Marks and Spencer Sterling rip off

clevtrev

I know we are all worn out about the ole euro sterling conversion scam but felt I needed to vent about this :mad:

I was looking to buy a highsleeper bed for the nipper and saw it on the UK M&S website for 499 sterling. Called M&S in Dundrum and the euro price was 829 which converts to approximately 700 sterling or an exchange rate of 1.66 euro to the pound compared to the current rate of 1.17. Needless to say I didnt purchase

the groutch

I know this looks a huge discrepancy, but all the following have to be factored in:


1. the 1.17 is a fictional inter-bank rate, the best you'd get is about 1.22-1.25

2. very different vat rates

3. cost of transport from uk

4. very different costs in running a shop in the uk and running one in ireland, wages alone are 10%-15% higher over here

5. was this possibly an internet price and it be selling for higher in their uk stores???


so it's not as cut-and-dry as you'd think

rubadub

I was shocked at the prices in mcdonalds here, a big mac is less than €1.50 in China FFS, needless to say I gave the manager abuse and stormed out with out buying anything. I call for everybody to boycott them.

the groutch

lol rubadub

RiverWilde

Whatever 'factors' you choose to throw at someone as to why such and such a price is higher here as opposed to a few miles up the road is really just an academic exercise. If the same product can be obtained in the same branch of a particular store in the North as opposed to here in the south - go for it.

All those price variances - shipping, transport etc are other middlemen taking a cut. If I can remove that cut from the equation I will.

Riv

the groutch

remember, this might be a delivery only product, which would make it impossible to take home from an N.I. store, and you would still have to give up half a day and pay the petrol cost of a gas guzzling van anyway

rubadub

RiverWilde wrote: »

a few miles up the road .....

If the same product can be obtained in the same branch of a particular store in the North as opposed to here in the south - go for it.

the groutch wrote: »

you would still have to give up half a day and pay the petrol cost of a gas guzzling van anyway

Thats it, it is not just a few miles for most. Sitting in traffic would stress me to death, I would sooner spend those same hours doing overtime or odd jobs and probably make up the potential savings.

Just calculate everything and do not fool yourself. I know lads coming back from up north saying "I got crates of brand X beer, and brand X beer is €2.69 a bottle here so I saved a fortune". Just trying to convince themselves, these guys would never buy that brand here, and would be getting whatever beer was €1 a can, for €20 per crate of bottles.

Of course there are legit bargains, just calculate it properly though.

clevtrev

the groutch wrote: »

I know this looks a huge discrepancy, but all the following have to be factored in:


1. the 1.17 is a fictional inter-bank rate, the best you'd get is about 1.22-1.25
credit card rate from XE.com for today is 1.1895 which includes a 2% commission giving 595 euro (price is 499 sterling)

2. very different vat rates
VAT rate on furniture in UK is now 15% versus 21.5% so we can add 6.5% to our 595 euro = 38 euro = giving a total of 633 euro

3. cost of transport from uk
cant be much difference in cost shipping to the south or the north from the UK and cost is 499 up north

4. very different costs in running a shop in the uk and running one in ireland, wages alone are 10%-15% higher over here
This product is shipped directly from UK and never goes into the store i.e. its a home delivery product but lets be really generous and add another 100 to the cost for our expensive employees, property lease, commercial rates etc etc giving a grand total of 733 which is almost 100 euro less than the price quoted

5. was this possibly an internet price and it be selling for higher in their uk stores???
This is a home delivery product and cannot be bought from the store only ordered there. As far as I'm aware M&S dont offer lower prices from their website

so it's not as cut-and-dry as you'd think

fairly cut and dry rip off methinks:rolleyes:

Colonel Sanders

the groutch wrote: »

1. the 1.17 is a fictional inter-bank rate, the best you'd get is about 1.22-1.25

I get close enough to mid market rate + 1.75% foreign exchange fee when using my credit card (PTSB Ice Visa)

GerardKeating

clevtrev wrote: »

cant be much difference in cost shipping to the south or the north from the UK and cost is 499 up north

But M&S maintain a standard price accross the UK stores, so NI is getting a bit of a discount on the shipping...

josh59

rubadub wrote: »

Thats it, it is not just a few miles for most. Sitting in traffic would stress me to death, I would sooner spend those same hours doing overtime or odd jobs and probably make up the potential savings.

