Current Events > Instead of Surge Pricing, how would you feel if Restaurants had Slump Pricing?

(+) Yeah! (+)

You mean like happy hour?

You mean like happy hour?

You mean like happy hour?

its exactly the same thing and shouldnt be allowed

Shouldnt be allowed? How do you work that out?

I understand not liking it but a business should be able to set whatever prices they want and let the market decide whether they survive or not at that price point (with a few exceptions in things like pharmaceuticals).

it gives them the opportunity to obfuscate prices from their marketing material. "oh, its 3PM, am I paying the normal prices, the lunch surge prices, or the afternoon prices?"

I dont agree that regulations are something to be shyed away from especially when it comes to protecting the customer

If you think that would result in anything other than the business raising prices to make the "slump" price the same as the current normal, then you're delusional. It's just surge pricing with a more predatory name. They're not going to give you anything for cheaper.

What do you think of theaters and stadiums charging more for courtside/ front row/ balcony seats, and charging less for mezzanine, nosebleeds sections?

What do you think of theaters and stadiums charging more for courtside/ front row/ balcony seats, and charging less for mezzanine, nosebleeds sections?

When you have surge pricing for bread, the have nots' problems are only exacerbated. They just won't be able to afford bread, resulting in literal bread lines waiting for everyone else to finish buying bread, costing time, time that they could spend at work or looking for work or doing something otherwise productive. Surge pricing simply should not be supported by anyone ever anywhere.

You mean like happy hour?

Came in to say this lol

They have value.

When you have surge pricing for bread, the have nots' problems are only exacerbated. They just won't be able to afford bread, resulting in literal bread lines waiting for everyone else to finish buying bread, costing time, time that they could spend at work or looking for work or doing something otherwise productive. Surge pricing simply should not be supported by anyone ever anywhere.

Why does it matter which price youre paying, as long as its clearly advertised and youve agreed to it?

Either youre happy enough with the price and willing to pay for it, or youre not, in which case you dont eat there.

Consider that youve walked into a store and their fancy digital displays show price right now, $5. You get to the front of the queue 10 minutes later (long queue and slack employees) and you say I want the $5 burger and they say sorry, its $10 now. That is a bait and switch, and false advertisement.

the alternative is to display all pricing for all timeframes at all times. That isnt going to happen, and even if it did, it will be done either in fine print or in such as way as to maliciously confuse customers in an anti-consumer fashion

im still not seeing a strong argument against regulation in this case

Youre starting from a position of assuming ill intent.

thats because thats exactly what it is. "price surge during peak hours" isnt an idea that comes from wanting to improve the customer experience. its an inherently different mindset from something like a "cheap tuesday"

Theres a whole lot of assumptions there. If the price is going to change in ten minutes, just be upfront about that.

Youre starting from a position of assuming ill intent.

Because businesses never deserve the benefit of the doubt. The economic model we use is built on sociopathic exploitation of employee and customer alike.

A business putting their needs before the consumer is literally how businesses function

hence why there should be regulations in place to protect the customer

To protect them from an optional transaction?

predatory pricing

Which they dont have to fall prey to

You clearly dont want to have a fair discussion though if youre ignoring most of what Ive said in that post.

As Ive already said, I agree for things like pharmaceuticals, groceries and even housing. But goods and services which are undeniably luxuries such as eating in a restaurant? No. Its up to the customer to look out for their own interests when it comes to stuff like that.

what is it about fast food that you think makes it acceptable for businesses to be predatory that isn't acceptable in the pharmaceutical industry

You clearly dont want to have a fair discussion

However, eating out at a restaurant is not a necessity. Its a luxury, and treating it the same way as a necessary expenditure doesnt seem fair.

Literally everybody on the planet can live a full and meaningful life without fast food.

they live stream a roulette with numbers like 4.99, 19.99, 12.99, 1.99, 20.99, 99.99, 75.99, 80.00, etc.

and throw a dart at it and see where it lands

Im struggling to believe thats a genuine question.

Literally everybody on the planet can live a full and meaningful life without fast food. The same is not true of drugs.

In one scenario theyve got you over a barrel but in the other the choice is entirely yours.

First run in with rika, huh.

and this justifies enabling predatory practices how? you're failing to justify why predatory practices are OK in any scenario. if predatory practices should be regulated in important sectors like health, they can be regulated in every sector

For supermarkets, Id agree with you. Many of the items they sell are basic necessities.

Youre the one who keeps claiming its predatory. Also, I dont need to justify the practice. Im not claiming they should do it, only that regulating it is unnecessary.

But for what its worth, the justification is freedom. People should be allowed freedom, as long as it doesnt unnecessarily infringe on other peoples freedom. Regulating it takes away the freedom of a business to set its prices. Id need a justification for that and you havent provided one.

It's already happening in the UK and AU. Apologies for the link snip, our main news site has stupid long URLs

https://shorturl.at/ajFV3

yes the idea of raising prices mid-day while people are actively coming and going from the store, even mid-transaction, is predatory.

businesses arent people and freedom should never apply to a business at the expense of actual people. And no Im not going to accept a but a business is run by people argument either. The less freedom a business has, the safer people are

I didnt realise Woolworths had come back.

Im sorry but I simply cant see where youre coming from on either of those points.

You cant see where Im coming from with prioritising people over businesses? Thats really sad that theres people out there that are like that

To the degree that youre suggesting? No. It doesnt make sense to just fall on the side with the consumer regardless of all other factors. By that logic, business owners should just give away their products for free. And yes, Im sure youll say that Im taking your stance to a ridiculous level, and I am. But so are you.

im not suggesting businesses change how they behave fundamentally. Im just saying that the government (if not corrupt) and businesses have conflicting ideals and the government should be putting up guard rails to protect people which businesses then operate inside of. Theres still no convincing argument presented against the idea of regulating businesses. A truly free market is an atrocious idea, and only regulating important markets is also terrible. The job of the government is to protect the people and enhance their lives, putting regulations on business is one of many tools in the toolkit. You already see some regulations like health and safety regulations, kitchens must be clean etc. theres nothing wrong with regulations around price gouging either