Readers' queries

BUYING IN BULK:EVA McDONNELL contacted us with a "quick rant about Tesco", in particular two pricing discrepancies which caught her attention recently.

While two 100g bars of Dove Soap have a price tag of €1.20 or 60 cent each in the store, four bars of the same soap cost €3.18 or 80 cent per bar. Meanwhile six Nutri-Grain Elevenses cereal bars are €2.67 or 99c for 100g while a 12 x 45g “supersaver value pack” costs €5.73 or €1.07 for 100g.

“I think consumers make purchasing decisions on the basis that buying in bulk saves money and Tesco is capitalising on this. Particularly when the 12-box of Nutri-Grain is advertised as a supersaver!”

It is not only Tesco that stands accused this week. Dorothy got in touch to complain about the same problem in Superquinn.

“Kitten Soft toilet tissue, pack of 16, which displays on the wrapping that to buy the bigger amount is to buy cheaper, is for sale in Superquinn at €13.59 – unit price 84.8 cent – but if you investigate further you will see that the pack of four is for sale at €2.78 – unit price 69.5 cent – a price difference of 15.3 cent per unit.”

She also points out that in the branch she was in, the unit price of the 16-pack was particularly difficult to see as it was right down at floor level “or am I just being cynical”. She says that Fairy washing powder “shows a similar price discrepancy between the larger ‘economy’ size and the smaller size, and I am sure this is a trend that carries through other brands. I really think it is downright dishonest of Superquinn. Perhaps you could warn people of this trend again.”

COST OF A CUPPUCCINO

LAST WEEK we had an item about the price of coffee in Dublin, with a reader complaining about paying over €8 for a cappuccino, with an extra shot of coffee and a hot chocolate. She said these prices were high even by the standards in Venice’s most revered tourist trap Piazza San Marco. This prompted Peter Kinsella to contact us: “On a visit to Venice last September we were charged over €33 in Piazza San Marco for two cappuccinos and two tiny cakes.” He says the cappuccinos were approximately €9 each. “If there are musicians playing nearby you will pay €6 extra regardless of what you order.” Maybe we don’t have it so bad here after all.