Topic: is britain a ripoff culture?

[johnsouthwales]

has anyone been ripped off etc? dodgy garages, builders, plumbers, deception etc

about time civil law became criminal law in certain circumstances.

is britain a culture of ripoff merchants?  eg, the other thread with the water meters.
is elecrtricity costing that much to produce which justified a 50% increase two years ago?

[justice]

Never been ripped of by tradesmen or scams. I do think we pay too much for things though, and the amount of tax on petrol is a disgrace. 

[johnsouthwales]

taxes on beer, cigs and petrol are easy targets for governments. it's a wonder they didn't have tier taxes on coal and gas for heating. tax, vat and duty.

if everyone gave up drinking and smoking, they will lose so such revenue, plus job losses at breweries and deliveries, they will have no option but to either raise taxes in paye or slap it on clothing and food.  raising taxes through beer etc is paracitical.

[johnsouthwales]

council tax? replacement for polltax. does it justify for council chief executives on 200k a year?  or are people being muppets and stop complaining

[justice]

I think we're being taken for muppets. The money wasted and the non jobs in the public sector is a disgrace.

[johnsouthwales]

tv licence £142 per year.  people have to pay it whether they watch tv a lot or now and then. still have to pay £142 even if they don't watch it or are on low income and can't afford the leccy to watch it.

i think it costs around 0.2 pence an hour to watch tv. in effect, people on low incomes do not get the full value for money. if someone watches tv for say 2 hours a day, over a year it costs about £73 to watch £142 worth of tv licence.. then again, £142 has to be paid even for the privilege of not bothering to watch tv at all and use it soley for watching dvds

[Dana Scully]

It does not just cover TV though, it also covers radio and online BBC sites, so if one uses any of them, they should pay the fee. it is only fair.

[johnsouthwales]

I think we're being taken for muppets. The money wasted and the non jobs in the public sector is a disgrace.

in the mid 90s, labour said one of the first things they will do if elected was to get rid of the quangos. first thing they did when elected was creating more quangos. jobs for the boys culture.

don't get me wrong, there is always something to do somewhere, no matter what it is.

[justice]

I think the BBC should get with the times. If you want to watch it, pay for it like you do with sky. It's wrong to force it on everyone I think.

[johnsouthwales]

It does not just cover TV though, it also covers radio and online BBC sites, so if one uses any of them, they should pay the fee. it is only fair.

yeah true.. but not everyone is online, so the people who have no computers are paying for a service they don't get

[johnsouthwales]

sky is overpriced.

[justice]

Yeah it is

[johnsouthwales]

if i was given a choice of returning back to the four channels like we used to have or pay sky £30 quid a month or whatever it is, i'd switch back to the four..

but, going back to the old system is impossible now cos the government dictated to the people regarding the digital switchover and creating an entertainment based industry through television (more jobs for the boys), so if freeview goes off the air = no more tv

[Dana Scully]

It does not just cover TV though, it also covers radio and online BBC sites, so if one uses any of them, they should pay the fee. it is only fair.

yeah true.. but not everyone is online, so the people who have no computers are paying for a service they don't get

I would think that everyone has a radio though, either in the car or in the home.It has to be paid for somehow.

[johnsouthwales]

that was skys tactic in 1989. even thatcher didn't like it and if i remember correctly, thatcher was thinking of pay per view tv...which wouldn't be cheap as companies lose money that way and end up charging the consumer more than it would in the first place.

bit like pay as you go phone.. does it work out cheaper than a contract?  mobile phones are a bit of a rip off too.. the cost of a text in reality is 1 pence but charge 10pence to send it.. and oin the eraly day, it costed 5 pence to receive it as well.

so, with o2 charging say £10 a month for 300 texts, they reality is there is £3 worth of texts and they charge a tenner for it