Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

purpleshoe

Worth also calling out that in the last recession people’s private pensions were dipped into. That was done annually for a number of years.

The money taken was used in a number of areas but one was for job creation in the hospitality sector. The money taken from private pensions was never returned.

The hospitality sector can do one at this stage.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/arid-20340089.html

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120975027#Comment_120975027

The major reason that a lot of people who I know still wont put money into a pension.

SAMTALK

In a midlands hotel last week and got a coffee €3.40 and a diet Coke €3.60

12 pack of diet coke is 11.50

Then went to get something to eat and was left standing waiting to be seated for nearly 10 mins (it was not busy ). Had enought at that stage and just left. Crazy prices, bad service and staff that really don't give a s**t

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120952693#Comment_120952693

That's likely quite the gotcha you think it is.............I don't think I'd choose to stay in Balbriggan for a night if they paid me 90 quid.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977149#Comment_120977149

I suspect most appreciate that multipacks are cheaper, and tend to be labelled so they can’t be sold separately, plus buying a multipack in Tesco will have a different cost of service than a hotel. I’m not saying the coke/coffee aren’t overpriced, but there isn’t much point comparing them to a multipack in Tesco.

SAMTALK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977324#Comment_120977324

It was handed to me without glass or even a smile !

one of our local publicans is always going into 1 of the major supermarkets and stocking up on boxes of beer which he then sells to the public at pub prices.

I understand there are costs for places but seriously 3.60 for a 330ml of coke

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977149#Comment_120977149

This one, the price, I kind of understand. No one wants a whole table taken up with a couple of people sipping cokes. Same for pots of tea. One way to go out of business quickly is to be a place full of oul ones spending 3 hours chatting over a pot of tea and a scone.

SAMTALK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977443#Comment_120977443

Seriously ??? As I said place not that busy so I'd imagine a table of 4 "oul ones" having coffee @ 3.40 a head is better than an empty table

If staff were pleasant I wouldnt have had an issue but I'm sick of these people who seem to have an attitude when serving you as if you were a hindrance to them . The coffee i understood but the coke (without glass ) was just ripping the p***

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977474#Comment_120977474

Its ridiculous obviously but so is their rent and bills. Pubs, hotels and restaurants do not want people sipping a coke for an hour or two. You paid €7 for a table and two drinks. The hotel didnt make any net profit from your visit.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977431#Comment_120977431

Bad service is one issue, but again, you can’t expect to pay a hotel bar the same, or even close to what it costs to buy a crate of beer in a supermarket, Tesco can sell items at a discount/loss because they have thousands of products and average huge intake of money from each customer. Again, I’m not saying what you were charged wasn’t pricey, just that there was to be some understanding that a multi pack of coke, or beer bought from a supermarket is not a good comparison.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977443#Comment_120977443

At the same time, the price per item doesn't decrease when you order more items. Restaurant owners who find themselves with customers choosing to order only one or two items per visit should examine their business model instead of making every expensive so people order nothing and complain.

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977498#Comment_120977498

Lets get real here now Nal, nobody sips a coke or a coffee for two hours ffs, maybe back in the 70's that went on but this is 2023.

How you figure that the hotel made no profit from that transaction is a mystery.

They obviously made a huge percentage profit on that transaction, it's not like they had to call in extra staff at short notice to cater for the order. The staff are there anyway, on minimum wage, and that's why they didn't give a **** how long anyone was waiting to be served meals or if the people left without ordering a meal or not.

Archeron

Had breakfast on saturday in a place ive been before, its expensive, i know that, but its nice and really popular and my friends wanted to meet there. Grand enough.

Full Irish is 14.50 and an extra 4.50 for a coffee. Its not a hotel, just a country cafe. The food is okay, nothing special and if anything a bit mean at that price (who gives one slice of toast with brekky?) its more the place thats nice. Fair enough, I knew and accepted the prices.

As we were finishing our coffee, one of the group asked for a glass of tapwater to which the response was, sorry we don't serve tap water, but we have bottled still or sparkling for five euro a bottle. A 330ml bottle of WB yeats branded water.

That is the first time ever, in any cafe or restaurant, in any country ive ever ever been in where tap water was refused.

I will not step foot in there ever again. Everybody in the group was disgusted by that, Gougey McGougeface.

Sheep breeder

A month ago was Worcester in England on business with two mates, went in to a restaurant/ pub to get breakfast which was a carvery with want ever you wanted for to eat and tea or coffee for 9 sterling, rasher, sausage, beans, mushrooms, pudding, hash browns, eggs, toast, brown bread, scabbed egg, what ever amount you wanted on your plate, the woman serving told us if we wanted more tea or coffee pots to come back for more, and half way through she brought us two more pots of coffee and tea. What would that set you back in any town in Ireland.

