Shopping in Northern Ireland

alastair_doom

Phil the Drill wrote: »

no way, sounds like a good looking bloke

Sounds like a spammer given this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055572308

Post reported.

angela59

Hi all,

Anyone know any good garden centers up north to purchase garden power tools?

Angela59:)

angela59

Hi,

Does anyone know is it possible to withdraw sterling from an ATM up north using your laser card?

Thanks in advance.


Angela59

mcwhirter

angela59 wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know is it possible to withdraw sterling from an ATM up north using your laser card?

Thanks in advance.


Angela59

Yes, if it has maestro/cirrus on the back of the card.

dudara

I'm thinking of heading up for a trip, and alcohol will be a large part of my purchases. What time in the morning can shops in NI start to sell alcohol.

Plus, are things still very busy up north on a Saturday?

madmoe

Hi all,
I want to buy this up North as its WAY cheaper €341 compared to €599 in Dublin!! http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6138244/c_1/1|category_root|Home%2Band%2Bfurniture|12107022/c_2/2|cat_12107022|Living%2Broom%2Bfurniture|12107322/c_3/3|cat_12107322|Home%2Bdisplay%2Bcabinets%2Band%2Bunits|12107337.htm

Just wondering has anyone used a delivery service person to deliver this down south? I don't have a car myself.

Who would you recommend?

Cheers,
M

rob22

angela59 wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know is it possible to withdraw sterling from an ATM up north using your laser card?

Thanks in advance.


Angela59

Does anyone know if laser cards are accepted in the shops?

viking

madmoe wrote: »

Just wondering has anyone used a delivery service person to deliver this down south? I don't have a car myself.

Don't forget that the cabinet can only be ordered for home delivery, no store pickup on this item.

Recession bustours or Dealhunter should be able to sort you out, email them first though.

madmoe

Thanx Viking, I will mail them.

M

andyeire

dudara wrote: »

I'm thinking of heading up for a trip, and alcohol will be a large part of my purchases. What time in the morning can shops in NI start to sell alcohol.

Plus, are things still very busy up north on a Saturday?

From 8am mon to saturday Supermarkets dont open till one on Sunday.

I go to Enniskillen and that is still busy but it is 11 before it really hots up.

Dont know about Newry

veryangryman

andyeire wrote: »

From 8am mon to saturday Supermarkets dont open till one on Sunday.

I go to Enniskillen and that is still busy but it is 11 before it really hots up.

Dont know about Newry

Tip: Dont go early. Go late

Be there for maybe 3ish. You get 3 hours of shopping and the traffic/car park is died down then.

Have a lie in on your day off - thats what they're there for! :pac:

dudara

veryangryman wrote: »

Tip: Dont go early. Go late

Be there for maybe 3ish. You get 3 hours of shopping and the traffic/car park is died down then.

Have a lie in on your day off - thats what they're there for! :pac:

I think that we're going to spend Saturday night in a hotel somewhere for a bit of R&R, then overdo it on the hotel breakfast and then head to the shops on Sunday.

felinefeelins

dudara wrote: »

I'm thinking of heading up for a trip, and alcohol will be a large part of my purchases. What time in the morning can shops in NI start to sell alcohol.

Plus, are things still very busy up north on a Saturday?

Another tip, if there are 2 of ye doing the shop, a second trolley is handy and it can cut a fair bit of the shopping time, some tills are not for alcohol and you can get through them very quickly.
Enjoy

dee_mc

I'm told the off licence on the left just after the bridge as you come into Newry city from main roundabout has some good deals, think it's called the 'drink link'? (Right beside a chipper called the 'nite bite'!)
Sainsbury's often have special offers on booze so worth checking it first.
For good quality, reasonably priced food, Cobbles is a nice, trendy little bar and restaurant only a few minutes walk from the two shopping centres.
Oh and it's worth a trip to Craigavon, only a short hop past Newry, for another large shopping centre (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Debenhams, Semichem, Superdrug, all the high-street names, Matalan, Peacocks, and much easier to park here on a saturday or sunday than in Newry)

commited

Drink Link has some pretty rubbish deals for beer - was in there the other day and wasn't really any cheaper than down here.

devil-80

this is how looks cheese which I bought last monday in Asda Enniskillen (Go dutch edam) bleee:mad:

irish consumer

Hi I just got back from some shoping in Belfast!
i bought a wallet for my Dad for father's day, in Debenhams, it cost £25! also on the price tag was written €39!
anyway, the wallet did not suit, so i returned it to Debenhms in Waterford! where I had to wait for 20 mins while a 'manager' who never came near me, looked up the exchange rate! after 20 mins or so,and 3 phone calls, the staff member told me that the wallet was worth €27 and that is all i will get for it!!!

i took the wallet home with me, and e-mailed debenhams! I am still waiting for a reply!
meanwhile I had checked my online banking to find that because i bought it with my Visa card, it actually cost me €29.50!
so what i have decided to do is, return it without a receipt, and they will give me a credit note for €39
I will never shop with them ever again!

