A FANCY coffee shop in northern Italy has been swamped with protests after a fed-up customer revealed she was charged extra for having her croissant cut in half.
The woman, who has not been named in local media, visited Audrey Patisserie in Oderzo on Sunday for breakfast, ordering two coffees and a pastry.
But when she asked staff to slice the croissant so she could share it with her mother, she later discovered an extra €0.10 (around 9p) charge on the bill.
Fuming, she shared the receipt online, writing: “It’s not about the cost, it’s the principle.”
Her post spread like wildfire, sparking an avalanche of fury from social media users.
One user blasted: “You have to hate your customers to charge them €0.10 to cut a croissant in half.
“A total lack of elegance, refinement, and empathy.
“They should bring hotel management students to your restaurant to show them how not to treat your customers. Pathetic.”
Another piled on: “Disgusting cappuccino and they ask 10 cents to cut a croissant in half, never again, how squalid.”
A third raged: “€0.10 what a disgrace… just to cut a croissant!!!”
The backlash left café owner Massimiliano Viotto under siege, as his shop was bombarded with negative reviews.
He said: “We were flooded with one-star reviews from people who have never even visited our shop.
“Our Google rating dropped from 4.5 to 3.5, but we’re confident it will recover with time and dedication.”
Viotto denied the charge was a rip-off, even though it doesn’t appear on the menu, claiming it covers the use of an extra plate and napkin and the “skill” needed to cut a pastry.
Bafflingly, a photo from the café shows a staff member simply snipping through a croissant with a pair of scissors while steadying it with a fork.
He insisted: “It’s not a scam. It is a conscious choice that we defend with pride.”
The row adds to Italy’s growing reputation for bizarre summer surcharges.
Last year, a woman in Arezzo revealed she was slapped with a £50 fee to cut her own birthday cake in a restaurant.
And it’s not the only baffling bill making headlines.
A man has told how he was left scratching his head after a local restaurant added a mysterious “S Charge” to his tab.
The 2.75% extra fee — around 70 cents — appeared despite him paying in cash, meaning it couldn’t be a card surcharge.
Posting the receipt online, he wrote: “After eating at a local restaurant I noticed a charge on the receipt I did not recognize and have never seen before.
“I emailed the contact listed on their website a week ago but never received a response.
“Can someone tell me what is the S Charge (2.75%)? Can’t be a credit card up charge since I paid cash.”
The post sparked heated debate, with most guessing it was some form of service charge.
