Anyone else been refused tap water in restaurant

motorguy

jenheiffer wrote: »

Myth or no myth, I just feel that it is only common human decency to give a paying customer a drink of tap water if they ask for it in a restaurant. What happened to the so-called Irish hospitality we are supposed to be famous for?

Why do you feel its "common human decency" to get something for free in a restaurant?

It may be nice if they do so, but its not one of your human rights to get free water in a restaurant.

Its the business owners prerogative and if they chose not to, then theres really no value in taking the hump, just because they have a different view on running their business than you do.

jenheiffer

motorguy wrote: »

Why do you feel its "common human decency" to get something for free in a restaurant?

It may be nice if they do so, but its not one of your human rights to get free water in a restaurant.

Its the business owners prerogative and if they chose not to, then theres really no value in taking the hump, just because they have a different view on running their business than you do.

Just listen to yourself.

It's only a glass of tap water, for Pete's sake.

motorguy

jenheiffer wrote: »

Just listen to yourself.

It's only a glass of tap water, for Pete's sake.

"Just listen to yourself"????

I've been perfectly structured and reasonable.

You're the one who expects something for nothing from a business who may or may not have a policy on table water.

Most restaurants we frequent have no issue with supplying a jug of iced water for the table. In fact one we use its pretty much the first thing they ask when you arrive.

HOWEVER, that doesnt make us any more likely to return there. I dont think "hey they give us free water, therefore lets go there".

I rate a restaurant on the overall experience and price overall.

Out of curiosity, which is better value to you? -

(a) a restaurant that charges £12.95 for main meal, but £1.50 for bottled water
(b) a restaurant that charges £14.95 for the same main meal, but brings you a glass of water if you ask?

I guess you would take the hump with the first restaurant but think the second one were really nice for supplying free water?

qwert_yuiop

It's all about presentation and impression, so probably plenty of people are happy to pay for the above. As a motor guy, you're familiar with people's fixations with the various makes and models of cars and their inexplicable willingness to pay for them. What's the difference between seats, skodas and vw or even Audi? Not very much - same engine in a lot of them. Wealthy people (or wannabe seen as rich but aren't) are happy to pay more for the Audi or vw.

motorguy

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

It's all about presentation and impression, so probably plenty of people are happy to pay for the above. As a motor guy, you're familiar with people's fixations with the various makes and models of cars and their inexplicable willingness to pay for them. What's the difference between seats, skodas and vw or even Audi? Not very much - same engine in a lot of them. Wealthy people (or wannabe seen as rich but aren't) are happy to pay more for the Audi or vw.

Simple business sense though would tell you that the restaurant is there to make money. How they decide to do so is their prerogative. Typically if someone is ordering free water, then they're not ordering drinks where there might be decent profit for the restaurant.

You dont have any "right" to free water in a restaurant - it just depends on how the restaurant has priced their business model as to whether they can / do / will or not.

As i've said, i look at the total bill relative to the quality of the meal and the experience i've had and thats how i judge if i've had a good meal or not - not on whether or not i got a "free" glass of water.

symthie

I bring my own bottle of tap water and problem sorted.

adouglasmhor

RikM wrote: »

I find that humour is sometimes the best response to a bully... Not always; it depends on how determined they are to be obnoxious.

I don't think you really are a bully though, so if that was what you were intending, sorry, maybe you are not as angry inside as you thought, stop beating yourself up.

jouef

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/14/pay-for-your-lemon-tea-like-everyone-else_n_8976558.html

jenheiffer

I actually agree with the restaurant in this case. This is NOT the same as being charged for a glass of cold water. Otherwise anyone could walk into a restaurant, ask for hot water for free and use their own teabag. Or a group of 10 could have 'afternoon tea' without actually paying for any tea.

motorguy

jenheiffer wrote: »

I actually agree with the restaurant in this case. This is NOT the same as being charged for a glass of cold water. Otherwise anyone could walk into a restaurant, ask for hot water for free and use their own teabag. Or a group of 10 could have 'afternoon tea' without actually paying for any tea.

As per the response to the post though, everything applies in the same way?

And she didnt use her own teabag she asked for (hot) water and a slice of lemon?

All the described costs are the same?

You entered the cafe and the waiter
showed you to your seat,
gave you a menu,
waited for a time
and then took your order.
He entered it into the till,
collected a cup,
saucer and spoon and took them into the kitchen.
There, he selected a knife, chopping board, got a lemon from the fridge, cut off a slice and put it in the cup.
Then, he returned to the dining room, drew off the necessary hot water and carried the cup to your table.
When you were leaving, he printed off your bill, took it to you, processed your credit card payment and cashed off the till.
After you left, he cleared away your cup, saucer and spoon, took them into the kitchen, washed and dried them, along with the chopping board and knife and put away the lemon.
Then, returning to the dining room he restacked the cup, saucer and spoon, wiped down your table and replaced the menu, awaiting the next customer.

That’s at least 2-3 minutes work for the waiter.

"The cost of overheads for the business, i.e rent, business rates, electricity costs, bank charges, etc works out at £27.50 per hour of trading. I pay my colleagues a decent living wage and after taking into account holiday pay, national insurance and non-productive time prior to opening and after closing, the waiter who served you costs me £12.50 per hour. Therefore, together the cost is £40 per hour or 67p per minute, meaning that the cost of providing you with 2-3 minutes of service was £1.34 - £2.00. Then the government add on VAT at 20% which takes the cost of that cup of fruit infusion to between £1.60 and £2.40 irrespective of whether you had a teabag costing one and a half pence or a slice of lemon costing five pence.