Danny-B

Return it in the North.

To be honest, trying to get €39 back for a wallet that cost you £25 is a bit sly anyway ... Either it was pricing mistake, or it really costs that in Euros in the North, in which case.......return it in the North.

irish consumer

i did not want €39 for the wallet! yes that would be sly!
I merely wanted what I paid! which as i said was €29.50
and that would be crazy journey just to return a wallet, anyways I will probably exchange it for something else

mickoneill30

irish consumer wrote: »

I will never shop with them ever again!

I thought that was great service. You bought the wallet in a different country and rather than tell you to go back to where you bought it (which they could have) or tell you that you had no right to a refund because you changed your mind (which they could have) they refunded you what they thought the exchange rate entitled you to.

Sure you could always take half a day and wander back up to Belfast if you want to get the extra €2.50.

Actually after re-reading your post, you've made two posts on Boards and it's a very dodgy consumer issue. Sounds fishy.

Danny-B

Ah, sorry, misread you.

Either way, it's an excuse for another trip to Belfast .. I'm sure you didn't get to see everything there is on offer.

Stark

irish consumer wrote: »

i did not want €39 for the wallet! yes that would be sly!
I merely wanted what I paid! which as i said was €29.50
and that would be crazy journey just to return a wallet, anyways I will probably exchange it for something else

Part of that €29.50 would be what your credit card company charged to do a foreign currency exchange. You wouldn't expect to get that back off Debenhams. Maybe talk to your credit card company to see what their policy is on cooling off purchases.

meanmachine3

milly4ever wrote: »

Asda would do so well in Newry, a lot cheaper than Sainsbury's! have you got a link to a news article?

this is taken from todays sunday tribune, page 2 of business. i just scanned the original article. hope it's ok

dudara

Just back from a trip to Newry. We went up yesterday to Banbridge and stopped in Newry on the way back around 5pm, so shop wasn't too bad. We got alcohol and dry goods.

We stayed in Dundalk and drove to Carlingford today. We ended up going back to Newry via the back road, and back to Sainsburys again, only this time we bought perishables. We hadn't planned to go to Newry a second time, but when the opportunity presented itself, we took it.

There's definitely good value to be had - it all depends what you're looking for. I could see us doing it the odd time.

darc

With sterling getting stronger by the day, the trip up north isn't the value it was.

Ulster Bank today was selling £300 for just over €370 incl commission. - A lot different to the rate in January when £300 cost under €330 incl commission!

Zonda999

darc wrote: »

With sterling getting stronger by the day, the trip up north isn't the value it was.

Ulster Bank today was selling £300 for just over €370 incl commission. - A lot different to the rate in January when £300 cost under €330 incl commission!

I reckon sterling will continue to gain on the Euro so it may continue to become less and less worth it. Theres a bit of optimism about the UK economy, compared to the Eurozone. They reckon they've already hit the bottom. I could see 1 euro only being worth 7Xp before too long. Its worth about 85p at the moment and has been steadily gaining in the last couple of months!

veryangryman

Another couple of Enniskillen Requests

Where is best value sports shop in town? I know Erneside but is any other place worth visiting

Also, looking to do some redecorating. Paint shop anyone?

felinefeelins

veryangryman wrote: »

Another couple of Enniskillen Requests

Where is best value sports shop in town? I know Erneside but is any other place worth visiting

Also, looking to do some redecorating. Paint shop anyone?

Depends what ur looking for, you have lifestyle in ernside and you have heatons up on the mainstreet nearly opposite boots

faolteam

i was thinking of going to newry tomorrow but with sterling getting better am i wasting my time ???. i was hoping to get grocerys not really drink, i was hoping to price a mini 8 inch lap top the small ones and go to the outlet anyone recommend ??? were is best place to get mini lap top or should i just get one down here and forget going on it

also can anyone tell me if i can get a kryptview 750 in newry

RiverWilde

Zonda999 wrote: »

I reckon sterling will continue to gain on the Euro so it may continue to become less and less worth it. Theres a bit of optimism about the UK economy, compared to the Eurozone. They reckon they've already hit the bottom. I could see 1 euro only being worth 7Xp before too long. Its worth about 85p at the moment and has been steadily gaining in the last couple of months!

