Terrible coffee and terrible company

😀 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?

https://quirkyjerseys.com/products/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.

https://imgur.com/gallery/286fk

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

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

I'm very old! Whitbread had them for years before that.

I'm going back to late 80s, early 90s.

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

Do they? Are you sure?

I honestly thought this was going to be a forum ride out meetup thread.

Ever so slightly disappointed

I rode my bike thru Tim Hortons coffee shop during COVID as it was the only place to get a coffee but was closed to walk-ins.
And I discovered very quickly that I can't ride a bike even a short distance whilst carrying a coffee cup. Yes, I did burn myself but I put that down to my own stupidity and didn't feel the need to sue Tim Hortons....

Do they? Are you sure?

Unicycle- on not in
Bike -on not in
Trike - Same
Quad Same
Tandem - Yep, same again.

I’ve never sat in a bike, trike, quad or motorbike. Basically the guy was being an utter dick and acting like a toddler.

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?

https://www.autoblog.it/app/uploads/sites/3/2016/12/moto-oscene-01.jp g" alt="" />

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?

@john_l That’s a very fair question.

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.

Smashes the like and subscribe button for @bubs. What a story.

‘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.