'Is it justified?' Man upset by 20 cent charge for using own container to buy coffee at Bishan coffee shop

A man ordering his morning cup of joe was shocked when he was allegedly charged an additional takeaway fee despite using his own cup.

In a post on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Thursday (Aug 1), user Seetho KF expressed his frustration towards the incident, which occurred at about 8.30am that day.

According to the post, Seetho was told by an employee from a coffee shop drinks stall at Bishan that he had to pay $1.40 for his kopi o kosong (black coffee) instead of $1.20 even though he had brought his own reusable cup for the drink.

The man then questioned why he was being charged for his environmentally friendly practice.

"[Is] it justified to charge an extra 20 cents for using my own cup? Even the food stalls give a discount of 30 cents if we use our own containers," he wrote.

Some netizens echoed Seetho's sentiments, criticising the Kimly coffee shop drinks stall for the takeaway charge.

One netizen commented: "Makes no sense. They make you pay so much for...their fancy solid plastic cup. We consumers are happy with just a plastic bag or a simple plastic cup."

"Their 'green initiatives' are for show only. Takeaway cold drink cups are seldom recycled by patrons...use more plastic and possibly generate more pollution in production," wrote another commenter.

Another netizen suggested: "In that case, use their glass and pour [the drink] into your own container. Maybe do it in front of them."

Seetho responded to the comment saying: "Why [should I] waste my time? It is their job, and they are paid to do it."

AsiaOne has reached out to Seetho KF and Kimly for more information.

ALSO READ: Man finds it 'unreasonable' when coffee shops don't sell hot water, says some people need it for health reasons

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com