There was an Idiot at the Pay Toilet..

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
21
There are a fair number of free WCs in Zurich; fair enough if you have to pay occassionally. Asking a waitress in a bar beforehand usually works too. What annoys me is having to pay at motorway service stations; they have a captive market, the prices in the store / restaurant are inflated and usually there's no option but to pay them for the privilege grr boo Heidiland!

22
The US used to have pay toilets...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_toilet

In any event, paying to use a toilet is not unusual around the world. After all you are paying for a service. In Switzerland most public utilities are not free (e.g. public swimming pools, public transport, etc.).

23
Have to try that one. Normally, just shake mine.

24
I remember driving back from Denmark via Germany. I had to stop around Hamburg and we had absolutely NO EUROS whatsoever. OMG.

I explained to the staff at the rest place thingy (Raststätte), but they were adamant. I did have a 50 Pence piece (an old one - "always carry a piece of silver in your wallet" - English tradition). Nope. They wanted to see a Euro. So, reluctantly I had to pee on the car park. Idiots.

When a man's got to go, a man's got to go.

25
It's not so much the paying for the use of the toilet that troubles me.

The problem, in my experience, has to do with the seeming irritation of the person providing the change/token, then the loss of the coin after putting it into the door and inadvertently opening the door on someone and getting it quickly slammed on me. Of course that often results in the need for another coin/token.

Since it has happened to me more than once, I really just wanted to know if anyone else had had a similar experience or if I just happen to have coincidentally put my coin each time in the door of the stall of someone who doesn't know how to lock it.

(I fully admit that I may be the idiot in this situation, though; please feel free to enlighten me if this is the case. )

26
4) Change provider is not necessarily that, they the restaurant Cashier would then have a no-sale opened CashTill shown at the end of the day, they do not like that - as could be misconstrued as something else.

6) next time knock first, some of them dont lock properly go Red, busy or person might have been in a great rush to use

I know of one shop/cafeteria in a Ski Resort where they charge for the loo 20raps, it is because many skiers & the like use it but are not using other facilities that is the case for both men/women.

In the main there is no charge in Switzerland, they even have free toilets by the motorways without shops.

In UK the places off Motorways that have restaurants and the like the loos are free, but then the restaurants/shops have to take on-board that extra cost, so unfair to those who do spend.

I now try to always keep the relevant small change wherever I travel within UK/Europe/Switzerland - notable Belgium who seem to make a business out of it.

27
You mean,you do not know how to use a urinal.Shame on you

28
57 posts & 49 groans; respect

29
Yes, because everybody stops there only for a pee so it's their only income on tourism, the pee fee.

30
Wanna hear a funny story? Well, it's one of those occasions where it wasn't funny at the time, but definitely so afterwards. When we lived in Belgium, we were asked to take a Swiss born ex-enclosed-order Nun back to her home town near Zueri. She had been "enclosed" for 24 years and had no idea about anything. She had not handled any money all that time. Sheltered, had been the operative word.

Anyway.... driving through France, we asked did she need to go to the loo. Answer "yes". So we stopped at the next pull-in area. Fortunately no-one much was around. Out of the car she gets and marches straight into the Gents. OMG!!! what if there is a man in there??? doing his thing with the equipment exposed? Apparently there was not. Phew. Upon exiting, Sister remarked "they have really funny wash basins in there".......... We did not disabuse her.

31
Old Indian proverb (mohawk) if you have to go ,you have to go .

32
Don't pee facing the wind.

If the snow is yellow, don't eat it.

33
Ahh ! Nil is from OKA

34
If you want to avoid attitude, you have to act like a child who has to pee badly, hold yourself, appear to be in pain, and pace.

35
When my family and I arrived in Geneva(40 years ago), at the La Gare Cornavin we were in utter shock that we had to pay to use the toilet. We had lived in different countries in Asia and never came across a public toilet where you have to pay to relieve yourself. We found this humoristic and at the same time annoying. This was our very first time to see this. To this day I refuse to pay unless it is really urgent!

36

This makes sense to me yeap it does