O'Briens Sandwich Bar

But how do you know its value for money before you in, sit down, order the food and try it.
True - but if there is objectively a problem with the food then one should complain and seek to have it deducted from the bill or some other redress. The same may go for subjective value judgements but then your're on rockier ground in terms of being able to argue your case I would imagine.
 
Have to agree with Clubman through this thread.

The word "rip off" is tossed around all the time. If something is priced at say €5, and the guy/gal at the till charges you €6 you've been ripped off.

€26.10 was probably about right for a family lunch in a shopping mall, though Irish people seem to expect food for free or close to it.

Of course the €300 worth of shopping they've just whacked on the credit card in the same mall was all top value!
 
True - but if there is objectively a problem with the food then one should complain and seek to have it deducted from the bill or some other redress. The same may go for subjective value judgements but then your're on rockier ground in terms of being able to argue your case I would imagine.

therefore it is not always just correct to say....The price was there why are you complaining.

Food is a different issue, a burger in one place is not the same as a burger in the next. Knowing the price is sometimes not enough information to have.

Perhaps there is not a problem with the food. But you feel it was not good value for money. How would you complain about that ? is it not a personal view if the owner/manager feels the price is within reason ?
 
therefore it is not always just correct to say....The price was there why are you complaining.
Seems to me that a lot (most?) of the time people never refer to issues of quality at all - just the price. Several posters (including the original poster) expressed surprise and shock at bills for stuff that they had ordered (and made no complaints about quality) in spite of the price list presumably being clearly displayed. That makes no sense to me. As far as I can see only one poster made reference to quality issues but explained that they did not complain and look for redress for specific reasons.
Perhaps there is not a problem with the food. But you feel it was not good value for money. How would you complain about that ? is it not a personal view if the owner/manager feels the price is within reason ?
The problem is that some people seem to assume that lack of "good value" matching their specific subjective qualitative criteria automatically implies some sort of rip-off.
 
If you want to say that a certain place is expensive and it's not worth it quality-wise, then that's fair enough. But it just can't be a rip off if you know how much your food is going to cost before you buy it.

Instead, check the prices before you buy and if you think it's too expensive, vote with your feet and shop around. It's a free market and businesses will keep charging high prices if they continue to get custom. By going in and knowingly paying those prices you are just part of the 'rip-off' culture you are complaining about. I have no sympathy for your complaint - you've just lined their pockets!

Perhaps if people shopped around more and posted places which were good value in their opinion (which some people have in this post) it would be more constructive than just having a moan. Everyone can see how much O'Brien sandwiches are, they just have to go down to their local O'Brien's and look at the prices!
 
According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary [broken link removed]

you are both right....

rip sb off (CHEAT) phrasal verb [M] INFORMAL
to cheat someone by making them pay too much money for something:
Bob's tickets cost much less than ours - I think we've been ripped off.

rip-off Show phonetics
noun [C usually singular]
something that is not worth what you pay for it:
$300 for that shirt? - That's a complete rip-off.
 
This seems to indicate what I've suspected - that generally, in practice, the phrasal verb, "ripped off" refers to the sense of actual cheating/overcharging but the noun, "rip off" generally refers to an emotional reaction - the feeling the something is poor value.

Not that it makes things any clearer though...
 
This seems to indicate what I've suspected - that generally, in practice, the phrasal verb, "ripped off" refers to the sense of actual cheating/overcharging but the noun, "rip off" generally refers to an emotional reaction - the feeling the something is poor value.

Not that it makes things any clearer though...

Fair enough, but my main point still stands - that the OP complained that the price he/she paid for sandwiches was too high even though the prices were on clear display. Unless you haven't been to O'Brien's before you know what you're getting. So, by actually paying those prices rather than going elsewhere, the OP is part of the 'rip-off' culture he/she is complaining about.

Regardless of the definition of 'rip-off' complaining about the price after the fact will not change anything.
 
Fair enough, but my main point still stands - that the OP complained that the price he/she paid for sandwiches was too high even though the prices were on clear display. Unless you haven't been to O'Brien's before you know what you're getting. So, by actually paying those prices rather than going elsewhere, the OP is part of the 'rip-off' culture he/she is complaining about.

Regardless of the definition of 'rip-off' complaining about the price after the fact will not change anything.

Of course - I should make it clear that I completely agree.

I'm just more interested in the linguistic/semantic aspect I suppose.:D
 
Does no-one think this was alot??!

the tripledecker is a huge thing, it costs over 5 euro...we have collegues visiting from the UK office talking in hushed tones about that sandwich...so no, I don't think it was a lot.
 
4 sandwiches / rolls + 2 coffees + 2 cartons of juice?

Should be approx. 22 euro, i.e. 4 euro each for the sandwiches (to sit down), 1.50 each for the drinks

But in Ireland:

- with savage commercial rents squeezing many retailers
- plus people's willingness to pay
- plus other high costs

...result is higher prices.

Don't forget the very high minimum wage here as well.
 
According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary [broken link removed]

you are both right....

rip sb off (CHEAT) phrasal verb [M] INFORMAL
to cheat someone by making them pay too much money for something:
Bob's tickets cost much less than ours - I think we've been ripped off.

rip-off Show phonetics
noun [C usually singular]
something that is not worth what you pay for it:
$300 for that shirt? - That's a complete rip-off.
I always considered that the term was also Hiberno-English for 'poor value'. Firefly's link suggests that it may indeed be Queens English for 'poor value' too. Who'd have thought.
 
rip sb off (CHEAT) phrasal verb [M] INFORMAL
to cheat someone by making them pay too much money for something:
Bob's tickets cost much less than ours - I think we've been ripped off.

rip-off Show phonetics
noun [C usually singular]
something that is not worth what you pay for it:
$300 for that shirt? - That's a complete rip-off.

Sorry, your fancy dictionary definitions don't apply on AAM!
 
It annoys me when people describe Eddie Rockets as rob-yar-pockets.

They cook really good quick food of the burger/chips/wings/dogs variety. You can watch them cook the food in the open kitchen (well in the one I would go to) and it tastes damn good.

I actually think the pricing is very competitive compared to numerous eateries (pubs, cafes, restaurants, etc.) that serve similar grub.

But for some reason people expect it's prices to be similar to McDonalds and Burger King despite the very different level of quality/service provided.
 
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