Why do we always seem to get ripped off in Ireland

blackvalley · 20-05-2022 10:34pm #1

Listening to all the discussion about car rental prices I did a little research and the result is as follows .

Cheapest car in Dublin second week in June = Euro 1100.

.................Faro .......................................... 350

............... Malaga ........................................ 169

.............. Paris ............................................ 259

.............. Madrid ........................................ 112

............ London ......................................... 412

So why are we more than double the price of the second most expensive car and almost ten times the price of the cheapest . Ripoff Ireland still lives.

Now with a little more research you can perhaps find cheaper prices but this is what a quick search throws up .

km991148 · 20-05-2022 10:40pm

Check out Scotland. ~200 a day for most of the summer!

1100 a week isn't too bad considering what's happened in the market, availability of rh drive cars etc.

Edit: actually seems better now. 750 a week for 2nd week in June for smallest car available.

Ubbquittious · 20-05-2022 10:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092382#Comment_119092382

It is crazy. You can buy a car for that

There is no rent-a-banger service in Ireland where you can rent a car that isn't from a big huge official rental company. I wonder what would happen if you tried to set up such a service here? Probably pre-emptively get hammered into the ground by insurance

blackvalley · 20-05-2022 10:51pm

We have family coming from Australia shortly and it’s difficult to explain why their three weeks car rental costs more than their flights ?

mikeybhoy · 20-05-2022 10:53pm

Ireland is a bit of a rip off compared to Southern Europe but cheap compared to Scandinavian countries.

20-05-2022 10:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092413#Comment_119092413

It's very easy to explain

hayse · 20-05-2022 10:57pm

We just love taking it up the bottom.

goldenmick · 20-05-2022 11:01pm

@Ubbquittious - It is crazy. You can buy a car for that

Why dont you then?

Swaine · 20-05-2022 11:04pm

We are a nation awash with money and easy credit. People are willing and able to pay which keep prices high.

Diesel creeping back up to €2 a litre but not a peep from anyone. Just bend over and accept it.

Covid tought me one thing, Irish people have no fight in them.

Sheep.

Jim2007 · 20-05-2022 11:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058246742/why-do-we-always-seem-to-get-ripped-off-in-ireland

You are not getting ripped off you are making unrealistic comparisons! Faro has a GDP per capita of around 24k while Dublin has around 57k. Expecting people in Dublin to make a living charging Faro prices is simply nonsense.

Atlantic Dawn · 20-05-2022 11:33pm

The rental fleet was sold off during Covid, we tended to use cars less than 3 years old for this, think there was some tax rebate associated with offloading them quickly in to the motor trade after a year or so. We simply do not have the cars in the fleet to rent so companies are basically charging Christmas week prices most of the year, it's supply v's demand.

There was some Irish guy setting up a company a couple of years ago where you could rent your own personal car out to punters, I must look it up, could be a goldmine now 😂

Edit...here it is https://jointhefleet.com/

21-05-2022 12:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092440#Comment_119092440

So what is your genius idea to reduce the price of diesel?

Oops! · 21-05-2022 5:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092510#Comment_119092510

Anybody any experience with this? How does it work out with insurance?

Mr. teddywinkles · 21-05-2022 6:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092440#Comment_119092440

Not for long I'd say.

Del2005 · 21-05-2022 6:37am

Until COVID we had some of the cheapest car hire, I got a car with full insurance for 3 days for €50. When COVID hit all the rental companies got caught out with massive fleets and no customers. Rental cars get VRT relief but have to be sold within a set time. So the hire fleet was sold and not replaced, now we have 2 years of pent up demand for car hire but the companies can't get cars. Other countries have different rules so they would not have had to sell off their hire fleet so will have cars.

Ubbquittious · 21-05-2022 2:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092436#Comment_119092436

I have 3 of them, I don't need any more

Montage of Feck · 21-05-2022 2:57pm

The easy credit no cash mentally is sadly becoming the norm here, more so thanks to COVID.

Idiot boy · 21-05-2022 3:15pm

Whoever comes up with the idea of renting their car out while on holidays instead of paying extortionate rates for parking at Dublin Airport will be quids in...

Strumms · 21-05-2022 4:09pm

Businesses charge for goods or services what they believe people will pay.. maximising profit is their sole aim. Ireland is expensive..people are understood to be affluent to an extent and will pay for what they like. It’s becoming a bit of a pain in the hole though, especially eating out… taking someone out to a pub to eat even two of you, three courses, two drinks could be around 60-70 euros, before tips.

a pub we go to…

soup… 6

main about 15

dessert 7

so two people, two courses, 49 + 16 for drinks… 65 euros plus tip. Two people in a pub..

In Europe..

Switzerland, France, the Nordics countries, Italy, Luxembourg are ridiculously expensive for lots of things… Ireland is catching up.

