One-year freeze on drink prices

gurramok

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1201/alcohol.html

Only a freeze, not enough, should be at least a 25% cut. :mad:

My local is now only open at weekends, has curtailed the dinners as well because people are leaving the pubs in droves. I've heard of other pubs doing the same.

Only hope with this news today is the publicans attitude slowly changing and recognising they have a problem with prices instead of jacking them up every few months.
Lets hope they have cop-on to cut prices soon or they go out of business and they deserve it.:D

Smart Bug

They're gonna do this in January, right? Reckon the prices'll increase tenfold during December. Tenfold I say.

themadchef

I think we may at last see the end of the pub being the only way to socalise in this country. Not because we don't love drink, but because we simply wont be able to afford it.

They will never lower their prices, their attitudes have to change first. Joe public's attitude changed soon enough when his pockets didint have the same jingle. So will the publicans.

Terry

Aww, bless.

They only put the price up a few weeks back and now they expect us to start going out again because they are freezing the prices for a year?

Fúck the greedy bastards up their greedy arses.

I can kind of forgive them for the recent price rise due to the price of oil skyrocketing, but it went waaaay back down and we should benefit from that too.

Let the bastards suffer and buy your drink from an off licence until they lower the price of a pint.

Darragh29

Rerra,


My local has closed its lounge during weekdays and the funny thing about this pub is that people avoid it, not because its not a nice pub or the clientele are dodgy, but mainly because the staff are rude & ignorant. They don't seem to be aware of the fact that this is the consensus around the area as to why they don't get business, and this is brand new pub, less than a year old, with no expenses spared on the decor, etc. Lovely place to go for a drink only for the staff treating you like you are lucky to be served!

Freezing the price of drink for a year won't make me go out for a pint any sooner. Maybe take 20% or a Euro off the price of a pint and then I'll think about it, until then, go fu*k yourselves!

Vim Fuego

A pint should never be more than a fiver, but that's long gone sadly.

AnonoBoy

Vim Fuego wrote: »

A pint should never be more than a fiver, but that's long gone sadly.

You're drinking in the wrong pubs.

Corcaigh84

Yeah. Callanan's pub on the quays in Cork, 3 euro for a Beam, 3.60 for Murphs and less than 4 for a Heineken. Best stout in the city too so it's win win.

Vim Fuego

You're drinking in the wrong pubs.

Sorry, I mean that even when you go into a fancier place in the city centre that you know has stupid prices, a pint should still never break that barrier.

Danbo!

Darragh29 wrote: »

but mainly because the staff are rude & ignorant.

Barmen in my local are sound enough but the lounge girls are unreal. Pure ****e and really pisses me off. One especially, stands by the bar all night and every so often goes to collect glasses. She'll come over - 'giz dat glass there will eh', she'll start hoovering the pub at 11 and get people to move out of their seats to the bar, and god forbid you order a drink off her... I especially loved her response to - Pint of miller please, - "Yeh, im jus goin' tayleh".

iPlop

Terry wrote: »

Aww, bless.

They only put the price up a few weeks back and now they expect us to start going out again because they are freezing the prices for a year?

Fúck the greedy bastards up their greedy arses.

I can kind of forgive them for the recent price rise due to the price of oil skyrocketing, but it went waaaay back down and we should benefit from that too.

Let the bastards suffer and buy your drink from an off licence until they lower the price of a pint.

+1

the owl bag of wine in box and block of cheese in front of the telly mad sophisticated

Turd Ferguson

Price of Dutch Gold has gone by 50c

this is an outrage!!!!!

0ubliette

My local put its prices up twice this year alone, and now its 5:30 a pint of heineken. ****ing joke. The only reason i go there is cause the nearest other pub's pints are so bad and the pub itself is such a hole we stopped going.

AnonoBoy

Turd Ferguson wrote: »

Price of Dutch Gold has gone by 50c

this is an outrage!!!!!

Thank you Tony.

Smart Bug

Turd Ferguson wrote: »

Price of Dutch Gold has gone by 50c

this is an outrage!!!!!

Won't someone pleeeaasssse think of the children!!!




It's back to methalated spirits and drain-cleaner for me so

seamus

To be fair, if the Government were implementing this I'd be skeptical. But that the VFI themselves have finally made the connection between high prices and dropping trade is a promising sign.

They've spent the last 10 years shafting the pubs at every opportunity, now it's time to return the favour. Perhaps next Summer when they realise that the prices are still too high they'll *gasp* start charging reasonable margins on alcohol. Am I dreaming?

It's worth noting the Thomas Read group, who own many of the wankery over-priced pubs in Dublin such as Ron Black's and the Bailey, are insolvent because they've been wringing their customers necks for too long.

It's still very possible to get a good pint in Dublin for less than a fiver. Vote with your feet people.

Holsten

So the prices will stay high?

While offo and supermarket prices get lower and lower... LOL.

Darragh29

noblestee wrote: »

Barmen in my local are sound enough but the lounge girls are unreal. Pure ****e and really pisses me off. One especially, stands by the bar all night and every so often goes to collect glasses. She'll come over - 'giz dat glass there will eh', she'll start hoovering the pub at 11 and get people to move out of their seats to the bar, and god forbid you order a drink off her... I especially loved her response to - Pint of miller please, - "Yeh, im jus goin' tayleh".

Well this pub I'm mentioning above, which is basically being boycotted locally because the staff are obnoxious, and has recently shut its lounge/main bar area during weekdays due to no business, is owned by none other than the president of the LVA (Licensed Vintners’ Association), Louis Fitzgerald!

It makes me laugh how these guys invent millions into a pub and it struggles to do business for the most simplest of reasons, because the staff have an attitude problem!?!?!?! :D:D

Only a year or two ago, these same pubs that are struggling to survive now, were turning away people at the door because they didn't like the look of them on a Saturday night! Maybe if they were a little more friendly over the years and didn't treat paying customers like absolute sh*te, people would be more inclined now to keep them in business. I deliberately avoid/boycott my local now, for pints and also for off licence purchases, I go to the local shop which is cheaper and the staff there at least appreciate your business...

Slow Motion

They stopped Whitherspoons from opening pubs over here because they promised to bring in lower prices. I have zero sympathy for the greedy bastids. A price freeze is an insult when they have been ass raping punters for years, I now know the guy in the off licence better than I do the barmen in my local! Fcuk 'em!

Mark200

Smart Bug wrote: »

They're gonna do this in January, right? Reckon the prices'll increase tenfold during December. Tenfold I say.

"Publicans have announced a one-year freeze on drink prices with immediate effect."

brettmirl

seamus wrote: »

To be fair, if the Government were implementing this I'd be skeptical. But that the VFI themselves have finally made the connection between high prices and dropping trade is a promising sign.

They're about 2/3 years too late though.

Terry

Holsten wrote: »

So the prices will stay high?

While offo and supermarket prices get lower and lower... LOL.

There's the thing.
There has been very little change in the price of a take-out in the last 17 years.

I have a vague recollection of a can of Budweiser being £1.18 (€1.50) 15 years ago. It's now around €1.90.
40 cents in 15 years is not much of a rise and doesn't really reflect the rate of inflation.

Pints on the other hand.

I think it was about £2 (€2.54) back then in my local. Now it's €4.50.

Darragh29

Terry wrote: »

There's the thing.
There has been very little change in the price of a take-out in the last 17 years.

I have a vague recollection of a can of Budweiser being £1.18 (€1.50) 15 years ago. It's now around €1.90.
40 cents in 15 years is not much of a rise and doesn't really reflect the rate of inflation.

Pints on the other hand.

I think it was about £2 (€2.54) back then in my local. Now it's €4.50.

My local off licence is selling bottles of Millar for 1.99 Euro. The local shop, a stones throw away, is selling the same bottles of Millar for 1 Euro. A 50% difference in price, and these guys wonder why they have no business!?!?! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Kold

Turd Ferguson wrote: »

Price of Dutch Gold has gone by 50c

this is an outrage!!!!!

1226007657965.jpg

Yeah, when 6 Bavaria went up to 7.50, that was when the recession really struck home with me. I've quite boozing for the last few weeks anyway, intend on getting bollocksed at my birthday though. I feel a lot better not boozing 4+ times a week and I'm actually able to buy nice things now but my social life has slowed down quite a lot. Really opens your eyes when you realise the only thing you make time for with your mates is getting langered.

Highsider

How nice of them:rolleyes:

I really wish the publicans would get there act together. I for one dont like drinking at home its boring and you cannot have nice pints of Guinness. I still go to the pub as my local isnt too bad at 3.80 for a pint and only the owner and his brother work there and they are sound. Another pub a bit further away I go to some weekends are very decent with there prices 2 pints of Guinness a pint of smithwicks and a pint of Heineken less than 15 euro!! As I like drinking in pubs I then save money by bringing a filled hip-flask to clubs with me so I only have to buy the mixers:D!!

seamus

Darragh29 wrote: »

My local off licence is selling bottles of Millar for 1.99 Euro. The local shop, a stones throw away, is selling the same bottles of Millar for 1 Euro. A 50% difference in price, and these guys wonder why they have no business!?!?! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

The off licences aren't really worried about that though, they're doing a roaring trade. By and large off licences have a better selection of beers than supermarkets and are open till 10pm. Even if they are charging an extra €1 for a bottle of miller, they're still €3.50 cheaper than the same bottle in a pub. So either way people feel like they're saving huge money. And they are.

