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Ridiculous! Coffee shops charge customers an "ice removal fee" for not adding ice?!

Published: 2026-07-16 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/07/16, ▲ Click to pay attention| Daily Boutique Coffee Culture Magazine Coffee Workshop Nowadays, consumers are becoming more and more healthy. They order cups of coffee and juice daily with less ice or removed ice depending on the situation. Most stores that can meet consumers 'requirements also make them free of charge and as required. But recently, the Daily Mail reported that customers bought at a coffee shop

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Nowadays, consumers are more and more in good health, ordering coffee and fruit juice will be less ice or de-ice according to the situation, and most stores that can meet the requirements of consumers are also made free of charge. But recently, the Daily Mail reported that when customers bought drinks without ice in a cafe, they were charged a "de-icing fee" by the shopkeeper.

The charged customer posted his order receipt on social media. He said he bought two bagels and a glass of orange juice that day and asked the staff not to add ice to his drink. When he got the receipt, he noticed that he had been charged a 1 yuan "ice removal fee" by the shopkeeper.

In the eyes of consumers, their request for no ice should be to reduce the raw materials of drinks, for cafes, it should be to save production costs, but the fact is that they have been charged an additional fee. He was so puzzled that he shared it on social media.

In response to customers' doubts, the cafe explained that each iced drink has its own standard ratio of raw materials to ice cubes.

If customers choose not to add ice to their drinks, they need to add additional fruit juices to meet the production standards, resulting in an increase in the cost of raw materials, so they will charge the guests a "de-icing fee" of 1 yuan. They say that the fee is clearly marked on the in-store menu so that customers can know before placing an order and are free to choose whether to ice or not.

In spite of this, many netizens thought the cafe's practice was "ridiculous" after learning about the matter. These opponents argue that some cafes will buy expensive ice makers, make their own ice cubes, or buy them from factories that specialize in making and selling ice. From this point of view, ice is one of the raw materials that need to be calculated for beverage stores.

Therefore, when customers propose their drinks without ice, it actually saves a sum of ice cost for the cafe, which should offset the cost of the raw materials added later, and charge no charge to the guests.

However, there are dissidents who approve of the practice of the cafe. They say that once the ice that accounts for 1/7 of the capacity of the cup is removed, the whole drink looks much less, and it is fair for the store to replenish the ingredients and charge a little extra.

In addition, some people say that the catering industry has its own production standards, and if customers want shopkeepers to make meals that suit their own taste and taste, it will break the store rules, and it is reasonable for customers to pay a certain fee for their own "capriciousness".

Professionals point out that rising inflation has increased the pressure on people's cost of living and made it difficult for them to accept surcharges that are not in their budgets. Even if these fees are only 1 yuan, they may spoil the goodwill of the merchants in the eyes of consumers.

So the professional suggested that cafes should find "creative" ways to make ends meet, rather than relying on unnecessary surcharges to increase revenue, arguing that cafes may not be able to retain their customers in the long run.

Picture from: daily Mail, Little Red Book

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