Christmas craft fair - RDS - extortionate price for food

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quinno

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Was at the Christmas Craft Fare at the RDS yesterday. Good to see rip-off Ireland is still going strong and showing no signs of abating. After paying €26 in (2 adults @ €10 plus €6 to park), which we knew in advance and were happy to pay (Well, Mrs Quinno was anyhow!), we went to get a sandwich.

One stall in there was looking for €12 for a ham roll (consisted of a vac packed roll, butter, ham) or if you liked a measly slice of quiche (same price). Both came with salad on the side (coleslaw, potato salad, etc). No where to sit and eat this - there were common areas that were packed. So you were expected to pay this and eat it off a paper plate, standing up. No signs of any pricing whatsoever - plenty of boards explaining all their products were 'gourmet'. I found out the price just as the lady in front of me was paying, nautuallly I wasn't going to pay this for a ham roll. When I queried the extortionate price at the till, gourmet or not, the arrogance of the guy there beggared belief.

It's probably too late to do anything about this now (the show finished yesterday), but anyone had any success of shopping guys like these to the Consumer Association? The fact that they didn't have prices displayed is probably one count. It would be nice to teach him a lesson in value and manners for future events. I have purposely not put his name here.
 
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quinno said:
but anyone had any success of shopping guys like these to the Consumer Association? The fact that they didn't have prices displayed is probably one count.
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That is the only count on which they have transgressed as far as I can see. Charging high/extortionate prices is not a rip-off in itself - but not displaying a price list as required under law is. You should report them to the NCA. The Consumer Association are not a statutory body so have no actual powers in this context. The NCA do.
 
Worth trying the Consumer Association to be aware of these guys at other shows. I would say if they displayed their prices a lot of people wouldn't go near them. Though no ones forced to buy from them. Doesn't require much effort to eat before hand, or bring your own food.
 
aircobra19 said:
Doesn't require much effort to eat before hand, or bring your own food.
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Fair comment, but we had chosen to get something there. We had a hectic morning that day (had to collect our 15 month old from sister-in-laws), so we felt a sandwich at a reasonable price was not too much an ask. In the end, we got some fantastic veggie samosas and pizza slices from the Blazing Salads stand - [broken link removed] - at €2.85 each, delicious....
 
quinno said:
It's probably too late to do anything about this now (the show finished yesterday), but anyone had any success of shopping guys like these to the Consumer Association? The fact that they didn't have prices displayed is probably one count. It would be nice to teach him a lesson in value and manners for future events. I have purposely not put his name here.
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As far as I know there are only three Catering Companies who have a contract for the RDS, so unless it was a stall there for that particular event which this doesn't sound like it should be one of them, you can contact the RDS to complain maybe? I could be wrong but imagine the person at the till was an employee rather than the cat getting the cream?
 
quinno said:
One stall in there was looking for €12 for a ham roll (consisted of a vac packed roll, butter, ham) or if you liked a measly slice of quiche (same price). Both came with salad on the side (coleslaw, potato salad, etc).
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I wouldn't have thought that €12 for a roll or quiche with side salads was totally outrageous in this day and age. Especially at an event with a largely captuve audience. Whether or not it was good value is one thing. If the price was clearly displayed then it certainly would not have been a rip-off. However if no prices were displayed then they have broken the law. Did you point this out to them at the time? You should still report it in my opinion.
 
Well, thankfully there were choices - the RDS had a cafe / restautrant doing hot food and sandwiches (neitehr of which we fancied) at reasonable prices, as well as the other smaller stands. So no harm done in the end.

I was just amazed at how many people got to the till, said "sorry, how much - €12? ok, here you go". Suppose that's the reason they get away with it....
 
But €12 for a sambo/quiche and side salads would not be extortionate around Dublin city generally as far as I know. I'm not saying that it's good value but I doubt that it's unusual. The lack of a price list is unacceptable though.
 
hmmm. I work in Dublin city centre, and even €12 for a takeaway sambo and a bit of salad would be steep. The pricelist was the one thing that annoyed me, this was obviously part of the game plan, knowing how unassertive the average Irish punter can be.
 
