“Stopped at Leigh Delemere M4 services on hottest day of the year so far. Only a few customers there, which in hindsight figures now...
So ordered large frappe in the Costa. Told they only come in small or medium. Order medium. then told no medium cups. Only small available. Order that and pay. Go and wait for drink to be made. Then told flavour not available so ask for refund. Also spot there are in fact both the very small clear plastic cups and some slightly larger ones sitting on the counter at the back. Point this out to be told they are large not medium cups. They didn't look large, but may well be wrong as whatever the other size was, there was nothing else to compare, so just point out that I asked for large in the first place. Then get told the drink only comes in small or medium. Suggest that they could just put the intended medium contents in a large cup. Get told no they can't do that.
I had been friendly and polite up until this point, but noticed the staff member I was talking to was now speaking in a condescending manner and one of their colleagues was grinning. I was a little bit frustrated at this point and struggling with the heat after driving in 34 degree temperatures, so I say this is f***ing stupid, while taking care not to yell or insult them directly. Question whether there's a manager present and get fobbed off yet again and told that it's not their fault and not to swear. This, while getting no apology for selling me a drink which they should have known was out of stock and either lying about the available cup sizes or being unwilling to offer any sort of reasonable compromise.
Give up, tap to get a refund, walk off, calling them f**king useless and go and buy slightly less enjoyable drink for half the price in one of the shops via the helpful and friendly self service self service checkout. Usually I'd be ashamed for behaving like this, but no, the staff member who served me clearly couldn't be bothered to do any more work that day and was entertaining their colleagues by acting in an overly pedantic and jobsworth manner to provoke drama for s**ts and giggles.
On off chance they ever read this, worth pointing out if company policy really is so strict that serving a £5.90 medium sized drink in a large cup is some sort of sackable offence, you'd probably find it more fun trolling your employer by ignoring the policy then launching an unfair dismissal case if you get fired and potentially pocketing a decent bit of cash. But that would take having a brain cell or two, so you do you! Carry on treating random people like garbage for no reason! I am sure I was not the only one that day, given how empty the cafe was.
Worth bearing in mind though: if you're working in a service station on a hot day, you're serving people buying drinks to stay hydrated and stay awake behind the wheel. Irritability is a symptom of sunstroke, so behaving in a condescending manner is going to result in customers being pricks. While I'm sure this will continue to be hilarious to your pea brain, one day you're going to try it on someone who is more of a c**t than me, becomes violent or whatever. They're then going to head back out on the motorway, driving 70+MPH still tired and dehydrated, only now in a worse mood than they arrived. They're then potentially going to end up causing a pileup or whatever. At the very least go and be s**t and wind up customers in a s**ty chain cafe where this scenario can't potentially play out.”
“Stevenage Old Town Coffee Shop
Staff letting dogs in then petting them , allowing them to jump up on them and guess what....they return behind the counter to serve without washing their hands....
So UNHYGIENIC
Also , Impossible to contact Costa, they just don't want to know”
“First of all they gave me a £15 voucher when I asked for £50. No apology or smile just a new voucher.
Then I asked for a drink a drink in flat white
The 4 people behind were given their orders first. Apparently orders in ‘wrong position.’ Then I was given a take away latte. When I finally got the flat white it was clear only one shot had gone in. Milky and tasteless!
This used to be a lovely place. Nice friendly smiling staff.
Now it’s an often grubby with dirty tables. One loo always out of action.
This Costa is well passed its prime days.
The staff here should go Costa In Tesco in New Milton. What a difference in service!”
“Costa in the glades bromely has to be one of the rudest establishments I’ve been in…the woman who served me didn’t even say hello to me which is feel like is a basic requirement when working in a coffee shop. Didn’t even hand me my receipt either. If you’re going to be an asshole then don’t work a job that includes engaging with customers.”