Even if the pubs are way too late with this, people still want to go to the pub. It's far easier to meet six mates in the pub for a bit of craic than to try and get them all to go to someone's house (which mightn't be close to them) and then having to clean up afterwards.
They can easily reclaim the pub trade if they just drop the frickin prices. If a pint of Guinness was €3.25, they'd be jammed to rafters with people, delighted that they can have their 3 pints on a weeknight for less than a tenner.

super_furry

Vim Fuego wrote: »

A pint should never be more than a fiver, but that's long gone sadly.

Exactly. A pledge that there's a €5 ceiling on the price of a pint would have much more effect than this so called price freeze. €5.70 for a pint today is as much a rip-off as it will be in six months and there's no way getting around that.

Myself, my friends and most everyone I know now forgoes the pub in favour of drinking at home before heading directly to a club/gig.

Nehaxak

Thank God the price of glue has stayed much the same over the years, dunno where I'd be without it. Bucket of Evo can last at least 6 months.

Terry

seamus wrote: »

The off licences aren't really worried about that though, they're doing a roaring trade. By and large off licences have a better selection of beers than supermarkets and are open till 10pm. Even if they are charging an extra €1 for a bottle of miller, they're still €3.50 cheaper than the same bottle in a pub. So either way people feel like they're saving huge money. And they are.

Even if the pubs are way too late with this, people still want to go to the pub. It's far easier to meet six mates in the pub for a bit of craic than to try and get them all to go to someone's house (which mightn't be close to them) and then having to clean up afterwards.
They can easily reclaim the pub trade if they just drop the frickin prices. If a pint of Guinness was €3.25, they'd be jammed to rafters with people, delighted that they can have their 3 pints on a weeknight for less than a tenner.

It's just a pity they won't do that.

I'd happily pay €4 for a pint of bud.
That way I can go over with €20, have 5 pints and... well, never mind the rest.

The point about friends is a good one too.

most of my friends have moved to other towns and it is easier for us all to meet in the one pub.

super_furry

http://www.lva.ie/page.php?intPageID=556

Just goes to show how much the LVA have thier figure on the pulse. The last update on their site was in 2005 and it was protesting about the introduction of cafe bars - ie competition.

Darragh29

What these guys need to do is take a step back, get a group of actual customers into a room and see where the value line actually is. To me, as Seamus said, if I can go out for 3 pints of Guiness and that'll cost me a tenner, grand, that to me is value for money. To go out for 4 pints of Heino and thst costs me 20 Euro, I don't think is value for money, so I won't bother...

Steve

Fuck them, they deserve everything they get the greedy bastards.

magill sanchez

Have to agree with most of the comments on here, I was always one for a having a few pints during the week in the local with a couple of mates watching the football and weekends out with the missus, first nail in the coffin for the pub trade was the smoking ban(alright in the summer-but for me it ruined the pubs... non-smokers don't jump on this point its been talked and talked about just my opinion) and second nail was obviously the publicans themselves with ridiculous prices being charged and service standards being dropped.

I was out last Friday night in Temple Bar and was actually quite shocked to see a few bars half full which in previous experiences were packed to the rafters, went into one of these bars... a pint of guinness for myself which cost €5.80 for a horrible mouldy pint of fecking piss and a vodka and a dash of mi wadi €6.40 for the missus, theres no value for money anymore!

I've always had a problem with having to pay for a dash but the quality of service in most of these pubs is just terrible and some staff have the cheek to question your taste buds when you tell em its a bad pint, they dont realise that you've been drinking guinness far longer than they've had the ability to grow silly looking stubble on their chin... in your local there would be no questions asked, the barman would taste it himself and give ye a fresh one.... not in town which I will be avoiding in future!

A local pub nearby seemed to get its act together... it closed down... only downside to it was a couple of people losing their jobs, the owner was a greedy miserable ****e, who had no problem charging ridiculous prices and raising prices after 12pm on a friday and saturday night... which in itself is a disgrace.

