Crazy Starbucks free drink hack

[knitdaboi]

you can also do this in donut shops when they are closing

[CrypticCobra]

Ah yes, I love drinking 5 hr old drinks that have long since had all the ice melted

[lextek]

Pro tip: don’t drink a milk based drink that is 4-5 hours old 🤮

[zeldafan]

This is only applicable at Starbucks that are not inside grocery stores or airports, those have very specific strict rules that employees must enforce.. I should know currently working at a kroger one and we don’t get any free discounts or even a meal

[leroymitchan]

The drinks are gonna taste like shit if they’re not already thrown away. I work at a Starbucks, and our “abandoned drink section” usually gets thrown out after 2 hours. We also usually turn mobile orders off before close, so this really wouldn’t work lol

[Kate-mxlp]

I love these finance tips, but I used to work at biggby, and I can promise you that at least by the hour mark of not getting picked up, that drink is getting dumped. Sometimes much sooner if its frozen or it has multiple ingredients as they tend to separate and look gross much much sooner. granted, this is about Starbucks, but I thought I'd share. 😊👍

P.S. If you're thinking the doordash workers will be mad, they had 30+ minutes to pick up that order before it became less than quality. I would also not recommend getting anything with espresso through doordash/grubhub as the espresso looses a lot of the fresh flavor and can sometimes taste burnt. yuck!

[lgndary]

For all the people saying not to consume old and stale drinks... Starbucks offers free refills. Make of that what you will

[emmeison]

If I can afford Starbucks myself, I’m not doing this. I’d leave it for someone that would love a cup but can’t afford it.

They do something like this on purpose in Italy, patrons participate for those that can’t afford it. Although I’d question whether a drink was safe or it had dairy or a non dairy milk in it from 4-5 hours before

[SosaiOyama]

Worked at a Starbucks and I’d say we wouldn’t really keep them or throw them out after the drink turned into a brown water paste. But feel free to ask about the cake pops and banana bread!!

[seymourbones]

yeah heres the thing about that- those drinks have been sitting out for HOURS. frappuccinos melt in about 15 minutes, coffee will go cold, iced drinks last longer but if it's at the mobile order station and we know nobody's coming to get it, it's likely been there for at least 10 hours if not longer. At my old store i used to just give away extra drinks through the drive thru

[antman]

At little cesars I know you can go in around closing time and snag a free hot n' ready pizza. They have bags of them they just throw away at the end of the night.

[theythemwren]

Starbucks worker here! I feel so bad for anyone who does this. Your drink is going to taste HORRIBLE and if it has dairy in it, chances are that won’t be good on your stomach. I would only recommend doing this with refreshers and lemonade drinks, since the bases for those are left out anyway. Iffy on ones with coconut milk but who knows. Also beware of food allergies! Starbucks won’t be held liable.

[sharkharborsunset]

Works for food too :) years of free drinks. Pro tip: free drip coffee....then refills!!!

[SammytheStampede]

If I supported Starbucks I think this would be a great hack.

[chasergaming]

My school band went to a uni to play for all region and they had a starbucks and it was around 8-9 and they had drinks just sitting there and no one was taking them so one of our classmates asked whose it was and they said it was abandoned so we got 5 free black coffees and a free pink drink just by asking so I can confirm this is true

[mumj]

Man just pay the god damn $5 or stay home. Don’t normalize begging for drinks lol

[dianathevan]

It would totally work, and not just Starbucks too. I work at McDonald's and we have drinks left over like that too, thought we usually get rid of it after about 2 or 3 hours when it melts. I don't like seeing it go to waste, so I totally wouldn't mind someone taking it😅

[knicknac]

As a McDonald’s employee, if you ask “hey do you have an extra Cokes poured back there?”, the answer is probably yes and I will give it to you for free

[urisalgado]

This maybe works with Subway cookies too? It was getting near closing and we had paid for our sandwiches and a buddy said he wanted a cookie but he was out of cash. But since he had tipped them, they just gave him the 5 remaining cookies

[Jutrasongtr]

My advice: buy a coffee machine what you can afford, learn how to make nice coffee, enjoy it every time you want. Make it before leaving home in a cup to go if you like to drink it on the way. It will make you a mature person that doesn’t spend money on terrible coffee out or even better: you won’t be that guy/girl who is begging for 5h old coffee at those shops.