W.H. Smith - Paddington Station, London

Francesanne

I had to make a very last minute urgent train trip to Plymouth last week and didn't have time to shop locally before I left home. Had thumping headache and needed painkillers, diet coke and some chewing gum plus small bar of chocolate for trip. That little lot cost me £6.50 odd. I know it sounds really petty but I'm so angry to be charged 77p for a packet of chewing gum that I can buy locally for between 33p & 37p. Have never been charged more for chewing gum than chocolate. Small bottle of diet coke cost £1.59 and packet of Anadin extra 16 cost £3.50. I appreciate we're not talking mega bucks here but these guys are making a huge profit out travellers. I know we always pay more at stations,airports and motorway services but it makes me so angry to be ripped off:mad:. Rant over.

knightstyle

Probably a franchise so they charge what they like, complained to head office about this concerning a similar shop not abiding by advertised offer.

MothballsWallet

And the airport, coach station and train station shops know that travellers are a captive market in a way, so they can charge what they like.

moonrakerz

I sympathise with the OP to some extent - BUT, please don't blame WH Smith or the franchise holder - the prices they charge are largely dictated by the exorbitant rents they have to pay to the site owner. Network Rail in this case.

This book is well worth a read to enlighten you about many pricing strategies:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316732931/qid=1145523783/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/203-3630350-1402308

Esqui

Pfft! In the cafe in our local department store, Beales, a small bottle of coke is £2.05.

Francesanne

moonrakerz wrote: »

I sympathise with the OP to some extent - BUT, please don't blame WH Smith or the franchise holder - the prices they charge are largely dictated by the exorbitant rents they have to pay to the site owner. Network Rail in this case.

This book is well worth a read to enlighten you about many pricing strategies:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316732931/qid=1145523783/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/203-3630350-1402308

I do appreciate that point but still feel these outlets are making a huge profit out of the public. I know we have the option to whether we buy or not but sometimes we have no option.

Francesanne

Esqui wrote: »

Pfft! In the cafe in our local department store, Beales, a small bottle of coke is £2.05.

Hope you didn't pay it.

rev_henry

Esqui wrote: »

Pfft! In the cafe in our local department store, Beales, a small bottle of coke is £2.05.

At least you get to sit in and drink it there though.

McKneff

It is a rip off, same as motorway services, i am amazed at the amount of people who go to these services and do not take advantage of their AA cards.
At Moto stations anyone with an AA card gets 20% off purchases.
I think it also applies to RAC cards also but check your handbook.

£15 worth of food gets you £3.00 off, not a great deal but its geting the rip off merchants back a bit.

LemonGrove

Those Haribo 'Tangfastics' are 69p at my nearest CostCutter and £2.99 at my local Airport W H Smith store! But in the town centre they aren't much better, a small bottle of Lucozade costs £1.99 where as in the B&M next door you can buy a huge bottle for £1!

[Deleted User]

Francesanne wrote: »

I had to make a very last minute urgent train trip to Plymouth last week and didn't have time to shop locally before I left home. Had thumping headache and needed painkillers, diet coke and some chewing gum plus small bar of chocolate for trip. That little lot cost me £6.50 odd. I know it sounds really petty but I'm so angry to be charged 77p for a packet of chewing gum that I can buy locally for between 33p & 37p. Have never been charged more for chewing gum than chocolate. Small bottle of diet coke cost £1.59 and packet of Anadin extra 16 cost £3.50. I appreciate we're not talking mega bucks here but these guys are making a huge profit out travellers. I know we always pay more at stations,airports and motorway services but it makes me so angry to be ripped off:mad:. Rant over.

There is a sainsburys about 30 seconds walk from WHsmiths at Paddington.. (inside the station) you could have just gone there and got it all cheaper

You could have bought own brand Boots painkillers from Boots (also around the corner from boots witihn the station).

You picked the wrong place to shop.. it's not the shops fault - you could have been a better shopper