Costa should make it clear that cream or marshmallows cost extra

🤣

So why complain about £1?

Common sense as my mum used to say, is a most uncommon commodity , how right she was

Yeah, that is cheeky.

I tend to get the Tesco meal deal that includes a coffee from the machine, and get a bean on the app.

Once I've got 10 beans, I'll get a "real" Costa drink for free from the Costa café. This includes cream and marshmallows, at no extra cost. Win!

I don't think it's very clear either. I ordered their maple syrup hazelnut latte yesterday, every picture on the board and posters showed it with cream and the server asked 'is that with cream?', no mention of the extra cost but it went from £3.50 to £4.35.

Relying om customer inertia.

This is an interesting article on upselling.
Most people will read it and it goes well with the thread. But the link expires in 30 minutes....

Upselling Psychology: A Peek into your Customers’ Minds

Is it the same at Starbucks? We dont have Costa where I am. They always ask me if I want cream, I always say no as I dont like it, no idea they charged extra

That’s on you because it is on there, or you could ask how much they are when they offer them?

It doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me that Costa (or anywhere) would charge extra for cream or marshmallows. If they were included, they would have to put the price up and those who just wanted a basic hot chocolate would be paying over the odds.

I don't buy hot drinks but when I buy an ice cream, I expect to pay more if I have a flake, (and even more if I have a dollop of clotted cream too, as I often do when in Cornwall).

Surely you’d have common sense to know it’s extra. It’s their job to upsell.

You can nearly buy a kettle for the cost of a coffee at one of these places.

How much of the economy is coffee shops?

Or just make it at home

People leave their responsibility and ability to think for themselves at the door anywhere there's 'staff'.
If a customer makes a mistake, misinterprets something, gets it wrong I'll bend over backwards to rectify it - unless they've decided that because they're a customer and I'm the 'staff' it must be my fault regardless of what actually happens and start expecting me to grovel to them and boost their ego by taking the blame as well. Not happening.
I'm there to provide a service, not be blamed for everyone else's mistakes.

Yabu to go into Costa it’s shit, dirty, grimy and sad.

How you ask the question is pyschologically interesting.

"Would you like marshmallows or cream with that?"

It's the kind of question where there is no obvious "No" answer. A bit like "Are you doing your homework now or after tea" - when you want your DC to do something so you offer a choice rather than a question where "No" is an obvious answer.

A better way for customers would be:

"Would you like any extras with that?"
If the person says yes, then offer them marshmallows or cream.

It's relying on people knowing that marshmallows or cream are chargeable extras.

Same for going abroad and they ask you if you want bread on the table. Sometimes it's free and sometimes you pay for it. Charges are always obvious on a menu

I struggle with the boards and the noise in Costa too. So I downloaded the app and plan what I'm having before I go in and I can see how much it costs. Yes I use small local coffee shops too but Costa does lovely toast 😋

I afford it because going to Costa about four or five times a year is, to my household budget, a completely trivial expense. I’m not there multiple times a day!

Yeah I could make a flask, but when I want to meet a friend somewhere or take my kid out to have a little treat (and learn how to behave in cafes, how to order, how to not be upsold marshmallows at the counter…) going to Costa provides me with a drink but also with a place to sit for an hour or two with my friend/kid, in a nice chair, with an available toilet, in a building that’s heated or cooled and has staff who’ll make it for me and wash everything up afterwards.

A flask on a park bench, with none of those facilities, is not the same thing. Often still good, but not always what I want.

Yes I agree they should add that it costs extra. I bet they catch a lot of people out

Very droll.

It’s standard upselling. The equivalent of the “would you like fries with that order?” I had to recite when I worked for McDonalds 30 years ago.
I tend to go to Costa as it has a no dogs policy. As someone with a dog allergy this is an important point. Even waiting for a takeaway in the independent cafe or Starbucks can be enough to start me wheezing. (I live near a canal which is very popular for dog walking)

These places are here to make money. It’s just a ploy to part you with your cash. And it works! Same with any coffee bigger than a regular size. It’s just extra hot water…

I remember when Starbucks actually used to be nice. 25 years ago! Whey it was Seattle Coffee Company, Latte or Mocha (real cream on top) plus a Blueberry Muffin or Cheesecake.

Less than a fiver for both, too! A real treat. Last time I went to Starbucks, half a mug of lukewarm sweet brown water, half a mug of squirty cream. Best part of five quid. Never again!

Sure, if you want to! It's Mumsnet you can chat about whatever you want.

FWIW I've always been asked about milk, but if they're assuming you want it and putting it in then I think that's a legitimate whinge!

They do say, it's on the menu board, clear as day.
When they ask if you want them, they aren't giving you them for free.

Sorry , I guess it's close to my heart as my parents for many years ran a coffee shop in the heart of Sydney ( Below centrepoint tower in the Imperial arcade for fellow Aussies. ). Not trying to be foodie. I'm not sure about the UK but we have had terrible problems with dodgy franchises here,in a lot of industries but mainly food.

This one is my fault, I should have checked. But we popped into an independent coffee shop last weekend after a wet dog walk. I asked if they did a kids hot chocolate, they did. Brilliant.

I ordered 2 regular, 2 kids. It's only when I paid that I realised they actually charge full price for the kids hot chocolate. These had no cream or marshmallows. It cost £3.75 each. I expected the kids ones to be smaller but they were all very small.

Like I said, my fault, I should have checked the prices. But we never get drinks out, it was supposed to be a nice treat, I could have made nicer ones at home.