VOILA! Common sence prevails!
argo

As has been said in another post, tourists visiting some countries are happy )?) to pay £4 a day for beds and shade.

I go to the south of France every year and it can be as much as 24 Euros at places like Juan le Pin or Antibes.
When I'm there, I prefer to use the free public beaches.
When in Goa - I don't care whether it's free or 100 Rs for two.

Hi i guess thats that then theres no point irishcolleen sharing info on this site because if some of you dont like what is said we are called whingers i thought that was what the site was about sharing views not abusing people,if i dont want to pay for sunbeds thats my choice all my wife is trying to do was warn people who dont like to be ripped of who charges and who does,nt it seems to me the only whingers on this site are the ones who only hear one side of an argument and everybody else is wrong,slan(cheers) PS I dont live in england so i dont know how much a sunbed is and i have never paid for a sunbed in ireland

Hi Irishman,
I was under the impression that Irishcolleen didn't mind paying for the sunbeds as they were very comfortable, but her gripe was, that the shack was charging a lot more for food than other shacks.
Everyone likes info on prices, so they can make a choice of whether to eat there or not

Irishman, do they have sunbeds in Ireland?????
Colleens point that some do not say they charge and then put it on the bill is worth remembering.
If my post caused offence then I am sorry, it wasn't meant to.
all the best to you and Colleen, merry xmas

I'm indebted to Max for his insight into sunbed charges in the South of France, but are we comparing like for like here ?. The beds supplied in Goa are made of wood, with many sharp corners, ( one year I had 8 stitches inserted in my leg,caused by catching my leg on one ) On our first visit to Goa in the late eighties these were the sun beds used, and the self same ones are still around today. The flock filled mattresses may, or may not be changed every year or two and by that time the state of them leaves a lot to be desired. We were entertained last year at one shack when a young rat that had been nesting in one made a surprise appearance and on being captured by one of the lads promptly bit him. The beach is never cleaned and by the end of a day the colour of ones feet are evidence of this. I'm just back, and my bill most days was about the 500 rp. mark, and yes, I would have objected strongly to a charge of 100 rps on top of this. The people contributing to this thread seem to fall into two catagories, one who regard a few rps. here and there as of little consequence, and others who may well be on a budget, and who are seeing their funds being more and more stretched by the increace in everything this year, and their £ getting around 15 rps less than last season. Alan

There will always be people with opposing opinions. Lets just put them forward without attacking folks who differ from your own please.

I'm not getting at anyone and I am only expressing my opinion.

If Bono, or anyone else has a notice up about bed charges and the price of food is on the menu, then the choice is yours.
Gramps - Bono gets his lads to clean the beach every night.

We often go up to La Plage where food costs a hell of a lot more than Bono's, but the beds are free.

We have used a regular shack on Candolim beach for last 3 visits, got to know them well and they look after us. No charge for beds, we always eat and drink there and if each sellers are getting too much they will move them on.
Going back in Jan and will seek them out again. No problem with paying 50-100R's if need be for sun bed, it's peanuts and to have bed saved for you in favourite position is great, especially as there are 5 of us. (and I need my own umbrella cos I burn easily!) We leave our towels with them and come back in the morning to have bed waiting with 1st bottle of ice cold water handed to us - service!!
At the end of the day they have to make a living, if they dis-respect this and start trying it on with unreasonable prices, etc, it is them who are going to suffer as we will take our custom elswhere.

I have no idea what the profit margin is on food and drinks bought at beach shacks, but if we take Gramps figure of 500 rps a day as an average and assume that a shack has 20 occupied sunbeds per day , that only gives a turnover of 10000rps (£125) per day.
Note I said turnover not profit.
Out of that there are usually at least 3 members of the family/ workforce to fund and materials and supplies to purchase, also I understand there is a licence to pay for.
Doesn't appear to me that even given Goa's low wages and costs, that anyone is getting excessively rich.
I only see it as a rip off if it is not obvious when you settle down that you are going to be charged and it is sprung on you at the end of the day. I suppose that the only way to avoid this is to make a point of asking before you take a bed and walk away if you do not want to pay.
For myself, I do not intend to spend the best part of £2000 on a holiday and then spend time worrying about less than £20 over a fortnight but do realise that other people have different priorities.
Having said all the above I would definately feel slighted if my usual shack charged ME !!!

Wasn't having a go at Irish colleen at all , my post made references to other threads concerning the charge of sunbeds.
Do some people think Goan's don't have any right to make a decent living and make increases to go in line with there cost of living ?

I have been fortunate to have only paid for sunbeds on one occasion, this was down at Candolim some years back. If I was charged at my regular shack I would be peeved as we do eat and drink there too. However, it wouldn't necessarily make me move on to another shack as we like it there and the food and service provided is good - I would either put my towel on the sand (as we have done elsewhere in the past) or if I was made aware of the fee at the outset and it was an acceptable amount then I would probably pay up. I wouldn't be happy to find it added on to the bill afterwards though. Having now read all the posts and given how quiet it is in Goa this season I can understand why some shack owners are starting to charge for the use of sunbeds; if they all start to charge this year because of the downturn in tourist numbers I feel certain that the charges will be here to stay. We will just have to get used to it.

we always ask first if there is a charge for the sunbed before settling down, what's the point of wandering up and down the beach to find a free bed? If it's a shack that you know and are happy with just go for it. Regular visitors are rarely charged - though we could be proved wrong on or next visit??!

Hi my gripe with bonos shack was we did,nt see any sign saying there was a charge for the beds he also conviently had,nt got his drinks menu sorted out yet and at the end of the day eg his kingfisher was 100 rupees now last year people quite rightly on this forum expressed disgust at the prices the then new supermarket newtons where charging for items compared to lets say the elephant shop well newtons charge 45rupees for kingfisher and of course they are making a profit ,come on a shack charging 100 thats the price i expect to pay at the taj exotica for a beer,if some people are happy to pay good luck to you, now has you have probely guessed im irish so my kingfisher bill at the end of the day is quite extensive(dont tell colleen i usually pay the bill when she at bono,s nice toilet)so its like buy one pay for two :cry.slan(cheers)

Id still prefer to leave a tip than to be charged the price of a bed and im sure
the tip would be a greater amount i wont be doing both and that is for sure
im going to use the same beach hut as the last couple of years nothing special about it but is run by a really nice goan family who make you feel welcome ill be really surprised if they charge but then ill have to wait and see
Now France well whats the prices of France got to do with Goa the next thing youll be saying is because france charge 4euros for a pint then its ok in india

I think the shacks charging for sunbeds must be a north Goa thing.I've been to a lot of the beaches down south in the past couple of months,and none of the shacks have charged for the use of their beds.

John

The shack owners have to pay tax on their sunbeds as well as shack licence fees, alcohol licences, staff wages ect where do they make any money if people bring there own food and drinks. If you spend 200 rups give or take a bit my local shacks dont charge for beds, but no one can expect to have a sunbed free of charge if they are not generating any income for the shacks,
Lin

After 11 years of going to Goa, have juust returned, and was appauled as have been going to Britto's at Baga all these years, and the people looking after their sunbeds this year, (all new people never seen before) tried to charge me 100 rupees per bed, said I was not paying it, and went to leave the beach, as passing through Britto's the manager came over to us and wondered why we were annoyed, I explained the situation and he could not stop apologising, by then I was so annoyed, we left the beach, and went back to the calm and peacefull ness of the hotel, They are really upsetting the tourists, and as Goa is so quiet at the moment, they are not doing them selves any favours.

pen ,i just cannot immagine you losing your cool!!!!