Rip-off Republic Episode 3

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ClubMan said:
So do you actively campaign to have the flaws that you perceive in the existing legislative framework rectified appropriately?
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No I haven't done so. But I wouldn't rule it out in the future.
 
Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today? Or maybe you don't really have strong feelings on the matter in spite of what you say?
 
My tuppence worth:
I thought there was nothing new in the programme but it still did enough to make me angry, and I hope it made some of the general population watching it angry. Whether or not our roads etc. have been a 'rip off', they have certainly been wrapped up in incompetence and shady deals. We can't let politicians or civil servants get away with that any more.
I heard before that the Germans contract the building and maintenance of their roads in one contract - so if you get to build the road you must maintain it for 10 years. What happens in this case is that the best road is built so the contractors won't have much maintenance to do going forward. Surely a decent idea?
I also heard from a friend of mine that when roads are being built in some Scandinavian countries they put pipes under the road at the construction stage and companies can rent space in those pipes - and thus the roads aren't dug up every couple of months leaving the motorist to deal with ground turbulence.
It would be interesting to see Eddie pose some ideas like these as solutions to transport problems.
As for the trains – we need two lines on the main rail links in the country. Simple as that.
To be honest, if we in Ireland suffer from incompetence rather than rip offs I would be much more pissed off. At least people pursuing/creating rip offs have some agenda and intellect. Incompetence comes as a result of laziness or lack of ability. So are our politicians and civil servants sh*te or just looking after their own interests?

(Just to clarify - by 'pursuing' rip offs I was referring to perpetrators)
 
shnaek said:
At least people pursuing rip offs have some agenda and intellect.
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Some people are exhibiting a stunning lack of intellect by seeing rip-offs where there are none though.
 
So are our politicians and civil servants sh*te or just looking after their own interests?
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Some of the civil servants are the best people we have, and are dedicated to doing the best for this country and care about their work and delivering on benchmarking and productivity deals that the unions cut for them.
Some are the worst and are only interested in spending their day posting on website forums . The management are ripping us off by not dealing with them. The politicians are ripping us off by not replacing the management. Nothing will ever be done as nothing can be done(unions,jobs for life etc). Now thats a ripoff.
 
Just to clarify - by 'pursuing' rip offs I was referring to perpetrators - just threw that into my post as I realised it wasn't really clear.
And what you say is true - but there is plenty evidence of bad value for money re how our government spend our money.
 
If you feel you're being 'ripped-off' by the M50 tolls - join 98FM & The Sunday World's campaign to Bury the Tolls!

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"We aim is to get as many people as possible to text Toll to [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]51101[/font] to form the biggest SMS petition (Toll Poll) to get the National Toll Spokesperson to declare a free Toll 2 hours.

Text number is 51101.

"Text Toll to 51101 with your name and address" or email Toll@98FM.ie with the same info."[/font]
​
 

As somebody else said price is a personal and subjective thing. Things are worth it or not. It's a personal call, based on experience. I've had one or two mixed grills and €10 is about right imho.

The only reason to have paid the €15, knowing in advance the price, is one of hunger and lack of alternative.
 

Yes, but going back to basics €15 is not good value for that meal imho.
 
Some posters seem to think Hobbs should present solutions for these problems.

That's not his job - he's just identifying and publicising the wastes and lack of value.

If the Gov't agree with his opinions they really should resign. Serial wasters of valuable public funds.

If not they should make reasonable defence of their record - I'm still waiting for that. Tim O'Malley made a fool of himself on the radio attempting same.
 
Is there a charge for those texts? The [broken link removed] doesn't say one way or another. If they are asking people to text the number but they will be charged for it (over an above their own operator's rate) then that is an example of a real rip-off!
 
RS2K said:
Yes, but going back to basics €15 is not good value for that meal imho.
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"Not good value" and "rip-off" are not the same thing in my opinion.

So - basically it's not a rip-off in this specific case. Case closed?
 
ClubMan said:
Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today? Or maybe you don't really have strong feelings on the matter in spite of what you say?
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Maybe I can't do it today, and yes, maybe I don't have strong enough feelings in spite of what I say, but I don't think that bars me from saying that something should be changed, or that I am unhappy about something?

