A coffee machine at a Waitrose store in Oxford which have broken down repeatedly has now been fixed.
The machine close to the entrance of the Botley Road store broke three times in two months but is now working again following a visit from engineers.
Last month, both the machine's coffee dispensers at the supermarket were out of order for about a week.
READ MORE: Waitrose customer notice on coffee machines
One of the dispensers was eventually fixed, but then broke again, leaving customers with the choice of going without their free coffee, or buying one from the store's cafe.
Both dispensers are now working well and customers are hopeful they will not malfunction again.
One customer, who works on a nearby trading estate, said: "It was a relief to see the coffee machines working again - I like to pop in to the store in the morning, grab a coffee and have a chat with the friendly staff.
"I'm really hoping that the problem has now been fixed permanently - if the machine breaks again then maybe Waitrose should consider replacing it."
The issue is not a countrywide problem - coffee machines at other Waitrose stores including the one in Abingdon are working well.
The Waitrose chain, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, restored its free coffee offer in January 2025.
Following outrage over the withdrawal of the offer during the pandemic, the company told the nine million members on its My Waitrose loyalty scheme they would again be entitled to a complementary americano, cappuccino, latte or tea once a day regardless of whether they bought anything – as long as they have their own reusable cup.
In a statement, Waitrose said at the time: “Some of our My Waitrose members like to have the free coffee before they shop or during the shop, rather than afterwards, so we are just offering a bit of flexibility in response to customer feedback.”
There were queues at coffee stations and complaints from customers that the offer was attracting the “wrong type of shopper” when Waitrose introduced the perk in 2013.
In 2017, it cracked down on 'freeloaders' by forcing members to buy something before pouring themselves a free hot drink.
The scheme was scrapped during the Covid crisis, but reintroduced in November 2022 – again for customers making a purchases. This is no longer a requirement.
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