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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I should have been able to buy half a drink??

205 replies

Edenviolet · 28/07/2015 23:44

Went out today and for a treat went to a cafe as dd1 and dd2 wanted a drink

Dd1 chose hers and dd2 decided she would like a creamy fruit type drink. Dd2 has type 1 diabetes so we went on the website to work out the carbs in a small drink, it was quite a lot so thought I'd get her half a small drink instead but this proved to be quite a problem
The first person said no when I requested exactly half of a small drink ( they could do it as all measurements are on the jugs etc). I asked why and was told 'no we can't do custom drinks" so I asked to see the manager and was told "no we can't do half" and "I don't know what to charge for half a small drink"

I suggested that perhaps half the cost of a small drink might be a good figure but was told again "no, we can't do it"
I explained again why we needed just half and said could I not just pay for a small drink but they just measure half instead. "No"again?

By this point dd2 was getting upset so I said "ok I will have a small drink and please can I have an extra cup?" To which they replied "no, just one cup" and I had had to then virtually beg for the drink to be split equally between two cups. Ridiculous

Yet again, dd has been upset and something simple like getting a drink has been complicated by diabetes and she is getting more and more negative about things due to incidents like this

Surely I should have been able to buy half a drink? Or at the very least a small one split into two cups without having to beg?!

OP posts:
RealityCheque · 29/07/2015 00:07

Half by eye is easily close enough. YABU.

crustsaway · 29/07/2015 00:08

What do costa do to "measure" it out? Do they do that exactly every time? I don't think so?

hospitalworry · 29/07/2015 00:10

Reality cheque
Absolutely

Original poster
Edenviolet · 29/07/2015 00:12

She's just going through a bit of a bad time at the moment and it seems to all revolve around food.

She doesn't like something so won't eat, deliberately leaves the things she knows have no carbs in just because she can even if it's something she likes (?) or the worst one is where she seems ok, I give her insulin then she refuses to eat and I have to pretend I'm not panicking but in reality I know I need her to eat or she will be very ill.
It's the one thing she has control over and it's so difficult

Things like today just reinforce for her the problems surrounding food/drink and diabetes and it worries me that it will affect her long term. She has a great hospital team though and they are very very good with things like this and will be helping her as they have a psychologist there too.

Think I will just take my own measuring jug next time we go for a drink !

OP posts:
Original poster
Edenviolet · 29/07/2015 00:14

They have jugs there to measure out for the drinks

Half by eye could be out by a bit but if it's a few grams of carbs out her blood sugar would end up too low or high as the pump would give the wrong dose of insulin. It's very precise we have to weigh/measure everything she eats and drinks

OP posts:
youareallbonkers · 29/07/2015 00:14

Begging? Nonsense. They would have given an extra cup if you asked, they were probably baffled by your request for half...can I have half a Big Mac? Half a pasty? Half that bottle of coke, ridiculous. Or just ask for a glass of tap water. Surely if the drink is such an issue and has to be measured to the mm it's not something she should be drinking anyway

Isntitironic · 29/07/2015 00:16

I don't go into the Costa in town anymore; they drive me batty. We have a dairy allergy and the last straw was them refusing to check whether they'd put the right milk in my drink.

Original poster
Edenviolet · 29/07/2015 00:18

All her food and drink has to weighed and measured. She can have anything as long as I know the carb content.

A whole drink would have been 51.2g carbs, from past experience a drink like this with a high sugar content is hard to judge how her blood sugar will react so half the drink at 26g (25.5 but we round up) was a better amount as she's only 5

OP posts:
hospitalworry · 29/07/2015 00:19

No to measuring jug
Don't make it all about food
As I said - diabetes can be a recipe for an eating disorder or at least an unhealthy relationship with food
(especially as they get older and realise if they don't give insulin then a bit of ketones (like people do when they low carb)makes you lose weight . Yes they will probably feel shit , puke , etc
Hopefully fall short of dka.
Girls especially will use missing insulin to lose weight .

hospitalworry · 29/07/2015 00:25

If your too stringent then they will rebel
Think about yourself - you know that if you eat a 'perfect' diet and do X amount of exercise a week that's ideal
Do you?
If so - good on you but you are an adult!
A child being led this way - the parents are told the ideal yes
But it's unreasonable to expect this or model it
They should know the best way but be able to compensate if they fancy a treat like everyone else
(and know how to estimate the carbs) It's not life or death

Arrowedheart · 29/07/2015 00:27

Why not just drink more than half the drink yourself or tip the same amount in the bin if it was going to be easier than arguing with a distressed child by your side?

WhatifIdid · 29/07/2015 00:27

Not surprised to hear its Costa. The average brain power in there is definitely in single figures in my experience.

Diabetes in childhood sucks and the moodiness can be very hard to cope with for the sufferer and family. All hard enough without jobs worths.

