Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

getoutadodge

Did an airport pick up of a friend yesterday. Airport To Dublin 7. Grand total : 54 euro. Shove it!

bikeman1

Just be aware, the following would be the increase of a coffee for example.

€3.00 with VAT @ 9% = VAT of €0.25 or net of VAT €2.75

With the VAT at 13.5% = VAT of €0.37 cent.

That means your cup of coffee should go from €3.00 to €3.12. We can be sure that the VAT reduction was not passed on to consumers in 99% of cases. Anything more than say €3.15 for that cup is price gouging and nothing to do with VAT. The reduced rate does not apply to alcohol, bottled drinks, cold food items (like salads), so there should be no increases there.

I was over at a friends last night and we were talking about eating out. We used to go out (in our own lives) like once a month for no particular occasion. Now we don't bother with that, save for a particular special occasion. If you are going out now, cut out the food, and the number of drinks.

Gusser09

We badly need an Uber service in this country. But again plenty of " reasons " spouted out by the Taxi unions as to why that shouldn't and can't happen.

Be right back

Anyone know why there's such a difference in prices? Hotel in the South West.

Quazzie

Down to availability. That could be the last single room available in that hotel so demands a premium while there could be lots of double rooms available.

Archeron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059833#Comment_121059833

Thanks for that nugget of advice. I went back today as I wanted to ask to see what they say. When charged 2.50, i said that's a big jump in price. Replied to me that it was the vat increase that caused it.

So i asked, how come the increase was about five or so percent but it had gone up 25%, and shouldn't have gone up anyway as its already 23%

Shs shrugged her shoulders and didn't answer. It is of course as we all know, just pure gouge.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069073#Comment_121069073

Well done for challenging them on it. Also leave a review on Tripadvisor or somewhere. That generally makes them uncomfortable when they are named and shamed. We don't do that enough in Ireland.

randd1

On the whole VAT thing. It's actually the consumer that pays the VAT, not the lad providing the service. The lad providing the service is only acting as middleman for revenue.

So say, you get some grub for €20. The vat on that was 9% (the most recent VAT rate for food and drink), which is €1.80, which was included in the price. So that's €18.20 that wasn't going to Revenue, which is a mixture of profit and expense.

The VAT goes back up to 13.5% (which is what it used to be before the industry kicked up blue murder and got it reduced). Now that would be €2.70, which would leave you with €17.30 that wasn't going to Revenue, which is a mixture of profit and expense. Fair enough, raise the price a small bit to compensate.

However, raising it to €25, means more VAT of €3.40 in total, but which also handily leaves €21.60 left over after VAT between profit and expense, which is also €3.40 more that is profit/expense than what you were originally getting when you were charging €20 in the first place.

By the way, the actual price change to get to the €18.20 level after VAT that you used to have when you were charging €20, before you shoved up the price due to VAT increase in this example? €21.05. Not €25.

It's price gouging, pure and simple.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073431#Comment_121073431

Your figures are off.

€20 inclusive of 9% VAT is €18.35 to the proprietor and €1.65 to Revenue.

€20 inclusive of 13.5% VAT is €17.62 to the proprietor and €2.38 to Revenue.

€20.82 is the correct total price after the VAT rate increased from 9% to 13.5% if the proprietor just passed on the increase and didn't bump up the price any further.

SteM

Got an email today from the hairdresser the young lad goes to. Due to the vat increase his haircut will be going up from €16 to €18, they pointed out that they held off the increase until after the back to school rush which was nice of them. It certainly didn't come down when the vat was decreased, it was €10 pre covid.

McGrath5

There's a Covid style horse box trailer not to far from me, I go in the odd time for a coffee but earlier this week I was going to get a ham and cheese toastie but at €12 that's way too steep. They can keep it at those prices.

Mr. teddywinkles

Went into one place for a drink yesterday. Looked at the menu out of curiosity. Any burger dish is now nearly 20e. Soup was 7.50. Didnt even look at the rest and said to myself special occasions only from now on.

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073659#Comment_121073659

My hairdresser has put the prices up 3 times this year already (from 42 to 48 euro), and that's before the vat change. Fully expecting 50 euro charge next time.

