Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte is 'officially' on sale today after botched rollout
On Monday evening, Starbucks announced via Facebook Live that the Pumpkin Spice Latte would officially return to menus nationwide on Tuesday, September 5.
Most Starbucks locations in the US began serving the PSL on Friday, September 1. Both baristas and customers were confused regarding when they could start serving and ordering the seasonal beverage.
According to Starbucks' workers, confusion regarding the Pumpkin Spice Latte launch date stemmed in part from internal miscommunication and the chain's "the customer is always right" mentality.
"Basically if you're not living under a rock and know about PSL, you'll probably be able to get it [Friday] because policies mean nothing for Starbucks anymore," one Starbucks employee emailed Business Insider. "To add to the confusion, for some reason, we were told to post a sign saying the PSL is back with no date, with a different sign coming on the launch date."
Starbucks did not announce an official launch date until Monday. However, the official Pumpkin Spice Twitter hinted at a Friday reveal last week and several US Starbucks locations put out signs that indicated a September 1 debut.
Adding to the confusion was a Facebook Live video that Starbucks began livestreaming on Friday. The video continued for three days straight, and was mostly focused on a single pumpkin sitting in a barn.
A September 5 official launch date is consistent with Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte debuts of years past. In 2016, the official PSL launch date was September 4.