This is taking the piss

blondie83 · 12-09-2004 3:34pm #1

I was in Messers on Friday night, and was charged 12 euro for two bottles of smirnoff ice. Now I know I live in rip-off Dublin and everything, but thats just taking the piss! I've never paid more than a fiver for a bottle before, how did it suddenly jump up to six euro? What pisses me off is that the same bottle would be STG 1.50 in a club up in Derry. How can prices be so much dearer here? Pity too, cos I really liked Messer Maguires, it was always a nice spot to go to before a club, or a good place to hang around in if you were too tired to go to a club, but wanted to stay out. Prices are too much though, one of my friends was charged 11.40 euro for a double gin and ginger ale. Thats 11.40 for one drink! They also charge 3 euro for a coke, which is fairly ridiculous. What I want to know is: is this the worst, or has anyone out there been in more expensive places in Dublin?

tba · 12-09-2004 3:44pm

thats it this has convinced me to stop drinking, that and the awful headache I have right now.

AdMMM · 12-09-2004 3:54pm

Stop buying terirble drinks that are taxed higher than good old beer!

blondie83 · 12-09-2004 4:06pm

yeah but beer gives me a terrible hangover if I've more than 4 bottles of it. And a bottle of miller in Messers cost 5.20

I'd go with pints if I could, but I'm turning into a lightweight in my old age!

AdMMM · 12-09-2004 4:13pm

blondie83 wrote:

yeah but beer gives me a terrible hangover if I've more than 4 bottles of it. And a bottle of miller in Messers cost 5.20 I'd go with pints if I could, but I'm turning into a lightweight in my old age!

5.20 for Miller?

This is an outrage!

Makaveli · 12-09-2004 4:35pm

Why don't you go to the off license and buy your drinks there and then drink them in someones house before you head out?
Save you money. It's what the majority of us poor students do.

Pigman II · 12-09-2004 4:45pm

5.40 for Satzenbrau in Messers. Don't drink the crap but had to get a round in.

snorlax · 12-09-2004 5:00pm

i paid 3.15 euros for a glass of guinnesss, thats compared to 2.15e in tgi fridays, 2.50euro in Doyles and most clubs. how the heck is messers so much dearer then a club?!

when i was in spain guinness and baileys were cheaper to buy there then here, 80cent a can and most beers were 30/40cent in supermarkets. they still made profit in spain on 80cent including the extra charges they'd have to pay for importation from Ireland.

Im convinced that ireland's gone crazy with greed !

Makaveli · 12-09-2004 5:21pm

You do realise that there is a high tax rate on alcohol in Ireland and that's why it's so much cheaper on the continent?

John R · 12-09-2004 6:11pm

Makaveli wrote:

You do realise that there is a high tax rate on alcohol in Ireland and that's why it's so much cheaper on the continent?

That doesn't explain how they can justify charging €6 for a pint of coke.

Tax is high here but it can no longer justify the huge markups on alcohol in licenced premises.

They will keep increasing the price until people do something about it; walk out of the pub.

As long as the places are packed to capacity nothing will change.

Winters · 12-09-2004 6:22pm

Bottles are expensive. Pints are not expensive when put against bottles.

Last time I bought a bottle (Heineken) it was €4.90 or something. Compare this to a pint of Heineken which is €4.20 in my local. Bulmers tbh though is the way to go. Ive never had a hangover since drinking Bulmers.

sam_hain · 12-09-2004 6:26pm

The only way that places like this are going to stop charging what they like for drinks is when everyone takes a stand a refuses to go to the places. What I find completly unfair is the fact that places can charge you an outrageous?!?!? amount just to go in to the place. Only to find it packed and then charge you extortionery amounts for a drink.

Lets face it people. They charge the amounts they do because they can get away with it. I bet if they were asked about it they would say that its because of the smoking ban that thay have to charge this amount to recoperate lost profits.

AdMMM · 12-09-2004 6:56pm

My friend was saying to me that the Pubs union (forget the name of it), asked him to say in a survey that the smoking ban was really affecting their business by saying business was down 40%, when really business was more or less the same as the year before!

