A British holidaymaker said she was left fuming after she was charged extra for two ice cubes in her iced coffee bought at the Havana Beach Bar in Estepona, Spain
A British tourist was left baffled and dismayed after being asked to pay extra for ice cubes while on holiday in Spain.
Viv Proops took to social media to vent her frustration over an incident at the Havana Beach Bar in Estepona. “On Playa del Cristo beach today. Ordered an iced coffee at Havana Beach Bar and was charged for a coffee and charged extra for two ice cubes. Is that normal?”, she penned. “Is ice always an extra billable item? Seems a bit petty minded in my opinion!!”
Viv found herself paying an additional 50 cents for her ice cubes, on top of the €4.50 (£3.85) she had already shelled out for a coffee. Her post sparked outrage among other social media users who rallied behind her, labelling the bar as a ‘rip off’ and agreeing that the charge was certainly unusual, reports the Express.
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“People need to stop going to these places. Everyone is getting ripped off”, one user commented. Another chimed in: “That’s ridiculous. I would not go back there.” “That is just pathetic, and then they wonder why people go and never go back a second time”, a third user echoed.
However, the bar stood its ground, justifying the extra charge by citing the costs associated with running their ice machine.
“We use a professional industrial ice machine that cost us over 9,800 euros, and it consumes a significant amount of electricity daily”, a spokesperson for the bar explained to English speaking newspaper Spanish Eye.
“We understand it might seem minor, but in our setting where everything is brought close to the sea with comfort in mind, small extras help cover the high operational costs.”
This follows another recent holiday pricing scandal, where a British tourist in Benidorm was left disgruntled after being charged what they considered an outrageous sum for two sachets of HP sauce.
The tourist and her family had stopped at The 4 Kings bar on Avenida Mediterraneo en route to the popular vacation destination, but were taken aback when they saw the bill. The establishment had added an extra €0.50 (£0.43) for each sachet of sauce, prompting the holidaymaker to take to social media to caution others about her experience. “Be careful going for breakfast in this place, €1 (£0.86) for two HP sachets, rip off.”
Her order included two ‘jumbo’ breakfasts, a jug of orange juice, one coffee and two sachets of brown sauce, which cost the family a total of €15.90 (£13.60). However, many other users came to the bar’s defence, pointing out how affordable the two breakfasts were. One user quipped: “I think if anything this bar is now going to get more customers thanks to you.”