The exhange rate may be deteriorating but the price difference is still substantial. I won't pay the prices in southern shops and as long as the exhange rate is still half decent it's still worth the trip.

Riv

faolteam

can anyone tell me if i can get a kryptview 750 in newry

Niamh78

You go girl!

RiverWilde wrote: »

The exhange rate may be deteriorating but the price difference is still substantial. I won't pay the prices in southern shops and as long as the exhange rate is still half decent it's still worth the trip.

Riv

tregan

still think it's worth trip as big diff in prices still .... got a bolero type cardy to go over a dress reduced to £27.50 in debenhams sale, original price was eur90 !! where would you be going! have to look for sandals and handbag now so will be popping up next week again for that

ANGEM

Hi all,we went to Richer Sounds last week eldest son wanted to buy a 37inch tv we saw advertised on their web page surprise surprise they didnt have any left and were not very pleasant to deal with. They did have the 32inch samsung for £359 but it was an older model and they wanted €420 (which i thought was a bit steep) they would noyt budge on the price even though he also wanted the stand hdmi cable and dvd player. Went walk about and found CS Supplies on Royal Avenue who where very very helpful and he got a new model 32inch lcd (32 pixels ??) philips for €400 and glass tv stand, hdmi cable and a top of the range phillips dvd player for €120 should have been €200. One very happy son :D:D

Keith C

ANGEM wrote: »

Hi all,we went to Richer Sounds last week eldest son wanted to buy a 37inch tv we saw advertised on their web page surprise surprise they didnt have any left and were not very pleasant to deal with. They did have the 32inch samsung for £359 but it was an older model and they wanted €420 (which i thought was a bit steep) they would noyt budge on the price even though he also wanted the stand hdmi cable and dvd player. Went walk about and found CS Supplies on Royal Avenue who where very very helpful and he got a new model 32inch lcd (32 pixels ??) philips for €400 and glass tv stand, hdmi cable and a top of the range phillips dvd player for €120 should have been €200. One very happy son :D:D

Should have checked on boards first, richer sounds have a forum here, offer great delas for boards members & give 10% boards disount & the guys that work there are constantly answering questions & taking reservations
Bit late now but heres a link

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1105

By the way a £2 HDMI cable works just as well as a £20/£40/£100 priced one. Hope you didn't fall for the sales talk

Pixied

My experience of Richersounds on their section of boards.ie was not very positive either. It is difficult to express it on that board as anyone who does gets shot down immediately by someone else. But differant people do have differant experiences. I found them inefficent to deal with via email, when you can eventually get someone on the phone it is hit or miss. One guy was lovely very helpful, the other was v unhelpful. I often rang for days on end and was unable to get through. Where would if I had be a problem purchase and needed to contact them?? I ordered a tv and they eventually rang me a couple of months later to say it had been discontinued and did I want something else..??..Not exactly good timely service. My experience has been not to believe the hype.

noodler

Pixied wrote: »

My experience of Richersounds on their section of boards.ie was not very positive either. It is difficult to express it on that board as anyone who does gets shot down immediately by someone else. But differant people do have differant experiences. I found them inefficent to deal with via email, when you can eventually get someone on the phone it is hit or miss. One guy was lovely very helpful, the other was v unhelpful. I often rang for days on end and was unable to get through. Where would if I had be a problem purchase and needed to contact them?? I ordered a tv and they eventually rang me a couple of months later to say it had been discontinued and did I want something else..??..Not exactly good timely service. My experience has been not to believe the hype.

I bought a TV from them in Sept. It had an annoying beeping sound during non-TV playabck so wanted it replaced. Now there was a delay in them getting back to me and no one came to replace it on the day they said they would but when they did get back to me they arranged for a straight swap on a Sunday (without even checking the TV I was returning).

So good and bad there but have to look at how well it all ended.

Richersounds.ie: John

Pixied,

I just spotted your post and firstly can I apologise for the poor service you have from us- and also apologies if you feel that you cannot express your feelings on our board's forum.

Whilst not in any way defending poor service we do not in any way moderate our own forum on Boards and Customers, competitors, indeed anyone is free to post what they wish - the forum is moderated mainly by The Ritz who also moderated the main HE forum and we have no power to moderate or delete messages and indeed we welcome feedback.

Specifically towards the end of last years things went a little crazy between the presssure caused by the extra business with the currency and the lack of availability of TV from several manufacturers our service levels did slip and I can only apologise for that.

As you see I do give my direct office line and email at the end of every post and I am always happy to discuss any issues that may arise personally with our Customers.

