General rip off examples

odyssey06

rubadub wrote: »

I got savings there too, not as much as that though. They are usually giving generics in pure and many other pharmacies do not do so unless you ask, and even then some just do not bother stocking them.

Even on the generics, Pure can be cheaper by €5 I've found - and I mean, the exact same generic.
You're talking €7 in Pure v €12 for the generic in local pharmacy versus €22 for the branded product.

L1011

Muahahaha wrote: »

Pharmacies are definitely one that needs to be looked out for especially if you're in a rural area. In my local town there are three pharmacies which are all owned by the one person. As to why there are three within 400 metres of each other I dont know but I can only speculate he went a bit mad during the Celtic Tiger buying up property.

Either way I doubt another pharmacy would get planning permission in the town now to compete with him so he is effectively operating as a local cartel as there are no other pharmacies within a 15km radius. And it shows in his prices- last year I was charged 77 euro for a script, complete shock to me but I paid it and went home fuming. Rang Boots and priced it up with them- 49 euro. Both prices were for generics. Of course with medications you cant bring them back even if the bag is still sealed up with their own sticker so that was an expesive lesson. I havent darkened his door since and nor will I ever again.

It was a defence mechanism against competition to either open a second/third/whatever pharmacy or buy any rivals up for sale. I know of multiple cases of someone having the pharmacy each end of the main street in a town.

Blizzard4452

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but it sure seems like a rip off to me .

Due to the covid situation doctors are only taking certain patients of any into the surgery which is totally understandable.

However I have been getting six month prescriptions with the last few years and bloods taken once a year.

I was due to get my blood tests in March but due to the covid this couldn't happen, so the dr gave a 3 month prescription at the same cost as a six month.

Today I rang again to see what the story was, could I go in for my bloods to be taken, the receptionist said they're seeing no one and will give a three month prescription again at the same cost as a 6 month.

This makes no sense to me .

Soundman

Blizzard4452 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but it sure seems like a rip off to me .

Due to the covid situation doctors are only taking certain patients of any into the surgery which is totally understandable.

However I have been getting six month prescriptions with the last few years and bloods taken once a year.

I was due to get my blood tests in March but due to the covid this couldn't happen, so the dr gave a 3 month prescription at the same cost as a six month.

Today I rang again to see what the story was, could I go in for my bloods to be taken, the receptionist said they're seeing no one and will give a three month prescription again at the same cost as a 6 month.

This makes no sense to me .

You get charged for a repeat script?

Blizzard4452

Soundman wrote: »

You get charged for a repeat script?

Oh yeah 30 euro every 6months but now its 30 euro every 3 months .

Dav010

Blizzard4452 wrote: »

Oh yeah 30 euro every 6months but now its 30 euro every 3 months .

Are the meds/prescription linked to the results of the blood test?

Blizzard4452

Dav010 wrote: »

Are the meds/prescription linked to the results of the blood test?

The dosage hasn't changed since I started on the meds, the blood test is just a quick check up to make sure of the dosage. The fact it hasn't changed in about 10 years would be enough to have me thinking that giving the regular six month prescription wouldn't be any harm.

I dont know if I should question these charges or not . If I don't the next prescription renewal is due in September which could easily be another case of 'ill give you a three month one'.

KevRossi

johndaman66 wrote: »

Christ sake. I bought 4 litres of Castrol Magnatec 5W30 in Hellfrauds for €19.20 lately when it was on offer there and think it was closer to €17 for it when I presented my now very out of date Axa card.
On a side note are you sure 5W30 is good to be putting into your lawnmower?

Oil is a long standing rip off no matter where you buy it, the problem comes from the oil companies. It works like this:

4l can of oil is €30
1l can of the same oil is €20

Almost every car needs 4.5-5l for an oil change, most modern 1.2-2.0l engined cars fall into this bracket (yes there are exceptions). Also, most modern cars do not use much oil between changes, unlike years ago (exceptions to this too.)

So to do an oil change you need to buy the 4l (€30) and the 1l (€20) cans, making €50, whereas a 5l can would cost you around €35. So the oil companies make more money on selling the extra can. 20 years ago, a 5l can was standard, this has no changed to 4l for no simple reason.

It also works if you do regular oil changes; so you would need to buy 3 x 4l to do 2 oil changes and so on.

They also have a huge mark up on the 1l as so many people buy it to do a quick top up between changes. It's all pretty ingeneous packaging and marketing from the point of view of the oil companies, but a rip off for any consumer.

