Given the M6 thread and my own experience of Motorway Services are we allowed to run out own thread ?
Example: Maidstone Services 1 x Bacon Roll (Roll, Two Rashers Bacon) GBP 4.30
Three bacon rolls, 1 cup of tea, 1x500ml water GBP16.30
|
|
Anyone who pays that has more money than sense or is on expenses. I don't know the area well but I would be surprised if there were not cheaper, cleaner, more comfortable, less crowded facilities nearby.
|
Indeed Navy, i only use MSA's for their toilets, you know exactly what they can do with their overpriced and grim food and drinks..;)
If you're heading from the channel ports/tunnel then this is worth the 5 minute detour, lots of outside tables too, lovely little place...
plus.google.com/113403241542335324018/about?gl=uk&hl=en
Invariably a quick look at a proper map, not pratnav please, will show an old main road running conveniently parallel to the motorway wherever you are, normally there is somewhere you can get edible food and drinkable tea without having your pants pulled down.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 9 Jun 13 at 08:43
|
|
Missed the edit...for those few who are concerned, not too many lorry drivers call in there, be safe..;)
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 9 Jun 13 at 08:52
|
>> If you're heading from the channel ports/tunnel then this is worth the 5 minute detour,
>> lots of outside tables too, lovely little place...
>> plus.google.com/113403241542335324018/about?gl=uk&hl=en
Or this:-
tinyurl.com/orrptk8
|
>> normally there is somewhere
>> you can get edible food and drinkable tea without having your pants pulled down.
I might need to pull my pants down though GB :)
|
>> I might need to pull my pants down though
>;;;))
|
ISTR someone suggested on another thread that the reason for MSA's being so expensive is that they actually provide a public service 'cos the bogs are free, and because everyone uses the bogs the food and drink has to be expensive to cover the extortionate costs paid by the operator for the privelege.
Excuse me while I stop laughing....... I was stuck in Swansea West for 45 minutes on Friday evening complying with EU law, decided I could quite fancy a cuppa. I wasn't in me own lorry which being a sleeper cab has stove and brew-kit. Went in, used the loo, queued at Burger King till I twigged that they don't actually sell tea or coffee, walked across to Costa (probably the most aptly named beverage vendor in the world) and walked away again rather quickly.
£2.35 for a pot of "traditional"tea , I think they called it. I'm not daft; I don't expect to pay 50 pence for a cuppa any more, but that, ladies and gentlemen, is pure robbery. I wouldn't mind so much if it was served in a decent sized mug, but at those places you get the world's most stupid cup, more like a soup bowl; in fact it's nearly as shallow as the saucer it sits on and I'm convinced that the damn thing's designed to ensure that your drink goes cold as quickly as possible so you leave earlier.
If anyone ever wonders why you never see lorry drivers eating and drinking in MSA's, that is why. Unlike management we tend not to be able to claim for meals on the company. If you pay for parking an HGV overnight ( usually only done if you have British registration plates) you can, by paying about a fiver extra, get a discount on a meal, but not only is that IMO dishonest, but also many companies have woken up to it and will not allow their drivers to take advantage of the "offer". Even without the meal ticket, a night's parking for an HGV costs about £20, and all you get extra for that is the chance to use a shower, if it ain't broken. As for "secure parking"...... forget it. You're just as likely to have your trailer curtains cut, or diesel siphoned, in an MSA as you are in a lay-by. The clue, if it were needed, is in the myriad notices disclaiming responsibility for anything going wrong.
|
That was me...and I have seen the evidence as part of the Moto opinion formers at meetings!
Good rant, all of which I support HM, but you still haven't told me who you think should pay for the supply, upkeep and cleaning of the free facilities.
Pat
|
>> Good rant, all of which I support HM, but you still haven't told me who
>> you think should pay for the supply, upkeep and cleaning of the free facilities.
>>
>> Pat
>>
Presumably Moto and the others don't do it out of the kindness of their hearts; despite all the pleadings of poverty for the high franchise costs it's blindingly obvious that these places are gold mines milking a captive audience.
I concede that the customer has to pay; I despise the inescapable fact that it is a licence to rip people off.
|
|
Having just looked at MOTO's accounts I'm not sure its a business I would put my money in
|
|
Its not, despite complaints they are ripping off the consumers, its a high cost base business, there are no fat profits in motorway services, its littered with causalities.
|
>> Its not, despite complaints they are ripping off the consumers, its a high cost base
>> business, there are no fat profits in motorway services, its littered with causalities.
>>
Makes me wonder why they bother, if so many fail due to high costs and low demand?
|
>> Makes me wonder why they bother, if so many fail due to high costs and
>> low demand?
>>
Given the long-standing reputation of MSA's, you'd think that the first one to buck the trend and make its charges more affordable for the "ordinary punter" would do itself no harm at all.
|
>>
>> >> Makes me wonder why they bother, if so many fail due to high costs
>> and
>> >> low demand?
>> >>
>>
>> Given the long-standing reputation of MSA's, you'd think that the first one to buck the
>> trend and make its charges more affordable for the "ordinary punter" would do itself no
>> harm at all.
They can't, because, as I explained, its a high cost base business. And who said there was low demand? Cobham services is heaving with punters.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 9 Jun 13 at 22:18
|
>>
>> They can't, because, as I explained, its a high cost base business. And who said
>> there was low demand? Cobham services is heaving with punters.
>>
'And who said there was low demand?'
I think your words were 'lots of casualties'. Surely that's part of the problem not enough customers?
|
|
no thats a problem of not enough profit.
|
>> no thats a problem of not enough profit.
All the services I have been in recently have been rammed.
I never spend a bean. I assume that the visitors on average just don't spend enough.
