Tap Water please?
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I went to a fast food/restaurant the other day and asked for tap water. Got given a cup and told I could fill it up from the self service drink machine in the corner. However noticed he had stuck a £2.50 "soda" charge. After a short argument that I shouldn't have to pay for £2.50 for some tap water the guy gave in and took it off. The place sold alcohol so by law I think it has to offer free tap water to customers (?)
My friend was embarrassed I had made a fuss and said I should have just paid the £2.50..
but I said it's the principle 
Are you ever embarrassed for asking for tap water in restaurants?
My friend was embarrassed I had made a fuss and said I should have just paid the £2.50..
but I said it's the principle Are you ever embarrassed for asking for tap water in restaurants?
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No.
We were out the other day and I got a jug to myself and when friends had finished their cokes they wanted some of my water.
I said to goto the bar and ask for some yourself.
It's the principle
Nope. I prefer booze, so I wouldn't ask in the first place :cool:
I do agree with you about the tap water though.
Nope, if I am not drinking alcohol then tap water it will be for me. I drink nothing else apart from tea.
I do think it should be free but I have paid a charge for a jug on the table with no complaint before. However, I would not take £2.50 for a glass of it so lightly.
If they don't serve alcohol they don't but I'd tell them to do one and go somewhere else.
Are you under some misapprehension that "soda" machines are filled with bottles of Evian poured into a hopper?
and get this!..I ask for cutlery in Asian restaurants
I'm bold as brass, me
Me too
And the more upmarket/authentic the restaurant is, the more likely I am to ask loudly.
You were correct.
Your friend would be a gullible fool for paying £2.50 for tap water.
Its also common in the US to be given iced water , even if you dont want it. There is never any charge.
What's iced water?
Water with ice in it?
Read my post again. I just said it would be cooled and filtered. Cooling water costs money. Filtering it costs money. Probably not £2.50 but enough to justify a charge(*). And it is possible that such a machine might have 'branded' water in it rather than being plumbed into the mains.
(*)But not if the client has specifically asked for tap water as in this case.
Hats off to Coffee 7 Forest Gate.
I go out for lunch a few times a week with various people and shopping with my daughter and she likes to have a mid morning coffee and cake from coffee shops. I always asked for, and get without trouble, tap water. No one bats a eye ever, or tries to get me to have bottled water or suggests I pay for my water.
I don't suppose the tap water in any other establishment is *actually* free BUT circa 2.50 for a glass is excessive.
It may be a regional thing. In some parts of the country, tap water is foul, so less people would want it. However, even the nastiest tap water becomes much more palatable if it's poured into bottles or a jug and left for a bit while it chills.
Yeah well done Sherlock
I'm pretty sure it is a legal requirement - I suppose in the case of licensed premises, its so that people who drink a bit much can be re-hydrated, or to promote diluted drinks? I'm not sure.
Thats a bug bear of mine, getting something like 4 or 5 large ice cubes in a glass of water, especially when its not summer and not particularly warm. I have sensitive teeth, so its not much fun drinking really, really cold water and have to ask to have them taken out, minus maybe one cube
I agree - £2.50 is a bit much. You could buy something like a set of 6 bottles of water in Aldi for less, if I remember right. I imagine you could buy a 500ml bottle of slightly more high end water for £2 or so?.