Charging for a lemonade top

[belfastgirl]

we had a button on the till for lager shandy,lager tops,beer shandy,beer tops, so the price you paid was ?1.78 for alpine lager be it straight,shandy or tops, the doocot should be open really soon, looks nicely done up, but without any tv,s or music think its been wa ste off money, as like i have said before once sams took over we lost of coustomers,

[DarkieBoy]

we had a button on the till for lager shandy,lager tops,beer shandy,beer tops, so the price you paid was ?1.78 for alpine lager be it straight,shandy or tops, the doocot should be open really soon, looks nicely done up, but without any tv,s or music think its been wa ste off money, as like i have said before once sams took over we lost of coustomers,

Can you get any photos of the outside, belfastgirl?  This pub has often been cited as a recent before and after Samuel Smith's takeover - interesting.

DB.

[belfastgirl]

ive heard that the pub is opening on friday,was meant to be monday but still not quite ready, if it does open on friday then i will take some photos of inside,the outside still very much the same as before,except the main door been put back to were it was before we had fire,ive heard that its being put back to origanal way the pub was laid out,again before we had fire many years ago,

[DarkieBoy]

Okay, and thank you for the update.

DB.

[centurion]

Speaking as a customer I think Valgrind as a good point.  Many years ago when my wife was drinking lager & lime the club we used served it in half pint glasses.  Being a true Yorkshireman I told them that I was getting short measure and asked for it to be served in a oversize glass.  I was told noway would the club buy oversize glasses just for me. 

From then on I got my wife half a lager and a tot of lime in a tot glass.  It went on for months on end and the rest of the club members followed suit, in the end everybody was doing it.  After about a year the club bought oversize glasses. Customer power won that time.  But I have a feeling it wont wash with Sam Smith's.

ian.

 A true yorkshireman would have made her buy her own lime. Pray tell what type of cocktail do you treat her to now and does she still buy her own crisps?

[centurion]

Can't say I've ever been in a pub that doesn't charge extra, but that's not to say I agree with it as it's always seemed to me to be the worst kind of penny pinching, especially with post mix lemonade having such a massive mark-up.  Technically, pubs can get away with it because as soon as you add something to a pint of lager or beer it becomes a 'made drink' in the same way as a shandy, and a different price can be charged. Still, when I was in the trade I'd never charge for a dash of lemonade in a pint, but I would charge for lime.

Bingo!!! Once upon a time, when Jack & Jill were younger, lemonade and cordials were commonly placed on the bar to 'splash' in ones drink.

Then ....  it was realised livings were to be made?

[OldBreweryDrinker]

Can't say I've ever been in a pub that doesn't charge extra, but that's not to say I agree with it as it's always seemed to me to be the worst kind of penny pinching, especially with post mix lemonade having such a massive mark-up.  Technically, pubs can get away with it because as soon as you add something to a pint of lager or beer it becomes a 'made drink' in the same way as a shandy, and a different price can be charged. Still, when I was in the trade I'd never charge for a dash of lemonade in a pint, but I would charge for lime.

Bingo!!! Once upon a time, when Jack & Jill were younger, lemonade and cordials were commonly placed on the bar to 'splash' in ones drink.

Then ....  it was realised livings were to be made?

The same for all brewerys nowadays.

[ian]

Speaking as a customer I think Valgrind as a good point.  Many years ago when my wife was drinking lager & lime the club we used served it in half pint glasses.  Being a true Yorkshireman I told them that I was getting short measure and asked for it to be served in a oversize glass.  I was told noway would the club buy oversize glasses just for me. 

From then on I got my wife half a lager and a tot of lime in a tot glass.  It went on for months on end and the rest of the club members followed suit, in the end everybody was doing it.  After about a year the club bought oversize glasses. Customer power won that time.  But I have a feeling it wont wash with Sam Smith's.

ian.

 A true yorkshireman would have made her buy her own lime. Pray tell what type of cocktail do you treat her to now and does she still buy her own crisps?

Got my wife to drink lime & soda, it took a bit of doing getting her off Martini's (she could drink it by the bucket) but I told her that soda was better for her. At first she told me that she did not like soda. That is why I begrudgingly go to the expense of putting lime in.  CRISPS noway, if I start buying her crisps she might want a meal next.

[RHarris]

Ok - lets's try this one!

?3.95 for a Pure Brew which - even for London prices - is up there with Stella and then having a "lemonade bottom" ie in first and beer on top, I was charged anothe ?1.16 for that, so - all in all - a Pure Brew "top" cost me ?5.11 

Views, please, from those who keep banging on about how cheap SS pubs are!

[DarkieBoy]

Ok - lets's try this one!

?3.95 for a Pure Brew which - even for London prices - is up there with Stella and then having a "lemonade bottom" ie in first and beer on top, I was charged anothe ?1.16 for that, so - all in all - a Pure Brew "top" cost me ?5.11 

Views, please, from those who keep banging on about how cheap SS pubs are!

Hi there, welcome to the forum and thank you for your first post.  If it was me, then I would not be charging for lemonade tops/bottoms.  The amount of lemonade added is covered by the lager lost, or thereabouts in the pint. 

As for the prices (without lager tops or bottoms) Samuel Smith's are still one of the cheapest pubs companies in the UK as a whole at the moment.  I currently pay ?1.71 for a pint of cask bitter and ?2.80 for Pure Brewed Lager.  In my area, Carling is around ?3.00 per pint.

DB.

[OnTheDrink]

Ok - lets's try this one!

?3.95 for a Pure Brew which - even for London prices - is up there with Stella and then having a "lemonade bottom" ie in first and beer on top, I was charged anothe ?1.16 for that, so - all in all - a Pure Brew "top" cost me ?5.11 

Views, please, from those who keep banging on about how cheap SS pubs are!

The cost of the nasty scintilla postmix is bad enough but charging extra for a top is just a rip off.   You'd be better off buying a half of lemonade and topping your (probably already short measure) pints up yourself!

[ian]

Ok - lets's try this one!

?3.95 for a Pure Brew which - even for London prices - is up there with Stella and then having a "lemonade bottom" ie in first and beer on top, I was charged anothe ?1.16 for that, so - all in all - a Pure Brew "top" cost me ?5.11 

Views, please, from those who keep banging on about how cheap SS pubs are!

The cost of the nasty scintilla postmix is bad enough but charging extra for a top is just a rip off.   You'd be better off buying a half of lemonade and topping your (probably already short measure) pints up yourself!

Hi welcome RHarris.  This rip off is a very sore point with me.  But it's not only Sam Smiths that do it, is it? When my wife drinks Martini's I always buy a glass of lemonade which lasts  her all night.  (like all true  Yorkshiremen do)  And paying over ?5 a pint is enough to drive you to drink. Up north I think the OBB is well under ?1-70 a pint. Seeing Lemonade is pennies for the brewery to buy, there are already making the profit by not giving you a full pint of lager.

[sovsuppa]

You know,by law, you are perfectly entitled to ask for your "lemonade top" or lime/blackcurrant additive in a seperate glass, therefore getting your pint with the extra to be added by yourself.

[OldBreweryDrinker]

Any post mix product in any pub is a rip off. But Sam Smiths new policy of charging for a half a post mix with a spirit is a rip off. Some customers in my local now ask for the lemonade separate. As for tops in lager that is a joke at 27p for a bit of lemonade. I would ask for it in a separate glass and pour it. Not heard of been asked to pay for a half glass of lemonade for a top though. But we all know that managers are under pressure from Humphrey to make the 5% surplus, if he can still demand it.