Pricewatch

Gutted

Conor Pope — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:03:25 +0000

Henry’s hand has just condemned us to four more years of gloomy depression. Thanks a lot buddy. Going to go have a little cry, now.

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Bah, humbug or sanity prevailing?

Conor Pope — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:09:02 +0000

Are we starting to see some sense? Earlier this month, an annual survey from Deloitte confirmed that Ireland had surrendered its place at the top of Europe’s Christmas spending chart to Luxembourg and reported that we will spend an average of 22 per cent less on Christmas this year.

The cost of an Irish Christmas will fall to an average of €1,110 per household. Presents are likely to take the biggest hit and according to the survey households will spend €660 on gifts down 30 per cent on last year. Christmas food will set households back an average of €265, just six per cent less than last year, while households will spend €185 on socialising - down nearly 22 per cent on last year. Three quarters of people polled had less to spend while 61 per cent will do up a budget for their Christmas shopping this year, many of them for the very first time.

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Musical interlude

Conor Pope — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:39:22 +0000

I was listening to the radio this morning and there was a degree of, er, unhappiness, following Usuf Islam’s - Cat Stevens - concert in the 02 last night. Some of the crowd were raging that the singer played a set filled with new songs and then followed it up with a musical based on his own life. The way Gerry Ryan tells it, tempers frayed, blood was spilled and the audience - which was made up of mostly mellow Cat Steven’s fans, presumably - were just a hair’s breath away from ripping up the seats and starting a full-on riot. There have been a lot of calls for refunds but, if I were a disgruntled fan, I wouldn’t be holding out much – or indeed any – hope.

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Three strikes…

Conor Pope — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:48:25 +0000

A Ray Darcy Show listener sent me a mail about 3 Mobile which sounded wearily familiar. She’s been a customer of the company for years and pays her bill by direct debit. Here’s what she wrote:

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Phone Bill makes refunds trickier

Conor Pope — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:29:29 +0000

I don’t get premium rate services at all. The idea that people will spend over a euro a message to get lame jokes or horoscopes sent to their phones fills me with bafflement. The only time I’ve used a premium rate service was for a Pricewatch article earlier this year when I had my fortune told by Irish Psychics Live. I paid nearly 30 quid to be told that by the end of the year, I’d have me a new job, a new wife with some new children on the way.
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Social sites have real bite

Conor Pope — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:36:48 +0000

The old truism that people who are treated well by a business tell one or two others while those who are treated shabbily tell 20 has never looked as old-fashioned as it has in recent months thanks to the social networking revolution and the power it has placed in the hands of ordinary consumers.

With the help of Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Twitter, the ever-expanding blogosphere and countless bulletin boards and discussion forums, people with access to a computer can complain to a potential audience of millions if a company displeases them.
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So, sue them…

Conor Pope — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:00:22 +0000

We all know that companies sometimes make ridiculous claims about their products to convince us to buy them, right? Maybe we should just sue the bejaysus out of the ones that most spectacularly fail to deliver on their promises of whiter teeth, shinier, thicker hair, flatter tummies and hypnotic sex appeal. Just like Vaibhav Bedi is doing. The 26-year-old single man from India is demanding nearly €30,000 from Unilever to make up for the “depression and psychological damage” caused by the absence of any Lynx effect in its products of the same name. According to Ananova the poor fella failed to land a single girlfriend despite using Lynx for seven years. Who would you sue first?

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Are product claims true?

Conor Pope — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:18:13 +0000

Over the last decade so many foods have promised to heighten our brain function, lower our cholesterol, raise our fibre levels, flush our arteries clean, steady our blood pressure, boost our immunity, toughen up our bones and our teeth, and help us develop razor-sharp concentration that it’s a wonder we still need doctors.

Manufacturers of high calorie products loaded with refined sugars can slap the term “low fat” on their packaging to create a false sense of wholesomeness while something made almost entirely with artery-clogging trans-fats and salt is free to boast about its “sugar-free” status.

There are also companies which bamboozle us with talk of hair and nail enriching vitamins and while such claims may, strictly speaking, be true in the sense that certain nutrients are important for the development of hair and nails, the reality is we already have them in abundance so the extra dose, available at a hefty price, is entirely unnecessary.
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Customer service - getting better or worse?

Conor Pope — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:24:32 +0000

You’d think that one of the few upsides of the downturn would be a dramatic improvement in customer service as retailers, restaurants and every other customer focussed business upped their games to keep themselves afloat. But, judging from the level of correspondence I have had in recent months, that has not happened and the roll of customer service dishonour keeps getting longer. What do you think? Are things improving for consumers or is it the same as it ever was? Or worse even?

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Sky’s the limit

Conor Pope — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:30:51 +0000

A listener to the Ray Darcy show got in touch with me last week after being given a right run-around by Sky Television. He moved house at the end of 2005 and at the end of November of that year his wife sent a disconnection request to Sky. It was acknowledged and Sky said the account would be terminated on the 30th December 2005. The couple opened a new account in his name, with a different bank account number and they thought no more about it.

Until December 2007 when he noticed payments coming out of his account. He immediately contacted the company and it stopped the payments. Ever since he has been trying the money taken from him in error refunded. He has sent numerous letters and emails to no avail. Most recently he sent an email to customer relations in August which was ignored and a fax in September which earned him a terse response in which Sky said “we are unable to make a refund in relation to this”. There was no further explanation.

So, Sky effectively stole (or at least took without asking) over a thousand euro from an entirely blameless customer, ignored multiple requests pleading with them to resolve the problem and said they would not give him a refund without saying why.
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