# Not rip-off Ireland



## ClubMan (26 Jun 2005)

Bought a pack of 8 greeting cards in _Marks & Spencer's _yesterday originally priced at GBP£3 (c. €4.53) but charged locally at €4.


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## Steve (26 Jun 2005)

Fantastic. We are all saved. lol


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## DrMoriarty (26 Jun 2005)

Sarky, Steve, sarky...!

_[Inserts wholly unseasonal plug for Irish-produced __Amnesty International Christmas cards__, which I pester my colleagues to buy every year... Also great value at €4 for 8 cards w/ envelopes. Plus all your friends & family will see how 'right-on' you are...]_


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## Markjbloggs (26 Jun 2005)

See me, I did not go out to the pub so I did not get ripped off for €4.45 a pint!!!  No rip off here.


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## ClubMan (26 Jun 2005)

Steve said:
			
		

> Fantastic. We are all saved. lol



No - just one *small* example of how we are not necessarily being ripped off in particular by inflated conversion of _Sterling _to € prices in the _Irish _outlets of _UK _chains. I'm sure that there are others that others might like to post here.



			
				Markjbloggs said:
			
		

> See me, I did not go out to the pub so I did not get ripped off for €4.45 a pint!!!  No rip off here.



That's the spirit. Don't pay the price if you think it's a rip-off. Certainly don't pay it and then afterwards moan that it was a rip-off. If you do want to go to the pub then you can get pints for a lot less than €4.45 even in Dublin city centre.


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## Joe1234 (26 Jun 2005)

Bought a muffin in BB's Dundrum Town Centre recently for €1.75.  A similar muffin in BB's Newry cost £1.40.  If €1 = approx 67p stg, then that muffin in Dundrum should have cost me at least €2.09.


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## Ham Slicer (27 Jun 2005)

Keep going lads, we're building momentum.

When we get 5 accounts of such good fortune we will send a petition to Enda Kenny.


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## Humpback (27 Jun 2005)

To shout the benefits of shopping around.....

Looking at a particular table and 6 chairs for a new apartment. €2300 in shop in Sandyford. €1700, and free delivery to Dublin, from shop in Ballina in Mayo.

My new trick for avoiding roi then (new because of step 4).

1. Find product you like in any shop in Dublin.
2. Price from them, and bargain down as much as possible.
3. Get details from them.
4. Call/e-mail/fax manufacturer (or distributor), and ask for list of all shops selling product in Ireland.
5. Ring random ones around the country and see if they will do you a better price.

For my new apartment, this has now worked on tables and chairs above (save €600), a bed (save €125), and wooden floors (save €450).


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## CCOVICH (27 Jun 2005)

I actually saved around €500 buying the same table and chairs from a furniture store in the city centre versus buying it in Dublin 24, believe it or not.

More and more, I find myself going for the 'Beer of the Month' on special in city centre pubs.  The stuff in the taps over here is generally p**s anyway.

ClubMan, I'm sure if you pointed out this price discrepancy to M&S they would be quick to correct it .  If you are familiar with the Pricewatch column in the Irish Times on a Friday, British multiples (M&S and Claires are the most common I reckon) are often caught out for overpricing in € vs. £ for the same own brand goods and will quickly adjust the prices to nearer the official exchange rate.


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## Humpback (27 Jun 2005)

CCOVICH said:
			
		

> I actually saved around €500 buying the same table and chairs from a furniture store in the city centre versus buying it in Dublin 24, believe it or not.


 
Found the same experience, and would have saved up to €400 if I'd kept it within Dublin area. Sandyford vs Ballymount.

And all it takes are a few phone calls.


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## tonka (27 Jun 2005)

ronan_d_john said:
			
		

> To shout the benefits of shopping around.....
> 
> Looking at a particular table and 6 chairs for a new apartment. €2300 in shop in Sandyford. €1700, and free delivery to Dublin, from shop in Ballina in Mayo.


Galway has a pretty competitive furniture market nowadays, I recommend you try EZ Living and Curleys  and InStore which does lovely stuff and good sales   .

If the van is full or fairly full then OF COURSE they will ship to Dublin as part of the deal. Its even cheaper if you drive down some weekend in a van to collect all the stuff. Sales start next week or so. 

I was in a reids shop in Dublin once . Frankly I laughed out loud  at the prices the Dubs are prepared to pay for furniture.


