Dunkin’ Donuts has been on a slow, painful slide for a while now. But 2025 and 2026 have turned that slide into something closer to a full face-plant. Between getting kicked out of an entire country, an app that crashes during the one hour people actually need it, and a rewards program that keeps getting worse while pretending to get better, the brand is testing the patience of even its most loyal fans. And honestly? If you’ve been paying attention, none of this is shocking.
Dunkin’ Is Getting Pulled Out of India Entirely
Let’s start with the biggest headline. Dunkin’ is exiting India by the end of 2026. Completely. Gone. After 14 years of trying to make it work in one of the most populated countries on earth, the brand is packing up its pink and orange signs and calling it quits.
Jubilant FoodWorks, the Indian company that ran the Dunkin’ franchise there, announced it will not renew its franchise agreement when it expires on December 31, 2026. The board made the call on March 30, 2026, and the reasoning isn’t exactly a mystery. Dunkin’ contributed just 0.61% of Jubilant’s total revenue in fiscal year 2025. That is not a typo. Less than one percent. The operation also recorded a loss of about $2.05 million (191 million rupees).
To put this in perspective, Jubilant also runs Domino’s in India. Domino’s has 2,304 stores across 475 cities with 19% revenue growth year over year. Dunkin’? It was down to 27 locations by December 2025, after peaking at over 70 stores in its first four years. The contrast is brutal.
Why India Never Bought What Dunkin’ Was Selling
This isn’t just a numbers story. It’s a story about a brand that assumed being huge in America would automatically translate overseas. And it doesn’t work like that. Industry experts who analyzed the situation point to one core issue: positioning. Not execution, not the food quality, not the staff. The brand itself just didn’t connect with Indian consumers.
India has its own deep coffee culture, its own snack traditions, and its own pricing expectations. Dunkin’ walked in as an American donut chain and never really became anything else. According to industry analysis, this is a pattern. Domino’s closed every single location in Italy by 2022 because, well, it’s Italy. Taco Bell failed twice in Mexico (1994 and 2007) because you can’t sell Americanized Mexican food to actual Mexicans. McDonald’s closed in Bolivia in 2002 because locals preferred their own food. Global expansion isn’t about copy-pasting a brand. It’s about earning local trust. Dunkin’ never did that in India.
Meanwhile, the Franchise Operator Is Doing Just Fine
Here’s the part that really stings for Dunkin’. Jubilant FoodWorks didn’t just drop the brand because they’re struggling. They dropped it because they’re thriving, and Dunkin’ was dead weight. The company reported a 65% jump in profit year over year for the October through December quarter, hitting 709 million rupees. They’re scaling up Popeyes in India. They renewed their Domino’s agreement for another 15 years. They also run their own brands like Hong’s Kitchen.
Jubilant even said in a regulatory filing that dropping Dunkin’ would have no material impact on their financials. That’s business speak for “we won’t even notice it’s gone.” The company is now evaluating what to do with the remaining 27 locations. Options include shutting them down, selling the franchise rights to someone else, or converting them into other brands. Some high-traffic locations might become Hong’s Kitchen outlets instead. Either way, Dunkin’ is the one getting replaced, not the other way around.
The Dunkin’ App Keeps Crashing When People Need It Most
Now let’s talk about what’s happening right here at home. If you’re a Dunkin’ regular in the U.S., you already know the app is a disaster. And it’s not getting better.
On April 22, 2025, the app went down for a large number of users starting around 8:08 AM Eastern Time. That’s the morning commute. That’s when millions of people are trying to pre-order their iced coffee so they can grab it on the way to work. Users reported being stuck on a loading screen showing nothing but the Dunkin’ logo. Others got logged out of their accounts entirely with no way back in. Some got a fun little error code: APP4247, which basically translates to “sorry, try again later.”
It happened again on September 29, 2025, with reports spiking around 8:23 AM. Same story, same timeframe, same frustration. Users also say the app tends to crash right after seasonal updates, like when Dunkin’ rolls out holiday flavors. So the app can’t even handle its own promotions.
Customers Can’t Access Their Own Money
This part is what really gets people fired up. The Dunkin’ app isn’t just an ordering tool. It’s where customers store actual money. Pre-loaded gift card balances sit in the app. Rewards points that took weeks to earn are tied to the account. When the app goes down, people lose access to funds they’ve already paid.
