Shopping Around

The kitchen appliances in the new house were very much at the end of their life and causing us high electricity bills.

As usual I shopped around went to DID near Liffey Valley,very small shop not too much choice,went to expert electricial in Naas,their staff are friendly but it is expensive there and the discount they were offering was pretty low.I had a look at powercity.ie then rang them and emailed them my list asking for a best price.
I had seen the fridge and the freezer that I intended to order from here before and tbh once m washing maching and drier could take at least 6/7 kilos and were good and good good reviews I didn't care what they looked like!!
I managed to get about 11% discount,excellent service and free delivery.
I can't compare exact appliances only ones that did the exact same so not exactly comparing like with like but there was about 600 euro between the cheapest and most expensive quotes.

Zavvi sucks

Recently I tried to purchase a dvd boxset from both thehut.co.uk and zavvi.The order went through fine but the next day I got this email -

Hello Rachael Holt,

Thanks for placing your order with zavvi, order number : 10764419

Please do not reply to us at this e-mail address as we will not receive your message. This is an automated response.

A customer service advisor has sent you the following message:

Thank you for placing your order with us.

Unfortunately we are unable to ship The Wire - Complete [24-Disc Boxset] [DVD] outside of the UK. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, no money has been taken from your card.

Should you have any further questions please contact us through your online account message centre or on 0844 264 0702 and we will be able to help you further.

Kind Regards,

zavvi Team

The email from both is the same so I reckon they are probably the same company now.They had charged for postage and I had paid the charge.

I have bought items from both before christmas no problem!!

Maynooth and trains

Although Maynooth station is the worst for accessibility and there are never staff around the station,I am enjoying my new commute.

The people on the train are a lot nicer then what I am used to and Dearbhail and I are always offered seats.

In my 2 weeks commuting 3 days a week with Dearbhail I have been offered more seats then my 9 months pregnant getting the train from Balbriggan.

Hmm now all I need to do is magically switch the stations and their staff...

Nappies

Pampers Jumbo box of size 4,4+ and 5 nappies are €7.49 in spervalu until the 25th.

Amazon shipping electrical items to ROI

Last Updated: Sunday, April 12, 2009, 14:24

Amazon lifts bar on Irish shoppers

PAUL CULLEN, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has lifted most of the delivery restrictions it previously applied to shoppers in Ireland.

Since last week, the company is shipping electronics and a wide variety of other goods to Irish customers for the first time in three years.

This follows a company decision to implement the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive on waste recycling of electronics products by collecting the levy due to the Government here.

An Amazon spokesman confirmed to The Irish Times that the company had decided to comply with the directive so as to make its products available to the widest range of customers.

The company says it will now take back old electrical equipment on a like-for-like basis, free of charge. Irish customers are being advised to bring such used products to one of four recycling centres in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny.

The lifting of restrictions applies to goods sold by amazon.co.uk directly but not to third party resellers who use the Amazon website. Previously, amazon.co.uk’s customers in Ireland could purchase only books, music, DVDs and computer games.

However, a restriction on delivery of heavy goods weighing over 30 kg remains in place, and orders for mobile phones and light-bulbs will not be taken from Irish customers either.

The prices on the amazon.co.uk site list British Vat at 15 per cent but Irish customers get charged the Irish rate of 21.5 per cent at checkout.

Amazon stopped delivering electrical goods to Ireland in 2006 after a row over the implementation of the WEEE directive. The company claimed it was being asked to pay WEEE waste tariffs for goods on which the producers had already paid equivalent tariffs.

Some other leading online retailers placed similar restrictions on Irish customers while others freely delivered all products to the Republic. Amazon’s change of heart is likely to prove a major boost for online commerce here, even if its dominance of the market is less marked than before.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0412/breaking21.htm

Irish Times photo caption

"The President Mrs McAleese and the Taoiseach Mr Cowen at the 93rd Easter 1916 Commemoration Ceremony outside the General Pose Office, O'Connell Street. Dublin. Photograph Matt Kavanagh"

From www.irishtimes.ie

This amused me,I wonder is it in the printed paper too?

The government levy on health Insurance

I wish we had a competent public health care system but,in the absence of one many of us or our employers pay for private health insurance for us.

In November 2008, the Irish Government announced the introduction of a new levy on health insurance with effect from the 1st January 2009.
The levy equates to 160 euro per adult and 53 euro per child.

(Google is full of links to stories about it)

I noticed that Hibernian health have launched an Axe the levy campaign.
http://www.hibernianavivahealth.ie/whats-new/press-releases/2008/press-release-26.xml

So for those of you interested -

http://www.axethelevy.com/

My new favourite thing on the internet

https://www.zaplive.tv/web/djuma1