Again apologies for the inconvenience and please do drop me a line if I can assist in any way,

Best regards,

John McDonald

Pixied wrote: »

My experience of Richersounds on their section of boards.ie was not very positive either. It is difficult to express it on that board as anyone who does gets shot down immediately by someone else. But differant people do have differant experiences. I found them inefficent to deal with via email, when you can eventually get someone on the phone it is hit or miss. One guy was lovely very helpful, the other was v unhelpful. I often rang for days on end and was unable to get through. Where would if I had be a problem purchase and needed to contact them?? I ordered a tv and they eventually rang me a couple of months later to say it had been discontinued and did I want something else..??..Not exactly good timely service. My experience has been not to believe the hype.

Garda S Horgan

Has anyone got a mattress from teh house of Murphy up there and do you know if they deliver to Dublin (free/fee?).
Just did some checking online.
Mattress.ie and beds.ie quoting 497 for a mattress and the same on in the uk is 247 sterling. Even with 1.16 exchange it's not even close.
I would buy Irish no problem but if the difference in price of the same item is the same as yearly motor tax for a small car then it's worth finding out.

Anyway, if anyone knows or has any good/bad comments it woudl be great.
Thanks,

mckevitt

Hi,

Just wondering if people can give me a list of the best border towns for shopping?

Also what kind of things are the cheapest in the north compared to south, is it just food/ drink or is it worth it for higher value Items, Furnniture/ Tv's etc?

Cheers

thatsnotmyname

Since the sterling has got stronger recently ?
is it stiill worth making the journey north ?

thinking of heading to Newry to stock up on Wine and Vodka i know even with the strong sterling there will be still a good saving's to be had on the booze.
But how about food is it worth it anymore since Tesco and Dunness have susposed to have slashed their price's ?

DublinWriter

thatsnotmyname wrote: »

thinking of heading to Newry to stock up on Wine and Vodka i know even with the strong sterling there will be still a good saving's to be had on the booze.
But how about food is it worth it anymore since Tesco and Dunness have susposed to have slashed their price's ?

As someone who used to go to Newry once a fortnight, I've switched back to Tescos for the main grocery and Newry just for fags and booze.

anotherlostie

I shopped in Tesco tonight for the first time since they brought in their price changes, and I was pleasantly surprised with the scale of the reductions, so I don't think I will be shopping in NI again unless I have a reason to go up there (or Tesco put the prices back up by stealth...)

veryangryman

anotherlostie wrote: »

I shopped in Tesco tonight for the first time since they brought in their price changes, and I was pleasantly surprised with the scale of the reductions, so I don't think I will be shopping in NI again unless I have a reason to go up there (or Tesco put the prices back up by stealth...)

Went for a stroll around Tesco Athlone and i can happily report that yes, the reductions are phenomenal. 25-33% off of most of the weekly shopping.

Added to the lesser sterling rate and the increased fuel bill on a journey north, I think i might give the local place my business again.

That said, i think the north shopper people need to pat themselves on the back. These reductions would never have happened without people power. Voting with our wallets and all that.

The only reason to travel north now has to be for Booze. Tesco cant reduce the price of that much here (and havent... Litre of Spirits still €29.99 in republic vs £15 up north) so i guess if your stocking up on that, get out your best rainy day mix tape and get onto the M1/N3 prompto

sideswipe

With price drops here, the leveling off of sterling and the fact the UK VAT prices are due to go up in December, it looks like there is less and less value to be had by travelling up da nord.

madmoe

viking wrote: »

Don't forget that the cabinet can only be ordered for home delivery, no store pickup on this item.

Recession bustours or Dealhunter should be able to sort you out, email them first though.

Hi lads,
Anyone have a contact number for Dealhunter? Contacted them via online form on their site but not heard from them yet.

What's people's experiences with recessionbustours.ie?

Cheers,
M

jeanmec

just wondering if its still good value going up for nappies and school clothes??

thanks

mcwhirter

If your shopping in places like Next, Debenhams, Laura Ashley etc, then the north is much cheaper. A lot of the UK shops in the south are still using ridiculous conversion rates such as 1.5-1.7 euros to the pound.
Also for some reason large brands in tescos are still a lot higher here than in the north. Only carefully selected items have come down in price here in tescos.

RiverWilde

I think that's the main difference between here and the north. In the north practically everything is cheaper ... even with the slightly stronger pound. Down here though the likes of Tesco et al are reducing 'selected' items. Slashing the cost of bread and hiking the cost of other things etc etc. Frankly, it's not good enough.

Riv

bcirl03

Growing family here so the North is still the way to go for me.

Compared a few of our essentials against Tescos new prices and once a month trip up North still saves us a lot.

As I've said before screw the Tesco's \ Dunnes etc chains for ripping us off. Too little too late.