Basically the guy was being an utter dick and acting like a toddler.
It’s the old irresistible force meets an immovable object, innit?
Or in this case; boneheaded bloke meets ridiculous rules.
On my first bike ride in Finland, in March ish, I'd done far longer than I'd planned due to getting lost, in freezing cold slushy and dark conditions. I was exhausted, getting ready to bonk quite seriously and my lights were running low. Most stuff was shut and I didn't have a lock anyway but I found a Hesburger drive-through. I went through on my bike, and got served as normal. I was pretty relieved!
Regarding the safety aspect - the other cars didn't mow me down, and not only did I order cold drink so there wasn't really a risk but they gave me my food in the customary paper bag which I was able to carry over to the outside table where I sat down to eat.
See above, I bet they’d serve a motorbike or a moped.
Id place a very VERY small bet on the company insurers making the assumption that any motorised vehicle can be reasonably assumed to be insured, but cyclists can be reasonably assumed to generally not, meaning regardless of what Costa think, the insurers say no. Unless they pay lots more.
Possibly even more relevant as they would be off the public highway and on private property?
Should have said MOTOR vehicles. Bicycles are vehicles in law. You are certainly not a pedestrian when mounted.
the last time i looked (about 30 years ago) a bike was classified as a carriage. no idea if this has changed or if a carriage is a classification of vehicle.
some people just don’t like being told what to do, or that they can’t do what they want. kindergarteners, for example.
a quick google and i see that a bicycle is a vehicle in the uk.
any motorised vehicle can be reasonably assumed to be insured, but cyclists can be reasonably assumed to generally not, meaning regardless of what Costa think, the insurers say no
Admittedly it's a snipped quote but the whole "vehicles are insured" stuff is bollocks because they're not checking on that. There are 1m+ uninsured vehicles on the road, Costa are fairly obviously not checking insurance, tax or MOT status of vehicles arriving at their drive-thru.
It's a similar line when some jumped up little arse says you can't do something because of "health and safety". Get out of jail free card, they assume everyone will go "oh OK then" and sod off.
I was once refused service at a drivethrough MacDonalds on my bike. I'd come out without a lock and wasn't going to park my bike in Maryhill without one to go in to the counter. But while it was mildly irritating it's a case of their ball their rules.
Drive throughs in general aren’t great, and Starbucks is no better - nearest one to here has no bike parking whatsoever (though this might change as it’s on the route of a proposed bike lane)
Personally can't stand coffee shop coffees. To be honest I prefer a simple Brew from the aeropress...just a little dash of milk but not the milky frothy shite that you always get in these places.
After a uni MTB club ride a bunch of us tried using the drive thru but were refused. It was winter so we didn't mind having to go inside too much, left half the seating covered in mud though. 🤷♂️
Possibly even more relevant as they would be off the public highway and on private property?
RTA applies as it is a publicly accessible space, as long as it's members of the public only involved it's more likely to be a police matter than an HSE matter. An advisor somewhere has got their brief a little wrong.
Crossing the car park to deliver an order to a customer is usually poorly regulated from an H&S point of view as the bays are usually across a live traffic route with no pedestrian segregation.
Tried McD's drive thru years ago in my BMX years and was refused but got served on a DH bike in LesArc Maccys drive thru - even got a beer with my le BigMac.
I suspect this has something to do with insurance. See that famous McDonald’s drive through case. There are multiple litigations for scaldings in drive throughs. My use was about 2001-2. I imagine things must have moved on. It’s so wonder about a Velo mobile though.
See that famous McDonald’s drive through case.
The hot coffee case? The actual facts of the case are very different to the version you usually hear, and have been twisted by paranoid insurers/H&S wannabes.
Once after a very shitty muddy ride a group of us went to a McDonalds drive-through and were initially refused service till the manager saw the state we were in and told the person to serve us as it be easier than mopping the floors after us.
I'm always puzzled by the massive queues for drive throughs, whether Costa, Starbucks whatever when the place is open and pretty often quieter inside and surely quicker?
As for cycling to such an establishment,if I had to I'd leave the bike outside and walk in and get the coffee rather than sitting on my bike in a queue of cars...
What a weird world we live in.
@scotroutes - nice, always wanted one of those! Not sure if a cup-holder was a feature on a Quasar, but I’m pretty certain one could be set up, so avoiding any issues with carrying a hot coffee. 😎
What about if I rocked up to Costa in on one of these, with all my mates?
Gotta agree it's probably purely down to insurance purposes. Ie it's not because we don't insure our bikes, it's that they don't want to cover it either. Why can't they just be honest and say that? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Personally can’t stand coffee shop coffees. To be honest I prefer a simple Brew from the aeropress…just a little dash of milk
Complains about coffee then admits to putting milk in...
Costa are fairly obviously not checking insurance, tax or MOT status of vehicles arriving at their drive-thru.
Of course theyre not, doesnt mean the insurers arent calculating that the majority of punters are though does it and how that influences the probability theyll gave to cough up a pay out.
I wonder if the barista got confused between uninsured / cyclists lacking road tax vs the company is insured within certain parameters (ie has a defined set of ‘rules’ for the drive-through). Nothing to do with motor insurance, everything to do with company policy. They just ad-libbed the “road tax” thing because they thought it sounded right (wonder why 🙄).
I know the McDonalds/hot coffee thing is not as often portrayed, but it no doubt made chains think about what liability they have.
It’s stupid and not very inclusive, but I can absolutely imagine someone spilling hot coffee on themselves as they try and wobble away from a drive through one-handed while trying to clip into SPD-SLs.