Bunch of cowboys if you ask me!

SantaHoe · 12-09-2004 6:57pm

blondie83 wrote:

How can prices be so much dearer here?

Because Dublin is filled with idiots who'll just go "duh, 12 euro?! yeah ok".
Everyone has the option not to buy drink at stupid prices, you won't die without a few drinks.
Alcohol is a luxury item, you can't expect the same level of government protection as you would for something like bread and milk.
What kind of alcoholics are we that we'll buy it at any price, stay there all night blowing almost our entire weeks wages, then call up a radio show the next day moaning about the price of drink.
They're a business, they're in it for the money, they charge what they like because they can; if you're paying those prices it's your own fault.

woosaysdan · 12-09-2004 7:00pm

6 euros is a bit expensive alright but in the niteclub that i work in in clonmel they are charging €5.50 for a bottle of smirnoff ice, wkd and breezers which i very steep but most pints are only €4.00 and bottles are €4.30 which isnt that bad

Jivin Turkey · 12-09-2004 7:16pm

Its only €3 for a pint in my local

David19 · 12-09-2004 7:22pm

SantaHoe wrote:

Because Dublin is filled with idiots who'll just go "duh, 12 euro?! yeah ok".
Everyone has the option not to buy drink at stupid prices, you won't die without a few drinks.
Alcohol is a luxury item, you can't expect the same level of government protection as you would for something like bread and milk.
What kind of alcoholics are we that we'll buy it at any price, stay there all night blowing almost our entire weeks wages, then call up a radio show the next day moaning about the price of drink.
They're a business, they're in it for the money, they charge what they like because they can; if you're paying those prices it's your own fault.

Good post. You speak the truth.

Tom Dunne · 12-09-2004 8:38pm

John R wrote:

They will keep increasing the price until people do something about it; walk out of the pub.

As long as the places are packed to capacity nothing will change.

Well said John R and SantaHoe.

I rarely go to pubs in Ireland any more. Why the hell would people pay that kind of crazy money for drink? It's not that I am mean, or anti-drink. I just cannot justify paying over 4 Eurons for what is some establishments barely resembles beer.

We live in a free society. If people are stupid enough to pay the prices, then tough. Do something about it. Don't pay it.

dregin · 12-09-2004 8:43pm

I was in Messers a few weeks back and pint bottles of Tiger were €4.50 before 11 and €4.90 afterwards. I dind't think that was too bad. I have the feeling Tiger beer has been on promotion alot around Dublin for the last while though.

eth0_ · 12-09-2004 8:48pm

dregin-x wrote:

I was in Messers a few weeks back and pint bottles of Tiger were €4.50 before 11 and €4.90 afterwards. I dind't think that was too bad. I have the feeling Tiger beer has been on promotion alot around Dublin for the last while though.

Tiger is usually fairly cheap.
Was in Messers last week and one of the guys I was there with was charged €5.60 for a pint of rock shandy. NEARLY SIX EURO FOR A SOFT DRINK! That's more expensive than a pint of beer!

I won't be going back there in a hurry. How the fsck can they justify being so much more expensive than other pubs in the area? There's absolutely nothing special about messers!

robbie1876 · 12-09-2004 8:49pm

€6.40 for a pint bottle of Bulmers in Break for the Border nightclub. I actually laughed at the girl and said she can take it back, she wasn't very impressed.

David19 · 12-09-2004 8:53pm

dregin-x wrote:

I was in Messers a few weeks back and pint bottles of Tiger were €4.50 before 11 and €4.90 afterwards. I dind't think that was too bad. I have the feeling Tiger beer has been on promotion alot around Dublin for the last while though.

I was drinking pint bottles of Tiger last night for €4 in zanzibar. This was well after 11pm. 90 cents is quite a difference.

