Water

dwiebelh said:
I only drink water when I go out anywhere. This is because it is healthy and free. Water is essentially free when from a faucet. When a business forces me to buy bottled water, it will piss me off, I won't buy it and I will be less likely to return there.

Would you expect a restaurant to charge you for water? If I pay my table time, I expect a bit of hospitality (gasp).

There is a reason why pool rooms are struggling. The type of thinking in this thread is very shortsighted and selfish. As a business owners you need to have some empathy, be friendly and think as your customers think. This is how you build a community.
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You missed one point....the guys from the original poster are NOT paying pool time. We serve bottled water only for our major tournaments, but give out free water all other times. Most of our leagues have a green fee, so not a big deal, we are making something from them.

And as far as short sighted...i disagree too. A business has to operate at a profit, and if the guests coming in are not attempting to contribute to that profit, then there is one word for it.....loitering. If you cant afford to go out and pay for a night out, stay home..simple as that.
 
I sell bottle water only. I dont offer any FREE water because it is not offered to me FREE. We sell food, beer, snacks etc... We have APA on thursday and charge $2.00 green fee. The problem I have is they NEVER come on the weekends? As stated in previsous posts if you piss off a NON paying customer you have lost a NON paying customer so be it.
 
I don't drink soda and also don't drink alcohol. What I like to drink is a cup of water with ice in it. Personally, I wouldn't have an issue paying for a cup of ice and bottled/filtered water.

For these people you are referring to, just say that you don't offer it at the counter and that there is a fountain for them to drink at.

If you want to make a compromise, sell them a cup of ice for like 50 cents (and ice refills) and they can go to the fountain. If not, they can buy a bottle of water for $1.00 (or whatever you choose) and get a cup of ice with it.

Either way, they won't get the convenience of being able to sit and drink what they have without paying for it. If they want to be cheap, they can walk their butts back and forth to the fountain every time they are thirsty. The way you have it now, they can be cheap and lazy....makes it way too easy for them.
 
In Puerto Rico and most of the Caribbean Islands have a sign that says: The water is free but a cup with ice costs 25 cents. (It is now really 50 cents in some places). It is mostly a 7 oz cup. If they want a bigger cup the cost is $1.00
 
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How much do I need to spend to 'support the establishment' and 'not be cheap'? I spend alot of money (alot of money to me) every month in pool halls. I'll go for a minimum of 2 hours several times a week and every time buy at least one drink. Do you need a guy that spends $x dollars an hour or does my couple hundred bucks I spent last month wearing out the cloth qualify me as a good customer?
 
We have two main rooms in town.

One charges 1/3 less. Tables are well maintained but cloth isn't replaced until it's wore out. Cues are crap. Street parking. Nothing is free.

The other charges 50% more. Has a prompt and cute wait staff. Proper lighting. Immaculate tables and cues. Well lit parking lot.

Each has it's own "REGULARS" and one owner is always crying the blues while the other does well. Guess which.

To room owners ... if the cost of a free glass of water is a concern you don't charge enough. If you have the lowest rate in town you get the tightest customer.

To players ... if you want to be taken care of you have to pay a little more.

It works both ways form both groups.

Before I bought a home table I went to the cheaper room to practice and took a half gallon jug of ice water with me. All I paid for was a table and that's all I expected.

If we go out to play we go to Airway, the nicer place. Food is decent. Service is good. Car is safe. Higher class of customer.

LWW
 
I'm one of those who never drink and drive. During the day it's coffee, soda and water. The water is free but I tip a buck per glass. I also tip when I get a table. I also tip a buck to the a new waitress asking me for something to drink even if I decline. It's a thanks for asking without interrupting my game and I tell them so. That's the reason when I left my jacket at the pool hall the other night when I returned the next day it was behind the counter with my name on it. That got her a $5 tip and $5 more during the night. If your paying for bottler water it's not free and I don't see why you can't post a sign saying so. I have a small sign on the glove box of my boat that reads, (This Boat Don't Run on Smiles $$$). Just my 2 cents
 
Bellhemen said:
How much do I need to spend to 'support the establishment' and 'not be cheap'? I spend alot of money (alot of money to me) every month in pool halls. I'll go for a minimum of 2 hours several times a week and every time buy at least one drink. Do you need a guy that spends $x dollars an hour or does my couple hundred bucks I spent last month wearing out the cloth qualify me as a good customer?
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You said the proper thing, you buy at least one drink. I think the entire problem is people who assume because they are paying table time they should get free cups of water.

I'm good friends with the owner of the hall I play at. His goal is to get every customer to spend at least $6. It could be in beer, soda, or table time. But that is his goal. During the day his table time is like $2/hour. What he doesn't want is someone coming in, paying $2-4 for table time and going up to the bar every 10-15 minutes asking for a fresh ice water.

My wife and I combined spend probably $250-300/month there in bar tabs (3 nights a week one of us is there) and probably another $50-70 in tips for the bar tenders. This gets us treated pretty damn well.

Brian
 
A good rule of thumb (according to our accountant) is each customer should be spending about $6 -10 per hour to make it worth your time. Either in food, pool, drinks, vending etc. That is depending on the location and your rent cost. 9 foot tables a bit more. Nice neighborhoods a bit more. So if you have no alcohol sales it makes it really hard to hit that number to stay afloat.
 
LWW said:
We have two main rooms in town.

One charges 1/3 less. Tables are well maintained but cloth isn't replaced until it's wore out. Cues are crap. Street parking. Nothing is free.

The other charges 50% more. Has a prompt and cute wait staff. Proper lighting. Immaculate tables and cues. Well lit parking lot.

Each has it's own "REGULARS" and one owner is always crying the blues while the other does well. Guess which.

To room owners ... if the cost of a free glass of water is a concern you don't charge enough. If you have the lowest rate in town you get the tightest customer.

To players ... if you want to be taken care of you have to pay a little more.

It works both ways form both groups.

Before I bought a home table I went to the cheaper room to practice and took a half gallon jug of ice water with me. All I paid for was a table and that's all I expected.

If we go out to play we go to Airway, the nicer place. Food is decent. Service is good. Car is safe. Higher class of customer.

LWW
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Todd and Hal have always run a class joint.
 
dwiebelh said:
I only drink water when I go out anywhere. This is because it is healthy and free. Water is essentially free when from a faucet. When a business forces me to buy bottled water, it will piss me off, I won't buy it and I will be less likely to return there.

Would you expect a restaurant to charge you for water? If I pay my table time, I expect a bit of hospitality (gasp).

There is a reason why pool rooms are struggling. The type of thinking in this thread is very shortsighted and selfish. As a business owners you need to have some empathy, be friendly and think as your customers think. This is how you build a community.
Click to expand...

You dont understad. the op said they play for free. If they were paying for table time, then asking for water its ok imo.
 
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