The Oxford Consumer Group's magazine tells us that NHS dentists are becoming increasingly difficult to find in and around Oxford and that the few who will carry out NHS work will not always accept new patients. The Oxford Group has decided to find out what members think about the dental service they have experienced, not concerning the actual treatment, but whether they could find an NHS dentist at all, whether costs were discussed or even advertised in the waiting room or surgery. They also ask about making a complaint and what happened if the member did so.
The Group may be able to use the information collected to pass on to the Office of Fair Trading which, as was pointed out in the last issue of Consumer News, is investigating a "supercomplaint" about dental services made by the Consumers Association.
The Group is not slow in coming forward with its opinions and suggestions in many quarters. The views of members are obtained by means of questionnaires, such as the dental one, by question and answer sessions at the AGM, and by discussions taking place at the regular Executive and Projects Group meetings, the members of which (and their telephone numbers) are given in the Group's magazine. There is also, of course, the letters page of The Oxford Consumer.
Dr. Katy Hall, the Editor of The Oxford Consumer, was interviewed by Oxford Radio about the Group's postal survey and report, published at the end of last year. The report was called What we want from Consignia. A Consignia representative, located in Birmingham, attempted to reply by saying that they were doing their best, and that mistakes were occasionally
made. He then alienated Dr. Hall, and possibly most of the listeners as well, by suggesting that the incidents of criticism found in the survey (which had a very good response) were statistically insignificant. He even expressed surprise that Radio Oxford had taken notice of the report! This was hardly the way to get a radio interviewee on one's side, let alone the radio audience. The Group is taking up all the matters that they want Consignia to put right with a more local office.
The March issue of the Exeter and District Consumer Group's magazine ExChecker contains a thoughtful article about the cost of housing in the area. House prices have shot up in the past five years, no doubt to the satisfaction of settled house home owners, but making it more and more difficult for those wishing to buy. The increase in 2001 was 11.2%.
The March issue also contains a pullout guide to common additives in foods. Have you ever wondered what those mysterious e-numbers mean on food labels? E249, I learn, is Potassium Nitrite, found in sausages and cooked meats and should not be included in food for children under six months. But then not many children under six months eat sausages regularly, or do they? Monosodium Glutamate awaits an e-prefix but can be identified by the number 621, which is just as well as, according to the guide, an excess of this flavour enhancer may cause nausea, dizziness, migraine, or palpitations in those susceptible. An old Chinese cook book which I have seen suggests adding it to most dishes.
With modern dental equipment, anaesthetics and skills, perhaps the most painful element of dental treatment these days is paying for it. Fortunately for those requiring a lot of dental work there is a maximum payment for NHS patients of just over £400. ExChecker points out that, within this figure, there is still scope for sizable bills for fillings, check-ups and cleaning. A rough guide is that you will probably pay about £1 for each minute you are in the dentist's chair.
Private dental treatment is more costly, and ExChecker would like to know about members' experiences, both good and bad, with private treatment. Exeter, unlike Oxford, is well placed for NHS treatment as there is an unusually high number of dentists prepared to take NHS patients. ExChecker prints a list of 26 of them and points out that you must attend regularly to stay registered with an NHS dentist.
A first account of the Euro is reported in the Spring issue of The Trident, the magazine of the Central Herts Consumer Group. Group members visiting Vienna in January found no Austrian Schillings; all transactions were in Euros. Price marking seemed to be a bit confused, most items being marked either in both currencies or only in Euros, though some crowded shop windows and market stalls still showed only Schillings. Underground tickets happened to come mostly in pairs, so one was marked in Schillings, the other in Euros. Odd, that.
We have heard reports that, in some countries, prices have been rounded up. The Austrians appear to have converted with meticulous accuracy, sometimes producing a price a few cents above or below a convenient one. No doubt inflation will bring about a rounding effect.
There are banknotes of 5,10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Euros, the last one being of surprisingly high value. You do not get £300 banknotes here. Coins are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Cents and 1 and 2 Euros. The Euros have a central insert of a different colour, like some French coins. The coins bear an indication of the issuing country, the notes are universal with no country distinctions. At the time of the visit the Euro was worth roughly 60p so, for price comparisons, the visitors worked on the assumption that one and a half Euros was equivalent to a pound sterling.
