just thought i would ask what everyone thinks of motorway service areas i.e prices, facilities, and just general comments
thanks
steve
You need to ask?
They all smell of ■■■■.
stevelw2007:
just thought i would ask what everyone thinks of motorway service areas i.e prices, facilities, and just general commentsthanks
steve
How many swear words can we use in one post 
Frequented by inconsiderate ■■■■■ lowlife scum who insist on yelling as loudly as they can, clanking the winding handle as loudly as they can and then giving a merry “toot-toot” on their tractor unit’s horn after doing a trailer changeover at 3 a.m.
not bad place,s to be honest some over priced food ok if you like chip.s on moto one anyway prefer the roadchef as u can a niice lamb shank lol better than sleeping in a layby with no toilets
Vastly overpriced with often very poorly planned HGV parking such as Doncaster or Cambridge with areas that tight that it is often impossible to leave when you have a truck on either side due to lack of room to pull out without hitting the next truck with your trailer.
I avoid them like the plague for overnight parking, give me a nice quite piece of wasteland or industrial estate road with decent TV signal any time. Peace and quite and probably a much lower chance of agro and it doesn’t cost me £16 or £18 with a flaming meal voucher!
teddy_0781:
better than sleeping in a layby with no toilets
Yes, that is one very big plus point for them. But I’m sure I’ve parked in one once (one of the few times I have) and the main building, containing the toilets, was all locked up during the night. In that situation, finding a nice secluded patch of bushes is much harder when the whole place is flood lit! 
eldor:
teddy_0781:
better than sleeping in a layby with no toiletsYes, that is one very big plus point for them. But I’m sure I’ve parked in one once (one of the few times I have) and the main building, containing the toilets, was all locked up during the night. In that situation, finding a nice secluded patch of bushes is much harder when the whole place is flood lit!
“In days of old, when knights were bold, and lavatories weren’t invented…”
Harry Monk:
Frequented by inconsiderate ■■■■■ lowlife scum…
Careful Harry, can we use those words in Blair / Browns new world??
Some lentil eating , tree hugging, Guardian reading, carbon foot print worrying do gooder will report you to the EU thought Police!! 
Next, you could be giving truck drivers a bad name!!!..truck drivers could even end up being stereotyped!!!
if there aint a life guard on duty then i stay in the cab,cos i dont want to drown in ■■■■,if your into classic cars then try the truck ares cos theres usually a couple hundred humber sceptres hooked up to old bath-tubs,very expensive food,especially them ‘little thief’ places. 
bullitt:
Some lentil eating , tree hugging, Guardian reading, carbon foot print worrying do gooder will report you to the EU thought Police!!Next, you could be giving truck drivers a bad name!!!..truck drivers could even end up being stereotyped!!!
ROFPMSL
stevelw2007:
just thought i would ask what everyone thinks of motorway service areas i.e prices, facilities, and just general commentsthanks
steve
I think they are excellent high profile locations offering established ‘brands’ an unique opportunity to increase their market share. There are still financial opportunities to be unlocked at these establishments, i believe passing customers are still managing to leave these service areas with money in their pockets. This proves that operators are not realising their full potential !!!
lol i know i know but in the interest of fairness i just thought i would see what everyone had to say good or bad
stevelw2007:
lol i know i know but in the interest of fairness i just thought i would see what everyone had to say good or bad
If either Roadchef or Moto welcomed a response from customers you might think they would have contact details readily available? They don’t, i think MOTO has a feedback form page available to fill in, that would almost certainly go straight to the recycle bin,unless of course it was something favourable which i would very much doubt. Given that CP PLus run the car parking arrangements and all if not most of the facilities on offer are franchised out and undeniably overpriced compared to any other similar franchises in retail areas what type of response are you looking for Steve? You might be better off asking the shareholders of Moto and Roadchef how they are doing rather than paying us lip service? In the mean time they are generally a ■■■■ place to park up for a break but i can buy no end of bargain nick nacks, everything from an umbrella to a fancy screwdriver set. The bogs are crap too, if they franchise them out and we have to pay 10p a shot (pardon the pun) we might get what we pay for!!!
And just for good measure i have had a memo today from my agency (Drivers Direct) that has come via OConnors (container transport)…‘under no circumstances should any of us take a break in a MSA (Motorway Service Area), there have been a few hijackings lately and we are not to risk it. If any one feels they have to stop at a MSA then contact Alan Clarke (manager) and let him know.’
So they aint even safe according to OConnors who recommend not even stopping at them.
they provide a stopping facility only, if no alternative is available then they will suffice.
whilst i know that they have to charge for the parking because they have to recoup the costs of the rates etc. why do they have to charge so much?
they have a much wider range of visitors and more of them than any truckstop in the country but they charge almost double what a truckstop would charge, most truckstops will never see a coach load of visitors all stepping off to spend money in the cafe, they don’t expect thousands of car drivers to pull in on a daily basis and buy a bottle of mineral water that costs as much as a litre of petrol or a newspaper, triangle of sandwiches and a can of coke for nearly a fiver yet the truckstops can manage to survive with the patronage of truck drivers only and charge less than a fiver for a full breakfast and overnight parking for what equates to less than a tenner once you have had the meal voucher and free shower that is usually thrown in.
why do MSA’s stink of ■■■■?
truck drivers i’m afraid, i witnessed this week a driver from iceland pull into reading services, get out of his truck and pee around the front, he didn’t park in any of the bays but had stopped on the edge of the parking area right next to the waste ground where he would have been better off aiming his tool as the grass would have soaked it up better than the tarmac.
dirty filthy maggot
What really winds me up is all the crap they sell in the shops, Dundee Cake and Scottish shortbread, Barbecue coal and plastic london bridges.
Try and buy a 24volt bulb or a tin of brake fluid & they will look at you blank.
Another thing that winds me up is that they can get away with ripping free cashpoints out to replace them with their own that charge for withdrawals.
Buy a packet of cigs in the services and you will be lucky to get change from 7 quid.
i cant think of anything good to say about them at all
Mike-C:
And just for good measure i have had a memo today from my agency (Drivers Direct) that has come via OConnors (container transport)…‘under no circumstances should any of us take a break in a MSA (Motorway Service Area), there have been a few hijackings lately and we are not to risk it. If any one feels they have to stop at a MSA then contact Alan Clarke (manager) and let him know.’
So they aint even safe according to OConnors who recommend not even stopping at them.
I’m confused then Mike, where are you supposed to stop? Surely, an MSA is a better alternative than a layby (CCTV / more people about etc).
why should we worry about the cost let the boss charge the proper rate for the job
why should we have to crap in a bush