It was a notification that someone new had signed up to Daily Shot Of Coffee newsletter. Nothing unusual about that until I looked at the person who signed up, they had a similar name as the person who left the comment and a company email address, the same company that produces the product that I had reviewed.

In other words, someone from the company had gone undercover pretending to be a fan of the coffee, writing:

Have you compared this to any other “hyper caffeinated” coffees? I used to be a Starbucks lover because it gave me a kick in the morning after trying this product I do not sacrifice the taste of a good coffee for extra caffeine. I really enjoy this product, although I have yet to try all of them. It is not a carbonated energy beverage. I would just call it a super coffee. It definitely tastes like coffee. I do recognize it is a darker roast and can definitely tell there is no Robusta type coffee in it. Give it a chance and compare it to other products that exactly like it before you judge it.

Not only was it a possible violation of the FTC Guidelines (they like to control what we can say about products us bloggers are reviewing to prevent the slime balls from just saying whatever they can to sell a product.), but it was also unethical and downright shady.

Just to be on the safe side, I checked to make sure that the same person had left the comment and subscribed to the newsletter. While they used different email addresses, their IP addresses were exactly the same and the person even signed up from the URL that only a person who left the comment could be on.

I contacted the person, telling him that I knew that he was from the company and basically asked him what’s up with this. He denied it even though I had the emails, IP addresses and URLs to prove he had left the comment and was an employee of the company.

Non, sense Mike,

My name is Alvaro Bastidas and I am Colombian working in the field of engineering in the United States.

I love a good cup of coffee and the Versanto was given to me by a close friend of mine. I was googling the coffee and the only review I saw was yours.

I knew he was full of BS, so I decided to email the company and the person who had originally contacted me to review the coffee. Luckily, he was a lot smarter than his coworker.

Hi Mike, this issue is coming “full circle” at this point in time, since I just spent 30 minutes in a multiple party “debriefing” to figure out exactly what’s going on. First of all, from a legal perspective I don’t believe that anyone is in violation of any FTC guidelines as it relates to blogging, in fact, the guidelines which have been issued are “fuzzy” at best, especially as it relates to leaving feedback to a published blog. Regardless, we just had a discussion related to the fact that no employee should be responding to any “editorial” blog unless the content of their response is approved by myself and/or our management team. In the end, this was simply a case of 2 employees who are very proud of the new product that we’ve developed.

Maybe, I’m making a big deal out of not much, but I take the integrity of this blog seriously, even if I often write in a less than serious manner.

All reviews on this blog done in a fair, honest manner. I taste test the coffee, then write down my honest opinions of it. If the coffee is pre-ground, I’m going to say that it tastes muted (but, think about it now, maybe I should just write that it tastes stale). If the coffee is the best tasting coffee that I’ve ever had, I’m going to write that. It doesn’t matter if the coffee comes from one of my friends like Barista On Duty or from a coffee company that I’ve never heard of before, they all get the same treatment. I’m not trying to push some coffees and drown others, I’m just trying to give my real opinion about it so that you can decide whether or not you want to try it for yourself.

I don’t have a problem with a representative from a coffee company leaving a comment, as long as they identify themselves. It’s understandable, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about a coffee and the company in the span of a few hours, so I’m going to miss things, or write things that need to be corrected and I appreciate it.

I always try to find the positive, but maybe I’ve been too quiet about certain things in the coffee world. Many I need to stop ignoring and avoiding them. Maybe I need to stop being nice and giving the benefit of the doubt. There’s a lot of of awesome people in the coffee world, but there are a few rotten apples too.

So this is a heads up to all of the coffee companies out there. If you’re coffee rocks, I’m going to make sure the whole world knows how awesome it is. And this is also a warning. If your coffee is horrible or you’re up to something shady, I’m going to let the whole world know.

—

Photo by Crashmaster007.

Shady Coffee Companies, Sleazy Employees Up To No Good: This Is Your Warning Shot is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Just in case I needed another reason to boycott Dunkin Donuts, they’re running a television ad featuring Dustin Pedroia, the second baseman of the despicable Boston Red Sox. This is probably the only time that you’ll ever see a Red Sox player, jersey or even logo on this blog. If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m a fan of the New York Yankees, the Evil Empire.

Pedroia is part of their new ad campaign for their Turbo Boost, which is apparently their version of espresso shots for iced coffee. If they couldn’t find anyone other than Pedroia to endorse this drink then I definitely wouldn’t set my hopes too high for this product.

In the ad called “Dustin And Goliath,” Pedroia takes on a pinstriped giant on a bibilical looking field, (their description, not mine).  But, the story gets even wilder. After an iced coffee with turbo boost, he takes down the giant with a “mighty swing of the bat.”

Whatever that means.

It’s totally unrealistic. Everyone knows that you can just pitch Pedroia a high, inside fastball and he’ll never be able to get a hit.

Well, I guess if Dunkin Donuts is going to join the Red Sox nation, I’m just going to have to go to Starbucks more often. Besides, Starbucks is the coffee version of the New York Yankees:  everyone claims to hate them, but still stops there every day for their coffee.

If for some crazy reason you still want to see this ad, click here to watch it via YouTube.

Another Reason To Boycott Dunkin Donuts: Dustin Pedroia is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

While I write this, I’m sipping on my last cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. It’s a shame, I’ve had a long time love affair with DD.

It started back when I was just a small child and had my first taste of a Boston Cream donut. I can almost still taste the deliciousness.

I’ll never forget the 4 am free donuts that I got at the Dunkin Donuts in front of the college bar I attended on way too many

Thursday nights. Of course, the donuts were stale, but I was too intoxicated to tell the difference.

Dunkin Donuts was always there for me. A large cup of coffee with cream and sugar brought me back to life after many long nights of drinking and helped me survive too many long tedious days of working retail.

But today, was my last time pulling into a Dunkin Donuts drive thru. I headed out for a quick breakfast at the Dunkin Donuts up the street this morning. It started out like dozens of other trips, but this one ended differently, some may say tragically.

It started normally. I ordered my usual iced coffee with extra sugar and cream with a sausage egg and cheese on a croissant.

I got my much needed caffeine AKA the iced coffee, when I pulled up to the window. But I didn’t get my sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant. I could even see it sitting on the counter, but before they  handed me my much needed sandwich, the cashier told me the credit card machine was down. I don’t carry cash and they left me no other choice to leave without my sandwich.

They let me keep my iced coffee, but I had to go down the street to get a bagel at one of their many competitors that did accept credit cards. It was probably a more healthy option so I should probably thank Dunkin Donuts, but instead, I’m announcing that I’m done with Dunkin Donuts.

I could see the manager watching, he was standing at the counter, right next to my croissant. I understand that credit card machines go down from time to time, but the way they handled it is why they lost me as a customer.

The cashier apologized, but the manager told her that there was nothing that could be done. I’m thinking they should’ve given me my sandwich. I would’ve come back and paid them extra next time. I’ve even had the exact same problem at another Dunkin Donuts, yet this place didn’t seem to want my business.

If it was just one sandwich, I wouldn’t have a problem. But more and more the customer service is becoming non-existing at Dunkin Donuts in general. It’s not like the coffee and the food is that good where it can make me overlook their poor customer service.

There’s plenty of other places that do want my business, so from now on I’ll be going there. There’s more than a few independent coffee shops that are on my list check out, I’ll just be going there sooner.

I know I’m just one customer, but it adds up. I’m sure they don’t want to end up like Starbucks and be forced to start closing stores left and right.

It’s going to be painful without my French Vanilla coffee, but I’m sure I’ll find some place that makes it even better.

America Doesn’t Run On Dunkin is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee