Government 'Eat Out' scheme

[steve_b_wales]

My wife and I went to a Fish & Chip restaurant today, to take advantage of the above. Reading about it first, it appeared that if my meal was £18:00 for example, the restaurant would charge me £8:00 and claim the other £10:00 from the government. No, we had two meals totalling £24:00 and we were charged £12:00. Still good value, but I wonder if the restaurant will claim 2x £10 off the government?

[Lloyd90]

Isn’t it 50% off, but it’s UP TO a max of £10? 
 

So if your meal had been £40 you’d only have paid £20? 🤔

[steve_b_wales]

1 minute ago, Lloyd90 said:

Isn’t it 50% off, but it’s UP TO a max of £10? 
 

So if your meal had been £40 you’d only have paid £20? 🤔

They can claim a maximum of £10 per person. What's to stop them 'saying' that our meal was £40 and we paid £20?

[Lloyd90]

Just now, steve_b_wales said:

They can claim a maximum of £10 per person. What's to stop them 'saying' that our meal was £40 and we paid £20?

The receipt/ till log?

Or nothing at all perhaps? 
 

Plenty of companies claimed furlough wages whilst forcing their staff to continue working. 

[Scully]

Till receipts and paperwork. 

[steve_b_wales]

2 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

The receipt/ till log?

Or nothing at all perhaps? 
 

Plenty of companies claimed furlough wages whilst forcing their staff to continue working. 

No receipt given, not sure about the till log? As mentioned, still a good meal for £6:00 each, and even better for me, as the wife paid! 

Edited August 17, 2020 by steve_b_wales

[Lloyd90]

7 minutes ago, steve_b_wales said:

No receipt given, not sure about the till log? As mentioned, still a good meal for £6:00 each, and even better for me, as the wife paid! 

 

Don’t be cyclical anyway Steve ... they’ll be honest. 
 

Besides aren’t most fish and chip shops cash only? 🤣

Government might be surprised just how busy some of them are 👀😂👍🏻

[yates]

My local fish shops take plastic payments 

[the hitman]

I have had the eat out to help out deal 3 times now and it’s great value. I have paid with plastic each time- so unless a restaurant is producing fake receipts then it’s all traceable.

The trick is to make sure the price of the food you order is at least equal to £20 per head to get the max discount of £10 each .

Last week I had a fillet steak and peppercorn sauce for £21 so I was charged £11 - bargain ( the wine was full price) . 

[Mice!]

14 minutes ago, the hitman said:

Last week I had a fillet steak and peppercorn sauce for £21 so I was charged £11 - bargain ( the wine was full price) . 

It only applies to food and soft drinks.

We were away last week, had to book to eat out everywhere and everywhere we walked past was busy or full that we could see.

[Lampwick]

Monday to Wednesday they are rammed but that’s not the case for the rest of the week!! Some of my clients (restauranteurs)  who were excited about the scheme are not so sure now. 
On the other hand “Get fatter August” is going well for me. 

[Scully]

3 hours ago, Lampwick said:

Monday to Wednesday they are rammed but that’s not the case for the rest of the week!! Some of my clients (restauranteurs)  who were excited about the scheme are not so sure now. 
On the other hand “Get fatter August” is going well for me. 

Looks grand! We are participating next week at the restaurant my OH works at....Lobster Thermidor is on the menu. 😋

Edited August 18, 2020 by Scully

[Smokersmith]

Used it during my week off … saved 80 quid and had some lovely food.

It'll be interesting to see how the pressure returning schoolkids has on the R number affects the industry.

 

 

[Gordon R]

A neighbour went to a local Indian Restaurant last Monday and was charged full price. He asked about the 50% off and was told the restaurant had "applied to late" so were not in the scheme. They asked him to pay cash. The cynical side of me thinks they are in the scheme and are ripping it off.

[Lloyd90]

1 hour ago, Gordon R said:

A neighbour went to a local Indian Restaurant last Monday and was charged full price. He asked about the 50% off and was told the restaurant had "applied to late" so were not in the scheme. They asked him to pay cash. The cynical side of me thinks they are in the scheme and are ripping it off.

Why would they ask him to pay cash?

The government has published a list of who is in the scheme, look them up if you think they are ripping it off. 

[DoolinDalton]

So...what happens when this scheme is over? Will all those people that took advantage of it, who don't normally  / regularly eat out, still go out to eat but pay the full price?  I very much doubt it.  To me, it smacks of greed!  Before this scheme, quite a few restaurants did a 'happy hour' price on meals, which brought the customers in, without the need for Government handouts.  What's next?  Haircuts?  Massage parlours?   

