Free coffee anyone? Nokesville couple finds a unique way to spread some holiday cheer
What happens when you share a preloaded Starbucks card – complete with barcode – in a Facebook group with 4,000 members? Joni and Todd Hammer, proprietors of a small business in Nokesville, discovered this last week.
Around noon on Tuesday, Dec. 21, Joni Hammer purchased a $200 Starbucks gift card, screenshotted it, and shared the barcode with the “Nokesville Community” Facebook group, along with a note of gratitude and an invitation to stop by their small business and grab a coffee.
“We appreciate your kind words and referrals, Nokesville! If you’re out and about, please enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee until the funds run out. Extreme PSI, LLC would like to wish all of its customers a very Merry Christmas!”
Joni Hammer stated that the first order was posted to her card within minutes. “Within four minutes of posting, I purchased my first cup of coffee. ‘All right,’ I reasoned. It is effective. Yay!’”
Then the orders began to arrive. In the first hour, twelve drinks were purchased. Pumpkin cream cold brews, peppermint mochas, and vanilla sweet cream cold brews were among them. Numerous beverages that “make you feel ‘Christmassy,'” according to Joni Hammer.
Joni Hammer, 42, and her 40-year-old husband Todd Hammer own Extreme PSI, LLC, a septic system and drain cleaning business. According to Joni Hammer, they founded the company in 2017 with the intention of serving primarily commercial customers. However, she said, their residential business grew as a result of the numerous referrals they received through the “Nokesville Community” Facebook group.
“Because we do a lot of commercial work, residential was not our primary focus. However, it is difficult to decline. Thus, our residential work began solely through Facebook,” Joni Hammer explained, adding that “all of our residential work – aside from close friends and family – began solely through Facebook and these small community sites.
