An online community of Dunkin’ Donuts lovers is being torn apart as drama surrounding their new loyalty program blows up on social media

Dunkin’ Donuts has over 8,500 branches across the US. AP Dunkin’ Donuts fans are feuding over changes to its loyalty program, which received a mixed response. While customers can now use their points on food, they need to spend more to get a free coffee.

A subreddit dedicated to Dunkin’ Donuts has been a hotbed of debate over the new rewards system. A subreddit dedicated to Dunkin Donuts is embroiled in controversy as users argue over a new loyalty program the brand unveiled last week. The revised system increased the number of points customers receive from five to 10 per dollar spent.

It also lowered the threshold at which they can redeem points from 200 to 150. However, according to the Dunkin’ Donuts website, the new system requires a minimum of 500 points in order to get a free coffee (fewer points can be redeemed for snacks, donuts, and tea). Past iterations of the reward program entitled customers to a complimentary beverage with only 200 points, leading people to calculate that they’d now need to spend a minimum of $50 to get a free coffee, as opposed to $40 under the previous system.

Complaints about the new rewards have caused controversy on r/DunkinDonuts, a subreddit typically dedicated to discussing users’ love of the brand, where no one seems to be able to agree on what to make of it. When Dunkin’ announced the new program, it said that the change was made “because our members deserve more!” But several posts in the subreddit have criticized Dunkin’ Donuts for inferring that the new rewards would benefit them more than the old system. One post which received 145 upvotes said it thought the company was treating its customers like “idiots.

“One user, who had a 91% upvote ratio for his post, called the new system “stingy” while another, with 98% upvotes, said that customers were getting “less with the illusion of more. ” Many members of the subreddit have said that they will no longer be drinking the brand’s coffee, switching over to Starbucks or McDonald’s instead, effectively boycotting Dunkin’ as a result of the new system. Some are even offering advice to users on how they can make their favorite Dunkin’ drinks at home.

 Users say they hope that by complaining about the new program on Reddit, they’ll be able to instigate change and force Dunkin’ to revert back to the old rewards program. However, not everyone in the subreddit is on board with the criticism. Some Redditors are criticizing other users for complaining about Dunkin’ Donuts in a community that is usually used to express love for the brand.

Others scoffed at the suggestion that people would boycott the brand based on a change to its loyalty system. People also defended Dunkin’ Donuts for the change, arguing that it could be due to inflation making food and labor costs higher, and warning that there could be price increases for Dunkin’s products in the future. One person who supported the change wrote that the new rewards program allows customers to get “lil treats,” while another user said that it’s “not a big deal” to have to spend a little more for a free drink.

 Even Redditors who say they are Dunkin’ Donuts employees have weighed in. The debate has also extended to Twitter, where writer Magdalene J. Taylor — who reported on the controversy for Jezebel — posted Reddit screenshots of the “drama in the Dunkin world” on October 10.

The tweet received over 27,000 likes and almost 3,000 retweets. In replies and quote-tweets, Dunkin’ fans continued to debate the merits of the new rewards system. The Dunkin’ Donuts fandom, which Taylor described as being common among “hardened New Englanders,” has long had a presence on Reddit: the dedicated subreddit was created in 2013 and has over 18,000 members, and various employees have taken part in “ask me anything” threads, known as AMAs.

 Dunkin’ Donuts did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider’s Digital Culture team here. Read the original article on Insider.