Is The Price Right?, Do you think you've paid over the odds? Options

[ashfield]

There has been a recurring theme through several threads recently about the price people have paid for various things and whether the cost was reasonable or over the top. The cost of food in snack bars, the price of a pint, the repair of a gas boiler etc. Do you feel you have been (metaphorically) mugged when paying for something?

Here's mine, and this is just in the last few days. Two pokey hats in Callander (to be fair they had two scoops of ice cream in each)...........£7.00. A couple of days before, my wife took our (small Ford) car into a place well known for their dancing tyre fitters to have a puncture repaired.............£21.50. That was almost what I paid for my first car

[Rab-oldname]

Ashfield - that was £12 more than I paid for my first car!

I paid (for the first and last time!) £1.50 for a bag of chips the other day.

I prefer to donate to charities by buying my books at charity shops then returning them when read. There has been a marked increase in the prices which have suddenly jumped from £1 to £2.50 at one particular branch! Not funny when you are buying several books. Bit of a cheek I thought, when they have been donated in the first place.

Vets are also fair game for racketeering. My dog was given a blood pressure test last month - cost - over £20 and it took less than a minute.

Gin has also rocketed!

[john.mcn]

Any time i go into Asda or Tesco i feel cheated, especially as my local shop can sell 2l of milk for 80p but the 2 biggies want over a quid, thats just the start though, dont get much change out of £100 when shopping there. Have now switched to Aldi and saving a fortune, though annoying the closest one requires 15 minutes in the car.

Ashfield the biggest con with puncture repairs are the balance, had a discussion years ago with a tyre fitter insisting i pay for balance (extra £5) which i refused to do and didn't.You'll probably find they now include it in the charge and you dont have a choice. Gorbals tyres last i was in do a puncture only repair for £4, they're just down from the citizens theatre.

Haven't bought a book since i got a Sony e-reader, there's plenty of free content out there if you look, and not being a Kindle apparently you can get some from the library installed.

[GG]

It was announced today that bus fares in Glasgow are to go up by an average of 28%. This further rise comes at a time of considerable service-level reductions, not to mention 'innovations' which actually slow buses down, thus reducing service quality. Youngsters will be hit hardest, with their basic fare going up by a massive 50%!

GG.

[Isobel]

There are some on here that will not want to hear what I have to say. The truth is there are many seniors in Scotland who are quite able to pay more..IN Scotland the seniors are very well looked after in comparison to many other places. Its the young and the middle age who need a break. Last time I was in Glasgow I felt like the bus fares were ridiculously high.So cant they charge the wealthier senior a little bit more and stop treating all seniors the same. Many of the seniors are in a much better position than the younger folks.

[irrie]

As a senior i agree with Isabel. I have long suspected that the free travel scheme is not economically viable long term. A flat rate of 20 or even 50p per journey wouldnt be too much of a hardship for most seniors and would im sure bring in a fair amount of revenue. Cheers.

[ashfield]

There are some "seniors" who could afford to pay but how would we decide who could and who couldn't.........should we go back to the means test The bus companies say they have had to increase fares because the government has removed some of the subsidies they get for running less profitable services. This has meant several services to outlying areas have been removed from the timetable.

Back to rip-offs, the costy of posting a first class letter is going up by 14p to 60p (yes folks, 12 shillings to post a letter ). Second class will go up to 50p. As the number of items posted reduces their answer is to increase prices, well that will work I don't think

[Jupiter]

Heres a cracker.Just read in my local rag that a young mum and two children went into Aulds for coffee for her and crisps for the kids.She was astounded to be asked for£1.80 for two run of the mill packs of Walkers crisps.Now that has to be rip-off.She was told that was ,"sit in prices."

[wee davy]

You have to laugh, all the same - apparently there are now four different prices for pasties & sausage rolls bought from bakers.

1) HOT - attracts VAT at 20%
2)LUKEWARM (a) - if at ambient temperature, no VAT
3)LUKEWARM ( - if hotter than ambient, attracts VAT at 20%
4)COLD - NO VAT

So,... in my opinion - if its not HOT ENOUGH to my liking, then it is COLD
Therefore - no VAT payable!

[ashfield]

Well i'm sure you have heard of "corkage", I have just been listening to someone who was charged "cakeage" in a restaurant. They had taken their own birthday cake to the place and were charged extra on the bill for getting it put on a plate What next, "coatage" or "airage"

[Jupiter]

Ashfield it makes you wonder who comes up with it.Cakeage :cannae whack it!

[Melody]

At wedding reception venues they often charge for use of cake stand and wait for it........use of knife.

[Heather]

I wonder if you bought a cold pie and after paying for it could you ask the assistant to heat it up for you, would that save having to pay the 20% on buying it hot.

[zascot]

I wonder if you bought a cold pie and after paying for it could you ask the assistant to heat it up for you, would that save having to pay the 20% on buying it hot.

Only a Scot would think of that one. If you buy a hot pie an its cold before you eat it can you claim a rebate.

[Rab-oldname]

Well i'm sure you have heard of "corkage", I have just been listening to someone who was charged "cakeage" in a restaurant. They had taken their own birthday cake to the place and were charged extra on the bill for getting it put on a plate What next, "coatage" or "airage"

On the other side of the coin, my wife and I met my widowed sister-in-law for a quiet lunch to celebrate her 75th birthday last week. We met at a country restaurant and wished her a HB. The staff must have heard us, for when our coffees arrived at the end of lunch, it was accompanied by a complimentary birthday cake complete with candle! Its not all rip-off.