BK5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091645#Comment_121091645

Same as yourself. Kids are raised so the wife and I used to go for something to eat about 2 or 3 Sundays every month and we have stopped because a carvery is 18 to 19 everywhere and was charged 14 for a full Irish in a cafe a few weeks ago. Can't justify paying those prices.

namloc1980

Used to go for a local carvery. The price has gone up around 20% in the last year. Not paying that.

Murph85

E7.50 a pint of Guinness in the ivy on Dawson Street Saturday.. . Lol !

Viscount Aggro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032217#Comment_121032217

7 Euro pint is standard now in Dublin pubs.

A lot of people have decided not to pay this. City centre pub, the Bailey ... 10 staff.... it was almost empty on Saturday night

Viscount Aggro

Was in a pub in Carlow. They serve food, carvery and other hot dishes.

I noticed people helping themselves to cordial drinks and water from a table.

The owner told me, people need a drink with their meal, and they wont pay extra for this. I wonder is this common?

BK5

Paid 7.50 for a pint in a hotel in Dublin a couple of weeks ago. This was out at Clare Hall/Coolock not D4 or middle of Temple Bar location, they didn't even have the decency to leave a jar of Vaseline out 🙊😄

Dial Hard

Carvery was always overpriced for what it is, could never understand why anyone would pay for it.

As others have said, the price increases long predate the VAT rate going back up, that's just going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I used to meet three of my friends for dinner in a local restaurant every single Wednesday as they did a great early bird and a bottle of house wine was only 15 quid. They did away with the early bird after Covid and the wine prices started creeping up by a euro or so every month or two. So we started only going every other week. Then the a la carte prices suddenly went up a blanket 25% literally overnight, so we dropped back to once a month. Last time we were there the wine (still the same bottle) had gone up to €21 and the food was muck. So we stopped going altogether and I'm sure we're not the only ones.

I love eating out and used to go out for lunch once or twice a week too but I just can't justify it anymore the way prices are gone. A bowl of soup in my local is now €7.50.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091645#Comment_121091645

If you want burger and chips now it makes much more sense to go to supermacs or other chippers. The extra cost is not worth the nicer surroundings or better presentation of the food.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091864#Comment_121091864

Water free - absolutely normal at carvery

Cordials free with carvery - bit of a Midlands thing I think

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092023#Comment_121092023

Or you could cook it yourself for less than a fiver.

stargazer 68

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092299#Comment_121092299

Bought 2 fillet steaks yesterday in Tesco for 10 euro! Dinner at home it is

Attending a conference in the Radisson Athlone next weekend. B&B is setting me back €512 for the two nights (some occupancy). Out of curiosity I checked what I would have to pay in a hotel in Norway for exact same time. I chose a nice hotel I have stayed in before for comparison, right on the prime waterfront of Bergen, beside the airport bus terminal, top location. The cost would be €420 flexible rate , including breakfast, afternoon coffee & waffles, and evening buffet meal. Never had to eat out during my past stay here. So, Norway, a country which has been notoriously expensive, is now actually more affordable to holiday in than Ireland!

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121067105#Comment_121067105

it can happen, uber just need to abide by the regulations.

nothing stopping them from setting up in the morning and these mythical taxi unions would have the potential for more members.

it's uber who are deciding themselves not to operate here.

Uber cannot operate their ride sharing business as it does in the UK/US, Irish users can only use the Uber app to book a regular taxi, like all the others on the road. This is not Uber’s choice, they are banned from providing their usual service here by Irish legislation, though Uber lobbied the NTA, they could not get their, nor the Government's support for their licensing application.

Which is a shame, having used the service a number of times in the UK/US, I thought it was a fantastic alternative to stuffy, expensive cabs.

https://businessplus.ie/news/uber-ireland-ride-sharing/

Dial Hard

Post-VAT reinstatement menu in a very bog-standard pub in Templeogue. Absolute cloud cuckoo land prices. 11 quid for garlic mushrooms that are straight out of the freezer? Get the boat.

callaway92

I’d walk up and leave. Would perhaps also mention the prices are a farce.

