Comments on: What do you think?

By: Damien Mulley

Damien Mulley — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:19:54 +0000

The NCA is better than nothing. Just. I can’t help but feel that the NCA are much better at handling PR than what we’ve had up til now. Didn’t they do fantastic work for the wealthy people seeing Streisand? Ever investigated Oxygen though? I saw the Aer Lingus thing as riding a popularity wave, not an agency giving a damn.

You can be sure all radios are tuned to Liveline in the NCA offices. Still at least they are a more competent voice than the Consumers Assoc and more people are realising they can complain and have shoddy practices redressed.

Still I think the NCA is wasting the opportunity to empower the people. Teach people how to fish, not to get a fish off you. They should be working at doing themselves out of a job in a way by having as many people both knowing their rights but also informing others too of their rights and virally spreading the word.

To a degree discussion forums and some blogs do that. A prime example is the broadband forum on Boards.ie which acts as a review of all broadband services but also a free tech support section for nearly all providers.

By: Conor

Conor — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:30:26 +0000

Paul - I’m inclined to agree with you. The NCA is a long way from perfect but it is certainly a whole lot better than anything that was there before it. I also get the impression that its CEO Ann Fitzgerald is determined to make some class of mark and to try, at least, to improve the lot of the beleaguered Irish consumer who faces so many problems from overpricing and misleading pricing to shocking levels of customer service, anti-competitive behaviour, fraudulent practices, antiquated public services and of course the aggressive, bully-boy tactics employed by some companies who seem have as their mantra ‘the customer is always wrong’. It must have been a bit daunting for the NCA to work out where to even begin - I still kinda wish it hadn’t started with Barbara Streisand fans, though!

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:00:01 +0000

May I add a dissenting voice? The NCA is far better than the laughable Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs (ODCA) it replaced. Look how the NCA put the wind up MCD Promotions over last year’s Barbra Streisand concert farce in Co Kildare.
I doubt that MCD would have even staged an internal inquiry let alone offer refunds in the bad old days of the ODCA.
And the NCA’s recent supermarket costs survey, as Conor knows, also gave Tesco, Dunnes et al a lot to think about.
We should cut the NCA some slack here, folks. Just think of how bad the alternatives could be.

By: dc

dc — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:29:31 +0000

Can’t say that I’ve felt more protected since the CPA came in. In fact I’d say that consumers were less protected. The NCA is an utter joke! I doubt that if I had a consumer issue I would turn to them for advice. They have all the effectiveness of a paper tiger

By: Bolg

Bolg — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:09:55 +0000

The CPA is fine in theory, but in reality maybe not so much. Ironically, large companies and multiples etc., are more likely to stick to it and bear it in mind - your corner shop etc has probably never heard of it.

The NCA is a complete joke. E.g. recent Aer Lingus fiasco - fair enough it was a terrible PR mistake for Aer L but in fact they had an arguable legal case for cancelling. The NCA weren’t really doing themselves any favours in the credibility stakes by just saying AL were legally bound.

At least they’re better than the Consumers Association …

By: Conor

Conor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:36:37 +0000

I’m guessing that’s a no, then?

By: rob

rob — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:22:56 +0000

LOL