Beer taps on tables for customers to help themselves?

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truthseeker

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I was in a well known Dublin city centre pub last night and my attention was drawn to the fact that they have installed 2 beer taps on each table (Guinness and Carlsberg), so patrons can pull their own pints. There is a digital readout that shows the amount of money being clocked up and it seems to be the case that when you are done you get a staff member to check the read out and then you pay the amount due.

Im all for personal responsibility but I was a little shocked at how easy it was for someone who might not have been served at the bar (for being too drunk to stand up for example) to keep pouring themselves pints. It was a busy place so it would have been easy to miss someones inebriated state if they were in the middle of a group pulling their own pints - unsupervised access to alcohol as it were.

The other thing that struck me was that in an off licence for example you have to hand over the money before getting the booze whereas in this situation you could literally drink any amount you wanted and only after you'd had your fill was anyone going to look for money - Ive no idea how the situation is handled if it turns out the guy lying under the table only has a fiver on him when the read out shows he has consumed a far larger monetary value of drink.

All in all I just felt it was a little too easy for people to abuse such a system. No one in our group partook of it, the waitress seemed surprised we would rather go to the bar and order drink in the 'normal' way.

Anyone else any thoughts on the subject? Perhaps its the 'norm' in a lot of places and it was just my first time to see it.
 
Were the taps connected via pipes to a central distribution system or was there a local tank that periodically needs refilling?
 
GeneralZod said:
Were the taps connected via pipes to a central distribution system or was there a local tank that periodically needs refilling?
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I dont know how they were set up - I think it was central distribution as there were pipes that went down a central 'tube' under the table into the floor and no obvious signs of how they would refill a local tank (the table legs were bolted into the floor) - also there were a number of groups who had high read outs and in the time we were there I didnt see any refills happening. It was busy to the point that it would have been difficult for staff to clear a space to do a refll also. But I could be wrong - I never asked how that aspect of it worked. A waitress asked us if we wanted to use it and we said no, so we didnt get into the detail of how much was available.
 
What are they going to do when you inform them that you have no money after skulling down numerous pints - sue you.

Or, on the way out to the the toilet you make for the door, never to be seen again.

Best of all, "I'm only going outside for a smoke". Gone



Murt
 
They had numerous staff circulating and the tables were large, it would have been obvious if the whole group had decided to up and leave - but yes Murt, that thought crossed my mind also!
 
The obvious answer is a dipstick - for those that query the meter reading. :D
 
I've seen these in Spain. I suppose its a bit like the way in the US you build up a tab - and more and more so in places here. Altough not on really busy nights like it sounds like this was.

Would be pretty easy to drink too much and lose track of what you owe - even when you intend to pay your bill!
 
Is the price of the drinks the same? Or are they cheaper because you are doing the barmans job for them
 
They should install negative pressure air pipes out to the street for smokers to blow into. And also urinal pipes under the table.
 
truthseeker said:
The other thing that struck me was that in an off licence for example you have to hand over the money before getting the booze whereas in this situation you could literally drink any amount you wanted and only after you'd had your fill was anyone going to look for money - Ive no idea how the situation is handled if it turns out the guy lying under the table only has a fiver on him when the read out shows he has consumed a far larger monetary value of drink.
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As far as I know, one member of the group has to first give his/her credit card, which will be billed at the end of the night.
 
I also saw this is Spain (never got to try it as pub was closing when we arrived at it) and thought it was a novel idea.

Can you name the pub in Dublin thats doing it?
 
How do you stop other drunk people from using your beer pump, and stealing your beer? - Do you have to babysit the pump all night?

How do you get the money out of your (drunk) companions at the end of the night to pay your credit card? Can just imagine the arguments that could cause.
 
RMCF said:
Can you name the pub in Dublin thats doing it?
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Baggot Inn? At least their ads on the radio say something along the lines of "still the only pub in Dublin [or Ireland?] where you can pull your own pint".
 
truthseeker said:
All in all I just felt it was a little too easy for people to abuse such a system.

...

Anyone else any thoughts on the subject?
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Yes - like you I'm
all for personal responsibility
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If some people choose to abuse alcohol then that's their own business. If/when it impinges on others then there are other laws to deal with that.
 
ClubMan said:
Baggot Inn? At least their ads on the radio say something along the lines of "still the only pub in Dublin [or Ireland?] where you can pull your own pint".
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Yes, thats where it was.

I agree Clubman, let people be responsible for their own actions. I was initially shocked when I saw the set up - but I know I wouldnt personally abuse it and its only my own behaviour Ive to worry about.
 
When the Baggot Inn first re-opened a few months ago with this service you had to 'prepay' your pump i.e. register your credit card at the bar and authorise say €20 worth of booze, after which the pumps cut off.

I'm not sure if this is still the case though.
 
soy said:
It is a new Diageo inititative
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Drink insensibly? :)

lightup said:
When the Baggot Inn first re-opened a few months ago with this service you had to 'prepay' your pump i.e. register your credit card at the bar and authorise say €20 worth of booze, after which the pumps cut off.
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And a Stephen Hawking style voice shouts "HAVE YIZ NO HOMES TO GO TA?".
 
We were in a pub in BArcelona which had this. There was a tally of litres drank displayed over the bar.

Thought it was a good idea. You could top up your drink as you wanted.
 
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