Since when is €10 = €10.30

Creamy Goodness

when i bought O2 call credit in Letterkenny another suggestion that we live in rip-off ireland. i wouldn't mind but i was on holiday up there and i'd expect the extra 30cent in dublin but not in donegal.

BoB_BoT

that's odd, i've never being charged for o2 credit before (the extra .30 that is) i thought it was only vodafone that charge shops for supplying the credit?

Winters

Its been brought in by nearly all retailers a good while ago. It is a handleing charge.

Metor still dont charge it,
o2 have a 15c for €5, 30c for €10 and i think tis 45c for €20 [or nothing for €20, cant quite remember]
Vodafone charge 20c for €5, 40c for €10 etc. Vodafone is the most expensive.

Villain

look at this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104031

Creamy Goodness

i've bought plently of credit in the last year here in bray/dublin area and i was never once charged extra i think it's just donegal farmers (no offence) trying to make a living!

Nemesis

Initially with Phone cards the profit margin was 12%.
This was gross profit.
Then Terminals came in to re-place the Card format and Margins were dropped to 10%.
Thne Vodaphone decided to reduce margins to 6% on all Credit below 25 Euros and maintained profit margins on 25 Euro and 40 Euro credit.
O2 did not do this when Vodophone did..they waited and now they have reduced margin on all their range to Retailers.
I intially charged the Sur-charge on Vodaphone credit and not on O2 credit.
It didnt feel right..but in business you either sell it to make a profit or dont sell it..
anyway I stopped Sur-charging when O2 reduced their margins because I couldnt be bothered...
but I do hold the right to charge what i like for them....
DB

LFCFan

Originally posted by Winters
Vodafone charge 20c for €5, 40c for €10 etc. Vodafone is the most expensive.

Vodafone don't charge anything extra, it's the shops that decided to add the extra because Vodafone reduced the amount of commission shops can make on the sale of credit. If you buy your credit through Vodafone you don't pay anything extra.

Victor

Usa a cash machine, then it's "free".

jesus_thats_gre

One of the reasons used to justify the reduction in the commission was the less handling required with the print outs and the top up cards. Previously, top up cards had to be held on the premises and would take up behind the counter space. Now they just have a tiny machine printing out voucher numbers.. It is far less hassle to use the machine. Previously, shops were being targeted by large crime gangs because they knew large quantities of top up cards were held on the premisis. This is no longer the case with the machines.

So all in all, its costing the local shop less overall to dispense cards than it was previously. On that, because there is less stock on the premises and there is less chance of break ins, I am guessing insurance costs would have been reduced also i

Victor

Not quite. It also means the companies have pride of place on the shop counter. They get to demand the money quicker. Tehya lso get a foothold for future electronic transactions.

Dempsey

Things like that drive me up the wall. That sort of thing should be boycotted(we can go through atms and stuff). They shouldn't have been let do it in the first place.( I know its sellers market and stuff)

Nemesis

Thing is you need to get a phone line in for your terminal and pay the rent on that line..
Whats the Rent on a phone line nowadays?..it goes up so often I've lost track.
Also if your terminal is robbed the retailer is liable for all credit that is printed out on it!.
Not sure if Alphyra would actually enforce that on the retailer I'm not sure though.
I was asked to remove my pass number on the terminal to speed up transactions..but I refused..but the sad thing is there is a pass number that works on all terminals!
I had a break-in a few years ago and had cards robbed...I rang 02 and they cancelled the cards but when i rang vodaphone they couldnt ..or vice versa ..can remember.
Anyway with the reduced margins and getting a phone line in it was worse off for retailers...volume ofsales however has trebled from the cards to the Terminal paper slip's.
Nem

herbie747

Originally posted by Winters
Its been brought in by nearly all retailers a good while ago. It is a handleing charge.

Metor still dont charge it,

Yeah, but Meteor don't have any coverage either...:)

BoB_BoT

i'm still buying credit from shops in athlone and i have yet to be charged for credit. Was in mullingar this morning, got credit from chartbusters and wasn't charged extra for it either. perhaps it's just in certain towns/areas?

<edit> from fully reading the other posts :P, I guess the answer to my question is that some shops just decided to add the extra credit as a handling charge :P </edit>

LFCFan

Originally posted by Leggo
<edit> from fully reading the other posts :P, I guess the answer to my question is that some shops just decided to add the extra credit as a handling charge :P </edit>

Exactly! Some shops are greedier than others!

de5p0i1er

Didn't they give notice about that in shops a month before they put those charges on things.

Cork

I would not pay anything over the cost printed on the card. If a shop keeper did charge me - I would kick up a fuss.

It is up to people to take a stand aganist rip offs in the retail sector. If shop keepers are unhappy with the margin - stop stocking the cards - they want it every way.

Asok

I asked 02 about this a few months ago after getting charged in athlone on my way to dublin(it was in the golden island shopping centre shop).

This is the responce i got.

