Customer furious after noticing hidden fee to have muffin heated at cafe

A customer at a café was left shocked when they found an unexpected charge on their bill.

It's little secret that from a simple coffee and pastry to a Michelin star tasting menu, eating out is becoming more expensive.

Not only is the price of even the most basic meal out going up, there are also additional charges on top of the price of the food.

Of course, if you are living in the US then this will include the tip, with some people even claiming to have encountered a request for a tip at a self-checkout machine.

Then, of course, there is the service charge, which in some places might be added instead of a direct tip to the person who served you, but in others may be on top of it.

All these are making it more and more expensive to eat out, but now one café customer in Australia has found a different kind of charge entirely.

The man had ordered a coffee and a muffin when he noticed the charge on his receipt.

A coffee and a muffin can be the perfect combo (stock image). (pjohnson1 / Getty)

A pastry or baked good can be the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee, whether you like your black with no sugar, or every syrup on the counter.

But this customer was left confused after noticing that in addition to the AU$7 (around $4.66) he was charged for the muffin, there was an additional AU$1 surcharge.

It might not seem like much, but this charge was so that someone would heat up the muffin before he had it.

Of course, it's fine for an extra to evoke an additional charge if it requires more ingredients, but heating up a muffin is something else.

The customer said: “I had asked for the receipt, walked out and found out (later) I had been charged $1 to heat the muffin, which left a bitter taste in my mouth."

The customer spotted the surcharge on the bill. (Facebook)

He added: “A f****** dollar to heat my muffin? It’s c*** like this that just makes you shake your head and question where it is all going.”

The customer, who was visiting Melbourne from Adelaide, said he'd wanted the muffin warm as it was 'a little bit chilly'.

He said: “Don’t get me wrong, the food, atmosphere, service was beautiful, not a problem. I was having a fantastic time all until that very moment when I got the receipt — it was a shock."

The man complained to the owners, who apologised.

He said: “The owners have profusely apologised which I absolutely accepted.

“They said it was a system error and they looked into it and fixed it which I can appreciate.”