No clear policy on resealable bags: Ann from Dublin was travelling via Dublin airport last week and had a most unpleasant experience and she contacted us: "We had our usual checklist complete for trying to make things as trouble free as possible," she writes. She had made sure to use hand luggage within the dimensions and weight allowance, had her passport, had checked in online and printed out her boarding pass. Her liquids were in 100ml or less containers and placed in the resealable plastic bag. She was even wearing flat shoes so she wouldn't have to take them off going through security.
“All was well until we reached the security screening area: Our liquids were in the resealable bag but we were told it was too big. We had measured the bag before purchase and had used it on previous trips. We told the person that it was the right size. He informed us that it was the wrong type of bag according to a Department of Transport directive,” she writes.
The security official then went to the person operating the screen “and they opened the bag and checked each and every bottle contained within. We then went through the metal detector, no beeps. The first bag came out along with the plastic tray of phone/wallet/belt. The line then stopped for three to five minutes, which I can only assume was to teach us a lesson. Eventually the second bag came out and we went on our way,” she says.
She also highlights another occasion when she was told that decanting shampoo into 100ml bottles “was not allowed, only original bottles from the manufacturer. On that occasion we had to rub some cream onto my hand to show that is was not a weapon. We hope that the operator at the X-ray machine enjoyed his little power trip.”
Does Tesco think baby formula is a luxury?
A reader called Kiara asks why she can’t get Clubcard points for infant formula?
“My baby is 10 weeks old and I was unable to breastfeed despite strenuous efforts,” she writes. She says she had no option but to feed her baby formula.
“I am a long-standing and loyal customer of Tesco, and a member of its baby club,” she continues. She says its policy on baby formula appears to designate it as “a luxury item, which it patently isn’t”.
She points out that Tesco willingly gives loyalty points for non-standard items such as alcohol and CDs. “In my view, formula should be treated like any typical food item.” She believes the company should “eliminate this unfair policy, and by doing so, give a boost to hard-pressed mothers and their babies”.
Stork margarine spreads high price
Deirdre Tracey for Limerick contacted us to see if we could find out about the pricing of Stork margarine. “I have a receipt in front of me from Dunnes which is dated June 12th,” she writes. On that day Stork was 69 cent. “I bake a lot so buy a few blocks of margarine each week. Last week in Dunnes this same margarine was 89 cent. I noticed two days ago it was 91 cent in SuperValu and this morning in that same shop it was 93 cent. I can’t believe an item can jump so much in price.” We contacted Dunnes to see if it could explain the pricing but, as per usual, no one was available for comment.
Web price wins out
“However one might want to support Irish [or Irish-based] traders, one is constantly depressed to find shockingly high mark-ups when compared with the cost of the same goods available on the internet,” writes David Grant.
He says this fact “has been strikingly brought home to me by finding that my Epson inkjet printer now stands on the local Tesco shelf, priced at €54.99.” He recently had exactly the same product delivered by his postman “at a cost of €37.75, having been ordered over the internet from the UK. Little wonder that Tesco refuse to publish their Irish trading profits!”.
