Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

AIBU to think charging people to use the public toilets is just wrong?!

50 replies

Emyloukids29 · 04/10/2013 18:26

I have always had an issue with the fact I have had to pay to use the toilet when I have been out due to the fact using the toilets is not a luxury but a necessity.

I was in London recently and they were charging 30p in the train station to go to the toilet. Now I can spare the money but I do feel that this is just another way to squeeze more money from us.

I will pay for me but when you have a small child that needs the toilet and sometimes every ten minutes then I think it is wrong to make people pay.

On top of the fact that with the amount of people who use the toilets , all that money they collect, the toilets I went in weren't that clean.

I no it is something silly to moan about but it just annoys me that there are more and more ways of having to dish our money out, however small it may be.

OP posts:

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 04/10/2013 18:56

The toilets on the main concourse in London Victoria are 30p and always nice and clean.

The ones upstairs are free, and vile....i would much rather pay the 30p and have a clean loo.

Oh and staff there have always advised me to pay for me and let the kids duck under the turnstile.

Tavv · 04/10/2013 18:57

YANBU. Decent public toilets should be provided for free wherever necessary. They are an essential not a luxury, and not everyone has money on them at all times.

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 04/10/2013 18:57

fuzzpig x post!

Yes the ones up there are vile, i have used them once and never again, would much rather pay!

I love the jubilee loo on the Southbank

lagertops · 04/10/2013 18:58

I think considering the nasty stuff found in toilets, I reckon they should split the money and pay for therapy .

In my experience, I've had to deal with adult-sized poo handprints on mirrors/ toilet bowls, shit in urinals, unblock toilets that have been stuffed with Coke cans/ pairs of tights/ socks, I've found little bags of powder labelled 'Not for human consumption,' used tampons, bottles of booze... pretty minging stuff. Whatever happened to people just doing their business, flushing the toilet then washing their hands?

I think a lot of tourists don't realise that toilet paper can be flushed in the UK because our sanitary bins are constantly overflowing with shitty paper, which is annoying because it is not our job to even go near those bins, but can't just leave them to overflow.

lagertops · 04/10/2013 19:01

But the toilets I clean are free to use btw, but I can understand why shopping centres/ bus stations etc charge. I agree its only justifiable if they are actually being manned though.

Original poster

Emyloukids29 · 04/10/2013 19:01

I am just going on the fact I seen a lot a lot of people put that 30p in to use the toilets and there is no way that amount is going back into the cleanliness ect. I mean there weren't even any soap when I tried to use it.

OP posts:

Original poster

Emyloukids29 · 04/10/2013 19:05

Next they will be charging to use the toilets in hospitals.

OP posts:

BigcatLittlecat · 04/10/2013 19:07

Would rather pay for cleanliness but thats not always the case!
On a tangent does anyone remember the huge cat that used to live in the ladies toilet at Paddington station? It was always our treat at the end if a day in London!

fuzzpig · 04/10/2013 19:08

Hokey I had to pay for the ones upstairs at Victoria. This was earlier this year. The ones on the same floor as the massive macdonalds, KFC, cafe rouge etc.

30p I really resented for those ones. Yuk. I will stick to the concourse ones now!

Tavv · 04/10/2013 19:09

We already do pay, with our taxes.

Rosencrantz · 04/10/2013 19:10

Anyone been to a 2 The Loo? They have them in Amsterdam - a shop on the high street full of loos! Marvellous idea!

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 04/10/2013 19:10

Bloody hell i could have sworn they were free, it's been a while - i just remember thinking i'd rather wait until i got on the train and got home!

Rosencrantz · 04/10/2013 19:11

Also, paying for the loo inside a nightclub in Amsterdam took me by surprise!

lagertops · 04/10/2013 19:11

Emyloukids29

I wouldn't actually be bothered about paying to use hospital toilets (unless I was a patient). Someone has to deal with them.

NanettaStocker · 04/10/2013 19:13

The toilets at Digbeth coach station used to bring in £25k a month at 20p a time. It's probably more now.

EeyoreIsh · 04/10/2013 19:15

I go through Victoria station everyday for work. After/before a really long train journey I often need to go to the loo since getting pregnant. For the last four months I have spent a small fortune in those bloody loos.

I'd love to have free access in exchange for flashing my bump in board badge.

dizzy77 · 04/10/2013 19:18

Another one with extensive experience of public loos and I'd rather pay to use nice ones (I have lost count if the times I have used the ones that cost 30p by platform 1 in Victoria station and they are MUCH better than they were before, especially late at night). Those in our local shopping centre were refurbed in the last couple of years and a 20p charge applied to cover full time attendance. The entry gates have dissuaded hangers-around, they are clean and well stocked, and if you are visibly pg or with small children you can use them for free.

Original poster

Emyloukids29 · 04/10/2013 19:19

Very true about the taxes Tavv, and lagertops I believe that hospitals do get money off us anyway in every other way possible. They pay the cleaners out of tax payers money. Also I have been a cleaner, my mom has been a cleaner all her life and worked her way up. They do not get paid over the odds for the disgusting images they see and clean. So question is, where does the rest of the money actually go?

OP posts:

MousyMouse · 04/10/2013 19:24

if the toilets are well maintained, clean, not smelly I don't mind paying a little.
my gripe is with toilets that have turnstiles so that you have to pay before going (pretty standard in france and germany).

lagertops · 04/10/2013 19:28

Emyloukids29 suppose, cos by the time you've paid for your parking, paid extortionate prices in the newsagent/ gift shop, then paid for a TV and phone card for the person who you are visiting, I suppose there won't be enough change out of £20 for the toilet lol

Original poster

Emyloukids29 · 04/10/2013 19:35

lol very true lagertops

OP posts:

ShimmeringInTheSun · 04/10/2013 19:40

There are some toilets in York, just off the Shambles near the market that are 50p to use.
They are well maintained, but not overly spectacular.

I mean.....50pence....that's ten bob in old money! Ten bob to 'spend a penny' sighs and ponders the good old days

quoteunquote · 04/10/2013 19:44

Dorset has lots of really good clean public loos, and free.

Everyone needs to use the loo, they should be free.

Xmasbaby11 · 04/10/2013 19:55

Don't go to Sweden then. It's at least £1 charge IRRC and there are no free ones anywhere, even in cafes and dept stores!

I think it's normally just at stations, isn't it, or very crowded areas. In Sheffield there are plenty of free places in the city centre. I can agree it's harsh if you do need to go often due to a medical condition or with small kids, but 30p isn't excessive. I am glad the station ones are monitored as I'm sure at night there is some dodgy business going on.

Overall, YABU, but only based on the fact there are usually plenty of free options in most places!

CrohnicallyLurking · 04/10/2013 20:19

In Germany, you have to pay for the toilets, but they are attended with a lady (or gent) that comes and wipes the seat after you, so no one would dare leave it in a state.

However, I resent paying for toilets over here that are unmanned and filthy. I do have a medical condition that means I may need the toilet urgently and so can't necessarily 'shop around' for a decent toilet.

Surely the cost of ain't aiming public toilets should be taken out of council tax, as it's a public service? Or there has been talk of removing public toilets and paying bars, clubs and shops to let the public use their toilets. I like this idea as it means that the toilets can be staffed for relatively little cost.

Flip

1 2