The cost of spending a penny

[Fan of Big Tone]

In the olden days when @super_ram and myself were alive, it used to cost one penny to use a public toilet, in fact @super_ram can probably remember when it was a groat! 

This last week whilst on holiday in Scarborough me and my wife wanted to use the toilet and it was 40p each! That’s 8 shilling to us old farts. 

[super_ram]

5 hours ago, Fan of Big Tone said:

In the olden days when @super_ram and myself were alive, it used to cost one penny to use a public toilet, in fact @super_ram can probably remember when it was a groat! 

This last week whilst on holiday in Scarborough me and my wife wanted to use the toilet and it was 40p each! That’s 8 shilling to us old farts. 

The last time we all holidayed at Skegness, pre covid, some toilets were charging 20p.I can remember a holiday at Blackpool in the 50's my grandad asking if anyone in our group had a penny as he had none in his change..For years we always made sure we had a few pennies in our pockets 'just in case' Thanks to inflation it  looks like we'll soon need to rob a bank to visit a convenience.

@Fan of Big Tone,groats were just a little before my time,but I do remember ha'pennys, farthings,the sixpenny bit(tanner), the twelve edged threepenny bit and even the silver threepenny bits.

 

 

 

[liampie]

i think its 40p everywhere in skegness that is a public service, i know the toilets on the beach front in the main part of skegness, the ones at the side of the shopping centre and the ones across from the train station are. its one way to make money for the local authority because lets face it most dont keep the cleaning to a high standard that pubs, restaurants etc are. the amount of paying people, must see it being profitable over the cost of cleaning.

it does not even deter those scruffy people from leaving a mess.  

[CliftonMagpie]

I remember when public toilets were free and didn’t cost anything to use. I think charging 40p is daylight robbery. It’s almost like a convenience tax.

[allardyces tash]

It’s inflation for you all. I had no problem paying 20p to use public toilets that are well-maintained and clean. I think it’s a good incentive to keep idiots from making them a total mess. Correction, I say I never had a problem, but actually, there were times when I just didn’t have 20p on me, which is quite frustrating. You dig deep in your pockets, busting to go, and thankfully find one. Now, you have to dig deeper to find two if you’re lucky.

They want you to say that 50p would be easier, then before you know it, it will be 50p for a wee and £1 for the other.

[Fan of Big Tone]

In France they have a little old lady who sits with a dish collecting money, I guess she keeps the toilet clean and takes the money as payment, I never knew how much to put in the dish so invariably paid a euro for a pee.

Toilets there are usually unisex too, weird.

[NottsCountyKev]

Unisex toilets are weird; I hate those temporary ones. I prefer to find gender-based toilets if I can help it, but I have never heard of anyone sitting outside them with a collection. I wonder if the old lady was helping in an official capacity? France is a weird nation; after all, they eat frog legs. It’s a beautiful country but still very weird. I wouldn’t pay 40p for a public toilet; they are public after all and come out of our taxes.

[heraldmagpie]

The number of people I see jumping or just walking in without paying sometimes makes me want to demand a refund. Charging 40p is taking the mickey.

[Fan of Big Tone]

7 hours ago, NottsCountyKev said:

France is a weird nation; after all, they eat frog legs.

We went specifically looking for frogs legs in France and failed to find any, the only time I’ve ever eaten them was in a restaurant on an English cruise ship, I think it’s a bit of a fallacy that they eat frogs legs, they might have done way back in the past, the same as English folk ate tripe and onions or brains years ago. (Shudder).

[Chris]

Public toilets should be free; it's disappointing to see them being knocked down or replaced with ones you have to pay for. It's quite inconvenient, especially if you don't have the certain change. I remember one time waiting for @cheeky~k8, this elderly person asked me if I had any change and I told him I hadn't. The toilets wouldn't allow you to pay with coins, just except for the correct amount. i.e a 20p - yet you could pay with a note.

Well he ended up paying with £20, there was no useful information, but he became frustrated due to waiting for his change.

I mentioned that I think you have to go through to the other side for the change, he didn't see the lights between the turnstiles change. He was like "It's not doing anything" and "It's robbed me."

He just kept pressing the machine, then eventually went through. Only to complain that his change was like £17.40p.

[Fan of Big Tone]

There’s a free public toilet in our town but it’s no good to me because I can walk home in a minute, so unless I was really desperate I won’t be using it.

A lot of places like cafes, bars etc., in Europe pay reduced rates if they open their toilets to the public without having to make a purchase. I think this is something that should be adopted in this country.

[BromPie]

The number of public toilets that have been demolished and destroyed in the UK, with the remaining ones in busy areas being replaced by paid ones, is concerning. I would never use the free ones in the city centre; I prefer to visit the Vic Centre if I must. I think there’s room for some kind of toll, but 40p is pushing it.

[Nocturnal-Magpie]

The plus point of being a security guard is that, if in locations where others might have to pay, we don’t. I try to avoid public toilets, even ones that require payment. I’d rather use restaurants like McDonald’s or KFC, as they tend to have strict cleaning policies. Not all do, but it’s a lot better than using some.

[AmericanPie]

It’s the first time for me to see an online forum discussing public toilets.

Very rarely are public toilets an issue here in the States. I have never come across one that required money. However, when I was a trucker, there were some service stations where I wished they had.

[Joshua]

This discussion is unreal.

Toilets shouldn’t charge any more than 10p in my opinion, if anything at all.

[super_ram]

On 23/07/2023 at 07:02, Fan of Big Tone said:

We went specifically looking for frogs legs in France and failed to find any, the only time I’ve ever eaten them was in a restaurant on an English cruise ship, I think it’s a bit of a fallacy that they eat frogs legs, they might have done way back in the past, the same as English folk ate tripe and onions or brains years ago. (Shudder).

Tripe and onions was one of my maternal grandfather's favourites. It made me shudder too @Fan of Big Tone but he loved it.