The only way publicans are going to get joe and molly punter flocking back into their establishments is not to freeze their already heavily inflated prices but to start giving better value for money and a better quality of service... how about bringing back happy hour but extending it from 11am-11.30pm!

gurramok

€5.80 for a pint of Guinness!! :mad:

Thing is, i was in Switzerland recently and the price of a half litre of their beer was about €5.70.
The Swiss have been known as the most expensive country in Europe for a reason, and look at Ireland in comparison, out of their league regarding standard of living with similar high prices!
It still amazes how there are a small minority of pubs who still charge under €4 for a pint(fair play) yet pubs nearby these places add 60c-€1 to the exact same drink, outrageous!

skyhighflyer

My local is €4.40 for a pint of beer, and it's a five minute walk away. As long as I can head out with €20 and have change for a bag of chips on the way home I'm happy :pac:

meglome

Seems to me they are fitting new locks on the stable door, quite a while after the horse has bolted.

Went into a centre pub a few months back and got a large bottle of bulmers which was €6.50, finished it and left, never went back even though I generally like the place. A Thomas Read group bar too.

Spaco

I was in a pub on Baggot Street recently and all half litre bottles of beer are €4 all the time. Have to say, i was well impressed with that.....
But seriously, pub drinking is getting insane. I have to cut back on going out for 2 / 3 weeks just for a weekend in town

witnessmenow

Terry you talked about pints costing €2.50 15 years ago and €4.50 now. Never mind inflation, how much has the Tax gone up since? How much has minimum wage gone up? It probably still doesnt add up but these need to be taking into consideration

I can tell you with 100% that the pub trade is not a profitable business where im from at the moment, places literally couldn't afford to drop the price of drink.

Give it til march and pubs will be closing their doors for good left, right and centre

Darragh29

witnessmenow wrote: »

Terry you talked about pints costing €2.50 15 years ago and €4.50 now. Never mind inflation, how much has the Tax gone up since? How much has minimum wage gone up? It probably still doesnt add up but these need to be taking into consideration

I can tell you with 100% that the pub trade is not a profitable business where im from at the moment, places literally couldn't afford to drop the price of drink.

Give it til march and pubs will be closing their doors for good left, right and centre

It's looking more like you can't afford not to drop prices...

meglome

witnessmenow wrote: »

Terry you talked about pints costing €2.50 15 years ago and €4.50 now. Never mind inflation, how much has the Tax gone up since? How much has minimum wage gone up? It probably still doesnt add up but these need to be taking into consideration

I can tell you with 100% that the pub trade is not a profitable business where im from at the moment, places literally couldn't afford to drop the price of drink.

Give it til march and pubs will be closing their doors for good left, right and centre

It's simple economics, if you charge a price for something that people won't pay then you won't stay in business. If you get smarter and more competitive then you have the best chance for doing good business.

It difficult to have any sympathy for publicans given some of the utter gouging that has gone on.

Quint

Exactly, look at Ryanair. If someone said 10 years ago that you'll be able to get a flight to mainland europe for €50 you'd have laughed at them. Sell cheap and get the numbers in.

A lot are talking about the price of a pint, never drink spirits! When you want a tiny measure of vodka and splash of coke and they charge €7-8 for it it's just mental. It's just too expensive to go out and and drink in a pub for a night.
My local always had cans of coke which would do 2 vodkas. But it change to bottles (those ****ty little glass bottles that i despise) and upped the price when it changed hands.
Don't get me started on those little bottles of coke, they're specially made for pubs to rip off customers. I hate pub owners, and have absolutly zero sympathy for them.
OK, there is a few out ther that are making an efford, but 99% of them, and all the ones in the town I live are hungry bastards and i couldn't give 2 ****s if all the pubs there closed their doors

Backflip_party

So pints will only be 5.20 for the next year ? Oh goody, thanks guys.

raindog.promo

Just to have a moan...... Noticed the price of a pint (Carlsberg for me) had gone up again. Then had my pint handed to me with about an inch and a half of head.
For the first time ever I handed it back and told the barman/teenager to knock the head off it. No excuses for that price. I've turned into a bit of a nazi about it now.

I love pub atmospheres and would enjoy sitting in a pub with a guinness or two reading a paper, but anything over a fiver before and after the recession is arse.

gurramok

witnessmenow wrote: »

Terry you talked about pints costing €2.50 15 years ago and €4.50 now. Never mind inflation, how much has the Tax gone up since? How much has minimum wage gone up? It probably still doesnt add up but these need to be taking into consideration

I can tell you with 100% that the pub trade is not a profitable business where im from at the moment, places literally couldn't afford to drop the price of drink.

