Are we all being ripped off? I think so

[ITWA Travel Writer]

DK,

Your reasoning smacks of "I'm all right Jack". It must be really pleasant on your cloud playing your harp and ignoring the world around you!!

There are many rip offs which can not be classed as luxuries. For example just look at many so called charities and ask the question, where has all the money gone?

[towny44]

So DN it is OK to rip off or con people who may have a few bob

Ray

Raymondo
they are the easiest to rip off , as they tend to be the most aspirational and self absorbed, doth the cap fit? then wear it.
but please credit me with enough sense to see yet another one of your pot stirrer posts.
you will be asking where Derek kane/Kenshaz are ,next

What a great quote from the pot stirrer in chief........just saying!

[Ray Scully]

if you are gullible enough to think your life has less meaning for not having the latest gadget, or that cruise or any other luxury item, that you can well live without and you pay for it, you cannot with any honesty say you were being ripped off, for the simple fact that if you felt you were being ripped off, you would not buy it unless of course you are an idiot Ray?

however if you are really that stupid, then you deserve to be ripped off, you are not forced to buy anything more than you need to survive, it is your choice and yours alone, so don't try to tell people they are being ripped off, they are not

Hmmm tad offensive DN only my wife calls me stupid and that is because she loves me really.
I don't recall mentioning anything specific in my OP just 'rip off's' in general, which effects all sections of our society, with possibly the most vulnerable disproportionately effected.

Ray

[Quizzical Bob]

DK,

Your reasoning smacks of "I'm all right Jack". It must be really pleasant on your cloud playing your harp and ignoring the world around you!!

There are many rip offs which can not be classed as luxuries. For example just look at many so called charities and ask the question, where has all the money gone?

Ooh, don't get me started on this one. Here's one example: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -beds.html

[oldbluefox]

If you feel something is a rip off then you don't buy it, but that doesn't detract from the fact it is still a rip off. Sometimes you have no option but to pay the price and there are plenty of instances of this and plenty of businessmen making a fat killing as a consequence. Not stupid at all, just a fact of life.
I suppose the trick is to see through the 'gobby' salesman and take your business elsewhere where you get better value.

[Onelife]

Of course we are being ripped off.....just take our utility companies who have been fleecing us for years.

[david63]

An example of recent "rip off"

We have been having a lot of work done to out house recently and in order to complete this work it has been necessary for us to buy certain items. For this we have used some "trade counters". We needed some wall mounted bedside reading lights, so off we trot to the electrical wholesaler recommended by our electrician. Lights selected they will be £x pounds (cannot remember the exact price), ah but Gary 9the electrician) said if I mention his name we can have them at trade price. Of course sir that will be 60% off.

Likewise with wallpaper - mention the decorator's name and 20% comes off the price.

[Manoverboard]

Using ' trade counters ' is not a closed shop ... many will serve anybody, failing that you could try opening an Account ?

[oldbluefox]

Not quite so Mob. Many 'trade counters' will not serve the general public and in order to open an account you need a trade card.

[Manoverboard]

I agree that many will not but there are deffo those that do, getting a Trade Card is not necessarily as difficult as you may think.

[Not so ancient mariner]

f you do have disposable income to spend on 'luxuries' it is up to you how to spend it. This class of item is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it. If people refused to pay these exorbitant prices for Costa/Starbucks/etc coffee, then the prices would come down.

[oldbluefox]

A good example this morning of rip offs are branded medicines vs generic brands. Interesting to see that some named brands are four times more expensive if they have a fancy name than if they are just plain 'this is what you're getting'. A doctor on TV said that some people paid for branded medicines because they have faith in them and they add a placebo effect. I know sometimes I would go to the chemist with a prescription only to be advised I could buy the same item over the counter for less than the prescription charge.
One useful tip I picked up though, was to check the licensing number. If the number is the same the goods inside will also be the same.

[Dark Knight]

DK,

Your reasoning smacks of "I'm all right Jack". It must be really pleasant on your cloud playing your harp and ignoring the world around you!!

There are many rip offs which can not be classed as luxuries. For example just look at many so called charities and ask the question, where has all the money gone?

travel writer, how, in any version of the world is giving to charity compulsory?? silly example and clutching at straws to try to score points.of course it is a luxury, as you don't need to do it.
if you were really worried about being ripped off by donating to charity perhaps checking how they disperse their funds would help salve your conscience?

[Ray Scully]

DK,

Your reasoning smacks of "I'm all right Jack". It must be really pleasant on your cloud playing your harp and ignoring the world around you!!

There are many rip offs which can not be classed as luxuries. For example just look at many so called charities and ask the question, where has all the money gone?

travel writer, how, in any version of the world is giving to charity compulsory?? silly example and clutching at straws to try to score points.of course it is a luxury, as you don't need to do it.
if you were really worried about being ripped off by donating to charity perhaps checking how they disperse their funds would help salve your conscience?

