£300 Parking Ticket

[NauticalGent]

Coffee seems to be one of those things embedded in our everyday life. The day is incomplete without it.

More like incorrect! We took a small trip this past weekend and the Air B&B did not have coffee. I decided I could do without it for ONE morning, surely...

Yeah, bad idea...

 

[The_Doc_Man]

For my wife, morning coffee is part of her routine. However, for other parts of her day she has a refrigerator magnet that says "If chocolate is the answer, who CARES what is the question?"

 

[Kevin Mark]

I've been going to my local Costa coffee shop for many years now, but switched to another one slightly less local because its a bit nicer in there. But today, I went in and while chatting with the barista, they said that the parking has been limited to 1 hour and it is all checked by camera using a company called Parking Eye. I asked when this change happened and they said last Wednesday. I was shocked! I've been there 3 times since last Wednesday and was there at least 1.5 hours each time. So I went outside to read the new signs (which I never noticed before). Fines are £100 for each offence. OMG!

I told them that if I get a fine I will never go there again. As a regular customer, you don't go in there every day or every other day to re-read the parking signs. It is unreasonable. Any change should always have a bedding in period. They said they are not sure if they can do anything, but took my number plate and said they will try, but Parking Eye are a third-party company who's profits rely on fleecing innocent victims like myself.

Talk about a way to alienate your customers. I just park my car, take my distance glasses off and walk straight to the door. I do not look around the car park every day to see if any new signs have been erected. Not happy!

It is really disappointing when businesses implement changes like this without any prior notice or consideration for their loyal customers. As a regular myself, I totally get where you're coming from. You build a routine around places you frequent, and suddenly being hit with a hefty fine for something you had no idea about is just unfair.
Thank You

 

[Isaac]

Has anyone else noticed that some time ago, Walmart supercenters conducted a HUGE overhaul on their checkout terminals. It's pretty fancy, except, strangely, it excludes tap-to-pay technology. (apple, android, watches, and just tap your card).

Isn't it strange to spend what must have been (at least) tens of millions, but exclude that capability? Now they seem old fashioned, but with very shiny screens.

 

[DickyP]

I fail to understand why anyone would buy a coffee from these places when it is
so quick and easy to do at home or work.

Totally agree - and it's normally inferior quality - as Jerry Baldwin (one of the founders of Starbucks) said back in the 70s their target market wasn't serious coffee drinkers but instant coffee drinkers.

As to price, one bag of top of the range coffee beans lasts me a week for less than the price of a single Latte from the main high street retailers.

 

[moke123]

As to price, one bag of top of the range coffee beans lasts me a week for less than the price of a single Latte from the main high street retailers.

Bj's - 100 K-Cups for $26. Lasts about a month.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Bj's - 100 K-Cups for $26. Lasts about a month.

And I would have thought you would be more environmentally conscientious. K-cups are very bad for the environment. I use good coffee and reusable k-cups.

 

[moke123]

A few years ago a woman in my office brought me a can of coffee that she said she had for a long time and she doesn't drink coffee.

It's about 50 years old now. It goes back to the early 70's when appliances like Mr. Coffee were invented. It's actually a full pound (16 oz.) and has a price sticker of $1.97.

 

[DickyP]

Bj's - 100 K-Cups for $26. Lasts about a month.

Just two questions - who or what is Bjs and how big and what is a K-Cup?

 

[Pat Hartman]

BJs is a discount store that sells most items in bulk. So, you can't buy a 16 oz can of coffee but you can buy a 24 oz can for less than you could buy a similar quantity in a normal grocery store.

k-cups are small 1-serving plastic containers filled with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc that are used with a Keurig coffee maker which is a 1-cup device. Very convenient if you don't want to make a full pot of coffee. The patent has expired so other companies make single serve devices these days. You can also purchase plastic cups that you can fill with your own coffee, tea, etc. and use in place of the prefilled variety that are so bad for the environment.

 

[Isaac]

I was so delighted to get a small keurig single serve machine for $35 from walmart on a special day when stuff was marked way down. I've never seen it again for less than $55

 

[DickyP]

BJs is a discount store that sells most items in bulk. So, you can't buy a 16 oz can of coffee but you can buy a 24 oz can for less than you could buy a similar quantity in a normal grocery store.

k-cups are small 1-serving plastic containers filled with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc that are used with a Keurig coffee maker which is a 1-cup device. Very convenient if you don't want to make a full pot of coffee.

Thanks for this - by my estimation makes my fresh ground coffee at approx 5 cents a cup (4p) a steal compared to mokes123s choice.

Mind you far better than instant at any price.

 

[JonXL]

I usually do tea in the morning and almost always make it myself at home. It's hard to find anywhere in these parts that knows how to serve tea.

I would never return to a business that pulled a stunt like that with the parking even if they did eventually clear it. Then again here in the Midwest every small town is basically just one large parking lot with a few houses and business sprinkled around so parking is never an issue except at a few places that don't have enough spots...

 

[Pat Hartman]

I use mostly DD coffee which is on the expensive side but a very smooth roast. 2 lb 13 oz costs 19.95 at BJ's and makes 150 cups for just over 13 cents each. Sometimes I mix in some stronger dark roast for a change or add cardamom. I also use light cream since that is what DD uses. At the shop, DD used to be reasonably priced but they figured that if Starbucks could get away with stupid high prices, they could also. So their just plain coffee is close to $3.00 a pop too. Restaurants and dinners eventually followed suit but they generally have poor coffee so I stopped drinking coffee in restaurants.

The key to good tasting coffee at home is whether or not your coffee maker heats the water hot enough.

 

[DickyP]

The key to good tasting coffee at home is whether or not your coffee maker heats the water hot enough.

.. and make sure you keep your coffee maker spotless.