NI Rip Offs

The_Hurricane

Hi All,

Following on from my thread on bargains in NI, I thought I would start this one on rip offs.

I will start with one I feel many will disagree with me on but it's the Odyssey in Belfast.

I went there recently with a friend for about two hours, first we had to pay for the privilege of parking which came to £2.50, then we booked two games of bowling - £8.50. When the first game ended the lights went off and I queried this with a supervisor whom advised that it's £4.25 per person per game, so in order for me and my friend to have a second game of ten pin bowling we had to pay another £8.50 and to top it off on the way out we got a coke costing £2 each.

Definitely a place to avoid and the bar (Rockies I believe) where we got the coke had a vulgar smell within it so we didn't stay too long.

Feel free to share your experiences of rip offs around NI and I'll add them below.

NI Rip Offs

1 . Ten pin bowling at the Odyssey - £4.25 per person per game.

2. Giant's Causeway - A natual resort that charges £8.50 to complete the walk and this enables visitors to view the exhibition/museum funded by the taxpayer.

3. Northern Ireland rates, excessive and not in line with house prices.

cooki2222

Never buy softdrinks in a bar!!

Freefromdebt_2

Talking about rip offs.......a guy came round selling vouchers for 2 local restaurants door to door. £25 for a 12 month deal. He told me that one was closed for a refurbishment......I purchased a voucher as did 411 others before me. I have since found out that both restaurants closed around the time he was selling these vouchers. He refuses to answer his mobile.....and I feel pretty darn stupid. It's only £25 but its the principle of the thing......412 vouchers x £25 a pop equals a whole lot of cash that he has.

The_Hurricane

cooki2222 wrote: »

Never buy softdrinks in a bar!!

It was only done as the coffee shop was closed and my friend and I wanted to have a quick catch up.

jeffer

I was once charged £1 for one small biscuit to go with my coffee in Randall's Coffee House, Lisburn Rd. But I'll still go there because their crepes are delish.

motorguy

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Hi All,

Following on from my thread on bargains in NI, I thought I would start this one on rip offs.

I will start with one I feel many will disagree with me on but it's the Odyssey in Belfast.

I went there recently with a friend for about two hours, first we had to pay for the privilege of parking which came to £2.50, then we booked two games of bowling - £8.50. When the first game ended the lights went off and I queried this with a supervisor whom advised that it's £4.25 per person per game, so in order for me and my friend to have a second game of ten pin bowling we had to pay another £8.50 and to top it off on the way out we got a coke costing £2 each.

Definitely a place to avoid and the bar (Rockies I believe) where we got the coke had a vulgar smell within it so we didn't stay too long.

Feel free to share your experiences of rip offs around NI.

How was that a rip off? Sounds about right to me price wise?

Did someone force you to buy the coke?

How much were you expecting to pay in a city centre car park and entertainment complex?

gayleygoo

The Giants Causeway will try to rip you off. When you pull up to the place, a guy in a hi-vis jacket directs you to the car park. What they don't tell you is that you have to pay a visitors ticket for every person in the car to be able to park there, which is £8.50 each. For our 7-seater this would have cost nearly £60! Children over 3 (I think) need a ticket too. We didn't want to go into the visitors centre but were told we couldn't park there without paying.

The carpark attendant told us (in hushed tones, he probably wasn't meant to say this, but he did when he realised we weren't just tourists) you can park down in the Bushmills train carpark, which is £6. It's still dear parking and the walk upto the causeway may not be suitable for some people with disabilities or limited movement. I suppose most people might just hand over the money because they aren't given an option until they argue it.

Even if you do buy a ticket you have to pay for the wee bus that will bring you down to the rocks and back up again. As far as I could see there were no toilet or catering facilities outside of the centre, so if you need the loo or just fancy a coffee after your walk, you gotta pay up. For this reason, my small son did a wee on the Giants Causeway, and he looked very proud of himself

The_Hurricane

motorguy wrote: »

How was that a rip off? Sounds about right to me price wise?

Did someone force you to buy the coke?

How much were you expecting to pay in a city centre car park and entertainment complex?

I think if you're using the complex then frankly parking should be free.

D.A.

The_Hurricane wrote: »

I think if you're using the complex then frankly parking should be free.

...and then find yourself with a car park full of commuters. Well thought out plan, that one.

motorguy

The_Hurricane wrote: »

I think if you're using the complex then frankly parking should be free.

You would have thought wrong then, given as has been said, it would then be full of commuters.

Also i dont think the bowling alley people own the car park and again, noone forced you to use it.

So, how much were you expecting to pay for your bowling in a city centre location? Do you think it was any more expensive than other UK cities or one in Dublin?

Also, did they make you buy the coke?

motorguy

gayleygoo wrote: »

The Giants Causeway will try to rip you off. When you pull up to the place, a guy in a hi-vis jacket directs you to the car park. What they don't tell you is that you have to pay a visitors ticket for every person in the car to be able to park there, which is £8.50 each. For our 7-seater this would have cost nearly £60! Children over 3 (I think) need a ticket too. We didn't want to go into the visitors centre but were told we couldn't park there without paying.

The carpark attendant told us (in hushed tones, he probably wasn't meant to say this, but he did when he realised we weren't just tourists) you can park down in the Bushmills train carpark, which is £6. It's still dear parking and the walk upto the causeway may not be suitable for some people with disabilities or limited movement. I suppose most people might just hand over the money because they aren't given an option until they argue it.

Even if you do buy a ticket you have to pay for the wee bus that will bring you down to the rocks and back up again. As far as I could see there were no toilet or catering facilities outside of the centre, so if you need the loo or just fancy a coffee after your walk, you gotta pay up. For this reason, my small son did a wee on the Giants Causeway, and he looked very proud of himself

You're paying for the fact you're visiting the causeway and for it to be maintained. I suspect they dont charge you an entrance fee per se as then they may have some legal responsibility if you were to fall off a cliff or something.

I'd say pricing is probably on a par with, if not cheaper than, other major attractions worldwide.