Pricewatch
Your consumer queries answered. Have you a problem, a gripe or a tip-off? Contact us on 01-6758000 or mail pricewatch@irishtimes.com or via twitter @conor_pope
Pandemic savings: How some people have saved thousands by working from home
Pricewatch: Many saving on commuting, food and coffee costs, but utilities are up
The Irish-focused platforms offering an alternative to Amazon
Pricewatch: Indigenous online sites aim to help Irish consumers to shop local
The ethical shopper: Buy local, read labels, think before you shop
From clothes to food, taking the time to inform yourself can make a difference
Missing white-knuckle stress? Try the postal service
Pricewatch: Getting a letter from England to Ireland can take a stressfully long time
Why we celebrate Christmas on the 25th, eat mince pies and put up trees
Pricewatch’s 12 fun facts of Christmas explores the origins of our modern traditions
Shielding, comfort cooking, stocking up... How consumers cope with Covid
Top thing Irish people have missed is time spent with friends, research finds
Cyber Monday: Beware of bogus deals and preying scammers
Pricewatch: Consumers need their wits about them amid relentless coverage of ‘bargains’
Twenty-two ways supermarkets trick you into spending more money
Supermarkets bombard customers with all manner of psychological devices and tricks
Consumers pay high price for not pulling the plug on energy suppliers
Pricewatch: People who change energy providers can make annual savings of €400
How to be a better consumer: 20 commandments
Keep your wits about you as a shopper – that way you get the best value
Back with our old friends at eir – and nothing seems to have changed
Pricewatch: Overcharging and disconnecting as the price of bacon goes through the roof
‘This is simply disgusting’: Holidaymakers struggle amid mixed messages
Pricewatch: More complaints than ever as some travel operators let themselves down
Twenty ways Covid-19 has changed our daily lives
Pricewatch: Will consumers return to normal or will some new habits endure?
Shopping locally: what difference does it make?
The lockdown has encouraged Irish consumers to buy locally-sourced goods
How lockdown has helped us to save money - and find new ways to spend it
Pricewatch: Meal kits and takeaway pints have become the new camping holiday
Pricewatch: Left on the shelf - what we are no longer buying
Bread and male grooming products among things consumers decided they can do without
The changing face of retail during and after Covid-19
What can we expect? Limits on time spent in shops, staggered queues and plexiglass at tills
Pricewatch: Problems with banks prove perennial amid pandemic
One reader ‘mugged’ by an ATM, another is told to visit branch for ‘golden years’ account
Avoca: it’s all about the food now
The multimillion euro retail chain has had to reinvent itself since the Covid-19 lockdown
How coronavirus is changing our relationship with food and cooking
Pricewatch: ‘Shielding’, ‘stocking-in’ and ‘comfort cooking’ are among the new trends
How Covid-19 has changed the face of Irish shopping
Pricewatch: Retail has undergone a swift and bleak transformation under crisis guidelines
Are the travel industry and airlines playing fair in coronavirus crisis?
Pricewatch: Hundreds of people could lose thousands of euro as their travel plans lie in tatters
Coronavirus confinement: Thirteen tips to make self-isolating easier
Pricewatch: Help cope with confinement by adding to your interests and activities
Crude oil prices have plummeted. Why not prices at the pump?
Pricewatch: There are several reasons for the apparent rip-off but the main one is tax
Cashless world: Will we be richer or poorer for it?
Ireland is gradually becoming cashless. Is the convenience worth the loss of privacy?
Libraries: Remarkable places we should cherish
Less than 20% of Irish people describe themselves as regular users
Cover or no cover: ‘I know mistakes happen . . . but it really is a mess’
Pricewatch: Reader shares her experience of conflicting phone calls with Laya Healthcare
Navigating the health insurance maze and finding the best deal
The health insurance market is packed with hundreds of plans from three key players
My car was clamped in error. Should I get compensation?
Pricewatch: Posh frock horror in Wexford, BA’s no-show policy proves costly for reader
Things we take for granted that hardly existed in 2010
Selfies, contactless payments, storm names and Netflix - what have the 2010s given us?
Pricewatch: 2019 was eventful for hard-pressed consumers
Food scares, Brexit fears, rising costs, and how to cut a pineapple
Here are 30 Irish websites to get this year’s Christmas presents from
Why not enable more cash to circulate in the local economy . . . where delivery is free?
Have a green Christmas – gift ideas for the sustainable shopper
Not everyone can make gifts but happily there are talented craftspeole who can
Clamping at Luas stations: more readers who’ve been taken for a ride
Pricewatch: Park-and-ride system proves costly but it is user error or faulty machines?
Christmas shows our approach to climate change is crackers
Pricewatch: About 15m crackers will be pulled in Ireland over festive season
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