Pay as you starve

[sp4rks]

Morning,

I've seen what looks to be discrepancies in PAYD costs for meals.

I thought prices were to be the same throughout stations, be interesting to know if they aren't.

Corsham
Breakfast - (Will check, i make my own)
Lunch - £1.39
Tea - £1.78

Incidentally i've heard a rumour new menus (MOD Ones) are coming out soon - price rise????

 

[SORRY CJ]

Whats yours

B/F Not sure 1.151sh
Dinner 1.35
Tea 1.75

Brize Norton prices

SCJ

 

[FOMz]

Guys,

This could be a fantastic tool, all it would take is for people to post the prices on the thread and would show up if there are any differences in the pricing..

Keep it on topic guys - If you know the pricings at your unit... post them here.

 

[Boarderlyne]

JSU Northwood

B - ???
L - £1.39
EM - ???

 

[Dazzy26]

Waddo

Breakfast - £1:15
Lunch (Classic) - £1:35
Evening Meal (classic) - £1:75.

An insider tells me that the ISS folks on units don't have access to update or change prices on any of the tills, it is all done centrally. When ISS changed the prices to include people eating in the mess who were non-entitled (Pay more the service personnel) it was done overnight by remote access!

 

[ady eflog]

Marham,

Breakfast - £1:15
Lunch (Classic) - £1:35
Evening Meal (classic) - £1:75.

I was at Halton last week and it was a few pence dearer there, 1:38 for lunch, what amazed me was the bar prices, our mess at halton £1:35 a pint of lager, marham £1:78?

 

[UlsterExile]

Halton.

B Fast £1.18
Lunch £1.39
Tea £1.78

and a pint is £1.34

 

[Mike Oxlong]

Halton.

B Fast £1.18
Lunch £1.39
Tea £1.78

and a pint is £1.34

Typical, only buys himself one...

 

[sp4rks]

Good idea including bar prices.

so there is a discrepancy, pennies i know but it all adds up!

keep emcoming

B/F £1.18
Beer £1.38

I think the bar prices are partially set by SIF though (they are here) as we have set our percentage as ESS don't make anything in profit allegedly.
more for the SIF, mind you so few people use the bar it needs the percentage profit.

 

[dozyscopie1]

Wycombe

BF-£1.18
L -£1.35
D - £1.78

Also take into account other things like paying for extra juice, sauces, bread. When I was at Leconfield we were paying extra for them, at Wycombe we don't. Saying that they have just took the sauces off the table and put them beside the till. We are allowed two free, pay for extra. Next step will be paying for each one. Got to squeeze out as much money as they can from us because I guarantee this camp is running at a loss. Mess is like a ghost town at the weekend and it is the same 10/20 faces in there for dinner during the week. Don't do breakfast or lunch myself.

 

[Cooheed]

Honington

Brekkie - £1.15
Lunch - £1.35
Dinner - £1.75

 

[UlsterExile]

Typical, only buys himself one...

Harsh. Very harsh.

 

[fatalbert]

Are people on this thread complaining at being forced to pay £127.50 a month for 3 full and varied meals a day (7 days a week and cooked for them)?

I hope none of you leave the 'cocoon' of the military. Do you really think you can find comparable conditions outside?

Everybody in the UK military is in the top 5 percentile of wealth in the world. 'Pay as you starve' is a hollow joke. You don't know how well off you all are.

 

[fatalbert]

Can any of the contributors to the thread 'pay as you starve' tell me where else in western Europe they can purchase a fully cooked meal for:

Breakfast - £1.15
Lunch - £1.35
Dinner - £1.75

It is shameful to see serving members complaining about 'high' rates of subsistence, when they are demonstrably low by all contemporary standards! You've not had free food since the start of the military salary in 1971.

I don't expect any of the 'pay as you starve' complainants to respond, as they are probably wasting away.

 

[Trusty Adjusty]

Can any of the contributors to the thread 'pay as you starve' tell me where else in western Europe they can purchase a fully cooked meal for:

Breakfast - £1.15
Lunch - £1.35
Dinner - £1.75

It is shameful to see serving members complaining about 'high' rates of subsistence, when they are demonstrably low by all contemporary standards! You've not had free food since the start of the military salary in 1971.

I don't expect any of the 'pay as you starve' complainants to respond, as they are probably wasting away.

Clearly anyone in the Armed Forces is hereby not allowed to have a (justified or otherwise) moan about anything then because "there are other people who are worse off" - what a crock of sh!te.

Conditions, messing and accommodation included, currently suffered by the majority of those serving in HM Forces are shocking and have been for some time. It is a FACT that prisoners have better living conditions than Junior ranks in the block and has been for an embarrassingly long amount of time. Don't get me started on SFA.

Simply arguing "it's cheap you should be grateful" certainly does not cut the mustard with me. I sacrifice a lot as part of my service, as do many others, who also go way beyond the boundaries of anything that would be expected of them in civvy street, and no, I don't think it too much to ask that the lads get looked after with a fair and adequate support system when they're not risking life and limb in Afghanistan/Libya etc.

