The 'Rip Off Britain' thread

[Baxenden Bank]

Here's one I hadn't expected to add to this thread.

A nephew is doing a 10k swim in September to raise funds for the neonatal department where his daughter spent some time earlier in the year.

I've just been onto the well known website on which the donations are being processed.
Just before the payment page is a "voluntary contribution" towards the sites operating costs with a slider bar (which runs from 12.5% to 25%) preset at 19% of the value of your donation, there is also a less obvious button which enables a specific amount to be selected.

Now, it is perfectly reasonable to draw attention to need to cover the operating costs, which I am happy to contribute towards, and individual contributions of the default 19% on donations of £5 or £10 are quite modest.
However, for donations of say £50 or £100 and more, this 19% becomes more significant (£9.50 and £19.00 etc). It does seem that the pre-selected amount of "commission" is then on the high side and could easily be paid inadvertently by anyone unfamiliar with the website or not paying full attention. In this situation most donors would prefer to see more of their total payment reaching the cause which they are supporting.

I'll name that tune in one (younger people may need to refer to the internet or repeat TV quiz channel to get that).
Just Giving.
The charity pays a payment processing fee anyway:

Raising money for a charity​

£0 platform fee

---

Fundraising processing fees
1.9% + £0.30 per donation for standard payment methods .
0-5% per donation for other payment methods

Example

If you raise £500 from 25 donors giving £20 each, the charity gets £483.
Total raised: £500 | Fees: £17 (1.9% + 30p per donation)

Source

 

[Trackman]

I've never seen the great attraction with Greggs. Pretty much every other bakery I've been into has done better pies, pastries, sandwiches, and when Greggs used to sell bread, bread as well. After the pasty tax, they don't even keep their pies hot.

I fell out with them when they stopped doing the meat & potato pasty.
Gregg's reckoned it was a regional thing (really??), and corned beef pasties were now en vogue regionally.

 

[Stathern Jc]

I'll name that tune in one (younger people may need to refer to the internet or repeat TV quiz channel to get that).
Just Giving.
The charity pays a payment processing fee anyway:

Source

You have just won "The Golden Shot".
Ah, wrong one!

Thanks for the link, very interesting, I hadn't explored that far.
I see that the fundraiser carries the 1.9% payment transaction fee from donations, quite understandable as that doesn't reach Just Giving anyway. Plus a 30p fee per donation, which I hadn't appreciated (and will bear in mind in future) but doesn't by itself seem too unreasonable.

I was seeing this from a donors perspective, opening one of the FAQs in your link shows the "Tip" option, and the not particularly prominent "Enter Custom Amount" button:

Once your donation and message have been recorded, it is very easy to skip through to make your payment without properly digesting this and missing the option to select the amount of the tip you wish to contribute and have paid the default.
Last night the "small tip" was set at 19% rather than the 17% in this illustration.

While not wanting to question the value of the service provided in any way, and I have no experience in gathering and forwarding online charitable donations, I did baulk at seeing that a supplement of 19% of the donation had been included in the payment amount to cover the cost of the service.

 

[wilbers]

I’d say that based on a decade in food retail supply chain 99.9% of promotions have at least some supplier support

Often they are split into up front and retrospective with the retro based on sales.

With the 0.1% being the loss leader veg offers just before Christmas and Easter?

 

[SuspectUsual]

With the 0.1% being the loss leader veg offers just before Christmas and Easter?

They have supplier support, just a smaller proportion than "normal" promos

The 0.1% are generally infrequent ones brought about by warehouse overstocks to prevent stock going out of date *, or promos ahead of range changes

* for example when P&G sold Pringles to Kelloggs in 2012 there was an agreed grace period where P&G stock could still be sold in stores but it was far too short to shift the amount of stock on hand

 

[styles]

I fell out with them when they stopped doing the meat & potato pasty.
Gregg's reckoned it was a regional thing (really??), and corned beef pasties were now en vogue regionally.

See, I really enjoy a corned beef bake, but I'm not such a fan of them cold, so I tend to not bother at Greggs as they've usually been out for hours. It's a while since I've really bothered with Greggs beyond the odd service station stop because it's just so meh.

 

[Broucek]

Another rip off is the "meal deal". It's sometimes only 50p more to get a sandwich, snack and drink vs. just the sandwich. I don't necessarily want the snack or drink....

 

[Bald Rick]

Another rip off is the "meal deal". It's sometimes only 50p more to get a sandwich, snack and drink vs. just the sandwich. I don't necessarily want the snack or drink....

don’t buy it then!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

You have just won "The Golden Shot".
Ah, wrong one!

Thanks for the link, very interesting, I hadn't explored that far.
I see that the fundraiser carries the 1.9% payment transaction fee from donations, quite understandable as that doesn't reach Just Giving anyway. Plus a 30p fee per donation, which I hadn't appreciated (and will bear in mind in future) but doesn't by itself seem too unreasonable.

I was seeing this from a donors perspective, opening one of the FAQs in your link shows the "Tip" option, and the not particularly prominent "Enter Custom Amount" button:
View attachment 208250
Once your donation and message have been recorded, it is very easy to skip through to make your payment without properly digesting this and missing the option to select the amount of the tip you wish to contribute and have paid the default.
Last night the "small tip" was set at 19% rather than the 17% in this illustration.

While not wanting to question the value of the service provided in any way, and I have no experience in gathering and forwarding online charitable donations, I did baulk at seeing that a supplement of 19% of the donation had been included in the payment amount to cover the cost of the service.

The peoplesfundraising website does a comparison of the main donation options, the table at the bottom of the page perhaps being the most useful.