I've never been involved with the concessions on services, but if they are anything like retail on airports they are likely to be turnover related too (which is partly why the prices are higher).
If that is the case then if the visitors don't spend enough in Costa/M&S/Burger King etc then the operators income will suffer directly.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 9 Jun 13 at 23:05
|
|
I suppose it linked. Lack of customers paying enough, if you like. Not enough customers willing to buy stuff. Anyway back to my original point, if they aren't making money and haven't been for a historically (through lack of whatever) why do they want to run them?
|
"...their overpriced and grim food and drinks..."
If I'm on a long journey (e.g. my twice-yearly trips to Cornwall and Newcastle) I will stop where there is a Costa for their pretty decent, not so grim coffee. (I prefer Caffé Nero, but AFAIK they don't get a look-in at MSAs.)
I must admit I haven't compared prices with the high street.
|
Flask and sarnies for a motorway trip.
I wouldn't mind the high prices so much if the food was edible and the portions in a meal were bigger than the average biscuit.
|
There are usually those table table/whitbread type chain pubs on the exists of many motorways often attached to a premier Inn. The food is usually not too bad and is well priced compared to service stations.
I don't get why some of them cannot offer very good standard food and make the service station a destination rather than some where to stop because you're desperate.
Many motorways must get a lot of regular trade from professional drivers. You could make into a really good destination where drivers will actually enjoy stopping of at.
|
|
Cobham Services are quite good, you can get freshly cooked noodle dishes, or mexican, for example.
|
Anyone who does any motorway mileage will need them sooner or later. Everyone knows what they're like. Not just here but anywhere, with subtle national differences... who really gives a toss? Needs must when the devil drives innit?
Tchah!
When the M1 first opened, not even quite to Birmingham, I can remember quite a few 97mph blasts to Newport Pagnell services and back in stolen or borrowed Ford Zodiacs... Heathrow was more popular though, even before the M4 and believe me some of those roundabouts and traffic lights could dissolve your entrails when the wrong person was driving.
Ah, insouciant youth. Amazing anyone survived.
|
They are not allowed to become a 'destination' Rattle and there are strict curbs on what they can and can't offer.
Her is a list of what has to be on offer free of charge.
The Government specifies that all MSAs must offer:
•Free short term parking for up to two hours for all types of vehicle
•Free toilets and hand washing facilities with no obligation to make a purchase
•Fuel
•Access to a cash operated telephone
•Access to all facilities for disabled people.
•Facilities must be available for 24 hours a day every day of the year
Motorway Rest Areas must provide:
•Free short term parking for up to two hours for all types of vehicle
•Free toilets and hand washing facilities with no obligation to make a purchase
•Access to a cash operated telephone
•Access to all facilities for disabled people.
•Facilities must be available for 24 hours a day every day of the year
That's before anyone buys anything.
Pat
|
>> They are not allowed to become a 'destination' Rattle and there are strict curbs on
>> what they can and can't offer.
>>
>> Her is a list of what has to be on offer free of charge.
>>
And they know that when they sign the lease.
All that's true Pat but they play pretty fast/loose with it. Increasingly common to find main building closes at 23:00 and all 'facilities' provided in fuel station by a staff of two or three.
Stopped at Killington Lake just after midnight a couple of years ago having come off the Western Isles ferry. Only refreshment on offer was Costa Coffee. Loos were a stinking disgrace with urine on the floor and ample sprinkling of a previous occupants pubic hair.
Bromptonette said the ladies were no better and the family with a babe in arms looked shell shocked.
The staff member on duty (feigned?) an inabililty to understand my complaint. A letter to Road Chef produced an apology and vouchers to tune of £20.
I doubt there was any improvement.
|
>> All that's true Pat but they play pretty fast/loose with it. Increasingly common to find
>> main building closes at 23:00 and all 'facilities' provided in fuel station by a staff
>> of two or three.
>
Indeed. Leigh Delemare (m4) at 06:00 yesterday (a Sunday) only had the bogs open. And some vending machines of course.
Bogs were clean tho.
|
Like AC I can't get excited about the costs or perceived failings of motorway services.
Perhaps I'm lucky only travelling far enough on a motorway to need the stops when on holiday runs. The motorway itself is a road to be covered as quickly as possible to get onto more pleasant routes. Just not worth the faff to waste 15mins finding an idyllic stop just off route... that loses another 20mls closer to hopping off the motorway.
And the higher costs... in the scheme of a holiday it's nothing.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 10 Jun 13 at 10:05
|
I don't mind motorway driving find it more relaxing than country roads.
When we do go away for a long run I stop evey two hrs,the Mrs likes to stop where there is a Marks & Spencers.We usually have a coffee and something to eat.
Overall I think most motorway services are ok in the UK.
|
Thanks everyone for the response.
My original thinking for this thread was a list of recommended places which the members used as an alternative in one place.
Normally I do not go near the MSAs. My car has a big enough tank to get me from Germany to Scotland without need for fuel stops, which given the price of fuel in the UK is a good thing but that's another thread, this time around I had my daughter with me who needed a refuel and the trip was unplanned.
|
If you're happy to use Maccy D's the new one at Markham (M1/J29A) is extremely convenient.
Better amenities than Tibshelf services. and unlike Woodall it's easily accessible from both sides of the M/way.
|
|
One of the few good things about Mcd's is they are open for breakfast early every (including Sunday) morning when the rest of the world (or at least the UK) is shut. Useful when travelling (we are early bed early up people).
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 10 Jun 13 at 12:20
|
|
Often use a macky d's on my travels, quick, clean, reasonable coffee and free wifi
|
|
Often use a macky d's on my travels, quick, clean, reasonable coffee and free wifi
|
|
The wifi's not that reliable obviously......
|
|
Twice as good as he was expecting.
|
Motorway Services - Old Navy
