I went to dunkin’ the other day and asked for an iced latte with less ice because it’s winter and I wanted less ice. They gave me a cup that was halfway full of coffee. So I asked why and they told me they press a button on a machine, it fills it halfway full with coffee and then they add ice. So when you get a medium iced latte, you’re not actually getting a medium latte, you’re getting a small or a kids size nowadays of coffee, and then they just fill the rest of it with ice. If you ask for less ice, no screw you, you’re not getting the full amount of coffee that you paid for…
I have never heard of this in any other country. What the hell?
I went to dunkin’
What did you expect? If you want a coffee, and not dirty asswater, go to an actual coffee shop.
Any coffee with milk is a milkshake and is for children. Drink your coffee black like your God intended.
Bro in literally every other country they press the button on the espresso machine to decide how much coffee you get
Technically you got the coffee you paid for. You got the same amount of coffee as you would have if you got normal ice. It’s priced based on the amount of coffee provided not the size of the cup. The cup being not full is more psychological than anything. If we want to get real technical, the price of a coffee is mostly labor and overhead not the ingredients. Thats why a large doesn’t cost that much more than a medium.
Are you a corporate apologist or something? cause your reply sounds like the most absurd logic ever. Back in 2010 I remember dunkin giving you more milk if you got a less ice coffee, it wasn’t an automated machine.
No, thats just the real world dude. It’s the same math that a locally owned coffee shop has to use.
On the plus side, if this is the worst part of your day, you had a pretty good day
It’s not. I wish it was
Sorry to hear, I hope your day improves or that tomorrow is a better one
This “triggered” you?
I have to say, as a therapist who treats people with actual trauma, I find it mildly infuriating that people today use the word “triggered” to refer to something that mildly infuriates them. The concept of a mental health trigger refers specifically to something that reactivates a traumatic memory and induces serious distress in the person triggered. Using the term to refer to something that just annoys you trivializes and dilutes it as a term.
I get that language is a living thing and people who use the term this way don’t mean to be trivializing the issues of people who have real trauma, but it still irks me whenever I see people use that word this way.
You do you, OP, don’t take this as serious criticism. I just felt the need to get that off my chest.
The iced latte incident. Just like back in 'Nam
The concept of a mental health trigger refers specifically to something that reactivates a traumatic memory and induces serious distress in the person triggered
the trauma or stress is that everything costs more now in the USA, and provides diminishing returns. This is definitely a trigger. Everything is more expensive, and every place is giving you less of it than they were a decade ago or more. When I was in high school around the 2000s-2010s, you go to a coffee shop, there was no malicious hyper-profit maximizing bullshit. $2-3 max for an iced latte or coffee, and you could just have it customized. You want more milk, less ice? Sure! Now everything is maximum cost, and no. No, we can’t customize that, but it costs 250% more than it did 5 years ago. So yeah, it’s triggering, and I can say it’s triggering because we are FUCKING TIRED OF THIS SHIT. EVERYTHING COSTS SO MUCH MONEY. $6 for a coffee which is HALF ICE??? I can go get a huge ass bag of ice FOR $3!!! Why am I paying SIX DOLLARS… FOR A CUP OF ICE???1???
No I understand this. When someone is pricing a product, they price it off of how much it costs to make a specific amount. In this case it would be the amount of coffee in the glass given the glass has ice. Additionally when buying coffee or alcohol you are paying for the coffee or alcohol by the shot (30ish ml) and that is then diluted. For your case it would be diluted in milk. So by ordering without ice you are either going to get a diluted product, more than what you paid for or a less full glass.
I mean come on they literally gave you exactly what you asked for. What do you expect of a drink that you specifically asked for an ingredient to be removed from. Obviously you are gonna get less. They teach this shit in grade school. Would you prefer them to have just topped your cup with water, if so fucking ask ughh.
Sincerely a bartender sick of everyone’s shit.
Dude you’re comparing something stupidly expensive like liquor to coffee. like what?? 10 years ago, you could get an iced coffee less ice, it had like 5 ice cubes in it. Now they just give you half the amount of coffee what the hell? How can you even justify that? If we’re talking about some expensive top shelf liquor that costs $30-80 a bottle, sure, I get that. But this is literally sugary coffee and milk!
Bars/Cafes also have to buy the fucking product. Do you not have object permanence? Are objects and processes outside of your direct field of view intangible to you?
Sometimes i order a cortado/flat white (it’s on the menu, i swear) and get a 16 oz paper cup filled to the top. What am I drinking?
