To feel ripped off

[Bunny2607]

Nipped out to a local cafe at work today for some lunch to take back and eat at my desk. Very rarely buy lunch as either take it with me or nip home but circumstances today meant i ended up buying it.
small independent cafe, i got a mocha coffee, flapjack slice and a soup to take away. £12.60!!! I paid and didn’t say anything but i was so shocked at the price. Its been bugging me all day and tbh i don’t think i will go back due to the prices, it was only average at best as well.
when did you last feel ripped off?

They won't 'soon lower them' as they'll go bust!

Yes it is outrageous pricing. A small pleasure like eating out for lunch is now so expensive. Should be £5 at most.

There seems to be a stupid view by RR and co that ALL companies will pay additional taxes and NOT pass onto the end customer because after all they can use their current profit to cover it. NONE of the current Cabinet have ever run a company large or small which explains these awful decisions.

This is hitting the small companies hard. People bleat on about Amazon and co but if they were targetted with changing the way they report their profits and pay more tax in the UK guess who will be moaning their prices are too expensive.

Same with private schools. There is a view that people who are paying for a private school can afford ALL tax rises. They are clueless. The money isnt going anywhere near the state schools. It will be wasted and wasted.

Don't be silly. How would they buy the ingredients, pay all the staff, pay the rent, pay the electricity, pay the gas, pay the water bill, pay the business rates and make any profit if they only charged £5 for a meal? They can only seat so many people in the cafe. If no one pays more than a fiver for a meal they're going to be making a huge loss.

I mean places like Toby carvery manage it on breakfasts what’s that £6.99? All you can eat. £8.99 on lunch? Then upto £14 for dinner.

Those are the types of places more people
will flock to as it hits the pocket rather than a £9.99 belly buster and £2 tea at the local cafe.

The likes of Toby Carvery, Spoons etc aren't being run as independent businesses sp they can afford loss leaders, economies of scale etc. Probably negotiate cheaper rents. Their profit margins are probably paper thin, but they have so many establishments they still make enough to be worth it. Totally different business model to the indies.

I appreciate it's expensive to eat out, but in what world do you think a business can provide somewhere for you to go, warm, with lights on, cook a meal, and serve it, for £5. They have to buy ingredients, pay utilities, upkeep on premises (and likely rent), staff (inc cleaning etc), insurance, health and safety certification, taxes, and on and on it goes.

I could still eat very well in London for £40 a day! You'd just have to be careful about where you went.

My earlier post mentions a massive plate of Thai food for £15. You wouldn't need a huge breakfast or lunch/dinner if you had that.

Everyone keeps pointing out how the fixed costs like electricity and staffing have gone through the roof. Surley this is the reason to offer some value with the product. You need to be full or busy to reduce the fixed cost per sale. Value isn't about making everything cheap. I know that's a simple interpretation but it does seem some places have given up on trying to increase their sales and just increase prices and reduce quality of product and service. Really good service is so underestimated in the service sector. Even when buying soup and sandwiches.

So we have a local cafe that charges 12 Euro for full cooked breakfast, tea and toast. Might be top end for cafe breakfast, but
It's lovely and warm, clean and tables always clear and welcoming when you enter. It opens at 7.30 am if you want early breakfast.
The service is great. They know you and ask about family and general pleasant and friendly (No cost to them)
You can mix and match your breakfast without high drama or 50 cent extra for mushrooms etc (minimal to no overall cost)
You can get a half breakfast for children at half price. They don't have to ID to prove they are under 8, or whatever. They just get it if they ask for it.
Ingredients not obviously cheap or poor quality
Toast and tea top ups at no cost to me (cost to them two slices of bread and tea bag and milk and butter, if it even happens)
Newspapes available
Clean pleasant toilets with hand cream and nice soap and checked for toilet paper etc (Cost over all customers minimal)
Low level calm background music and nice lighting. Comfortable seats and plenty of space between tables.
But no WiFi. They need table turn over and it's a business decision.
It's always busy. I could get breakfast for 9 Euro in town but pay 3 Euro more for a vastly better experience. It doesn't cost 30 perc more for the business to provide what I want. They have same fixed costs but are full and get more revenue per breakfast and a bigger profit. They also turn over their tables.
That's how I see it as a consumer and it works for me. We go at least once a week as do plenty of others.

Well, the world of the big mass market chains eg wetherspoons - see my post above

Good lord.

She’s right though - people using cafes as work spaces are very bad for business.

They take up seats for hours on minimum spend and won’t share tables - so that’s 2 potential covers gone and a table that could reasonably be turned three or four times.

One near us has turned it into a business model - a set fee, a station with coffee pot, teapot and platter of toast, and it caters entirely to the WFH/freelance demographic until 3 pm. Then it’s out with the workers and in with that after school crowd, and serving full meals until it closes at 9:30.

They don’t bother with opening the kitchen and having full waiting staff, just a couple of people until the 3pm slot. So they save a lot on staff and not doing food until they will get a reasonable return.