[dabiged]

There was a large company in my city that had around 30 floors of staff and a dedicated full time contractor managing the expensive coffee machines on each floor (running dishwashers, restocking beans/milk, cleaning/servicing the machines etc). Management decided to do away with this role and get rid of the coffee machines to save 1 Full time salary + change.

The next week there were 40 staff queuing for coffee at every cafe within a 10 minute walk. Coffee breaks went from 3-4 minutes (walk to kitchen on your floor, press 'latte', walk to desk) to a minimum of 45 minutes (elevator to ground floor, walk to cafe, queue with everyone else, wait with everyone else, elevator back up). These were staff on high six figure salaries.

Definitely the Frupidiest decision I have ever seen.

[switch007]

Also something that can be tested trivially: tell the contractor you don't need them for a week, then put the machines out of service...and observe.

[TimByte]

Classic case of hidden costs that management didn’t factor in

[ourmandave]

But maybe it led to more informal hallway meetings which saved time on what would otherwise be phone calls or formal meetings.