Social media user gets 1-year voucher from a coffee chain after photo of spilled coffee goes viral
A customer received a voucher for a year's worth of free coffee from a brand to make up for her spilled drinks due to an allegedly faulty paper bag.
When April, 40, ordered four coffees to-go at the Ayala Marikina branch of ZUS Coffee last weekend, she had no clue that by the end of the day, she would be going viral on social media—or that the next day, she would have the promise of a fully caffeinated year.
Before heading home from doing errands in the mall, April, a freelance social media manager, asked her sister, who was at home, if she wanted coffee.
"I texted my sister, 'Gusto niyo coffee?' Bumili ako ng four cups for all of us na nandito sa bahay," April told PhilSTAR L!fe. She ordered two cups of hiraya coffee, an iced Australian chocolate, and an iced café mocha. The ZUS Coffee barista handed over her orders in the brand's signature white paper bag with the store's logo on the front.
It was a short drive home. But a few seconds after April lifted the bag out of her car, all four cups fell through the bottom of the soaked paper bag, spilling all the coffee onto the street.
"Dapat hinawakan mo sa ilalim," some tricycle drivers parked at the curb murmured to April, adding to her agitation.
"Tapos ako, just so I can show [my housemates] na ,'Hey, bumili talaga 'ko ng pasalubong,' I took a photo. I didn't even bother to look at it, basta pinicturan ko lang siyang ganyan...Isesend ko lang talaga sa kanila just so they know na I really bought coffee for them," April told L!fe.
Although she'd already sent the proof of pasalubong to her sister, April still felt guilty, she said. She ordered a replacement for delivery.
"Sobra-sobrang sama lang ng loob ko. I don't know whose fault it was. Siyempre ako din naman ang nagbitbit. I wasn't really putting the blame on them talaga," said April, who admits she's a "bit clumsy."
After her orders arrived, April decided to get the attention of ZUS on social media so they would at least improve their packaging.
"I posted [the photo]. I was just calling them out na kasi parang manipis talaga 'yung paper bag nila. And then I ordered four coffees. Sana man lang dinoble ba or naka eco bag para mas matibay siya."
"Hello, ZUS Coffee! Ordered 4 cups from your Ayala Marikina branch and the to-go bag broke, spilling all the coffee. What makes it worse is I live nearby, it wasn’t even an hour drive home. Sayang lang. Hope they improve their takeout packaging, especially for multiple drinks," April wrote on Threads, tagging ZUS Coffee.
She then went about enjoying the rest of her Saturday. That night, she saw her post had gotten 1,600 reactions. In less than six hours, it had blown up to 10,000 reactions.
Many of the comments praised April's photography skills, and some even went so far as to edit her photo and turn it into their phone's wallpaper.
"Someone pointed it out to me, sabi niya, 'Ang ganda. Parang painting.' Sabi ko, 'Uy, thanks for appreciating. And thank you for pointing that out,' kasi nga super bad trip pa rin ako," said April.
More people sent their edits of April's photo. By later that night, her post had 24,000 reactions. As of writing, her original post has had 53,300 reactions.
"I wasn't really looking for validation or anything online. I was just looking for a solution na, you know, baka naman makita ng ZUS Coffee, ayusin nga nila 'yung paper bag nila, 'yung take-out packaging nila," said April.
Some netizens commented April was being a clout-chaser, her photo was AI-generated, or they'd seen the image in an ad of a Malaysian branch of ZUS Coffee. April said she is not paying attention to these comments.
Still others echoed April's concerns about the take-out bag, saying it had happened to them, too.
ZUS Coffee reaches out
A day after April's viral post, two people from ZUS Coffee—a manager and their boss—called April, apologizing for the incident and offering a replacement.
"'We're really sorry po na nangyari 'yan. Ok lang po ba to process a replacement?' Sabi ko, 'Uy, yeah, sure',' kasi parang ok naman po 'yung offer nila. And ito na 'yung kapalit kasi sayang nga naman 'yung pera ko n'ung una. And it's already paid for," said April.
They also asked for April's permission to post her photo as a creative wallpaper.
ZUS Coffee has since replaced April's spilled drinks. They didn't stop there. While making it clear that this is not their usual protocol, they also sent April a store voucher good for P145 per day for one year.
"God is really good. If there's something that I've witnessed and learned from all this. He sent me the whole internet to sympathize with me. And then may bonus pang coffee. Siguro sabi niya, 'Ah okay, comfort in coffee kailangan mo? Sige, ito, noted,'" she told L!fe.