L5 · 12-09-2004 8:55pm

blondie83 wrote:

I was in Messers on Friday night, and was charged 12 euro for two bottles of smirnoff ice. Now I know I live in rip-off Dublin and everything, but thats just taking the piss! I've never paid more than a fiver for a bottle before, how did it suddenly jump up to six euro? What pisses me off is that the same bottle would be STG 1.50 in a club up in Derry. How can prices be so much dearer here? Pity too, cos I really liked Messer Maguires, it was always a nice spot to go to before a club, or a good place to hang around in if you were too tired to go to a club, but wanted to stay out. Prices are too much though, one of my friends was charged 11.40 euro for a double gin and ginger ale. Thats 11.40 for one drink! They also charge 3 euro for a coke, which is fairly ridiculous. What I want to know is: is this the worst, or has anyone out there been in more expensive places in Dublin?

I hardly ever go out in pubs or clubs in dublin or indeed anywhere now, the price of drink is ridiculous. If the price had been 15 euro i bet you still would of paid it. Youve noone to blame but yerselves for paying the prices. I still drink in friends places, but im buggered if im going to line the pockets of publicans with my hard earned cash.

nlgbbbblth · 12-09-2004 9:37pm

blondie83 wrote:

I was in Messers on Friday night, and was charged 12 euro for two bottles of smirnoff ice. Now I know I live in rip-off Dublin and everything, but thats just taking the piss!

I'd say that after overheads, wages and wholesale costs Messers are just about breaking even when they charge €6 for a Smirnoff Ice

Karl Hungus · 12-09-2004 9:47pm

Buy cans, invite friends over, watch a movie, and DRINK!

Simple.

SantaHoe · 12-09-2004 9:53pm

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

John R · 12-09-2004 10:06pm

nlgbbbblth wrote:

I'd say that after overheads, wages and wholesale costs Messers are just about breaking even when they charge €6 for a Smirnoff Ice

LMFAO.

Idbatterim · 13-09-2004 10:47am

Bondi beach club in Stillorgan has cheap drinks on a Thursday and Sunday, all pints 3 euro, all the alcopops are 3 euro and fat frogs are 4.5 euro. Other drinks youd get there for example a jack daniels and coke are about half what youd pay in town. Get there before ten or its a tenner in though. The club is as good as any in town and there are loads of taxis at the front door when your leaving, also there arent any scumbags in sight!

Big Chief · 13-09-2004 11:17am

It's about time people stopped grouching and moaning about it and done something about, i gave up drinking over a year ago personally, i was shocked after i went out to meet friends and get a coke, yes a simple coke and i was charged 5.50, after finishing the first i left and went home.. i have rarely been to a pub or club in dublin since, and even then i refuse to buy a soft drink out of the priniciple that i refuse to pay 5-6euro for something i could get out the centra next door for 90cent

when will people learn that to get prices down, publicans wont just go "heh paddy, you know what i think were ripping off all these poor folks, why dont we push the price of a pint down to 2-3 euro even though were getting over a 100 punters in a night".. if people are silly enough to pay these ludicrious prices then im sad to say that the prices are going to stay the same and rise ever more, getting yourself skint on a friday and saturday binge and then moaning about how youve now spent the best part of your monthly wage budget is not going to do anything, by that stage the publican is already laughing all the way to the bank while your left scratching your scrotum and moaning about it forever more.

Stop moaning and do something, until then im sick of people moaning about what they are doing continously.. you know and hate what you are doing but yet repeat to do so at the weekend, some people in this life would call it "idiotic", i happen to be one of them

ChipZilla · 13-09-2004 12:18pm

nlgbbbblth wrote:

I'd say that after overheads, wages and wholesale costs Messers are just about breaking even when they charge €6 for a Smirnoff Ice

What are you smoking?

