What Triggered the Sour Americano Oat Milk Dispute?

A customer ordered a hot Americano with oat milk on a delivery platform, selecting the add oat milk option for 2 yuan. The store said that amount covered only 30 ml, and 50 ml would cost another 2 yuan, while official mini-program customer service said the same option should add about 50 ml with no extra charge.

The conflicting answers led Peet's to overhaul stores and online ordering nationwide, with clear pricing shown on the ordering interface. The episode highlights a wider question about americano's coffee add-ins: shops set different standards for milk portions, and the wording of options such as switch to oat milk can be read in more than one way.

A hot Americano with a splash of oat milk unexpectedly exposed two different sets of charging rules—online and offline—at the coffee chain Peet's. A customer selected the "add oat milk ¥2" option on a delivery platform, but was told by the store that only 30 ml had been added; if she wanted 50 ml, she would need to pay another ¥2. Yet the official mini-program customer service said the option should have added about 50 ml and made no mention of an additional charge. This confusion over the amount of milk ultimately prompted Peet's to carry out a nationwide overhaul of its stores and online ordering platforms, with clear pricing displayed on the ordering interface. Behind this incident, what exactly are the charging standards at various coffee shops for adding milk to an Americano? And how can consumers order clearly?

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Recently, a social media post about Peet's oat milk charging sparked heated discussion among netizens.

The poster said that when drinking hot Americano, she was used to adding a small amount of oat milk, so she specifically checked the "add oat milk ¥2" option when ordering on the delivery platform. But after receiving the drink, she found the color darker than expected and suspected that the amount of oat milk added was insufficient, so she gave feedback to the store.

From the chat records, the store staff explained, "The oat milk for Americanos is always 30 ml," meaning that each addition of 30 ml of oat milk costs ¥2. If a customer wants 50 ml, they have to pay another ¥2 and note "only 50 ml"; otherwise, the staff will add it according to the number of oat milk portions the customer purchased.

When the customer asked how to add ingredients, the staff member mentioned that the store menu's add-on section had a "switch to oat milk" option, through which customers could customize the taste. But the customer believed that "switch to oat milk" should be understood as "replace the milk in the drink with oat milk, charged at ¥2," not "add 30 ml of oat milk for ¥2."

It is worth noting that when the netizen consulted the official WeChat mini-program customer service about "adding oat milk to Americano," the reply was completely contrary to that of the store.

Customer service said that if a customer selected "add oat milk ¥2" when ordering an Americano, about 50 ml of oat milk would be added to the drink. If they wanted more, they could inform the staff via a note, and no additional charge was mentioned.

Although adding milk to Americano is a niche way of drinking it, there are indeed consumers who like the mouthfeel brought by this combination. Therefore, whether it is chain brands such as Starbucks, COSTA, and %Arabica, or ordinary independent coffee shops, they all provide milk-adding services to meet the needs of some customers.

However, according to industry practitioners, coffee shops have inconsistent charging standards for adding milk to Americanos. Some provide milk or oat milk free of charge within a certain amount and charge only for the excess; some add milk for free but charge for switching to oat milk; and others do not charge extra no matter how much is added, or whether milk or oat milk is added.

From this perspective, it is normal for Peet's to charge customers for adding milk, and the customer also said she was not dissatisfied with the charge itself. She stated frankly that what really confused her was that the store staff and official customer service gave two different explanations.

In her view, since Peet's provides the service of adding milk to Americanos, it should have corresponding product standards and charging methods, rather than having one set of rules online and another offline as it does now, leaving consumers unsure how to order to meet their needs.

Yesterday, after giving feedback to the official side multiple times, the customer said she received a phone call from the local regional manager. The staff member apologized for the unpleasant experience and promised to carry out a comprehensive overhaul of all stores nationwide and online ordering platforms (including the mini-program and third-party delivery platforms), with clear pricing displayed on the ordering interface.

At present, the overhaul has been fully implemented, and the ordering pages on various platforms clearly indicate the charging standards for adding milk to Americanos.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.