A flat white is like a latte but smaller (traditionally around 5 oz). It doesn’t contain less espresso than a latte, just less milk. A cortado is even less milk than that, it’s about a 1:1 ratio of milk to espresso. Cafes may add an extra shot for those larger sizes, but frequently it just means extra milk
Yeah but traditionally they don’t come in a 16 oz cup. It’s basically a fuckin latte at that point is it not?
It depends on the cafe, a cortado will almost never come in a 16 oz cup. It could if they wanted to brew up 8 oz of espresso and serve it with steamed milk, but yeah, otherwise it’s just a “latte”. Lattes also don’t traditionally come in a 16 oz cup if we’re talking about the strictest of Italian classic coffee bevarages. From a technicality standpoint, a latte is a 6-8 oz coffee drink
If you went to any other coffee store that isn’t a mcdonalds-ified chain, they would have given you what you wanted.
This is like you complaining about not getting a medium rare burger from mcdonalds.
In a real coffee shop you’d get a fixed amount of espresso and milk. A proper latte doesn’t just add milk to fill the cup, and “no ice” isn’t some hack to get an extra shot.
This is like you complaining about not getting a medium rare burger from mcdonalds.
lmfao careful commenting this, some “influencer” is gonna try that now and post it YouTube
If you ask for less ice, no screw you, you’re not getting the full amount of coffee that you paid for…
Actually you got exactly what you asked for: you asked for a product with less of something…
Sorry: no. I call bullshit. I ordered a beverage.
You provided the ice.
I will not sit and let someone take the apologists route for a corporation on this. Drinks are, without question, the highest margin item on the menu in most places and frequently are over iced past recommended mix levels (by the drink manufacturer) as a way to stretch that further.
I personally rarely get ice because those machines are rarely cleaned and are mold nightmares. Go ahead, ask your friends in the industry why they don’t use the ice machine.
Edit: I actually bothered to look it up-
A large Late (Hot) - $6.30
A large Late (Iced) - $6.83
That’s right: the same drink with less beverage costs more
If half of the drink is ice and you order it without ice then it’s to be expected that the cup would only be half full.
You are ordering a drink, ice is there to cool it. If someone orders half ice the drink will still be filled. I could walk into any number of places and ask for no ice and they, without question, and without prompting, would give the full cup. If you genuinely believe what you wrote - man I feel for you.
It’s your opinion and you are entitled to it… but you’re wrong. I’ve worked a lot of my earlier life in bars and restaurants: the shit costs nothing and is high margin. Keeping a customer coming back over quite literally the “additional” cost of a few pennies … so they spend 100s of more dollars with your shop over the course of a year isn’t just logical: it’s good business. It’s as simple as that.
Edit: I actually bothered to look it up online-
A large Late (Hot) - $6.30
A large Late (Iced) - $6.83
That’s right: the same drink with less beverage costs more
So please tell me again how this cashier wasn’t utterly incompetent.
If I go to a juice bar and order a drink made with one orange, one banana, one kiwi, and two scoops of ice, blended to fill a cup, I fully understand that it’s not the ice I’m paying for. If I ask for the same drink without ice, I don’t expect them to throw in another orange and half a banana to fill the cup.
I don’t disagree that with something like soda or coffee, it costs them nothing to replace the ice with more drink. But I also don’t feel entitled to guilt them if they don’t. They’re serving the same amount of drink to everyone - I just prefer mine without ice.
I more or less agree. In your juice bar example we’re talking about lower margin perishables. Totally makes sense there. The beverage in question was a coffee drink which is, frankly, pretty high margin. Especially with the ice. The problem with this thread is people moving to hypotheticals when a fact check was literally a click or so away.
Facts aside - Anyone who’s worked in hospitality or the service industry generally understands doing a solid for a customer will typically pay dividends as they will return to spend more money later. This was clearly an opportunity lost, objectively speaking.
This was clearly an opportunity lost, objectively speaking.
LOL do you think Dunkin Donuts give a flying f about one customer possibly coming back in the future and maybe buying an extra coffee some time because they got a bit extra?
The cashier is doing what they’ve been told to do by their minimum wage, shitty job and f them for not breaking the rules and maybe even getting fired for not giving a stranger free coffee?
LOL do you think Dunkin Donuts give a flying f about … extra coffee?
See what I did there? Neat.
The cashier is doing what they’ve been told to do by their minimum wage, shitty job and f them for not breaking the rules and maybe even getting fired for not giving a stranger free coffee?
