My wife and I are coffee drinkers. Nothing special about that. However, we own a Keurig 1.0 machine, so at first we had to compromise on what coffee we buy for it. I’m happy to report that we both eventually found a brand we love—Café Britt dark roast “single-serve” (i.e., K-Cup clone) packs from Costa Rica. (BTW, if you’ve ever watched the episode of How It’s Made on coffee, Café Britt was featured in the relevant segments. That’s where I learned about the brand.) This particular roast is excellently balanced and easy to drink without the burnt taste that some dark roasts bring to the cup. I usually do my writing with a large mug next to my laptop.

I have almost always ordered direct from the manufacturer’s web site. They have the best prices and the best shipping service, especially when you order six boxes at a time. I decided it was time to restock this morning, but to my confusion, the single-serve packs were no longer showing up on their web site.

Undaunted, I called their toll-free number and tried to place an order. I was told that the single-serve packs were no longer in production and would not be sold anymore.

Insert shocked pause here.

The representative was helpful and offered to talk to her superior about selling me what was left in the warehouse. She said she’d call back in about 15 minutes. You can guess where this is going—45 minutes later, no phone call. I called the company back and got their voice mail, so I left a message. They eventually called, but I missed picking up the phone (I have an voice mail system that’s on a hair trigger after the fourth ring.) Anyway, I called back and got the same lady I spoke to earlier in the day. I was told that there was no more stock, and due to a decision “from the president of the company,” they would not be making/stocking them anymore. I told them they’d lost a customer. (BTW #2—the voice mail left by another representative confirmed that they would no longer be selling the single-serve packs.)

The next step in this caffeinated saga takes place on Twitter. I used to tweet a lot about my experiences in finding the perfect coffee for my Keurig machine. I stopped tweeting so much once I found Café Britt. Today, I left a tweet using the “@CafeBritt” tag, telling of my morning calls and my disappointment in their decision. The tweet got favorited and re-tweeted a couple of times.

Move on to just after noon—Café Britt called me again. Same person from my first call. She said she was calling about my tweet (!) and told me that the morning’s events were a misunderstanding. As it turns out, Café Britt’s single-serves will be returning to their inventory for sale. They’re just out of stock at the moment and have no ETA on when they’ll get more. Phew. I thanked her profusely and promised to keep an eye out for their return. This was followed by another tweet to the coffee community, explaining what I was told the second time around and thanking Café Britt for their hard work.

I don’t know if my tweet actually made a difference in their company’s decision on selling single-serve cups or not. In the end, it doesn’t matter. My wife and I will eventually have our favorite coffee back on our shelves, as soon as it shows up on Café Britt’s web site.

Definitely an interesting first half of the day.

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