Buying drinks in a ...
 

  You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more

[Closed] Buying drinks in a bar: checking prices first

65 Posts
47 Users
0 Reactions
288 Views
Posts: 1432
Full Member
Topic starter
 

How often do you the check prices before ordering in the bar? And if you do happen to ask for something that's particularly expensive, would you expect the barman to check that you're aware?

I have to say it's never been in my nature to check full prices of everything - and I have had staff check "do you know that's £xx" - but I might be changing my attitude after I got stung 28 Euros for a single beer last night! This was in Italy with table service so of course I'd already drunk it before seeing the bill!

To be fair there were plenty of price lists available that we hadn't seen, but the next most expensive beer was €10, and we had chosen from a chalkboard list that bundled it alongside bog standard Peroni & Tennent's at €4 each!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:36 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

But I know to within 50p how much a pint of cider in a Weatherspoons is going to cost.

So, no. I don't check.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:39 am
Posts: 30656
Free Member
 

This was in Italy

You paid [url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10039834/British-tourists-complaint-over-54-ice-cream-hits-a-nerve-in-Rome.html ]tourist prices.[/url]


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:40 am
Posts: 16346
Free Member
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I usually have a rough idea what ill be charged as I enter the establishment. And as you were a "Brit abroad" I'd say you were fair game 😐


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:42 am
Posts: 12865
Free Member
 

What was the beer? And was it any good?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:49 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Sometimes, my wife occasionally likes a glass of bucks fizz and most places just charge for the glass of champagne but some price it as a champagne cocktail which is usually at least twice the price. We’ve even been to places where it has been cheaper to buy a bottle of champagne and a glass of orange juice than a single drink.

€28 for a beer is taking the piss – regardless of what it was and where you were.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:51 am
Posts: 1432
Full Member
Topic starter
 

La Trappe Quadrupel. A trap indeed! It was good, but not 3 times better than the Dubbel I then got a full pint of for €6.50.

Very fortunately I hardly ever order "same again please"!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:55 am
Posts: 56564
Full Member
 

Was it brewed with the tears from angels?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:00 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

It totally depends, if going into a regular pub for a pint will just order without checking. If drinking something more exotic in a bar or restaurant then will have a glance at the price list.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:00 am
Posts: 1070
Full Member
 

Lucky you only had one! If that was me I'd have had a skin full, shortly followed by a very angry rant, payment in full, and a march off to the nearest kebab house.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:10 am
Posts: 12865
Free Member
 

I assume it was the "oak aged" version rather than the regular? Bit sneaky by the bar though.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:14 am
Posts: 4365
Full Member
 

I don't often as I don't want to look like the wreck head who's trying to get pissed as cheap as possible. Even though that's normally whats happening. I just moan about it when I get back to the table/group.

A bar in brum tried to charge me £1.75 for a small glass of soda water last christmas. I kicked off then.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:18 am
Posts: 5936
Free Member
 

you're drinking Belgium Trappist beer, in a terrace bar in rome, it's not going to be 10 euros is it?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:21 am
Posts: 13240
Free Member
 

[img] [/img]

Hard to spot in a busy pub.
It's a miracle if you get served .


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:24 am
Posts: 50252
Free Member
 

My local has a list of prices for beer, according to the strength. Weak beer? Cheap. Silly strong beer? Very expensive.

A nice approach, I reckon.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:53 am
 DrP
Posts: 12041
Full Member
 

I always do...
If I get any 'stick' from the barpeoples, I offer them the opportunity to check my wallet to ensure I've got enough money to pay....and say it's a good idea to know what hand either of us is holding..!

DrP


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:54 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

The only time we tell our customers the price of something is when they order a bitter shandy - as the only one we do is imported from USA and is £5.10 a pint it is a tad pricey for a shandy. No-one has taken offence as yet.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 9:42 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I tend to ask as prices seem to have both gone up and become more variable in recent years. I always ask when ordering a whisky as some very similar establishments can have 150% differences in price!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 9:47 am
 hora
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

When we were in Barcelona we went to a backstreet (nice restaurant/bar) off the Ramblos and all the food prices were there/on the walls even.

When we got the bill, the beer was 😯

So I called over the waiter and asked nicely why so much etc. He could kinda see where I was coming from. The manager came over and I asked him if it was a stripbar/stripclub pricing. The waiter was s****ing and the manager was horrified 😆

Here in Manchester- you can go into a pub with a painted grey wall and painted chairs charging £4 a pint and next door there will be an identical place with carpet charging £2.50 for non-premium beer.

