rip off louth

whelan1

saw this on the meath thread.... going to start off with the drogheda indo ... 15 euro for a classified ad for a week ffs, the democrat is 8 euro:mad:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

whelan1 wrote: »

drogheda indo ... 15 euro for a classified ad for a week..., the democrat is 8 euro

Now I'm confused. The Democrat is Louth as well, so perhaps the thread should be Value Louth instead of Rip Off Louth. Ads only €8 in the Democrat!
There will always be products and services more expensive in one place compared to another. That's a fact of life. That's trade. Where a Rip Off comes in is questionable and subjective. A Carpet in ABC Carpets Dunleer is €2000 while in XYZ Floors in Dundalk it's available for €1500. Is this a rip off? No.

A loaf of bread is €3.20 in my local deli but Dunnes have loaves for less than a euro. Rip Off? No. My choice and a better product. Perhaps circulation is better with the Indo (in fact it is by far) so greater exposure for your ad.

A Rip Off is defined as A product or service that is overpriced or of poor quality or as tantamount to theft. Overpriced does not simply mean cheaper somewhere else. That just means somewhere else is better value.
Also, price variations occur right across the country, and the EU as a whole, so a Rip Off peculiar to Louth will be very interesting to find as I'm sure similar variations will be found elsewhere outside the county.

A broken slate resulting in a contractor calling and saying the whole roof needs replacing at a cost of thousands is a Rip Off!

Linda123

If you think Louth is a rip off, you better not go to Galway. I used to work there and everything from a pint of milk, to fuel, rent, scoops, taxis are much more expensive. Most shops even charge for phone credit top ups.
Although the pay parking in Dundalk town centre is extortionate at 1.30 per hour.

fh041205

Linda123 wrote: »

If you think Louth is a rip off, you better not go to Galway.

Free into nightclubs before 12. And 3.50 pints as well as loads of specials on spirits. Beats the hell out of Dublin I'll tell you that much.

bigneacy

Business owners in Louth, and everywhere else for that matter need to cop on... its not 2005 anymore, the country is not booming and the celtic tiger has gone into hibernation. People won't pay a premium for the same product that is available cheaper elsewhere.

If people are selling their product for above the odds then they just aren't going to get the business.

And charging for credit is bloody ridiculous. You can buy credit almost everywhere for the normal price. Pure greed.

thats my two cents on the matter!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

That's all very vague!

There's loads of places not charging anything extra for phone credit (I take it that's the Credit you referred to).

Prices in houshld goods, furniture, and food have dropped, certainly in Dundalk, over the pasy 12 months.

Care to specify the rip offs?

fh041205

bigneacy wrote: »

And charging for credit is bloody ridiculous. You can buy credit almost everywhere for the normal price. Pure greed.

That really annoys me as well. Happens a lot in Dublin but I've rarely experienced it in Drogheda except once in the newsagents at the bottom of the town centre. I make a point of not buying credit in places which put a surcharge on it. Even 20c I don't care because its greedy like you say.

bigneacy

Katie Breezy Cargo wrote: »

That's all very vague!

What exactly was vague about my post? I was speaking in general terms!

Katie Breezy Cargo wrote: »

There's loads of places not charging anything extra for phone credit (I take it that's the Credit you referred.

Yeah there is loads of places not charging for it. I was giving out about the handful of places that do. Which was my entire point in my post, that the places that do charge over the odds (an extra 20c for credit in this case) are going to lose business. And in general terms, businesses that charge more than the others for the same product are going to lose business.

Katie Breezy Cargo wrote: »

Prices in houshld goods, furniture, and food have dropped, certainly in Dundalk, over the pasy 12 months.

Care to specify the rip offs?

I think you need to read my post again. I didn't mention any rip offs or any places in particular... I wasn't implying anywhere in particular. I am speaking in general terms, that the businesses that are still trying to charge the same prices that they were a few years ago are going to have to change their tactics or end up with no customers.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bigneacy wrote: »

Yeah there is loads of places not charging for it. I was giving out about the handful of places that do... I didn't mention any rip offs or any places in particular... I wasn't implying anywhere in particular. I am speaking in general terms, that the businesses that are still trying to charge the same prices that they were a few years ago are going to have to change their tactics or end up with no customers.

