SOUNDING OFF: Ripped off? Stunned by good value? Write, text or blog your experience to us

A dissatisfied Aer Lingus passenger got in touch with us after noticing that the airline's handling fee had recently increased. According to our reader, the handling charge increased from €6 to €10 per passenger per round trip.

"This has happened very quietly with no announcement and becomes apparent only when booking flights online," he writes. "It represents a 67 per cent increase on the original fee - which was spurious in its own right."

He asks if Aer Lingus is really saying that their handling charges - "presumably for banking and internet fees" - have increased by the same percentage? "This is unbelievable, especially when it comes on top of increased baggage fees and ever-increasing fuel surcharges."

He wonders how "they get away with this blatant rip-off of people? This is completely unacceptable. Of course when I tried to complain I got a recorded message telling me to put it in writing!"

He says it is no wonder the airline "reported 'excellent growth' in 'ancillary revenue' in their 2007 Annual Report. It's very easy to do this by bumping up charges rather than actively managing their costs."

We contacted the airline and a spokeswoman said the latest increase, which took effect on August 12th, had seen the handling charge increase from €8 per round trip to €10 - a 25 per cent increase.

It was not, however, the only increase in Aer Lingus's handling charges this summer and, when pressed further, she said that at the beginning of the summer the airline imposed a handling fee of €6 per booking, regardless of whether the fare booked was one-way or return.

On July 8th Aer Lingus introduced a per-journey charge of €4, which it upped to €5 per sector a month later. The spokeswoman claimed that this had been done to bring the airline into line with its competitors. Its principal competition comes from Ryanair, which also charges €5 per flight segment in handling fees for people who book with credit cards.

Now the good news. . .

UPC has often attracted the ire of our readers, so it is only fair that we highlight the occasional bit of positive feedback we get about the company. James Brennan made what he admits was "a silly mistake" last week while he was online transferring money into his daughter's account.

"In error, I transferred the money into a long dormant Cablelink/NTL account. Immediately, I felt I was in dire trouble and that it would take me months to recover the money, if ever."

More in hope than anything else, he sent off an e-mail to UPC customer support explaining his predicament.

"Within one hour I got a phone call from a very nice girl called Catriona in UPC customer service." The following morning Brennan got both a phone call and an e-mail from the same customer service rep he'd dealt with the previous day "confirming that accounts had found the payment and a refund would issue within a couple of days".

"The cheque arrived in the post yesterday morning. It does show that this much-maligned system can work although, I have to admit, it is the first time it has worked for me, but credit must be given where due and when it works, as it seems to have done in this particular instance in my dealings with NTL/UPC, it is both convenient, efficient and fast."

The key to success

A reader from Donegal went to Doherty's Hardware shop, Gweedore, and was impressed to be charged just €2.50 to have a key cut.

"Anybody doing it cheaper than that? Good value and good service deserves continued publicity, particularly when so many rip-offs are evident."

Good value. . . in Germany

Andrea Boyle is from Germany, but has been living in Ireland for nearly 10 years now. Last March, on a trip home, she bought the Walt Disney DVD Carsand paid €9.99 for it.

"The following week back in Dublin I went in to HMV and I saw the same DVD with an "offer" price of €29 .90."