Anyone else been refused tap water in restaurant

aklmatthews

Many years ago I owneda pub restraint the we charged a small amount for water or soda water I thinkabout £0.20 if that was all the customer wanted if they were having it as amixer with other drinks or buying food we did not charge. I did have one personcompline about being charged for water but I paid for the water as business areon water meter I paid someone to serve the water wash the glass they were in mypub that had heating and lighting that had to be paid for. But as I say I wouldnever refuse to serve water or charge customers buying other things.

ballyblack

Andy's link


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255803/Bottled-water-safe-tap-despite-costing-1-000-times-more.html

Fathero3

Sugarcane (in Comber) also provides free tapwater ... in a jug, and with glasses.

Good on them! :T

John_Pierpoint

marcowil wrote: »

It's a con to get more money out of you. ALL restaurants should be made to give you a jug of water when you sit down. If they want to charge you for it, then add it to the food prices

The one thing that impressed me about N.America, when I made my way there as a teenager in 1965, was the service on entry to the most humble "diner". The moment you sat down the "menu", perhaps the salt and napkins and always a glass of iced water was plonked in front of each new customer.
Admittedly it was summer time and expensive CO2 generating air-conditioning had not yet become universal.

Is the custom still the same?.

By the way I live in Essex supposedly the dryest place in Britain, and I pay about £1.25 per tonne for drinking water from the tap. Admittedly I don't have to pay sewerage charges. That is 0.125 pence per litre or something like one twentieth of a penny for a glass.

quetzequetze

Hi, I was just reading this week's email and there is a post dedicated to the right to ask for free tap water.

Perhaps I got it wrong, but I understood that it is illegal to refuse tap water in a pub that serves alcohol according to some law specified in the post. I looked for it, but to me it is not clear to me that it really is (just google: Section 136 of the Licensing Act 2003).

It might be that I found the wrong legislation or that I need a translation from "legal"-English to conventional. Additionally, I did not understand very clearly where/with whom to report the pub (in case this is true). So, I have three questions:

1) Is it illegal for a pub (serving from beer to spirits) to refuse tap water?
2) Where is it written?
3) Where do I report them?

This happened to me just last week and is quite annoying. I think it would be good to make it easier to complain about it. Anyway, apparently The Palm Tree, a pub near Mile End station in east London, has been denying free tap water for a while.

Lanky_lass

I would expect to pay for bottled mineral water, but I have never been refused tap water in a restaurant. If any place was so uncivilised, I've found that a good tactic in general is to complain very loudly in front of a lot of potential customers. The embarrassment factor tends to work very well. I would also make very sure to spread the word amongst all my friends not to go to that particular place. Don't take it quietly!

kerri_gt

Mistral001 wrote: »

I think there is a problem with the bistros where people order just one course. In the big restaurants where most diners will get three or four course meals, there is usually a jug of water on every table and since the table is booked maybe all night or for a couple of hours it is not a problem for the restaurant to do this. It is the way it is done the world over.

But expecting the same service for a bowl of chile or a lasagne in a bistro or cafe perhaps is asking too much. Starbucks and MacDonalds and the greasy spoon down the road would probably complain if you requested tap water there.

steveymp wrote: »

Well with the cost of the plumbing to the plane at 20,000 ft I suppose they have a right to charge a wee bit :rotfl:

Ryanair will charge for air soon if they can but much like other airlines they will charge for water as we would expect. Anytime I fly I always take a few bottles for the kids anyway so it negates paying airline prices.

Oh and I would rather walk than get into a Ryanair plane

Ryanair charge you £30-odd to check in - not sure how you're supposed to travel without doing so. Awful awful airline, only ever use it out of absolute necessity (it's Ryanair vs a deathtrap road journey)

Lanky_lass wrote: »

I would expect to pay for bottled mineral water, but I have never been refused tap water in a restaurant.

I've never been refused tap water be it a coffee chain, greasy spoon or posh restaurant. Whether I'm spending 60p on a cup of tea or £60 on a meal, I'm still spending money. I don't want a never ending supply, but chances are me (like many) ask because we're thirsty. I want to enjoy my meal / coffee / cake without trying to force food down my throat that feels drier than the Sahara.

Perhaps a bigger question is whether anyone should have to pay for clean, drinkable water full stop - after all, it's as necessary to survival as oxygen (although we'll expire a lot quick without oxygen :eek:)

jk321

quetzequetze wrote: »

Hi, I was just reading this week's email and there is a post dedicated to the right to ask for free tap water.

Perhaps I got it wrong, but I understood that it is illegal to refuse tap water in a pub that serves alcohol according to some law specified in the post. I looked for it, but to me it is not clear to me that it really is (just google: Section 136 of the Licensing Act 2003).

It might be that I found the wrong legislation or that I need a translation from "legal"-English to conventional. Additionally, I did not understand very clearly where/with whom to report the pub (in case this is true). So, I have three questions:

1) Is it illegal for a pub (serving from beer to spirits) to refuse tap water?
2) Where is it written?
3) Where do I report them?

This happened to me just last week and is quite annoying. I think it would be good to make it easier to complain about it. Anyway, apparently The Palm Tree, a pub near Mile End station in east London, has been denying free tap water for a while.

The correct statutory reference for the legal right to tap water should be Schedule 1 Para 3 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010, rather than Section 136 of the Licensing Act 2003. This imposes a condition on the licence holder to serve tap water to customers:

"3. The responsible person shall ensure that free tap water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available."

KT90

I've never been refused. A local Thai restaurant that I go to automatically gives a bottle of chilled tap water to every table which is a nice touch.

If a place does refuse then I simply wouldn't go back to the restaurant. Drink prices at most restaurants are way too high, I'd rather put that money towards another entree.

CKhalvashi

I'm on a number of tablets at the moment, and always carry a bottle of water inside my jacket.

If anyone objected to it being used for medical purposes, they certainly wouldn't be getting my business again.

CK