Kind of misses the point of the thread. Being:Rip off Louth. i.e What rip offs are there in Louth?

One of my friends paid 17 euro for a drink on Bank Holiday weekend in Ridleys or Silence in Dundalk. Can't remember which.

Madness.

**Timbuk2**

Deleted User wrote: »

One of my friends paid 17 euro for a drink on Bank Holiday weekend in Ridleys or Silence in Dundalk. Can't remember which.

Madness.

:eek:

I've heard of night clubs raising their prices as the night goes on, but 17 euro is ridiculous!

BettePorter

Deleted User wrote: »

One of my friends paid 17 euro for a drink on Bank Holiday weekend in Ridleys or Silence in Dundalk. Can't remember which.

Madness.

was it a joe bloggs average bottle of beer he was buying (usually fiver tops) or some salubrious cocktail with 6 redbulls and a gallon of spirits?
cause if it was the former, you were rightly robbed, but if it were the latter, he was worse asking for it. seriously though, nobody in their right and sober mind would pay that for a regular drink.

10green bottles

Deleted User wrote: »

One of my friends paid 17 euro for a drink on Bank Holiday weekend in Ridleys or Silence in Dundalk. Can't remember which.

Madness.

put some perspective on your post.
No way you would pay that for a beer so it had to be for some excotic cocktail that you had too much off.

bigneacy

Katie Breezy Cargo wrote: »

Kind of misses the point of the thread. Being:Rip off Louth. i.e What rip offs are there in Louth?

I doubt very much the mods on here would like us to start naming individual businesses for what they may or may not be doing that we don't agree with.... I seem to remember a similar situation on boards.ie with a casino that nearly ended in court time.

Triangla

fh041205 wrote: »

Free into nightclubs before 12. And 3.50 pints as well as loads of specials on spirits. Beats the hell out of Dublin I'll tell you that much.

On Harcourt St, Dublin alone:

D2 - Pints €3 before 8

Little Caesars, Italian restaurant next to D2 - Starter €3.95, Main €6.95

Dicey Reilly's - €2.50 a pint every Tues, €3.50 Weds, €4.00 Fri.
Free access to night club if you're in before 9.

Lovely Indian restaurant down Montague Lane, 3 mins from Diceys. 3 courses plus a beer or glass of wine for €15. You choose from their full menu (which has the normal prices displayed)

This is typical of just some of the value in Dublin, I love going out as there's always special offers on all over the place. Listed Harcourt St as I work near by and used to live there.

When I'm in Waterford or Kilkenny at weekends the difference in availability of quality good value for eating out and drinking options is blaringly obvious.

MonkeyTennis

if some place is a ripoff I dont see the issue with naming and shaming them.

locum-motion

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

if some place is a ripoff I dont see the issue with naming and shaming them.

The issue is that if you say "Joe Bloggs ripped me off", then Joe Bloggs could almost certainly sue you and Boards.ie for defamation of character.

However, if you say "I bought X from Joe Bloggs for €Y, and I think that's too expensive", then that would be OK, AFAIK. (A statement isn't defamatory if it's true!)

Long Term Louth

locum-motion wrote: »

The issue is that if you say "Joe Bloggs ripped me off", then Joe Bloggs could almost certainly sue you and Boards.ie for defamation of character.

However, if you say "I bought X from Joe Bloggs for €Y, and I think that's too expensive", then that would be OK, AFAIK. (A statement isn't defamatory if it's true!)

Perhaps you should have a look at another post in relation to "Rip Offs"

"Two of us visited matt the threshers for a snack type food on Monday last at approx 4pm Pot of tea for two, a salmon and cheese open sandwich and prawn salad (which consisted of a glorified sandwich) and a club lemon . . . . . The whole thing came to a whopping €37 EUROS . . . .yes 37Euro this included would you believe a service charge of €1.50
The food wasnt even nice This place is a product of a past that we need to forget about.......Acomplete rip off .........no wonder we have no tourists in the country with places like this still lurking around"

Definatley named and shamed

kbell

True, but to be fair whoever posted that could easily have read the menu, saw the prices and then just went somewhere else.

