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?

Agree this is bad .Hoping to go to a pub for a meal next week .They are advertising free soft drinks! Slightly off topic ,but went for a coffee/cake at Neros and got them half price ! Didnt realise they were doing the deal as well!

but I think it's a pity it doesn't also apply to takeaways

Takeaways have never been unavailable. This is about supporting the extra staff needed to run a restaurant like the front of house staff, waiting staff, bar staff, cleaners.

Used it 3 times now and got exactly what we should have got. Appropriate discounts and no additional charge for ppe! @nomore79 what additional ppe have you bought?.disposable aprons bulk bought are less than 1p. Hand washing I hope your staff have always done so what else?

@Nomore79

Fellow business owner here, i've notice only one other person has read your post and considered the bigger practical picture going on.
I also couldnt agree more with your post.

Unfortunately many people only see it through the eyes of a customer and dont have and never will have the experience and knowledge understand and accept your post, I find it sole destroying sometimes.

I hate the fact that instead of considering what is in your post they just presume that the establishment is just trying to poke their eyes out.

One previous poster mentioned that if they kept doing this they'd be out of business in a year, I suspect for some if they didnt do it to keep customers happy, money would run out sooner due to the delay in reclaiming the discount and they would be out of business sooner.

Many just see these establishments as there to serve them , not that its actually a business which actually does need to make money just to function in order to serve them.

Businesses yes need the custom at the moment, but financially they are struggling and need the money now to, not in a few weeks, they need it now. No money to pay for what they need - no service to provide.
If they are having to wait for it then yes they will need it from else where now just so they can stay open.

Sorry rambling rant over, I'll go back to hiding under my rock!

Hope you complained and put your experience on facebook to "share" with everyone!

We went to a local restaurant we hadn't tried before. Food was amazing but service was a bit slow. They apologised and said they couldn't afford to take on extra waiting staff in case they didn't fill the tables. Maybe that's why?

Sockyarn

Their finances may not be allowing for the delay in reclaiming the discount though.
Yes they want the custom but,they wait for the financial benefit of this, except financially they cant afford to do this.
Some owners have their personal houses on these businesses as a guarantee they loose the business, they loose their home.

Some may yes take the piss but true piss takers will take every chance to do this. Right now many business are at risk of folding and they are just trying to stay afloat.

Please just consider this.

it was a small Nepalese one, we'd never have tried it wasn't for the offer and we will definitely go back. We had 2 mains 2 rice 2 beers naan and poppadoms with dips £22

We went to Bill's on Tuesday. They have a new set menu. We had 2 kids menus, 2 set menus and one non - all 2 courses, large portions. 3 soft drinks. Came to £50, I reckon we saved about £36

I went to my local yesterday. 3 of us. 2 mains, 1 starter, 1 side, 1 dessert plus a coke, glass of wine and 2 whiskeys. It was £20.60 and that's with the alcohol not being discounted!

I took my teen out to McD yesterday, I only had a coffee and he had a big Mac meal with McFlurry and we got 50 Percent off because the whole thing even though my son was the only one eating. Didn't really get it as it said two diners on our receipt. ?
so it was a £3 bargain

Costa are not doing it but neros and Starbucks are. I know where I'm going through August.

Obvs id rather support a local business 😊

We went out on Monday night to our favourite restaurant. There were fewer tables and it did feel safe, we also got £20 off the bill.
I did notice though that each main course was up by around £4 or £5 and starters £2 or £3 so we paid what we normally would anyway

As some people have posted on this thread, there may be good reasons why they are charging more than normal. However, they cannot charge you more than the price on the menu unless they told you the price was wrong when they took your order. If they gave you the wrong menu that is their problem, not yours. Similarly, if the menu did not mention a service charge you can refuse to pay it even if they try to insist it is compulsory.

We are in the north east and have been out for something to eat 5 times, all local cafes and restaurants using the eat out to help out scheme. Meals same size as normal. This has cost us £62 for the five meals (two people)

There was drama on my local fb page yesterday when a cafe owner called people asking for the 50% off scroungers and phoned a customer using their track and trace details to argue about their fb comment

I used it three times yesterday (we are on holiday!) and he three completely different experiences
Cafe Nero - deducted straight off at till
Seaside chippy restaurant - chosen because it was on the eat out to help out list, I queried it when I paid and they said they weren’t doing it any more.
Hotel restaurant (part of a large multinational chain) - will only take it off if you ask. (Service has been shit there so far, so not hugely surprised!)

Without this offer what prices would you expect in an eat-in food place given that they need to reduce the number of customers to socially distance and they need to cover losses from closure time (even if furlough has covered much of the wage bill) in order to balance the books?

Would you really expect the price per meal to be the same as before the virus?

Do you think that a small business might be in a different position to a large chain?

Cafe next to us charges full price despite being registered for the scheme, the waitress looked absolutely mortified bringing the bill over but my friend was far too nice and embarrassed to question it. Shock horror no till receipt given.
There was a fairly big and rowdy table of youngsters (late teens) outside who pretty obviously came there for the discount, and they did get it, as we overheard their attempts to pool the precise individual money together (as teens do) and pay the bill.
So they pick and choose, if they think you’ll be to embarrassed to query the lack of discount, they just “forget” it from the bill.
Appalling service and I’ll never use that cafe again.

Posted too soon.
I’m sure they will claim for our bill as well and we walked out of there feeling totally mugged off.

Yanbu. We were out for dinner last night. Portions smaller, prices higher so even with 50% off a normally £60 bill was £45.

Ours have not but the prices up - but us Yorkshiremen are notoriously tight so there's no incentive for them to put up prices. Had an absolute feast yesterday on a double date with starters, mains and mocktails for four which came to £45 after the discount.

Going out again next Monday because it's too good a deal to pass up.

Their finances may not be allowing for the delay in reclaiming the discount though.

@Milssofadoesntreallyfit - so they don't sign up for the scheme though. It's not compulsory to do so.

What they can't do is join the scheme, bump up their prices significantly, fleece the customers AND claim 50% of it back from the government.

In answer to the poster who asked what extra ppe (and other costs) restaurants are buying.

Disposable face masks for serving staff
Visors for chefs and cleaners
Aprons
Gloves
Anti viral sprays
Commercial Steamer hire
Hand gel
Anti viral wipes (our supplier has put the price of these up to £80 from £10)
Printing and stationery costs (menus etc are single use)

The factor in:
Reduced number of covers due to social distancing
Extra staff as track and trace mean only one server can approach each table

There are other costs and issues, but those are the main ones.

This might explain why some restaurants have puts mains up by £2 or so. We haven't, but thought about it. Survival is going to be very hard for many if not most businesses. We'll close for good if there is a second lock down.