To refuse coffee someone else rejected?

[36Camelliasandcounting]

It’s happened several times recently. The barista has made a drink that wasn’t the right specification for whoever ordered it. One of those things right? It happens.

Except several times recently, the barista has then poured that rejected coffee into a takeaway cup from the ‘having in’ mug and tried to serve to me. I’ve refused and been met with a fair bit of eye-rolling. Most recently I just asked for a refund and after I left a review online stating the incident had happened several times recently including twice that week and as a result I wouldn’t be going back.

The manager has since replied stating it’s policy and widely appreciated by customers to minimise waste?!

AIBU to think no one wants someone else’s rejected coffee?

YABU: I’m happy to take other customers rejected coffee.

YANBU: No. Even worse if the coffee isn’t the right spec and/or has been stood on the side whilst the original drink was remade so is then cold when presented to you.

it’s been on someones table with people breathing, coughing and perhaps even dropping fluff or crumbs in it accidentally before realising it’s not what they ordered, no thanks. that’s not right.

you didn't explain that or i’d have voted differently. will change my vote if i can.

if it was just at the counter in a sealed cup that wasn’t opened when someone rejected it, that’s fine.

You may personally not be able to tell the difference (although if that’s true I genuinely wonder where you’ve been buying your coffee) but either way, they are objectively different and the texture of the drink will be affected by decanting if it contains steamed milk.

I thought ywbu as I was picturing an americano at the counter being given to you instead of another customer.

But given your update yanbu at all.

What a strange way of minimising waste. Surely training staff to pay attention when customers are ordering and then making what has been asked for will end waste altogether.

If the drink has been cooling and therefore below standard then it isn't the customer's responsibility to absorb the cost of poor training by taking their waste off their hands.

I think this is very pertinent. If you're paying £4.50 for a cup of coffee, you're paying for far more than the actual drink itself and "Oh well, I suppose it'll do". Otherwise, you might as well just take a thermos flask from home, if all you actually care about is getting a hot drink down your throat.

That's a lot to pay just to receive somebody else's cast-off/mistake. These places charge such a premium for their branding and image, it's not on to expect people to still pay for that experience but not actually receive it.

I don’t see the problem. I once bought a car someone else had ordered and didn’t pick up. It was right up my street so why go and order a different one

Op you right. Is it lukewarm. Im fussy they nearly 4euro in Dublin now. I want a decent drink!!

I might be in the minority here but i think id rather a new order was made. It is a little incompetent of the staff.

I’d go somewhere else tbh. If their mistakes have zero consequences because they pass them off on another customer then they’ve no incentive to train their staff properly.

I only order cappuccino when out as I can do everything else myself (cannot master the foaming for some reason). So no, I don’t want my perfect cappuccino dumped into a takeaway cup and the texture spoiled. And if the place is happy with that I assume they don’t care too much about quality so I’d have no difficulty choosing elsewhere.

I'm with you OP, only way it would be acceptable is if they asked you and were prepared to give it to you for free to save on waste.

Otherwise coffees are supposed to be made into a take out cup, with the milk in the right style at the right temperature, and poured in over the coffee shot in the right way.

I'd go elsewhere.

If it's been delivered to a table, returned and then poured into a takeaway cup then no, YANBU to refuse as it would be colder than I'd like and the milk/foam structure wouldn't be ideal.
If it's a coffee shop being collected and offered to a customer who immediately rejects and then offered to me that would be fine.

I would imagine the drink won't be hot and pouring it into a takeaway cup isn't going to be the same as making it fresh.

Sounds very unprofessional.

And who's keeping track of the drinks, what if someone ordered a syrup or different milk?

No I wouldn't accept that at all.

You’re not being unreasonable at all. They are so expensive! You want it as hot as possible. I used to work in a cafe and whenever this happens (misheard the person, card is declined etc) I would offer it to the next person for free. It’s super cheeky they are trying to charge you full price 😂

if the coffee had just been made in front of me at the person rejected it and it happened to be what I was ordering I wouldn’t have an issue with it but the fact it’s been taken away from the counter and has been out of my eyesight and then returned is a big no from me.

Reply this back to the manager and tell him you are not paying £4.50 for a premium drink that isn't as you asked for it. Tell him you see this regularly and the onus is on him to reduce waste by stopping it happening in the first place by training and retaining experienced staff - tell him it is an unacceptable "policy" for a regular customer to be pressured to take a sub standard drink at full price and made to feel at fault for what was their error.

If you don't get a full apology don't go back and leave a poor review sharing this.

It goes cold. Had someone do it to me and after being poured into a mug and then poured again into a takeaway cup, the air has cooled the liquid and by the time I get to the office it’s cold! I wouldn’t accept it again.

If I was paying for a vastly overpriced coffee, i would want it freshly made for me. The company's loss on a discarded cup is not my problem (well it would be, as they would factor such things into their next price hikes).

The price of a coffee is obscene in some places.
I am so bloody mean when it comes to buying one.
Half the time its shite.
I drink more coffee at home these days, so do friends.
No money worries whatsoever, just plain meanness.

As for paying £4.50 for someone else's luke warm slops?
Not a chance.
CF territory.
Yanbu.

But you're investing in a very long time of convenience, pleasure, facility etc. with that car. It could last you 25 years of wonderful motoring.

A coffee will only last you maybe half an hour at a push, and you're paying a big premium for the 'specialness' of getting it served fresh and especially to your specific requests, from a branded place that promises an experience.

If you were buying a new house, you likely wouldn't mind if it needed cosmetic work doing to it - as long as the price reflects it. You'd look to the future, make your plans and see it as a much longer-term investment. However, if you'd booked for a night or two in a premium boutique hotel and your room had wallpaper peeling off the walls, chipped paint on the window sills, dusty light bulbs and an unflushed monster turd and deep skid marks in the bathroom, you'd be very disappointed indeed.

If you're paying for a momentary experience that's supposed to be all perfect and prepared especially for you, as per the high price, it's very different from initially getting your foot in the door for a long haul project.

I think yabu for accepting it in the first place. Especially multiple times!

If it ever happens again just refuse and ask them to make yours fresh please. If they refuse take your business elsewhere.

It's cheeky. Coffee is expensive. Ask for a discount. Say half price. Then you've saved the planet.

Why don't you name the chain so we can all avoid them?

Yes as I wouldn't have been conviced it was what I ordered and they are fobbing me off.

It's like the now illegal practice of pubs leaving half poured pints on the drip tray after cleaning/checking the pumps...I don't want 2/,3 of my beer sat there with god knows what in the glass

Coffee to make cost pennies...it's a few beans out of the billions and billions grown in the world and some hot water...I tell you what here is a plate of chips someone rejected have these to eat instead of fresh ones

YANBU - if it’s a cappuccino then surely the foam would be partially ruined on the pour from a ‘drink in’ mug, thus leaving you with a sub-par coffee for the same price

If I was at someone’s house or it was someone I know who owned the coffee shop, I’d be less fussy. You are literally paying for a product and service - baristas and bartenders make the wrong drinks sometimes. From my experience, they’ve either offered it for free or kept it for staff🤷🏼‍♀️

IDK, I’d be miffed if I paid full price :D

Even the title 'barista' - as opposed to 'somebody who works in a cafe' is designed to give you confidence of an artisan server who will take time and care in providing you with YOUR individual exacting fresh order; and this is part of the whole package that justifies the high prices - not whatever the previous customer happened to change their mind about, or that the server got wrong because they didn't bother listening to their order!