DN
Sadly and unfortunately the charities have to resort to professional fundraisers to raise cash. People are pressurised to give! This has meant the mild nuisance of chuggers approaching you when out shopping, very personable' usually young 'sales people doorstepping you, the unwanted telephone requests. the even more unwanted telephone request to increase your existing donation. In the case of my wife, she celebrated a birthday with a big party requesting any gifts were a donation to Cancer research. From then on we were bombarded with requests from all and sundry for donations.

Ray

[Dark Knight]

Ray
when did giving to charity become a must do?, are people to scared to say no? damn sure I say no without it weighing on my conscience, giving to charity is a luxury not a must do

[Ray Scully]

Ray
when did giving to charity become a must do?, are people to scared to say no? damn sure I say no without it weighing on my conscience, giving to charity is a luxury not a must do

DN

I am sure you can handle it, it is those ( the vulnerable) who can't I have concerns for. I remember a great old neighbor of mine, ex police sergeant. He got caught for £20,000 in a boiler room scam. His wife had just died he was lonely, a friendly voice over the phone.........................

Ray

[Stephen]

This may have already been mentioned.

There's being vulnerable and down right stupid. Wouldn't you think she of all people would/should have known better. After all, we're not talking petty cash here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34432596

[oldbluefox]

Ray
when did giving to charity become a must do?, are people to scared to say no? damn sure I say no without it weighing on my conscience, giving to charity is a luxury not a must do

DN

I am sure you can handle it, it is those ( the vulnerable) who can't I have concerns for. I remember a great old neighbor of mine, ex police sergeant. He got caught for £20,000 in a boiler room scam. His wife had just died he was lonely, a friendly voice over the phone.........................

Ray

Perhaps DK hasn't heard about Olive Cooke or other vulnerable people like her.

[Kendhni]

Are we all being ripped off ... NO, but some people are allowing themselves to be ripped off ... if they are silly enough to use services they consider to be a rip-off then that is their choice. Always remember that a price is just an invitation to pay, you make the choice on whether or not you pay it ... You just need to learn to shop smarter.

[oldbluefox]

When it comes to medicines as one example we are being ripped off and I'm quite sure I could think of others. Aggressive marketing leads us to believe through lack of knowledge that Supermed Express is going to get rid of that hangover faster than plain Supermed. The fact is that despite its fancy packaging and extra £1 both are much the same. That is deception. But what makes it worse is that other alternatives will do exactly the same job if you knew what the constituents were. I agree we should shop smarter but sometimes we don't have the know how to do it.
How many other branded goods attract a higher retail price compared to own brands? This may explain why the likes of Lidl and Aldi are making such big strides as people wake up to the idea there are alternatives to established brands - and suddenly prices start to fall.
And where there are no alternatives on everyday essentials you have no option to buy at the inflated price. That is what I call rip off.

[towny44]

One of my major moans is the cost of renewal, (various annual products) eg anti virus providers like Norton, versus the cost to new users; in Nortons case renewal of 360 is £54.99 but you can find the same thing for less than half the price.
OK I know you can let the old lapse and renew as a new user but not everyone will be that savvy.
Incidentally I have just let my 360 lapse and now using AVG free, it will be interesting to see if I remain virus and hacker free
.

[barney]

I've always used AVG free towny and never had a problem

You must update when prompted and be careful what you tick as if not careful, you can inadvertantly click for their paid one.

It's all good though.

[oldbluefox]

I'm using Avast Free at the moment and that seems fine. I also use Spybot, Malwarebytes, Auslogics Defragger and Glary Utilities and (touch wood) have had no problems. All are free but as Barney says, be careful when installing otherwise you can end up with browsers on default which you didn't want. I tend to go for a custom download so I can see what I am getting.

[Kendhni]

One of my major moans is the cost of renewal, (various annual products) eg anti virus providers like Norton, versus the cost to new users; in Nortons case renewal of 360 is £54.99 but you can find the same thing for less than half the price.
OK I know you can let the old lapse and renew as a new user but not everyone will be that savvy.
Incidentally I have just let my 360 lapse and now using AVG free, it will be interesting to see if I remain virus and hacker free
.

These days you can pretty much get any non-specialised software you want for free (legally) ... for years I have been recommending people do not renew paid licenses and simply adopt to free software.

[Kendhni]

When it comes to medicines as one example we are being ripped off and I'm quite sure I could think of others. Aggressive marketing leads us to believe through lack of knowledge that Supermed Express is going to get rid of that hangover faster than plain Supermed. The fact is that despite its fancy packaging and extra £1 both are much the same. That is deception. But what makes it worse is that other alternatives will do exactly the same job if you knew what the constituents were. I agree we should shop smarter but sometimes we don't have the know how to do it.
How many other branded goods attract a higher retail price compared to own brands? This may explain why the likes of Lidl and Aldi are making such big strides as people wake up to the idea there are alternatives to established brands - and suddenly prices start to fall.

... and that is exactly what I mean by people letting themselves be ripped off ... they made the bad choice.

And where there are no alternatives on everyday essentials you have no option to buy at the inflated price. That is what I call rip off.

What are you thinking of here? There often are alternatives ... or different ways of buying.