Software-Rip-off
Software-Rip-off
That US software makers dominate the world’s software market is long known. What is not widely known is how those companies rip-off whole countries including the UK and EU members through highly discriminatory, ridiculous, sky-high price mark-ups. Experts including analysts, economists and professors from the London School of Economics, and Loughborough University disprove the flimsy excuses of these rover-companies, such as fluctuating currency exchange rates, local tax-rates, retailer price discretion, translation costs and cost of shipment. Microsoft UK price for Vista Ultimate software is £350, but only £195 in the US for the same product, both in English; a staggering difference of 79.5%. PlayStation 3 hit the UK market with a price tag of £425 versus £300 in the US, and £250 in Japan. Since its take-over of Macromedia, Adobe has assumed stronger monopolist power in the graphic and web-design segments of the software market, by charging in the UK £1969 ex sales tax, versus £1270 in the US for its Creative Suite 3 Master Collection; a gigantic difference of £699 or 55%. These rover companies also safeguard US bargains by disallowing buyers from outside the US from ordering their products directly from their US websites. – Thanks to Stewart Mitchell of PCPro magazine (#154 Aug 2007 page 126 for the alertness (Contact watchdog@pcpro.co.uk).
Categories: Businesses, Consumers Tags: consumer, prices
Flight-ticket Rip-off
Price Watch-Dog - Rip-off by Companies Previous
| Flight-ticket Rip-off
For decades, airline companies have been ripping off African countries by charging exorbitantly higher tariffs for air-flights to or from Africa than to elsewhere, even when the flight distance to Africa is shorter and the plane is more fully booked than elsewhere. The same airlines have now extended that rip-off to the UK, such that UK bookings cost more to fly less. The UK lies between the US and Germany. Yet it costs more to fly from London to the USA, than to fly from Germany to the same US destination by boarding the same plane before it reaches the UK. British airways charged £286 for an economy ticket from Hamburg via London to San Francisco, but £628 for only the London-San Francisco part of the trip. Similarly, Hamburg to Hong Kong via London cost £337, but London-Hong Kong cost £476. - Thanks to Jon Honeyball of PCPro magazine (#154 Aug 2007 page 218 for the alertness (Contact watchdog@pcpro.co.uk). |
Categories: Businesses, Consumers Tags: airflight, consumer, flight-ticket
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