“02/10/2025 12:50 - My Girlfriend got trapped in the toilets for 30 minutes after asking a member of staff if the toilet is okay to use. staff were rude and unbothered. kicking on the door and having to be broken out by an external worker, no sort of reparations or any kindness was given , barely an apology.
as frequent customers of this costa site , the lack of empathy was shocking and very disappointing”
“The manager lied about the toilet being the use
It was pretty clear it was a lie
I got served about 5 to 10 minutes later
And said how long have they been in there because I've already been watching for a minute
She said it only looks from inside which is not true I know what that lock is
She said I've not been watching it so she wouldn't know
She seemed pleasant to customers that were there
But it looked like both of the staff hated working for her i've heard her be a little bit rude to others.
The other staff seemed nice and pleasant you could tell them when quiet clearly not a nice place to work.
The lady was rude lied.
I think she's Polish blonde hair”
“My Mum has got terminal cancer, she can only eat white bread due to fibre being in brown. The staff brought over brown toast and when she said it was wrong they just said “well we didn’t have white”. No offer of money back just literally tutted and stomped off. We waited over an hour for a pasty and toast! Honestly, they were so rude. We went back today and thought it was a one off, the manager told me to eat somewhere else if I didn’t like having to wait or the menu choice, I didn’t even say anything, I was talking to my daughter and she shouted over the counter! She hounded me all the way over to our table, she was saying how short staffed they were etc. It was so embarrassing! This was the Costa in The Range, Turbary Retail Park, Bmth. The place is awful.”
“Your staff are either poorly trained or just inconsiderate. I ordered a cappuccino, a flat white coffee and an English breakfast tea. The English breakfast tea had scalding hot water , the staff used only a single paper cup and delivered it Without a protective sleeve … since there was 3 items she did not bother to put the hot tea into a cardboard carrier. I scalded myself with the boiling hot water when I tried to pick up the tea because the poorly placed lid popped off resulting in the water splashing onto my hand. I understand that this is a busy location but this inconsiderate service is unacceptable.”
“I visited Costa Coffee (opposite train station-Woking)recently and was disappointed with both the coffee and the customer service. I ordered a regular coffee, expecting a standard-sized cup, but what I received was an unusually large one. There was no clear indication of the actual size, and it felt misleading.
The oversized cup diluted the taste of the coffee—too much water or milk completely overpowered the flavour. When I raised this concern, the staff simply replied that it was their “regular” size and made no effort to engage further or offer any solution. I felt ignored and eventually gave up trying to explain.
This is not the level of service I expect from Costa. The staff were not attentive or helpful, and overall, it was a disappointing experience.
— Ahmet”
“Costa coffee shops are now inundated with dogs, making it not a pleasant experience, the staff stroke the dogs, the place smells of dogs, they even have dog buiscuits and dog toys and water in the cafe. Not a nice experience.”
“The service is appalling and has been getting steadily worse for many months.
They don’t clear tables, they have no clean cutlery, they have no paper napkins.
They don’t seem to have a clue what they should be doing, especially with procedures relating to allergy and cross contamination control.
Whoever is responsible for running the Coffee shop in the ‘Next’ store in Merthyr Tydfil needs to get a grip on things as a matter of urgency.”
“The outside seating area in Costa Ashton under Lyne Ladysmith shopping centre is really dirty..We use to visit this coffee shop quite often but standards have definitely slipped and the outside area is offputting to say the least.”
“George Square Glasgow coffee shop, great coffee, great food, great staff and the most disgusting toilets I have ever had the misfortune to use.
Over a period of three months, the gents urinal has been out of action, hand dryer inoperative, no soap, cheese blocking the only working urinal, pool of urine on the floor and an awful stench. Spotted a member of staff unable to wash his hands properly & then serve food to customers!! Reported the toilets to staff early July, no action taken, reported it twice to Costa head office via their app, late July & early August, no response to date.
Unless Costa take this issue seriously I would avoid this place for health reasons.”
“I love Costa coffee… but I’m giving this review as it’s not dog friendly, and I have been told off in many Costa branches no dogs alllowed, it’s happen on 2 shops specially 1) hounslow and 2) Bedfont, even when I have gone to take a take out… where as all other coffee shops in london are dog and pet friendly, my dog is like my child, and if I cannot take my child for a coffee it’s sad. I hope the management looks into this.
Thank you”
