You can have one, and that's it
A few days ago I got an email from Costa inviting me to a special event to launch their new Christmas menu on the 4th November from 6-8pm. It promised free samples of their new Christmas range which sounded very good to me so I asked my sister if she was interested in going.
So last night we made our way to Costa just after 6pm. There was already a bit of a queue but it seemed to just be a general opening, rather than a special event. There certainly didn't seem to be any need to have RSVP'd as we did. When we got to the front of the queue, I said to the barista, "We're here for the special Christmas menu launch." He spread his arms wide and said, "Welcome!" Then he said the new sandwiches were in the fridge at the front, the drinks were listed on the menu board, and the cakes were currently being put out. There was no mention of any free samples at all. We went to the fridge to decide on a sandwich; I'd been intrigued by the Turkey with all the Trimmings Toastie but it had pork and bacon so that was a no go. I had to have the goats cheese and sweet balsamic chutney instead. Which was nice but hardly seasonal. We each got a drink - I got the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate and Apple got the Black Forest Hot Chocolate - and sat down to eat.
About an hour later, one of the baristas came round with two small plates that contained some cakes from the Christmas menu cut up into small pieces. We were allowed one each and that was it. That was our free sample. I was really not impressed. I was even less impressed later on when I noticed on Twitter that some other locations had been offering multiple samples of food and drink samples as well. Then again, there were also a lot of people complaining that they didn't get any samples at all! Definitely some mismanagement going on there. It was a shame, it could have been quite a nice event with a bit more effort and some personality or something, especially as the one we were in was rather busy but it just seemed like any other night. Supposedly Costa are doing a 12 Days of Christmas countdown with various offers, competitions and things, and the next one is on the 9th. I hope that one is better organised!
So last night we made our way to Costa just after 6pm. There was already a bit of a queue but it seemed to just be a general opening, rather than a special event. There certainly didn't seem to be any need to have RSVP'd as we did. When we got to the front of the queue, I said to the barista, "We're here for the special Christmas menu launch." He spread his arms wide and said, "Welcome!" Then he said the new sandwiches were in the fridge at the front, the drinks were listed on the menu board, and the cakes were currently being put out. There was no mention of any free samples at all. We went to the fridge to decide on a sandwich; I'd been intrigued by the Turkey with all the Trimmings Toastie but it had pork and bacon so that was a no go. I had to have the goats cheese and sweet balsamic chutney instead. Which was nice but hardly seasonal. We each got a drink - I got the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate and Apple got the Black Forest Hot Chocolate - and sat down to eat.
About an hour later, one of the baristas came round with two small plates that contained some cakes from the Christmas menu cut up into small pieces. We were allowed one each and that was it. That was our free sample. I was really not impressed. I was even less impressed later on when I noticed on Twitter that some other locations had been offering multiple samples of food and drink samples as well. Then again, there were also a lot of people complaining that they didn't get any samples at all! Definitely some mismanagement going on there. It was a shame, it could have been quite a nice event with a bit more effort and some personality or something, especially as the one we were in was rather busy but it just seemed like any other night. Supposedly Costa are doing a 12 Days of Christmas countdown with various offers, competitions and things, and the next one is on the 9th. I hope that one is better organised!