This argument you are pushing here is purely based in fantasy… or some pretty weak attempt to troll. Unless you have some first hand experience in that chain (you don’t) you are just engaging in a straw man argument.
The costs of the coffee both hot and cold have been posted. Your assessment falls completely flat factoring in that cost or just exercising some basic common sense.
A little injested mold isn’t going to hurt you. If the ice looks clean, it’s clean enough.
You’re free to do what you like: I’ll happily pass on it. And unseen contaminants frequently make people ill- so I’d stop suggesting otherwise.
I’ll just get my popcorn for this. Must be some really expensive ice.
If they have a machine, you’re getting exactly the full amount of coffee you paid for; you’re just not getting more by removing a filler that they normally include, and that some people like. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything morally wrong with gaming the menu at a giant chain if it can be done without fucking over the staff, or that it wouldn’t be shitty if Dunkin’ has done some sneaky shrinkflation, but there is a certain mechanical clarity here that I can’t get too riled up about.
Yeah… you’re be getting exactly the same amount of coffee you had been paying for before. Getting upset at how little that coffee amounts to normally is one thing, but getting upset with the notion that you are now getting -less- coffee is just silly.
Let me pose a question here: most chains actually sell coffee at the same (or similar) price as any other fountain drink. What’s the difference then? Was the 1/2 ice too hard of an order? The machine is preprogrammed for roughly the time it would take to fill an ice filled drink. Was the person filling the drink pre-programmed to not be able to problem solve? Based on the thread responses I’m inclined to answer that as self evident.
Edit:
Soda fountains keep being brought up here. If you order a soda with no ice, you typically get more soda. But that’s because the way the sods fountains fill is based on the volume in the cup, not the volume dispensed. The coffee machine in this post evidently measures based on coffee dispensed. If soda were dispensed the same way, it’s likely soda with no ice would also give you a less than full cup.
Also, don’t go insulting or blaming the worker in this instance. They likely have to follow the guidelines of the job or risk losing it. “Pre-programmed to not be able to problem solve”? Fuck right off with that. If the machine is set to dispense a certain amount of coffee, the worker would either need to press the button twice, giving away more product for free, or press it once and give a half-full cup. This has nothing to do with problem solving. Maybe the customer shouldn’t be pre-prpgrammed to expect more for less. I get the frustration of not having a full cup, but you’d only be getting a half-full cup with or without the ice in it. You are getting what you paid for.
Soda fountains keep being brought up here … The coffee machine in this post evidently measures based on coffee dispensed… If soda were dispensed the same way, it’s likely soda with no ice would also give you a less than full cup.
I’ve worked with those machines before. Most are simply time based triggers. They use knowledge of volume per second to determine pour size. It’s functionally identical to a bartender executing a free pour. The difference however is in why they are doing it. A bartender is doing that to ensure proper ingredient amount - the machine at a franchise is most notibly focused on time saving: a server pushing the button until it is full cannot do multiple things and ‘at best’ can fill two cups at once - (yes, yes, I know you can do more but… let me have this) With the machine a rep can fill multiple glasses unattended and contine working in the background. This is chiefly about efficiency (time is money.) Labor is expensive - coffee is not.
Also, don’t go insulting or blaming the worker in this instance. They likely have to follow the guidelines of the job or risk losing it. “Pre-programmed to not be able to problem solve”? Fuck right off with that.
No. The insult stands. I’ve worked over 10 years in that industry from food service to high dining. I’ve hosted, served, bartended, managed and assisted in opening two start up coffee shops. I have never, in the history of my work, seen a chain or management that would accept that behavior from an employee. Give me the chain number. I’ll call it and speak with the manager - Hell- I’ll speak with a district head. That’s how confident I am in this. I’ve seen similar behavior out of employees and coworkers before- and on days when I was being unquestionably a POS I’ve done it too… it’s wrong. Plain and simple. The marginal cost of the additional beverage is non-existent in the face of future business with the patron whom you kept coming back.
It fails the cost vs profit test, it fails the social test, and it fails the service test.
This is simply beyond reproach. If you feel otherwise please, by all means, explain to us all how a baseline employee was empowered to make a judgement call - that left a customer with such a foul taste in their mouth … that they turned the experience into a social media discussion. That action has now been seen by hundreds of eyes and will effect future purchases. All over arguably pennies in product that likely is thrown out regularly to cycle in fresh coffee.
