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?

I find it sole destroying sometimes.

Are chiropodists open yet?

We went to a favourite pub and bless them, they really struggled. Social distancing and hygiene, spot on. But they seemed to have forgotten how to cook, the food took forever to come. Prices had gone up, but I expected that, my shopping bill has gone up, food is more expensive now.

The manager looked quite sad at the end as he thanked us for bearing with them.

I work in a small local restaurant. It hasn't e en occurred to us to put prices up.

@whenwillthemadnessend costa are doing it where we are, much vary by area!

@Moonmelodies

I find it sole destroying sometimes.

Are chiropodists open yet?

Are chiropodists open yet?

Hopefully the poster is foot-loose and fancy free today.

2 trips to mcdonalds (I know terrible parenting) happy meal and fillet of fish meal less than £4 and a trip to a fullers pub £12 for an adult meal, child meal and two soft drinks. So the scheme is working well for me!

Vat has also been reduced to 5% so this should reflect in a smaller bill

Also, aren't they being compensated by the government for £10 per person for every meal?

Our local Costa is doing it - chains don’t necessarily show up on the website but should be listed.

@Nomore79, thank you for your explanation. I hadn't thought of it in those terms.

It's catch 22 ... there are less people eating out, less tables available for diners and I bet the business rates, food an staff costs are the same.
Eat out to help out is well intended, but I never thought it would work in reality.

There will always be someone who will take a piss. I would refuse to pay the higher price. They gave me menu with x price, I pay x.

A shame but I went to an independent italian on Tuesday and it was as good as ever, and same prices, just with £20 off at the end. Ran very smoothly!

I’m on holiday so we’ve eaten out three times this week - all three produced the discounted bills automatically and didn’t appear to have increased prices. The only slight wrinkle was that one place asked us to order drinks separately at the bar, so we didn’t get the discount on the DCs’ lemonades, but I can understand that as it must make their lives much easier not having to split alcohol out from the discount.

The problem is that with contactless payment and so many places not taking cash it’s really tricky to tip.

@vickibee

Vat has also been reduced to 5% so this should reflect in a smaller bill

I don't agree it should. That's to support businesses who now can have considerably less diners in. The fact that some chains did pass it on doesn't mean everyone can afford to

Id probably only notice Prices if i knew the restaurant well or had a copy of the original menu

Id probably notice the £5 drinks though!

We’ve been to a local pub so i knew that was right Price wise and Turtle bay Which is an infrequent visit for us so although cheaper and I don’t think they have put their prices up I wouldn’t have realised if they had

We went to Zizzis on Monday, same food, same servive. Used a taste card alongside the offer so only paid a tenner which included service!

Yanbu. We walked the kids a 6+ mile round trip to go to our favourite beach cafe (think chilled vibe, local produce etc etc). We arrived and they've changed it into a takeaway style cafe- order from the counter and sit inside, on the veranda or new tables on the beach. DH went to order. They then said it wasn't on the deal because it's takeaway. (I'd checked the govt website and it was listed, but apparently that's just a few tables upstairs). Kids were starving. Ended up paying £13 for burgers (restaurant, not takeaway prices) and the tables were filthy, dogends stuffed in the cracks, not wiped (I never saw a single table being wiped) and the gobby people behind us (honestly, they had to shout, couldn't talk, and it was all the Fs, Cs and Ps) even SAT THEIR DOG ON THE TABLE. There was no staff to police the veranda due to its takeaway nature.

I felt totally stressed out, ripped off and dirty.

Sent a polite, constructive message via their website outlining this (bearing in mind the owner is on SM and put out a heartfelt message before lockdown about how he'd worked so hard to build the business, how he couldn't afford the wage bill but didn't want to let his staff down etc- he makes himself public iykwim) and I can see it's been read and they've not bothered to respond.

I totally get that these business are desperately trying to stay afloat but our experience has left us feeling ripped off, dirty and like we've wasted a rare family treat (money-wise) and we will definitely not be going back. Such a shame as they've worked so hard to create a vibe and an atmosphere and most of all a reputation.

I have eaten out every day so far this week!
2/3 places had their normal menu and prices and I paid half price. All good.
The 3rd place had increased it’s prices for both food and drink and had none of the usual offers in place. A main dish is usually £6-8 but had increased to £8-10 The portion size/standard of food was not the same either. I won’t be going back here.

Eaten out a few times and everything has worked out fine,

2 course lunch with soft drinks for 2 people came to £14

Hadn’t really noticed the portion size going down either.

Pot of tea for one and a scone with jam and cream

£2.20

On Monday had a great lunch at an independent with the offer. Everything as pre Covid except a small service charge increase which was highlighted on door/inside & didn't begrudge. Went to look at a place we've not tried before but I knew the menu & everything was twice the price. Went to Mcdonald's instead.

I think there is confusion over the discount. It isn't 50% off. It's an allowance of £10 per person. After a drink and starter ( approx £10 ) it's likely you'll then pay full price for your main course and then full price for any further drinks or desserts.

We've used it twice, once at a chain and once at an independent restaurant. Both times it was usual price/portions/offers, and with an additional 50% up to £10 each off.

Chain we had massive roast dinner and refillable soft drinks for 4 (all adult portions) for £25

Independent, between 4 we had popadoms/4 curry main dishes/4 vegetable sides/2 rice/2 naan/4 soft drinks/2 pints of beer/2 baileys/tea and coffee for £35.

I'm not complaining. It's blinding value.

We'll definitely do dinner out once a week in August, and probably a bit more in the week we're on a UK holiday.