The Best Irish Ripoff Yet? The Ripoff Card....
- Thread starter Humpback
- Start date
So you paid the price (in monetary terms by what you paid over and in emotional terms by suffering through a poor meal) for the sake of convenience. No rip-off there as far as I can see.daltonr said:
It would be hard to put an objective definition on reasonable (maybe they were talking about their manner or something?) but if you had a problem with this then you should have told them. No need to cause a scene. It's quite easy to make a complaint without it getting ugly. Otherwise they will go on (perhaps genuinely - who knows?) claiming to be the "most reasonable" providers of this specific service and other punters may fall foul of the alleged problems. For what it's worth it's often recommended that when making a complaint one should try to compliment the subject on one issue before ontroducing the substantive point. In your case you could have complimented them on the service but then pointed out that the food was not up to your standards and, as such, not worth the prices charged in your opinion.
Fair enough. If I was dissatisfied with a movie (e.g. if I had problems with the content, projection, sound, other cinema goers etc.) then I would certainly make a complaint if I felt that it was justified and look for a refund. I've seen other people doing it successfully.
Yes - but if the service is not up to expectations then you don't just pay up for a quiet life only to moan about it later. You stand your ground and make your objections known. What good is paying up and then handing over some silly "rip off Ireland" complaint card?
Hardly justification for putting up with inadequate food, service etc. If people do this then they are effectively paying for the convenience of living in their comfort zone so they can't really make an issue of it.
As I said - making a complaint doesn't necessarily need to involve making a scene. If the recipient of the criticism reacts badly then that's hardly the customer's fault or problem.
I already complimented allee on the business venture and wished that s/he makes a packet off it. It doesn't make the idea any sillier in my view thought. Lots of people make money off silly stuff because others are willing to part with their money for them. As I said - fools and their money...
Good to see that you relented on your earlier promise not to engage in "rip-off Ireland" threads. I was missing the opportunity to set the world to rights on this issue.
Clubman,
Have you ever paid for something and felt ripped off, even just once and not complained at the time?
If so by your logic you are a fool
And before this post is edited for name calling, it is a legitimate question considering you stated
I personally would more favour the old (probably misquoted here) phrase
Trick me once shame on you, trick me twice shame on me
stuart@buyingtolet.ie
Have you ever paid for something and felt ripped off, even just once and not complained at the time?
If so by your logic you are a fool
And before this post is edited for name calling, it is a legitimate question considering you stated
ClubMan said:
I personally would more favour the old (probably misquoted here) phrase
Trick me once shame on you, trick me twice shame on me
stuart@buyingtolet.ie
This might be a pertinent case in point - obviously it was impossible to know in advance that these problems would arise. I certainly felt ripped off in this case but did as much as I could to obtain some redress. However I would not see the point in buying a "rip off" card and sending it to them when I can put my complaints in writing to them directly as well as to other relevant statutory and industry bodies.stuart said:
I am not immune from foolish behaviour. No problem admitting that.
I haven't edited it.
Isn't it actually "fool me once etc...."?
D
daltonr
Guest
Ah now come on. Please don't deflect comments about you onto me. As bad as I am even I don't deserve Clubman's hand me down criticism.
Don't get your hopes up on setting the world to rights. I'm not discussing Rip-Off Ireland, nor have I once claimed that the meal in Khan's was a Rip-Off. We're talking here about how and when it's appropriate to complain. Nothing to do with Rip-Off Ireland.
I think we're all agreed these specific cards are probably a waste of time.
A short Note for the attention of the manager would seem to be a much better option.
It's a fact of life that there will be times when you'll be dissapointed with a meal, or a movie, or the work of a Painter or Mechanic.
Not all of those are cases that demand a complaint. E.g. It's not the cinema's fault you didn't like the Movie, and it's not fair to ask for a refund particularly for a sold out film since they can't exactly sell your seat to someone else.
Similarly I don't think it's necessarily Khan's fault that I didn't like their meal. They have a recipe, I don't like it. If enough people disliked their food Khan's would change it because people would stop eating there. I for example have no interest in eating there because I can get better food cheaper elsewhere.
The restaurant was pretty empty as many Restaurants seem to be nowadays compared to 3 or 4 years ago.
On the Other hand when I got a starter in Lemongrass that was ice cold in the middle (Pre-Cooked Ribs from fridge not microwaved properly I suspect) then I do think I had grounds for a complaint, and they were very good and very apologetic in fixing the problem.
-Rd
Have you noticed the title of this thread?daltonr said:
But an even better option would be to speak up.
I never said that they were all cases that "demanded" a complaint. If I felt that I had reasonable grounds for complaint in a particular situation then I would do so. I certainly wouldn't do nothing other than moan about it after the fact. However, as discussions such as this show, your definition of "reasonable" may not be the same as mine. Vive la difference.
