Charging for water

Burger King told me please come here the water is free and you do not
have to bring your own cup.

It's a free world. If they want to charge for water they can. And
you can chose not to eat there because of it. Not only are you paying
for the cup, But I'm sure its not free to freeze the ice, and I bet
you might put lemon in it.


I pay to have good drinking water deliverd to my house on a regular
basis. And I also pay taxes and have a utility bill for my other
water needs.

Every place I've worked has charged for water, at least until recently
when we began giving cups out for free with a purchase.

A)Those cups/lids/straws cost money. They're not free.

B)Too many dumb people take advantage of it and replace their water
with soda. Which is what I have witnessed just this week during the
first month or so of giving out free cups.

I don't think $.05-$.25 is "ripping off" the customers. Stop being
lame and pay the money or don't drink anything at all.

Once i worked in McDonalds, and they charge you for water:
1.for purposes of inventory
2.for cost of paper cup
3.and in case you decided to change you mind and get a free soda,
while you get arround to soda machine, when nobody sees you. yep!
Happens all the time.
P.S. and you are just cheap! Like someone said alreday here, "hope
your wife is proud of you!"

"Yuck?" So McDonalds water is just fine unless it's from a cup hat
came from your home?

You are not making sense.

I once worked at a place that did inventory by counting containers.
They would do the math by counting each container x price of product &
then matched it up to the total from the registers. In this way they
didn't have to actually worry about misrings and register tapes. Money
just had to match containers. But by this method, all containers must
be accounted for, so we were not allowed to hand out anything for
free.

I have also seen places charging for cups for MANY years now. In a
large volume business, a simple thing like cups can really rack up
costs. The servers where I now work are not allowed to use paper or
plastic to-go cups for that reason.

Also why don't you bring your own cup, can't you afford to buy one.

I am sure your wife was real proud of you for making a big deal over
pennies.

Your lucky its only the cup that they are charging you for. At several
fast food locations (especially in malls) in Toronto, they make you
pay for dipping sauces, plastic cutlery, extra anything.
They have to pay for it for you to have it, so you have to pay if you
want it. I worked at a theatre and we charged .05 for water, as it was
to cover the cost of the cup, lid and straw. These things are the
things that people don't think about and yet the restaurant just has
to absorb the cost.
You can either pay more for your food, or shell out the few cents for
water.

Some places are doing this now - charging a fee for the cup when water
is asked for. If you can't afford to pay the $.25 for the cup, why
don't you bring your own beverage from now on if that $.25 is going to
break your budget.

Businesses used to give a way the cups for free but it cut into their
bottom line. But since some many people were asking for "free water"
instead of purchasing soda or bottled water, they felt a need to start
charging for the cup to defray some costs.

Now you go figure it out. It only makes sense that they start charging
for the cup.

They have to pay for the cups that they give you to get your water. I
agree that it's stupid, but I have also seen people abusing the free
cups by putting soda in them instead of water.

I guess they figure that if people are going to misuse a courtesy cup
by filling it with soda, they might as well recoup some of the loss by
charging you for it.

none of our springfield, mo mcdonald's charge for water. but i have
heard of some restaurants in big cities that do. i would think that
in your case, this is an independently owned mcdonald's and they have
more leeway in deciding prices. i'd suggest one that is corporate
owned.

I don't know about all fast food stores, I do know our mc donalds DOES
offer blank cups for a minimal price for self serve fountain service.

I don't usually consume soda and I often ask for a "courtesey cup" or
if I know I'm not too hungry,"if child portions are available" at a
diner or restaurant, and the answer is usually yes. If I didn't ask,
I'd get a regualar small cup and be charged for the cup. The child's
portions are usually less expensive and just right for me. If it's not
an option,I get a regular portion and have to take the extra home.

Another trend is to conserve water, so they only serve it to those who
ask.

Dont they charge like 10 cents for water? I would rather pay the 10
cents and eat at Mcd's dont care for BK.

boo hoo

To begin with, your letter is constructed poorly and could use a major
overhaul.

You ordered something; never asked if there would be a charge and only
assumed there wouldn't be. You then hid the amount you were being
charged for the cup, which means it was a minimal charge.

Patronizing a Burger King in comparison to McDonalds is rather like
"cutting off your own nose...", don't you think? I'd much rather pay
a little for water and get the better food.

They did provide reasonably good customer service by allowing you to
receive a refund. Whereas this was food being ordered and prepared,
they could have also told you they did not give refunds and offered
you your order. If you chose to leave the food in favor of another
place, that would be your own choice.

Why should water be free? I pay for my water and I'm sure they do too.
I have to pay for plastic or paper cups if I buy them, same with
McDonalds.

I once worked at a bakery that was in a mall. We carged 25 cents for a
cup of water. The charge was for the cup. This is because we had loads
of thirsty shoppers walking by deciding they wanted a cup of water,
and we paid for the cups and weren't getting anything for it.
Also, my local donut shop charges for a styrofoam cup if you want them
to piggyback cups for your iced coffee. I have a cup koozie for such a
purpose, but you get the idea.
So, yeah, I can see why they charged you. What was it, 25 cents or so?

For ages water has been "free" at restaurants, but in reality should
it be? Think about it, the owner/operator has to pay for it.

As others already stated, there are some people who will take that cup
to the drink station and fill it with soda and think nothing about it

At one place where I worked and a guest requested water, I used to
give the guest a cup filled with water

I know a lot of places either have smaller, cheaper cups for water, or
they charge for the cup. If you go to a movie theater, and I've worked
for 4 different chains, they ALWAYS charge full price for a cup, or a
bag for the popcorn. People don't realize how much money places lose
out by giving out free cups and what not. Theaters make all their
money, like 80% or more, in the concession stand.

Just saying it IS annoying, but they have every right to since you're
using one of their cups.

wow.

When I worked at Burger King, oh so many, many years ago, BK charged
not for water but for the cup. This was because many people would ask
for water (which was free) but would then fill their cups with soda
(which was not).

For awhile they tried charging the same price for water as for soda,
but you can probably imagine how THAT went over.

Unless they charged you the regular drink price, I don't see what the
issue is. Anymore, many places charge a fee for a cup of water,
usually a minimal amount for the cup more than anything else. Talk
about blowing it all out of proportion.

Years ago here they charged 5 cents for a cup here. Now they have
soda fountains where the customer self serves and you pay for the
entire drink when you get your empty cup and get what you want. They
have a spot for water, but if you want it free you ask for a "courtesy
cup". Its a smaller cup.

At my work we have a lot of kids that are out riding thier bikes that
come in for water. We have about a dozen kids a day coming in for a
glass of water. If we gave them all water for free then we would lose
money.
I'm also curious as to how much they charged for the cup.

At the McDonalds near where I work there are signs saying that they
don't give out cups for water. They even have on the sign the phone
number of the owner for complaints.

That is ridiculous! I almost always drink water at fast food
restaurants -- they just give me a cup and I get water from the
lemonade dispenser. To charge you for the water (the cup,
essentially) seems incredibly tacky.

I suggest you bring this up with the store manager. This likely is
the person who decided to charge for water (or the owner did, and it's
a franchise operation).

I'm surprised they didn't try to sell you bottled water.

I agree that was lousy customer service. I have never been charged
for a cup when asking for water in any fast food restaurant. If that
particular place needs to charge for a cup, they are either greedy or
having financial problems. I'm curious how much you were charged. If
the amount was small enough, I would have paid it instead of leaving,
but that's just my personal choice.