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

It's cheap up north

A reader from Dublin who frequently does her grocery shopping across the border rang us after making some notes on the pricing in Tesco in both jurisdictions. In the North she found a 100g Tesco own-brand of organic instant coffee with a price tag of £1.87 (€2.50). In Dublin, she says, the same jar was selling for €4.48. A 150g pack of Tuc crackers which cost €1.99 in Dublin cost 95 cent in the North while Jacob's crackers were selling for 88 cent up there and €1.60 down here. "That is virtually double," she says. She cited a range of other examples, including Bisto and Jus-Rol puff pastry, which had similar price discrepancies. "I don't buy the argument about higher overheads and different VAT rates," she says. "How is it that other retailers such as Marks & Spencer's prices north and south of the border tend to be much closer if the overheads and VAT rates are so different? Something should be done about it, I really feel the public is being ripped off."

A spokesman for Tesco said that, across the full range of around 20,000 products stocked by the store, the price differential between stores in Northern Ireland and the Republic was between 10 and 15 per cent. "Occasionally there will be larger gaps" which, he said, could be explained by certain products being on special in one jurisdiction but not in the other.

Find her a grinder

Last week a despairing reader got in touch to see if we had we come across a pepper grinder that actually worked without using up its "grinding capacity" within a few months. A number of readers got in touch with suggestions for her.

First up was Mary Nolan who says she's been using a "French-made Marlux for at least 15 years. But I haven't seen this brand recently," which might not be much help to our reader. Dara Golden had better news. "As a fresh pepper lover," he writes, "I am happy to share the good news with your readers that I have been using the same Peugeot peppermill for many years and it has never let me down. I have given many as gifts to everyone's satisfaction." He tells us that the "secret is in the grinding mechanism" and that if it is not top quality, then it will break. "Don't even consider a mill with a plastic grinder," he continues. "You have to pay more for the Peugeot, but you may never have to buy another one."

And then there is Jean from the US who says that she and her husband had received a Cole and Mason pepper grinder as a wedding present five years ago and it has yet to let them down.