MODEM TRIALSBusinessman Brendan Lynch says he has been bombarded with ads for the "try-before-you-buy" modem, so much so that he went into an O2 shop on Baggot Street to take part in the "free three-day trial".
He was told that all the trial modems were out on loan and was assured they would be back after the weekend. "So I went back on Monday and was told that they were all out until the weekend and to call back on Friday."
Lynch asked if the store had a waiting list he could go on and was told they did, so on to it he went. Staff said they would phone him when one of the modems was available. "One week and no call, so I call in to O2 again and say I'm on the waiting list." He is told that the store does not operate a waiting list - it's first come, first served.
"Now I don't know if an O2 modem is what my drivers need, but if it was, I would need 20 of them. That's 20 contracts multiplied by possibly 10 personal recommendations which is 200, multiplied by possibly another 10 recommendations, etc. But none of this starts until I get to try a O2 modem, and the O2 'sales advisor' can't be bothered with his little ol' customer who wants to avail of a free offer!"
We contacted 02 to find out how our reader could get a modem for trial purposes. A spokeswoman apologised to our reader, both for the lack of a modem for him to try and because he was "incorrectly informed that he could put his name on a waiting list for a trial device". She said 02 did not have a waiting list process but offered to set him up with a trial modem directly.
PLANE TICKETSEric Moroney was recently planning a trip to Atlanta and looked at the Irish and British websites of Delta airlines which flies non-stop to the Georgian state capital from both Dublin and London Gatwick. "The result was an education in buying airline tickets online," he says. The cost of a return ticket departing from London was £333.10 (€365.50). Of this, Delta takes £151.20 (€165.90) and taxes and fees account for £181.90 (€199.59). On the Dublin to Atlanta route, the cost of a flight on the same day was €544.61. Of this, Delta takes €498.06 and taxes and fees account for €46.55.
"So, the total cost ex-Dublin is 48 per cent more expensive than ex-Gatwick. The taxes and fees are much lower and the Delta 'take' is almost three times as much from its Dublin flights as from its Gatwick flights," Moroney writes. He questioned Delta about this and received a less than illuminating response from Delta's customer support. The company said that the "difference is, they are two different countries and two different exchange rates. Great Britain has higher taxes than Ireland."
"Enough said," writes Moroney. "I know the real reason for lower fares in the UK. It is simply that Delta compete with British Airways on the London-Atlanta direct route whereas they have a monopoly on the Dublin-Atlanta direct route. Consumer beware."
Send us your views
Blog: irishtimes.com /blogs/pricewatch
E-mail: pricewatch@irishtimes.com
Mail: Pricewatch, The Irish Times Building, Tara Street, Dublin 2