Well plenty of convenience stores (Spar, Centra, Londis, M&S etc.) near me in Dublin city centre (northside) charge about a fiver for a sambo and the same for salads. Add in a premium for having a largely captive audience and €12 does not sound that outrageous to me. Not that I would pay it mind you. :) The lack of a price list is not just an annoyance - it is illegal.
 
When I say salad, it was dollup of something, so not a 'salad' in the true sense of the word. Anyway, I chose not to eat it, so not harm done. About €8 got us some lovely organic bits and pieces, which probably tasted a lot better.
 
quinno said:
When I say salad, it was dollup of something, so not a 'salad' in the true sense of the word.
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Eh? Previously you said...
quinno said:
One stall in there was looking for €12 for a ham roll (consisted of a vac packed roll, butter, ham) or if you liked a measly slice of quiche (same price). Both came with salad on the side (coleslaw, potato salad, etc).
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... so which is it? :confused:

Remember that the art of complaining involves getting your facts right and stating them clearly...
 
OK, so a typical exchange went like this with customers ahead of me:

"Here's your roll, would you like coleslaw or potato salad". Evidenced by a spoon of either / or a combination both being applied to the plate along with the roll.

I therefore used the term 'salad' somewhat euphemistically.
 
ClubMan said:
But €12 for a sambo/quiche and side salads would not be extortionate around Dublin city generally as far as I know. I'm not saying that it's good value but I doubt that it's unusual. The lack of a price list is unacceptable though.
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I would eat lunch out and about alot and to be honest is very very steep. Whether people pay it or not is entirely they're own business but i personally couldnt justify 12quid for bread and ham and a little bit of salad.

By the way, I was at the fair and did see the rolls. Didnt notice that many people eating though. Maybe the high price backfired a little?
 
When you add on the entrance fee it certainly does make it an expensive sandwich, so if you paid euro 10 in to the Fair that makes your sandwich (if you had bought it) euro 22. I can never understand how the RDS charge so much into Fairs i.e. Art Ireland, Crafts Fair, Garden Shows etc. when you are there to hopefully buy something, surely the stall holders are already paying top price to pitch up there for the week or however long the show is for.
 
Entrance fee relevant to price of sandwich in that if you were in town you wouldn't have to pay to go in and buy a sandwich in a pub or coffee shop or if you went into a hotel you wouldn't be paying an entrance fee to get a sandwich brought to your table, the price of sandwich is all you'll pay in any of these situations, if you've paid an entrance fee into RDS it makes it an expensive sandwich in my book.
 
Newbie! said:
I would eat lunch out and about alot and to be honest is very very steep. Whether people pay it or not is entirely they're own business but i personally couldnt justify 12quid for bread and ham and a little bit of salad.
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I agree - I work in the city centre and I consider 12 euro outragous for a roll. I would expect a full main course for that. Most of the places |I eat lunch in in town charge anywhere between 4 euro and 8 euro for a sandwich (eating in!) depending on whats in it and what its served with.
 
Trudee said:
Entrance fee relevant to price of sandwich in that if you were in town you wouldn't have to pay to go in and buy a sandwich in a pub or coffee shop or if you went into a hotel you wouldn't be paying an entrance fee to get a sandwich brought to your table, the price of sandwich is all you'll pay in any of these situations, if you've paid an entrance fee into RDS it makes it an expensive sandwich in my book.
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I disagree. You are paying to go to a show. The fact that you might choose to look for sustenance while inside is incidental and the price of such sustenance is a separate matter. Obviously paying to enter and paying for food while inside are all discretionary matters and nobody is forced to do either or both.
bigchicken said:
I agree - I work in the city centre and I consider 12 euro outragous for a roll. I would expect a full main course for that. Most of the places |I eat lunch in in town charge anywhere between 4 euro and 8 euro for a sandwich (eating in!) depending on whats in it and what its served with.
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M&S near me sell a range of sambos some of which cost up to a fiver. They also sell salads which are in a similar price range. It would be relatively easy to spend a tenner on a sambo/roll plus salads as outlined in the original post. As such €12 at a concession stand at a special interest show doesn't sound unbelievable to me. But as I said there is no way that I would pay it.
 
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