And your local motor factors is usually a lot cheaper for oils, filters etc. than you Halfords.

johndaman66

Agreed. I can understand a certain premium per litre being charged for the one litre oils but the actual amount of a premium you pay is absolutely ridiculous.

I service my own car for the very most part and always have done since I started driving. In the last 19 years plus and probably over 400,000 miles of driving I just had to buy a one litre on its own once when the check oil warning came on the dashboard of a Vectra that was burning oil at around 10 at night on a long journey.

Filling stations do have your head over a barrel in these situations and there are still considerable numbers of modern engines that will use some oil between services. I'd imagine a lot of at least more savvy people have got wise to the rip off and buy the larger 4/5 litre of oil for top ups between services but not all and even the best of us will naturally get caught out from time to time, in particular if doing high mileage.

On the subject of Halfords.... I seen a guy in up at the parts counter a few years back looking for parts. There was a few staff around the counter and one guy who I'm thinking could have being the store manager (and seemed to be a friend of or at least know the customer pretty well) was pretty much telling him and I am pretty much paraphrasing here.... to go to a proper motor factors for what he needed. They have their place but for the likes of lubricants and associated consumables I'd be going elsewhere unless I knew they had them on offer.

Dav010

Blizzard4452 wrote: »

The dosage hasn't changed since I started on the meds, the blood test is just a quick check up to make sure of the dosage. The fact it hasn't changed in about 10 years would be enough to have me thinking that giving the regular six month prescription wouldn't be any harm.

I dont know if I should question these charges or not . If I don't the next prescription renewal is due in September which could easily be another case of 'ill give you a three month one'.

When you enquire, you may find that there is a protocol to follow in relation to prescribing for your condition, dependent on results of blood test. The 3 months may be acceptable without the blood test, particularly at the moment, but longer than that at any one time may not be advised. In relation to the fee, each GP/Clinic sets their own fees, if €30 is what they charge irrespective of frequency, then that is what patients have to pay if they want the script.

Muahahaha

L1011 wrote: »

It was a defence mechanism against competition to either open a second/third/whatever pharmacy or buy any rivals up for sale. I know of multiple cases of someone having the pharmacy each end of the main street in a town.

Yeah its certainly that way in my local town anyway. Would you say the practice is very widespread in rural areas? its not something I ever came across living in Dublin.

I wonder how this is let happen? Do local councils granting planning permission have no obligations to ensure competition? What about the Competition Authority and Consumer people, are they asleep at the wheel? My local pharmacist basically has control of all drugs sold for a 15km radius and in my case I got charged 50% more for the same script as it would have cost in Boots 15km away. Fine for me to go to Boots from now on as I pass by it but for others who dont they are stuck paying his rip off prices. This hits the sick and the elderly the most in the pockets.

Its pretty crazy, I mean if a petrol station brand came along and bought up all three stations in a town surely that would be prevented? Seems bizarre that pharmacies can do this, I know their union has a lot of political power but this is blatant cartel like behaviour.

duffman13

odyssey06 wrote: »

Even on the generics, Pure can be cheaper by €5 I've found - and I mean, the exact same generic.
You're talking €7 in Pure v €12 for the generic in local pharmacy versus €22 for the branded product.

Pure are a strange one, they were a great price for Ventolin and then I went in with the OHs script for some BP medication and an antibiotic and they were usually around 25 in my local pharmacy 15 for the BP and 9ish for antibiotic. Pure were 36 for the two. Ventolin was half the price though. Pharmacies are minefield to be honest with pricing.

Soundman

Blizzard4452 wrote: »

Oh yeah 30 euro every 6months but now its 30 euro every 3 months .

That's insane. I've been getting repeat prescriptions 2 or 3 times a year for 35+ years and never been charged.

odyssey06

Soundman wrote: »

That's insane. I've been getting repeat prescriptions 2 or 3 times a year for 35+ years and never been charged.

It's €20 for me every 6 months unless I have a GP consultation in between and then will get them bumped if near the end of script.

SPDUB

If it continues too long it will be a rip off ( but I understand why it was brought in ) , but not being able to get more than a months supply of my medication at the moment on a repeat prescription .

Normally my 6 months supply would cost about €50 but currently paying €15 for a months supply

the_pen_turner

duffman13 wrote: »

Pure are a strange one, they were a great price for Ventolin and then I went in with the OHs script for some BP medication and an antibiotic and they were usually around 25 in my local pharmacy 15 for the BP and 9ish for antibiotic. Pure were 36 for the two. Ventolin was half the price though. Pharmacies are minefield to be honest with pricing.

