Dunnes Stores plastic bag - WTF?!

grenache

Picked up a small few items in my local Dunnes tonight. Thought I'd get a strong bag to carry them in. The same one costs 39 cent in Tesco and Super Valu, so I expected Dunnes to be similar in price. "70 cent please" she says to me. My jaw dropped! Could not believe my ears. Told her she could keep her double priced bag, and left.

How can Mrs Heffernan & co. justify charging almost twice the price that their main competitors charge? Blatant profiteering in my opinion. It's just a strong plastic bag, it's not one of those 'bags for life' that are more expensive.

I wonder could it be related to the plastic bag tax levy court case that they lost in the high court last year. Since they owe the government €36m in unpaid tax, they might think that selling bags for obscene prices might go some way towards that figure.

Robbing ba$tards either way.

the groutch

with a "Bag For Life", they are exempt from the 22c levy if they cost 70c or more, if they cost less they are liable for the 22c levy.
so you can blame the government for encouraging Dunnes to charge more.

OldNotWIse

I find it next to impossible to find the 22c ones now. Nearly every shop says, "sorry we just have these 70c ones" - no way am I going to spend that on a bag ffs

celticbest

the groutch wrote: »

with a "Bag For Life", they are exempt from the 22c levy if they cost 70c or more, if they cost less they are liable for the 22c levy.
so you can blame the government for encouraging Dunnes to charge more.

:eek: Why so they can make 70c instead of 17c? To me that equals a RIP OFF.

Also I didn't know that the Dunnes Plastic Bag or any of there bags for that matter are 'Bags for Life'.

the groutch

celticbest wrote: »

:eek: Why so they can make 70c instead of 17c? To me that equals a RIP OFF.

Also I didn't know that the Dunnes Plastic Bag or any of there bags for that matter are 'Bags for Life'.

"Bag for Life" is just a generic term for any heavier plastic bags, SuperValu and some others orginally offered to replace them for free if you bring them the old one (the levy changed that afaik).

and it's just as much about them not having to pay the Revenue as making profits.
they have the Killeen roll of 20 pedal bin liners for €1 right beside every till to try encourage people to buy them and use them for their shopping.
If it was purely about the profiteering end of it do you think the liners would be displayed so prominently?

keithclancy

Just bring bags with you.

ejmaztec

keithclancy wrote: »

Just bring bags with you.

We've got about sixty now, because no-one can be arsed putting the empty ones back in the boot. We can probably stitch them all together and make a marquee.:(

MistyCheese

keithclancy wrote: »

Just bring bags with you.

Ideally, but sometimes you find yourself picking up a few bits'n'pieces without having planned to go shopping at all. I must start keeping a plastic bag in my handbag. Just for those rare occasions where you do get caught out.

testicle

You must be from Cavan...

grenache

keithclancy wrote: »

Just bring bags with you.

Bringing bags with me would not change the undoubted fact that 70 cent for a bag is disgrace.

testicle wrote: »

You must be from Cavan...

For refusing to be ripped off? Sure :rolleyes:

andrewdeerpark

Dunnes had a row with revenue over the "normal" plastic bags:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1213/breaking35.html

This is their bitter little way of moving on from that argument forcing customers to use 70cent or higher bags.

Healio

do you still get points for them?

stevek93

I just bring bags with me.

borderlinemeath

ejmaztec wrote: »

We've got about sixty now, because no-one can be arsed putting the empty ones back in the boot. We can probably stitch them all together and make a marquee.:(

I have a rental house that the tenant moved out of recently. In a double kitchen press she had hundreds of them. The press was literally full of recycling bags. It took 2 large black bags to fill them. I didn't know what to do with them as they all looked like they had only been used once/barely used, so I left them into the local second hand shop in case they wanted to use them for customers (or maybe even make some money)

OMARS_COMING_

Tell them that you have plastic bags and all you want is a lend of their ones and you will drop them back

Murky Waters

Even when Dunnes did have the smaller 22c bags, they had got so weak, thin & flimsy that they'd usually have split within a few minutes if there was any more than a few items in them (especially boxed stuff).

I'd usually bring a bag, or if unplanned buy a roll of 20 Killeen carrier bags for 99c to have for future or to use for other purposes.

grenache

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

Dunnes had a row with revenue over the "normal" plastic bags:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1213/breaking35.html

This is their bitter little way of moving on from that argument forcing customers to use 70cent or higher bags.

Already mentioned in the OP.