Long Term Louth

kbell wrote: »

True, but to be fair whoever posted that could easily have read the menu, saw the prices and then just went somewhere else.

That was just one comment, see the thread on Mat the threshers to view the rest.

locum-motion

So report that post, then.
I was just pointing out the issue to the person who said he couldn't see the issue.

Long Term Louth wrote: »

Perhaps you should have a look at another post in relation to "Rip Offs"

"Two of us visited SNIP for a snack type food on Monday last at approx 4pm Pot of tea for two, a salmon and cheese open sandwich and prawn salad (which consisted of a glorified sandwich) and a club lemon . . . . . The whole thing came to a whopping €37 EUROS . . . .yes 37Euro this included would you believe a service charge of €1.50
The food wasnt even nice This place is a product of a past that we need to forget about.......Acomplete rip off .........no wonder we have no tourists in the country with places like this still lurking around"

Definatley named and shamed

10green bottles

10green bottles wrote: »

put some perspective on your post.
No way you would pay that for a beer so it had to be for some excotic cocktail that you had too much off.

It was a skittles, so it's a mix of several drinks, similar to a fat frog. All the same, it usually doesn't sell for more than 7 or 8 euro, I'm told. They give you the same amount of alcohol and can reuse the rest of the drinks from the mixer for other skittles, so even the higher price of 7 or 8 that it usually is is a rip-off.

Long Term Louth

locum-motion wrote: »

So report that post, then.
I was just pointing out the issue to the person who said he couldn't see the issue.

I dont have a problem with it, just appears that it is ok. to name and shame!

locum-motion

Long Term Louth wrote: »

I dont have a problem with it, just appears that it is ok. to name and shame!

Given that the post you referred to has been deleted, it appears that it's not OK to name and shame!


EDIT: Actually, I was wrong. The post in question hasn't been deleted. It's just in a completely different forum.

I will refrain from further comment lest I am accused of backseat modding!

Mr Magnolia

The only posts deleted on this thread were spam.

Long Term Louth

locum-motion wrote: »

Given that the post you referred to has been deleted, it appears that it's not OK to name and shame!

I beg your pardon!


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055629059

matter closed!

locum-motion

Apologies for the misunderstanding; when you posted your example, I thought it was an example from this thread.
So when I looked back to see if I could find it, I only looked in this thread.
I couldn't find it, so I assumed it had been deleted.

I see now that your example was from a completely different thread, in a completely different forum. However, I'm sure that if it had been reported in that forum, it would have been deleted from that forum.

Long Term Louth

locum-motion wrote: »

Apologies for the misunderstanding; when you posted your example, I thought it was an example from this thread.
So when I looked back to see if I could find it, I only looked in this thread.
I couldn't find it, so I assumed it had been deleted.

I see now that your example was from a completely different thread, in a completely different forum. However, I'm sure that if it had been reported in that forum, it would have been deleted from that forum.

No problem, however this was the opening thread that lead to all the others, so was missed by someone or everyone.

Not a rip off as such, but this bugged me and I figured I'd throw it up here.

Went out drinking last night, etc. (in Drogheda) and on the way home went into Giulio's (not sure where we stand on "name and shame" here, so mods can delete that if necessary).

Anyway, had got a few drinks in me, but wasn't completely plastered or anything (even when I'm drunk, I'm sober :cool:).

Got some chips and sausages and was told it was €4.40. Handed them a €10 note and got 60c back (shortchanged me by €5).

I was in a rush, and had people waiting on me so I didn't say anything and just wanted to get out quickly.

Anyway, I copped it straight away, and looked straight at your bloke, who looked as guilty and uncomfortable as you could imagine, so I knew it was intentional (obviously preying on the drunks, or morons like me who don't say anything).


