Is it illegal to refuse a water cup at a restaurant like Chipotle or Subway?

Question

I was refused a water cup at a Chipotle in Maryland and wanted to know if it is illegal.

Answer 1

What does your manager tell you?-

Answer 2

No it is not illegal to stop handing out free cups if the patrons are abusing the system. It's not that they want to stop people from drinking free water, they want to stop the theft and they have every right to alter the store policy to prevent it. As long as the manager hangs a sign that says "we no longer provide free water cups" then he is covered for any complaints you might get. You can fill a cup with water and hand it to them but if they are stealing soda when they should be getting water out of the self serve drink machines the manager has every right to stop this theft. Another good thing to do is to police the dining room. The person in charge of the dining room should be watching for people abusing this free water policy. If they see someone filling a water cup with soda they should say something. If they see someone at a table with a water cup that clearly isn't holding water they should say something to the customer. Theft prevention is your managers #1 priority.

Answer 3

It is not illegal, but maybe the cups are counted for internal control. Maybe if you offered to pay 10 cents for the cup they might give you water. They count cups to prevent employees from stealing cash from soda sales. Since the soda machine does not have a meter (like gas pumps!), who is to say a guy won't steal the soda sales from the register?

If the manager leaves out 100 cups and counts 50 cups remain the next day, he should see 50 soda sales rung up!

If the cups are missing and nothing is rung up on the register - possibly a theft is occuring.

Answer 4

Why would be illegal? Since when is a company required by law to give things away for free? The restaurant has to buy the cups and pay for the water.

Answer 5

Why would you expect a business, that exists to make a profit, provide you with anything for free? They sell drinks, and that is part of the business model. They are not required to give you anything, in fact they could legally charge you for napkins and bags.



I am sure that you could BUY a cup for water, or another beverage, but you are not entitled to a free cup.

Answer 6

That's an interesting question. Restaurants are required to provide certain things and follow certain state laws. There are quite a few laws, examples: employees must wash hands after using the restroom (they can be fined if they don't), they have to provide restroom facilities for diners (required by law) and fast food places are required to post the calorie contents of their meals or give you a handout of the calories upon request, but these laws vary from state to state, and I do not know what the rule is regarding water. A place to look would be your state laws, search for fast food requirements, etc, or call your local commerce department. It would be interesting to see if you are correct, that they must provide water. Hope you can find out!

Answer 7

I believe a restaurant can charge you for a cup. I don't think they can refuse you a cup of water if you offer to pay for it.

Answer 8

Absolutely. In fact it is a very little known provision in the most recent stimulus legislation managers of fast food eateries which have 2 or more tables for dining-in must provide foot massages if you ask. I suggest you go back in there and demand your Constitutional rights. After all this is why we are fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.



You go girl.