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 about??

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.

He could also have waved his fist at the nearest windmill.

But seriously, I’m not trying to defend the guy, he clearly comes across badly. But here’s the thing. Accepting that there are dicks everywhere, in all walks of life, this story isn’t about one dick doing dick things. If that was covered by newspapers we’d be inundated. The meat of this story is the absurdity of being refused service because of one’s eco/traffic/health-friendly vehicle choice. And it wouldn’t be a story we’d ever heard if he’d meekly plodded off to a competing coffee house.

I can kinda see both sides of this.

I can understand a company policy of not serving cyclists in drive-thru (ugh) lanes for perceived H&S issues. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I can understand it. Equally, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some form of restriction imposed by their insurers.

However, on being met with “we can’t serve you because your bike isn’t road legal, you aren’t insured and you don’t pay road tax,” I reckon I’d have taken primary and waited for a coffee myself just to call out the server’s prejudice. That response is jeff all to do with company policy.

And really, how hard would it have been to go “here’s your coffee, now piss off and don’t come back, you’re barred in future” rather than calling the rozzers because there’s a cyclist in your way?

The meat of this story is the absurdity of being refused service

He wasn’t refused service, he was refused access for the car-only channel because he wasn’t in a car. I expect he would have been given a similar answer had he ridden through the pedestrian-only front door and demanded to be served whilst track-standing.

For whatever reason, Costa decided their own drive-through was just for cars, and he has to respect that not just piss everyone off cos he’s annoyed.

That response is jeff all to do with company policy.

Oh come on. The server is a minimum wage slave just trying to do their job how they’ve been told to do it. Give them a break. Sure, they might’ve been incorrect but they are being hassled by an entitled idiot and aren’t fully trained to defend their employer’s legal position under duress.

calling the rozzers because there’s a cyclist in your way?

The rozzers were called because someone was obstructing their business no?

Oh come on. The server is a minimum wage slave just trying to do their job how they’ve been told to do it. Give them a break. Sure, they might’ve been incorrect but they are being hassled by an entitled idiot and aren’t fully trained to defend their employer’s legal position under duress.

Pretty much this, Costa’s have a high staff turnover, as do many in the food and beverage industry, i dare say the staff had a lot of complaints that day due to the shop being shut, lack of staff, etc, and what they really needed was someone to do a sit down protest, rather than just shout at them and go off in the huff like most do to those working in this industry.

He wasn’t refused service, he was refused access for the car-only channel because he wasn’t in a car.

He was absolutely refused service. He was already in the ‘channel,’ there were no access issues. He’d already ordered successfully, even.

Out of interest, do you reckon they’d have refused service to a (road legal) quad bike? Do you reckon they should have refused service to a quad?

How about a van? That’s not a car. How about a motorcycle? I’m ordering a bag of chips to stick in a rucksack and take home, should I refused service because Not A Car?

He was already in the ‘channel,’ there were no access issues.

He shouldn’t have been though. That’s like saying well if you can ride through the front door, you’re ok to ride all through the restaurant without being kicked out.

Out of interest, do you reckon they’d have refused service to a (road legal) quad bike? Do you reckon they should have refused service to a quad?

No idea. Whatever their company policy is. Companies have policies though, and you cannot expect the lowest staff in the organisation to a) change them or b) ignore them at risk to their own jobs just because you’re pissed off.

I walked to our local Costa a few months ago to also be denied service due to staffing – only the drive-through was open. Did I attempt to walk through the drive through and then kick off when they refused to serve me? Of course not, I went home.

The server is a minimum wage slave just trying to do their job how they’ve been told to do it. Give them a break.

Sure. But the break here is “I’m terribly sorry sir, but we’re not allowed to serve cyclists from the drive-thru, if you’d like to ride on back to the car park we’ll bring your order out to you.” It is not tossing off about being road legal.

Sure, they might’ve been incorrect but they are being hassled by an entitled idiot and aren’t fully trained to defend their employer’s legal position under duress.

Is a lack of training the customer’s problem?

The rozzers were called because someone was obstructing their business no?

Well, seemingly they didn’t need to use the drive-thru at all, they could just click & collect, so… ?

Is a lack of training the customer’s problem?

You think that the serving staff should be able to defend company policy with angry customers? I don’t. The line is ‘sorry, it’s company policy, I am not allowed to break it so take it up with head office’.

Well, seemingly they didn’t need to use the drive-thru at all, they could just click & collect, so… ?

At significant extra effort to the staff and inconvenience for the other customers…

It is not tossing off about being road legal.

So you think that one spurious line from a server justified the response?

He shouldn’t have been though.

Says who? Were there “no cyclists” signs up? A clear declaration of who and who isn’t allowed in the lane?

Companies have policies though, and you cannot expect the lowest staff in the organisation [blah blah etc etc]

No, but if they’re obliged to enforce policy then it should not be a huge ask to expect them to be trained to understand what they’re enforcing and why.

The fault of the Costa employees here isn’t the lack of service, it’s making up shit in order to justify it.

100!

You think that the serving staff should be able to defend company policy with angry customers? I don’t. The line is ‘sorry, it’s company policy, I am not allowed to break it so take it up with head office’.

