SOUNDING OFFRipped off? Stunned by good value?  Write, text or blog your experience to us

A reader from Galway contacted us last week after being less than impressed with the aftersales service offered by a 3G mobile phone shop in Eyre Square Centre.

"I bought an Apple iTouch for my daughter for Christmas," he writes, "and a couple of months ago we set up a wireless network in the house." One of the key selling points of the iTouch is its capability to access the web via WiFi but our reader's daughter had problems getting online. "I brought it back to the store and a member of staff confirmed it wasn't working. He gave me the number of an Apple helpline."

Confused, our reader pointed out that he had bought the product in the store and the product was faulty so why couldn't they take care of it and contact Apple on his behalf?

"I understand I am entitled to a repair, a replacement or a refund if a product is defective and that my contract is with the store where I bought the product and not the manufacturer. But I was told that the store had a 28-day returns policy. He said that they could not exchange it because it was outside the 28-day warranty period."

The staff member pointed to the back of the receipt which said: "If returned within 28 days of purchase and the fault can be verified in store we will be happy to immediately exchange it for a new product." It added: "All returns must be free from marks and accompanied by the original packaging and accessories/ content and a valid receipt."

Our reader points out that not many people keep the packaging of any product they buy. "They had everything in their favour." He rang the Apple number and the company immediately sent out a courier and committed to repairing or replacing the item within 10 working days. Days later he bought an iPod for his wife and steered well clear of the 3G store and went instead to Smyths. "In Smyths I was told to keep the receipt because I had a 12-month warranty. What's going on here?" he asks.

We contacted 3G to find out more. We were told that the Apple helpline number is given as a first step because that company prefers to troubleshoot problems over the phone with customers to see if they can be rectified without products being sent back for repair. Once it has been established that there is a serious problem, Apple will collect it. Alternatively, we were told, customers of 3G could get a case ID number from Apple which they could give to the store who would then arrange for the product to be shipped to and from Apple. We also rang the store in question and were told that if we brought the defective iTouch back they would arrange to have it shipped back to Apple directly.

Pricey mail

Chris Coggins recently booked flights online with Aer Lingus for his father, who lives in England. He made the booking on a Thursday evening for a flight leaving the following Wednesday. He had to post the flight document to his dad in a hurry so went into his local post office, where he was advised to post it express "at 10 times the normal postage rate - €8.30 versus €0.82. To be fair to them they said they could give no commitment on when it would be delivered in the UK." In Coggin's experience, normal mail takes four days from door-to-door, so to be safe he sent it express and paid the €8.30. The documents were posted on the Friday morning and arrived on Tuesday in plenty of time. "So it took 4 days which is what it would normally take non-express," he writes. "What great value from An Post. I pay 10 times the normal rate and it does not go any faster. I have learnt my lesson!"

No sweet deal

Brendan Barr learned a lesson when he travelled by train from Dublin to Cork last week and was asked for €1.75 for a normal-sized bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk. "I thought it was a mistake," he writes, so he asked for a receipt. "It was no mistake. Is this a record price for a bar of Dairy Milk?" he wonders. I know we have inflation but is this a bit over the top?

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In defence of credit card surcharges
While I can't help but agree about the rage-inducing nature of a per ticket card surcharge, I don't agree that these charges are inherently wrong in and of themselves. If a retailer is obliged to charge the same regardless of payment method, prices will increase to account for all shoppers. Essentially those purchasing using cheaper methods will be subsidising those using the more expensive. Tesco don't simply write off the cost of processing my card, they average it over all their customers. While retailers don't charge extra for handling cards, I can remember at least one occasion where a clothes retailer gave me a discount for paying in cash. - Tom Ennis

The other side of the story
Credit card surcharge U-turn. How can this have happened? Why has it magically been realised now? Surely these things are thought through when enacting the legislation. After all, the relevant parts went through the department, draftsmen and Oireachtas. It's on the statute book now, whether it's been commenced or not. This is either extremely sloppy or extremely dubious. - Bolg