to be fed up of coffee shops never giving me what I've ordered?

[BrightOrangeDahlias]

This has happened several times over the last few weeks or so and it's really starting to annoy me! It's when I order a "fancy" coffee or hot chocolate etc, usually from the seasonal range, paying a price premium for it too. It never comes with all the bits it's bloody supposed to!

It's happened in Costa (gingerbread latte that came without the cream and gingerbread man, they'd run out of both). At a service station on the motorway the other day, Starbucks (who I usually avoid) fleeced me five pounds fecking thirty (!!!) for a Chestnut Praline Latte that was missing the cream and sprinkly bits. I handed that back and asked whether I could have the extra bits I'd paid for and the man grudgingly produced a squirt of cream and muttered they had ran out of sprinkles. And today, thought I'd be ok in a local independent and asked for a s'mores hot chocolate, which was missing any type of topping. This time they were out of cream, and the guy said "you have to ask specially for the marshmallows as they're not vegetarian so we don't put them on unless you ask us to". So why have a fecking massive telly behind you advertising them with marshmallows on then?!?

Fair enough that shops run out of things, but if you've run out of half the ingredients, don't let me order it and then charge me for something you're not going to give me!

It's not me, is it?!?

Just take it back or refuse to pay for it.
I had a cappuccino at a NT cafe a few weeks ago. It was pretty much hot milk and water. I just went to the counter and said I'd like a shot of coffee as it taste of nothing. They asked if I like a fresh one, I said another shot would do. No quibble, didn't attempt to charge me more. At 4 quid I expect to get what I paid for.

This Soooooo much pisses me off too! Everytime I buy some festive or seasonal type drink it always has the bits missing too.
I now ask before I buy if everything comes with it…

The only place I'll get coffee these days is Greggs as part of the breakfast deal - £2.75 for a sausage bap and coffee, extra 50p for the fancier seasonal ones. Basically buy a relatively reasonable priced coffee and get free breakfast!

Yes!! I hate it. They don't even give you a small discount for not having the fancy bits that make the drink special!

Sure, but drinkable for me is an extra hot. Standard ‘drinkable’ is when I would pour it away and start again. So I wouldn’t be drinking the supposedly nice tasting drink anyway.

My bugbear is that they only ever have one toilet, so you have to use the same one as all the smelly boys.

It might be reasonably priced but at my local Greggs it's like tepid dishwater!

the local indies are no better!

no costa or Starbucks in the village...localist (driving distance) are variable.

@AsTheLightFades

Off topic of course but DGM [long ago] was always confused by scalds and scolds. Always threatening to scald me!

This. I now take a thermos mug with my own coffee in it. I don't like having to pay the best part of a fiver for a lukewarm drink in a small cup. I'll only buy coffee out if it's part of socialising.

Ditto when you ask for kids temperature or not too hot and it comes steaming as it it was heated on the surface of the sun!!

Costa is the Weatherspoons of cafes, grotty, overpriced and not what it once was. Starbucks can be marginally better, depending on where you are, and the chai is nowhere near as tasty as the US version (though likely less sugary!). Smaller independents are the way to go for decent coffee… And large chains that trade on their reputations and regularly scam their customers by charging for products they can’t supply (akin to buying fish and chips without the chips 🤦🏻‍♀️) don’t deserve our custom. Make a NY resolution to go local and drink quality coffee in 2025!

@BrightOrangeDahlias

It is always sad I feel when cafes [etc] run out of things. Surely it would be simple enough to slip out to a local shop and buy some. I had a protracted correspondence with an M&S cafe which had run out of stuff. There was plenty in the M&S food hall but they "were not allowed to buy any"! Brilliant management?

It's often worth while writing to their head office who may send a voucher.

Oh dear!! 😃

Smaller independents are the way to go for decent coffee

The best and the worst coffee I've had has come from small independents. Chain coffee is never nearly as good as the best but is always drinkable (for me). I've had some truly terrible coffees from independents.

Complain - they’ll send you vouchers

I was once presented with a stone cold latte in a local independent. Not to mention it being the only time I have ever been charged extra for decaff!! The server suggested that he could put a bit of hot water in from the kettle! I said that really wouldn't work and asked for a fresh one. Which was tepid. Have never been back.

That’s appalling and theft

Think of the stress and money you would save if you took a flask.

I like homemade mint hot chocolate, no
coffee chain is going to provide as good as my own. Probably costs about 25p or less, including boiling the kettle.

Milk salts at a certain temperature, which is why they try to avoid a certain hot temperature. I think it's 165f, don't know 😂 it's been a While

Honestly don't worry. Apart from a disappointing blob of cream on the Starbucks coffee, I didn't get anything on the others! Had the first one been on-spec, I probably wouldn't have tried ordered the fancy stuff on the 2nd or 3rd occasions... 😏

When it first opened back in the dim dark mists of time, Starbucks was a coffee shop. It was pretty good in comparison to the alternatives in cafés, if you actually liked coffee.

For the past 15 years or more it’s been a “hot drinks with frou frou bits in” place packed with young teens. Because that’s where the mark up is, and all the profit.

Not being able to actually provide all the frou frou bits is ridiculous of them.

If the "extras" were missing, I would return the drink and ask for a full refund. They should have made this clear to you at the time of ordering.

Years ago abroad took kids into MacDonalds for lunch- I ordered a Caesar salad. When I was given the salad there was no Caesar dressing - they had run out. Ok I said I’ll have mayonnaise instead. They tried to charge for the mayonnaise! I argued should be free as they had run out Caesar dressing - nope they wouldn’t back down. I marched all out without any food- my husband said it was only a few cents but it was the principle!

They were CF - you were definitely in the right. That’s a case of staff failing to think somewhat creatively and acting like robots .

They’ve been told they must charge for mayonnaise so they can’t envisage any situation where this wouldn’t apply.

And tbh they should have told you there was no dressing before they gave the salad so you could decide if you still wanted it or not.

How will they provide accurate ingredient, calorie and allergy information if buying from a shop rather than using their regular supplier??