Pricewatch: Readers’ queries

NO POINT CRYING OVER PRICE OF TESCO MILK, IT SEEMS

A reader noticed recently that Tesco own-brand milk had gone up in price from €1.49 to €1.69 and contacted us to complain.

We asked the company to explain what was behind the increase, which is more than 10 times the current rate of inflation. We received the following response: “There has been no increase in Tesco own-brand milk price this year. In line with Tesco’s policy to provide consumers with more choice, at the beginning of November 2013 we also introduced a new exclusive brand call Greenfields, which retails at €1.49 for two litres.”

No increase in the own-brand milk? Our mistake then? Just to be sure, we checked the Tesco website and saw that its own-brand milk was €1.69. Last time we checked it was €1.49. So we got back to Tesco again.

This time we were told: "Tesco own-brand milk has been at its current price since last November. In line with other retailers, Tesco offers consumers two litres of milk at a €1.49 price point, our Cream Fields brand."

So the own-brand milk did increase in price, by 20 cent, last November. We got back on to Tesco to find out why. Tesco then sent us this baffling comment. “In November we revamped our own-brand milk range with the introduction of our new Cream Fields range. This has been positively received by customers. We now offer consumers a multiple choice of very competitive price points in own-brand milk ranges, starting at 75 cent per litre/€1.49 per for two litres. Like any other retailer, we don’t discuss pricing points within range categories – however, we would like to point out that our own-brand milk is very competitively priced and significantly cheaper than any of the branded equivalents on the market.”

And that may or may not be true, but right now Tesco own-brand milk is 20 cent dearer than most of its rivals.


DON'T CALL US , WE'LL CALL YOU

Kieran from Dublin has been in touch about the "abysmal customer service" of Three Mobile. "My contract is due to expire in April. Despite me having my preferences for my account on their website set to 'please don't contact me on my Three phone', I started to receive numerous unsolicited calls about upgrade options."

The company called him on January 14th but he missed the call. They called three days later and he answered. “They explained the upgrades available. I said I would check them out on the website but I did not want another call in relation to this.”

The same day he got another call from the company, although it was dropped. On January 20th he got another call, which was also dropped, and three days later the same thing.

“On January 28th they called again. I tried to get my complaint escalated to a duty manager. I was put on hold for more than four minutes, after which I hung up. I subsequently filled out a web form on Three’s website detailing my dissatisfaction. I submitted the form on the January 29th and have not got any reply.”

We contacted the company and were told that "in this instance, there was a misunderstanding regarding the customer's request. This has been rectified and a gesture of goodwill has been offered."


PURSUED BY A DEBT COLLECTOR OVER PHONE THAT DIDN'T WORK

A reader called Erica got in touch on behalf of her mother, who she said was "being hunted by a debt collector for payment of €900 for an eMobile handset that never worked, and she never used".

First off she got an unsolicited call from eMobile and was offered a new phone. When it arrived, Erica's father discovered it did not work and could not make or receive calls or texts. Her parents tried to make contact with eMobile on the phone but couldn't get through so they drive to Waterford to a store. They were advised to go to a Nokia shop to have the phone repaired.

Erica’s mother then called eMobile to get a return envelope, within the cooling-off period. But the envelope did not arrive for nearly three weeks, by which time the cooling-off period had ended and eMobile said she owed €747.19 because she was in breach of her contract.

Then the debt was passed to a debt collector.

“Please help,” writes Erica. “My mother is nearly 60, and has never had so much as a missed car loan or bill all her life. They made no attempt to resolve the problem with her and simply made repeated demands for the full amount. It just galls me to think that their tactics scare so many people and they just pay up.

We contacted Eircom, and a spokeswoman said the company was "extremely sorry for the poor customer service experience" that our reader's mother had. "A member of our customer care team will contact her to apologise. We will not be pursuing payment any further."