GalwayKiefer

Can you pick up empty boxes around the tills in Dunnes these days?

keithclancy

MistyCheese wrote: »

Ideally, but sometimes you find yourself picking up a few bits'n'pieces without having planned to go shopping at all. I must start keeping a plastic bag in my handbag. Just for those rare occasions where you do get caught out.

grenache wrote: »

Bringing bags with me would not change the undoubted fact that 70 cent for a bag is disgrace.

I'm living over here in Holland for the past 5 years, its 80 cent / bag.

I keep bags in the boot of the car from clothes shopping or whatever, most people here keep a collapsible crate in the boot of the car.

I think its great, I hate plastic bags, ever since they started charging for them its made a great difference to the litter situation.

You can also buy the fold up nylon/cloth bags like this in the pound shop:
http://www.amazon.com/Fold-Up-Reusable-Nylon-Shopping-Colors/dp/B004UV3F6G

Fock sake ... if its a rare occasion whats the big deal with 70 cent, you can use them again anyway and even then you have other options, go buy a pack of them in the store, or buy a bag for life that will last longer, or if your a real gyppo you can go and take a bunch of bags from the fruit and veg section :pac:

Even when I go shopping, if I already have a bag and its not full, I'll put the stuff into the bag I already have rather than let the staff pack it all into another bag, one less bag for me to have at home and one more bag that can be reused by someone else.

andrewdeerpark

The Iceland "bag for life" is the handiest I have seen it folds into itself and is no bigger that a small little sack.

Agree with all other comments on have a load at home but none in the shop when needed.

Corruptedmorals

Oh well done you! Being rude to sales assistants over prices they have NO CONTROL OVER is really showing it to the man. And people wonder why they don't grin insanely all day. This is why, you get dog's abuse over everything, none of which is in any way your fault.

These bags have been 70 cent for about 3 years now, it's not new.

shakin

Went to get a few bits in dunnes yesterday, was paying in express checkout, which also takes drapery and has drapery bags. I rolled up asked for a bag and was handed a 70c plastic one. I told her i wanted a paper one, she explained it was policy to be for drapery only. I said i wasnt paying for a plastic when she could give me a free paper one, she just shrugged.

I said sound, just left my shopping(half of it scanned) and walked out, ice-cream , hot and cold deli items bout €15 worth. Lovely to hear that bell for the manager ring ...fcuk em!

its not the 70c its the principle of the matter, i dont appreciate being ripped off and while it would be advisable to always have plastic bags with you, its not always practical.

Nanazolie

shakin wrote: »

Went to get a few bits in dunnes yesterday, was paying in express checkout, which also takes drapery and has drapery bags. I rolled up asked for a bag and was handed a 70c plastic one. I told her i wanted a paper one, she explained it was policy to be for drapery only. I said i wasnt paying for a plastic when she could give me a free paper one, she just shrugged.

I said sound, just left my shopping(half of it scanned) and walked out, ice-cream , hot and cold deli items bout €15 worth. Lovely to hear that bell for the manager ring ...fcuk em!

its not the 70c its the principle of the matter, i dont appreciate being ripped off and while it would be advisable to always have plastic bags with you, its not always practical.

Very clever. The loss the shop makes on items that are left out of fridges / freezers is passed onto the customers. Then people will complain that said ice creams have got dearer

While I understand that paper bags should be free and she could have given you one, she certainly applied manager's orders, so why not complain directly to them rather than leave the check out staff to deal with it?
It's not like that plastic bag levy is so new that people forget about it anymore. It took a while to get used to taking plastic / nylon bags with you before going to the shop but by now there is really no excuse. If you forget your bag, tough, you pay for a new one or you use your pockets

Lawrence1895

'The difference is we're Irish'

*gets coat*

Corruptedmorals

shakin wrote: »

Went to get a few bits in dunnes yesterday, was paying in express checkout, which also takes drapery and has drapery bags. I rolled up asked for a bag and was handed a 70c plastic one. I told her i wanted a paper one, she explained it was policy to be for drapery only. I said i wasnt paying for a plastic when she could give me a free paper one, she just shrugged.

I said sound, just left my shopping(half of it scanned) and walked out, ice-cream , hot and cold deli items bout €15 worth. Lovely to hear that bell for the manager ring ...fcuk em!

its not the 70c its the principle of the matter, i dont appreciate being ripped off and while it would be advisable to always have plastic bags with you, its not always practical.

Paper bags are not allowed to be handed out if you did not buy a drapery item. It IS the policy. You can't give them out to someone who just wants a bag, and you can't give them out to someone who is only buying grocery items. All paper bags are scanned with purchases of drapery items. Paper bags are routinely counted to match up with the electronic figures. CCTV is above every single till- it is just not worth it breaking policy.

