Am I just stuck in the past or are price increases recently out of control?

[newire]

I am late 40’s and so there is some change my idea of prices are stuck in the past but my DH had a day off yesterday and we went up to town to go to a film and then dinner at very basic but nice Greek place, we got up to town early so went to a café for a cup of tea and a bit of cake to share. By the time we got home we had spent £100. In 2019 we could have done the exact same evening out for half of that. Which does leave me feeling like the goal posts have been moved quite a bit.

Obviously, I know prices go up, that hospitality is under a lot of pressure but prior to this it took more like 20 years for prices to double and now they have doubled in the past 4 or 5 years and it shows little sign of slowing down. Same with anything you buy, a new paperback book can be £15! It feels like Tea is more expensive every week.

Like I say I know prices go up but am I crazy to feel that things have gone up excessively? Even though inflation is supposed to be falling the price of products and services never seems to fall. Or am I just getting old and stuck in the past?

Because people keep voting against themselves. A right wing government will always take the piss out of you. That includes labour too.
Vote reform and you'll see yourself on the streets. Count on it.

I used to always go for a coffee when I had finished doing my shopping, but never do now, it's straight back home and make my own, same if I'm with friends, we all have a cup at one or another's house. Just too expensive now.

We've started taking our own travel mugs of coffee and snacks from home to save paying Costa or train trolley prices. Saves at least a tenner each journey.

Well there's the rub isn't it, with soaring prices for everything it costs more to produce that cup of tea or slice of cake, than it would at home, and costs more than people can or want to pay.

If they don't charge enough then they go bust, if they charge enough and it doesn't meet the expectations for what a customer wants to pay, customers don't come, and they go bust anyway.

Hospitality struggles for staff, because there's not an endless supply of people who want to do more work for less money than they can live on, the roles have been devalued, so the result is companies need to pay more for them, which means if customers want to have that service, they need to pay for it.

If people don't go then businesses close, if they don't pay enough to staff they don't get them and they close, if they don't charge enough to cover what it costs to provide it, they close. Then we're left with fewer options, and people will complain bitterly about that too.

Can't have it all ways.

I'm very surprised nobody has mentioned the shoplifting epidemic which absolutely has affected prices ("but they need to eat....." Yes ....maybe not help themselves to half the bloody shop multiple times a day though eh?), and those that have had to implement extra security will have increased costs. And this is also why shops are having to remove stuff from public display and increase checks on customers.

Also I understand it's frustrating, but maybe if you're unhappy about the prices, polite suggestion, perhaps don't take it out on the NMW employee serving you. We have literally ZERO say in pricing so whilst you may feel better having a go and kicking off or walking off in disgust....a)you've achieved nothing except being unpleasant or abusive to another human being and b)it won't change the prices. People have gotten noticeably more entitled and abusive since COVID. I'm not saying bad service doesn't exist (we had a huge intake of COVID affected teens who literally never developed the social skills for a customer facing role) and there's no excuse but when you're dealing with customers complaining at you for things that are completely out of your control it does get you, we are only human!

And yes weirdly despite being a retail worker....I too am also affected by rising prices everywhere....🤦🏼‍♀️

I assume shoplifting makes some difference, but suspect it's not one of the main factors as we also see the same price rises in hospitality.

I agree but ultimately I think people will stop spending in these places and many will close, loss of jobs all that entails.

I've never taken out any frustration on people who work in shops or cafe's etc. I'm not aware anyone here has said they have?

I didn't mention voting for reform and I've never voted right wing in my life.

They'll close either way, doesn't matter really to me if it's because they haven't charged customers enough to cover the overheads or because they did and people didn't want to pay it. End result is the same, businesses close, jobs are lost and choices to customers lost.

There's no easy answers but as someone who also faces the price rises and wages not keeping pace, it's more than just feeling affronted because I can't get a cup of tea away from home for a price I want to pay, it's my job and hospitality looks doomed no matter what happens from what I see and what I hear and read.