There are various ways of looking at things and it doesn't really pull out the 'voluntary tip which is automatically applied unless you go to the extreme effort of removing it' as per Just Giving. I felt it rather like unsubscribing from Amazon Prime. You can do it but you really have to want to do so. There are articles / discussions about Just Giving and their 'tip' method online. There is a difference between their funding model now applied for UK charities and that applied in other countries where they operate. Their corporate ownership is perhaps a clue as to their behaviour.

I only found this out as I had information back from an undertaker who had processed the cash donations at a funeral. They had simply run through the process at the automatically suggested tip, hence money people had given at the funeral did not reach the charities stated by some margin.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jul 2026 ==

Undertakers (and funeral costs generally), now that takes us directly back to the thread of 'rip-off Britain'. Who is going to shop around for the 'best price' where a loved one is concerned, at a time of heightened emotions?

 

[Broucek]

don’t buy it then!

You are missing the point..

 

[speedy1]

Another rip off is the "meal deal". It's sometimes only 50p more to get a sandwich, snack and drink vs. just the sandwich. I don't necessarily want the snack or drink....

It's even sometimes cheaper to get the meal deal. Eg a Huel in Coop I think is £3.95 but the meal deal is £3.85 with a Coop card!

I love a meal deal tbh - it's enough for 2 smaller meals as you can reach 800-900 calories

Almost all supermarkets still do a sub £2 sandwich I believe (plain cheese, basic tuna etc). But I do agree that the meal deals have influenced the base prices of the items quite a bit.

 

[Freightmaster]

Another rip off is the "meal deal". It's sometimes only 50p more to get a sandwich, snack and drink vs. just the sandwich. I don't necessarily want the snack or drink....

But surely that's what makes it a 'deal'?!

 

[Broucek]

But surely that's what makes it a 'deal'?!

Yes but it's convoluted and restrictive. I'd rather the components were cheaper

 

[simonw]

Yes but it's convoluted and restrictive. I'd rather the components were cheaper

You are getting a discount because you are buying three items. If you don't want the three items then don't buy them, but don't expect a discount. Or shop elsewhere.

A ripoff is only a ripoff if you have no alternatives.

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes but it's convoluted and restrictive. I'd rather the components were cheaper

That doesn't make the components a rip off. Meal deals are often loss leaders to drive daily footfall which builds habit and loyalty.

 

[Rab Smith]

Meal deals are just another marketing ploy to sell goods. When you look at the price for individual items in the meal deal section, they are priced at extortionate levels. Buying them gives the consumer the thought they have "beat the system" when in fact, they have purchased three items that normally they wouldn't have bought in one transaction.
Meal deals are relatively good value though if you want all the items!

 

[styles]

Meal deals are just another marketing ploy to sell goods. When you look at the price for individual items in the meal deal section, they are priced at extortionate levels. Buying them gives the consumer the thought they have "beat the system" when in fact, they have purchased three items that normally they wouldn't have bought in one transaction.
Meal deals are relatively good value though if you want all the items!

Indeed. I went to Coop to buy a Red Bull earlier. I don't normally take energy drinks but it's been an exhausting few days and I fancied a pick-me-up. The drink on its own was something like £2.80 but the meal deal was what, £3.85 I think? So for an extra quid I'm getting a butty and a chocolate bar, it's a no brainer, but only because the drink is priced up at a ridiculous level.

 

[Forty29]

Bought a ready cut bag of Cauliflower and Broccoli florets from the supermarket, bought purely for convenience and to reduce waste.
Noticed however they are leaving bigger stalks on now to boost the weight up, about one eighth of the bag weight in fact I hardly had enough vegetables for two now.
I don't normally have to trim them .

 

[Statto]

Indeed. I went to Coop to buy a Red Bull earlier. I don't normally take energy drinks but it's been an exhausting few days and I fancied a pick-me-up. The drink on its own was something like £2.80 but the meal deal was what, £3.85 I think? So for an extra quid I'm getting a butty and a chocolate bar, it's a no brainer, but only because the drink is priced up at a ridiculous level.

Indeed, i often buy meal deals when i go out for the day, but with a bag of crisps rather than a chocolate bar it's a no brainer, bottles of water [& smoothies] is included in the meal deals depending on store, often i just have the drink with the sandwich, & save the snack until i get home.

Compared with drinks & snacks, sandwiches, wraps & such, have a limited shelf life, so having them as part of a meal deal is ideal way to sell them quickly, otherwise they'd be thrown away.

 

[jon81uk]

Bought a ready cut bag of Cauliflower and Broccoli florets from the supermarket, bought purely for convenience and to reduce waste.
Noticed however they are leaving bigger stalks on now to boost the weight up, about one eighth of the bag weight in fact I hardly had enough vegetables for two now.
I don't normally have to trim them .

Why not just cook and eat them? The stalky bit won't kill you.

 

[Sonic1234]

Compared with drinks & snacks, sandwiches, wraps & such, have a limited shelf life, so having them as part of a meal deal is ideal way to sell them quickly, otherwise they'd be thrown away.

Sandwiches are one of the most common items in the reduced to clear area. A lot of them are priced very near what a meal deal is (Sainsbury's is particularly bad for this), encouraging you to upgrade. I doubt the sandwich doesn't cost anything like it's price to make.

Not convinced meal deals are loss leaders, some city centre Tesco Expresses very much focus on meal deals for the lunchtime crowd and a lot don't buy other products. If everything I've seen referred to as a loss leader online actually is, my face must be on every supermarket executive's dart board.