Sultan of Bling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120978712#Comment_120978712

Maybe it was cheap because you got a scabby egg instead of a free range one 😃

SAMTALK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977498#Comment_120977498

The might have if they had to be more efficient and gave us a table instead of leaving us and another couple standing waiting !

SAMTALK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120977878#Comment_120977878

Obviously I wouldn't expect to pay the same but for a small 330 can it was over the top and as I said when you see your local publican stocking up on supermarket boxes of beer on offer and selling at pub prices it does gall a bit

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979881#Comment_120979881

Haha yeah no excuse for poor customer service.

Oscar_Madison

So I’ve been out and about in Ireland throughout the last few weeks- pleasantly surprised in some respects:

The Good:

Staff very pleasant overall in cafes and restaurants

Quality of food, if restaurant chosen well, was good

Price vs quality of food good overall but there wasn’t much in terms of gourmet restaurants to begin with (North west) so expectation was low overall on this front, but still I’ve nothing to complain about.

A pint of Guinness and a G&T -11.50

Cant remember what the pint was on its own but certainly not too bad a price overall

Not so good:

There’s either staff shortages or businesses trying to do more with less staff- we were in no rush with any of our meals but you could see that from time of order to delivery of food was slow- didn’t impact our enjoyment but it could have. One waitress in a hotel warned us it was just herself on duty - the restaurant wasn’t that busy but you could see she had plenty to do as just one person - took a good 20 -25 mins to get our starters out

With fish plentiful throughout the west coast you’d think they’d be more imaginative in terms of their menu offerings - we’ve a long way to go to meet French standards of fish platter menu offerings - they could make a real name for themselves if they did such platters - saying that I was pleasantly surprised with one restaurant in particular and many restaurants were doing moules marinere so good to even see that but just too much deep fried stuff on menus- it gets monotonous after the first 2 days.

Accommodation costs- Airbnb in particular- are just insane - I guess it’s all demand/supply but my god, what people are asking for very average accommodation is just incredible- and I assume they’re achieving these prices- and besides the unpredictable weather, that to me is the key reason why people are driven to holiday abroad . The value just isn’t there

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120978712#Comment_120978712

A lot- breakfast prices in restaurants that do them have shot up about 50% since pre-Covid times- there’s one place close by to me that were around 8-9 euro for a full Irish and are now 14-15 euro a breakfast - I’m assuming it’s mainly energy costs that make up that difference but there comes a point where you just say no, that’s a once in a while treat I’m willing to do without.

Yeah Right

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120978173#Comment_120978173

I was told it was illegal to not give out free tap water if you were a food place, back in the 90s. We were instructed, working in McDonald's, that if anyone came in and asked for one, we HAD to provide it. I've never looked it up but assumed it was true as it came from the employer's side.

kirk.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120969540#Comment_120969540

Thanks for the detailed explanation 😁

Archeron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980711#Comment_120980711

I thought so too, but what i found on googling it is that its not a legal requirement here. Unusual to be refused but not illegal :(

Strumms

Pub I go to, owner also owns my local. Nice pub….

large plate carvery 16 euros…

desserts 6

pints from memory 6…..

2 people, 2 courses - carvery, 1 alcoholic drink each..

56 euros…..

we’ve scaled back on our attendance. Staff are great and it’s a lovely place to eat and spend time but 💶💶💶💶💶 5 star food , service and comfort but extreme prices..

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120982000#Comment_120982000

If the food is nice n decent portions I've no prob with that tbh. The missus got a Camille Thai the other night e14.50 n it small enough portion.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980286#Comment_120980286

Over half the hotel rooms in Donegal are gone for refugees. The ones that are left can charge what they like. It has killed tourism (along with the rain!) this summer n there will be a big shakeout of pubs, cafes etc this winter when the heating bills etc start to land.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120978173#Comment_120978173

I get a full breakfast with tea, toast and brown bread for 13 euro, 2 x large sausages, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, mushrooms, beans, black and white pudding and the pot of tea is filled up again if you want without extra charge. The medium breakfast of 2 x sausages, 2 bacon and two eggs with tea and toast is 10 euro.

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983224#Comment_120983224

Where is that ?

I regularly have a full breakfast (2 sausage, 2 rasher, 2 egg, black and white pudding, fried tomato, fried mushrooms and onions, baked beans, hash brown, 2 slices of toast) glass of OJ and pot of tae for 10 in a place in Sallins.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983233#Comment_120983233

In Dundalk.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979900#Comment_120979900

Bought for cash…..and sold for cash also.