Motorway "Rip-off" stations...

Savvy_Sue

Wouldn't work for me...takes hours to get to the bloomin' cafe thing and that is without being distracted by the goods...and then there is the parking.... ::) ::)

With our Ikea you can get to the cafe without passing anything else. But it is the queue to get in and out which would put me off at certain times of day: traffic backs up onto the M32 at times.

Savvy_Sue

5 Minutes Away is not very good is it?

Example: M5 J21 Petrol. Does not list Sainsbury supermarket which has the cheapest petrol in Weston Super Mare and is only 800 yds from the motorway. It does however list Locking Service Station which (on September 10th) was charging 87.9 for unleaded - 7p more than most other stations and 1p/litre more than Sedgemoor services just south of J21.

'5 minutes away' doesn't claim to list the cheapest facilities, which would in any case be impractical. I'd agree it doesn't list supermarkets close to junctions, but it doesn't claim to!

And while a supermarket cafe is invariably cheaper than the services, often offers petrol and will have toilets, it's not necessarily a pleasanter experience than using the services!

thebroad

After years of getting ripped off in these places, I have now started to find the nearest Tesco or Asda which is often near the motorways...for a couple of minutes extra, you can save a whack by going to Tesco or Asda. Tesco have a free booklet which shows all there shops and whether 24 hours, also with very good directions.

Poppycat

Whenever I use the motorway usually only once a year back and forth on annual holiday we never use there servcies other than car park. We take a pack lunch with us and just either sit in the car, or normally is the caes being Summer sit on the grass near the car park.

Fran

I called at one recently as started feeling tired and couldn't bring myself to pay £1.99 for a coffee. I said to assistant I was going to buy chocolate instead and she pointed me at an offer of 4 bars for £1.25. That perked me up enough to get home!

I haven't read the thread but you can sometimes get cheaper coffee in the garage shops, this one was £1.69 (but I still refused to pay that!).

trisontana

thebroad wrote:

After years of getting ripped off in these places, I have now started to find the nearest Tesco or Asda which is often near the motorways...for a couple of minutes extra, you can save a whack by going to Tesco or Asda. Tesco have a free booklet which shows all there shops and whether 24 hours, also with very good directions.

If you are travelling down the M20 towards Dover or Folkstone there is a Tesco right on the junction at Ashford . It just takes a minute to get there and you can use the café and loo and pay much less than at a service area.

surfcat

Just to play devil's advocate here, have none of you guys thought that some how, the service station operators need to pay to lease the vast quantities of land which they nicely tarmac over for you to park in?

trisontana

surfcat wrote:

Just to play devil's advocate here, have none of you guys thought that some how, the service station operators need to pay to lease the vast quantities of land which they nicely tarmac over for you to park in?

Don't the supermarkets also have to pay for the land , either as a rent or outright purchase ?. I would have thought the land-prices would be higher in the sort of places supermarkets are built compared to the out-of-the-way locations of service areas.

oscardog

If you are on the M25, use (as we always do) the big Sainsbury off J21 or 22 (marked St Albans). Petrol and food at cheap prices and quicker than getting on and off at the A1 / M25 services a couple of junctions on.

Poppycat

UK motorway service stations are often critized, for being overpriced, low quality junk food and compared with the rest of Europe, why is it that we often get ripped off just so that large corporations exploits us. If we didn't pay there over inflated prices perhaps they wouldn't exploit us so readily. The problem is these places are out of the way and can charge what the hell they like as there is little or no competition. I say vote with your wallet, it doesn't cost much to make a few sandwiches and a flask and just park up in the car park or if possible a lay-by (not an option on a motorway).