Ha ha, just another reason never to visit Costa Coffee.

https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-refused-service-costa-coffee-drive-through-293885

Not sure I’d have blocked the drive through, but fair play for standing his ground 😆

😀 I thought you’d been to my parent’s house 😂

I’m all for cyclists being treated fairly but the guy was being a bit of a dick in my opinion.

I’d be annoyed if some halfwit tried to tell me that my bike wasn’t a road legal vehicle… especially if they tried to make out that was company policy!

Though yes, he was being a bit of a dick.

That’s fine, I’m just going to sit my ground and block your drive thru.

This was when he lost a whole lot of support

I’m no Costa fan, but I can imagine the risk of spilling hot coffee on yourself is reasonable on a bike, so I can see why such a policy may exist, am I alone in that?

Unable to get a Costa coffee? Seems like a blessing in disguise.

I can see why you’d have a policy of not allowing bikes in a drive thru lane. Like the cops said to him; they’ve refused you service, they can do that, they don’t really need to have a reason. (making stuff up about tax and insurance is stupid though)

no one comes out of this looking great really.

Strikes me that many store teams these days don’t realise the reason their brands exist is primarily to make money, hopefully a profit. Time wasting prob cost over £1k. Idiots all round…

Sad fact is that most of the indies can’t make a coffee better than Costa. If they could at scale Costa wouldn’t be everywhere.

Erm, probably best to pedal off and simply never use them again. Get a coffee elsewhere. Articles like that only strengthen opinions against cyclists, sadly.

I struggle with chain coffee shops as I prefer the stuff I brew at home. Have absolutely no idea when I last had a Costa/Starbucks as I try to support local indies. Their coffee is better IMHO.

but I can imagine the risk of spilling hot coffee on yourself is reasonable on a bike,

If its really cold in winter I will often take a flask cup with me. Fits perfectly in a bottle cage. Like this… Contigo Flask Cup

But this guy was being a bit of a pillock

Staff were willing to go out to cars and serve them but not the cyclist.

Full credit to the cyclist.

Do they serve motorcyclists or mopedists?

TBH it’s been the same with any drive thru for years,it’s not a new problem.

This has been a thing since drive throughs came in, either the risk of hot drinks being spilled, the drive through not being “safe” for anyone not in a vehicle and a dozen other “H&S Computer says no” arguments.

If I could go through the drive through to get my order rather than faff with locks or leave my bike for 5-10 minutes I would prefer it, but I understand that if I spill hot coffee on myself or run over a child while trying to drink then it’s my problem and not Costas.

(There’s quite a few examples in the audax world of cyclists turning up at 24hr McDonald’s overnight, being refused service at the drive through but staff realising that twenty cold and hungry cyclists at 3am will be good for sales, and letting them and their bikes inside)

Sad fact is that most of the indies can’t make a coffee better than Costa

I’m surprised and disappointed how often I feel the same way when I try an independent coffee shop. Unless someone I know has recommended an independent I’d sooner chance Costa in a strange town rather than be disappointed.

I also know from friends kids that the training they give is very good, and they made an effort to do the right thing by their staff in the first lockdown.

I have a rose tinted soft spot for Costa as they were still an independent business when they were our largest commercial customer when I started working in insurance, but they are still lightyears ahead of Starbucks.

Was he wearing this?

Starbucks Cycling Jersey

Or this?

The one in Cheam was given a 0 health rating.
No hot water to wash hands with.

I’m surprised and disappointed how often I feel the same way when I try an independent coffee shop. Unless someone I know has recommended an independent I’d sooner chance Costa in a strange town rather than be disappointed.

This – like any chain store it’s just consistent and “not bad”. I’ve been to some very good independents and some truly terrible ones. Ironically, the terrible ones are normally the tourist hotspots where there’s a regular throughput of people willing to put up with almost any shite in order to get “a coffee”.

Although yes, as often seems to happen, the cyclist did then become a dick over it. Costa got a load of negative publicity a couple of years ago for saying the same thing about “vehicles have to be taxed and insured” which prompted people to ask if they checked the tax, insurance and MOT status of every car coming into their drive thru. Far simpler to just say “vehicles only”. 🙄

Bloke reads sign that says “you’ll only be served if in a vehicle” then tried to get served whilst not in a vehicle.

He was being a dick. Always the staff i feel sorry for who have to enforce their companys policy whilst still trying to be polite as possible. My daughter works in retail part-time and the stories of entitled rude customers is depressingly common

A similar thing happened to me when I tried to get the kids McD thick shakes during a big ride in the sun coming out of lock down (drive thru was the only option). What impressed me was that 2 separate people in the cars behind me saw what happened and offered to buy them for me even though I had no way to pay them back.. People can be great.

vehicles only

I’m pretty sure a bike is a vehicle?

