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!

They should provide tap water for free - not necessarily a vessel to drink it out of or a table to drink it at. If they are licenced to sell alcohol, then they legally have to. But morally, I think they all should.

A cafe that's tight with tap water isn't one I'd be inclined to spend money at. Who knows what else they're fussy or penny-pinching about.

Do other cities/towns have free water taps - we have a lot in public areas in London. Just take a water bottle out and no need to ponce off a cafe.

Water isn't free at home, why should you expect to get it for free in a cafe?

They sound shit at business. You don't improve profits by highlighting something you charge for that other competitors offer for free.

Do other cities/towns have free water taps - we have a lot in public areas in London. Just take a water bottle out and no need to ponce off a cafe.

I've literally never seen this other than at seaside resorts like Bournemouth, or visitor centres at tourist spots. If other cities and towns have this, they need to be better signposted or advertised.

I think it's right that restaurants aren't allowed to charge for tap water but are allowed to charge for ice.

I wouldn't like to return to a system where you pay for tap water, because I think this rule has made it more socially acceptable to turn around say tap water when the waiter asks you 'still or sparkling'!

I've not read the whoel thread, but just to clarify 'the law' - licensed premises must provide free tap water, unlicenced do not have to. This however is only in England, Scotland and Wales, not Northern Ireland.

Of course the balance is what's morally right and wrong - as other posters have said, should provide it free if other drinks / food are being ordered, but if it's just a glass of tap water then that's different. Cafes (or any premises) still have costs to cover in terms of staff, cleaning (the glass will still need washing!) etc. (the water itself is negligible in terms of cost unless 100s a day are doing this) - plus if they're taking up a table, that could be a table worth £s to the business.

I think charging people who only order water is fair enough.

However, I always ask for a glass of water when I order coffee and probably wouldn’t return if I was charged (or go in the first place if I saw their post).

That's terrible. As I said, if you can't afford a takeaway tea, stay at home. Or bring a thermos and drink it outside, with your picnic.

I often blanch at cafe prices and usually take a picnic but I would find it toe curlingly embarassing scamming them out of hot water and milk.

None of them in our town (there are 3 in each of the big parks) work anymore.

The public toilets are closed as well now.

That’s exactly why the local cafes all have a small charge for toilets and only do free water if you have a bottle or buy anything else - the number of people using them just for the loo and water has increased massively because of council cuts.

look at the temperatures this week
everywhere should allow you to fill your water bottle free of charge
even if it means a small subsidy from the council.
Its not like we are inundated with water fountains on the streets of the UK

"Everywhere"?

So would you be happy for strangers to knock on your door and ask for a water refill?

Anyone can check the forecast and go out prepared. It's not that difficult.

How much do you think a glass of water costs? You could buy a new glass from IKEA for every single glass of water you drank at home and it would still be cheaper than £1.

They are allowed to charge for tap water if they aren't licensed to sell alcohol.

I would doubt they're licensed, given OP described it as a 'cafe'.

I think going in with a reusable bottle and asking for a top up is fine;sitting at a table and using their glasses and not buying anything is cheeky.

What about the opportunity cost - the paying customers that could be using the table filled by people just drinking tap water?

No obviously I mean shops and cafes
Yes you can go out with a bottle of water but there is a limit to how much you can take.
Carrying about 1-1.5L is fine but any more becomes a quite cumbersome and it gets warm and icky after an hour in these temperatures

Yes, in my first post upthread I said that was a (really the only) valid point the cafe have to complain about. I’m just surprised by how many people on this thread seem to have a vastly inflated idea of how much water costs. A glass of water is literally about 1/200th of a penny.

Do people really go into a cafe and only order tap water and nothing else at all? No other drink or food. Just the tap water.

And then sit at the table with their free water.

That is incredibly cheeky and I can't imagine anyone doing that.

If that is what is happening then obviously the cafe needs to do something about it.

Shops? What kind of shops? Should your local Tesco have staff on hand to provide random people with non 'icky' water for free?

Yes, carrying large amounts of water can indeed be 'cumbersome' but I don't think it's the responsibility of private businesses to mitigate that for anyone other than paying customers.

Agree with pretty much everyone else, shouldn’t charge if buying other food or drink, but someone coming in to a cafe to sit there taking up a seat and having nothing but tap water is a cheek

What about a child who is lost? A vulnerable adult with learning difficulties or an older person who has dementia or similar and has wandered off etc? I know its not going to be the norm, I just meant that a blanket ban might result in a member of staff refusing to give over a glass of water to such a person, because they've been told 'no one can have water for free'. I'm just saying that obviously discretion should be used. I don't know why everyone is making fun of my point so much, I've already said that if someone comes in and takes up a table just wanting to order water, then of course they should be told that they need to buy something. No need for a blanket ban on free water.

You shouldn't just go in and order a glass of tap water on its own but alongside a cake or other food, fine. Bottled water is complete waste of resources anyway.

This isn't common where I live. I think only large cities have plenty of public water fountains. Less so smaller cities, towns, villages.

I'm sure they can tell the difference between people who are genuinely vulnerable and CFers.

If they thought someone was genuinely lost, child, adult with LD or dementia I'd expect them to offer a free water, maybe lob them a biscuit and phone the police to tell them they have a vulnerable lost person on the premises.