One user posted on social media: “It is middle of the day and it said system maintenance. Can’t even access my own money on the app. This happens too much.” Another person was charged for an order they couldn’t pick up because of road construction, then couldn’t get a refund because chat support was down and phone customer service was unreachable.
The problems aren’t rare glitches. According to a troubleshooting guide published in October 2025, thousands of people deal with these failures every single day. Common issues include the app refusing to open, payment errors popping up randomly, rewards points vanishing, and users getting logged out for no reason. Error code APP4247 shows up even when people enter the right username and password. Some users have been stuck on the loading screen for multiple days. The fact that an entire third-party website exists just to help people fix a fast food coffee app tells you everything you need to know.
The Rewards Program Keeps Getting Worse
If you’re still hanging on to your Dunkin’ loyalty, the company is working hard to make that harder, too. In October 2025, Dunkin’ rolled out another round of rewards changes that made the program less generous across the board, while framing the whole thing as an improvement.
The cold brew category was removed entirely. Signature espresso and frozen drinks now require 50 more points to redeem, meaning you have to spend an additional $50 before you earn a free one. Non-coffee drinks were shuffled around, resulting in about 1% less cash-back value per item. Your breakfast sandwich now gives you 5% back instead of the previous 6%. The best remaining value in the entire program is hash browns at 11% back. That’s the highlight. Hash browns.
Loyal Fans Say the Brand Has Lost Its Way
These rewards changes aren’t new, either. They’re part of a multi-year pattern of making customers pay more for less. When Dunkin’ overhauled its loyalty program previously, the company doubled its points accrual rate (from 5 to 10 points per dollar) but then more than doubled the cost of redeeming a small cup of coffee from 200 to 500 points. Do the math and that’s a 25% increase in how much you need to spend before earning a free drink.
For fancier drinks like Refreshers and espresso beverages, the devaluation was even worse. Those went up 125% in points cost. One Reddit user summed it up: “I would earn a free drink perk about once a week through the old rewards program. Under the new system you have to spend more like $70 even with the double points.” A loyalty member in New Hampshire earned 66 free drinks in 2021 under the old system. Try pulling that off now.
Dunkin’ pointed to its “Boosted Status” tier, which gives 12 points per dollar if you visit 12 or more times in a single calendar month. But even with Boosted Status, the cheapest coffee still costs slightly more in rewards terms than it used to. Visiting 12 times a month is basically going every other day just to keep your upgraded earning rate. That’s not a perk. That’s a homework assignment.
The Employees Are Feeling It Too
Customers aren’t the only ones frustrated. Store workers have been caught in the crossfire. One Dunkin’ employee posted on Reddit: “What are we supposed to do when a customer is frustrated with us over something that’s out of our control?” And that’s the ugly side of all this corporate decision-making. The people behind the counter didn’t change the rewards program. They didn’t build the app. They can’t fix the server. But they’re the ones getting yelled at.
One social media user didn’t hold back: “Why is Dunkin’ just progressively getting worse and more expensive at the same time? Half the quality issue is their employees don’t know what they’re doing. I used to go about 5 times a week and it’s down to 1, even then I’m disappointed.” Whether that’s fair to the workers or not, the sentiment is widespread. People feel like they’re getting less for more, and the experience keeps degrading.
This Is What a Slow Collapse Looks Like
Dunkin’ isn’t going to disappear from America tomorrow. It’s too big for that. But what’s happening right now is a company that’s losing ground on every front at the same time. It failed internationally so badly it’s getting pulled from the world’s second most populated country. Its app, which it pushed millions of customers to rely on for ordering and payments, goes down during peak hours on a regular basis. Its rewards program has been gutted to the point where even dedicated fans feel cheated. And the overall vibe among customers has shifted from “I love my Dunkin'” to “I guess I’ll still go, but I’m not happy about it.”
When a brand keeps making things worse for the people who stuck around the longest, the crash isn’t surprising. It’s inevitable. Dunkin’ runs on loyalty. And right now, they’re burning through it faster than a medium iced coffee on a July morning.