Just like the OP, you took it out on the person with the LEAST control over the situation, extremely rude. 'Oh I showed them!'. No, you didn't. You held up the queue while your purchase was voided out, and you wasted the time of whoever put your stuff back. What a victory. Do you think Anne Heffernan noticed? EVERY policy in Dunnes is controlled by head office. The store manager has no say, nor do individual managers, and especially not sales assistants who have the lovely task of enforcing said policies. I got the head eat off me several times for enforcing this paper bag one, while wanting to suffocate the people in question with the paper bag. Direct your anger towards head office at all times.

By the way, this one has been in place since 2010, another not new at all policy.

the groutch

shakin wrote: »

Went to get a few bits in dunnes yesterday, was paying in express checkout, which also takes drapery and has drapery bags. I rolled up asked for a bag and was handed a 70c plastic one. I told her i wanted a paper one, she explained it was policy to be for drapery only. I said i wasnt paying for a plastic when she could give me a free paper one, she just shrugged.

I said sound, just left my shopping(half of it scanned) and walked out, ice-cream , hot and cold deli items bout €15 worth. Lovely to hear that bell for the manager ring ...fcuk em!

its not the 70c its the principle of the matter, i dont appreciate being ripped off and while it would be advisable to always have plastic bags with you, its not always practical.

there's 2 reasons why they don't give out paper bags for food shopping.

firstly they cost about 10c each for the supermarket to buy, as opposed to less than a penny for a standard plastic one (not sure exact wholesale cost with those 70c ones), and even 10c makes a difference to them when margins on food are so tight.

secondly they're not designed to take the weight of alot of food items.
you would have eejits putting stuff like 2lt bottles of coke, big cartons of milk etc in them, and have either the bottom or the hand give way before they even get to the exit.

either way I applaud the sales assistant, shops don't need customers with an attitude like yours.

shakin

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Paper bags are not allowed to be handed out if you did not buy a drapery item. It IS the policy. You can't give them out to someone who just wants a bag, and you can't give them out to someone who is only buying grocery items. All paper bags are scanned with purchases of drapery items. Paper bags are routinely counted to match up with the electronic figures. CCTV is above every single till- it is just not worth it breaking policy.

Just like the OP, you took it out on the person with the LEAST control over the situation, extremely rude. 'Oh I showed them!'. No, you didn't. You held up the queue while your purchase was voided out, and you wasted the time of whoever put your stuff back. What a victory. Do you think Anne Heffernan noticed? EVERY policy in Dunnes is controlled by head office. The store manager has no say, nor do individual managers, and especially not sales assistants who have the lovely task of enforcing said policies. I got the head eat off me several times for enforcing this paper bag one, while wanting to suffocate the people in question with the paper bag. Direct your anger towards head office at all times.

By the way, this one has been in place since 2010, another not new at all policy.

Disgruntled dunnes employee perhaps?

I appreciate that paper bags cost money, but at least give me the option of the cheaper plastic bag. I also understand that the sales assistant has no control over it and i wasnt rude. i simply told her i didnt want the goods because i would have to buy the 70c bag. And in my opinion i did show them, i didnt buy the goods, i dont care if i wasted anyone's time and i dont care if it cost dunnes stores money. Every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option. I dont usually shop in dunnes as i live 5 mins from a tesco, but i wouldnt go back to dunnes again unless i was stuck.

shakin

the groutch wrote: »

there's 2 reasons why they don't give out paper bags for food shopping.

firstly they cost about 10c each for the supermarket to buy, as opposed to less than a penny for a standard plastic one (not sure exact wholesale cost with those 70c ones), and even 10c makes a difference to them when margins on food are so tight.

secondly they're not designed to take the weight of alot of food items.
you would have eejits putting stuff like 2lt bottles of coke, big cartons of milk etc in them, and have either the bottom or the hand give way before they even get to the exit.

either way I applaud the sales assistant, shops don't need customers with an attitude like yours.

I appreciate that the bags will cost money, but why not charge 10c for a paper one? id pay that, not 70c for a plastic one, when all i have is a few items that are too much to carry. There not designed to carry big loads but they can take a fair bit!
Attitude? why because i didnt want to be ripped off for a plastic bag? i have said i wasnt rude to the sales assistant, but i see that leaving no alternative to a 70c plastic bag as being a rip-off, and i dont appreciate that. Ill shop in tesco whenever possible thanks.

borderlinemeath

shakin wrote: »

Disgruntled dunnes employee perhaps?

