Cafe charging for tap water

[coldheartwarmtoes]

Cafe local to me posted on Facebook yesterday that they were going to start charging people £1 for tap water.

Basically they're fed up of people just ordering the water and not a drink when there water, staff, washing up costs attached etc.

The whole thread derailed with people flouncing and being horrified.

Are they being unreasonable?

I'd share the link but they took it down!

Sounds like an awful cafe. I'd avoid it in future.

A single glass of water is about 0.005p on their water bill. It’s valid to complain that people are taking up spots that could be occupied by paying customers but the cost to their water bill even of hundreds of customers getting a free glass of water is negligible.

Cafes may be public in the sense of being open to the public, but they are private businesses and those working in them have no more responsibility for public health than you or I.

By your logic, you should be required to buy a bottle of water for every random stranger who comes up to you and claims to be dehydrated and penniless.

I’m very frugal and rarely buy teas and coffees and always ask for tap water at restaurants but I totally agree with the cafe.

People should not be expecting free tap water, let alone with ice and lemon, if they’re not buying something else.

I hope the cafe stick to their guns. If you can’t afford a takeaway coffee then stay at home.

I think they should charge as well. Water isn’t free, anyone living independently knows we pay water bills. And then we have the cost of serving, the glass, washing up, staff costs, and sitting in a chair . I mean it’s not even free in our own homes, why should it be free in a cafe

Only if you’re eating at the restaurant.

You can’t rock up at a restaurant or cafe and ask for a free glass of water.

Every table used by Joe Bloggs for tap water only is costing the restaurant money.

Knowing how the economy is at the moment I’d never use a business this way. I’d be embarrassed to be honest.

Asking for a glass of tap water always feels like you’re asking for a favour, and I would prefer an option to pay my way, without the waste involved with a bottle.

(I do love it however when restaurants bring out the tap water without asking, or when cafes have a help-yourself tap.)

I didn't think people would have the nerve to go into a cafe and ask for just a glass of water and not buy anything. If that is the case the cafe is quite right. Likewise the half portion issue. The cost to produce isn't actually half a full portion. The serving, washing, production costs are the same for a full or half portion. So the profit margin is reduced if somebody only pays half.

Surely the way to do it is to bring tap water with any other drink that has been ordered? That tends to be the case in places like France.

A local bakers/cafe just puts jug of water and clean glasses next to the counter so people can help themselves.

It still costs the cafe if you "just have tap water"

• washing the glass
• staff to serve and clear it
• metered water
• taking up a seat that could be used by a paying customer
• using other facilities such as the loos - soap. paper towels, cleaning etc

In a cafe I worked people would ask for a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon and then sneakily add their own tea bag then ask for extra milk thinking we didn't know they just had hot water . Also bringing in their own sandwiches and cakes to eat . They would also claim orders that were not theirs if the cafe was busy . I've even seen a woman change a child's nappy on a seat .

I’m stunned some folks think cafes are in some way besieged by the seriously dehydrated. The truth is clearly what rhe op alluded to. Folks going in and using the facilities and not wanting to spend anything, maybe their companion gets a coffee and they have tap water, or they try ro spend as little as possible

personally I think there should always be a small service charge for a glass of water, as said, waters not even free at home, and that’s before paying someone to take the order, pour it, serve it, let you sit in their facilities they pay for and then clear away and wash the glass.

personally a you need to order something or no water, or order something and a small service charge, say 50 p a glass, sounds right to me.

It's not quite the same. You can go without food longer than you can go without water. If its a hot day and you're dehydrated you can collapse. If someone is too poor to buy food or is on a long walk and is hungry, they're not going to die imminently before they manage to find a food bank. But someone who is dehydrated needs water quickly.

And I know that this isn't the majority of people who are asking for just a glass of water. I said that its reasonable for the cafe to have a rule that you can't sit at a table and only order water. That's fair enough.

But to have a blanket rule on no water whatsoever for free would BU. However , I've already said it doesn't sound like they plan to do that anyway as OP said the post stated discretion would be used.

I really think you’re playing to extremes, and I’m sure if someone so poor as you describe and on the brink of collapse from dehydration they’d give them water, doubt that’s ever happened though,

They should put up a sign saying tap water only served with food orders .

I think it's fair enough if they don't sell alcohol and aren't legally obliged. If people complain then they can put a big jug of water out in the sunlight so that it gets nice and warm and direct people to that. If they want cold freshly lured water they have to pay for the privilege.

With the caveat of except if you’re very poor and about to collapse from dehydration and your life is at risk 😂

*poured

I would actually like the option of simply paying a small charge to use the loo and fill up a water bottle; at the moment, if I need to use the loo in a cafe, I buy something, but I don't always have time to drink a cup of tea, I don't really want a takeout drink due to the plastic waste, and a cake or muffin will probably go in the bin as I am on a cholesterol lowering diet.

I'm in Scandinavia. Pretty much every here will have either free jugs of tap water, a water fountain, or someone will bring you tap water alongside whatever you ordered. Sure, it still costs them to offer this, but they'll just up the price of their coffees by 10p to offset the cost. Then again, I have never seen anyone go in and just have tap water, that's bizarre.

It's fair enough if they're not ordering anything else.

Then again, I have never seen anyone go in and just have tap water, that's bizarre.

See, I think that's the difference! The Scandi societies do seem to be "high trust" compared with the UK, and I bet people are less likely to be cheeky and take advantage of a cafe being generous.

Easy way to solve that is to list it on the menu standard £10, small / half £7

People aren't stupid they do get that their is more to the cost than just the ingredients.
And it makes it clear what things they are happy to serve up as a reduced sized portion. Spag-bal easy, Lasagna maybe not (depending how they make them)

Yeah, that’s not a thing. No one in the uk is sauntering around a town getting dehydrated to the point of death and needing someone’s company to step in and save them 🤣