Venna's inhabitants seemed to have embraced the Euro quickly and with attitudes varying between enthusiasm and, most commonly, acceptance of the inevitable. There was no open hostility. In fact it seems it was a success story, and one which should hold no terror for us if or when our Government takes us into the Euro zone. It's nice, they said, to be able to keep the coins and notes for the next trip to France or some other European country.
The Group has made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about the quoting by mail order companies of prices for computers which do not include the cost of delivery.
When the seller has retail premises it is reasonable to quote the over-the-counter price, with a separate charge for delivery. When there are no retail premises you cannot get your machine without paying the delivery charge and, the Group contends, to quote a price which excludes delivery is misleading, as it is unobtainable and is used to make the price look more attractive than that of other suppliers. The Group agrees that the quoting of VAT exclusive prices is acceptable when the target is business or both business and personal, provided that it is clearly stated that VAT is not included. The picture is further muddied by the practice of some mail order firms who quote, much less prominently, a price which includes both VAT and delivery, giving the impression that it is mainly the tax that is the cause of the extra cost.
This market is very competitive, and perhaps the delivery charge, which can be two or three times what you would expect, helps to give the firm a reasonable profit on the deal, but it should not be hidden.
The Group is finding it difficult to convince the ASA of the exact nature of their complaint - the boxing analogy of ducking and weaving comes to mind - and in particular that their focus is on delivery charges and not VAT We wait with interest to learn how they progress.
A seasonal survey into prices charged for garden sundries is a useful feature of the Spring issue of The Trident. Seven Garden centres were visited, three DIY stores, one Multiple (Wilkinsons), and one local shop. Three shops had not started stocking garden sundries for the new season. The shopping list included all the usual items such as Growmore fertiliser, Tumbleweed weedkiller, Grow bags, slug pellets etc.
They found that the majority of shops had two or three products which were cheaper than elsewhere and some that were more expensive. However, B&Q and Wilkinsons had more cheap items and no dearer ones. Carpenters and Notcutts, both Garden Centres, had more dearer items than the rest.
John Innes No. 2 compost was available at most outlets. The investigators looked for 10-litre bags, found from £1.98 to £3.25, but found also that the size available in some cases was not 10 but 6 litres (£1.59 to £1.79) or even 25-litre bags (£3.25 to £3.29). Ten four-foot garden canes varied in price from 99p to £2.50. It seems that if you are looking for something specific it is worth shopping around, but if you have a whole list of things to buy it is probably of no advantage unless you have a B&Q or Wilkinsons near you.
The Winter issue of the Plymouth Consumer is to hand. I believe Spring actually starts today as I write this, so the Spring issue cannot be far away. Over the
Christmas period the Plymouth Group held its annual Shop Window of the Year competition and a picture of the winner appears on the front cover. I agree with the comments inside, what a pity it is not in colour. What is remarkable is that this is not a shop selling fancy goods but a coffee shop! Making their window so outstanding that it wins the award for smaller shops reflects a real talent. One of the runners-up in this category was The Plymouth Evening Herald shop, which consistently puts on a good show. The winner of the larger shops outlets was Woolworths.
The Group gave a special commendation to The Pannier Market where most of the traders had clearly made a special effort. There were strings of coloured lights, streamers and flags galore, but what was particularly outstanding was that many stalls had roof displays with snowmen and other Christmas emblems.
An article in the magazine suggests that price is not necessarily a good indicator of quality or value these days. The prices at which goods are sold are affected nowadays by many more factors than just how good the product is. The Group has tested supermarket products on many occasions and has shown that cheaper own-brand goods, particularly from Lidl and Aldi, are better tasting and superior in other ways to more expensive branded products.
They recently did their taste testing on ready-salted potato crisps, in which the first three choices of the tasters turned out to be the three cheapest on test! The dearest came in at number four choice. Ready-salted crisps do vary in the amount of salt used, so choice is a personal thing. The winners, Crust! Croc from Lidl, were extra thick and crisp and not too salty and remained so for weeks after the pack was opened, but properly resealed. Several of the others soon became soft in these circumstances.
The testers remarked on the popularity of potato crisps - to judge by the space given to them on supermarket shelves.
Red grape juice has also come under scrutiny and, again, the testers found that the best was one of the cheapest. Five varieties were tasted and there was no doubt which was the favourite, even though this sort of tasting is down to personal preferences. Prices varied from 69p per litre (which was second favourite) to £1.15 (third). The definite favourite was Sunpride from ASDA, which cost 85p per litre. The Group makes the point that prices change all the time, so check when you are buying.
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