Our price fixing Epidemic !!

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

Everyday it comes to our notice that more and more British Based companies are being investigated for price fixing, i.e. the construction industry, Banks, car manufactures, the telecom industry, energy companies, etc…..

This behaviour is rampant in the UK, it’s why companies. Foreign and domestic call this country we live in Treasure Island, Gold coast .We all know it as rip-off Britain

On a personal level my brother- in- law who owns a paint shop on hearing a new customer mention the words ‘Insurance job’ on the method of payment for repairs to their car, he automatically prices the work to be carried out ‘times 4’ (that’s four times the normal price if he paid by any other method) for all parts, labour and materials and it doesn’t matter if this customer goes elsewhere the same thing will happen up and down the country no matter what Garage. Paint- shop he goes to.

This use to be called the British mark-up and functioned throughout British Industry, where a projected and protected profit margin was expected and guaranteed, and was even protected by the state, it was suppose to have been abolished through legislation in 1973 but it has evolved over the decades and is why Companies that do business in this country expect huge increases in their profit margins year in year out. To put it into context in the rest of Europe a profit margin of 20% is excessive here in the UK it’s called loose change. Remember this when your utility company puts it’s prices up again they’re not only passing on increased costs but a increase in their profit margin on to you .

So I ask the question! How do we put an end to this ingrained, excepted practice which is called by those who exploit the situation as legally mugging the consumer?

I suggest reintroducing for a temporary period something similar to the Resale Price Maintenance system (RPM) where prices were “capped” so that no one could charge an excessive high price, this use to make sure that profiteering didn’t happen and that everyone knew the maximum that could be charged for everything. Retailers were allowed to charge less if it suited them or if you were skilled enough as a customer you could negotiate a lower price which as customers we use to be very good at but unfortunately we now seem to just except the price that is displayed.

To simplify what I’m trying to put across, imagine going into a shop to buy a New LCD TV and on top of the TV was a list of all the costs incurred including the profit margins, you will be able to see clearly the cost of everything and companies wouldn’t be able to hide their excessive profit margins through keeping us the customers ignorant. And if you think this is far fetched because I can see that every company that has a cartel/monopoly to protect would be up in arms in this country. This already happens in other parts of the world,
Buying a car in America where it was brought in to stop car salesmen from ripping off the customer which they had an endemic reputation of doing.

A few years ago, I also found out it was prevalent in France because of my French girlfriends’ mother who tried to buy a TV for her daughter in this country while visiting.
On seeing 20% being displayed on top of a TV she thought that this represented the profit margin of the retailer, she went off the handle, which distressed the salesperson, after they told her that was the discount .I’ll never forget what she said to me as we where leaving “what you pay for a portable I pay for a widescreen TV”.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

Banks target of price-fixing raid

Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays have been raided by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) regarding price-fixing.

The OFT said it had launched an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices.

The investigation concerns loans made to professional services companies, such as law and accountancy firms.

The OFT said the investigation was in its early stages and had a narrow focus, being so far limited to two parties.

Investigators searched the head offices of the two firms in London and Edinburgh in connection with the probe.

Borrowing by professional services firms only makes up a small part of banks' commercial lending, especially when compared with industries such as construction.

Barclays said it notified the OFT on 17 March that certain members of its professional services team had been approached from outside Barclays "in a manner which we regarded as inappropriate".

Barclays also confirmed it had made a so-called "leniency application" to the OFT in March, in which the bank volunteers information in return for a lower penalty.

UK banks have also come under OFT scrutiny regarding overdraft fees.

The regulator is challenging the overdraft fees of eight banks, including Barclays and RBS, in a High Court lawsuit.