AIBU to crave for a honest transparent pricing system in this country that doesn't make me lose the will to live.

[mumsfretter]

I don't want to calculate everything in the supermarket to get the best deal, decoding grams to oz and pounds to quantity.

I don't want to spend my weekend mornings on the phone to energy companies trawling comparison sites for the best deal.

I don't want to re check all the fucking deals on my mortgage and insurance every year or end up paying more.

AIBU to crave for a honest transparent pricing system in this country that doesn't make me lose the will to live.

AIBU to want my loyalty to a brand to count for something other than getting my spending habits, name and address sold on so I can drown under a sea of junk mail and cold calls.

[cheekydevil]

Yanbu

[SoleSource]

Yanbu it is a nightmareish minefield and unecessarily, deliberately at times confusing :(

[Euphemiaaaarrrrgggghhhh]

YANBU

[mumsfretter]

No I don't want 16 oranges for the CURRENT price of 8, I want 8 oranges at last weeks price before the 'deal' started!

[whois]

YANBU

[SoleSource]

Your oranges post has made me think!

That stocks and share prices of oranfes are really low at time of above exame of 'deal' so supermarkeys, buy tbe iranges way cheaper tben still make profit.

[mumsfretter]

I don't want to have to divulge all my spending habits to any of the supermarkets in order to get points and then spend hours sifting through how to double or treble them in order to get some of the profits back they have already taken from me.

[Euphemiaaaarrrrgggghhhh]

No, I will not "save hundreds" by buying your deal: I will save hundreds, if not thousands, by buying nothing at all.

[mumsfretter]

Euphemiaaarrrrgggghhhh!!

Exactly!

[Trills]

If you think that's bad try going to the US,where sales tax (different in different states) is added on at the till.

I think having a label that says "these oranges cost £2" is honest and transparent, if you compare it to having a label that says "these oranges are $2" and then having 12% added at the till.

[mumsfretter]

I am incensed over this issue, in case you hadn't noticed.

Today, I found out my gas supplier who I have been with for 7 years has actually got a tariff that would have saved me 376 pounds a year. Did they tell me about this...of course not, they have been merrily charging me the higher amount on a different tariff even though I qualify for the cheaper rate.

Why, I ask? Is this what I get for being a loyal customer?

[mumsfretter]

Trills, I hear you but at least it's a little more transparent and is not really a sales tactic.

[Brycie]

yy Trills: many other countries will price at 5 + + or 5 + + + which means 5 + service tax + sales tax + whatever else and you either work it out or find out when you pay.

[Trills]

Yes, that is what you get for being a loyal customer. "Loyal customer" is pretty much a synonym for "mug". They have no motivation at all to give you a discount if you simply stay with them year after year and show no signs of being interested in changing. You've shown that you are happy to pay £xxx, so why would they want to get less money from you?

You are basically saying that you want companies to operate for the good of you, the customer. That's not what companies are for. They are not charities. They operate for the good of their shareholders. Their aim is not to provide you with the thing that you want at a reasonable price, their aim is to make money.

[Brycie]

If you want this sort of thing on your weekly shop go to your grocer or butcher.

[Trills]

YANBU to wish that companies would be nice to you, but YABU to expect it.

[MoreBeta]

YABU - but it is a deliberate strategy by firms and is called 'Confusion Pricing'. Its designed to make it impossible to compare prices. Easy comparison of prices make for perfect competition and falling prices which is the last thing firms want.

It is one of the reasons why gas and electric is more expensive than it should be. Thousands of tariffs make it extremley burdensome to compare offers. Glad to see Govt at last cutting that down in its latest proposal for energy market reform to just 12 tariffs.

[Brycie]

When you talk to banks, ask for special deals; when you talk to energy companies, ask for a personalised deal. When you talk to phone companies, ask them to do you a deal. It can be troublesome but you can use your nut. Try haggling every time you buy cheese. It's not so bad in the UK.

[Brycie]

"Glad to see Govt at last cutting that down in its latest proposal for energy market reform to just 12 tariffs. "

Yes MoreBeta.

[mumsfretter]

brucie

"If you want this sort of thing on your weekly shop go to your grocer or butcher"

Since when can you get house insurance from your local butcher

[mumsfretter]

trills

"You are basically saying that you want companies to operate for the good of you, the customer. That's not what companies are for. They are not charities. They operate for the good of their shareholders."

No absolutely not charity, of course not.

I am very aware that companies have a legal financial obligation to their shareholders, however, they are also held account to other stakeholders such as their customers, environment etc.

Keeping a balance of happy customer/bottom line profits normally results in happy shareholder. And laws are put in place to protect the consumer, I believe it's time to clamp down on the level of confusion on pricing everywhere in this country. It's the misleading information that I think is wrong, for example when a supermarket puts prices up weeks leading up to a sale.

[bringupthebabies]

YANBU

I can't understand why it doesn't make business sense to reward customers who are loyal - afterall surely they'd save money by reducing admin (as well as not lose customers).

I actually want it to make economic sense not to move all these different insurances and utilities every year - it's a bloody pain.

[SaraBellumHertz]

I agree. It honestly until you have lived outside the UK you have no idea how lucky you are to I) have the choice and ii) be able to make the comparisons.

[Illgetmycoat]

YANBU. We renegotiated our contract with BT recently and were told to check out the terms and conditions, which turned out to be OVER 39 PAGES LONG!

My husband asked the salesperson if they had read it themselves and then asked that they go through it with him point by point.

They hung up(!)

[mumsfretter]

Sara I know you are right but it was never this complicated back in the day

illgetmycoat That's funny