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According to Conor Pope, the NCA have contacted Tesco, Spar, Dunnes Stores, Superquinn, Supervalu, Aldi and Lidl with a view to getting access to their prices on a more realtime basis rather than the current 6 monthly grocery price survey. The article mentions that Tesco are apparently in favour of such an independent grocery price comparison site.

I referred last week to the issues in Australia with their plans for a grocery price comparison site. At the moment, it seems that a “social media” campaign is being started to get consumers to submit prices of grocery items in order to build up an independent database of prices.

Such a campaign is, unfortunately (in my opinion), doomed to failure as the quality of the data is dependent on consumers submitting the pricing information – we can see this difficulty with the petrol price comparison sites in Ireland (despite the excellent work of Pumps.ie). Sometimes, there’ll be good information, but at other times, information will be incomplete, out of date, or not available in a particular area. This will only be compounded hundreds if not thousands of times across the many many grocery items available across all the Irish grocery retailers.

The government sponsored Australian price comparison site was pulled, allegedly, because of a reluctance on the part of the Australian grocers to make their pricing inforamtion available for comparison purposes.

It’ll be interesting to see how successful the National Consumer Agency are in getting pricing information from all of the Irish grocery chains.

However, this plan from the NCA is the only way to go when it comes to a grocery price comparison site. From a technical perspective, a grocery price comparison site is quite simple to set up and maintain – provided it gets a consistent and accurate daily feed of prices from the respective grocery chains.

And it’s not like they don’t have the necessary information easily to hand – a simple extract of their grocery products stocked and the price charged could in theory be achieved in minutes every morning.

There are a couple of potential sticking points though. One mentioned in the article is how to compare across “own brand” items – a growing part of all grocery retailers stock portfolio these days.

Other potential issues would be:

• How would one determine what stores should be taking part in the website comparison – do you include only multiples and thereby give them de-facto free advertising at the expense of independent grocery stores?
• How do you manage price differences across the country – we’re told Dublin is 4.4% more expensive than Dublin. Do you therefore need a set of “Dublin prices” and a “country price” as well – doubling up on the data requirements for the project?
• What about Northern Ireland stores? These grocery chains have growing chunk of the Irish grocery market, so to get a valid comparison, they would also need to be included.
• What value would there be in the price comparison site if, for example, Dunnes Stores decided not to allow their pricing data be used? The exclusion of such a big player in the market would negate the value of the project as a whole.
• The ComReg CallCosts.ie website is referred to in the article as an example of a similar popular service. While CallCosts.ie provides a certain amount of useful information, it is open to manipulation by the telecoms companies who always want their offerings showing at the top of any listing. This will need to be avoided for any grocery comparison site.
• Also, with regards to CallCosts.ie, it hasn’t developed with the market which has moved on since it was originally set up – it doesn’t provide a mobile broadband comparison yet. Any grocery price comparison site will need to be developed in such a way that it can quickly adapt to grocery market changes.

For what has to be the first time ever, I’m positive about something being done by the National Consumer Agency. If this is properly investigated, analysed and planned, a grocery price comparison website could be an excellent addition for Irish consumers.

And just think – once all the information is stored centrally, who know’s where this could end? Online shopping lists? I-Phone or mobile phone applications? Links with cooking and recipe websites to automatically create your shopping list?

Think Amazon.com, but for grocery shopping.

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• February 20, 2009 — Silly Surveys Skirt Real Issues
• February 12, 2009 — Latest National Consumer Agency Grocery Survey – the real story
• August 23, 2008 — ALDI and LIDL stand out in new value survey

You would like to think that businesses would take this for granted, but obviously it’s not something that Smyths Toys really care about.

I went to return a faulty product (the explosive experiments) at Smyths store and asked for a refund. My complaint was the the ‘explosives’ did not explode. They said they had to test the product and that they would call me the next day.

They indeed called me the next morning and told me that they had tested everything and everything was working fine. I asked for the manager, and told her that this is your word agaist mine, and I want you to test the product in front of me.

She agreed. I went there for a second time. I asked for the manager the staff told me she had left and refused to do the tests. They also admitted eventually that the had not tested everything as they had  claimed, but only one experiment (the only one in the box that actually does not explode).

I called their customer service and they told me to go again at the store and this time they would test it. They have been lying to me insisting they had tested it when they hadn’t, I have already been twice to the srore and I think it is disrespectful to ask me to go again because their staff failed to do their job properly. The issue at this stage is more the way I have been treated rather than the faulty product.

What are my rights as a consumer  to be treated with respect?

I reckon that for this reader, their next step would be to take a claim against Smyths Toys in the Small Claims Court in an attempt to get their money back. Bringing such a claim would hopefully at least get their attention.

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• May 29, 2009 — New toy from Smyths Toys broke on day 1 – what’s my rights?
• March 2, 2009 — Komplett.ie – being forced to learn about customer service?
• February 6, 2009 — Good news for consumers, via European Consumer Centre

Sunday June 14th, 2009

Diarmuid MacShane

Question:

My local petrol station is well known in the area for increasing their prices at certain times during the day when they know they’re going to be busy. Then, in the early morning and late evenings, they’ll drop their prices again.

