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EnergyChristmas has officially started: according to Asda
Filed under: Shopping & Deals
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David Cheskin/PA Archive/Press Association Images
So why are they doing it, and why are customers so unhappy?
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Supermarket Sweep - Tips & Advice
Gimmick
For Asda, the move is a simple short-term gimmick, designed to get people to think about saving for Christmas. Santa isn't appearing in all Asda stores, and where he does, it's part of a stunt designed to help people manage the financial burden of Christmas. The idea is that if you save a certain amount on the Asda savings cards, you can get a bonus from the supermarket at Christmas.Cut your bills
Supermarket Sweep - Tips & Advice
Negative
The reaction from shoppers has not been uniformly positive. They have taken to Twitter to vent their irritation. One user wrote: "Can't believe that @asda are promoting Xmas already. There are other ways to encourage people to save without shoving Xmas down our throats." Another said: "This has upset me no end. Christmas in August is wrong Asda. Wrong wrong WRONG!"It's not as if this is the first Christmas hype of the year, Hamleys issues its list of the top toys for Christmas in June (and apparently we need to be snapping up Barbie's latest dream house or the Star Wars Death Star quick, before they run out).
Expensive
The risk of gimmicks like this is that it will keep up the pressure until the real grottos arrive. It will have the effect of dragging Christmas even earlier in the year - which is pointless, stressful and expensive.The expense is loaded onto parents in a host of subtle ways. If the kids step up the pester power in August, it's a brave and strong parent who can hold out until the end of December without getting so sick of the same old requests every hour of the night and day that they give up and buy an 'early present'.
Of course, as soon as their parents give way, the canny kids just start up the requests for something else, so your Christmas present-buying costs exactly twice as much, and they have twice as many expensive toys to break, lose and get bored of before the New Year.
The other risk is that in starting the 'Christmas shopping' season so obscenely early, the stores can convince shoppers to start wasting money on festive specials months in advance. It's why they start stacking family tins of chocolates by the entrance in the autumn. We are convinced to buy them on special offer and keep them until Christmas. Then, of course, we end up eating them, and have to buy some more.
But what do you think. Does the idea of Christmas in August upset you, or does it bring a little excitement to the weekly shop? Let us know in the comments.
10 of the biggest consumer rip-offs
- 1. Mobile data roaming charges<p> <span style="text-align: left; ">Using a mobile phone to make and receive calls, send texts and browse the web while abroad can be extremely costly – especially if you are travelling outside the European Union (EU), where calls can cost up to 10 times as much as at home.</span></p> <div> </div> <div> To avoid high charges, Carphone Warehouse suggests tourists ensure a data cap is in place, use applications to check data usage, turn off 'data roaming', avoid data-intensive applications such as Google Maps and YouTube and use wi-fi spots to update social networking sites.</div>
- 2. PPI<p> <span style="text-align: left; ">Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is supposed to help people to continue meeting their loan, mortgage or credit card repayments if they fall ill or lose their jobs. However, policies are often over-priced, riddled with exclusions and sold to people who could not make a claim if they needed to.</span></p> <div> </div> <div> At one point, sale of this cover - which was often included automatically in loan repayments - was estimated to boost the banks' profits by up to £5 billion a year.</div> <div> </div> <div> Now, though, consumers who were mis-sold PPI can fight back by complaining to the bank or lender concerned and taking their case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (08000 234567) should the response prove unsatisfactory.</div>
- 3. The Lottery<p> It could be you, but let's face it, it probably won't be. In fact, buying a ticket for the Lotto only gives you a 1 in 13.9 million chance of winning the jackpot.</p> <div> </div> <div> With odds like that, you would almost certainly be better off hanging on to your cash and saving it in a high-interest account.</div>
- 4. Budget airlines<p> No-frills airlines such as EasyJet may promote rock-bottom prices on their websites. But the overall fare you pay can be surprisingly high once extras such as luggage and credit card payment fees have been added - a process known as drip pricing.</p> <div> </div> <div> Taking one piece of hold baggage on a return EasyJet flight, for example, adds close to £20 to the cost of your flight, while paying by credit card increases the price by a further £10.</div> <div> </div> <div> It may therefore be worth comparing the total cost with that of a flight with a standard airline such as British Airways.</div>
- 5. Credit card cash withdrawals<p> Cash advances, which include cash withdrawals, are generally charged at a much higher rate of interest than standard purchases.</p> <div> </div> <div> While the average credit card interest rate is around 17%, a typical cash withdrawal of £500, for example, is charged at more than 26%.</div> <div> </div> <div> What's more, as the interest accrues from the date of the transaction, rather than the next payment date, costs will mount up even if you clear your balance in full with your next payment.</div>
- 6. Supermarket 'deals'<p> Supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda often run promotions under which you can, for example, get three products for the price of two.</p> <div> </div> <div> However, it is only worth taking advantage of these deals if you will actually use the products. Otherwise, you are simply buying for the sake of it, which is a waste of your hard-earned cash.</div> <div> </div> <div> To avoid paying over the odds, it is also worth checking the price per kilo to ensure that larger <a href="http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/05/24/supermarkets-slammed-for-multi-buy-rip-offs/">'economy' packs really are cheaper</a> than the smaller versions.</div>
- 7. Train fares<p> Buy a train ticket at the station on the day of travel and the price is likely to give you a shock - especially if you are travelling a long distance at a busy time of day.</p> <div> </div> <div> However, <a href="http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/03/13/how-to-cut-the-cost-of-your-commute/">you can cut the cost of train travel</a> by 50% or more by going online and making the purchase beforehand - especially if you book 12 weeks in advance, which is when the cheapest tickets are on sale.</div> <div> </div> <div> Other ways to reduce the price you pay include avoiding peak times and taking advantage of so-called carnet tickets, which allow you to buy, for example, 12 journeys for the price of 10.</div>
- 8. Packaged current accounts<p> Most High Street banks offer packaged accounts that come with monthly fees ranging from £6.50 up to as much as £40, with a typical account charging about £15 per month.</p> <div> </div> <div> Various benefits, such as travel insurance and mobile phone insurance, are offered in return for this fee. But whether or not it is worth paying for them depends on your individual circumstances.</div> <div> </div> <div> Before signing up, it is therefore essential to <a href="http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/01/14/maximise-your-current-account/">check that you will make use of enough of the benefits</a>, and that you cannot get them for less elsewhere.</div>
- 9. Overseas withdrawals/card payments<p> Overseas money transfers or travel money purchases attract the same high rate of interest as credit card cash withdrawals.</p> <div> </div> <div> Worse still, most credit cards – and debit cards – also charge you a foreign loading fee if you use them to make purchases while abroad.</div> <div> </div> <div> You can, however, <a href="http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/02/17/how-to-avoid-overseas-bank-fees/">avoid these charges</a> by using a Saga Platinum or Nationwide Building Society credit card.</div>
- 10. Premium rate phone lines<p> Numbers starting 0871 cost 10p or more from a landline, while those starting 09 can cost more than £1 a minute <a href="http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/03/21/call-0800-0808-and-0870-numbers-for-free-from-your-mobile/">from a mobile phone</a>.</p> <div> </div> <div> And the operators of these high-cost phone lines, some of which are banks, often get a cut of the call charges.</div> <div> </div> <div> Most 09 numbers are linked to scams and should therefore be avoided at all costs, while 0871 numbers can often be bypassed by searching for an alternative local rate numbers on the saynoto0870.com.</div>
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