Price Watch Conor PopeMarlene McNulty from Rathfarnham writes to alert readers to a price difference she discovered recently between designer shirts in upmarket retailers in the city centre and the suburbs.

In the middle of September she saw a Ralph Lauren shirt in Brown Thomas on Grafton Street with a price tag of €99 and thought it might make an ideal present for a friend. "The shirt I particularly liked was not available in the size I needed. On the way home I decided to try House of Fraser [in the Dundrum Town Centre]." Sure enough, the shirt was available there but had a price tag of €120.

"All Ralph Lauren shirts were priced at either €120 or €112. All Polo shirts were priced at €88, as opposed to €75 in Brown Thomas," she says.

She asked to see a manager who told her that House of Fraser operated a "price promise" system, under which it would match the prices in other shops. The manager assured McNulty that the matter would be addressed. "When I asked if I had to pay €120 for the shirt if I wanted to buy it there, she said she would give it to me at the same price as BT . . . In fact, she charged me only €90 at the cash desk.

"I again stressed my outrage at the difference in price and got her assurance that this would be brought to the attention of management. I did not get the manager's name but was pleased with her handling of the situation."

Last week McNulty was in Dundrum Town Centre again and out of curiosity checked the prices on the shirts and found that they were still the same price. "It is the fact that prices have not been reduced that I have the problem with," she says.

We contacted House of Fraser who confirmed it had a "price promise" in operation. A spokeswoman said the shop did comparative checks with its competitors all the time, and said it was in the process of investigating the apparent price difference spotted by our reader.

"We don't endeavour to be more expensive than anyone else, and if it is a mistake we will rectify it," the spokeswoman said.

What's more . . .

CHOCOLATE SURPRISE There's some good news to report for Galway-based chocoholics. Last Friday we highlighted a substantial difference in price for a bar of Green & Blacks in McCambridge's on Galway's Shop Street and the Evergreen Health Store 50 yards away. McCambridge's has been in touch to say that it has lowered the price of the 100 gram bars of Green & Black's Maya Gold from €3.55 to €2.95 following a change in supplier. McCambridge's also pointed out that it sells a range of one of the best pates reviewed last week for quite a bit less than its Dublin counterparts. While PriceWatch paid €41.66 per kilo for Patchwork traditional pate in the capital, "a good range of this pate" sells for €34.50 per kilo in McCambridge's.