See above, I bet they’d serve a motorbike orva moped.

View post on imgur.com

Liam’s lengthy protest brought the drive-through system to a halt and resulted in a visit from the police, who he claims referred to him as “pathetic” and a “loser” with “nothing better to do on a Friday night”.

“The cops said ‘if we turned up by bike they’d refuse us too and that’s just how it is’”, Liam said.

Dare I say it, they might have had a point…

But honestly a Costa with a drive through is hardly a “cycling cafe” is it…

See above, I bet they’d serve a motorbike orva moped.

I bet they wouldn’t. Holding a coffee whilst trying to also manoeuvre a motorbike is asking for it to get dropped

Should have said MOTOR vehicles. Bicycles are vehicles in law. You are certainly not a pedestrian when mounted.

I used to ride the kiddyback tandem through the drive through McDonalds in Abingdon with two children on the back (one pedalling, one in a baby seat). Staff loved it, kids loved it. Made for a nice destination of a sunny Sunday evening.

What an absolute wazzock.

Overreaction by the cyclist for sure. They can refuse to serve you for many reasons this included, and on this occasion they even had a notice to advise him before he made himself look like a dick.

He should have just moved on and found something legitimate to direct his frustrations at.

I’m pretty sure a bike is a vehicle?

But do you get ‘in’ your bike? I know there was that bloke prosecuted for making love to his bike so 4 or 5 inches of him may have been ‘in’ a vehicle. But that’s not normal.

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. Legs – when was it suddenly such an imposition to use your legs?

Like tiktok was repurposed from a virtuous thing to a place for flossing and twerking when launched in the west; you got to wonder if the fast food drive thru is a devilish Chinese invention to help us slide further into a nation of latharic morons.

He was being a dick. Always the staff i feel sorry for who have to enforce their companys policy whilst still trying to be polite as possible. My daughter works in retail part-time and the stories of entitled rude customers is depressingly common

And mostly ^^this^^…

A slight reworking of the company policy might accommodate bikes; i.e. order via the app and wait in The carpark/seating area for your cup of brown and stale muffin to be walked out to you. But that’s for head office to decree…

But seriously, who really wants a minimum wage job where you have to smile at and deal with these sorts of choppers…

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. Legs – when was it suddenly such an imposition to use your legs?

Or, it saves dedicating lots more outside space to having a large enough car park to accommodate a significant number more cars that would have been just driving though?

I was once refused service from a fast food drive through (shut to walk ins) at 2am because the ambo wouldn’t fit under the canopy and my solution of talking loudly from the parallel lane wasn’t good enough for them and pedestrians aren’t allowed in the drive through lane; I resolved this fairly quickly by asking the occupant of a car to order my meal for me, in a slightly amusing Chinese whispers stylee from the passenger side of said car. This made the point of how ridiculous the rule was and they gave up and served my my delicious/very bad food.

I find a sense of humour is useful in getting your own way in these sort of daft rules situations, rather than a hissy fit.

I find a sense of humour is useful in getting your own way in these sort of daft rules situations, rather than a hissy fit.

That’s expecting a lot of people these days…

I got refused service at a McDonald’s drive through, no cars in the queue just me. Couldn’t serve me a milkshake because of “health and safety”
I could leave my bike unattended outside and go in and buy one though…there was no queue inside either so it wasn’t like they were busy 🤷‍♂️
This was circa 2002 so it’s nothing new to not serve cyclists and cycles clearly still aren’t vehicles either apparently

I have a rose tinted soft spot for Costa as they were still an independent business

Haven’t they been owned by Coca-Cola for a while now?

Thread title should have been “Terrible coffee, terrible company, and terrible customer”. Only taken me a couple of hours to think of that one.

Looks like it’s going to take longer to find the answer as to whether motorbikes can use their drive thrus. One the one hand they say bikes cannot, motorbike is a bike, on the other, motor vehicles can, motorbike is motor vehicle. After lockdown ended and Costa reopened health and safety reason seemed to be more Covid related than spillage related. Pretty sure drinks can be spilled in any vehicle. Whatever I don’t really care that much.

Anyone equipped and bored enough to do a full experiment, using unicycles, bikes, cargo bikes, trikes, motor bikes, motor trikes, and quad bikes?

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

Conversely, why make people park and go and queue up inside when you could just serve them in their cars? Just to keep you happy? Requires far less car parking space to have a drive through. As for laziness – I’ve used drive-throughs on the way back from all sorts of extended outdoor activities, so work that one out.

Anyone equipped and bored enough to do a full experiment, using unicycles, bikes, cargo bikes, trikes, motor bikes, motor trikes, and quad bikes?

Is that not easily solved by the phrase “in a vehicle” though? All of the above involve being on.

Take a flask and sit somewhere nice 🙂

Still waiting for the triple wave.

#costawhy