Greece, Spain, Portugal, good value.

my folks this month have been quoted for work at home… garden redesign, synthetic grass, and all associated labor and cleanup..

quote 1… 4680

quote 2… 9200

i was there when the second lad came around yesterday , sounded like and had the demeanour of an absolute twister…

”its a big old space, it will look grand…”

big old 8 x 10 meter garden… lots of research had gone into pricing up grass and materials etc to the point of visiting suppliers and getting it from the horses gob… two and a half days work max yet €9200…

mikeybhoy · 21-05-2022 4:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119094082#Comment_119094082

I never found France or Italy particularly expensive especially the latter in fact found them cheaper than here for most stuff outside of the obvious tourist traps. Found Italy to generally be on a similar price level to Spain in terms of prices in the supermarket, earing out etc. France a little higher.

Nordic countries are a complete rip off where you'd be talking €15 for a pint.

Ash.J.Williams · 21-05-2022 4:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092440#Comment_119092440

Valid points up until covid, twat.

Wanderer78 · 21-05-2022 5:44pm

duster cost me 1100 for the week in iceland last year, id imagine its more this year

blackvalley · 21-05-2022 6:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092503#Comment_119092503

Ok I agree with you on the direct comparison which is not fair . However taking your point into account car hire prices in Ireland should be about double that of Portugal not triple the cost.

If GDP is a measure of how comparison prices are set please explain the following.

The five most expensive countries in Europe ( According to Google ) are . And Ireland comes in at 5th or 6th depending on the site.

Switzerland . One weeks car rental Geneva airport 11 - 18 June Euro 386

Norway . ............................. Oslow .................................... 324

Belgium .................................. Brussels ..................................... 396

Monaco .................................................................................... 357

Lichtenstein .............................................................................. 355

This is not particularly exact research as I simply googled car hire Norway / Monaco etc and went with the first prices that came up . More work would probably throw up cheaper options but experience tells me that there will not be a huge variation .

So in conclusion we are by far the most expensive country to rent a car in Europe for one week in June .

If there is one thing we are good at here its ripping each other off .

Mad_maxx · 21-05-2022 7:31pm

Culture of acceptance when it comes to price gouging

blackvalley · 21-05-2022 8:23pm

Just to sum up some interesting figures . We are twice the price of the next most expensive city London . And ten times the price of the cheapest Madrid . Crazy .

L1011 · 21-05-2022 8:30pm

A lot of our tourists rent cars (poor public transit connections to airports, specifically looking to do driving tours); and our normal car hire base without tourists is tiny. So there just aren't any cars for them to rent.

We were quite cheap - when there are enough cars again the prices will go back down.

mikeybhoy · 23-05-2022 11:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119095217#Comment_119095217

I'd say it's more to do with the fact that most of the tourist attractions in Ireland are in rural areas with little to no public transport. Can't exactly use public transport to do the Ring of Kerry or the Cliffs of Moher.

Jim2007 · 23-05-2022 11:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119095186#Comment_119095186

The UK has a per capita GDP of about $40k, so you come over here to Switzerland where we have a figure of about $86k and you expect high prices and the you go to Ireland where the figure is only $3k less than Switzerland and you expect prices to be less than the UK…..

All stats can be manipulated to some degree, but it does not take away form the fact that country with a high per capita GDP is an expensive place to go, there is no way of getting around it.

Mad_maxx · 24-05-2022 7:52am

we like to be seen as giving and generous with money , rarely when people complain about service here or value for money will the majority support someone who takes a stand , in fact they are almost as likely to defend the poor service provider or the gouging

like i said earlier " culture of acceptance "

deezell · 09-06-2022 4:13pm

Not having had a holiday since 2019, I thought I might get a bit of value midweek, in the midlands, just a little break. I picked a hotel in Athlone and queried for a two night break, BnB, Monday, Tuesday. This is what I got.

Like, it's f****g Athlone, not the 7 star Burj in Abbey Dabby.

sprucemoose · 09-06-2022 5:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092655#Comment_119092655

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119093963#Comment_119093963

like most things in ireland im pretty sure insurance would put the kibosh on that fairly quickly unfortunately

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119095186#Comment_119095186

and madrid is actually a nice city too

Danzy · 09-06-2022 5:17pm

Live abroad is the advice to the OP.

It'll be a hard education for you.

growleaves · 09-06-2022 5:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119105174#Comment_119105174

You can get coaches from the Galway City bus depot to the Cliffs of Moher and back again.

blackvalley · 09-06-2022 8:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119180437#Comment_119180437

Why do you assume that it would be a " hard education " ?

Strumms · 09-06-2022 9:06pm

Spain is very good value and Portugal likewise…businesses here just like making lots of money easily and quickly.

HBC08 · 09-06-2022 9:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119092503#Comment_119092503

It's always a shock to me that people can't understand this very simple concept.

blackvalley · 09-06-2022 9:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119181392#Comment_119181392

Of course most people understand that very simple concept and that is why in my original post i used a number of examples including Portugal . With its lower GDP , wages , cost of living etc I would certainly expect it to be cheaper than Ireland. In a follow up post I compared prices here to five countries with the highest GDP wages cost of living etc in Europe and we were vastly more expensive than any of them .

Why do we always seem to get ripped off in Ireland

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