Peet's Coffee: Earn Rewards

Wow. Super cryptic shopping cart icon (spoiler alert, it’s a coffee cup floating near the btm of the screen.) Cannot view menu without selecting a location; so, if you order something in the morning and then return later in the day to check the nutritional facts and the store is, for some unknown reasons not accepting online orders this afternoon, you literally can not pull up the item or click thru your previous order to get the info. (I tried selecting another store to get to the menu, but, of course, the menu there is different for that location. Sigh.) The app also keeps defaulting to a location 2 miles away, when there is a location a block and a half away (yes, while it’s open for online orders). This things seems like it was run thru a couple of tests by the developer and their mom and then foist upon us. Geez you guys eCommerce, is old news by now and using a shopping cart icon/upper right corner might be a thought. And also, present the menu and info but don’t allow ordering, if the location selected is not taking app orders at the time of the request, (for, like, customer service reasons). Default to previous ordered location, even if location services are off, and add confirmation msg reiterating location when first item is ordered. Any application should be super, super simple to use for an end user without specialized knowledge or a ton of time and patience. And it should be tested by people not involved with its development (hallway test, at least).

I am a big fan of Peets coffee. I sometimes would even go out of my way to get it to avoid Starbucks and other options. However, in recent years when I heavily rely on the app to preorder my drinks and food, their app has too many bugs (peets card won’t reload, can’t update current location and menu, app is slow or crashing, inaccurate listing of available products - you name it), to justify the loyalty I have for the coffee. I keep hoping every update will fix these issues but the last version I downloaded still has so many issues and the interface was not an improvement over the prior version - it’s still not user friendly. The points/rewards system doesn’t seem to work consistently when ordering ahead and it’s not always clear the amount of rewards it would take to get a free beverage/food - this is something that Starbucks app does really well. I also hate that I would mobile order something, and get there to pick up and told that an item is not available? And never asked if I would like a price difference credited?? This loses the point of mobile ordering if I have to wait for you to swap something. Other coffee apps accurately report availability and unavailability of products so customers can adjust before they pay and save time when they pick up something. If you are going to develop an app and you are not the first coffee chain to have done so, you have so many examples to study before rolling out so many versions of the Peets app. Why don’t you do it right for once?!

I am most always happy with the service and basic items offered by Peets. I have recently been unhappy with the omission of certain, extremely popular offerings you have chosen to discontinue. This Christmas I was very upset you did not offer Winter Solstice Tea. And I mean VERY upset. It has always been one of your most popular holiday staples and I know for a fact you always sold out quickly each year. I want it back! I was also surprised that you thinned out your selection of herbal teas by discontinuing your version of Rooibos Tea. It was the best version of Rooibos on the market and, again, you always sold out of it. Personally, I am still wondering why you chose to drop your Peet’s Tea label and change it to Mighty Tea after purchasing that brand. I don’t think it’s an improvement. I think you have gone too boutique on your teas which is why I never buy them any more. There are better teas in the grocery stores and they cost less.