So what's new

A WHAT CAR MAGAZINE SURVEY SUGGESTS THAT MOTORWAY SERVICES RIP OFF DRIVERS.
SO WHAT'S NEW.
Motorists pay far more for such items as petrol, food and drink than they would at high street outlets, the survey showed.

What Car? said it found a WH Smith motorway services outlet that was charging consumers a 91% motorway mark-up over its high street outlets on a 750ml bottle of water.

It added that Marks & Spencer also charged "inflated prices" in its motorway shops, including a 25% increase on a bottle of water, 16% on a sandwich and 15% on a large sausage roll.

Also, Burger King charged 12% more on the motorway than it did in its high street restaurants.

The survey showed that fuel was also more expensive at motorway services, with drivers having to pay an average motorway levy of 5.2% for unleaded fuel and 3.4% for diesel.

Consumers filling their fuel tank at motorway services will pay on average £77 more per year than they would if they filled up off the motorway.

What Car? editor-in-chief Steve Fowler said: "It is unforgivable for retailers to take advantage of motorists in such a brazen manner.

"With fuel prices at an all-time high, the 5.2% average motorway fuel mark-up is hard for consumers to fund, and a 91% mark-up on a bottle of water is utterly unacceptable.

"We suggest that all motorway users plan their journeys carefully and try to avoid using such greedy retailers as much as possible."

As you say SB. whats new? The only thing I use in motorway service stations is the toilets. When they started opening these places in the 60's they were priced reasonably, people would even go to the local one for a meal. We used to pop down to the Blue Boar regularly at weekends, if you could get away with it you used the transport drivers section to eat and sat in the public section listening to the juke box and celebrity spotting.

Phil

This was going on in the 80s so why the interest now?
It was put down the the extra transport costs of shipping goods down the motorway to get to these isolated oases.
The truth of course is that these places are between towns so the delivery trucks were passing them anyway. Some even have rear delivery access from adjacent roads.

In their favour is the fact that they provide and maintain toilets and carparks, these are used by thousands of visitors who don't buy anything, so I suppose they have to be covered by higher prices.
VM

Volty

They may be used by thousands of people that buy nothing, but have you ever been in one except in the middle of the night that was anywhere near empty?

Phil

I'm all for avoiding anywhere that charges excessive prices , but unfortunately that would have to include every shop that charged more than 15p for bottled water, which would mean every shop..

Mike

Another thing I would rather die than do is buy a bottle of water, when the wife buys it in the supermarket for the grandkids I crack up. What's wrong with tap water, not that I drink much of that either.

Phil

I'm in complete agreement Phil. The only time i drink water is the evening before I have that damn fasting sugar level test the doctors keep on giving me in the hope that they will find I'm diabetic. Occasionally , when I was working and had a meeting i would drink the fizzy stuff provided, but buy it - ?! -No

On a coach journey to Scotland, our coach stopped at Charnock Richard services, I qued for around 15 mins for an egg sandwich. This was literally two slices of thin bread with a fried egg, For this I was charged £2.75 and that was five years ago.

Mike

If your doctor keeps giving you the sugar level test, then you must be hovering on the edge of type 2 diabetes. I think that you doctor is probably trying to warn you to cut back. Cutting back a little now may save cutting back a lot later. Listen to the voice of experience.

Phil

Phil
Actually Phil my present doctor hasn't asked for it recently, thelast time about a year ago but the previous women repeatedly did for about 5 years, and always expressed great surprise when it came back OK, making a comment about my weight each time. She was one of those Twiggy-like women .

SB
You don;t write under the name of Damian Wilson do you ? He agrees with you See http://www.walletpop.co.uk/2011/02/10/ma...-off/?icid=main|uk-ws-bb|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.co.uk%2F2011%2F02%2F10%2Fmands-guilty-in-the-great-motorway-services-rip-off%2F
Mike

Mike

To have a high enough sugar level in your blood to ask you to take a sugar free test, you must eat a high sugar level diet. You should try to cut back for your own good. Just listen to me giving out advice & instructions on eating and drinking habits. I must have been the worst offender known, and I wouldn't listen to anybody. I never even saw a doctor for over 35 years and then when I did it was only for a HGV license medical. So I'll mind my own business.

Phil

No Phil. what you say is good advice, but , as I say, my fasting level always comes out OK. I don't eat all that much sugar (not compared to some anyway). I do like my food though (but not particularly sweet things). I think the earlier doctor was on a crusade to get everyone down to her stick-like figure. I did ask the present doctor whether I ought to have one about 3 months ago, and he said it wasn't necessary
Mike

Mike

One of the tell tale signs is running to the toilet a lot of times during the day (and night), though if you have a large intake of liquid (I'm not saying you are a booser) it is harder to tell.

Phil

A bit more than I used to Phil, but that has been since the radiation treatment to my prostate, and i gather that is quite common

Posted by phil

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Mike

One of the tell tale signs is running to the toilet a lot of times during the day (and night), though if you have a large intake of liquid (I'm not saying you are a booser) it is harder to tell.

Phil

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As you say one of the tell tale signs is running to the toilet. Another one I had was an incredible thirst. I went into town say on a Saturday, I would have to go and buy a bottle of pop. within half an hour I would need another one, etc etc. following this of course I would need to run to the loo. I could never go far from a drink or a toilet. Beer of course is no good because it doesn't quench the thirst.