The Sweeper · 13-09-2004 12:26pm

God I'm glad I don't drink in Dublin anymore. Those prices are crazy. It means that your whole night is even MORE about drink - the price of it, who buys it, who can't afford it, where to go to get it cheap, talking about it, thinking about it, so on and so on.

smoke.me.a.kipper · 13-09-2004 12:32pm

woosaysdan wrote:

6 euros is a bit expensive alright but in the niteclub that i work in in clonmel they are charging €5.50 for a bottle of smirnoff ice, wkd and breezers which i very steep but most pints are only €4.00 and bottles are €4.30 which isnt that bad

and you have to pay to go there. in the free, club in town, the drink is cheaper, making it clear you work for greedy bastards. but you know that anyway!

BEAT · 13-09-2004 2:52pm

I agree with the notion of getting smashed before you go out if you are going to go to a club that charges that much for drink.
It is cheaper to buy the stuff at a store drink at home then go out and have fun and maybe only buy one drink when ur buzz starts to go away.

Having ur friends over for a movie or games or cards and drinking can be just as much fun..unless ur going out to meet someone new then ur stuck paying for the drink.

pickarooney · 13-09-2004 3:17pm

BEAT wrote:

I agree with the notion of getting smashed before you go out if you are going to go to a club that charges that much for drink.
It is cheaper to buy the stuff at a store drink at home then go out and have fun and maybe only buy one drink when ur buzz starts to go away.

Yeah, have fun coming up with ever more creative backchat for the bouncers who won't let you in for being too pished (or wearing wrong shoes/being wrong age...)

Going Demented · 13-09-2004 4:17pm

I mostly go out in a small town in county tipp and it's 5.40 for a smirnoff ice in one particular place. I stick with my good old bacardi with a dash of white for 3.60. I have taken to drinking before i go out, too expensive otherwise

pat kenny · 13-09-2004 4:22pm

You could organise a nationwide boycot of all pubs, what better place to organise it than here on boards.ie. It would need to be well organised and spread to people outside boards.
You could organise that on several consecutive saturday nights people drank at parties rather than go out.You could take out a newspaper add to gain support.
This was done a few years back in england with the petrol stations, however it was flawed because realisticly people have to buy petrol sooner or later,if they dont buy it today they buy it tomorrow.But it is fully possible to stop going to the pub indefinatly, there is the alternative of buying from
off-licences and holding parties.

Get organised ,someone with good web design skills start a site with a forum, swap e-mail and phone numbers ,get some donations ,had out leaflets ,publicise the site ,align yourself with student groups, send letters to the Vitners accociation of ireland stating your intentions,lorganise a date a date and boycot.
It won't be easy but if you gain enough momentum you might even get a news report which would help your cause.

Sorry to say I'm a bit busy at the moment to organise a campain( I am such a ****ing hypocrite)

To start the ball rolling get the mods to make a sticky thread on the after hours board.

smoke.me.a.kipper · 13-09-2004 4:31pm

house parties, the way to go tbh. im finding myself going out less and less recently.

Deadwing · 13-09-2004 4:41pm

pat kenny wrote:

You could organise a nationwide boycot of all pubs, what better place to organise it than here on boards.ie.

LMAO! Oh thats a good one. *wipes tear*
Seriously, its a great idea in theory, but you see alot of the irish have this idea where they think its actually a really good thing that ireland is the second highest alcohol consumer in the world. They think its an achievment to be proud of, and will be damned if theyre gonna let any other country take the mantle, oh no!! So, they proceed to go out in droves every friday, saturday, sunday, and well, pretty much any other day in town you see them, staggering about the streets, singing 'de oirish rover' or something, puking, fighting etc etc.

So publicans, being the evil geniuses they are, exploit this. By raising the price of alcohol to extortionate levels, and knowing full well that being the race of alcoholics we are, we'll pay whatever they want, they keep hiking up the price, and we keep buying it.

The only way youll ever get the irish to stop drinking, or boycott pubs, is by first getting rid of the ridiculous notion that drinking yourself into a coma each weekend, and drinking more than any other country in europe actually isnt alot to be proud of.

