This time, that sucker was me.
I went to Canyon Cafe on campus this morning because I didn’t have time to make coffee before I left for class. I ordered a double Americano, as I do at most places, and the girl asked me if I wanted it in a medium cup instead of a small cup. The small cup looked too small to achieve the proper dilution of espresso in water, so I said “Sure, why not?”
While I was glancing at the menu board earlier, I noticed a $0.25 charge for upgrading to a medium, but I didn’t think anything of it. After I paid, I realized I had been charged that 25 cents, but then I got to thinking about it. I paid good money for what amounted to a few extra ounces of hot water. Now, don’t get me wrong. For milk-based drinks, there’s no question that you should be charged extra; after all, milk is expensive these days. But would I have been right to contest the extra fee for my drink?
It’s not that I was being cheap (even though I am), because $0.25 is no skin off my back. It’s more a question of logic and common sense. Should people pay extra for more hot water? That’s what it comes down to.
Comments are open—light it up!
25 cents for a few oz of water….it doesn’t sound like an awful rip off. I would just put it to the back of my mind for next time; order a small!
No – there is still a finite amount of coffee created with each ounce of coffee grounds; adding more water to the pot does not linearly scale to more coffee. Since they can’t add more water without decreasing the quality, they have to charge you more. Diminishing returns on coffee?
Now when you experience the same problem on tea, you have a point…
Technically you’re paying for the bigger size of cup to…so you can add some paper (which is trees – which are dying at a very speedy rate) to the cost of your upgrade…