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## hotlips (27 Jun 2005)

Agree with the looking outside Dublin. Got a matress from a shop in Kilkenny delivered free to Dublin. Worked out about 15% cheaper. I guess their overheads are higher in Dublin though so I don't know if it's always fair to say that they're ripping us off.


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## car (27 Jun 2005)

If you want to save a few quid on buying a car in the UK, the revenue have a VRT calculator.  I found it a bit messy to use but it does work.  Was online-window shopping for a car and based on the price+VRT returned I would save 4k on the car I was looking at if I bought it in antrim and brought it down.


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## DrMoriarty (27 Jun 2005)

*Re: prices the Dubs are prepared to pay for furniture*

You should see the mark-up on furniture sourced in places like Brodericks (N. Clare). They used to supply BT at one point, I remember seeing a nice 3+2+1 suite priced up by 200% for BT's January 'sale'! 

Vote with your feet...


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## tonka (27 Jun 2005)

car said:
			
		

> If you want to save a few quid on buying a car in the UK


If it has 6000 Miles (10000km) on the clock you may save even more. As FAR as I know it is only liable for VRT down here but not VAT on top .


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## CCOVICH (27 Jun 2005)

*Re: prices the Dubs are prepared to pay for furniture*



			
				DrMoriarty said:
			
		

> You should see the mark-up on furniture sourced in places like Brodericks (N. Clare). They used to supply BT at one point, I remember seeing a nice 3+2+1 suite priced up by 200% for BT's January 'sale'!
> 
> Vote with your feet...



My folks bought direct off Brodericks and the wait was quite long, don't know if they supply retailers more quickly (either way it doesn't justify 200%).


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## DrMoriarty (27 Jun 2005)

I'm sure Brodericks _et al_ know which side their bread is buttered on, and they probably prioritise supplying their big retailers over the average Joe Soap.

But, given a choice between paying €1,500 and €4,500 for the same gear - would you not rent a trailer and feckin' drive down and collect the stuff?


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## Vanilla (28 Jun 2005)

Where exactly is Brodericks? Fancy a little ferry trip coming on across the Shannon!


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## icantbelieve (28 Jun 2005)

I always like to give this lot (Irish Trading Company) a plug whenever value and customer service are the topic. I bought a large bed for several hundred cheaper than anywhere else in Dublin (extensive search) and after a couple of months it developed a crack in the foot and was replaced within 5 days. A couple of months later the headboard started to come out of its groves, again replaced within a few days. Unfortunately the headboard problem repeated itself and we decided that enough was enough and that it was money back time, within a week the bed wa taken away and the money was returned. The reason I quote this example is that you can tell more about a company by how they deal with you when there's problems and I've bought other items that were fine so this was obviously a one-off with the product which can happen. This compares very favourably with the unbelievable amount of hassle over a period of months I had with Reids when the covers on a suite faded.


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## ubiquitous (28 Jun 2005)

I have also found Irish Trading Company to be a fantastic company to deal with. Thankfully we have had no problems with the items purchased from them.


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## CCOVICH (28 Jun 2005)

Vanilla said:
			
		

> Where exactly is Brodericks? Fancy a little ferry trip coming on across the Shannon!


 
About halfway between Gort and Feakle.  Around 20 minutes drive off the Limerick/Galway road, turning off outside Gort.  (I'm only used to coming at it from the North, so you may take a different route).


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## fobs (28 Jun 2005)

*Re: Broderick furniture store....*

Have bought a lot of furnitre from Brodericks and never found the wait too long. Bought a lovely solid Ash dresser for my kichen at less than a 1/3 than anywhere else i had looked and ditto on a 6ft bed/matress. We live in Cork and they deliverd by the following week. They have a HUGE stock of goods and you can haggle with them a bit which is good too if buying more than one item especially. I would highly recommend them and have done to a lot of friends who were also happy!

The outside of the premises can look just like a house but it is massive inside. Would recommend a trip there.


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## PGD1 (28 Jun 2005)

icantbelieve,


What were you doing on the bed to make it fall apart!


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## icantbelieve (28 Jun 2005)

Bouncing of course

tip: bounce like hell on all new beds so as to discover early any faults in construction, sometimes discover how well your house is built as well. ;-)


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## rory (28 Jun 2005)

> Where exactly is Brodericks? Fancy a little ferry trip coming on across the Shannon!