I appreciate that paper bags cost money, but at least give me the option of the cheaper plastic bag. I also understand that the sales assistant has no control over it and i wasnt rude. i simply told her i didnt want the goods because i would have to buy the 70c bag. And in my opinion i did show them, i didnt buy the goods, i dont care if i wasted anyone's time and i dont care if it cost dunnes stores money. Every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option. I dont usually shop in dunnes as i live 5 mins from a tesco, but i wouldnt go back to dunnes again unless i was stuck.

So who did you show? The directors of Dunnes? The family members who are the only shareholders? No, you threw your toys out of the pram because you felt entitled to a plastic bag. And the way you describe it, it sounds like you made a show of yourself to be honest.

So tell me, do you ever shop in Aldi or Lidl? Because they don't have 22c cheap bags, it's the dear bags or a box. Sure you don't even get a shopping basket, only a trolley. So you cannot state that "every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option".:rolleyes:

Corruptedmorals

shakin wrote: »

Disgruntled dunnes employee perhaps?

I appreciate that paper bags cost money, but at least give me the option of the cheaper plastic bag. I also understand that the sales assistant has no control over it and i wasnt rude. i simply told her i didnt want the goods because i would have to buy the 70c bag. And in my opinion i did show them, i didnt buy the goods, i dont care if i wasted anyone's time and i dont care if it cost dunnes stores money. Every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option. I dont usually shop in dunnes as i live 5 mins from a tesco, but i wouldnt go back to dunnes again unless i was stuck.

Ex. So I do know what it's like to be on the receiving end. There is no longer an option of the cheaper plastic bag or you would have been offered it. They got rid of them around 2010 or 2011. They were so small and flimsy and people were just opting for the 70cent one most of the time so they decided to save money and scrap it. So it was the 70cent bag or nothing.

You didn't show anyone! You showed yourself as a nuisance and nothing more. No directors, no members of head office..nobody with any influence saw your display of childishness. The loss of your custom isn't a big deal to them, they're not a small shop. I am not saying anything about whether or not you should care about whose time you wasted or whose money you cost- I am just saying, that's all you accomplished- wasting people's time. That is NOT a statement or victory. And if you think it's polite to kick up a fuss about a bag that doesn't exist and storm off with your stuff at the till, I'd hate to know what you think being rude is. What is wrong with directing your anger towards those who DID enact the policy? And not making someone's crappy day worse when they had nothing to do with it.

the groutch

shakin wrote: »

I appreciate that the bags will cost money, but why not charge 10c for a paper one? id pay that, not 70c for a plastic one, when all i have is a few items that are too much to carry. There not designed to carry big loads but they can take a fair bit!

if they start giving paper bags to one person, everyone will want them, and will expect them too for free, regardless of what you paid.
and if your "few items" are too much to carry, a paper bag is unlikely to be able to take the weight of them.

shakin wrote: »

Attitude? why because i didnt want to be ripped off for a plastic bag? i have said i wasnt rude to the sales assistant, but i see that leaving no alternative to a 70c plastic bag as being a rip-off.

you could always bring your own bags like the vast majority of people.

phasers

borderlinemeath wrote: »

So tell me, do you ever shop in Aldi or Lidl? Because they don't have 22c cheap bags, it's the dear bags or a box. Sure you don't even get a shopping basket, only a trolley. So you cannot state that "every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option".:rolleyes:

Aldi (and lidl afaik) offer a strong plastic bag for 39c. They also leave cardboard boxes out for customers to use free of charge, which imo every supermarket should do. You don't get cheaper than that! it's a bit unfair to claim they don't offer cheap alternatives.

borderlinemeath

phasers wrote: »

Aldi (and lidl afaik) offer a strong plastic bag for 39c. They also leave cardboard boxes out for customers to use free of charge, which imo every supermarket should do. You don't get cheaper than that! it's a bit unfair to claim they don't offer cheap alternatives.

I know, I stated that they offer the dearer bag or a box. They don't offer the 22c cheap thin plastic bag which is what this whole thread was about.

The poster I quoted stated that

Every other supermarket gives you the cheaper option.

and I pointed out that Aldi and Lidl don't which is true.

Why should they offer the 22c bags? They're not free for them, they'd be expected to be sold at 22c to the customer though. I'm fine with the 39c bag, they hold way more than the ****ty 22c bag and can't think when I've ever had an amount that was too much to carry and just about fit in a 22c bag without threatening to tear it.