April 29, 2008
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but if you’re facing into the perfect storm that is described above, unless you’re emigrating to make a new life for yourself, shouldn’t the cost of checking in baggage at the airport be the last thing you should be worrying about?
According to this article in this mornings Irish Examiner:
“The travelling public, particularly families, are being hit hard at a time when inflation is already high,” said CAI chairman James Doorley.
Lets look realistically at the overall net impact of the proposed Ryanair price rises would be €10 for a family of mum, dad and 4 kids - €1 each extra to check in at a desk, and €1 extra for each of 4 bags to be checked in.
€10!!!!! That’s all!
We’re talking about a family who are going on holiday with 4 children – flying. This is discretionary spending. They don’t have to go on holidays. They don’t have to fly for their holidays.
If families are in such a perilous financial situation because of rising inflation where an extra €10 is going to be a problem when they’re going on a holiday that will potentially cost thousands, then should they really be going on holidays at all?
Should our consumer advocates be jumping up and down because of such price rises? Can we not spend more of our campaigning time trying to address the types of inflation that impacts everyone, and more particularly impacts people who may really have financial difficulties because of rising inflation?
Shouldn’t all consumer advocates be focusing more on the fact that people who have real financial difficulties and don’t have the luxury of a holiday anywhere are having to buy the staple grocery items like milk and bread which are increasing in price at a faster rate that a bag of luggage on a Ryanair flight.
Which items below should our consumer advocates really be shouting about from the roof-tops?
- Ryanair Check In Cost: +25%
- Ryanair Baggage Check In Cost: +11%
- Cost of Loaf of Bread: +30%
- Cost of 1litre of Milk: +33%
April 28, 2008
However, in the spirit of the occasional series of “attention to detail”, here’s something that was of interest since I’m investigating updating the ValueIreland logo as part of the site redesign. It was brought to my attention last week via the Register, and I see that Rowan has covered on Fortify Your Oasis as well.
The UK government department, the Office of Government Commerce has recently designed it’s logo.
Interesting, the Office of Government Commerce sounds like something we might need since it’s “responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement”. Oh, hang on, that’s the job of the Comptroller and Auditor General – though he doesn’t seem to be doing all that well by all accounts.
Anyway, here’s the new logo of the OGC:
April 28, 2008
According to this press release from Liz McManus TD, Investigation into disparity between petrol and diesel costs, Labour are going to look into this on our behalf:
Today Deputy Liz McManus proposed and got the agreement of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to investigate the disparity that has arisen in relation to petrol and diesel costs.“Diesel is now 20% higher in cost on the forecourt than petrol in many instances,” said Deputy McManus. “Yet we are being advised by the Government to choose environmentally more efficient options.
The press release goes on:
“Recent figures show that diesel costs have jumped 17.3% in a year. This is a worrying development for those who have purchased diesel cars in the hope to reduce their emissions.
However (and no offence to Conor Faughnan), their first step in their investigation is:
“The Oireachtas Committee is to write to Conor Faughnan of AA roadwatch to make a presentation as a first step to deal with this issue,” said Deputy McManus.
Shouldn’t investigations such as this be directed to the Competition Authority, or the National Consumer Agency, or The Regulator In Charge of Petrol and Diesel Prices? You can find out the AA take on this by going straight to their website - there, I’ve done their investigation for them!
April 23, 2008
Today the government announced their initiative to protect us all from the demon drink. The highlights according to the Irish Times Breaking News are available here.
The item that most interests me is the following:
The draft bill also proposes that alcohol products sold in supermarkets and convenience stores must be displayed and sold in a specified area which is structurally separated from the rest of the premises. Where separation is not possible, alcohol products must be displayed and sold from behind a counter.
With the construction industry going down the toilet, isn’t this just fine and dandy? Every single convenience store, supermarket, petrol station and corner shop that sells alcohol will now need to get the builders in to structurally remodel their premises in order that they can still sell booze.
Bonanza time for the builders!
April 22, 2008
April 20, 2008
Sir — One of our financial institutions promotes itself with a nod towards the American gangster culture. But even the wise guys of this culture would balk at a shakedown scheme undertaken by Ireland’s banking community.The shakedown is based on the financial institutions charging a documentation fee for any application for financial lending services.
As a recent victim of this shakedown I was charged €75.00 for the privilege of applying for/taking out a motor loan.
Even though I was the one that supplied all relevant documentation and the processing of same would be a standard procedure within any organisation taking on new business.
Despite their relentless campaign to entice customers with special offers the customer still is paying over the odds for using the Irish banking system.
Charging a person to make a loan application is nothing less than extortion. One more example of Ireland’s rip off culture.
I wonder who this bank is - anyone have any idea?
April 18, 2008
April 17, 2008
They’re going to release a press release if Aer Lingus do nothing. Straight from the horses mouth - Ann Fitzgerald on Joe Duffy, RTE1, 3pm.
NCA supports and takes it easy on big business yet again, at the expense of consumers.
April 17, 2008
Due to a technical error in our reservation system for a brief period a small number of bookings were priced incorrectly. This email is to notify you of cancellation of your booking and to advise no funds will be deducted from your account.
incorrect price, and confirmed the offer. And because Aer Lingus confirmed the reservations at that price, presumably a contract was entered into.
An offer is essentially an expression of willingness to contract made with the intention that it shall become binding on the person making it as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed. It will usually be a matter of construction as to whether or not the offer was made in the first place and whether or not it was intended to create a legally binding agreement. When considering such issues the court will distinguish between an offer and an invitation to treat that is not enforceable. An invitation to treat requires further confirmation by the invitor.
An acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of assent to the terms of an offer. It may sometimes be difficult especially in business to determine when the negotiations have ended and the offer has been accepted. The court will look at the entire negotiation to ascertain whether or not final acceptance had taken place. Acceptance can be deemed to have taken place through the conduct of the parties. The general rule is that acceptance must be communicated to the person who makes the offer, although there are exceptions to this rule, for example where the offer expressly waives the requirement. One of the main exceptions is where acceptance is made by post. In this situation acceptance happens upon the posting of the acceptance. In practice, most contracts in today’s business world will lay down very specific methods of acceptance.
The small claims procedure is limited to: a claim in respect of goods or services bought for private use from someone selling them in the course of a business (consumer claim). This is provided that the claim does not exceed €2000.00 in each case.



