What cheeses me off

[SYD]

As a coffee lover, I'm not against paying over the average for the odd coffee. After all, coffee prices are continuing to rise and a skilled barista can make a world of difference. But if you're going to charge top dollar for it, then you'd better bloody deliver. As you say, all too often it's not only overpriced, but also adds further insult to injury through coughpy execution.

Some of the more expensive but terrible coffee is in countries where diary is a problem. So a black coffee is probably ok but trying to get a Flat White (now very common on menu boards around the world) can be fraught….

 

[prozac]

Some of the more expensive but terrible coffee is in countries where diary is a problem. So a black coffee is probably ok but trying to get a Flat White (now very common on menu boards around the world) can be fraught….

I once forgot in N.Europe that they would use Italian coffee discriptors and out of habit ordered a Long Black or a Short Black. The total look of horror on the face of the coffee person (they are not baristas in any sense of the term)!

 

[Cossie]

The boss told me off for ordering a “flat white” coffee in the states. Coffee with cream, is what I should have said to the young Afro American waitress…..
Don’t think she understood because of my accent anyway…….

 

[p--and--t]

The boss told me off for ordering a “flat white” coffee in the states. Coffee with cream, is what I should have said to the young Afro American waitress…..
Don’t think understood my accent anyway…….

Having lived in Melbourne for >20years (with rare exceptions) from my travels there isn't anything such as a "decent" coffee of any persuasion in the US .

Although I do note an Aussie has opened an outlet in NYC which is allegedly pretty good.

If you want expensive, weirdly flavoured, loaded with sugar, hot milk they have a chain called Starb.....

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Last time the coffee price complainers owned and operated a coffee retail outlet and tried to secure a reasonable margin?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Although I do note an Aussie has opened an outlet in NYC which is allegedly pretty good.

Actually quite a few and charging >USD5 or 6 plus the usual USD1 tip also left - makes me think $6 or $7 in AU for a decent coffee may not be way too much.

Our world today so different than pre Covid - what to do? Get on and enjoy every second as nobody knows what is around the corner

 

[Lynda2475]

The coffee situation in some parts of the USA has improved a lot in the last decade; you just need to avoid the big chains and know where to go.

There are many cafes in NYC opened by Aussies with Aussie baristas Bluestone Lane, Dudley's and Bourke St Bakery.

However, one of my favorites is Devocian in Williamsburg, not Aussie owned its Colombian but they had 2 Kiwi baristas last visit (and I rate coffee quality in Wellington and some in Auckland above Melbourne) they roast beans on site and I've stayed over night at one of their source plantations in the Colombian Andes. Cartagena and Medellin being the best places in South America for a proper coffee.

WCMO nbn is still down after almost 17 hours.

 

[p--and--t]

for a decent coffee

A key criteria. Quality should match the price.

I shudder at memories of that beverage - a bitter burnt thick black sludge made many hours before and despite being in a thermos is almost stone cold that many places in the US serve up as "coffee"

 

[Flyfrequently]

Surfer Flyfrequently is a Barista and tells me that coffee prices are often dictated by the coffee roaster companies ie "you can't sell my coffee for less than $5 (or whatever) per cup"

 

[p--and--t]

Surfer Flyfrequently is a Barista and tells me that coffee prices are often dictated by the coffee roaster companies ie "you can't sell my coffee for less than $5 (or whatever) per cup"

IIRC that is illegal in AU. No supplier can dictate a retail price under federal trade practices act. ACCC has taken people to court over it.

 

[Flyfrequently]

IIRC that is illegal in AU. No supplier can dictate a retail price under federal trade practices act. ACCC has taken people to court over it.

I would have thought so too, must have the discussion with her @p--and--t
She's in the throes of setting up a new coffee corner and when determining pricing, that was the response given to her.

 

[SYD]

I once forgot in N.Europe that they would use Italian coffee discriptors and out of habit ordered a Long Black or a Short Black. The total look of horror on the face of the coffee person (they are not baristas in any sense of the term)!

Many years ago, my friend walked into Dean and DeLuca in Soho NYC (it was THE only decent coffee back then) and asked for a Long Black. I nearly died. The earth didn’t open beneath me so I crab walked out the door while a very two sided conversion ensued. “You wanna wat!”, “Black coffee…you know, one, shot but extra water….”.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

IIRC that is illegal in AU. No supplier can dictate a retail price under federal trade practices act. ACCC has taken people to court over it.

Definitely is - ‘Resale Price Maintenance’ - ACCC - Resale price maintenance.

 

[SYD]

WCMO nbn is still down after almost 17 hours.

Has your ISP provider acknowledged that there’s an outage?

 

[Lynda2475]

Has your ISP provider acknowledged that there’s an outage?

Yes ISP acknowledged at 11pm last night, but it's an nbn issue. Their latest update says will be fixed by 5pm, but earlier said fixed by 12pm so I don't believe the nbn techs. ISP shares the nbn updates they receive.

Nbn has been rock solid for years but this is second unplanned outage in a fortnight albeit last one was only 2 hours. This significant drop in quality has to be related to the brutal cuts made 2 months ago. Not enough field techs left to proactively monitor network nor fix issues promptly.

I always lodge a fault the second there is an issue as compensation is based on duration of outage.

ETA now saying 7pm what a joke, will have been 20hrs by then.

 

[Cossie]

More on corfee, SWMBO’s cousins from Winterpeg (Winnipeg) are hangin’ out for North American filter drip corfee.

 

[DejaBrew]

ETA now saying 7pm what a joke, will have been 20hrs by then.

Trouble these days is that it’s almost completely out of your ISP’s hands. They’ll compensate you of course, but they simply don’t own/manage the infrastructure anymore, so they’re as much a victim of NBN Co’s action (or lack thereof) as you are in your capacity as the customer.

And good luck if it gets to the point of NBN Co saying it’s an ISP issue whilst your ISP points the finger at it being a network issue with NBN Co. Chaos ensues

 

[Lynda2475]

And good luck if it gets to the point of NBN Co saying it’s an ISP issue whilst your ISP points the finger at it being a network issue with NBN Co. Chaos ensues

No luck needed or chaos expected I have screen shots of the nbn network status website clearly stating an unplanned outage on their end.

 

[DejaBrew]

No luck needed or chaos expected I have screen shots of the nbn network status website clearly stating an unplanned outage on their end.

I was speaking in more general terms, but sure, handy that they've already claimed it's an unplanned outage on their end (although that doesn't strictly aid your lack of internet).

 

[JohnK]

Yet another example of having to pay a video matching fee, phoned up to complain, all my fault they said, I need a unit in each car for the trips we do to Sydney, as I have 3 cars registered, yeah right, pay for 3 units and then I’m guessing they would hold 3 times 70 dollars each month of my money, not bleedin likely.

It needs to be attached to the windscreen behind the sun-visor and I was told that as the unit was on the dashboard and not behind a sun-visor, it can’t always be read by correctly. I'm calling bullsh!t on that.

I have one account with 1 tag in Sydney and one in Brisbane. The one in Sydney hardly gets used and only used the one in Brisbane twice. The tag does not appear to work as I get charged the search fee each time but I think it's more than 55c for the search fee which in itself is ridiculous considering a computer does the searching without any human input.

I started off with $80 in this account and I have $50-$60 in there now. I stopped automatic top-ups to $80 and I.think minimum is $15 so it will now top-up when it's down below minimum.

P.S. I avoid toll roads except in times of need like hospital appointments when I'm running late. Any other time I'm happy to spend 10-15 minutes getting around toll road.