The $18 ice cream cone

[cdfev]

I have been coming to London since the early 80's and remember purchasing a single ticket for 5 GBP from a tout outside the theater for the 2nd night of Les Miserable. My... how things have changed.

 

We are just back from London on June 9, 2007 and had the amzing experience of being offered 2 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone for the bargain price of 8.95 GBP in Leicester Square. I was able to stop the purchase after I saw the price and opted to go to a local grocery store to purchase a more reasonable ice cream bar. This price is from an established store on the west side of the square and is not some street vendor trying to rip off tourists.

 

The dollar is weaker than ever and the prices in London are climbing as we speak. Be wise and careful with your dollars because even simple purchases can put you in the poor house.

[lord of the seas]

Haagen Dazs Eh!!

[davejohn]

We were in London on late May, and the first night at dinner we were asked if we wanted water. My wife said yes, and we got a bottle of water.....for 2.5 GBP. $5 for a bottle of water!

[standby 06.30]

London is one of the most costly capitals in europe, the uk is compared to the us very costly, we have a minimum wage, of about $11 an hour, with no exemptions, but the benifits are good, for instance as a tourist if you break your leg in the street you will be taken to an nhs hospital treated first, then they will enquire about payment, a lot of the time this will be waved, not like a friend who broke her leg in the us and was asked as she lay there in agony to produce her credit card before he would put her in the ambulance

[warringtonian]

We were in London on late May, and the first night at dinner we were asked if we wanted water. My wife said yes, and we got a bottle of water.....for 2.5 GBP. $5 for a bottle of water!

Yes, we Brits have given up drinking water due to the cost. I stick to beer myself!

[Keith1010]

Even if the US dollar was equal to the British Pound eating our in the United Kingdom is costlier than eating out in the United States. Relatives that we have who are from the United Kingdom also concur with this view. Then add on top of that, the need to double (it's really more than that) all purchases to convert that to US Dollars and it becomes extraudinary costly to eat and to purchase items in the UK. We thoroughly have enjoyed all of our cruises that have begun or ended in London and have another one planned where we'll stay in London but the costs to dine are very high.

 

Keith

[Morgans]

Bear in mind that it is purely for the tourists right in the centre - it is possible to eat cheaply in London if you know where to go. People who LIVE in London would never buy an ice cream at that price. We have a flat right in the centre and realise that tourists can be ripped off enormously.

[cdfev]

I think that we would all agree that $18 for two scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone is outrageously expensive. I can eat a 4 course meal in many chain restaurants in the USA and get change back from the $18. The point of my observation is that there are unexpected prices out there for the American tourist in London and every purchase needs to be carefully scrutinized before completion (even something as simple as an ice cream cone). The collapse of the American dollar is the culprit and not some mean spiritedness from the UK....although there is little doubt that this shop takes advantage of their location to charge this outrageous fortune for a simple pleasure.

[Keith1010]

I think that we would all agree that $18 for two scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone is outrageously expensive. I can eat a 4 course meal in many chain restaurants in the USA and get change back from the $18. The point of my observation is that there are unexpected prices out there for the American tourist in London and every purchase needs to be carefully scrutinized before completion (even something as simple as an ice cream cone). The collapse of the American dollar is the culprit and not some mean spiritedness from the UK....although there is little doubt that this shop takes advantage of their location to charge this outrageous fortune for a simple pleasure.

 

I agree with you 100%. Sure tourist spots will charge more but I 've been to many restauarants and other places in the UK with people from there and because prices tend to be higher when you eat out there to begin with compared to the United States and as you say the collapse of the dollar has a good deal to do with it. And, you are correct. It's a good idea to ask how much something will cost ahead of time and not make assumptions.

 

Keith

[Morgans]

Try this site...http://www.toptable.co.uk

[H2Otstr]

We had a $15.00 Coca Cola in a Paris restaurant a few years back. No refills, either.

[Elaine0138]

Welcome to rip off Britain :)

[standby 06.30]

Elaine I was charged £2.50 for the scottish dish deep fried mars bar and chips was I ripped off:eek:

[bigwally]

The fried mars bar and I can perhaps envisage (at a pinch), and chips definitely. But BOTH TOGETHER???? Yuk! :eek:

[donnaleed]

My husband and I ate at an Indian Restaurant in London in January of this year and we were charged 2 GBP for tap water!!! Roughly $5 CAD! We thought we were being "taken for a ride" until a table of locals got there bill as well with the same charge.

 

I never realized that tap water was a saleable good! :)

 

Donna-Lee

[Globaliser]

I think that we would all agree that $18 for two scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone is outrageously expensive.

Yes, but the Haagen-Dazs shops are outrageously expensive by anyone's standards. They're well known for being that.

My husband and I ate at an Indian Restaurant in London in January of this year and we were charged 2 GBP for tap water!!! Roughly $5 CAD! We thought we were being "taken for a ride" until a table of locals got there bill as well with the same charge.

