I guess a tourist sued in Italy because they were served a 7 Euro bottle of water instead of the tap water they repeatedly asked for. They claimed tap water was a universal right.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/26/italy-court-tourist-tap-water-dolomites-hotel
She sought €2,700 in compensation for the “economic damage and
emotional distress” suffered.
Emotional distress????
The Stones were right. You can't always get what you want. Was her name Karen? On the first night , on being refused tap water, she could have filled any bottle with water from her bathroom tap and just brought it with her to the restaurant. But she had to make a fuss. A costly one.
I also repeatedly ask for extra bread at restaurants in California, but many charge me for it.
Bread should be a universal right as well.
I'm suing them.
she could have filled any bottle with water from her bathroom tap and
just brought it with her to the restaurant
In America that would entail a corkage fee, I'm sure.
Bread and wine should be free, the body and the blood.
I wish the Supreme Court of the United States would have the time to also rule on such important matters: Brew vs Bread of Education.
I can't help but wonder if she was an American.
Many jest, but often on here, people discuss insisting on tap water vs buying a bottle. Even Rick Steves, in his advice, talks about learning how to ask for tap water in just about every European language.
Myself, I don't worry about it. In Italy is is almost culturally accepted that you will order a bottle of water when you sit down, even locals do it. Other places as well, some places serve filtered water (either with or without gas), in many places, while the local water is safe, it may not taste good.
I do not think in a dozen countries and many restaurants I ever saw 7 euro water, I suspect they wandered into a tourist trap.
I can't help but wonder if she was an American.
That was my first reaction, but after taking a deeper dive into it, it appears it may have been an Italian Woman from Rome.
Ice cream is a basic human right too but it's trickier.
Ice cream koan: "If you have ice cream, I will give it to you. If you have no ice cream, I will take it away from you."
Gelato however you must pay for. But do you tip?
Happy travels.
Then it should follow that bringing your own bottled water into the restaurant is permissible and not subject to derision or a fee.
At almost 10E per liter, it must have been a really high end resort..
Reminds me of Minnie Driver and the bottled water scene in Return to Me!
Bringing your own water should be subject to a corking fee just as the wine. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Try and bring your own San Pellegrino water in an American restaurant and see if it's ok.
I don't know about this place in Corvara mentioned in the article, however I don't think it is generally a big deal to purchase a bottle of mineral water in Italy. In Florence, even in the more expensive restaurants, you rarely pay more than 4€ for a 75 cl bottle (and that includes tax and tip). This woman was there for a week at a seemingly pretty expensive resort, so I'm pretty sure she could afford to spend 7€ on a bottle of water. She just was in search of notoriety and content to post on TikTok.
It does say on the article that requesting tap water is usually considered an etiquette breach in Italy. Locals across many European countries drink only bottled water in restaurants. At home I always ask for tap water but if I’m in a country where bottled water is the norm I have no problem with it.
If you want to take a deep dive into the subject (pun intended), CNN spoke to a "water expert"
https://www.cnn.com/travel/tiktok-tap-water-europe-trend
As is common on the interwebs, the comments are mildly scary and entertaining at the same time
WARNING: tap water in each village, town, city and country has a different composition. - all water is not equal. Think Delhi belly, you should be grateful that you can get bottled water offered by restaurants.
Most travelers know Italy has nosonis with drinking water (potable) and they can fill up water bottles and not get sick.
Be grateful and enjoy your travels.
"She just was in search of notoriety and content to post on TikTok."
Most likely.
But unfortunately there are other kinds of people. I went to dinner with a couple of people on my RS tour of Paris. It was a shared tab and I finally threw down more than my share just to get out of there as one of them aggressively argued with the Waiter over the bill. She seemed to have a horror of being cheated. Over something very small. :(
RobertH:
Some years ago I was eating at a trattoria in Arezzo specializing in Aretino food called "Il Saraceno". What I had was very good. Nevertheless as soon as we sat at the table (it was very late on a hot 100F night), next to our table there was an American guy, who raised a very loud fuss over the "coperto" charge in the bill, which is common in most of Italy.
The charge was regularly listed in the menu, as required by law, nevertheless he insisted that in many years traveling to Italy he never experienced such a charge, and because of it he demanded not to pay for the meal (he said it wasn't that good anyhow) or he would put a negative review on TripAdvisor.
The staff didn't speak much English, so I intervened to explain to the guy that charge is very common and it was listed in the menu. It was a very loud argument that made other patrons feel uncomfortable. I think that the manager told him to leave without paying, but I checked TripAdvisor the next day and he did put a scathing review on TA.
I'm beginning to think that there are professional scroungers who did that stuff as a habit to extort some free lunches when they travel.
I was able to find his review on TA (it was July 2015). He was obnoxious and really the epitome of an Ugly American:
The antipasto consisted of two or three slices of meat (salami, prosciutto) and several pieces of oily toast with some salty garnish (tomatoes, mushrooms). That's it. Nothing tasty. Everything too salty. All the meat tough and chewy.
The lamb and potatoes arrived eventually about 15 or 20 minutes later. Both were terribly overcooked[....]
I gave them back to the server telling him that they were both very bad and over cooked. He couldn't have cared less. I was expecting an apology, a substitute offer, some hint of care about the service.
I asked for the check, and on the check I saw that he had charged me for several items of which I was completely unaware; and, mind you, I have been eating at numerous restaurants throughout Arezzo for the last four summers. First, there was a mysterious "Coperto" (cover) charge. Evidently, this was something printed in small type at the bottom of the last page of the Italian-only menu. It was never mentioned by any server, or at the door, or anywhere else, and I have never been charged a cover charge at another restaurant in Arezzo. In the USA, this type of chicanery would be illegal. If you have a cover charge, you must tell people AT THE DOOR, not in small print at the back/bottom of the menu. But I guess they can get away with this kind of thing in Italy. Next, came that side dish that the server offered me with my lamb (the leathery roasted potatoes). It turns out the side dish didn't come with the main dish, there was an extra charge of 4 Euros for it. Most ridiculous was the charge for the non-bottled (i.e. tap) water that they served me in a pitcher. I'm surprised they didn't charge me for the ice too!
I asked to speak with the brother owners, and rather than thanking me for my honest and thorough feedback about the poor service, the very bad food, and the borderline fraudulent charges on my bill, and rather than trying to make amends in any way, they wanted to convince me that it was all my problem and that every other customer was happy. They even proudly showed me a bunch of order tickets from their day's work.
I guess the brothers don't realize that there's a reason why their restaurant is more than half empty on the busiest night of the week at prime time while the streets are packed with people. Self-righteous indignation is not something that serves customer service proprietors well. Listening to your customers, especially the ones who take the time to give you specific complaints, is a much more effective way to build a successful business.
Don't waste your time or your money on this one. The food is bad. The service is bad. They charge you for things they shouldn't. And they don't care!
Yes. :(
Like I said, there are other kinds of people. Hard to say what kind of whacko you're dealing with.
Look at all the comments that he wrote over the years.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/OneFussyGuy?fid=f8646cf8-aade-46eb-a2d6-d5e92a9307ec
No wonder his nick name is OneFussyGuy.
He hasn't written a comment in several years, so he was either banned by TA or was killed by some waiter somewhere.
