http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch Just another irishtimes.com weblog Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:29:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/11/05/phone-bill-makes-refunds-trickier/ 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/11/02/social-sites-have-real-bite/ 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/11/01/so-sue-them/ 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/27/are-product-claims-true/ 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, ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/22/customer-service-getting-better-or-worse/ 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 ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/20/skys-the-limit/ I’ve interviewed Georgina Campbell, who writes well regarded restaurant guide books, on a number of occasions, most recently in July. When I spoke to her then she said that during a very, very tough time for the Irish hospitality sector, consumers should be careful about applying too much price ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/15/should-we-try-and-drive-prices-lower/ What does Change for Good mean to you? The slogan was rolled out in a blaze of publicity by Tesco last May to promote substantial price cuts (averaging 22 per cent) brought in to stop potential customers in the northern bit of the south crossing the border to do their ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/15/change-for-good/ A DISTRESSED reader contacted us recently after enduring two years of heartache with a wood pellet burner she had installed in her Mayo home. Filled with the best of intentions when she was building her house, she decided to use a renewable energy source for her heating and was convinced by ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/13/is-green-energy-worth-it/ A new bill aimed at tackling “rogue service providers” in the telecommunications sector and stamping out premium rate phone service scams was brought before the Dail by the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan yesterday. While it allows for greater regulation of a sector which has been guilty of all manner ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch/2009/10/09/where-are-the-refunds-gone/