Woman issues warning over 'trick question' customers get asked about water at restaurants

Dining out isn't cheap these days, especially as we're all feeling the pinch.

You can forget about a three course meal - as a main course and a few side dishes will cost you an arm and a leg as it is.

But even if you have tallied up your expected bill while weighing up the menu, it seems that we always get stung for a few extra quid when we're coughing up the service change and other unexpected add ons.

That's why one woman is on a mission to warn people not to fall for a typical 'trick question' which waiters ask, as she says it can end up drastically increasing your tab.

TikTok user Minna, who goes by @badgurlmimi online, explained that she was left kicking herself when she realised she had been bamboozled by staff when she wasn't paying attention.

In the clip, she explained that she had visited a bar a couple of days earlier when a server came over to check on her and see if she fancied something to wet her whistle.

Minna said: "They asked me, ‘still or sparkling?’ and I was not thinking. I was so disappointed in myself. I said 'still'."

You may well be wondering what the big deal is and if she simply just meant to order sparkling instead, but the diner was actually disgruntled due to the fact a third, much cheaper option wasn't put on the table.

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Minna claimed that she was lumbered with a $9 (£7.18) bottle of still water, when she could have had tap water.

She fumed: "Does it look like one bottle of water will quench my thirst? Because no. One bottle of still water is not going to cut it. I will need about two, but I’m not gonna pay $18 (£14.36) for water when I can just have tap water.

"Avoid this trick question. They’re just trying to get money out of you."

The content creator left her followers with one last piece of advice, saying: "When someone asks you 'still or sparkling water?' You say 'Neither, I would like tap water, please'."

Although us Brits are well tuned into our tap water rights and know we are entitled to a few free glasses at establishments that serve alcohol under the Licensing Act 2003, it isn't as clear cut across the pond.

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There are no rules or regulations forcing restaurants to give out free water in the US, but the majority of places will still do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Social media users echoed Minna's opinion in the comment section on TikTok, where many people shared their own experiences of being slapped with a hefty bill at restaurants for a bottle of water.

One said: "It was $70 (£55.84) for water at the end of the night because we were getting refills."

Another wrote: "I heard a woman ask for ‘New York’s finest’ as a way of saying tap water and I was inspired tbh."

And a third added: "As a former server, our restaurant made sure to tell us to say ‘still, sparkling, or tap’ and every time I hear still or sparkling, I automatically read it as greedy."