Anyway, needless to say, unless I'm ever starving hungry, I will never, ever go into that take away again, and I know this isn't a 'rip off' as such (though it's a con!) and can happen anywhere and everywhere, but I just thought I'd reccomend that people are a little extra vigilant when getting change from these places (or get the price and pay with the smallest note you can or something).


Really annoyed me, as otherwise, I would often go to Giulio's.:mad:

BettePorter

Deleted User wrote: »

Not a rip off as such, but this bugged me and I figured I'd throw it up here.

Went out drinking last night, etc. (in Drogheda) and on the way home went into Giulio's (not sure where we stand on "name and shame" here, so mods can delete that if necessary).

Anyway, had got a few drinks in me, but wasn't completely plastered or anything (even when I'm drunk, I'm sober :cool:).

Got some chips and sausages and was told it was €4.40. Handed them a €10 note and got 60c back (shortchanged me by €5).

I was in a rush, and had people waiting on me so I didn't say anything and just wanted to get out quickly.

Anyway, I copped it straight away, and looked straight at your bloke, who looked as guilty and uncomfortable as you could imagine, so I knew it was intentional (obviously preying on the drunks, or morons like me who don't say anything).


Anyway, needless to say, unless I'm ever starving hungry, I will never, ever go into that take away again, and I know this isn't a 'rip off' as such (though it's a con!) and can happen anywhere and everywhere, but I just thought I'd reccomend that people are a little extra vigilant when getting change from these places (or get the price and pay with the smallest note you can or something).


Really annoyed me, as otherwise, I would often go to Giulio's.:mad:

hang on ! you were in too much of a hurry to call yer man on his 'mistake' yet you had time to gauge his facial expression and body language which suggested to you he did it deliberately ??? Mistakes with change happen and of course in some instances they may be someone chancing their arm, but thats why you should always check your change. you can't check your change, find it's incorrect, not question it with the teller but then go on to disparage the business online.

if you'd handed him a fifty and he'd given you back a fiver would you have 'been in too much of a hurry' to query it? The time it took you to analyse his body language would have been better spent saying ' i gave you a tenner' !

BettePorter

BettePorter wrote: »

hang on ! you were in too much of a hurry to call yer man on his 'mistake' yet you had time to gauge his facial expression and body language which suggested to you he did it deliberately ??? Mistakes with change happen and of course in some instances they may be someone chancing their arm, but thats why you should always check your change. you can't check your change, find it's incorrect, not question it with the teller but then go on to disparage the business online.

if you'd handed him a fifty and he'd given you back a fiver would you have 'been in too much of a hurry' to query it? The time it took you to analyse his body language would have been better spent saying ' i gave you a tenner' !

Yeah.. but it's easier to moan online.

Plenty of things I could've done, etc. but wasn't thinking at the time and was more concerned about getting out of the place.

Obviously if it were 50 he'd taken then i'd have been much more concerned, but it wasn't, so i let it be and just decided to not go there again.

10green bottles

A Mate went into a local Dundalk chipper over the weekend,realised when he was paying that all the cash he had on him was Sterling,"i can only give you 5c on pound" says the girl serving,reluctantly he pays.The only reason he paid was because his children were starving in the car outside.I sincerely hope that this Sterling rip-off dosnt become the norm down here(again)

locum-motion

10green bottles wrote: »

..."i can only give you 5c on pound" ...

Does that mean that they were changing it for a rate of €1.05 per Stg£?
Pretty crappy rate, but if you turn up in any outlet anywhere and try to pay in a different currency from the one in the country you're in, you're gonna have to expect to get a crappy rate. I see no reason why it should be any different in the ROI just because the customer might be from NI than it should be for, say, a Canadian in upstate New York or a Norwegian in Sweden. On today's exchange rate (as quoted by RTE.ie) it equates to about a 14% fee/commission for the chipper, but you can be sure that at least half of that will be taken by the bank in their fees/commission.

