Things that piss you off that shouldn't

[AvfcRigo82]

20 minutes ago, sidcow said:

That all said, pubs are regularly going out of business so there isn't that much money to make.... At least for the landlord. How much the Pubco's earn anyway. 

It's a tough gig.

Especially when dictated to and at the mercy of a brewery. They also need to 'be serving' popular beers on tap just to get the clientele through the door, but they make very little mark up on a pint (Peroni one example).

Then there's the bills of heating, gas, electric, staff etc. Before taking into account how expensive it is for punters. No suprise many are sadly going out of business.

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It's a tough gig.

Especially when dictated to and at the mercy of a brewery. They also need to 'be serving' popular beers on tap just to get the clientele through the door, but they make very little mark up on a pint (Peroni one example).

Then there's the bills of heating, gas, electric, staff etc. Before taking into account how expensive it is for punters. No suprise many are sadly going out of business.

I spoke to the new owner of The POW in Moseley after they reopened. 

They had Wye Valley HPA on tap for loads less than the other beers. 

He said its the non tied beer he's allowed to stock so can sell it much cheaper than his tied beers and make more money off it. 

It's insane, Pubcos make money off everyone. 

I was delighted because I love HPA and didn't like the other beers he had on so I was helping him out, saving myself money and sticking it to. The Pubco with every pint. 

The difference was massive, over a £ a pint. 

[Xela]

Street food restaurants. 

Not street food is it?

[sidcow]

55 minutes ago, Xela said:

Street food restaurants. 

Not street food is it?

But I've called it so, so bizarrely that's an extra £10 on your bill. 

[foreveryoung]

1 hour ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It's a tough gig.

Especially when dictated to and at the mercy of a brewery. They also need to 'be serving' popular beers on tap just to get the clientele through the door, but they make very little mark up on a pint (Peroni one example).

Then there's the bills of heating, gas, electric, staff etc. Before taking into account how expensive it is for punters. No suprise many are sadly going out of business.

Gone are the days you could go the Wholesaler and buy your own bottles, Diamond White and WKD to name a couple, an make your own profits.

[AvfcRigo82]

3 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Gone are the days you could go the Wholesaler and buy your own bottles, Diamond White and WKD to name a couple, an make your own profits.

I think if you're running a free house that might still be possible to an extent.

However, I notice now at wholesalers like Booker, they're no cheaper than the supermarkets when it comes to alcohol. - The major ones offering deals like 3 for 2 etc. on boxes of bottled beer would be the way round that side of it I would imagine.

 

[foreveryoung]

1 minute ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

I think if you're running a free house that might still be possible to an extent.

However, I notice now at wholesalers like Booker, they're no cheaper than the supermarkets when it comes to alcohol. - The major ones offering deals like 3 for 2 etc. on boxes of bottled beer would be the way round that side of it I would imagine.

 

Madri on draught is the one every pub has now, must be cheap, taste like shit. My pal told me it's made by Carling and basically the old Carling recipe.

[sidcow]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Madri on draught is the one every pub has now, must be cheap, taste like shit. My pal told me it's made by Carling and basically the old Carling recipe.

Breweries every couple of years bring out some new lager and promote it as the exotic premium brand. Sell it for a stupid price and market it as something special. 

It's usually the Carling Black Label of wherever it originated and within a couple of years it's just a bog standard lager over here either discontinued or sold cheaply as breweries try to pretend their next shiny shit Forrin beer is the latest thing. 

[AvfcRigo82]

7 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Madri on draught is the one every pub has now, must be cheap, taste like shit. My pal told me it's made by Carling and basically the old Carling recipe.

Sounds like they're the pubs that's supplied/operated by Molson Coors brewery.

[Talldarkandransome]

Broadband thats meant to be 350mbps currently running a COD MW2 update at under 90mbps. Don't know if its the IP or COD servers that's clocking it

[TheAuthority]

7 hours ago, sidcow said:

But I've called it so, so bizarrely that's an extra £10 on your bill. 

Something that makes me laugh more than pisses me off is "Farmers Market" prices.

We'll charge about 45% more than a normal supermarket because our vegetables have dirt on them. Not for me.

[VILLAMARV]

8 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

However, I notice now at wholesalers like Booker, they're no cheaper than the supermarkets when it comes to alcohol.

Tesco actually bought Bookers a while ago, and you're right. In fact Supermarkets were often a bit cheaper on spirits last time I did a bar and had to stock up. As you said, freehouses still have some autonomy, but not the buying power or influence of the big pubcos.

I get very misty-eyed when I think back to my time as a publican in the 90s/00s. As I've said on here before, I think 3 things changed the trade forever. The smoking ban obviously, the birth of the pubco and their business plan of routinely bankrupting the unsuspecting mugs who sign up with them, and the most important/damaging of the lot to the pub trade was doing away with the off licenses and allowing the supermarkets to sell alcohol. I mean if they're selling it cheaper than you're allowed to buy it.....

 

[lapal_fan]

13 hours ago, Xela said:

Public transport etiquette in Birmingham. 

Trains - people wait on the platform, train comes in, doors open and people get off. The people wanting to get on wait diligently and allow all the incoming travellers to exit. Then they file onto the train, in good order and politely. Nice.

Midland Metro - like throwing a bag of chips into a flock of seagulls. Absolute swamp rat behaviour. Doors open and its like a rugby scrum as people getting on try and charge into the people getting off. 

I'm scared to even try the bus. 

I've had to get loads of trains this week, going to different places in London, Brighton and Bham.

It doesn't seem like that problem is exclusive to Bham to be honest.

London you can kind of understand, lots of people perhaps not familiar with the underground and how it works, panicking when the current train is here, instead of realising there's another 90 seconds after.

I was surprised at the rush to get in to and out of Brighton though.  I think people think you have about 10 seconds of open door before it slams shut and the train goes off.  Then after that mad 10 seconds you walk on, get your sit and sit waiting for the train to leave for another 5 mins with the doors open

[Davkaus]

4 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Something that makes me laugh more than pisses me off is "Farmers Market" prices.

We'll charge about 45% more than a normal supermarket because our vegetables have dirt on them. Not for me.

I'm not having this

It costs a bit more because it's fresh stuff grown in season that actually tastes of the fruit and veg it's meant to be rather than stuff grown god knows where, harvested way before it's ripe so that it doesn't spoil in the supply chain. Worth every penny IMO.

They can piss off with their £10 jars of chutney and other bollocks, but I get most of my veg dropped off in a weekly box from a local farm and it's night and day compared to the shite the supermarkets sell.

[tonyh29]

12 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

Madri on draught is the one every pub has now, must be cheap, taste like shit. My pal told me it's made by Carling and basically the old Carling recipe.

probably cause its brewed in Yorkshire  

its basically Coors light with extra hop extract 

there is a good story about it and its popularity here

First things first: Madrí’s initial boom appeared to take place in one particular month. A quick peek at Google Trends shows that Madrí’s popularity shot up in April 2022 – specifically the week beginning April 24, when interest peaked at ten times its February figures.

[tonyh29]

15 hours ago, Xela said:

Public transport etiquette in Birmingham. 

Trains - people wait on the platform, train comes in, doors open and people get off. The people wanting to get on wait diligently and allow all the incoming travellers to exit. Then they file onto the train, in good order and politely. Nice.

Midland Metro - like throwing a bag of chips into a flock of seagulls. Absolute swamp rat behaviour. Doors open and its like a rugby scrum as people getting on try and charge into the people getting off. 

I'm scared to even try the bus. 

look for the faded area on the yellow platform  lines and then you know where the doors will be , there will still be a scrum , but at least you are at the front of it 

Before the Jubilee line opened I used to have to get the bank line tube from Waterloo ... I've had the doors open 3 cm from my nose and still been beaten inside the carriage by about 50 people , no prisoners taken on that line 

[chrisp65]

I find on busy days in London, wearing peach coloured bed linen and tapping a tambourine gets me loads of space. 

[tonyh29]

15 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I find on busy days in London, wearing peach coloured bed linen and tapping a tambourine gets me loads of space. 

tbf , just start talking to someone in London will get you loads of space 

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, tonyh29 said:

tbf , just start talking to someone in London will get you loads of space 

Works for me. 

[sidcow]

19 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I find on busy days in London, wearing peach coloured bed linen and tapping a tambourine gets me loads of space. 

I prefer the clutching rucksack to your stomach, sweating profusely* and muttering to yourself method.

 

* Obviously hard to avoid on t'underground anyway.

Edited October 19, 2023 by sidcow