Comments on: (Un)rattled cages

By: RainyDay

RainyDay — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:55:44 +0000

From today’s Irish Times Breaking News (http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0927/breaking34.htm)

In a statement today, MCD said it had received the report of a committee set up to investigate complaints. It said it received 1,144 letters representing around 2,500 people following the event.

It said around 200 complainants who had to stand or chose to stand because their seats were taken will be fully refunded the ticket price.

A further 560 complainants who paid for more expensive seats than the ones they were seated in will be refunded the difference, while nearly 400 complainants who have parking or other problems will be given vouchers.

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:37:50 +0000

… Sorry 500 Euros … I was thinking of the US conversion which is closer $700 {I believe}.

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:33:37 +0000

Perhaps the primary complaint should be paying 700 Euros to see a snob like Barbra Streisand who lives apart from the set of standards she likes to dictate to others.

By: RainyDay

RainyDay — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:14:57 +0000

The core philosophy of this blog seems to be that if you repeat something often enough, people with believe it, regardless of what evidence exists.

There is no evidence to link the MCD/Striesand affair and corruption. If you have any such evidence, please post details. Otherwise, you damage the credibility of your blog with these outlandish claims.

Your predication for the outcome from the committee is premature. Look at the outcome that NCA achieved with Ben Dunne’s gyms. Look at the outcome the NCA acheieved in court last month prosecuting a car clocker.

It’s easy to sit up on your high horse and whinge. Maybe it’s time for a bit of constructive comment from Public Inquiry?

For the record, I have no connection with the NCA.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:33:33 +0000

The core philosophy of this blog is that Ireland, as a country, is a corrupt entity. One of the consequences of this situation is that consumers are constantly ripped off because of the unwillingness and/or inability of so called regulatory agencies to defend consumer interests.

Agencies like the National Consumer Agency are usually launched in a blaze of publicity with lots of tough talk but when consumers are ripped off the relevant agency does little or nothing or, as is the case with the Streisand concert, abdicates responsibility by passing authority over to the offending organisation.

Irish consumers can be certain of only one thing; their interests will always be the last consideration.

As for the committee investigating the debacle, let’s make a prediction. Mistakes were made…blah, blah, MCD very sorry…blah, blah, must ensure this never happens again…blah, blah blah. Consumer interest? What?

By: RainyDay

RainyDay — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:52:11 +0000

This article is unreasonably alarmist. Why do you slag the committee as self-appointed without noticing that the Consumer Association itself is self-appointed. In fact, the CA doesn’t even have members – just subscribers to their magazine. Any why do you get up in arms about a ‘mere once a week update’? Do want the committee to do any actual work, or to spend all their time preparing daily or perhaps even hourly updates on their lack of progress. Your claim that the NCA “advised complainants to contact MCD first before (bothering) NCA” is just plain wrong. What they actually advised was “We would ask all consumers with complaints to contact MCD directly and to copy the NCA on all communications” – slightly different angle, eh? http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/News_ _Research/Press Releases/Streisand concert; NCA and MCD.html

Setting up the committee does not bar any legal proceedings. Any ticket holder is free to take Small Claims Court proceedings against MCD today, if they so wish. Setting up the committee may well drive a sensible, fair resolution of genuine consumer issues without going to court, which would be a win-win all round. If not, the court option is not precluded.

I really think there are more important cages out there to be rattling.

By: a bit of bonhomie : Busy bonhomie…

a bit of bonhomie : Busy bonhomie… — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:40:29 +0000

[...] Public Inquiry asks some very pertinent questions – why should MCD be allowed to set up its own committee to examine its own role in the fiasco? Why isn’t the National Consumer Agency leading the enquiry? [...]