Doc · 13-09-2004 4:52pm

What do you think about this?
How much would it cost to get a full page advert in a paper like the independent? A couple of full page adds in the major papers organizing a Saturday night boycott of all pubs when everyone stayed home to highlight the overpriced drinks. It would get picked up by the TV and if enough people stayed home I could affect the publicans. If they don’t respond to it, do it again the second time maybe more people would stay in and so on till they did get the message.

pat kenny · 13-09-2004 4:53pm

The only way youll ever get the irish to stop drinking, or boycott pubs, is by first getting rid of the ridiculous notion that drinking yourself into a coma each

For the purposes of this argument they can drink themself into a coma at a party.

And we managed to get the song "a nation once again" voted the best song in history on bbc radio.We just need a bit of motivation.

steviem · 13-09-2004 5:04pm

I was out in Glasgow last night and paid £2.20 (E3.22) for a pint of lager and the same for a pint of guinness. £1.30 (E1.90) for a vodka and 25p (E0.37) for a good dash of coke. also magners was £2.35 (E3.44) for a pint bottle. so someone is laughing all the way to the bank at your expense.

Tom Dunne · 13-09-2004 5:25pm

Doc wrote:

What do you think about this?
How much would it cost to get a full page advert in a paper like the independent? A couple of full page adds in the major papers organizing a Saturday night boycott of all pubs when everyone stayed home to highlight the overpriced drinks. It would get picked up by the TV and if enough people stayed home I could affect the publicans. If they don’t respond to it, do it again the second time maybe more people would stay in and so on till they did get the message.

Or how about a more subtle approach?

Organise a strike force that goes into a pub, orders 5-7 drinks and when asked for 30 Eurons (rough estimate) ask the barman if he is mad, and walk out, leaving the drinks on the counter.

That might get a bit of notice.

jesus_thats_gre · 13-09-2004 6:09pm

Drink Erdinger.. Expensive but more bang for your buck..

impr0v · 13-09-2004 6:35pm

Doc wrote:

How much would it cost to get a full page advert in a paper like the independent?

It costs €24,200 for a full page, and that's only black and white. Despite the tales of woe here, that's still a hell of a lot of drink.

4 Dame Lane about 2 months ago:

1 southern comfort
1 coke (not pint, just small normal bottle)
1 diet coke (ditto)

€10.90 please.

L5 · 13-09-2004 6:37pm

Doc wrote:

What do you think about this?
How much would it cost to get a full page advert in a paper like the independent? A couple of full page adds in the major papers organizing a Saturday night boycott of all pubs when everyone stayed home to highlight the overpriced drinks. It would get picked up by the TV and if enough people stayed home I could affect the publicans. If they don’t respond to it, do it again the second time maybe more people would stay in and so on till they did get the message.

an excellent idea and well worth a try.
Id be willing to donate the price of a pint to help, who else would?

AdMMM · 13-09-2004 7:43pm

impr0v wrote:

It costs €24,200 for a full page, and that's only black and white. Despite the tales of woe here, that's still a hell of a lot of drink.

Going a bit OT here, but that reminds me of a granny who put full colour ad's in all the magazines and newspapers in Ireland saying that her relatives should stop bickering over who gets her money when she dies... so she decided to spend it all.

Aw bless!

mad m · 13-09-2004 9:24pm

Fcuking disgrace,where is that messers place in town?

why dont we all just do a Christy Brown like in my left foot,get a couple of straws,couple them together run them down your arm under your shirt or t-shirt to the naggin or bottle of vodka ice and casually sip it while looking at a glass of iced water,which as a matter of fact they might charge you for that even.....maybe fill up a hot water bottle and tape it on your back full of gargle..lol

Chucky the tree · 13-09-2004 10:08pm

L5 wrote:

an excellent idea and well worth a try.
Id be willing to donate the price of a pint to help, who else would?

theres been a few of these in Dublin, a night boycoting pubs. But they usually turn out to be one of the busier nights out in town because most people think places will be empty enough so they all head out.