WHY in deepest urbania should beer be 4quid a pop outside London?!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 9:59 am
Posts: 6317
Free Member
 

Shandy from the USA!!!
Now I have heard everything.
Don't you just pull half a pint then top it with lemonade?
You have to be in London!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:01 am
Posts: 0
Full Member
 

Tourist spots are fair game, you don't go into them feeling like you are going to get a bargain now do you, or do you?
Suspect if its the latter you need to understand a couple of simple economic principles, should see you right.

Florence used to be mental expensive in the Piazza Della Signoria but over the years the cafe owners have cottoned on to the fact that lots of Tourists hack off south of the river and sup beer for 2/3rds the price, it's still expensive mind so you really only go in there knowing you will pay more don't you.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:03 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I've had a couple of barman say to me recently - you know that's £5 a pint?(Peroni, not for me!) I changed the order and got mildly mocked for it back at the table. I don't see why anyone would pay over the odds for one mass produced lager other another though.

Luckily all my regular haunts have very reasonably priced ales on tap (£2:99 to about £3:60 a pint, in Brighton)


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:08 am
 hora
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I disagree- tourist spots aren't fair game. Its deception if you don't have prices advertised (weird, is it a legal requirement?). Plus (all of us) - how do you know the barman isn't skimming by adding 50p to the price of your pint?....


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:12 am
Posts: 14711
Full Member
 

WHY in deepest urbania should beer be 4quid a pop outside London?!

because expensive booze is seen as a (false) sign of affluence? Big pimping, diamond grills, beatches and Cristal. There's a facebook page devoted to "Grey Goose W*ankers" which is a collection of pictures of absolute roasters showing off with their bottle of Grey Goose in a club.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:12 am
Posts: 28680
Full Member
 

What's Grey Goose ?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:15 am
Posts: 56564
Full Member
 

WHY in deepest urbania should beer be 4quid a pop outside London?!

Because people will pay it. You charge what the market will tolerate. Apparently the influx of BBC Media types into Manchester has bumped up prices in certain venues to London prices, as thats what their customers are used to paying, so don't bat an eyelid.

We popped into Gorilla for a pre-gig pint a few months back, as it was the closest to the Ritz. It was awash with Nathan Barley-a-likes. 2 pints of Peroni? That'll be £9.60 please. 😯 We didn't stop for another


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:26 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Yup, always check the drinks prices before ordering, then I don't get stung. The barstaff/other customers don't always seem too happy when I do this in a busy nightclub though! More fool them for not having a care in the world!

If there's a few of us on a night out and we're buying rounds, I usually keep a running total (on my iPhone, or I pop the receipts in my top pocket) of total spends, then we can share the difference equally at the end of the night.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:31 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Maybe Im just grouchy, but a few times in london I've ordered a pint.... they pull it then pronounce some stupid price and are actually offended when i say no and walk away as they protest "but I've pulled it now".

Its amusing to see the other sheeple all looking at you in horror too 😉


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:39 am
Posts: 28680
Full Member
 

If there's a few of us on a night out and we're buying rounds, I usually keep a running total (on my iPhone, or I pop the receipts in my top pocket) of total spends, then we can share the difference equally at the end of the night

No, surely you don't do that ? please tell me you don't ?

So if you were in a group of 5 and then for example moved bars and someone skipped a round, you'd then make someone pay a little more at the end of the night as their round was cheaper than yours ?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:42 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

davidtaylforth - Member
Yup, always check the drinks prices before ordering, then I don't get stung. The barstaff/other customers don't always seem too happy when I do this in a busy nightclub though! More fool them for not having a care in the world!

If there's a few of us on a night out and we're buying rounds, I usually keep a running total (on my iPhone, or I pop the receipts in my top pocket) of total spends, then we can share the difference equally at the end of the night.

You from Yorkshire?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:47 am
Posts: 12865
Free Member
 

Trollshire, more like! 🙂


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:58 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

😀


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:13 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

i paid £5 for a pint of peroni last weekend, nice pub on the outskirts of Huddersfield, was very surprised at the price!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:15 am
Posts: 12072
Full Member
 

davidtaylforth - Member
Yup, always check the drinks prices before ordering, then I don't get stung. The barstaff/other customers don't always seem too happy when I do this in a busy nightclub though! More fool them for not having a care in the world!
If there's a few of us on a night out and we're buying rounds, I usually keep a running total (on my iPhone, or I pop the receipts in my top pocket) of total spends, then we can share the difference equally at the end of the night.

😆


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:19 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

There's bound to be people somewhere that'll do that.

Probably the people that ask on here about dinner part etiquette and all that - "how much should I spend on a bottle of wine" etc.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:22 am
Posts: 20675
 

@Al1982 The Golden Cock at Farnley Tyas perchance?