All shops do that . It's just marketing price some things cheap to get customers in and raise other prices to cover it

odyssey06

the_pen_turner wrote: »

All shops do that . It's just marketing price some things cheap to get customers in and raise other prices to cover it

In fairness to Pure, it's most things that are cheap, at least when it comes to regular monthly prescriptions it's not just a marketing thing. In the long run if you have a monthly script you'll save more with them than 99% of other pharmacies in the country.

Rodin

Cars are a rip-off

Just comparing UK v Ire PCP deals.

Over 3 years, I'd pay 14000k more here for an A6 Avant in PCP payments

99nsr125

Coffee everywhere

My local shop is €1.50 but everywhere else is €3

L1011

Rodin wrote: »

Cars are a rip-off

Just comparing UK v Ire PCP deals.

Over 3 years, I'd pay 14000k more here for an A6 Avant in PCP payments

We have significant taxation on new vehicles that the UK does not. We also have higher interest on nearly every form of personal lending due to higher default rates and poorer security of title (particularly on mortgages). PCP also has to cover maintenance costs, for which the labour rates are significantly higher here.

Distributor margins etc are not majorly different and indeed there used to be a trade in buying higher spec cars new in Ireland to immediately export to the UK (receiving a VRT rebate) because the manufacturer, distributor and retail margins were lower here!

Dav010

L1011 wrote: »

We have significant taxation on new vehicles that the UK does not. We also have higher interest on nearly every form of personal lending due to higher default rates and poorer security of title (particularly on mortgages). PCP also has to cover maintenance costs, for which the labour rates are significantly higher here.

Distributor margins etc are not majorly different and indeed there used to be a trade in buying higher spec cars new in Ireland to immediately export to the UK (receiving a VRT rebate) because the manufacturer, distributor and retail margins were lower here!

This is right, when I lived in the UK in the 90’s I bought a new Mercedes here and imported it into Uk, at the time you would see a lot of ZZ plates on the ferry. The pre-tax/duty price here was lower due to manufacturers allowing for high taxes imposed cars sold in Ireland.

Rodin

L1011 wrote: »

We have significant taxation on new vehicles that the UK does not. We also have higher interest on nearly every form of personal lending due to higher default rates and poorer security of title (particularly on mortgages). PCP also has to cover maintenance costs, for which the labour rates are significantly higher here.

Distributor margins etc are not majorly different and indeed there used to be a trade in buying higher spec cars new in Ireland to immediately export to the UK (receiving a VRT rebate) because the manufacturer, distributor and retail margins were lower here!

The UK PCP rate is actually higher than the one here.
3.2% vs 2.9%

UK offering £6200 Audi contribution off the price straight away

Doesn’t really matter what the reasons are or who’s taking the money, they’re still a rip off.

Rodin

14k VRT on that Audi.

Scandalous

L1011

Rodin wrote: »

The UK PCP rate is actually higher than the one here.
3.2% vs 2.9%

UK offering £6200 Audi contribution off the price straight away

So its a sale price effectively. UK domestic economy is in a far worse state than ours is, and the market for Exec barges is in the ditch.

Blizzard4452

Dav010 wrote: »

When you enquire, you may find that there is a protocol to follow in relation to prescribing for your condition, dependent on results of blood test. The 3 months may be acceptable without the blood test, particularly at the moment, but longer than that at any one time may not be advised. In relation to the fee, each GP/Clinic sets their own fees, if €30 is what they charge irrespective of frequency, then that is what patients have to pay if they want the script.

Thanks for the information. I was just wondering what the story was and with the current situation you'd feel a bit bad complaining about something like that.

Blizzard4452

Soundman wrote: »

That's insane. I've been getting repeat prescriptions 2 or 3 times a year for 35+ years and never been charged.

Lol i should move to your doctor . Although I think its standard practice in most places now it seems.

callaway92

99nsr125 wrote: »

Coffee everywhere

My local shop is €1.50 but everywhere else is €3

In fairness, you're paying for the convenience of it too.

Yes it's a rip-off but I wouldn't moan about the Coffee one tbh.

um7y1h83ge06nx

I think there will be an awful lot of rip offs as pubs, restaurants etc reopen and want to make up for lost time.

Some will pay a premium but once the novelty is over and the realities of a recession hit home people might tighten the belts.

Soundman

Blizzard4452 wrote: »

Lol i should move to your doctor . Although I think its standard practice in most places now it seems.

That's been the case with 4 or 5 different doctors over the years. Maybe it's because I've been stuck and they know I'll eventually be in for a checkup, or to get bloodwork done? Or maybe I'm just lucky