Most of the time, a dealership is trying to get one over on you—but that doesn’t mean that you can’t score a few freebies in return.

In general, dealerships like to provide guests with a host of complimentary items to create a welcoming environment. As dealerships are asking guests to potentially part with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, their comfort is of the utmost priority.

Sometimes, these freebies can be pretty over-the-top. For example, some internet users say their dealership has offered perks like use of a massage chair and even a free pedicure. 

One woman recently shared her story of a dealership freebie redemption gone awry. What can go wrong when a dealership tells you to “help yourself” to free coffee? You’d be surprised.

What Happened To This Woman At Her Car Dealership?

In a video with more than 173,000, TikTok user Jillian Coats (@jilliancoats) recounts an “embarrassing” experience she had at a Colorado Subaru dealership.

According to Coats, she went to the dealership to get an oil change. After dropping her car off, she claims she was told, verbatim, “go ahead inside and help yourself to some coffee.”

“They said, help yourself to some coffee,” Coats reiterates, stressing the phrase “help yourself.”

When she got inside the dealership, she saw not a coffee machine, but a whole coffee bar. The coffee station had “huge, intense, expensive espresso machines.”

“And I’m like, [expletive], I can’t believe they’re just letting people do this,” she recalls. “Like, this is crazy. I don’t even know how to do this.”

Things Get Weird

A bit confused, but undeterred, Coats started to make coffee using the machines.

Eventually, someone came over to her wearing “no uniform,” just a Patagonia jacket.

“He comes up and he goes, ‘Hey!’” she says. “And I’m like, huh? This guy must just recognize me from somewhere…I’m like, I don’t recognise him, but I’m just gonna fake it, because clearly he recognises me. So I go, ‘Hey! Oh, my God, how are you? What have you been up to?’ And he’s just looking at me, like, so confused.”

After a few awkward moments, Coats realized that the man was, in fact, a barista—and the coffee shop was not self-serve.

Writing in the comments, Coats says that she responded by apologizing and walking away “with a beat red face.”

In hindsight, Coats says that the experience was “wildly embarrassing,” though she now finds it to be “hilarious.”

What’s the Etiquette Around Car Dealership Coffee?

Although Coats may be embarrassed by what happened, confusion around dealership coffee and freebies is actually pretty common.

Free items like coffee are intended for customers of the dealership. However, many internet users debate whether it’s OK, given that dealerships are trying to bring in customers, to simply walk in, grab some of the free items, and leave.

In a Reddit thread on the topic, users debated whether it was allowed to visit a dealership for the sole purpose of snagging some free food and coffee. The consensus from those in the industry was that, so long as one isn’t bothering anyone, they will likely be allowed to do so.

However, if there’s a full barista bar, such as in Coats’ story, they will more than likely not want you to hop behind the counter and start making the drinks yourself. Technically speaking, this is illegal trespassing—though once you explain your situation to the dealership, they’re more than likely to let you off without issue.

Commenters Share Her Feeling

In the comments section, many users expressed their secondhand embarrassment upon hearing Coats’ story.

“I would have just walked out. They can just have the car,” wrote a user.

“LOL I would cancel the oil change and never go back. a full service barista coffee shop in a Patagonia jacket is so on brand for Subaru though,” added another.

Others shared similar stories.

“I was at a coffee shop once and their register/screen iPad thing had been turned around facing the customer side of the counter. I waited legit 5 minutes for an employee to take my order and no one came so I thought maybe I was supposed to just put my order in on the iPad,” recalled a user. “Finally an employee came out and was like. ‘Ummm what are you doing?’ I was like. ‘Well no one was here and the screen was turned around…’ He was like ‘it was turned around because the last person had to sign it’ Well SORRRRY but you didn’t come around for 5 minutes!!?”

We’ve reached out to Coats via Instagram and TikTok DM.

@jilliancoats

The Patagonia jacket instead of a uniform definitely checks out for a Subaru dealership but also come on

♬ original sound – jilliancoats