorite stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. And until recently, Dunkin rewards members could redeem a free drink on their special day. But now that’s changed—and people aren’t happy.
Dunkin still offers a birthday perk, but it’s far from a free item. Customers can now rack up 3x the points for purchases on one day: either the day before their birthday, the day of their birthday, or the day after. While this does offer some flexibility for when, exactly, you can reap your rewards, it doesn’t bring quite the same joy as a free drink. Additionally, you have to make an initial purchase to redeem this reward.
One customer took to Reddit to air their grievances with the changes to the reward program. “This is just sad, they wrote,” with a screenshot of the reward info on the Dunkin app.
Other upset members sounded off in the comments.
“And it’s not even 3x points over 3 days,” one commenter pointed out. “It’s for 3 visits in ONE day. Absolute GARBAGE.”
“The amount of free drinks dunkin gives out and they can’t even give one on bdays is ridiculous,” someone else ranted.
Overall, loyalists seem to be at their wits end. “Receiving a birthday perk is one of the reasons of being a rewards member. So the fact that Dunkin decided to do this as a perk seems like a slap in the face,” one comment reads. “There are so many options they could’ve came up with. Like a BOGO offer, free munchkins, free donut, etc. Instead it’s making their customers go to other coffee chains.”
It's true: Many people are choosing to go to Starbucks on their birthday, instead. (And with so many great drinks on their fall lineup, we don't blame them!)
"I ended up going to Starbucks Instead on my birthday and got some ridiculous $7 frap for free," someone raved.
"Yes i did this too, i got a pumpkin cold brew and loaded it with add on syrups and such all for free!! no purchase necessary either," another user replied. Guess we're heading to Starbucks for our birthday, too! But even they're upsetting customers recently due to discontinued menu items.
Dunkin isn't the only company to switch up their birthday rewards in recently months. Back in June, Sephora angered members by implementing a minimum purchase of $25 for online birthday freebies. However, customers can still redeem their gift in-stores with no purchase necessary.
What do you think? Is the fact that Dunkin has done away with free birthday drinks grinding your gears? Or are you loyal till the end? Let us know in the comments!
READ MORE: Pumpkin Lovers Rejoice! Dunkin’s Fall Menu Is Returning Sooner Than You Think
