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THIRST

A British hotel operator who wrote to a client explaining why she could not have a free glass of water has been showered with bad publicity in connection with the incident.

Shelly Burchell was a guest at the Atlantic Hotel in southwest England. She wrote a letter to managing director Anthony Cobley because she was refused a glass of tap water to drink with her $32 meal. She says, instead of giving her a glass of water, the staff insisted she buy a small bottle of water for $1.40 or a larger bottle for $3.60.

Cobley wrote a curt reply. He said, "I buy water from the Southwest Water Company. I buy the glasses that the water is served in. I buy the ice that goes into the water, and I buy the labor to serve the water. I provide the luxury surroundings, labor, and washing materials for the glass after you have used it, and you think that I should provide all this free of charge!" In closing, Cobley wrote, "As regards to your comment that you will not be returning to the Atlantic Hotel ever again, leaves me to say that customers that only drink water and complain about paying for it, I can certainly do without."

The deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association says Cobley was wrong. He says, "Looking after customers and making them feel happy is a major part of hospitality." Debbie Smith, head of marketing at the Cornwall Tourist Board added,

"This is certainly not an approach to customer care that I would advocate."

—http://news.yahoo.com, Hotel Criticized for Charging for Water, February 6, 2004, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Isaiah 55:1 NIV "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters: and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat!"