The difference sometimes can be between 2c and 5c per litre – which can add up if you’re filling up the car.

Can they do that? I heard that petrol stations can only change their prices at midnight.

Answer:

I can find no reason to stop this petrol station from doing this at all unfortunately, and I don’t see anything that says they can only change prices at midnight – most petrol stations wouldn’t have anyone working then anyway, so it’d be impossible.

I suppose the good thing is that the locals have noticed and know the best times to buy their petrol.

Given that there are no price controls on the price of petrol in Ireland, then as long as the petrol station meets the price display requirements by having the signs show the same price as is on the pumps, then there’s nothing to stop garages doing this.

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• July 9, 2009 — Can petrol stations change their prices throughout the day?
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Sunday June 14th, 2009

Diarmuid MacShane

How to really save money on the “Sales”

Though it seems like every shop has a sale nearly all the time, we’re coming soon to the time of year when we normally see the “summer sales”.  While we hard pressed consumers are still holding on tight to our cash, the retailers are going to go all out in the next couple of weeks to get us to at least part with some of it.

But remember – times are tough for the retailers as well so they’re not just having the sales for our benefit. They’re going all out to get rid of as much old stock as they can, and to make as much money as possible, so we customers will have to keep our eyes peeled for the best offers, and to make sure we avoid the duds and ripoffs.

For most shops, the sales are still officially a couple of weeks away, so here are a few things you can do before then to make sure that you really bag a bargain.

Don’t believe everything you see

For a sale to be within the law here in Ireland, a product must have been on sale at the higher price for a “reasonable” amount of time before it’s reduced. If sales are starting in a couple of weeks, then they should still be at the higher price today.

To make sure you’re getting a bargain in the sales, if you’re thinking about buying something but you’re waiting for the sale, check the price now because in the sale, you should then see the price reduction.

And if you don’t report the shop to the National Consumer Agency.

It’s worth remembering that just because a shop has SALE stickers all over the place, don’t always assume that everything is cheaper than it was before.

A neat trick by shops is to try to make us think that everything is cheaper but then to only have old stock, or less popular stuff, on sale. What some shops are really hoping for is that we get carried away and end up buying normal price products (or even items that are made more expensive) during the sale.

So, the key to getting the best out a sale is to only buy things that you need and that you know the price of, and to only buy them if the prices have actually come down.

How much to spend

I’ve written here before about the dangers of using your credit cards, or dipping into your overdraft, and during a sale definitely isn’t the time to do that.

You’re not really getting a bargain if you end up paying for everything in the sales on your credit card.

By the time you’ve paid off your debts and interest, your purchases could very well have cost you more than before the sales.

Check for alternatives

IF you see something on sale in one shop, it’s quite possible that its on sale somewhere else down the street. Make the effort to check out the alternatives – you can check out a few shops, or even just make a few calls.

It’s always worth making sure during the sale season that the price you’re thinking of paying is actually the cheapest available.

And don’t forget the internet. In many cases, the bargains are so good on internet sites that they’ll still be cheaper than in sales in the local shops. Do a quick check – and don’t forget the extra postage costs – just to make sure.

Ask for more

Don’t forget that the recession has put Irish shoppers in a stronger position now with retailers than any time in the last ten years. Retailers are crying out for us to buy their goods and services, and if they know we’re very close to make a purchase many will cut an extra 10% to 20% off sale items just to clinch the deal.

This is more likely to happen for higher value purchases such as electrical items or furniture, or if you’re purchasing a large number of items in the same store.

So when you’re at the till, it costs you nothing to ask if there’s anything better that they can do. If you’ve done your research and you know that the same items are the same price down the street, you’re in an even better bargaining position if they think you can just walk away without buying anything.

Remember your rights

Just because something is cheaper in a sale doesn’t mean that you have any less rights as consumers. Unless you’re told clearly otherwise, if you buy something in a sale, but you find it’s broken, you’re still entitled to your full rights – a repair, a refund or a replacement.

Many readers of ValueIreland.com have told me stories of shops trying to fob off customers who bought sale items with bogus stories that because something was in a sale that there’s no refunds allowed.

Not true. And remember, you don’t have to accept a credit note either.

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• July 6, 2009 — McDonalds and Burger King – show me the special offers
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• ValueIreland.com milestone – It passed unnoticed earlier this week, but I went past the 1000 posts on ValueIreland.com. The milestone post was McDonalds and Burger King – show me the special offers.

• Irish Independent rip-off story – The Irish Independent went big on Rip Off Ireland yesterday, Friday. Their front page story was It’s a rip-off as many prices keep on soaring. The main gist of the story was that despite the CSO reporting a fall in prices of 5.4% in the country as a whole in the past 12 months, the cost of government provided services continues to rise. Hardly rocket science really though when we’re getting hosed at every turn by our esteemed leaders trying to shore up the massive hole in their finances brought about by massive waste and money mismanagement during the good times.

• News Of the World – As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I finished up writing my weekly piece for the Irish News of the World after 6 months. It was interesting to see that my replacement is Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland – Ireland’s newest “Money Saving Expert”.

