Ripped off? Stunned by good value? Write, text or blog your experience to us
FBD and the Pete Doherty treatment
We're not accustomed to dealing with rock stars at the PriceWatch desk but that changed last week when Paul Noonan from the band Bell X1 got in touch to complain about the blatant discrimination he says he received at the hands of an insurance company. Having just recently earned his first no-claims bonus entitlement, Noonan decided to shop around for the best insurance deal. He contacted FBD and, after dutifully answering all the questions about age, driving experience, make and model of car and more, he was asked for his occupation. "Musician," he answered. He was then put on hold for an age with no option but to listen to "some awful version of Mr Bojangles".
Some time later the insurance man came back on the line to tell him that FBD didn't quote musicians. "I am new to this business of getting car insurance, but have long heard that we music types should lie about what we do when applying for it, as it'll be insanely expensive or they'll not quote at all, like some bouncer taking a look at your footwear and general unkemptness, and saying 'not tonight, bud'."
He says it is possible that studies and statistics exist that "show musicians to be a menace to other road users and property when driving, but I doubt it". He absolutely accepts that some people should pay more car insurance than others, but thinks it should be "based on qualitative data, not lazy stereotyping, ignorance, and Pete Doherty".
We contacted FBD to ask if it had a policy of refusing cover to musicians. A spokesman said that in the past there had been a list of "non-target businesses", which included bookies, journalists, musicians and sky-divers, among others. He said many insurance companies' reluctance to take on musicians "went back to a time when some musicians would have been comfortable having a few drinks and then driving home late at night from gigs". He accepted times have changed and said FBD has too.
We were reassured that the company was now perfectly willing to cover musicians (and journalists; sky divers, on the other hand, may still have problems) and felt Noonan must have been given "misinformation". He resolved to clarify the situation among staff at the company's call centre in Mullingar. Incidentally, the spokesman also claimed to be a big fan of Bell X1 and said FBD had bought a thousand copies of The Cake Sale - the charity CD the band was heavily involved in last year - to give to all its staff as a present last Christmas.
A stout price increase for Murphy's
Ronnie Sheehan is a Corkman living in exile in Dublin, and is fond of visiting a city centre pub for a pint of Murphy's. "To my surprise earlier this week, the price of the pint had risen from €4.30 to €5.30 - an increase of 23 per cent," he writes. "When I queried the increase, I was told by the manager that Murphy's had recently rebranded its stout - it was served in a continental-style glass with a stem." He says he was told the brewery was attempting to reposition it at the more expensive end of the drinks market.
The manager of the bar assured him that the additional €1 had also been placed on the pint of Murphy's in all of the pubs in Dublin that carried the brand, but said the increase did not apply in Cork. "I can verify this, having recently paid just €3.40 for a pint of Murphy's in west Cork recently. My second drink of the night was a pint of Guinness at €4.50. Surely this bizarre marketing ploy marks the end of the pint of Murphy's outside the Rebel County," he writes.
We contacted Heineken Ireland, which owns the Murphy's brand, and a spokesman confirmed that a major rebranding exercise is underway and the company is attempting to sell the Cork stout as a speciality brand in Dublin, with a specific focus on what he described as "key outlets". He said the company's marketing strategy has nothing to do with price and that Heineken Ireland has no control over the pricing of the product in Dublin, and as such he declined to comment on our reader's concerns.
Blog on here
Suffer little children - or grow up and assert yourselves
Big business will only sit up and take notice of consumers when we stop allowing ourselves to be treated like doormats and ditch our "ah, sure it'll be grand in the end" attitude. The sooner we act like adults the sooner we'll be treated like discerning consumers. Until then, we'll all have to suffer. - Paul
Has Northern Rock learned nothing?
If ever there was an argument for business blogging this is it. The standard of customer service from Northern Rock is appalling. There's no update on the site and it's blocking access to accounts for customers. Phones are ringing out and there seems to be nothing that resembles a customer service or communications strategy to deal with the rising level of anxiety about where our money is, whether it's safe and how we go can access it. If they had a blog (and someone authorised to update it) it might offer some solace to people. With all of the banking scandals we've had in this country over the past 10 years you'd think Northern Rock would see an opportunity to do things differently - plus ça change . . . - Annette
