Are water cups really that small?

[bgirldeb]

I worked at mcdonalds back in the mid 1980s and that is the cup we gave out then for water, and we didn't have a fountain of free refilled soda for folks buying. that had nothing to do with it. it came down to the fact that the cups cost money. same with the movie theatre I also worked at. we gave out courtesy cups for water, but yes, they were very small dixie-cup like cups.

That's what I was going to post. I worked at a theater in the 90s and we had 'courtesy cups' for water. If someone wanted a larger cup, they would have to pay full price. I believe they also used the inventory of soda cups to measure sales.

I like the idea of just bringing along your own refillable cup.

 

[FireDancer]

I think the solution to this quandary is to start charging regular soda prices for tap water. These restaurants are in business to sell things, not give things away for free.

You are buying something, food. When I go sit in a restaurant I buy my meal and get a free glass of water.

Now, if someone is just walking into a McDonald's and getting just the free water without any food that is a different issue.

 

[bicker]

A lot of states have laws that restaurants and bars must provide tap water free of charge

Which can be satisfied with a water fountain in the corner of the room.


I suppose people would then bring their own refillable mugs, from home, but that's a whole 'nother thread.

 

[bicker]

You are buying something, food.

And so that's all they really need to provide you (except as required by law, see above). If people want free water in glasses, then we'd better make sure to not reward the restaurants that stop providing it, to save money. However, the general public often has been willing to split the difference with service providers with regard to cost-reductions, so I wouldn't say that free water in glasses can never go away.

 

[JLTraveling]

When I was a kid in the '80s, McDonald's only gave out those little Dixie cups of water. Back then there were no do-it-yourself fountains, even the water was filled behind the counter.

I had a teacher who was in McDonald's one night when a guy came running in screaming. His car was on fire in the parking lot. So the guy's yelling "My car's on fire! I need water!" The lady behind the counter never missed a beat. She calmly filled one of those little Dixie cups with water, started to hand it to the guy and then asked, "Do you want ice?"

Thankfully the manager overheard and called the Fire Department. But yeah, it's been tiny cups since at least 1985, at least in central Florida.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

they gave him an itty bitty ice cream cup, not even the child's small drink. He looked at it and said "would you like some water with that straw?"

...
When I worked at Qdoba, we were to give the child's size cup, but if they asked, they could have a medium cup.

You didn't say if he asked for one...only that he made a snide comment.

Because it cost money? If someone wants a full size cup, they could always pay for it.

Exactly...the CUP costs money.

A lot of states have laws that restaurants and bars must provide tap water free of charge

Restaurants and bars are usually using reusable glasses, I presume.

But making me pay .25 for the cup is acceptable which is what my local sonic does.

I worked at mcdonalds back in the mid 1980s and that is the cup we gave out then for water, and we didn't have a fountain of free refilled soda for folks buying. that had nothing to do with it. it came down to the fact that the cups cost money. same with the movie theatre I also worked at. we gave out courtesy cups for water, but yes, they were very small dixie-cup like cups.

Ditto. I worked at McDonalds in the 70's.

I believe they also used the inventory of soda cups to measure sales.

Also true.

 

[mtemm]

yep, the cups were used to inventory sales. back in the mid 80s, the shake and the medium soda cups were the same size, but I remember the shake had a little line around it at the bottom so we could tell the difference. now the medium soda is the small, I think, and the large is the medium. and the large is now practically a bucket of soda. lol. times have really changed.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

I didn't read all of the responses, so this could've already been answered.

Here is the correct response (having worked for McDonald's). They make their money off of the cups, not how many sodas are sold. They have to account for the cups when they do inventory. Therefore, they will give you a courtesy cup when you want a glass of water. If you want it in a regular cup they will have to charge you the amount of the sized drink-- small--medium--large.

 

[Acklander]

I worked at mcdonalds back in the mid 1980s and that is the cup we gave out then for water, and we didn't have a fountain of free refilled soda for folks buying. that had nothing to do with it. it came down to the fact that the cups cost money. same with the movie theatre I also worked at. we gave out courtesy cups for water, but yes, they were very small dixie-cup like cups.

I worked at McDonalds in 1980 and same thing, the tiny little dixie cups. If they wanted something larger they had to buy the soda cup, which we could then put water into. They counted the cups, so thats how they could tell how much we sold

 

[Acklander]

I can only drink water or crystal light type of drinks NO carbonation. And I would resent paying the same price for tap water as for soda!
Come on, tap water is the basis of soda before all the other ingredients are added, no way should the price be the same when the cost is so much less. But making me pay .25 for the cup is acceptable which is what my local sonic does.

but the cost isn't a huge amount less. When you have fountain soda (like at a fast food restaurant) it cost pennies to make the soda. It's the container that you put the soda in, that's expensive.

 

[bicker]

Yes, the cup is an expense item. However, also, probably more expensive than either the soda or the cup is the cost of getting that customer to come into the store: The cost of customer acquisition. That more than justifies charging for tap water, if doing so results in higher revenues long-term than giving it away for free.

 

[AshleyW]

I worked at QuikTrip in high school, and in the summer time, we always had people coming in that wanted to just get a glass of water or a glass of ice. We had really good ice.. sounds weird, I know, but the shape of the cube made it really easy to chew, so people loooved getting ice cups. Anyway, we'd give them a regular sized cup, and just charged them 10 cents. It was enough to cover the cost of our cups, but not too much that people minded paying.

 

[SandrA9810]

I love RaceTrac, you can get any size cup of water or ice for a quarter. Even the big 44oz cups

But even the child's cup at qdoba is like 8oz cup. This was like a 2oz ice cream cup they use for the sundaes.

And we never counted cups at qdoba... we were supposed to use the smaller cups for personal drinks, but no one ever did. Then there's the cups that fell to the floor that had to be thrown away. Even had a friend work at Subway, and he had to count EVERYTHING, every extra loaf of bread made, every loaf in the fridge, every salad plate, but they never had to count the cups.

Really how much does a 32oz styrofoam cup cost to make?? The ones they use for the tea. You can buy a 50 pack at the store for like a dollar... so I'm sure it's even cheaper for McD's to buy them.

 

[DarthKTrava]

I've usually seen them give out clear plastic cups for water. Or the kiddie size cup.

 

[DarthKTrava]

Why in the world isn't tap water good for you?

And by the way bottled water is tap water.

I drink tap water all the time. It's A LOT more economical. Mom uses the Brita pitcher but I don't as the water tasted weird. Once in a while I'll get bottled water, mainly at WDW or after doing an event and friends have some available...