Stop Moaning About Ireland!

Ryanair best deals

2009-07-07T12:15:00.005+01:00

So many ways to pay for the cheapest flights in Europe. Be smart about how you pay with Ryanair
Either buy vouchers or use Entropay
1. Sign up for EntroPay but make sure that your chosen account currency is GBP (This is because your card will not be recognised as a Visa Electron if you choose EUR). Postal code is required so type in EIRE or some random postal code.
2. Use your regular credit card to fund the account.
3. Activate the account using the activation email that they send you.
4. You will need to load at least €10 on to the account from your existing credit card, they also take a 4.95% commision, so it will cost €10.50.

Paying €4.3 trillion on schoolbooks.

2009-07-03T08:54:00.002+01:00

I was educated in the UK back in the 70's. I remember lots about the books quite specifically. Like the fact that I didn't have any. I had to get what I could from the library and any fortunate parents with cash were 'encouraged' not to use the library.

Don't get me wrong, moost of the books, most of the time were available but I do remember occasions where it would be 1 between 2,3 or even 4 for study, not the best situation you understand.

So, I was told the horror stories now my youngest is going to school. 'You'll have to pay €**** for the books, kill a goat and have sex with a corpse. They you have to cover the books whilst killing a corpse and having sex with a goat paying €****.

As it turned out, list price for the 15 books is €83. I can get them covered and delivered for €93.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=r9r0JDHpFj1BSguGRyUdpzA&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Won't anyone think of the children?

Warranty & Guarantee

2009-05-27T09:31:00.002+01:00

So, you bought a telly for €800 and it broke down a day after the warranty ran out, maybe that hairdryer you bough gave up a month after...

No need to throw them away or pay for repairs, take a little history lesson.

Back in the US of A some time ago people used to buy stuff and if it broke they took it back to the manufacturer (normally local) or supplier (if not) and a deal was met to resolve the situation. There were no rules around this, a fair and amicable agreement was met.

Then, some genius working for company 'X' decided that if they gave the consumer a piece of paper that gives a 100% guarantee that things will be fixed for no cost then 2 things would happen.

1. They would sell more stuff.
2. They would not have to repair stuff outside the stated period.

So along came the guarantee. People loved it as it gave them something they didn't have beofre, a 100% guarantee. The people waved them in the air with glee singing songs about how they would not be without a washer or fridge freezer again for the next 3 years as a gurantee was in their hands.*

Then came the lowly day 3 years and 1 day when all the items broke. 'I'm sorry' rasped the suppliers, 'you're guarantee has lapsed, fuckoff and buy a new one'. The suppliers rubbed their hands and their cocks at the though of generating extra sales through limiting the life of a product by removing the debate about how long an item should last.

The truth is nothing changed in law. In law an item has to be of merchandisable quality for the expected lifetime of the product. This leaves the issue open to debate.

So, when my Sony Bravia broke down & I was told 'you should have purchased the extended warranty' I laughed in their faces** and then wrote a letter. This letter stated that in my opinion the TV should last for 7 years and I would argue that the excellent brand and build quality of Sony products is the reason why. I would then allow them to argue in court and on the record as to why their products are shit and last only 3 years.

Faced with this they repaired the TV, I agreed to pay half the deliver cost.

The moral of this story is - If you see a salesperson rubbing his knob then he is probably trying to sell you a warranty, which is reasonably worthless.

*May not have actually happened like this but you get the idea.
** Happened just like that.

Tesco are not stocking Irish produce anymore.

2009-05-06T11:46:00.003+01:00

So the world is coming to an end because of *tesco not stocking Irish produce in their stores anymore, well, not quite what the press release stated. What they are doing is sourcing all their good through UK distribution channels, which would mean that they will not be stocking any Irish produce that is only available in Ireland, for me a bad thing anyway.

Whoop de fucking doo.

Some basic rules of capitalism for you.

1. Business wants your money for as little as possible. That is called profit.

2. Business does not give a fuck about you.

3. If you were to drop dead in the street and a business was walking down th other side, once they had rifled your pockets they would pull your teeth and then put on some rubber gloves to see what they can salvage from last nights dinner.

Once you believe the above statements you may finally be ready to fact capitalism head on.

1. Shop around, getting everything under 1 roof is far more expensive than going to specialised places for items, a Tesco butcher does not know the arse end of a cow. Go to a local butcher if you want good produce for a good price, here for example.

2. If you are unhappy with something, take it back. I bought some cheese the other day that tastes of goats piss. I took it back and got a refund. Enough of us do this they will soon stop the goats pissing in the cheese.

3. Haggle. The price a business wants for a product is not the price you should offer. Obviously with limitations, but the principle holds. The more you spend the better the deal should be.

So, before you mindlessly moan about the policy of *tesco, STOP FUCKING SHOPPING IN THERE YOU MINDLESS BASTARDS! Then, they may change their policies, not because they love you or care for you, but because they are losing money.

* They don't deserve a capital T as they are complete and utter twats and deserver to burn in hell. Twats.

Welcome

2009-05-06T11:27:00.000+01:00

So, welcome to my blog, finally after so many years of avoiding the wretched things. Anyway, felt I needed to do this to tell people to stop moaning about the wrong things and start moaning about the right things.

Every time I see (hear, witness) some deluded person moaning about something inane and utterly futile I will correct them and the rest of the world for once and for all, blog fashion.