You claimed that the food "wasn't good", was the "most bland" (sorry - "most BLAND") and "worst" version of the dish that you had ever tasted, the price was "astronomical", and "I should have had one of the best meals I've ever had. Instead I had the worst.". If these are not sufficient grounds for you to make a complaint then I don't know what would be...
... oh - I see. Being put in danger of food poisoning would be sufficient grounds. At least Khans didn't, as far as I can see from what you've posted, put your health in danger.
D
daltonr
Guest
OK as we've again decended into meaningless ping pong I'll leave you alone. I'm really in no mood to spend a week arguing about whether my way of dealing with the world lives up to Clubman's idea of acceptable behaviour.
Whether it's my decision on when and when not to complain, or my decision on how to vote, or my choice on which dictionary to read, I'll make my own choices and live with them.
If you feel your way of dealing with the world is better then fine. I disagree, I personally wouldn't buy a package holiday, and I wouldn't waste my holiday writing emails and making telephone calls about a sub standard hotel. I'd handle situations like that differently to you.
To each their own.
-Rd
Whether it's my decision on when and when not to complain, or my decision on how to vote, or my choice on which dictionary to read, I'll make my own choices and live with them.
If you feel your way of dealing with the world is better then fine. I disagree, I personally wouldn't buy a package holiday, and I wouldn't waste my holiday writing emails and making telephone calls about a sub standard hotel. I'd handle situations like that differently to you.
To each their own.
-Rd
brodiebabe
Registered User
- Messages
- 637
ClubMan said:
In your opinion! In my opinion I think a note for the manager is a better option. At least there is something on written record.
One person's meaningless ping pong is another person's reasonable discussion.daltonr said:
I never mentioned "acceptable behaviour".
Of course. But if you post here about these decisions and choices and somebody has a contrary opinion then they are perfectly free to voice it.
How would you have handled that specific situation yourself out of interest?
As I said too.
podgerodge
Registered User
- Messages
- 1,061
extopia said:
Why? It's brightened up my morning! Isin't it "Janey Mac" by the way?!
quarterfloun
Registered User
- Messages
- 117
How about [size=-1]The Cook,the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover That should cover all the points here.
Boring film it aint, classy restaurant it is, and complainers......well you could always end up on the menu!
[/size]
Boring film it aint, classy restaurant it is, and complainers......well you could always end up on the menu!
[/size]
CCOVICH said:
The Value Ireland Card has been available for free download since September 2004. It provides in a simple single card the ability to either compliment or criticise a business based on value, quality and service. To date, we've had over 25000 Value Ireland Cards downloaded.
However, as we say on our Value Ireland Card page, we believe that the Value Ireland Card should only be used as a last resort to actually complaining or commenting in person.
To this end, we present Tips On How To Complain where we believe all consumers will find ways to help them get their point across to Irish businesses.
Our attention was drawn to this thread, and others, regarding the Ripoff Card.
While we welcome anything that helps out the Irish consumer, we are wary of such an attempt to, we believe, further rip off Irish consumers.
Regards,
Diarmuid
Value Ireland
ClubMan said:
We haven't gone away you know, ClubMan.
The site isn't dead - it's getting as many hits these days as it has been at it's height. However, the updates are less frequent because, as you say, I've gone on to other things. Have to earn a real living. Unfortunately, as our friend with the Ripoff Card will find out, there's no living to be made off "RipOff Ireland" (unless you're Eddie Hobbs maybe
).I do try to create new articles at least once a month to keep up interest and maintain a fresh "News" section. The tips and advice on the site are always going to be of use to visitors, and they're updated as and when necessary.
extopia said:
Firstly, it didn't help that over half our posts were wiped out when EZBoard was hit by the attack earlier this year. Absolutely none of the lost posts were recovered unfortunately.
We in Value Ireland have done everything possible to encourage posts on the Value Ireland Forum. We do not encourage the kinds of posts such as on AskAboutMoney (more discussion/banter/comment focused). Rather, we are looking for specific feedback on where visitors have received what they percieve to be good or bad value.
Why people don't post such comments is probably another topic for discussion in itself, since there are many many readers of the comments that are there already.
Sorry - my mistake. Perhaps I was thinking of BestValueIreland.com (no relation to ValueIreland.com I presume?) or something like that?macshaned said:We haven't gone away you know, ClubMan.
Update: I see Eddie Lennon's BVI site is mentioned in this article on your website so take that as further evidence that the two sutes are not related?
ClubMan said:
No worries ClubMan. No connection betweent the two sites.
BestValueIreland.com was a previous venture of Eddie Lennons from about 2-3 years ago. The site is no longer up and running.
BestValueConsulting is Eddies more recent venture, as discussed on that article you quote.