Oh I dunno. IIRC the coffee lawsuit was fought on the basis that the coffee was much hotter than one would expect. Not that McDonald's were liable for it having been spilled. Similarly, all Costa would have to do would be to ensure that the coffee wasn't too hot then they are in the clear as they can't be held responsible for whatever happens after they hand it over.
There are plenty of other subsequent lawsuits… it’ll be an insurance thing.
Personally can’t stand coffee shop coffees. To be honest I prefer a simple Brew from the aeropress…just a little dash of milk but not the milky frothy shite that you always get in these places.
You know that coffee shops will make you whatever coffee you ask for? You are not forced to drink whatever they choose to make you from menu. If you just want a filter brew, or a long black with a splash of milk, they'll make that for you.
On returning to the UK for a holiday, my findings re: Costa were as follows:
I went to two different ones. The coffee from both was absolutely, irredeemably and inexplicably bad. I couldn't drink either of them. Their offerings are to coffee what Hersheys is to Chocolate. I have an espresso machine at home, and I'd honestly struggle to make one THAT bad on purpose.
One of them (in Farnborough Gate) was absolutely filthy - in the customer area, but even worse behind the counter. People were eating-in, ordering food... I assume these people were blind.
My mum's house (where we were staying) has a corner shop opposite with a costa coffee vending machine. I used it a couple of times (my jet-lag was pretty crushing) and was pleasantly surprised. Certainly better than instant, which was the only requirement.
Drive ins – sorry, they are for turds regardless of your mode of transport. When food or drink becomes so unimportant or you are that fat or lazy you can’t actually be bothered to get out of your car to get it, there is something wrong in the world.
Whilst I agree, it should be noted that in this instance the coffee place was operating drive through only due to staff shortages.
Why didn't he just use the click & collect service?
A mate and i went to a McDonalds drive through by bike in central scotland during lockdown. My order was taken, then at the next window they refused to serve us on H&S grounds. We went and sat at the outdoor seats to have a choc bar and water and then The manager brought our coffees out to us, for free, as she couldn't sell them to us. Stupid rule, but great people...
'Orders can still be placed via click and collect'.
Sounds like someone has not read the sign properly.
Click, collect, have coffee.
Simple.
It does seem like a bit of a business own goal.
just open a window and boom pedestrian service hatch.
Re the maryhill drive through... we tried as a group, quite drunk admittedly to get served by walking through two in the front and two in the back making engine noises. unsurprisingly we were unnsuccessful but everyone had a laugh including the server person.
‘Orders can still be placed via click and collect’.
Sounds like someone has not read the sign properly.
Click, collect, have coffee.
Simple.
Ah but some people like the bike related drama 🙂
Assumed this was a thread about Nescafe but no, its about a dick on a bike and as usual with coffee threads, people getting overly precious about a hot drink.
What a dick. Fancy acting like a 2 year old because you were refused service.
sas78
Full Member
Smashes the like and subscribe button for @bubs. What a story.
I have many more just as good. Strap in.
What a dick. Fancy acting like a 2 year old because you were refused service.
Perhaps to be fair to the guy, if he was told that the server wouldn't give him coffee because his bike's not insured for the road and he doesn't pay road tax, then he would have grounds to be pretty irritated. There's obviously a miscommunication here somewhere, and two parties that had no interest in coming to any sort of amicable solution. As a result, no one looks good here.
He was offered a solution.
Initially he was told it’s against policy to serve people on bicycles.
Can't believe people are using this thread to proclaim their coffee snob credentials. Ok so your refined palette is above coffee shops chains. Well done; but you don't need to tell us. Most of us don't care.
Lucky break for me then. I was riding back from the beach last week and was hungry, really fancied something shit and unhealthy - only food served on my route home would be the KFC or the Burger King drive through. I didn't have a lock for my bike, so thought seriously about going into the drive through. Didn't in the end, cos wasn't sure if they'd serve me. Phew.
Can’t believe people are using this thread to proclaim their coffee snob credentials
doesn't a thread title show that that is actually what the thread is [i]about[/i]??
Can’t believe people are using this thread to proclaim their coffee snob credentials. Ok so your refined palette is above coffee shops chains. Well done; but you don’t need to tell us. Most of us don’t care.
Are you new here? I can't believe no ones blamed Corbyn/Starmer/Thatcher yet 🤣
I didn’t have a lock for my bike, so thought seriously about going into the drive through. Didn’t in the end, cos wasn’t sure if they’d serve me. Phew.
I've heard of audax riders / bikepackers etc having mixed luck at drive thru places - it seems to be up to the whim of the person serving but you can often get away with it at quiet times. I think if you tried it in the Saturday lunchtime rush they'd be less impressed.
doesn’t a thread title show that that is actually what the thread is about??
The first post explains pretty well that it's about the incident with the cyclist and the drive-through.
Can’t believe people are using this thread to proclaim their coffee snob credentials
Can't believe that "boneheaded cyclist reacts boneheadedly to boneheaded rules" is now on it's third page.
I think road cyclists have enough to put up with as it is without one of their brethren going full Karen at the local Costa's 😂
Perhaps to be fair to the guy, if he was told that the server wouldn’t give him coffee because his bike’s not insured for the road and he doesn’t pay road tax, then he would have grounds to be pretty irritated
Fine to be irritated by it but staging a one man blockade/tantrum wasn't appropriate behaviour. He could have just sent an email to their customer services afterwards suggesting they rethink their policy.