Just calculate everything and do not fool yourself. I know lads coming back from up north saying "I got crates of brand X beer, and brand X beer is €2.69 a bottle here so I saved a fortune". Just trying to convince themselves, these guys would never buy that brand here, and would be getting whatever beer was €1 a can, for €20 per crate of bottles.

Of course there are legit bargains, just calculate it properly though.

Come January so much money will have been spent on cheap booze in the North that people wont have any dosh left and will spend the whole of the month watching telly pi$$3d.:D

_Whimsical_

The M&S euro conversion rate has annoyed me for ages but I was even more disgusted to discover that M&S website now offfers international delivery to everywhere(US,Europe and Aus)but not to Ireland .They charge for items in sterling on the site so customers pay credit card company currency conversion rates.

I can't help feeling that one of the main reasons they've excluded Ireland from their delivery charter is so they can screw us on the currency rate here.

andyeire

chilly wrote: »

The M&S euro conversion rate has annoyed me for ages but I was even more disgusted to discover that M&S website now offfers international delivery to everywhere(US,Europe and Aus)but not to Ireland .They charge for items in sterling on the site so customers pay credit card company currency conversion rates.

I can't help feeling that one of the main reasons they've excluded Ireland from their delivery charter is so they can screw us on the currency rate here.

They charge £10 to deliver to France Germany and Spain .

They do reserve the right to refuse to ship certain products.

The only reason not to ship to Ireland as far as i can see is to protect the higher prices they can charge in Ireland.

Ginger83

Was in M&S yesterday and went to buy a bathrobe. Sterling price was 45 and Euro price was 70 on same tag. I took it to the till and stated I wanted to pay in sterling as i had sterling on me,was told i couldn't. Needless to say i put it back.
45 pound is currently aound the 53euro mark,what a rip off

ntlbell

Ginger83 wrote: »

Was in M&S yesterday and went to buy a bathrobe. Sterling price was 45 and Euro price was 70 on same tag. I took it to the till and stated I wanted to pay in sterling as i had sterling on me,was told i couldn't. Needless to say i put it back.
45 pound is currently aound the 53euro mark,what a rip off

surley if the sterling price is on the tag by law they have to accept it?

Ginger83

ntlbell wrote: »

surley if the sterling price is on the tag by law they have to accept it?

I didn't know that. If I had have known that I would have caused more of I fuss. I just said I wouldn't pay the price, it was a rip off and typical example of greed and put the item back and bought elsewhere.

snubbleste

ntlbell wrote: »

surley if the sterling price is on the tag by law they have to accept it?

No. Find me that law!
Euro is the only legal tender in Ireland.

GerardKeating

ntlbell wrote: »

surley if the sterling price is on the tag by law they have to accept it?

But the Pound Sterling has not been the legal tender here for a good few years.

And they do not even have to accept the euro price, they can refuse to sell at the till if the price is "wrong"

gerrycollins

I know that the rate for us going up there is getting better however remember a few years ago it was the reverse.

the english pound was getting nearly €1.40 so it was a great boost for tourisim now the english are relishing the european visitor beacuse of the reverse of the rate.

Looking at various posts many people have quoted the difference in VAT rates been the deciding factor in the great differences in prices but here is one for you.

Baby food is VAT free.
northern SMA Red Top 900g euro equiv as of Wednesday was €8.49
southern SMA Red Top 900g price €10.70

now before anyone starts it just shows the obvious differences. even if the sterling was strong against the euro the northern price would be the same.

also let me tell you i can guarentee for a fact irish retailers make very little money from baby food its a foot fall driver.

Sma have a distribution outlet in dublin but in 10 years I have only met 1 sales person so very limited overheads.

I dont know if they have the same in Northern Ireland but if they didnt that should make the price dearer or similar.

Im not picking on SMA but to highlight a VAT free product and the vast difference is highlighting to me that the supplier is also guilty here not just the retailer. of course they supplier dont care because if I dont buy their product here in the republic ill buy it in the north and they still make their moeny.

