I guess America does not actually run on dunkin...

[ratheripped.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to get back into running and on my jog today I was getting to the point where I was about to keel over and pass out if I didn't rehydrate soon. I figured I could just walk into a highland ave dunkin and get a quick cup of tap water and be on my way. Apparently they demanded "25 cents for the cup". Are you kidding me? I've never heard of such bullsh*t - is this some sort of sick work around? I thought it was was illegal to refuse someone tap water for free.

Can someone help me out here? I usually go to that dunkin all the time and now I'm honestly thinking about straight up taking my caffeine addiction business elsewhere.

Comments

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i know that some of them do charge for cups - it's not about the water. many people (like me, on the rare occasion i get something since i don't drink coffee) will ask for an extra cup to put their cold drink in, so the condensation doesn't get all over your hands/desk/etc. i guess this started catching on and they started charging for the extra cup. not all of them do this though, or do it consistently.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

so you want to mooch services without paying?

I'm pretty sure most places, esp coffee shops, do the same. I know 1369 and the little shop next to me do.

Seems reasonable to me. . .

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

I'm curious as to where you got the idea that it was illegal to refuse someone tap water for free. I'm not being snarky, but that's the first time I've heard that.

Tap water isn't free for the business. The water itself is very inexpensive, but not free. $.25 really doesn't seem unreasonable, IMHO, given employee time, the cost of providing a cup, and some water.

Re: Seems reasonable to me. . .

[tenshikurai9.livejournal.com]

I've heard claim that a few states out West do say it's illegal. The idea is that they don't want homeless people to become dehydrated to the point of needing an ambulance.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Many places of business like this keep track of what they have sold by the number of cups left at the end of the day. Giving them away throws off their bookkeeping.

[dial-zero.livejournal.com]

I think places keep track of the number of cups to make sure their employees aren't giving away a ton of stuff to their friends. My boyfriend worked at a sub shop that kept track of the bread for that reason.

[jovianconsensus.livejournal.com]

We did this at the movie theater I worked at 12 (!) years ago. But we also had a supply of "courtesy cups" that weren't counted.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

A lot of cafes I visit have special cups just for the (free) water. Like, a soda cup will be paper with the Coca Cola logo on it, but the water cups will be plain clear plastic. I always thought they used clear cups for water so you couldn't "cheat" and put Coke in a cup but just SAY it's water, but the cup counting thing makes more sense...

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Charging 25 cents for the cup is a bit of a rip-off, but not at all uncommon, and not really absurd (since they pay - albeit 0.003 cents - for the cups). But Dunkies has become such a disgusting money-grabber that I will grant you the indignation.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i admit i do not patronize dunkin regardless, but there's water to be had for a runner in need!

diesel at least sometimes has a big jug of water and cups next to it in the middle of the cafe'. reusable cups, so you just put them in the bus bin.

there is, or at least was, also a public water fountain in the middle of the square, kind of in front of jp licks and such.

good luck and STAY HYDRATED!

[dial-zero.livejournal.com]

You can always go into the bathroom and drink some water from the faucet. I've totally done that.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

yes, this.

[smammy]

It's is pretty standard for places that sell bottled water to not offer free tap water. It's not very personable, but then again, corporations aren't people. (They are, however, a very successful superorganism; thanks, capitalism!)

Workaround: bathroom sink + cupped hand!

[svilletheatre.livejournal.com]

We sell bottled water but also give away iced tap water for free with free dixie cups for those who can't afford, don't like to buy, or do not want to pay for bottled water. We also have a bubbler for ticketed patrons near the restrooms. If we are open for business you are free to pop in and have a drink in the lobby!

When I worked for a big chain theater years ago, they counted cups, bags, even lids to keep track of sales, which is pretty common for a chain like DD/

-Ian/Somerville Theatre

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

And this would be one of the many reasons why the Somerville Theatre is one of my favorite businesses in the world. $5 pints? Scoops of Richardson's the size of my head? Fantastic building? I'd buy a ticket to Ishtar, if it was showing at the Somerville Theatre.

[ron_newman]

Next time, bring your own water bottle to fill. (A good idea in any event, if you're going to start running in hot summer weather.)

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

This. Why waste a cup?

[ladypeacey.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would say find a public bathroom, cup those hands, and drink away.

Or bring a water bottle with you next time.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Bain owns them.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

This is not an odd business practice for chain fast food.

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

While I agree that it might be possible, I'm betting this isn't DD trying to get rich off of people who want the occasional free cup of water. I can think of a few reasons why a "free cups" policy might turn around and bite a company as large and as ubiquitous as DD in the ass, mostly having to do with the mentally ill, or the few selfish bad apples out there who might even go so far as to make a lawsuit out of not getting the 600 free cups they requested at one sitting.

