Starbucks fans in a tizzy over T-shirt giveaway

Starbucks customers are used to lining up for coffee, but some are not taking another wait so well.

Shortly after the Seattle coffee chain said last week that it would give away customized T-shirts online, restless fans began to grumble.

"Feeling lucky? Go ahead and try to get one of the T-shirts being given away online from Feb. 15 through Feb. 28," wrote Jim Romenesko, webmaster for Starbucksgossip.com, where baristas and customers swap insights.

"A 'very limited' number of shirts — 1? 5? 50? 50,000? — will be free of charge while quantities last," he wrote last Friday. "I checked at 8:45 a.m. Friday and the shirts allotted for the day were already 'sold out.' "

Some wrote to commiserate, while others boasted about getting a shirt — or two.

Designed by TV's "Project Runway" finalist Mychael Knight, the T-shirts feature a Starbucks cup on which customers can "write" their order, like, a "Grande 2-shots Vanilla Lowfat Café Latte."

Despite the vast options, not everyone can order their favorite drink.

Information

To see what has created this tempest in a T-shirt: www.mystarbuckstshirt.com

"It's completely ugly and they don't have coconut syrup," one customer complained on the gossip site before admitting to still wanting a shirt.

Others got down to the fine print, noticing on a news release that the shirts are available each day beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

One poster shared that the "promo workbook" — whatever that is — said there were 200,000 T-shirts altogether.

Starbucks spokesman Brandon Borrman cleared up that question on Wednesday when he revealed that the total number of T-shirts is about 10,000.

He still wouldn't say how many shirts are available each day, but said, "We're thrilled that there's this much interest in the campaign."

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312