To think that if you are going to charge a pound for a mug of hot water, you should make it clear?

[pussycatwillum]

Yesterday I went out for lunch with a group of old ladies. One of them only ever drinks hot water. The waitress provided this for her. We then had lunch and asked for the bill.
The mug of hot water was charged at one pound.
The lady concerned was a) not happy to be asked to pay so much, although she did concede that she would have happily paid 50p as presumably they do have overheads to pay.
b) cross that nowhere on the menu was it mentioned and the waitress did not say 'There will be a charge of a pound for that, madam' which would have given her the chance to say no.
So was she being unreasonable?
It was at a place I have been to lots of times and when I mentioned that she wasn't happy the waitress immediately deducted the charge, but I think this was to avoid a scene.
Is it reasonable to charge for hot water, and is one pound a reasonable amount?

BeerTricks.....because you said that thing about split hairs. Which I thought was strange, but to be fair, not as strange as the 'tepid tetley' and burgers thing.

But go ahead and justify taking your own stuff in. Just don't moan when your local goes out of business. I don't have an odd cliche for that, sorry.

I dont think its logical to infer visiting my gaff was a bad experience. suggesting it is rather unpleasant. Given you never actually experienced it. I would ask you to stop now, but I fear it would spoil your fun.

oh cutting, you are so kind! I need it. My own has crumbled under the onslaught!

^^if you give something away, people don't value it, nor the giver

Actually, I don't think that's true. I have worked in several bars, and in one in particular we always used to add ice and a slice of lemon to tap water. Along with being surprised and grateful for this, people would make comments like "That's cool" or "What a good pub" etc. to both us bar staff and their friends - these are the type of comments that you want people to be making about your business. They definitely valued the ice and lemon, it didn't cost much (most people don't go into a bar and ask for just a glass of tap water; they were ordered as part of bigger rounds) and I always enjoyed doing it to see their pleasant reaction.

pussy, that would be fine! One, because it would actually save money, but more importantly because we tried really hard to accommodate people with allergies, cooking off menu, running to get an obscure item from the deli if requested...

wallison, in most bars its standard to offer ice and lemon, and is costed into the cost of the drinks. But then you would not know that, as you would not privy to the costing metric drawn up by the owners.

Actually, in the other bars I worked in it wasn't standard at all. But it's true I know nothing of costing matrices. Woe.

and you will see that I said it cost me £250 pounds a month to do precisely that. Not a core part of my business, so withdrew that privilage. So yes, it does cost that much. And if you were doing it against the expressed wishes of you boss, then you were simply getting a feel good glow giving away someone elses money.

And clearly the customers in that particular bar were all raised by wolves prior to coming into it, since they hadn't encountered it in other pubs either.

at least have the good grace to acknowledge you don't actually know how these businesses actually make there money, rather than pretending that not knowing is no biggie.

wallison, argue a point, but not just for sake of disagreeing with absolutely everything I say.

The thing is, where do you draw the line? Which percentage of customers coming in with their own speciality teabags is acceptable? Food and drink establishments have huge overheads and very few make a decent profit.

I love having lots of choice when it comes to eating out and if that means I pay for a cup of hot water then so be it. It's not just a hot water, it's a cup which needs washing up, a clean table, comfy chairs and a nice place to relax. In other words, a service.

[shrug] you say it's standard. In my experience, my friends' experiences and in the experience of the customers at that bar, it isn't.

The manager told us to do it, btw.

Beer, you make so many assumptions. I would never make a cats bum face at a customer, whatever the circumstances, because that would be unprofessional.

Maybe Auntie Edna was not my core business anyway?

One of the things you also have to do is lose the customers who lose you. Which means catering to those who actually make you money.

If food is your core business, then becoming the centre for exotic tea is not going to pay your bills.

I have to admit that I carry tea bags with me; they aren't even herbal ones, but PG Tips . I use them when the only breakfast tea available is Lipton (normally abroad). However, I do explain to the staff that I want to pay for a cup of tea, but use my own tea bag.

In the USA every place was lovely about it and they all insisted on giving me the water AND a splash of milk for free! This happened in takeaways, cafes and restaurants.

I think your friend WBU to expect it to be free and as they were nice enough to deduct it from the bill, I'm not sure why they would want to avoid it in the future.

Oh yes, my mission is nearly over. soon all small cafes will go out of business based on my soon to be published book "how to make cakes an alienate people.

Is it quite a long book?

No. But the words are a bit big.

we always used to add ice and a slice of lemon to tap water. Along with being surprised and grateful for this, people would make comments like "That's cool" or "What a good pub" etc. to both us bar staff and their friends

^^ possibly the funniest thing I've read on this thread. Where did you get your customers from? I've been working in and running pubs for nearly 20 yrs and I've never heard anyone say they think its cool to get a slice of lemon and some ice in their water.

MadameDefarge I'm feeling your pain. Sometimes people just don't want to hear what you are actually saying.

Always have ice and lemon offered for tap water and tbh any soft sink generally in the bars and pubs I go in. Even the local offers it!