Obviously I need more friends because I've thought about this a lot since I first saw it implemented at the DD in Central Square. I thought it was interesting that they made it clear that the surcharge was for the cup not for the water, AND YET, whenever I ask for an extra styrofoam cup for my plastic cup of iced coffee (mea culpa, I know), I never get charged a surcharge for a cup. This is absurd, really, and the only way I've been able to make sense of it is to conclude that the 25 cents is supposed to serve as a throttle on the unchecked outflow of free cups to an insatiable, free-cup-crazed populace. Why I try to make sense of (or even assume decent motives on the part of) a megacorporation like Dunkin Donuts I leave as an exercise for the reader.

By the way, I first noticed this policy after the economic downturn, and so I figured it was a cost-saving measure, and I'm all up for a business trying to save money if it saves even one person's job, especially those unbelievably hard-working, always-friendly souls on the Central Square DD morning shift.

[kalimba21.livejournal.com]

It certainly makes me lust for the pre bottled water days when whole cities were punctuated with public water fountains both indoors and out. We were a more hydrated nation back then.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I am 45 and don't remember this being the case in Boston in my childhood.

There were bubblers on the Public Garden and Boston Common that are now gone, though. But I don't think they were removed because of pressure from the bottled-water industry; I think they were removed because they were constantly being vandalized. (This is why we can't have nice things!)

[dianamp04.livejournal.com]

There are at least a few in the Garden still, I pass one regularly and think "eww what's touched that" a lot.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I thought it was was illegal to refuse someone tap water for free.

I think this is only true for alcohol-serving establishments. So if you're out running and you really need a drink, stop at a bar instead. They'll probably serve it to you in a reusable glass and they can't charge you for it (though, depending on the bar, they may sneer at you). Last time I did this, at an otherwise shady looking bar I'd never otherwise patronized in Chicago on a very hot day, the bartender was very nice about it and even gave me ice, too.

People can try to justify this through economic arguments and "if we did it for you we'd have to do it for everyone" arguments to their heart's content, and they would be technically correct. But in practice I think this just makes DD a bad neighbor in much the same way that it does for businesses to refuse to let anyone use their restrooms. Sure, it may not directly benefit their business to provide free cups with water in them, but it's fundamentally mean-spirited of them not to do it.

[tober.livejournal.com]

In some jurisdictions (MA probably included but I'm not sure) tap water must be free at restaurants[1] for restaurant patrons who are ordering food[2]. An obligation to provide water to someone who isn't buying anything seems unlikely.

[1] I am not entirely certain whether DD constitutes a "restaurant" for these purposes. Table service might be required.
[2] And some jurisdictions go even further by requiring that tap water be given by default to patrons who didn't even request it.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Bars are, as far as I understand it, required to dispense it to people who are not otherwise buying anything. I believe the thinking is that this encourages people to bring a designated driver.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

It's also useful when you're with friends who want to keep drinking and you're done for the evening. Generally it encourages sobriety, which is a public good.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I had a different experience at a bar/club in Dallas in 1994. I was kicked unconscious by a moshing crowd at a Lemonheads concert (WTF?) and some random dude dragged me out. My friends told me that he carried me to the bar to try to splash cold water on my face and they wouldn't give him any, even with a bruised and battered unconscious girl in his arms. Another random stranger paid for the water.

Not sure what the moral of this story is, but wanted to say that some bars don't give free water.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Almost all of the laws governing the sale and distribution of alcohol are state laws. Consequently there is little, if any, similarity between the liquor laws of Texas and the liquor laws of Massachusetts.

[dial-zero.livejournal.com]

Damn, what bar was that?

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

It was some club in Deep Ellum that I doubt is still there!

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

What jurisdictions are you sure about, and do you have cites?

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

"I think this is only true for alcohol-serving establishments."

Do you have a cite?

[rramdin.livejournal.com]

Starbucks will always give you free water!

(My captcha was "donutted and"--surprising relevant)

[petula73.livejournal.com]

Each Dunkin Donuts is individually owned, so I don't blame them for asking for the .25.

They are essentially a small business, even though it's under a franchise umbrella.

I find them extremely friendly at that location, and very hard working.

[tastyanagram.livejournal.com]

This. What does "apparently they demanded '25 cents for the cup'" mean? Either they did demand it, or they didn't. If they were rude to you, don't go there anymore. If they asked for it nicely and you didn't want to pay it, politely explain to them why. Either way, I wouldn't go around saying nasty things about a business when it isn't necessary.

[mead-24.livejournal.com]

the cost is bc they lose lots of $ on product if they give cups away. However, they should have waived that for you! It is at the discretion of the owner though to decide how they handle stuff like that :(