Been stung in there for that brew at that price myself!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:25 am
 grum
Posts: 4531
Free Member
 

I'd definitely check the price of fancy Belgian beer in a touristy place. Don't normally check, though I wouldn't have been expecting 28 euros! I once spent 9 euros on a pint in Chamonix without realising and was pretty outraged.

Manchester is getting ridiculously expensive though, and it's spreading out from there.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:34 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Tom.. the very place!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:44 am
Posts: 798
Free Member
 

ive gotten used to the fact where i live (Hamble area, a pint is going to cost about £4.50, same when i go drinking in Cowes
I get a real shock when i pay less than £3 a pint.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:54 am
Posts: 5
Free Member
 

If there's a few of us on a night out and we're buying rounds, I usually keep a running total (on my iPhone, or I pop the receipts in my top pocket) of total spends, then we can share the difference equally at the end of the night

Why don't you all put £20 in a kitty? When it runs out, put a tenner in. And repeat. Or something.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 12:07 pm
Posts: 1014
Free Member
 

went in one of the locals a few weeks back for 2 pints.

"That'll be £9.60" she says as she hands me back 40p. "Oh no, it's gone up. £9.80" as she takes 20p back out of my hand.

Why not call it a tenner 20p won't buy me anything.

Hamble area
jolly sailor ^


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 12:09 pm
Posts: 811
Free Member
 

I paid 7 quid for a pint of cherry beer in some fancy beer place in Islington.

Took me about an hour to drink the bloody thing. It was horrible.

I was drunk.

Serves me right really.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 12:10 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Passing through Switzerland I paid 9 euros for a pint. I wasn't impressed at the price but it was a nice stop and the view was lovely so all things considered I was okay with that.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 1:29 pm
 hora
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

"That'll be £9.60" she says as she hands me back 40p. "Oh no, it's gone up. £9.80" as she takes 20p back out of my hand.

😆 had this at Bartok's in Camden. Two drinks £9.30 (circa). Mrshora was pissed off. Barmaid came over and said 'sorry I've made a mistake' (me grins at mrshora) 'it should be an extra £1.50'.

😆


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 1:33 pm
Posts: 12865
Free Member
 

Why don't you all put £20 in a kitty? When it runs out, put a tenner in. And repeat. Or something.
This works well for "big nights out". If anyone else joins the group, you don't have to worry about buying them a drink - unless they stick a tenner in. Plus you don't have anyone messing around with silly drinks orders. You get what everyone else is having, e.g. everyone has a pint, or everyone has a shot, etc.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 1:57 pm
Posts: 13369
Full Member
 

I was in a hotel feeling a bit 'tired' and ordered a brandy. The barman asked which brandy so I just pointed at one randomly and said 'Make it a double'

Thankfully the bar man said 'Good choice sir, we don't often sell much as it is £37 per measure. Most people choose this one at just £7 per shot. Perhaps you would like to try that one first?'

I thought that was a great way of letting me know before I got fleeced


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 2:41 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

The hotel I got married in had a good selection of single malts behind each bar. My poor (English) wedding photographer finished for the night, bought himself a double whisky and was slightly taken aback when asked for £48!

I told my best man the tale ( my little brother ) and he promptly bought me a double of the same whisky - I was astonished as he's a bit stingy at the best of times. I found out the next day that he'd charged it to his room which was paid for by my parents 😀


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 3:28 pm
Posts: 135
Free Member
 

I can't believe what some people are paying for a pint.
Pub down the road,£1.90 pint of bitter,£2.10 for a pint of lager or stout.Basic pub,no juke box,food,fruit machine,dart board etc.
The bags of crisps are big as well !


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 4:55 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

£1.90?! I'm £2.90 for a pint of Landlord, and that's in the post-industrial wasteland that is NE England.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 4:58 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I had 3 pints of Staropramen last night - it came to about 3.2 of your English pounds. But then I do live in Prague.

[Feels smug]


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 5:04 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

I was in the Old No.7 in Barnsley with my brother,it's the Acorn brewery tap,and on his round I'd seen a bottle of beer with Amarillo on the label,so I said can I have one.Poor bugger came back,it was the De Molen Amarillo,£6.50 for 330mls,it was delicious 😆
P.S. I did offer to pay,but he stood for it.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 5:10 pm
Posts: 12865
Free Member
 

Pub down the road,£1.90 pint of bitter,£2.10 for a pint of lager or stout.
is that shit beer though, or anything worth drinking?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 5:55 pm
 br
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

My normal rule of thumb abroad is to drink local beers, never imports.

