Eat Out to Help Out - pubs and restaurants taking the piss

[nudelipstick]

Is this common?

We went to a pub last night, nothing special, just a local watering hole.

There was no drinks menu but we ordered sparkling water and Pepsi.

When we got the bill they were £5 each!

They also added a compulsory 15% service charge and the meals were more expensive than they were on the menu - staff said they were slightly more expensive during the deal and we had been given the wrong menus.

I realise this has been a hard time for the hospitality industry but surely this will just piss off customers?

YANBU

We ended up spending about the same as we usually would in the pub we love (but thought we would try something different)

YANBU that is really not on! I said to DP that I was worried this would happen but he pointed out that they get exactly the same amount as if people were paying full price so surely they have no reason to overcharge?

Service charge - common
Extortionate drinks - common; if I was in london or the south I wouldnt bat an eyelid
Menu/price changes - a bit cheeky maybe, but depends on the circumstances; e.g some restaurants have different menus for different days/times, was it just an admin mistake that you saw the wrong one?

Seen that on my area too, a lunch that would have costed £15 now costs £10 with a 50% discount.

... a cake that was £3.50 last week is now £4.95 and coffee and soft drinks’ prices up by 20-30%

Well they’re shortsighted and stupid to do this because if they gouge locals, they’ll be out of business before the year is over.

I had a completely different EOHO experience last night. Went two a lovely restaurant which is usually the type you treat yourself to for a birthday/anniversary and we got 3 delicious big portioned mains, 3 deserts and a bottle of wine -£65 all in which was very good for this place. We were all really happy.

The £65 included service too.

Our local cafe have stopped doing it. First of all they refused to give the discount unless asked, now they won’t do it. ( they will probably claw back the money from the government anyway)

I saw on a local Facebook page that someone went to their local to take advantage of this scheme and the portions were literally half the size as normal. They said they were the size their child normally gets. They stopped off at M&S on the way home to get some nibbles. People here have really got behind supporting local businesses as much as they can during covid (although of course not everybody can or and not evert business) so it's a real shame to see them treating customers like this. I think it's an own goal though as people will likely withdraw their support after this.

If they have put it up especially for the duration of the offer then I don't think that's right.
But we put ours up for reopening to cover the extra cost of the PPE we have to wear and the extra staff needed to do the table service and the other little extras attached.
Without covering those costs we'd be sunk if not now then definitely by the quiet winter months.
At the moment we're bearing the cost of the 50% off, to be reclaimed (and we are keeping receipts as proof of discount given) and although yes, it will be reclaimed, our physical takings are halved for those days (and demand and therefore orders higher) that doesn't pay wages or suppliers, especially when businesses have already taken a big hit and funds are low.
I'm not saying it's right at all, but it's a possible reasoning behind it.

I went to a chain place for food, it was all exactly as it usually is, really nice food and 50% off, nice and straightforward. I can see how smaller businesses would try and abuse it as much as possible though...

It’s not just EOHO where some businesses are taking the piss though. I’ve also had several friends complaining about the sky high cost of some U.K. holidays this year. Yes I know these businesses lost out for Easter holidays but gouging customers because you know most of them can’t go abroad is shitty.

I think a lot of small businesses are being short sighted and we will see record numbers of people going abroad next year after staycation ripoffs.

We booked somewhere, looked at the menu online and seen the prices, when we got there they had added at least £2 per main course onto the prices shown online. My husband ordered an expensive lamb dish amd the portion was tiny. Will probably just use chain restaurants from now on. The independents seem to be shooting themselves in the foot!

Not everywhere taking the piss - in Lincolnshire - we are on holiday here - and had dinner out on Tuesday night - huge portion of hunters chicken and chips and a pie and mash followed by two portions of ice cream - came to £15.95
Lunch yesterday - huge sea food platter and one pint and one half of beer - £14.95.

2 adults, 3 kids yesterday and our bill was £21. It’s great

Four of us had 3 courses plus drinks in our local Pizza Express the other day and the bill was far less than it would have normally been. They were really busy and understaffed. We tipped our waitress generously as she was working bloody hard and deserved it. The scheme certainly worked for us.

Always the same with any type of government initiative, Green Deal, ILA, people will find ways of defrauding/cheating the schemes.

We're all paying for this - it is our taxes. I would not normally suggest writing a review, would just not use the business again, but I think in such cases would definitely put review on FB or trip advisor.

We went to a local place which is very popular due to location, views etc. The food was in my opinion awful. No veg or salad, greasy, small portions and the drinks were extortionate. When the bill came it cost 40 but with the original cost at the end. I would have been seriously pissed off if it had been full price.
,

People talking about alcohol, I didn't think the scheme covered alcoholic drinks?

Companies have to claim the money back from the government so they're quite rightly worried about never actually receiving it. Also, they are probably slapping prices up to make sure they can claim the maximum amount back from the government.

They normally apply discounts midweek to encourage people in. Often a weekday lunch is a loss leader, (except in areas of high volume such as city centres).

Also so costs have gone up hugely. Sometimes they have to block off half the tables to allow for social distancing, their cleaning bills have gone up, they need more equipment, (inc PPE), some of their suppliers are charging more for similar reasons. Cancellations are also significanlty increased.

The idea is that the government shoulder some of that increase so that people can still go out and eat and businesses get back on their feet. It is not that people eat out for practically nothing.

The reality is that restaurants will be lucky to survive at all.

@CopperBeeches They won't survive serving rubbish as less inclination to go. Fortunately it hasn't been my experience...they are working harder to attract custom as places I couldn't get into before without booking months ahead are available.

That's really bad. We have been out twice and found it agreat deal.
Our local has kept prices the same but alcohol isn't included in the deal, so 4 mains, 1 starter, 2 kids drinks and 4 alcoholic beverages cost us £35.

The taxpayer ultimately shoulders the cost. Alcoholic drinks may be at inflated prices to add costs and the food is less expensive in quality perhaps.

We are out on Monday - portions were smaller - but it hadn’t occurred to me that it was a thing.

four of us ate out, not including the drinks it was £20, pretty good for a great meal.