Honestly working in it the mood has changed considerably since covid, people seem like they hate hospitality, even while they're using it. The negative atmosphere is one of the reasons service is poor in a lot of places. It's the reason why people don't stay. None of this may be the customers problem, but they're also going to face the concequences.

And they do complain - on this thread someone said how they got pissed off with air bnbs during covid so now hospitality can suffer. And they complain about prices, and demand more when the reason the prices are high now is because providing the service is high cost. You can complain about that until the cows come home and demand that a cup of tea is £1.50 rather than £3 but it won't change the fact that it is.

There will always be a space in hospitality for businesses that are savvy and offer good value. After a 6% profit increase last year, John Lewis are expanding their number of restaurants and cafes this year so it seems that there isn’t much of a shortage of people willing to pay £4 for a scone.

Posting this whilst having my daily Americano in Caffè Nero, a company which was quick to get rid of under performing branches after the pandemic, has regular incentives to get extra stamps, gives a student discount, partnered with the Three network to offer a freebie weekly drink and perhaps most importantly of all serves above average coffee. And their prices have always been slightly below those at Costa and Starbucks.

I had to stop going to cafes or eating out ages ago… it’s a rare treat for a birthday or something similar!

I think also that suppliers and supermarkets are sensing a shift in people’s buying trends. Consumers are buying more of the staple type foods rather than the higher more desirable items…..mince, baked beans, pulses, cheaper meat cuts, etc so they’re increasing those prices significantly. They’re going to hold onto their profit margins in spite of the cost of living and know that the general public cannot do anything about it……

£1.85 is what our local pub charges for a single bag of Tyrells crisps too. We counted that we got 12 full sized crisps plus dust for our money.

I also got pissed off with Airbnbs during Covid. It was the increased price (just because they could) in exchange for a decreased service (blamed pandemic restrictions). It was sheer greed. So we just don’t book them anymore and neither do a lot of our friends. I appreciate there is a market for holiday homes, in some circumstances but hotels are a more ethical option in some areas. And at least hotels don’t expect you to be the cleaner as well as guest.

The tax changes on holiday homes should help deflate the Airbnb bubble too.

I’ve noticed cheaper meats are more available now too. Stuff like pigs trotters, calf and chicken livers, pork belly strips.

"There will always be a space in hospitality for businesses that are savvy and offer good value. After a 6% profit increase last year, John Lewis are expanding their number of restaurants and cafes this year so it seems that there isn’t much of a shortage of people willing to pay £4 for a scone."

@paranoidnamechanger I suppose waitrose / john lewis have a captive audience to some degree who will generally be better off than the majority of us.

Get compatables off temu

They can always retrain. I am as my industry is going to the dogs. Adults can even get maintenance and tuition loans for a second degree if it’s in healthcare. And generous bursaries.

I couldn't agree more, I feel exactly the same. It's scary! Xx

Part of the problem is that if you don’t want to (knowingly) put money into the more questionable supply chains you’re going to have to pay higher prices- but if you can’t, you’re stuck.
I used to get bamboo toothbrushes on a subscription every three months- they came reliably from Portugal. A couple of years ago I had to cancel because we simply weren’t receiving the parcels. The company said it was down to Brexit, so we’re back on the plastic ones now because anything else just isn’t affordable for us or it isn’t sold in a shop we can routinely get to.

Maybe not out of control but definitely way more expensive than it used to be.

Problem is we have to pay for government decisions, higher minimum wage increase in employers NI contributions, it affects profits and companies are in business to make a profit not a loss, so the expense is passed on to the consumer and customers.

Most of my family and friends are self employed they all say there turnover is the same as it was five or six years ago but their profit is about the same, plus far they are dealing with far more legislation and red tape ie headache!

I know this was in a train station but this is ludicrous!! (Pics incoming)

@FanofLeaves those prices are beyond ridiculous

Baffles me too! Everywhere is heaving. Tickets to any event is always sold out.