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 and trigger that 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.)

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 and 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 a foul taste in their mouth … so much so that has turned 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.