It's in Killaneena, Co. Clare. Coming from Galway, take a left a few miles south of Gort (signposted Scariff, I think). Follow the road for 5/6 miles, and as you round one of the bends you'll come across a large rambling barn of a place on the RHS. There's no sign, but it's the only place like it.

Allow plenty of time to look around and be served. If you're getting items delivered you may need to be patient. But the prices are worth it.


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## daltonr (28 Jun 2005)

>Bouncing of course

Ahem.  Did you mention to the Company that you were...stress testing...
then bed?  They mightn't have been so willing to fork over a refund.

-Rd


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## icantbelieve (28 Jun 2005)

It was a tongue in cheek remark, thought the ;-) would've indicated this but reading the post again perhaps not, to clarify, we didn't do anything unusual in the bed.


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## ClubMan (28 Jun 2005)

Yeah - don't be so pedantic _daltonr_.


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## Seagull (29 Jun 2005)

When did bouncing vigorously in bed become unusual? It's only unusual when the bed starts leaving the floor. Unless that's because of the earth moving


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## ice (29 Jun 2005)

Car,

Have you got any sites for the window shopping you were doing ?

4K sounds like a good saving !


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## lfcjfc (5 Jul 2005)

Just back from Hols in South East France near Spanish border - couldnt get a pint of lager there for less than €4.40. Compares to a pint of Guiness at €3.55 and Heineken at €4 where I live down the Wesht - maybe we are not so badly off. Noticed too that petrol ranged anywhere from €1.12 to €1.26 per L - but we are well on our way to that now I suppose!


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## DrMoriarty (5 Jul 2005)

> South East France near Spanish border...?


If you mean down around Languedoc/Roussillon area, I'm amazed at those prices. I've spent a lot of time down 'round there, and never paid more than €1.40/€1.50 for a _demi_ (i.e. €2.80/€3.00 for a pint - well, OK, 500ml as opposed to 568ml...)

And of course you could buy 24x 500ml bottles of beer for well under €20, in the supermarkets.

What/where were you drinking, exactly? 

I know the petrol over there has become dearer than in Ireland, in recent times - but I've never really liked the taste of it, anyway...


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## franmac (5 Jul 2005)

Driving back from Longford recently we drove through Edgeworthstown and the hotel there had a sign outside with "full Irish breakfast 5 euro" but we decided to stop further on in a small village where we have had quite a few meals over the years.

Ordered two breakfasts, there was no sign of a menu,the food was very nice but the cost for the meal was 18.90 which I thought was a rip off.

I will pay more atention to billboard advertising in future.


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## ubiquitous (6 Jul 2005)

> Ordered two breakfasts, there was no sign of a menu



Eh? If true, this is surely a breach of ODCA regulations? Its a long long time since I saw a restaurant or food outlet in this country that did not have a price list.


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## Steve (6 Jul 2005)

Not rip-off Ireland?

Walked into Supervalue yesterday. 

€1.75 for ONE can of budweiser at their 'low' price.

LMFAO

This country is the laughing stock of consumers in Europe.


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## Carpenter (6 Jul 2005)

Who and where are Irish Trading Co. based?


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## ubiquitous (6 Jul 2005)

Tralee, with nationwide delivery

www.irishtrading.ie


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## eliza (6 Jul 2005)

Steve said:
			
		

> €1.75 for ONE can of budweiser at their 'low' price.
> 
> LMFAO
> 
> This country is the laughing stock of consumers in Europe.



I really have to smile at this one. Having lived in quite a few European countries I know that anyone who would drink a can of Budweiser would be considered the laughing stock of Europe irrespective of the cost of the can. (Sorry Steve!)


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## nt00deep (7 Jul 2005)

Holiday in Galway recently.  Bodkin bar in the Kingsvalley hotel near GMIT.

Ate several times, evening and lunch.  Same prices all day.  10 euro for the three nicest pasta dishes we have EVER had.  0.70 cents for lunch for my 2-yr old.  4 Euro for my 5-yr old.  

Smashing value.  Smashing food.  Go there.


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## tomthumb (8 Jul 2005)

Heading to Galway next month with the family so will try Bodkins.  Where and what is the GMIT?  Thanks


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## Carpenter (8 Jul 2005)

GMIT is the Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology, its on your right hand side when approaching city from Dublin (I think) Renmore would be on your left........


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## tomthumb (8 Jul 2005)

thanks for that Carpenter, will drop off there on arrival. cheers


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