Had a huge rant in the ar5e-end of Poland once, where the barmaid insisted that we should drink the imported stuff as we weren't local 🙂

At that time it was about 1DM (hard to buy local currency at the time) for a local beer and 10DM for an import - foreigner price too, as I found out later.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:01 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

And I thought being asked for 7 euros after ordering a "pint" of Grimbergen in Amsterdam 2 weeks ago was a bit steep!
I say this but if you're not careful, you can get charged £4.80 for a pint of peroni in the local in Guildford.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:04 pm
Posts: 45
Free Member
 

All places I frequent list the prices on the blackboard.

£6.60 for a double Buffalo Trace & Pepsi tonight at the Witherspoons.

I don't know if that's normal or not.

I'll pay £3.30 for a cask pint all day. But it's Edinburgh, where the braver you are, the cheaper the pint.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:07 pm
Posts: 5
Free Member
 

Typically my local in Nottingham is £3 fit a pint of London Pride. £3.50-£4 for a peroni. More local beer is around £2.50-£3 a pint for castle rock or other local beers.

South wise, I was out in Brighton where my sister lives no long ago and it came to £10 for a London pride & a glass if wine & about £10 for a pint of moretti & a London pride.

I remember when I lived in reading 10 years ago and j was ashtonished it cost me £3.50 for a pint of Stella at the Swan at Pangbourne. I'm only 32 and also remember going out for a Saturday night with £30, coming home plastered and also having change in my pocket!!

It's my choice to drink, I enjoy drinking with friends, family & the wife, so I'm not particularly fussed if it costs me £3 or £10 a pint. The only correlation it might have is if I drank 3 pints or 10 pints!


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:36 pm
 DrP
Posts: 12041
Full Member
 

Why don't you all put £20 in a kitty? When it runs out, put a tenner in. And repeat. Or something.

This is the thing...
If I want £20 worth of booze, I'll spend that.
If I don't, I wont.

We don't do this for socks, why do we do it for beer??!!

DrP

(I know it's all a social thing, but TBH I just really don't 'get it' - I think it's because I wasn't raised in/around pubs at all, so it's all a bit alien to me!)


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 7:41 pm
Posts: 4132
Full Member
 

"Dr P" first man up at Single Speed UK.

There's method in his madness you know..


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 8:43 pm
Posts: 9
Free Member
 

A flip side of this, a few years ago, in a Wetherspoons or similar, in Darlington, or similar. Malt of the Month, 18yo something or other.
Me: "3 of those please barman."
Him: "£3.30."
Me: "No, I'm paying for all 3."
Him: "Yes, £1.10 each."
Me: "Triple them"

I miss the desolate NE. 🙁


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 9:21 pm
Posts: 1432
Full Member
Topic starter
 

you're drinking Belgium Trappist beer, in a terrace bar in rome, it's not g]oing to be 10 euros is it?

Correct. The pint of Dubbel I had immediately afterwards was €6.50. We'd seen the draught price list, which is what gave the impression that prices were reasonable.

This was the oak aged version. I wasn't aware it was different to the standard quad, but I'll look out for it in future!

And FWIW I wasn't in Rome.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:00 pm
Posts: 1432
Full Member
Topic starter
 

you're drinking Belgium Trappist beer, in a terrace bar in rome, it's not g]oing to be 10 euros is it?

Correct. The pint of Dubbel I had immediately afterwards was €6.50. We'd seen the draught price list, which is what gave the impression that prices were reasonable.

This was the oak aged version. I wasn't aware it was different to the standard quad, but I'll look out for it in future!

And FWIW I wasn't in Rome.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:01 pm
Posts: 4267
Full Member
 

Similar to Flash's place there's a boozer in town that prices drinks proportional to ABV 😆


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:33 pm
Posts: 20675
 

Flash's place

First class lounge bar at [s]heathrow[/s] any major international airport?


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 10:54 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

This is the thing...
If I want £20 worth of booze, I'll spend that.
If I don't, I wont.

It's more the hassle of going to the bar and elbowing your way through the throng, rather than the cost. And then carrying six pints back through the throng to your table.


 
Posted : 04/09/2013 11:12 pm
Posts: 5
Free Member
 

We don't do this for socks, why do we do it for beer??!!

It's easier as there is no concern about "rounds" then. One person keeps the kitty, they go the bar. However, we don't tend to frequesnt bars where you have to fight to get served so being the kitty holder is never a chore.

Also, I don't go out to buy socks with my friends. 😆


 
Posted : 05/09/2013 9:44 am

6 DAYS LEFT
We are currently at 95% of our target!