[enfieldspares]

'Cos those of us that eat at The Ivy are in huge and desperate need of our £10 discount. It is a disgraceful and shameful total waste of our money, taxpayers' money, that'd be better spent (if it is to be spent) on sending free facemasks to every household in the UK according to the number of occupants listed on, say, the Electoral Roll.

[bruno22rf]

I cannot understand why people think it's a good idea to go out and eat and let those that don't pay some of the bill? Ultimately this is coming out of our pockets.

[AVB]

11 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

I cannot understand why people think it's a good idea to go out and eat and let those that don't pay some of the bill? Ultimately this is coming out of our pockets.

I see it as another form of support for a beleaguered sector. Without it I suspect many places would fold. 

[Lloyd90]

Plenty of places are already folding. 
 

Heard off a mate today that his daughter and her partner were both sacked once the company had to start paying toward the furlough. 
 

Have to say I saw that coming. I expect many companies will do similar. 
 

They are on the upside lucky that he had worked hard and is well off and is in a position to keep them afloat until their luck turns around. 
 

Many won’t be so lucky. 

[Scully]

8 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

'Cos those of us that eat at The Ivy are in huge and desperate need of our £10 discount. It is a disgraceful and shameful total waste of our money, taxpayers' money, that'd be better spent (if it is to be spent) on sending free facemasks to every household in the UK according to the number of occupants listed on, say, the Electoral Roll.

Sending free masks to people won’t help the economy however, which is the entire point of the exercise. 
We have been helping out our local pub throughout lockdown by buying a takeaway meal from them each Friday evening, just like hundreds ( literally ) of other locals have been doing. Many don’t want to come into the pub as they’re either elderly or simply afraid to mix, which is understandable, but they want the pub to still be there when this is all over, as do we, so in the meantime they’ll support the owners as best they can. 
If the restaurant in town in which my OH works, closes down due to lack of customers, then that’s her out of a job along with five others.

This is an attempt to encourage people out to spend their money to help get the economy going again, handing out free anything won’t achieve that. 
If you’re dining out at The Ivy, I doubt you’ll be too bothered which day you dine out. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Scully

[oowee]

I can understand the short term sentiment of trying to support the restaurant economy but there are more pressing issues with sorting the trade deal. Loss of many thousands of restaurant jobs pale into insignificance by comparison. They are also easily replaced as the economy gathers pace and (as is other retail) proportionate to the wealth and liquidity within the population. Saving some now is likely to be holding off or slowing down the inevitable decline in the sector that will be brought about by the recession. 

 

[243deer]

3 minutes ago, oowee said:

I can understand the short term sentiment of trying to support the restaurant economy but there are more pressing issues with sorting the trade deal. Loss of many thousands of restaurant jobs pale into insignificance by comparison. They are also easily replaced as the economy gathers pace and (as is other retail) proportionate to the wealth and liquidity within the population. Saving some now is likely to be holding off or slowing down the inevitable decline in the sector that will be brought about by the recession. 

 

It is very rare to see such a callous and uncaring orwellian attitude in a post on PW. I am disappointed in you oowee I thought you were better than throwing folk under a bus. Clearly you do not work in the restaurant trade which provides work for many folk often at the lowest rates of pay working unsocial hours but at least their job will still allow them to live with some modicum of pride and self-respect. Not to mention all the related trades and suppliers and the folk that work for them.

[washerboy]

My Mrs works at McDonald's... 

 

[Lloyd90]

1 hour ago, 243deer said:

It is very rare to see such a callous and uncaring orwellian attitude in a post on PW. I am disappointed in you oowee I thought you were better than throwing folk under a bus. Clearly you do not work in the restaurant trade which provides work for many folk often at the lowest rates of pay working unsocial hours but at least their job will still allow them to live with some modicum of pride and self-respect. Not to mention all the related trades and suppliers and the folk that work for them.

It’s not callous, it’s just cold hard facts from Oowee’s perspective. 
 

If we have a major economic depression, a load of pubs and restaurants closing down will be the least of our problems. 
 

Also as he says, those businesses and types of jobs are very much easily replaced (when times are good). It’s not like an industry that requires millions to start up a place.  
 

Many restaurants and similar spring up overnight and many of them close down within the first year or two. The staff whilst I am sure are lovely people, don’t require any sort of high flying qualifications or similar, and the pub and restaurant industry is well known for having short term staff and high staff turnover, as well as employing lots of casual type workers who are just doing that type of work as a stop gap. 
 

I’d be more worried about major major industry closing down or leaving the U.K., as if that happens you can be sure it’ll never come back.