75 for 3 bottles of water normal in london?

[anonymous-user]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bu...

Wellesley Hotel charges businessman Edward Heaton £75 for three small bottles of water

i understand the cigar lounge is expensive but seems a bit of a pisstake for a 50 minimum charge..

[Mr Will]

There is a minimum spend of £25 per person. They only spent £8.27 per person (including tip). The bill was topped up to meet the minimum amount.

I fail to see what the big deal is?

[Moonhawk]

Mr Will said:

I fail to see what the big deal is?

The issue appears to be not that there was a minimum spend - but that he was not informed about it before ordering (a legitimate complaint IMO).

[wolves_wanderer]

It seems to read that there was only 2 of them in the report?

[Fartomatic5000]

Seems ok to me. You can't expect to hog a table for a business meeting, taking advantage of the location and nice surroundings and be a cheapskate.

[hidetheelephants]

wolves_wanderer said:

It seems to read that there was only 2 of them in the report?

I wondered about that too; a £25 per head minimum charge should have resulted in a £50 bill, not £75. Does not compute.

[Jim the Sunderer]

Jessica Rabbit must have seen them coming.

[Mr Will]

hidetheelephants said:

wolves_wanderer said:

It seems to read that there was only 2 of them in the report?

I wondered about that too; a £25 per head minimum charge should have resulted in a £50 bill, not £75. Does not compute.

I assume "the client" was two people. Would explain the three bottles as well.

[TIGA84]

hidetheelephants said:

I wondered about that too; a £25 per head minimum charge should have resulted in a £50 bill, not £75. Does not compute.

I've seen a couple of reports that say it was him +2 - hence the 3 bottles and £75. Who knows though.

[turbobloke]

You know what they say, if you have to ask.....

[Shaw Tarse]

It seems the hotel came out looking bad on Twitter, regardless of who was in the wrong.

[TheJimi]

The concept of enforced "minimum spend" really sticks in my craw.

[Moonhawk]

Shaw Tarse said:

It seems the hotel came out looking bad on Twitter, regardless of who was in the wrong.

Their response did come across quite flippant.

[Funkycoldribena]

TheJimi said:

The concept of enforced "minimum spend" really sticks in my craw.

Does me as well,just charge a silly price for the water in the first place then people know the score.(I mean an even more silly price).

[Mr Will]

TheJimi said:

The concept of enforced "minimum spend" really sticks in my craw.

The problem is that with a place like this it would end up stuffed full of tourists sharing a packet of crisps between twenty of them and people hogging tables for business meetings but only ordering water...

...hold on a minute!

[TheJimi]

turbobloke said:

You know what they say, if you have to ask.....

For me, it isn't an issue of affordability, it's a question of value - which is, of course, a subjective notion.

[wolves_wanderer]

Funkycoldribena said:

TheJimi said:

The concept of enforced "minimum spend" really sticks in my craw.

Does me as well,just charge a silly price for the water in the first place then people know the score.(I mean an even more silly price).

The £8 service charge annoys me more!

[Disastrous]

Surely any half decent waiter would have just said "just to let you know, they put a £25 per head minimum spend on things, so would you like me to bring you a bottle of wine and some nibbles so you get a bit more out of it?"

[Digger]

Next time he should order 9 bottles of San Pellegrino (£49.50) and see if they still have the gall to add on the minimum spend, or would adding the Service Charge negate that?!

Also if the minimum spend is £50, why £50.17 on the receipt?

[Moonhawk]

Digger said:

Next time he should order 9 bottles of San Pellegrino (£49.50) and see if they still have the gall to add on the minimum spend, or would adding the Service Charge negate that?!

Also if the minimum spend is £50, why £50.17 on the receipt?

As I understand it - the minimum spend was £25 per head. As there were three of them - that makes £75.

The £50.17 was to make up the difference between the £24.83 bill (water + service charge) and the minimum spend (75-24.83 = 50.17)