_Whimsical_

This is from the National Consumer Agency website on the question of the legal status of sterling in Ireland and on the legality of unfair conversion rates:

Q5. If prices are quoted or labelled in £ sterling does a consumer have a right to then pay in £ sterling?


No. Under current consumer legislation there is no obligation on a trader to accept payment in any currency other than euro.


Q4. Why is an item labeled £10 costing me €20?


Many consumers believe that the euro price is a conversion of the sterling price. This is not the case. There is no obligation on a retailer to offer items for sale at the same price in different markets.

A number of factors can affect the total price that a consumer is asked to pay for products or services in different markets, for example, VAT and the costs of doing business in different markets.

Some retailers will also price their products on the basis of what the consumer is willing to pay. If we as consumers continue to pay unnecessarily high prices for products where we have a choice, then there is little incentive on retailers to be more competitive.

The National Consumer Agency is very concerned that the benefits of recent movements in exchange rates between the euro and sterling and the euro and the dollar are not being passed on to consumers.

We have raised the issue with some retailers and representative bodies and have been informed that there are a number of factors including advance ordering and hedging arrangements, which must be considered.

They say that, for those reasons, it may take some time for exchange rate movements to be reflected in pricing.

While the NCA accepts that retailers do engage in hedging arrangements, we remain concerned at the large differentials, particularly between euro and sterling prices for the same product.

We recommend that in cases where there is an unacceptably large difference between the sterling and euro price, consumers should buy elsewhere. They should inform the retailer that the difference in price is unacceptable to them.

The recent grocery price survey published by the NCA prompted a considerable number of consumers to change their grocery shopping habits.

This is a very good example of how consumers can force competition and drive down prices.

Source:http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Learning_Zone/FAQs/Price_display/

You'd expect they could do more really.

So basically it is up to us to vote with our feet on this issue and avoid retailers who chose to rip us off. M&S should definitely be on that list in my opinion.

Colonel Sanders

was in willis with the girlfriend this afternoon. A top she tried on was ST£23 but €37.

Assuming VAT of 15% in UK this comes to ST£20. add irish VAT at 21.5% gives us £24.30. Gives a conversion rate of £1 = €1.52 :eek:

Its probably almost 2 years since sterling was worth that against Euro. Alos I'd say the original tag included 17.5% VAT as all their sterling prices were nice round figures which means this is an even bigger rip off

mikemac

Ginger83 wrote: »

Was in M&S yesterday and went to buy a bathrobe. Sterling price was 45 and Euro price was 70 on same tag. I took it to the till and stated I wanted to pay in sterling as i had sterling on me,was told i couldn't. Needless to say i put it back.
45 pound is currently aound the 53euro mark,what a rip off

ntlbell wrote: »

surley if the sterling price is on the tag by law they have to accept it?

Yeah, they would have accepted sterling before independance!
Euro is the legal tender here

Edit: Actually we stopped using sterling in 1928

_Whimsical_

Colonel Sanders wrote: »

was in willis with the girlfriend this afternoon. A top she tried on was ST£23 but €37.

Assuming VAT of 15% in UK this comes to ST£20. add irish VAT at 21.5% gives us £24.30. Gives a conversion rate of £1 = €1.52 :eek:

On a pedantic note...

Wallis is owned by the Arcadia Group.They own Topshop,Dorothy Perkins,Evans etc and are amongst the worst offenders when it comes to applying ridiculous conversion rates as noted above.

Dorothy Perkins website lets Irish customers pay for their purchases in sterling.While reading about returns on www.dorothyperkins.com I spotted this:

Republic of Ireland customers – Please note: refunds in-store for items bought on-line will be paid in Euros by applying Arcadia's current commercial exchange rate to the sterling price for the item on your despatch note

If the Arcadia Group were to truely stand over their currency conversion rate, then by rights on returning an item we should be recieving a rate of around €1.50 for every £1 spent with them.You'd make around tenner on every purchase of £25!

Bluefoam

I ordered an item in M&S and as the lady handed me the Item she discretely remove a sticker that said £19 (€21) at the checkout they charged me €29.

**** them and their rip off prices.

BTW the whole argument about it costing more to send stock to Ireland is ****e - they also need to send stock to Scotland and NI & they have plenty of margin built in to their (UK) prices...

I'm sick of their paddy taxes and won't shop there any more...