A woman was left seething after being charged more than $6 for a can of coke at a popular beachside restaurant.
Francesca was stunned by the cost after visiting the takeaway kiosk at Promenade Bondi Beach, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with a friend on May 26.
She shared a photo of her receipt to Facebook showing she had been charged $6.60 for a 250ml can of Coke Zero and $9.35 for a 300ml bottle of Tropi Cool juice.
The total bill came to $16.19 with Francesca pointing out it also included a 24 cent handling fee.
A Promenade Bondi Beach spokesman quickly clarified the matter, saying Francesca had been charged the wrong price and was provided with a refund.
‘Jesus wept! What on earth is going on? This is unbelievable… take away kiosk and not even a proper full-size can of Coke!’ Francesa said.
Francesca said she was unable to find a menu that listed the prices of the drinks.
‘I just expected it to cost the same as what it normally would if you got drinks from somewhere like that — no more than $10-ish,’ she told Yahoo.
Francesca said she immediately asked staff if they had made a mistake.
The disgruntled customer and her friend asked for a refund, which was provided by the venue.
‘I honestly couldn’t believe that price, especially as you didn’t even get a proper full-size can of Coke!’ Francesca said.
Hundreds of of social media users said they were not surprised by the expensive cost.
‘Welcome to the Eastern Suburbs, you’ll pay $6 plus for a terrible coffee,’ one wrote.
‘Daylight robbery,’ another added.
Others defended the price and said Francesca should have thought about how much the drinks would cost before she bought them.
‘BYO (Bring Your Own) water next time if you can’t afford it,’ one wrote.
‘Check the menu before, and you won’t complain later,’ another chimed in.
A Promenade Bondi Beach spokesman told Daily Mail the customer was charged the wrong amount for the beverage.
‘One of our guests purchased two drinks from the Promenade Bondi Beach kiosk including a 250ml can of Coke Zero and, due to a mistake by a staff member, an incorrect pricing level was accidentally applied to the Coke Zero,’ he said.
‘When the mistake was identified, the guest was refunded the full amount for both drinks and received an apology for the mistake by the general manager of the venue.’
A 250ml can of Coke Zero that is sold at the kiosk costs customers $4.
The business also does not apply service charges to customers who are purchasing items at the kiosk.
Francesca said that while she understood the prices for food and drink at the venue were expensive, she was still stunned by the cost.
‘I do get that it is in a place where they have to pay high rents etc, and it’s on the beach, but I’ve lived in Bondi for four years and get drinks from places like that all the time,’ she said.
She claimed she was not told about the handling fee, when she ordered the drinks, and said she didn’t understand why she needed to pay the extra charge if she was ordering takeaway.
Daily Mail understands she was not charged the handling free and the fee is only applied to diners who order food and drinks inside the venue.
The correct price was charged for the bottle of juice.
The kiosk, which is open from 6.30am to 3pm, serves customers hot and cold drinks, as well as other popular lunchtime snacks including fish and chips.
According to the Promenade Bondi Beach website, non-alcoholic drinks at the dining bar and the beach bar costs diners between $8 to $15.