Many customers are taking to social media to complain that they have not received their tracksuits, nor heard from Dunkin', about where the sold-out merchandise is.
By Katelyn Umholtz
It’s been two months since Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady appeared on our television screens in bright orange and pink Dunkin’-branded tracksuits in a Super Bowl commercial that promoted their fake boy band “DunKings.” And following that, a promise from the Quincy-founded doughnut and coffee company: you, too, can look like three of Boston’s most famous celebrities.
It just might take several weeks to months longer than Dunkin’ originally promised.
— Dunkin’ (@dunkindonuts) February 12, 2024You think they’ll let us sell these track suits? Debatable.
Jk we are selling them today at 12pm EST 👀 pic.twitter.com/hE5gGMyxI0
A rush of customers ordered the tracksuits — made up of a separately sold jacket, matching pants, and a fuzzy pink bucket hat — causing the merch to sell out in 19 minutes. Those buyers were told it could take eight to 10 business days for the items to ship after they made their purchase on Feb. 12. Dunkin’ then opened up a sale of the items once more on Feb. 13.
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To be clear, the tracksuits have clearly made their way to some people. Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and former Gov. Jane Swift stepped out in the flashy suits on St. Patrick’s Day, and Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel posted a video with her and her daughter in their matching tracksuits.
They were also seen on the Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” when Matt Damon was a guest, and a few influencers have received their merch.
But on social media, customers commented on the posts of those with the tracksuits or on Dunkin’s accounts that they had not received their purchased goods, nor heard from the company about delays.
“Communication has basically been nonexistent, in my opinion, because I have never once received an email that was initiated by them,” said Lauren Riddell of Minnesota, who had to first reach out to Dunkin’ after she didn’t receive her full order from the company. Ordered during that first merch drop Feb. 12, a bright orange tumbler had arrived a week later, but not the $60 tracksuit pants, despite the fact that an earlier shipping notification had told her both would arrive.
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Zoe Jirgens of Phoenix, a fan of Dunkin’ coffee and their marketing, set an alarm to remind her of the first launch of merch and had the jacket in her cart within 10 minutes of the link dropping. Part of the reason she bought the $60 jacket was because it said it would ship in eight to 10 business days.
“As far as I know, everyone that ordered within that first launch got eight to 10 (day) processing,” Jirgens said.
Eager to get it, she reached out on the tenth day after not receiving a tracking number or any notification that her order had shipped.
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They informed Jirgens the timeline for shipment had shifted slightly: at least five weeks.
As it turns out, others also received an adjusted schedule, but only if they reached out to Dunkin first. Jirgens usually got a response back within one to three days from Bamko, the fulfillment center Dunkin’ uses for branded merchandise.
Sam Cavalieri, a freelance journalist in Pennsylvania, had actually ordered the full tracksuit so that he could resell it on eBay, as others have attempted to do. He started the bid at $99, and after plenty of responses, sold it to the highest bidder at just under $600. But he still has no tracksuit to give to his highest bidder.
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Cavalieri had to juggle contacting Bamko and his eBay buyer, who eventually left a bad review on Cavalieri’s eBay profile and reported him to the online store, thinking that Cavalieri had scammed him.
“I told him I’ll refund you, but I need the negative feedback removed,” Cavalieri said. “This is beyond my control. I had a decent profit, but now I’m scared to relist it. Who knows when it actually arrives.”
On April 1, he got another email from Bamko, which was forwarded to Boston.com.
They needed more time, not giving a timeframe, as they worked to confirm with the factory a “completion date” on the orders. Jirgens received a similar email, according to a forwarded chain of emails between her and an email address [emailprotected].
As for why the orders have taken longer than initially advertised, Jirgens was told in an email a “glitch” that allowed an unexpected and overwhelming amount of orders to be made was to blame.
In a statement from a Dunkin’ spokesperson, the high demand for the DunKings merchandise led to “fulfillment issues with our partners, resulting in delayed shipping times.”
“We apologize for the inconvenience and are in process of communicating an updated timeline, along with offering a $25 Dunkin’ gift card to impacted customers,” the statement said.
For Dunkin’ fans like Eric Sutton of Leesburg, Virginia, the tracksuit lost its appeal after seeing multiple influencers and celebrities wearing them, while he received radio silence from his favorite coffee brand.
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He’s considering asking for a refund at this point.
“They sent me the bucket hat, and I can’t do much with that,” Sutton said. “I see the Governor and other influencers received theirs. Where’s my damn tracksuit?”
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