Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121102699#Comment_121102699

Yet if the government changed tack and announced a VAT cut in the morning you and others would most likely just pocket it and the public would be no better off.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121102714#Comment_121102714

Agreed. Any business rejecting custom deserves to die.

L1011

Actually had my first case of "what the feck" at the till over the weekend - wrap and a drink in Pret in Connolly, €10.

Won't be doing that again.

Sono

Whatever about if places are gouging or not, will the prices ever come down? I think we all know the answer to that. Places are creaming it during these times, not all but a lot of places are taking the piss but people are still paying it so more the fool them (me!)

nachouser

The average profit margin for restaurants would appear to be about 4%. Google is your friend.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103269#Comment_121103269

No they won't and that's the problem with all this shit. You have businesses and their useful idiots banging on about "the market this and the market that" and yet, the prices stay up when they go up, in general. They don't come down despite downward changes in fuel costs etc.

But the price rises have also been more serious in recent times. Take the price of the pint for instance, a great way to judge things if you ask me. It's been raised in, frankly, huge amounts since well before Covid. Whereas around the nineties and noughties you'd get an increase of a penny or two. Or perhaps five pence. These days you're talking 50 cent or more casually slapped onto it and then a few months later another 20 cent.

I've had cousins over from America and England in the last month and, fuck me, if the bills everywhere we went weren't eye watering.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103295#Comment_121103295

Pubs in Dublin are still generally very busy. Plenty of people happy to pay 7 for a pint and I do it myself.

There wont be any price drops because people are paying the prices. Its just the new norm.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103323#Comment_121103323

Just because they're paying it doesn't mean they're "happy" about it.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103344#Comment_121103344

True enough. But if they are paying it night after night...who cares?

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103354#Comment_121103354

That's a hiding to nothing. There will come a point where most people will stop.

Everyone has their limit.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103360#Comment_121103360

True.

But we havent reached it yet. Otherwise the crowds would have fallen away and they really havent.

Sono

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103295#Comment_121103295

Yeah I agree with you Tony, prices are high and is the new norm and if you want the luxury of a few pints or a meal out you’ll pay handsomely for it.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103360#Comment_121103360

No people won't stop. Plenty of people can still afford to eat and drink out without being bothered about the price. The hospitality sector is focused on the premium end of the market these days.

No point worrying about the moaners who can't afford it. They are not their customer base anyway.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103543#Comment_121103543

But most are bothered about the price, plenty of well off people are bothered. Yes they pay it now but it means if they get a better alternative they would likely take that option.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103691#Comment_121103691

Hardly. Personally if I'm out I'm not bothered if a pint is €5.50, €€5.80 or €6.20.

If I'm at an event and it's €7 I'm not bothered either.

Plenty of people out there with the money and limited establishments.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103839#Comment_121103839

As long as the hospitality sector is based around your personal circumstances it should be fine so.

Mr. teddywinkles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121102699#Comment_121102699

Well since covid businesses seem to be happy to gouge joe public all they like. This sentiment seems to stem from everyone was loaded by staying at home. Its carried on ever since.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103323#Comment_121103323

Less and less in the pubs in my area. Food always comes before drink and people won't pay ridiculous prices for both. Something has to give and it will be the drink.

jj880

I live in a rural town. Population about 2000. Outside events, holiday season, Christmas etc the pubs and restaurants are dead. I really dont know how they stay open. I honestly dont think they are gouging where I live. Prices are consistent across bars for pints, mixers, food has gone up in the last few years but I see my own household bills so no more than I expected really.

I remember reading about large fridges and freezers required really putting the pressure on bars/restaurants for energy costs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103976#Comment_121103976

Sorry but who’s gouging the consumer? Prices for fresh fruit and veg, dairy, even dry grains are through the roof all year.

India has banned the export of non basmati rice causing the price there to rocket. Gas & electric are crazy prices

so what are businesses expected to do? Raise the prices or take the loss? If they continue to take losses they close down and people like me are out of work.

But sure god forbid you’re not getting your 3 course meal, which was prepared, plated, served & cleared from your table, at cost price. I should just cook your food and plate it for free everyday so ye can have a cheaper meal.

kirk.

Restaurants will have to cater to those who have no issue paying to dine out on fine food

I can't see the low budget model working now ,costs are too high for cheap restaurant food

Deebles McBeebles

Good thread at times. Enjoying the naming and shaming of places that are obviously taking the piss. There are some being mentioned that are really just keeping up with how things are now though. If your main costs 5 to make, that's another 5 on labour and another 5 on overheads. Expecting it for less than 20 is just ridiculous. There is a difference in the 2 is all I'm saying.

Deebles McBeebles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103543#Comment_121103543

What an odd post. Unless you're the owner of a gastro pub or high-end restaurant. Even then it's a bit Paul Stenson.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103180#Comment_121103180

Yes, it's likely that many businesses would 'pocket' a VAT reduction as you say. Hell, the state would itself as it has shown in the past.

BUT.... most businesses would then use that buffer to absorb rising costs of business and therefore whilst not reducing prices, keeping them stable for as long as possible. Few enough businesses want to jack up prices, they want to keep a good turnover and contented customers. Sales are the lifeblood of businesses in these sectors.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121104068#Comment_121104068

Correct. Too much profit in the food.

Vintners will target excise and rightly so. As long as it is applied to off sales i would support this. We all know that if excise is cut pubs will try to pocket the reduction themselves. Only when they think people will still stay at home will they pass any reduction to the consumer.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121104591#Comment_121104591

How do you know this though? Some vintners manage several pubs but most are in competition with each other. A town with a few licensed premises will all have a fair idea of what the others are charging. And no, I don't think cartels/ price fixing is as big a thing as people make out.

kirk.

My impression of small town vintners is they don't compete on pricing

I assumed the whole structure is anti competitive from top to bottom , could be wrong

Dial Hard

The "If the prices bother you, you clearly just can't afford to eat out" argument is so reductive. I can afford to eat out at those prices. I just refuse to pay over the odds for sub-standard muck. For 50c more than the - frozen - chicken goujons and chips in the pub I posted from the other day, I can get absolutely incredible house-made carnitas tacos with freshly-cut chips from The Revolution in Rathgar, less than 3km down the road. I'm sure you can guess where I'm going to spend my money.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103543#Comment_121103543

You keep trying to push this "moaners" angle and it's bollocks.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103368#Comment_121103368

We're just out of our tourist season. let's see how things pan out in the winter months.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that town (Dublin) is going to be a wasteland by 2024 or anything. But I know plenty of people who just don't go into town any more. I've largely stopped going in and I used to do so regularly cos most of my mates live on the Northside and town was the easy meeting point. I now do the vast majority of my socialising in my local, and even there the price of the pint is nearly 6 Euro. In fact the only reason I've been to town at all this summer was because family were over. Incidentally they were shocked at how much everything cost...and they're from bloody New York!

We, the Mrs. and I, now very rarely eat out in town and there are certain places we use to like that are just off the list entirely. We used to always grab a bite when we were in there, but nowadays it's just silly in too many places. Then you have to factor in this tipping malarkey too. Now, I don't mind tipping at all when the service is great. But in far, far, too many places you'll only see waiting staff when they take your order, deliver your food, and give then you your bill and that's it. In other words, doing the BASIC PART OF THE JOB that they get paid for. That kind of stuff, doesn't deserve a tip.

But, lastly, everyone has their limits in some fashion and they will be reached. If prices keep going the way they are, more and more folk will just say no, whether it's a matter of affording the price or not, because price is one thing. The actual value of something is another matter entirely.