Caribou Coffee — Restaurant in Duluth

Stopped in this morning before work for an end of week coffee treat. Drive thru was super busy, and the parking lot does NOT have good traffic flow (though that is zero fault of Caribou, that's on the developers of the strip Caribou is currently in) so I decided to stop into the lobby to order and pick up my coffee. Three people in front of me when I got there, and roughly 3-4 people behind me in line. I order my coffee and wait, knowing it'll take a little longer than normal since it's a Friday morning, the drive thru is packed, some people are coming in the lobby, and mobile orders are mobile orders. What I wasn't expecting was for the people who ordered after me to get their coffee before me, the lobby to fully clear out, and the drive thru to nearly empty.... and I still didn't have my coffee. After waiting for roughly 25 minutes (keeping my eye on the clock as I was texting my boss since I was now quite late for work), the employee who rang me up approaches me and asked me what I had ordered. She then looked at the order screens, and back to me saying "I don't know what happened, but your order isn't here... I'll make it right now". Two minutes later I finally had my medium iced vanilla latte (objectively a very easy drink to make due to it's popularity). No offer of a size up, small bakery item, or refund for the near 30 minute wait on one coffee. Just a quick "Sorry about that" as my drink was handed to me. I left frustrated, but unwilling to stay any longer to speak to someone as I was over 20 minutes late to work at that point.

As someone who has worked in the food service industry for years (pre-pandemic, but still) I fully get it that sometimes it's super busy and things can take a while. I usually don't start to get impatient until it's been about 15-20 minutes when it's supposed to take less than 5. However 25 minutes of making eye contact with employees while they're moving at a speed with zero urgency while it's busy, and waiting for the bulk of busy to subside before anyone asks me about why I'm still waiting/what I ordered is utterly ridiculous. I've had amazing service at this location before while it was busy like it was this morning, but today was not a good service day in...

EDIT: This local Caribou just told me coffee refills are free even if ordering an espesso drink. Confused not because Caribou customer service (on Facebook) addressed this, saying their new policy is NO COFFEE REFILLS unless just ordering a plain coffee. No coffee refill if buying anything else like an expensive cafe latte (makes no sense to me, but oh well). This is new. I guess corporate needs to increase profits by charging more and giving less. I have been going to Caribou Coffee for 20+ years and free coffee refills when buying a cafe latte were the policy, and this was confirmed twice with replies from Caribou customer service though I have since deleted those emails. I respect Caribou's new policy, but I will no longer be buying any more expensive drinks from Caribou-- I will just buy a plain cheaper coffee, or go to Starbucks where plain coffee refills are free when I first buy a cafe latte. PRO: nice view of the lake, friendly baristas, great coffee and lattes CON: some baristas, and even the manager one time, seem to have conflicting information on free coffee refills even after ordering a hot latte; corporate ('contact us') has always clarified that coffee refills are free even after buying a hot latte instead of a plain coffee, but sometimes I am told that a coffee refill is only free if you bought a coffee, not when you buy a latte; I never encounter this confusion when I...

I had a very disappointing experience at your Duluth, MN, London Rd store this morning. Due to repeated issues with the drive-thru, I decided to go inside to order. I requested two Blueberry Cream Cheese Croissants, a yogurt parfait, and an orange juice.

The employee initially gave me two blueberry bagels instead. When I pointed out the mistake, a woman came from the back, asked what the issue was, and told me they were out of the croissants — even though I could see them clearly on the shelf. When I pointed them out, she rolled her eyes and walked away.

The original employee eventually brought me the correct croissants, but when I asked about the price difference, he seemed confused. After standing there awkwardly, he asked if I "wanted it" and then struggled to process the refund. In the end, instead of properly refunding me, he offered me candy, which I declined.

I left without receiving the money I was owed. Overall, the service was unprofessional, disorganized, and dismissive. I expect better from your brand and hope you will address the training and attitude issues at this location. I would also like my money owed.

To the employee who will reply to this review by telling me to email. I have done that on 3 other occasions and never gotten a response. Nor have I gotten a response to the...