Sounding off

We've got mail: Ripped off? Stunned by good value? Write, text or blog your experience to us.

Credit where it's due?

David Bradley, from Drogheda, got in touch to complain about a recent Vodafone promotion which offered pre-pay phones with €100 free call credit. "What the ads do not say," he writes, "is that in order to get that credit you have to top up by €10 a month and if you don't your credit reduces to zero."

He believes the ads are "grossly misleading to the customer". He points out that if someone buys a phone for €129, they actually have to spend €229 to take advantage of the €100 "free" credit (€129 for the phone, plus €100 in minimum top-ups spread over 10 months).

"These offers are obviously targeted at young people at this time of year and I consider these tactics extortionate and a deliberate attempt by Vodafone to extract as much money as possible from the unsuspecting youngsters or their parents."

We contacted Vodafone and put these charges to them. A spokeswoman said that on all the TV ads for this promotion, the terms and conditions - stating that monthly top-up was required - were on screen at all times. "We also clearly state that there is 'up to €160' free credit available. We are clear that there are restrictions."

She added, however, that two weeks ago Vodafone did run a press ad on this offer "which did not have the strapline 'terms and conditions apply' in some newspapers. An internal process highlighted this and the ad was withdrawn and corrected after two days. We take these issues very seriously in Vodafone."

Breaking the bank for a tank

During the recent mid-term break Kathryn Owens decided to bring her kids to Collins Barracks.

"On the way I realised I needed diesel in the car so pulled into the Statoil service station on Ushers Quay," she writes. "I had not looked at the price advertised and was a little confused as I watched the amount due reach €82."

She was in a rush, so she paid. "It was when I checked my receipt later I realised that I had been charged €1.749 per litre, which is about 60 cent more than the average charged in other stations."

Assuming a mistake had been made, she went back into town the next day to inquire, as she had been unable to obtain a phone number for the station. "Sure enough, the price advertised outside was €1.749 - so, no mistake, no explanation or even hint of embarrassment; just an incredible rip-off."

Difficult as pie

Our assessment of shepherd's pies last week left reader Christopher Arnold perplexed. He read the review with "great interest" as he is quite the fan of a good shepherd's pie. His interest, however, turned to confusion when he reached the top-rated pie from the Douglas Hinde Good Food Company in Cork and learned that it was made not with lamb but with beef.

"Such a pie is a cottage pie, a distinct difference probably well-known to your readers. After all, when was the last time you saw a shepherd looking after a flock of cows," he writes.

We got in touch with the pie-making company, whose owner, Tadhg O'Donovan, promptly accepted that our reader's comments were spot-on. He said he and his partner "both grew up eating shepherd's pie with beef rather than lamb and never gave it too much thought. We hope your reader will forgive our foible."