If the machine is set to dispense a certain amount of coffee, the worker would either need to press the button twice…
(gasp.) Twice? And the problem is solved? See my lack of problem solving statement above. The kid was making excuses and at best was wrong and at worst was being a shit. I covered the machine and the rest of your comments following that above.
I’ve done my time in those trenches: as someone who’s been there: kid was a shit. As a customer, objectively, from the outside: kid was wrong - and likely being a shit. I wouldn’t give them my business following that.
edit:
Punctuation and stuff.
Dunkin’ has done some sneaky shrinkflation, but there is a certain mechanical clarity…
I promise you that they have done just that: like every other corporation has. The mechanical clarity is imagined but provides a fine excuse. That machine is configurable - just like any other timed / measured device. Yeah you pushed the ‘small latte’ button … but is that the same small late that x franchise sells across the street (who owns the same machine but different size cups?) It’s software. Anyone who doesn’t think that dunkin’ - a profit driven organization - isn’t going to milk the customer for every penny they can get… is either daft or willfully ignorant.
edit: wording
Go to a real coffeeshop.
And experience the exact same thing. A real iced latte will still be a standard amount of espresso and milk.
Except with better service, better atmosphere, and no premixed crap being spat out of a big machine, all while you support a local business instead of a multinational anti-labor behemoth.
I truly pity the cities that don’t have a coffeeshop in an old photomat.
Man unless they state somewhere that each drink only contains x oz I’d be a cunt and tell em to keep pouring. After that: yeah last time I’m visiting that chain. Customers aren’t always right but in this case they probably are.
That’s just dumb. You couldn’t make it up. I guess there was plenty of vocal-fry going on too?
Do you know if it’s a corporate dictat thing (so I have to eat my words)?! Anyone with any common sense would just put two of those in to fill the cup up.
I’ve never heard of a country where places give you extra drink for free just because you asked for less ice, to be honest. I know some bartenders who joke about the people who think asking for less ice will get them more.
So with a soda fountain or similar soft-drink dispenser at most fast-food or fast-casual restaurants int he US, asking for light ice or no ice will still get you a full cup. That said, the general understanding here has always been (don’t know if it’s strictly true across time and space) that the cups cost more than the drink, and even if the particular place is not offering free refills or you’re ordering to-go, that’s a pretty normal expectation so being stingy with the Coke would reflect poorly on the restaurant beyond the value of saving a little bit of syrup and CO2.
Dunkin’ is definitely a massive fast-food chain, but a latte beverage, even iced, is kinda pushing the boundary of even what most Americans would expect with generous pours. OP might have reasonably hoped to get a full cup, but IMHO they shouldn’t be disgruntled that they didn’t get it.
I’m with you on that: but generally speaking a lot of the non iced variants cost the same because it’s hard to explain to people how little they are getting with ice. This was more an issue with the person serving the beverage than the cost. Admittedly it could have been a training issue but I cannot come up with a good valid reason for the choice.
Edit:
Turns out iced costs more. OP was actually helping them out.
As an (ex) bartender I know what you’re talking about… we would never over pour a spirit … but if asked we’d generally have no issue topping off the mixer. There is a difference. The literal difference between a modern iced beverage and an uniced one (depending on cup size and ice) can sometimes be 2-3 times the beverage… which while quite significant amounts to pennies in cost (if that.) More will be lost to a line cleaning, incorrect orders, etc than to a customer request. The fact that so many in this thread are defending the chain is mind boggling. This same chain likely has been upping the recommended ice and even potentially messing with the mix % to further dilute the beverage in the name of profit. Fuck that. These chains frequently show a cup size and list the oz on the container. They rarely, if ever, list the oz of the beverage in said cup because it would cause a riot. Unless they say 4oz of coffee per 12oz cup of iced coffee somewhere: the customer is absolutely right to expect however much coffee fits in the damn cup and not a drop less. That’s what they were advertised- and that’s what they paid for.
Some of y’all need to realize you’re in a guilded cage and that you are indoctrinated by capitalist owners. This isn’t even a big issue.
Edit:
The fact that so many in this thread are defending the chain is mind boggling
Lot of contrarian keyboard warriors on here lately and it’s almost like they’re disagreeing just for the sake of arguing
I don’t wanna fully don the tin foil hat but it’s a lot easier to poison a well when there’s less water if you get my meaning…
edit:
This whole thread is now hilarious. I’ll be getting out that tin foil after all.
Ordering light ice at McDonalds always results in a full cup with less ice.