€19.50 for chicken curry 😂😂

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092337#Comment_121092337

I went on the website for that hotel and noticed there's a military/government rate for the rooms. Never heard of anything like that before.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093105#Comment_121093105

In the US that's totally normal but it's not something you see elsewhere much

Pauliedragon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068809#Comment_121068809

2 things there. The single room is nearly sold out so you're paying the top price as a lot (not all) hotels sell rooms n blocks i.e block 1 is €x when that sells out block 2 is €x plus 10%. Also hotels dont like single rooms outside of corporate as they spend less at the bar, restaurant etc than a couple.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093097#Comment_121093097

21 quid for a chicken salad!

I'm not eating here, don't worry. And ironically the drink prices aren't that bad. €30 for a bottle of prosecco.

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093097#Comment_121093097

Would cost less than €4 to make yourself with the guarantee that the rice would be freshly cooked as opposed to reheated (which shouldn't be done).

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073431#Comment_121073431

You are making the usual maths error.

If the selling price is 20, and that includes 10% VAT, the VAT is not 2.00.

The 20 selling price is 1.10 times the cost.

So divide 20 by 1.10 to get the pre-VAT cost.

18.18, so the VAT is 1.82.

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093105#Comment_121093105

Yes, I have seen that with US owned hotels.

It's a feature of booking software used by US owned hotels.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073659#Comment_121073659

Email them back asking why they didn't reduce prices when the VAT cut was implemented

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093296#Comment_121093296

Presumably because that would have negated both the intention, and benefit of the vat cut, to help businesses. If it was passed onto the customer, how does that help?

Sultan of Bling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093075#Comment_121093075

The morgue, I presume

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093335#Comment_121093335

No the intention was to pass the cut to the consumer. VAT is a consumption tax, not a handout to business owners. And by not passing it on, and now "restoring" the rate, it fuels inflation.

How do you justify not passing the VAT cut to consumers, but passing on the restoration?

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093394#Comment_121093394

The VAT reduction was definitely to support businesses, and not the consumer.

https://www.globalvatcompliance.com/globalvatnews/ireland-covid-19-vat-implications/

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093376#Comment_121093376

I can neither confirm nor deny that... 👀👀👀

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093394#Comment_121093394

No it wasn’t.

"The 9% VAT rate was introduced in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19 to support the hospitality sector and today the government has decided to extend the period when the 9% rate will apply for a further six months. This will provide further support to the tourism and hospitality sectors over the busy November/December period and into the early New Year.”

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/29536-minister-donohoe-announces-extension-of-9-vat-rate-for-the-tourism-and-hospitality-sectors/

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093407#Comment_121093407

Support would be from increased footfall by reducing prices for the end consumer.

I reduced the VAT rate I charge from 23% to 21% for the period of time that VAT reduction was in place.

Anyone who kept it for themselves is a gouger, no two ways about it. And now those same gougers are first out of the blocks to increase their prices because of VAT [see the example a number of posts back where a cafe increased the price of soft drinks by 25% and blamed it on VAT which is non sensible as a) it is the wrong % amount and b) soft drinks are in a different VAT category].

enricoh

Just back from a weekend in Donegal.

Delicious Thai green curry in a cafe yesterday e11. Fish n chips in a different place today e12.95.

Pints in any pubs e5

Two take away horsebox coffees today e2.50 each.

I didn't see anything I thought was pricey.

The government has rented over half the hotel beds up there for refugees n hammered tourism this year. Now they have increased vat by 50% which is disgraceful n I've no doubt some of the pubs n restaurants I was in won't be around next year.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093446#Comment_121093446

Where does that say that VAT was reduced so that proprietors can pocket the difference? Lower prices increases tourism and hospitality consumption, which is what should have happened. But 99% of establishments kept the difference for themselves, and introduced further price increases in the following months.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093470#Comment_121093470

Where does it say it had to be passed onto the consumer? It was introduced as a support for businesses during Covid, the Government did not require businesses to lower prices by the amount vat was reduced.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093455#Comment_121093455

You were obligated to reduce the VAT rate, so not sure why you mention it.

Despite what you might like to think, the reason the rates were reduced was to assist businesses, and they were fully expected to retain the extra cash.

What you chose to do is your own business.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093487#Comment_121093487

If I was obliged to reduce the VAT rate then why does the same not apply to restaurants and tourism?

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093504#Comment_121093504

It does, and they all did reduce it. (Assuming they were trading legally).