A coffee shop customer's recent experience with an oat milk surcharge is reminding people to always double-check prices—and not be afraid to speak up if something isn't right.
Jordan Fettuccine (@jordanfettuccine1) shared her awkward experience with viewers in a TikTok that's been viewed nearly 8,000 times.
"I was just at a coffee shop. And the girl said, 'Is oat milk fine?' [That] makes you think oat milk is the base level, like, the one that's included in it," she recalls.
So she agreed—only to have the barista add another 70 cents to her order.
"I kind of felt like I was being pranked, but I didn't want to say anything because I was too embarrassed," she admits. "So now I'm 70 cents poorer."
Every place that sells coffee has a different approach to charging customers for add-ons and changes. But it's common for non-dairy milk options to incur a surcharge at many coffee shops that offer them.
There are exceptions, and there may be more in the future. Starbucks, for example, just announced in October that it is doing away with the 70-80 cent surcharge for almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, and soy milk. The new policy went into effect in November.
Blue Bottle and Stumptown previously made that change as well. In fact, Blue Bottle actually offers oat milk as the default milk option for its U.S. customers at no additional charge. So Fettuccine's assumption that her barista was insinuating oat milk was already factored into the price of her drink isn't that farfetched.
A single unintended 70-cent surcharge isn't likely to make or break most people's finances. But Fettuccine's reluctance to speak up was relatable.
"I used to be like this too lol until I started speaking up and it feels so good not thinking it after," one viewer commented. "In this economy I need my lil 70 cents."
Another offered a simple suggestion for what to say if this kind of thing happens in the future. They said, "'Oh I didn't know there was a charge, I'll stick with regular,'" wrote @ak46yadig.
Meanwhile, @marioromero1989, like Fettuccine, just seemed to find the humor in the awkward situation.
"You weren't pranked lol you were robbed!" they chimed in. "Hope this helps!"
"I'm trying to convince myself that I wasn't and that I had an oat milk aura," Fettuccine replied.
@jordanfettuccine1 I feel like I must have been giving off oat milk girl energy #oatmilk #coffee #coffeetiktok #coffeetok ♬ original sound - JORDAN FETTUCCINE
The Daily Dot has reached out to @jordanfettuccine1 via TikTok message.
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The post ‘You weren’t pranked lol you were robbed!’: Coffee shop customer shares how she was tricked by barista appeared first on The Daily Dot.
