UPC’s new Payzone policy charges subscribers extra|Pricewatch reader queries

Brian Kearns contacted us about UPC and its new Payzone system, which was introduced last month. "In short, people who used to pay their bills in the post office were given these new Payzone cards to use in local shops, as An Post is no longer accepting UPC bills," he writes. Brian says that in the information leaflet he received with the card, it said there was no extra charge for using the new system. "But from what I can find out, people are being charged 50 cent per transaction; that's an extra €2 a month for people who pay €10 a week to try and keep on top of bills."

When Brian contacted UPC, he was told that the stores should not be charging anything. But when he asked at his local Mace store, he was told they had received no instructions from UPC not to charge. “UPC say they are looking into it,” he writes, “but so far, when I contact them, they tell me they will be in contact. With nothing coming from them, I have decided to ask your opinion.”

We contacted UPC, which put us in touch with Payzone. In a statement, the company said “the vast majority of the 2,600 Payzone retailers do not apply a surcharge on accepting payment for UPC. Local retailers process these transactions as a valued service that differentiates their shop from their competitors. They also get a commission payment for each transaction.”

The statement said that in general “retailers see providing these services as creating relevance for their store within the local community, and ultimately this drives significant volumes of repeat transactions. Research conducted by RedC during 2014 found that two of every three consumers who use the Payzone service buy something else when they visit their local store. However, a small number of localised incidents of surcharging have been brought to our attention and we are working with these retailers to resolve. Where a fee is applied, we believe that the consumer should immediately make the retailer aware of their complaint and also look for an alternative location where no fee is charged.”

Duty-free perfume that smells like a rip-off

Nuala Smith sent us an email outlining her recent experience at the duty free shop in Dublin Airport's Terminal 2.

“I picked out a bottle of L’Air du Temps for my friend’s birthday, as I was going to London and would be meeting her on the day,” she writes. “It cost €54 and came in a square, yellow box. I took it to the pay desk. The salesgirl asked me for €78.

“To my surprised inquiry, she explained that the 50ml bottle is €54 and the 100ml bottle is €78. Both boxes are the same size and stand side by side on the shelf, so it’s an easy mistake to make if you don’t read the gold lettering showing 50ml or 100ml.”

So she quickly ran back and took the 50ml box and, right enough, this came up on the till as €54. Deal done.

“As I walked through into Heathrow, there’s a ‘last chance to buy’ duty free area. Here, I saw the 100ml bottle for £44 [about €63]! Now, back home again in Bray, my local chemist has the 50ml bottle of L’Air du Temps for €33 and the 100ml bottle for €47.”

Nuala suggests that maybe readers “should check out the prices of their favourite perfumes locally before they dash off to the so-called duty free shop. What ‘duty’ are they giving ‘free’, is the question.”

We contacted the Dublin Airport Authority who said it “regularly” checks its prices against major comparable downtown department stores “to ensure we are 20 per cent cheaper on fragrances”. A spokeswoman said its most recent price check confirmed the retail price for this product was favourable when compared with downtown retailers.

“This product seems to be selling at the promotional price of €33 in Lawlor’s Pharmacy in Bray, and the 100ml L Air Du Temps Edt Spray is retailing at the promotional price of £40.76 (€58.39) at London Heathrow Airport. . . We compete with everyday prices so it is difficult for us to compete if stores have individual product promotions.” The spokeswoman also offered our reader a voucher.

Sneaky fee for ATM cash withdrawal in airport

Patricia Slevin went through D ublin Airport's Terminal 1 in May, en route to the UK, and as usual used the cash machine to withdraw sterling from her Bank of Ireland account. "I had to search out a machine due to renovation work," she writes. "I was directed upstairs to the food area and withdrew the equivalent of £300.

"Imagine my horror to be charged a fee of €11.43 on the transaction in addition to the rate of 0.7197. There was no notice of any kind on the machine and the charge only came to light on my statement. I queried it with the bank, who informed me it was a DAA charge." Patricia believes this should be brought to people's attention.

A DAA spokeswoman said the ATM machines are operated by two providers ICE and the Bank of Ireland. ICE says there are no additional charges or fees for using its machine. In the case of foreign exchange transactions, there is no transaction fee just the prevailing exchange rate. Any applicable fees are levied by the customer’s own bank. In the case of Bank of Ireland they charge the exchange rate plus commission. The price of commission varies in relation to the amount required up to a max of €6.35.