In fairness, do I go on as much as others about "rip off Ireland"? Probably not. And this is a discussion forum, not an action group, is it?
 
Fair enough - I'm just pointing out the seeming contradiction inherent in complaining about being ripped off by the actions of Vincent Salafia earlier, professing to having a problem with allegedly such as his and stating that you believe that the legal framework needs modification to mitigate the problems caused by such actions but then admitting that you don't feel strongly enough about it to do anything constructive to address these issues. Fair comment on my part I would have thought?
 

Yes, of course. But did you ask whether I intended to do anything about it out of interest, or to goad me into saying that no I wasn't and then pointing out that I'm contradicting myself (I don't believe that I am by the way)?

Believe it or not, I'm not all talk no action. I could (I will if you need evidence) post details of how I shop around, how I get the lowest possible prices through research, how I avoid retailers etc. who believe charge prices that are too high. etc. (you questioned whether I was a 'Rip Off Ireland merchant' and 'all talk no action' in another thread). Trying to effect a change in legislation is a different matter altogether.

I think I am entitled to express my views, and of course you are entitled to disagree. But I don't necessarliy feel that I should have to provide solutions, or take action in all cases, should I?
 
ClubMan said:
"Not good value" and "rip-off" are not the same thing in my opinion. Not good value = bad value = rip off?


So - basically it's not a rip-off in this specific case. Case closed?

Again bad value = rip off?
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A question of interpretation imho.
 
ClubMan said:
Some people are exhibiting a stunning lack of intellect by seeing rip-offs where there are none though.
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Who is this directed at! Do you mean that some people are stupid because their interpretation of the meaning of "rip-off" is not the same as yours?!

Brendan said:
No I wouldn't call it a rip-off. It would be ridiculously expensive and I would not drink there. But it would not be a rip-off.

My Penguin reference dictionary also defines it as "the charging of an exorbitant price".
Brendan
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Maybe I'm stupid but "ridiculously expensive" and "exorbitant price" are the same in my book!


Brendan said:
The problem we face is that the media and Eddie have redefined the word to meaning charging high prices.
Brendan
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Not just the media and Eddie

Oxford dictionary: • noun informal 1 an article that is greatly overpriced
Cambridge: noun [C usually singular]
something that is not worth what you pay for it:
£300 for that shirt? - That's a complete rip-off.
 

Texts are charged at the normal operator's rate.
 
Ah ... a batch reply is required here...

CCOVICH said:
Yes, of course. But did you ask whether I intended to do anything about it out of interest, or to goad me into saying that no I wasn't and then pointing out that I'm contradicting myself (I don't believe that I am by the way)?
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I was not goading you - merely asking for clarification.

The all talk and no action comment was facetious. Sorry if you took it seriously. The reference to "rip-off merchants" was an allusion to people (not necessarily you) who blame most or all of our ills on "rip-off Ireland" without distinguishing between real rip-offs and other stuff like high prices.

I think I am entitled to express my views, and of course you are entitled to disagree. But I don't necessarliy feel that I should have to provide solutions, or take action in all cases, should I?
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Of course. But I just thought that seeing that you were accusing Vincent Salafia of ripping you off and of frivolous objections to developments and saying that you believed that the relevant legislative framework was flawed insofar as it facilitated this then you would have strong enough views on the matter to do something about it. Fair enough if you don't and just want to complain about it. That's your prerogative.

RS2K said:
A question of interpretation imho.
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I don't think so. If you considered it bad value for money yet spent the money and did not voice your opinions/complaints then there is certainly no rip-off.

podgerodge said:
Who is this directed at! Do you mean that some people are stupid because their interpretation of the meaning of "rip-off" is not the same as yours?!
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It was not directed at any individual in particular. I think some people are exhibiting a stunning lack of intellect when they mistakenly label things a rip-off when they are patently not. Not only are they wasting their time complaining but they are often also overlooking the real rip-offs as a result.

delgirl said:
Texts are charged at the normal operator's rate.
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OK - thanks for that info. They really should say that on the campaign flyers otherwise people who assume that the usual high price on such premium text numbers apply might not participate.
 
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