YANBU

ShadowsCollideCantLogInToMN · 29/07/2015 00:46

I understand completely why you wanted to buy a half portion of a drink. And yes, common sense would dictate that if not allowed to buy a half drink, you should be allowed split a regular drink between two cups. However, having worked in a juice / smoothie bar when I was younger, I can tell you that everything was counted. I had to do a weekly stock take, counting everything from boxes of oranges to frozen pineapple to the number of cups and lids we had. If the number of cups didn't tally with drinks sold, I'd be in for a bollocking.

So if I served a regular drink but gave (for example) two kids cups, it'd be picked up on. Is this ridiculous? Absolutely. Is it the price paid for frequenting horrible chains staffed by young people with no option to make judgement calls, bound by rules handed down from head office? Yes.

The staff in places like this generally have no freedom to make judgement calls. Do complain to the head office though, it's the only way things will change.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 29/07/2015 00:59

Begging? Nonsense. They would have given an extra cup if you asked, they were probably baffled by your request for half...can I have half a Big Mac? Half a pasty? Half that bottle of coke, ridiculous

You would have to be a bit silly to be baffled by a request for half.

Even if it's a Big Mac or pasty.

MagicMojito · 29/07/2015 01:00

I used to work in a coffee shop chain and the recipe/quantities have to stay the same each time (usually marked lines on the pitcher) so no they wouldn't have been able to do you just a half measure because the quantities wouldn't be accurate for that drink.

From what you have said though, they sound spectacularly unhelpful! Seriously, they refused you an extra cup? Wtf is that all about?! Confused

It sounds petty but I'd probably email the manager and tell them how unhelpful their staff were on this occasion and how its put you off visiting their store again.
I hate hate hate bad customer service though!

stolemyusername · 29/07/2015 01:03

I really feel for you and DD, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes a few weeks back and that's been hard enough to get my head around. Trying to explain to a child why it's best for them must be virtually impossible especially as there is an increased tendency to 'reward' good behaviour with food eg. ice cream for good behaviour.

RainbowFlutterby · 29/07/2015 02:04

Interesting how rude some posters are being when there's a thread asking why people are so rude to retail staff. Looks like it's not restricted to being rude to their faces - behind their backs as well.

This thread seems to answer the question though!

Whipnaenae · 29/07/2015 02:17

So you need to know the EXACT size of the drink and then you round it up anyway? In that case pouring out half the drink by sight should be enough. They were U for not giving you an extra cup, but they probably didn't fully understand after the massive fuss you made beforehand. I think your reactions are why your child is getting funny over what she can or can't consume.

VeganCow · 29/07/2015 02:38

Dont settle for this, without customers these chains would have no business...email them and tell them how they are failing some customers with their refusal to adapt to different simple requirements. At the very least you should get some vouchers which will allow you to buy a small drink next time they refuse to halve it for you, and ask them to tip half of it wastefully doen the sink.

Mermaidhair · 29/07/2015 03:44

Ywbu, to expect to buy half a drink. It's obvious they wouldn't want to do this as then they would have more people asking for the same. They are a business and need to make money. Also asking them to measure exactly half, they probably don't have time and don't want the responsibility if something went wrong. I think you got their back up so they didn't want to help in any way. I'm glad you got an extra cup in the end. I think though if this is such an important thing you should not rely on restaurants with measurements when it comes to your child's drinks and food. I know I wouldn't.

Garlick · 29/07/2015 03:58

That's rotten. I'm really sorry Costa spoiled what should have been a nice little break for you & your DDs.

I can understand them not being able to sell half a drink, but a service provider should have immediately suggested selling the whole drink and splitting it. Actually refusing was bonkers Angry

I agree, write to head office. www.costa.co.uk/contact/

PannaDoll · 29/07/2015 04:37

You could have handled this so differently!

Next time order the drink, ask for another cup and make a big fuss about how nice it is to be sharing a treat with DD as you both enjoy a smoothie.

Making a fuss at point of sale and wanting half portions etc will make DD feel different and cause issues around food.
It must be tough for you guys living with the diabetes but I think you need to find a different way to handle it.

YABU

MammaTJ · 29/07/2015 05:03

I get that iit is hard, but maybe next time you take the two of them out for a treat it should not be about food or drink, that takes away the problem of diabetes.

I forget how old they are but maybe a little trip to a store that does make up and get a make over for them, shopping for a nail varnish (probably cheaper than Costa) or similar might be a better idea.

Having said that, Costa were totally UR to not give you a second cup immediately. You don't say, but did you tell them your DD is diabetic?

esiotrot2015 · 29/07/2015 06:21

A makeover for a five year old Grin ?

Sirzy · 29/07/2015 06:30

I actually think it is very unfair to put the pressure of getting an exact amount on the staff too.

They should have given you an extra cup so you could do it yourself.