If you’ve ever ordered iced coffee from a coffee shop, you may have been asked whether or not you would like milk in it. What you may not realize is that some coffee shops ask this so they can charge you extra for the simple service of adding some milk to your coffee.
We all know that flavored syrups and extra shots of espresso can bump up the price of our coffee – and for good reason. But many people don’t realize that when they let the baristas at certain coffee shops add the milk to their coffee, they’re getting charged an extra 30¢ to 50¢. How ridiculous! Coffee shops have a spot for you to add your own milk or half and half, and it’s the same thing as what’s behind the counter. Do you really think it’s worth that extra fifteen seconds it would take to add it yourself?
I think the reason coffee shops get away with it is because people are caught off guard. They don’t know that it’s an extra charge, and they assume the barista is just offering this as a kind gesture. The coffee shop I worked for charged about 50¢ for us to add a splash of half and half in a customer’s drink – it was ridiculous. I typically didn’t ask because I thought it was a very sneaky way to get extra money.
If you like milk in your iced coffee and you ask coffee shops to add your milk, ask if they charge for it first. If they do, simply order your iced coffee with room so you don’t have to struggle dumping out extra coffee to make room for the milk. I had many customers do this where I worked, and not only was it not a bother to us, it was also awesome that they were saving money. If you order daily coffees with milk, you could be spending $3.50 per week just for a splash of milk that you could add yourself!