10green bottles

Yes it was €1.05 to each STG £1.
Dundalk retailers have been hit hard by the lack of Northern punters coming to their shops/buissnesses and the drain of Southern shoppers to the North so surely if they want to attract buisness from there they should offer a decent exchange rate.
And in several retail buissnesses that i have worked in down the years,the owners never lodged sterling to the bank but instead held on to it and either used it up north/GB themselves or exchanged it for other foreign exchange(Dollars etc)

Sorry for the bad punctuation,im of out in a hurry;)

Biggins

Got a leaflet in the door this morning from Briscoes of Drogheda.
I noted in it, it was advertising USB power adapters for €25 quid in their "sale" !!!
"Wow" I said to myself.
I had only just bought one (This one) for the "Kindle 3" up in Power City last week for €6.49! (With no sale on) Seriously.
Talk about taking the pee and ripping people off!

workstoomuch

put it this way, was just in Newry in a fab place for a treat (on wednesday i know) - fillet steak with all trimmings ten pounds - why would i bother with town when retailers cant be bothered to give this value????

Whiskey Devil

workstoomuch wrote: »

put it this way, was just in Newry in a fab place for a treat (on wednesday i know) - fillet steak with all trimmings ten pounds - why would i bother with town when retailers cant be bothered to give this value????

Produce is cheaper over the border.
Wages are cheaper.
Rents are cheaper.

Try "worktoomuch" over the border and you'll soon understand..

Can't believe people are so naive..


It's no different to asking why a fillet steak is cheaper in Spain than it is in Ireland..

bigneacy

Ok, so what about Dunnes Newry V Dunnes Dundalk?

Same warehouse, same products. So why the big difference?

People aren't naive. They are realistic.

The uk min wage is equivalent to €7.03. €1.62 less than here in the south. Doesn't account for the vast price difference.

The rents? Well here's two units on the rental market at the moment...

retail unit in newry = £16,000 for 900 sq ft

retail unit in dundalk = €16,120 for for 2476 sq ft

The traders in the south are well able to get the same deals as the ones in Newry. I mean, the town is less than 10 mins up the road.

Its greed, they've gotten too used to ripping us off and most of them aren't about to change.

Blaming it on rent, wages, wholesale prices is ridiculous and... NAIVE

Whiskey Devil

Whiskey Devil wrote: »

Can't believe people are so naive..

People are not naive, they have copped on. Even when you factor in the differences in rates, wages etc... there is still a good margin to drop prices here in most retail.

Whiskey Devil

bigneacy wrote: »

Ok, so what about Dunnes Newry V Dunnes Dundalk?

Same warehouse, same products. So why the big difference?

People aren't naive. They are realistic.

The uk min wage is equivalent to €7.03. €1.62 less than here in the south. Doesn't account for the vast price difference.

The rents? Well here's two units on the rental market at the moment...

retail unit in newry = £16,000 for 900 sq ft

retail unit in dundalk = €16,120 for for 2476 sq ft

The traders in the south are well able to get the same deals as the ones in Newry. I mean, the town is less than 10 mins up the road.

Its greed, they've gotten too used to ripping us off and most of them aren't about to change.

Blaming it on rent, wages, wholesale prices is ridiculous and... NAIVE

The average wage in the South is far higher than that in the North. Not everybody earn's minimum wage. Producers costs ARE higher, transport costs ARE higher, wholesalers costs ARE higher, the retailers costs ARE higher. VAT is also a factor. I'm not disputing that some price differences can be questioned, but expecting prices to be the same on either side of the border is just stupid. Everybody from Social Welfare recipients to Managing Directors are better off on this side of the border. That makes the south a more expensive place to do business.

Your property comparison's are meaningless. Newry has been the most prosperous town on the island for the last few years.

Dundalk is a struggling border town with many vacant units. Location is also a factor.

I also think I'm correct in saying Newry is more expensive than other parts of the north.

Most big retailers are tied into huge property leases in the South. They are not corner shops. While it's not the consumer's problem, it is a major issue for a lot of businesses at the moment.

Harvey Norman's operation in Ireland has lost €55 million and counting..