Idbatterim · 13-09-2004 10:15pm

Messrs is on the southeren end of the oconnel street bridge, beside q bar, a hole in my opinion. What i just cant comprehend is people working hard all week and then just going out and blowing a significant proportion of their earnings on drink, youve got nothing to show for it the next day, except a hangover. The prices are extortionate, but as long as people keep going to these rip off merchants they will continue to charge the exorbitant prices. I havent been out in town for ages, they can get stuffed, i can drink in Bondi for half the price of anywhere else and its better than most places. Heres an idea, everyone whos sick of the extortionate drink prices get together to form a sort of consortium and open one or more pubs/clubs, selling drink at a break even level, the rest would either go out of business or have to compete. And like has been said here before if your heading into town have a few onyou before hand so you can get by on only a small number of drinks inn town. People in this country take far to much ****e, people should start voting with their feet, and hit the greedy ****s where it hurts, in the pockets!

sam_hain · 13-09-2004 10:18pm

First thanks to the person who gave me the rep points. Secondly I think that the government should start to put a stop to the greedy pubs and start to put some sort of RRP or something to that affect that will stop pubs charging what they like. Also I feel that its unfair that they charge one price before a certain time and another afterwards. Of course if they lowered the price then no complaints here.

Also its my opinion that binge drinking from people that are over the limit but still considered minors in the eyes of some (18-20) is a fault of the pubs. Alot of these people struggle to make any sort of money and then when the pubs decide that they will charge the high prices many of these people will just buy a load of cans for the price of 3 pub pints and go drinking them before they even hit the pubs.

Sorry about the way im saying the stuff above but I cant think of another way of saying it :P im sure there are people here who know what Im talking about.

Sam

Capt'n Midnight · 13-09-2004 10:21pm

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/biznews/3940905?view=Eircomnet
From:The Irish Independent Monday, 6th September, 2004

Based on official figures, the average price of a pint at the end of 2003 was €3.42. Of that, the brewers get 85c, the Government gets €1.07 and the publican gets €1.50, according to the Brewers Association.

The Government's excise take has not increased in more than six years. The Minister for Finance has not increased the excise on beer since before 1998. Let's look at the price of a pint in 1998, and, based on the 2003 ratios, we can estimate who was getting what.

According to the CSO, the average price of a pint in 1998 was €2.62. The Government was getting its excise of 47c per pint and the 21pc VAT on the retail price, bringing the Exchequer's take to 92c or 35pc of the total cost of a pint. That left €1.70 to be shared between the brewer and the publican. ... That means that, since 1998, the publican's typical take from a pint of beer has shot up from €1.08 to €1.50, a 39pc increase. The brewer's take has gone from 61c in 1998 to 85c in 2003, an increase of 39pc.

So the Gov't gets 47c per pint excluding VAT.
Since VAT is on almost everything you buy apart from food and clothes you can't really consider it a special tax.

Pubs can brew beer for 9p a pint and they don't have the economy of scale

From http://www.brewersofeurope.org

 ESTIMATED SHARE OF TOTAL BEER SALES CONSUMED IN PRIVATE HOMES (%)
<< PREVIOUS             NEXT >>
COUNTRY 	YEAR 	SALES (%) 	COMMENTS
Austria 	2002 	65 	
Belgium 	2002 	42,85 	
Denmark 	2002 	75 	
Finland 	2002 	73 	
France 	   2002 	70 	
Germany 	2002 	68 	
Greece 	   2002 	35 	
Ireland 	2002 	20 	
Italy 	   2002 	59 	
Luxembourg 	2002 		
Netherlands 	2002 	NA 	
Norway 	   2002 	74 	
Portugal 	2002 	33 	
Spain 	  2002 	32 	According to Ministry of Agriculture, only 25%
Sweden 	2002 	79,4 	79.4 % are sold via distributions channels marked as "retailers". 20.6 % via HoReCa.
Switzerland 	2002 	55 	estimated share
United Kingdom 	2002 	36.7

You will notice we are the LOWEST at 20% ,drinking four times as much outside as at home,
in most other countries people drink more at home than in pubs etc.

This is taking the piss

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