Dear ***********

Thank you for contacting 02 Customer Care via email. We are completely
opposed to surcharging on our top-ups, however under competition law we
cannot force a retailer not to surcharge. We can recommend to our
customers
that they purchase top-ups from retail stores that do not surcharge our
product or else through the other top-up methods available e.g. ATM,
Credit/Debit card etc.'

The following groups will not be surcharging:


* Xtra vision

* Tesco

* Statoil

* O2 Retail

* Easons Bookstores

* Carphone Warehouse

* Spectra Photo

* Post Offices

* Independent Mobile Dealers

Kind Regards

*************
02 Customer Care

Creamy Goodness

i wouldn't mind but there wasn't a sign in the shop saying that they charged for credit it i saw a sign i woulda said fair enuff and get it elsewhere but i was just shocked when i asked for 10 euros credit and the shope keep said that will be 10euros 30c please??

Cork

I would not accept the surcharge & tell the shop know and cancel the transaction.

I think small corner shops have very high margins. I think mobile phone companies should stop supplying cards to these outlets.

uRbaN

ah well...at least we can sip over priced cappuccino in a pretentious environment and text on our rip off text rates....mmm...bit of a sham.

Dun

Originally posted by Cr3m0
i've bought plently of credit in the last year here in bray/dublin area and i was never once charged extra i think it's just donegal farmers (no offence) trying to make a living!

FFS, how many farmers do you know that own shops :rolleyes:

I live in Donegal, and in 'the middle of nowhere' as some people would call it, and I've never been charged extra for credit (Vodafone) here, nor in Letterkenny. The only places that have tried charging me are in Dublin, and I wouldn't give it to them.

Cork

I think it is not a Donegal problem. Why don't they implement surcharges for the Irish Times. There is a very interesting article in today's Tribune about Rip Off Ireland.

Accepting Rip Offs does not solve the problem.

Victor

Originally posted by Cork
I think small corner shops have very high margins. I think mobile phone companies should stop supplying cards to these outlets.

Small corner shops are for convenience (so you don't have to drive 3 miles to the shopping centre and pay for parking). While many of the franchise operations Spar, Centra, etc. do quite well, many others have suffered and closed (not necessarily a bad thing).

You are paying for the convenience.

LFCFan

Originally posted by Victor
You are paying for the convenience.

That doesn't give them the right to charge what they want and up prices whenever they feel like it. It's not as though Spar or Centra are only a local shop. They are nationwide and in the case of Spar, worldwide. They are ripping us off pure and simple. In America you can go into a convenience store and not get ripped off so why should we put up with it.

Victor

Originally posted by LFCFan
That doesn't give them the right to charge what they want and up prices whenever they feel like it.

Yes they can, it's called competition. Is all the prices were the same there would be no (price) competition. Supply / demand will eventually catch up with them.

LFCFan

Originally posted by Victor
Yes they can, it's called competition.

you mean it's called 'lack of' competition. If there was competition, prices would be forced down, not up.

genie

I have also been charged €10.30 for €10 credit for O2 in an independent small supermarket in Collooney, Co Sligo. A total rip off! Going to use an ATM in Sligo town next time. :mad:

billy the squid

your lucky

NewsBites Mallow street limerick charges 40c on Vodafone and O2 credit

Mulany's Bedford Row charge 40c for same

There is a bank of Ireland ATM accross the road from mulany's where credit can be bought surcharge free and they still insist on charging it

what vodafone and o2 need to do is tell them to charge the display price or refuse to deal with that shop

what about a website informing people which shops overcharge for credit or something

was just wondering can you top up credit using banking 365 or ulsterbank anytime or one of the telephone banking services

Victor

Originally posted by fcddunne
what vodafone and o2 need to do is tell them to charge the display price or refuse to deal with that shop

No that would be abusing their position and contrary to the concept of competition.

Originally posted by fcddunne
was just wondering can you top up credit using banking 365 or ulsterbank anytime or one of the telephone banking services

No, but you should. Of course the problem is you would have to have credit to phone the bank before you topped up.

billy the squid

yeah but if you did it when you were paying your other bills through the telephone banking it would be nice

LFCFan

Originally posted by fcddunne
what about a website informing people which shops overcharge for credit or something

I'm developing a new website at the moment, http://www.ripoffireland.org and will be including a section where people can add the name of a shop that doesn't charge extra for credit. People need to know where to shop more than they need to know where not to.

billy the squid

Im sure that the mobile phone companies could provide you with either a list of all their retail outlets or one of who is and isnt charging the levy from information provided to them by their customers

kaalgat

Yeah i've noticed that at some places they charge extra for credit, but note,
they only charge extra if they have to use the machine to print out a slip of paper with your pin number on.
If you buy the credit at places like Tesco where you get the o2 top up cards instead, you don't get charged extra.

Adrian

dont get charged extra in the midlands. I was never charged extra for either vodafone or o2.

billy the squid

not all the shops who give out the printouts charge the extra fee. They give out the printouts at xtra vision on thomas street in limerick and they dont charge extra

sceptre

Xtravision are one of the official "don't charge extra" places.