I think that serving staff should be able to defend company policy with angry customers by responding with ‘sorry, it’s company policy, I am not allowed to break it so take it up with head office’ rather than getting creative.

At significant extra effort to the staff and inconvenience for the other customers…

And as advertised as an option by the self same notice that told you the main building was closed.

So you think that one spurious line from a server justified the response?

The order is skewed. The store refused service, the cyclist blocked off the lane in protest, then the store started papping on about tax etc. Do I think he was right in the first place, no. Do I think he was right to dig in his SPDs when the roasters started crying about legality and road tax, **** yes. At that point it becomes a prejudice issue.

And as above, it could all have been defused with “sorry sir, piss off a bit and we’ll bring your coffee over in a minute.” Costa should be grateful to him for highlighting a training issue regarding their alleged “minimum wage slaves.”

Can we not all just agree that the guy was a dick. Picking on minimum wage staff and causing a scene is pathetic at the end of the day. Now we should all just chill out and have a nice cup of proper coffee.

the guy was a dick. Picking on minimum wage staff and causing a scene is pathetic

This

Even people who start off being slightly in the right, can end up totally in the wrong just by virtue of acting like ridiculously petty cockwombles. Getting into an argument with a minimum wage server who has no influence on the rules is just pathetic entitlement, even if you try to retro-justify it because you made the server angry and he/she said something stupid.

nice cup of proper coffee.

Damn, if only I still had the privs to ban your account.

Do I think he was right to dig in his SPDs when the roasters started crying about legality and road tax, **** yes. At that point it becomes a prejudice issue.

No, he wasn’t right. He could have taken it up with the manager or the organisation later. Ruining the staff’s day when it’s nothing to do with them is a dickish thing to do. Loads of people were inconvenienced or put under significant pressure, police were called, just because someone said slightly the wrong thing (of little consequence) in the heat of the moment – that’s not ok.

Not to mention further entrenching the ‘cyclists as entitled pricks’ prejudice which is something from which we all suffer.

Even people who start off being slightly in the right, can end up totally in the wrong just by virtue of acting like ridiculously petty cockwombles.

You’ve read this thread, right?

At that point it becomes a prejudice issue.

Oh behave.

I’m terribly sorry sir, but we’re not allowed to serve cyclists from the drive-thru, if you’d like to ride on back to the car park we’ll bring your order out to you.”

Liam seems to conveniently left out his response, Costa stated they did offer an alternative but he refuses. I guess that’s when he became a bigger dick and they gave him duff information, which Costa have apologised for.

Even people who start off being slightly in the right, can end up totally in the wrong just by virtue of acting like ridiculously petty cockwombles

That needs to be a sticky at the top of the forum. And all threads 🤣

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.

Good job you’re here to police anyone expressing opinions that are outside your imagined parameters of the debate – I consider myself chastised.

I couldn’t quite believe that somebody could get so riled up about what is (in all likelyhood) going to be quite a shitty cup of coffee. I thought the point that my last 2 cups of coffee from Costa were so bad to be completely undrinkable was slightly relevant

He could have taken it up with the manager or the organisation later.

He could (and should) have taken it up with a manager right there and then. Where was the manager?

Not to mention further entrenching the ‘cyclists as entitled pricks’ prejudice which is something from which we all suffer.

Not to mention further entrenching the ‘you don’t pay for insurance and road tax’ prejudice which is something from which we all suffer.

I couldn’t quite believe that somebody could get so riled up about what is (in all likelyhood) going to be quite a shitty cup of coffee. I thought the point that my last 2 cups of coffee from Costa were so bad to be completely undrinkable was slightly relevant

Sometimes, it’s all that’s available – FWIW I find Costa fairly reliable, I’ve rarely had a “bad” one there.

The point is that the staff there, no matter how well/badly trained or otherwise, came up with a load of spurious shit about insurance and road tax. The cyclist was a dick for kicking off in the way he did, the staff were dicks for not just saying “park the bike over there, we’ll bring it out”.

There comes a point when you have a queue of irate motorists where you just deal with the problem the best you can – doubling down on your “insurance” position, calling the police and having an ever growing queue in the car park is not the way to manage it.

Sometimes, it’s all that’s available

As I mentioned – the stuff from one of their vending machines in a local corner shop was not-too-bad – I’d take that over the absolute arse-water that two of their cafe’s produced any day. Actually, McDonalds coffee is significantly better that the costa coffee’s I’ve had. Does preferring McDonalds coffee over costa’s make me a snob? Probably.

I fully agree that nobody has come out of this looking good. I used to sit on a checkout for 8 hours a day when I was a teenager – some customers can be absolute cockbags to young staff. Some of them ride bikes. Shame that he’s a “cockbag cyclist”, rather than a “cockbag customer on a bike”

I thought the point that my last 2 cups of coffee from Costa were so bad to be completely undrinkable was slightly relevant

Not really, the cyclist wanted one and that’s all that matters here.

calling the police

I assumed the police were called because the cyclist wouldn’t move?

Feel sorry for the Costa workers who had to deal with this self-entitled idiot.

Shame he wasn’t wearing a headcam, just to complete the picture.