No free cup of water at McDonald's?

[Rumpltzer]

In celebration of former President Clinton's successful bypass surgery, I went to McDonald's for a double quarter pounder w/ cheese today.

While waiting for my food I overhear a conversation between the cashier and this high school kid:

kid: I want [blah blah blah] and a cup of ice water please.
cashier: We have bottled water.
kid: I'd just like water in a cup with ice.
cashier: We have bottled water.
kid: But I like ice with my water.
cashier: We can give you a cup with ice and you can put the bottled water in it.

At this point I got my food and headed out the door. The soda fountains in this McDonald's are behind the counter.

I understand that McDonald's is in the money making business, but this seems a little stupid. :frown:

This McDonald's is in Camarillo, CA, at the Pleasant Valley exit.


-------------------

Cliff's Notes: McDonald's won't give kid a free cup of water.

 

[AFB]

In celebration of former President Clinton's successful bypass surgery, I went to McDonald's for a double quarter pounder w/ cheese today

 

[Mo0o]

Very odd, i get free water from mcdonalds all the time

 

[notfred]

I'd say don't buy from them.... but it's a bit late for that.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

yeah that is dumb, if the soda machine was access by customers i would say umm ok but still you can denied someone water.

 

[T2T III]

In celebration of former President Clinton's successful bypass surgery, I went to McDonald's for a double quarter pounder w/ cheese today.

Actually, I think fries were Pres. Clinton's weakness. Did you upgrade to a "biggie" size in honor of this celebration?

 

[KillyKillall]

It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

 

[PanzerIV]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Very odd, i get free water from mcdonalds all the time

Apparently things can vary by store. Several years ago I went to a McDonalds by one of our malls and they didn't offer free refills. I have never, ever been in a fast food joint that didn't offer free refills. I've never been back to that particular location since.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

 

[Aftermath]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

Yet they make a nice extra $.27 off 'extra' packets of sauce they give out now. I went into McD's for my final time a month back when I ordered a 10 piece of nuggets and a small fry. They gave me one little portion of sweet and sour souce. I like to dip my fries in the stuff as well, so I asked if I could have some extra. I was told essentially that the first one is free, the rest are $.27 a pop. That killed my business. I can take their flaccid, rancid burgers. I can take their 'you win some, you lose some' random fries that usually suck. I can take the fact that they charge more for a double hamburger meal than it costs me to get a meat lovers breakfast served to me at Denny's. But when they want to charge me $.27 for a 4 ouce cup of random chemicals and artificial flavoring, Ronald McDonald himself can get down on his hands and find out how much 'i'm lovin' it.'
</rant>

 

[Triforceofcourage]

You have to ask yourself if you really want nasty mcdonalds tap water anyway

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

Fortunately most of them know that acting like asswads is not good for business.

 

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

Lose 11 cents or lose a customer.

 

[isekii]

I would've just returned the food and went to burger king or wendy's

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Water is free at our local McDonalds, but it tastes horrible. Burger King's doesn't taste much better, and it's 10 cents.

But Wendy's is the oasis... tastes delicious and it's free, nice size cup, too.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Aftermath

Yet they make a nice extra $.27 off 'extra' packets of sauce they give out now. I went into McD's for my final time a month back when I ordered a 10 piece of nuggets and a small fry. They gave me one little portion of sweet and sour souce. I like to dip my fries in the stuff as well, so I asked if I could have some extra. I was told essentially that the first one is free, the rest are $.27 a pop. That killed my business. I can take their flaccid, rancid burgers. I can take their 'you win some, you lose some' random fries that usually suck. I can take the fact that they charge more for a double hamburger meal than it costs me to get a meat lovers breakfast served to me at Denny's. But when they want to charge me $.27 for a 4 ouce cup of random chemicals and artificial flavoring, Ronald McDonald himself can get down on his hands and knees and blow me personally.

</rant>

Wow, that's pretty scummy, but I've got a feeling it's just going to get worse. A lot of franchises are trying to put the squeeze on giveaways like extra sauce. A local Taco Bell outlet has taken the sauce packets off the counter where you could grab a whole handful and moved them behind so that the cashiers give them out. They always give out too few too, if you order 4 items you'll only get two packets unless you demand more. A nearby hot dog place has started charging for their dogs a la carte. The price of the dog only gets you the dog, the bun and mustard or ketchup. If you want relish, onions or kraut they're a dime each, chili is a quarter, cheese is a quarter, bacon is a quarter. If you want heavy onions or extra kraut that's another dime. Both places have lost my business as luckily those places are the exception rather than the rule. There are plenty of Taco Bells and hot dog joints around that don't pull that sort of BS.