 

I never realized that tap water was a saleable good! :)

AFAIK, it isn't, and the restaurant could get prosecuted for that.

 

Doesn't stop them, though - I've had to complain about a restaurant (an Indian, funnily enough) which charged VAT extra on top of the bill, which is also strictly illegal.

 

That is one thing that has to be borne in mind when looking at UK prices - tax is included rather than being added on separately, and service/tip is only about 10% rather than closer to 20%. It evens out some (but not all) of the difference.

[packandgo]

We went into a local cafe while we were staying 2-day post cruise and decided the first night to eat cheaply since we knew we would be on the ship in a couple of days. We ordered 2 hamburgers (no cheese), 2 fries, and 2 Diet Coke's. Our bill came to $85 USD!

 

Talking about sticker shock! And, this was not even in an elegant restaurant. It was on par with McDonald's.

 

I think we ended up spending more in the two days making purchases and buying food in London than we did on the actual 14-day cruise.

[SelectSys]

I must confess to have eaten a cone at Haagen Daz on Leicester Square on more than one occasion after a show or dinner in the summer. I haven't done this for a few years and the then cost might only have been $12 US. However, I view the cone as only part of the deal as the location of the store on the high side of the square makes for great viewing and the seating is comfortable inside.

[cdfev]

The ice cream store was not Hagen Dazs.

 

The name of the store is Rendezvous.

[gsb]

ice cream places.

Need to turn the Miller High LIfe guy loose on them!:D

[Globaliser]

The name of the store is Rendezvous.

Ah, that place. My commiserations.

 

I think I'd have handed the ice cream back to them and told them to get stuffed.

[Casshew]

Room Service at the Savoy - kids mac & cheese (for kids 10 and under) was 20pounds!

 

I had a baileys on ice that was 16 pounds

 

2 drinks in the American Bar was 35 pounds

 

Ahhh.. but it was fun ;)

[Fblack]

$18 for an ice cream cone is nothing. A few years ago my wife and I decided to take a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. On the way we stopped for Ice cream at Salisbury. My wife got so sick after eating it she spent an hour in the bathroom and missed most of the Bath tour.

[standby 06.30]

Having just returned home from a long w/end in london with my croatian wife, sister in law, and niece, who apart from my wife have never been outside croatia, they loved it, because on saturday I did not want to shop, they went there own way, my niece did find ice cream in a shop for £1.5, we met up for lunch in china town, with 2 more friend, with wine water olong tea a dim sum lunch for 6 came to £65 about $130 this is the same as great dim sum house off kendal drive in Fl, I asked them if they felt at all threatened they did not when I was on my own I went to some of the tourist traps and watched, you can spot the potential targets a mile away, I have never commented on a trip to the keys when because of a festival there were few rooms left and how a $65 room became $185, I refused and after eating oysters a thing I do alot left and booked a holiday inn in marathon 36 hrs later I was very ill, a bad oyster it happens, or when I was in california in a hotel for three nights was quoted at reception a price, that on leaving was doubled the guy who quoted me was not there so I payed by c/card spoke to my bank it was blocked and sorted, when I pointed out damage on a hire car that the clerk forgot to note I took a photo of it, when I returned it to a different branch they tried to charge me some sort of fee till I showed them the photo, it was a mistake I could regurgitate tails of newyork starting with the taxi scams etc etc etc, problems happen, it does seem that in some it seems to stimulate one upmanship that causes distress in others, I do find some of the post educational with factual help, but others facile

[davejohn]

Having just returned home from a long w/end in london with my croatian wife, sister in law, and niece, who apart from my wife have never been outside croatia, they loved it, because on saturday I did not want to shop, they went there own way, my niece did find ice cream in a shop for £1.5, we met up for lunch in china town, with 2 more friend, with wine water olong tea a dim sum lunch for 6 came to £65 about $130 this is the same as great dim sum house off kendal drive in Fl, I asked them if they felt at all threatened they did not when I was on my own I went to some of the tourist traps and watched, you can spot the potential targets a mile away, I have never commented on a trip to the keys when because of a festival there were few rooms left and how a $65 room became $185, I refused and after eating oysters a thing I do alot left and booked a holiday inn in marathon 36 hrs later I was very ill, a bad oyster it happens, or when I was in california in a hotel for three nights was quoted at reception a price, that on leaving was doubled the guy who quoted me was not there so I payed by c/card spoke to my bank it was blocked and sorted, when I pointed out damage on a hire car that the clerk forgot to note I took a photo of it, when I returned it to a different branch they tried to charge me some sort of fee till I showed them the photo, it was a mistake I could regurgitate tails of newyork starting with the taxi scams etc etc etc, problems happen, it does seem that in some it seems to stimulate one upmanship that causes distress in others, I do find some of the post educational with factual help, but others facile

 

Yikes! :eek: