Monday, 9 April 2012

Two times better?

On Easter Sunday I took my mother out for lunch to a pub that had a “two for one” offer on effectively all main meals. This meant that meals priced at around £9-£10 on the menu in fact ended up costing only a fiver each, which is pretty decent value. I understand the reasons for this – thinking you have got a £9.45 meal “half price” feels good, whereas if it was priced at £4.75 you would simply think it was cheap crap. But it comes across as distinctly arbitrary – it’s unfair if you’re dining on your own, and also, to a diminishing extent, if in an odd-numbered party. Wouldn’t the objective be better achieved, and returns maximised, if the individual meals were priced in a range from £5.50 to £7? The food, in the context of microwaved pub grub, was fine, by the way.

Posted by on

7 comments:

  1. Neville Grundy9 April 2012 at 16:47

    I went for a pub meal with two friends, a couple. They had a 2 for 1 meal, but there was nothing under a tenner I could order, so I didn't bother. It wasn't meant to be a meal out, but just a pit stop during a pub crawl. I never order a meal from a 2 for 1 menu if I'm on my own.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark Wadsworth9 April 2012 at 17:24

    "Wouldn’t the objective be better achieved, and returns maximised, if the individual meals were priced in a range from £5.50 to £7?"

    Well yes, you'd think so, but these people who run pubs probably know what they are doing (hopefully). I certainly would prefer individual pricing for the reasons you explain, but hey.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9 April 2012 at 19:26

    2 for 1 would be nice for a solitary person; if, you could box the 1 and take it home.

    Don't see that being allowed.

    Gary K.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cooking Lager10 April 2012 at 11:06

    Plenty of offers appear designed for couples but a 2 for 1 is not really treating the squeeze. You're not getting any taking a bird out for a 2for1.

    But I suspect you're not after any, if it's not yer Doris but yer Dutchess your treating.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Neville Grundy10 April 2012 at 16:03

    Or, CL, eating because you needed to, as I did, rather than it being a meal out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cooking Lager10 April 2012 at 16:40

    Eye, Red. Plenty of functional eating is done solo. Like sex. But it's nicer with someone else.

    Do people wanting an apple to eat with their lunch have an issue with Tesco having bags of apples 2for1?

    I mean you have to have a missus and kids to get through that many apples. And you you#d need them to like apples. My mum gives me bags of fruit because she has to take the free one because it's free but cannot use it. My house is full of rotting fruit.

    I get the feeling of being conned it you can't use the free one, but you know the offer is either for you or it ain't. Don't eat there if you're on your own or ask the tramp outside the Spar to join you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Neville Grundy11 April 2012 at 18:13

    You're missing the point, CL. My friends were happy with their £5 meal each, and as I said before it was a pit stop to refuel, not a meal out as an event in itself. To pay £10 for a meal which clearly wasn't worth £10 was not something I was prepared to do. Nothing to do with Tesco, apples, tramps or your mum, lovely though I'm sure she is.

    ReplyDelete

Comments, especially on older posts, may require prior approval by the blog owner. See here for details of my comment policy.

Please register an account to comment. Unregistered comments will generally be rejected unless I recognise the author. If you want to comment using an unregistered ID, you will need to tell me something about yourself.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)