It's not really their fault though, it's the small percentage of customers that abuse the privilege that ruin it for everyone. McDonalds gets people that order a single 6-piece McNuggets and want a couple of dozen barbecue sauces, then they take the extra home and use it when they cook their own meals. Taco Bell has people that clean out all their sauce, taking thousands of packets after ordering 79 cents worth of food. And don't even get me started on sugar and plastic forks and knives. A few idiots have forced the franchises to hire armed guards for the condiments.

 

[PoPPeR]

Originally posted by: Aftermath

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

Yet they make a nice extra $.27 off 'extra' packets of sauce they give out now. I went into McD's for my final time a month back when I ordered a 10 piece of nuggets and a small fry. They gave me one little portion of sweet and sour souce. I like to dip my fries in the stuff as well, so I asked if I could have some extra. I was told essentially that the first one is free, the rest are $.27 a pop. That killed my business. I can take their flaccid, rancid burgers. I can take their 'you win some, you lose some' random fries that usually suck. I can take the fact that they charge more for a double hamburger meal than it costs me to get a meat lovers breakfast served to me at Denny's. But when they want to charge me $.27 for a 4 ouce cup of random chemicals and artificial flavoring, Ronald McDonald himself can get down on his hands and find out how much 'i'm lovin' it.'
</rant>

hehe

 

[falias]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: KillyKillall
It's actually illegal in AZ to deny someone free water if they ask (tap wise).

Sure but its not illegal to charge them for the cup (I think).

And therein lies the reason for denying free water. It costs outlets like McDonalds more for the cup/lid/straw than it costs them for the liquid that goes into it. When you're paying $1.19 for a large Coke it's something like 11 cents for the cup/lid/straw, 8 cents for the Coke itself and $1.00 profit. When they give out free water they're losing 11 cents rather than making a buck. Of course they want to discourage freeloaders who want only water.

It used to be free, but now the MDs in my area charge 10 cents for water, so I guess they are paying off those charges.

 

[MBony]

I don't see the problem. If you want free water, bring it into the store with you. Otherwise understand how business works, they lose money from the cup/lid/straw. Bars/Clubs have been doing this for years. If you don't like their policy, don't buy their food.

TAKE THE POWER BACK!

 

[halik]

Im pretty sure that state of michigan has a law stating that every palce that serves food must offer free water also

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

In celebration of former President Clinton's successful bypass surgery, I went to McDonald's for a double quarter pounder w/ cheese today.

Actually, I think fries were Pres. Clinton's weakness. Did you upgrade to a "biggie" size in honor of this celebration?

Sorry I wasn't clear. I got the value meal and fries came with that... no biggie sized (but they did offer).

Double burger patties laced with yellow cheese product, fries, and Mr. Pibb was the delicious.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: halik
Im pretty sure that state of michigan has a law stating that every palce that serves food must offer free water also

Never assume. Most often those laws are written so that only specific places are included. A real restaurant with waitress service will be forced to offer free water since every customer is essentially a captive. Those laws will almost always exclude fast food, convenience stores like 7-11 and any place else where the typical customer is foot traffic rather than sit-down.

 

[Balt]

Some places around here have signs saying they post for a cup of water, but I think if I had ordered food and they still tried to charge me I'd just walk out the door.

I find it amusing when I go through the local DQ drive-thru that they recently put up a sign for employees (but clearly visible to patrons) that says "EASY on the napkins. 1 napkin per cone" etc etc etc

 

[Afro000Dude]

That McDonald's is right across the street from the high school, so they probably get a lot of kids in there doing stupid stuff. They are usually pretty nice in there, though.

I saw kid buy a small drink, go back outside and sit with his friends for a while, then come back in and ask if he could have a large drink, instead of the small. The lady gave him a large and let him keep the small, at no extra charge. Maybe it was just a mean person. Come to think of it, they let me bring pizza from Little Caesar's in there and eat it in the restaurant... and gave me sauce.

My friend actually works at that particular McDonald's, and he says the people he works with are pretty cool. I'll ask him what's up. He gives me free McFlurries... mmm... I also learned from him working there that they have Powerade at the fountain. He also said that they don't charge for extra toppings, so you could order a McChicken and put everything on it and it would only cost as much as the regular McChicken.