• New Irish Bargain Websites – I’ve highlighted before the growth in Irish “bargain” websites recently. It’s amazing the numbers that have been springing up in the past 12 months. While no one can argue with the benefits of getting a few quid off here and there, I do think that the Irish consumer should be aware of how these work – and how limited the information they provide may actually be. Many of these websites are set up with the sole aim of making money (and nothing wrong with that either), but that then means that when it comes to highlighting where bargains might be available, only those companies that pay for links will be featured rather than all companies that provide bargains. Check out my recent post here to learn more.

• Protecting the consumers – The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) announced during the week that it had issues 6 enforcement orders on Irish food businesses during the month of June.  What is great about what the FSAI do is the fact that they publicly name the businesses that these orders are made against – the consumer is informed and they can then make the decision in future as to whether they can go back to these premises, or avoid them in future. It’s unfortunate that the Financial Services Ombudsman, Joe Meade, doesn’t do likewise when he finds against financial institutions for shafting Irish consumers. It’d be nice to have financial institutions named and shamed in the same way as food outlets in order to give consumers more information to allow them make better purchasing and investment decisions.

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• June 27, 2009 — Consumer News Weekend Short Stack
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Do i fix my mortgage for 5 years?
What are the best options in your opinion.  Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you for your help.  Regards, Terry

Hello,
How much will my mortgage go up if interest rates increase?  What Gotchas should I be aware of?
A little advice would go a long way right now.
Thanks.  Gratefully, Paul

Should i fix mortgage for 5 or 10 yesrs?
I was hoping maybe you could give me a few hints as to what I should be looking for and what to avoid.  Please help.  I am very grateful for your help.
yours truly, Lacey

The e-mails look straightforward enough, but where you see different names signing off, they were actually all from the same e-mail address. Not obvious the first time, but after the second one, it started to look dodgy.

For the record though, I’m not qualified to provide any financial advice. If anyone is thinking of fixing your mortgage, you should seek out professional financial advice to work out what the best option is for you.

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Ok – the following experiences, all happening directly after each other, are why I started boycotting taxis:

Taxi number one – told me that because of decentralization there were loopers driving taxis. Also said it was the easiest thing in the world to make up a fake number and then buy the light for the top and a “fare” machine and that thousands of taxi drivers were doing this and would probably rape you if you got in with them.

Taxi number two: After reassuring me that he was Ok because he was independently wealthy, spent 25 uninterrupted minutes (and believe me there was no opportunity to interrupt) exploring the Governments Economic policy and how that has contributed to the down fall of the country, including a revision of basic economics, because you need to understand that first. His language could be described as colourful.

Taxi number three. Smelled horrible, mumbled in a really peculiar way that I could only hear half the time but explained how he left on early retirement from Eircom and was finding it harder and harder to make a living and he was on less then minimum wage. He then proceeded to drive the wrong way up the road!

Taxi number four. After spotting 2 girls in mini skirts started laughing and wondering why they would bother claiming they were raped when they were dressed like that. This was the last straw.

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• April 18, 2009 — Consumer News Weekend Short Stack
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Diarmuid MacShane

Watching out for clocked cars

The National Consumer Agency released their 2008 annual report during the week. According to the Chief Executive, Ms. Ann Fitzgerald, one of the biggest areas for complaints during the year related to buying a second hand car.

It’s worth remembering then, that when you buy a second hand car from a proper garage that you’re protected by consumer law. All your consumer rights apply, and you will be entitled to your normal rights if the car causes you any problems.

However, if you buy a second hand car privately, you don’t get any of these consumer protections. Therefore, if you buy a car from the side of the road or even from a friend, and it breaks down on the way home, you’re not protected by consumer legislation.

For that reason, you should make sure you get any second hand car you’re thinking of buying checked out fully before handing over the cash. If the seller doesn’t seem keen to allow you have this done, then walk away.

While these checks can cost up to €500, if you’ve found a car that you’re keen on, it can be very well worth the money in the long run.

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• November 15, 2008 — Weekend Consumer News Short Stack
• October 21, 2008 — I was wrong about the National Consumer Agency
• October 16, 2008 — NCA still failing to discourage car clocking

Hi there,  came accross your website for the first time today,  I was wondering if you might know if something I’ve heard is true?  That Petrol Garages can only change their petrol prices at midnight?

It arises after an incident I had today at a Topaz station who changed their price (increased by 2c) during a very brief lull in the forecourt this morning.

Another customer who joined me in my query with the station manager thought it was a rule they could only change the price at midnight.  Can you confirm if this is the case?

I’ve researched this a bit since I received the e-mail and the best that I can find out is that there is nothing to stop a petrol station changing their prices as much as they want during the day.

Given that there are no price controls on the price of petrol, then as long as they meet the price display requirements by having the signs show the same price as the pumps, then there’s nothing to stop garages doing this.

Anyone know anything different?

More Related ValueIreland.com Posts:

• July 13, 2009 — What can I do about petrol station changing its prices?
• June 17, 2009 — Mean garage wouldn’t even pay for petrol for replacement car