The little things add up and they're f*ckin stacking up at the minute believe me, Pay as you Dine/Starve is just another example of a system that is failing it's people and failing them badly right now. Take your "mightier than thou" comments and f*ck off.

 

[sp4rks]

@Fatalbert,

I think you'll find this particular PAYS thread was aimed at finding out if there are price differences not a bleat and moan.

We all know the price is cheap, BUT, we know there could be more consistency and better choice.

Not only that but it seems to be that each year more and more of the 'Core' items are becoming 'Retail'. So less choice for more money (yes i know the costs will go up but that's not the point here)

As an example, when i was at Henlow and PAYD came in, the food was good and you could have as much coffee as you wanted and sachets were not paid for. Now if i want another coffee i have to pay for it, if i want more than one sachet i pay for it.

Economy not withstanding it 'seems' as though the companies who are part of the PAYD package are realising how difficult it is to feed us and are removing items to claw back some profit, resulting in a worse deal for us that didn't really have a choice when it came to PAYD coming in.

My biggest bugbear with PAYD however is not that it is in, but that it results in the Juniors (AC/LAC/SAC) that haven't been in long not getting enough food or going off to McDonalds instead 'cos it's nicer food and i can spend my money on what i want'. What happened to the Duty of Care there then.

I'll end it there before i go off on a rant.

 

[Climebear]

@Fatalbert,

I think you'll find this particular PAYS thread was aimed at finding out if there are price differences not a bleat and moan.

We all know the price is cheap, BUT, we know there could be more consistency and better choice.

Not only that but it seems to be that each year more and more of the 'Core' items are becoming 'Retail'. So less choice for more money (yes i know the costs will go up but that's not the point here)

As an example, when i was at Henlow and PAYD came in, the food was good and you could have as much coffee as you wanted and sachets were not paid for. Now if i want another coffee i have to pay for it, if i want more than one sachet i pay for it.

Economy not withstanding it 'seems' as though the companies who are part of the PAYD package are realising how difficult it is to feed us and are removing items to claw back some profit, resulting in a worse deal for us that didn't really have a choice when it came to PAYD coming in.

My biggest bugbear with PAYD however is not that it is in, but that it results in the Juniors (AC/LAC/SAC) that haven't been in long not getting enough food or going off to McDonalds instead 'cos it's nicer food and i can spend my money on what i want'. What happened to the Duty of Care there then.

I'll end it there before i go off on a rant.

Sp4rks

The MOD set the requirments for the core menu and these 'should' be regularly checked and evaluated by the contract monitors. Details are set out in JSP456 Vol 4 Chapter 6 Menu Policy (available on the intranet). As an example, it is this document that only requires a CRL contractor to provide 'a hot beverage as part of the core meal cost'. The JSP also sets the number of choices that are to be made available - this is dependant on the average number of diners. It's worth a read and, if you don't think you are getting what the MOD is paying the contractors to deliver (the core meals) then submit a complaint.

As for Duty of Care. ACs in Phase 1 training are not on CRL. ACs under the age of 18 in Phase 2 training will be subect to the training establishment's Duty of Care Directive. For LACs and SACs, do we owe them a greater duty of care than that for any other member of the population of a similar age and income?-Ater all married LACs and SACs do not get any special culinary treatment nor do those in civvy street who have left home and manage to budget for their food.

 

[sp4rks]

Climebear,

Good gen there, thanks. might just have to dig it out and have a look.

But generally i think you know where i am coming from. It's too easy for those in the block to think why bother, i'll save some cash for beer. whereas those who are married are generally looking after themselves better, as it's not just them they have to think of.

 

[ZBM2]

Corsham
Breakfast - (Will check, i make my own)
Lunch - £1.39
Tea - £1.78

Looking at those prices compared to mine (Waddo) it seems you would be paying more than the 'core' entitlement.

The standard prices are not to exceed what you used to pay under the old system. At Waddo the prices are infact 1p less than what you used to pay (£1.15, £1.35, & £1.75 respectively) for each meal under the old system.

All other menu options don't need to be priced to fall inside the core meal entitlement.

 

[True Blue Jack]

British Army Training Unit Kenya

Breakfast: £0.00
Lunch: £0.00
Dinner: £0.00

Beer: 100 Kenyan Shillings (approx. 77p)


OK, flippancy aside, there could be several reasons for discrepancies in the cost of the core menus across PAYD units, of which profiteering is only one of the possibilities. For example, at Shrivenham 3 core meals per day will cost about £7.00 in total. This is because the mess membership voted to have the enhanced core. The Offrs' and SNCOs' messes at Akrotiri did the same (but the JRM didn't).

If you think you're being diddled then speak to your CRL Partnering Officer (OC Chips in old money) and ask him to explain why the total cost of 3 core meals per day is greater than the daily food charge (not 100% sure of the current rate but you'll find it in JSP 754).