SPEEDO GEAR ONLINE:A READER called Orla is a big swimmer and spends a lot of money on gear so to save herself a few bob she decided last August to buy it online.
She bought a swimsuit and some bits and pieces on speedo.co.uk and, she says, got a great deal.
Last month she needed some training equipment and went to the same website.
She selected all the kit she needed but when she went to pay the site would not process her order.
“It told me to go to the international website, that .co.uk is for UK-based customers even though it was no problem last August.
“My order on the .co.uk site came to £95 and my order on the international site came to a huge €176.55. Can you believe it? I was gobsmacked. Even with a high conversion rate it still would only come to €115.”
She was so mad she shipped all the equipment to her friend’s house in Scotland who sent it over to her. “Even paying for additional shipping I am still saving €60. The rip-off still continues. Is there any company in England offering a service of a shipping hub. It might be a new business idea for me!”
Sparkling campaign
CAROLYN FLYNN asked us to get clarification from Tesco on a considerable price change in one of their products in the space of a few weeks.
“Up until approximately the middle of January, Tesco was selling bottles of Codorníu Cava for €13.75,” she writes.
“It was then advertised in store as a new product for the price of €29.99 before falling back to €13.75 although now Tesco are advertising it as a half-price offer.”
She e-mailed Tesco customer service but has received no response.
We also contacted Tesco and a spokesman for the retailing giant said that the cava in question had been on offer for St Valentine’s Day and will be selling at this price until tomorrow.
He said it was also on offer over the Christmas period and said it would revert to the full price of €29.99 on Wednesday.
We figured that €30 for a bottle of Cava seemed a little on the expensive side so, out of curiosity, we had a look at how much the same product cost in Tesco shops in the UK where it was also on offer in the run-up to St Valentine’s Day.
The half price deal in Britain was £5.99 (€6.87) while the normal full price was £11.99 or €13.76 – or, in other words, over half the price Tesco’s Irish division is asking unfortunate cava lovers to pay.