Give it til march and pubs will be closing their doors for good left, right and centre

Then kindly explain why a pint of beer costs €4 in one pub and the exact same brand of beer costs €4.60 across the road in leafy D4?

Both offer the same type of entertainment as well. The cheaper pub has survived for years and the other, well gouging is the word.

Wertz

Piece on Matt Cooper on this just now, had someone from the LVA on touting for business...it was put to him by a listener that paid 5.80 for a bottle of Miller, why could he go down to Dunnes and buy a 24pk for 18 quid...the man from LVA reckoned he couldn't even buy his stock this cheaply.
How much of the rip off is being commited by wholesales drink suppliers and our very own Revenue Commisioners?

FWIW barring my b'day and two christmas parties I haven't so much as set foot in a pub in this country for about 2 1/2 years....there was a time when I'd be in one 2-3 nights of the week...the smoking ban was the start of it and then the never ending series of price hikes.
I miss the social aspects of the pub...houses just aren't the same even if you have a good crowd over...but I'll be f*cked if I'm going to pay the prices pubs are looking for, especially considering the levels of service that seem to have become the norm of late...

BTW When I worked bar in 91-92 a pint of Carlsberg was £1.65, Guinness was £1.45 and Bud was £1.70.
Bottles of Corona or the like (which were very trendy back then) were £2...heineken was about £1.55...I think bud longneck was £1.80.
Clear spirits usually about £1.50, brandy was £1.80...I don't recall mixer or soft drink prices.

ShooterSF

witnessmenow wrote: »

Terry you talked about pints costing €2.50 15 years ago and €4.50 now. Never mind inflation, how much has the Tax gone up since? How much has minimum wage gone up? It probably still doesnt add up but these need to be taking into consideration

I can tell you with 100% that the pub trade is not a profitable business where im from at the moment, places literally couldn't afford to drop the price of drink.

Give it til march and pubs will be closing their doors for good left, right and centre

I think your forgetting to factor increase sales by reducing prices.
They way you're looking at it is : I sell a 1000 pints at €1 profit per pint and after expenses Im left with 100 quid. If I drop my prices I'll be out of business.

However if reducing your costs brings back punters like myself and the posters above me you could make more e.g I sell 2000 pints at 60 cent profit and after the same expenses Im left with 300 euro profit.

But publicans prefer the other method i.e with less punters coming in ill charge more to get back to the same profits I was making last year.

SoupyNorman

I'm thankful my parents relocated to d'country 8years ago, although I must live and work in Dublin wild horses could not drag me into a pub here.

I love going down home as at any time during a weekend I can potter down to the local, meet up with friends and have a few slow ones. Guinness in one pub is €3.50 and is like mudders milk, they serve a perfect pint every time and actively practise table service.


Let the pubs close.

ShooterSF

Wertz wrote: »

Piece on Matt Cooper on this just now, had someone from the LVA on toting for business...it was put to him by a listener that paid 5.80 for a bottle of Miller, why could he go down to Dunnes and buy a 24pk for 18 quid...the man from LVA reckoned he couldn't even buy his stock this cheaply.

This is actually quite close to the truth. They stock it at such a cheap price in the hope of you buying shopping there to make their profits. I've heard stories of Dunnes trying to refuse to sell a pallet of Miller to a publican who was taking advantage of the price.

Domo230

Domo230 wrote: »

Even if the price went down I cant see young people heading to pubs.

Were used to knacker drinking and hanging out at peoples houses for a few drinks. Ive had a drink in a pub once, ended up paying through the roof.

No I think the day of the pub is over. Cant even have a smoke in one.

I think most people would much prefer to drink in pubs than in houses. Its just not the same drinking at home. You cant beat the craic on the beer in a pub. I still go to the pub at least twice a week and I havnt drank back at a house for ages. I think what really adds to the price of a night out is going on double this and treble that in the club.

meglome

Wertz wrote: »

Piece on Matt Cooper on this just now, had someone from the LVA on toting for business...it was put to him by a listener that paid 5.80 for a bottle of Miller, why could he go down to Dunnes and buy a 24pk for 18 quid...the man from LVA reckoned he couldn't even buy his stock this cheaply.
How much of the rip off is being commited by wholesales drink suppliers and our very own Revenue Commisioners?

Not sure how much I believe them but maybe the publicans instead of increasing their prices when the breweries did, they should have objected to the increases. And using the breweries as a smoke screen to jack up their own prices has come back on them spectacularly.