Overpricing…

[peepeekaitjie]

28 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

i find this very hard to believe, and oh so easy to measure.

petrol is very regulated, no way those machines can jippo it so easy

 

it was on youtube and a community whatsapp group. it is fact

[117]

16 minutes ago, peepeekaitjie said:

it was on youtube and a community whatsapp group. it is fact

Abraham Lincoln endorsed the video... It has to be true

[Shebeen]

30 minutes ago, peepeekaitjie said:

it was on youtube and a community whatsapp group. it is fact

and now a 10 page thread on lehub. Gospel truth certified

[DJuice]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:33 PM, Robbie Stewart said:

Spar is a franchise model with corporates in the mix. This generally means owners can determine their own prices. I can only assume the franchise fees are high meaning the stores have to push prices to make margins in order to afford the fees and still make profit. It could also be that Spar buyers are not negotiating deals deep enough with suppliers to load promos that would draw customers in from opposition stores.

Few days late..convession, I am a emotional eater! 
Was shocked when a chocolate slab at my Spar across the office charged R21.90 vs our local Village shop near the home R17.90 for the same chocolate.

[The Ouzo]

6 minutes ago, DJuice said:

Few days late..convession, I am a emotional eater! 
Was shocked when a chocolate slab at my Spar across the office charged R21.90 vs our local Village shop near the home R17.90 for the same chocolate.

if its the glass and half brand, I was at a PnP the other day they were R33 a slab 🤔

[dave303e]

52 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

i find this very hard to believe, and oh so easy to measure.

petrol is very regulated, no way those machines can jippo it so easy

 

Between vacuum pump, lawn mower, generator, motorbike and chainsaw have been filling the same 3 petrol cans up at multiple petrol stations for years and it is usually an immeasurable difference in volume. Massive price difference but if they fill it to the line it is always the same volume, or so close I can't tell the difference. I wouldn't be surprised if a no name petrol station might be fiddling the numbers.

Surely any franchise petrol station would risk losing franchise rights and no doubt risk license to sell petrol. This is not a relative sizing exercise like a burger or fries where shrinkflation is easy to hide. It is exact. Flip we have our milk tanks inspected and check for level so that dipsticks are accurate regularly. Surely the franchise would question it if they delivered 1000l of fuel and the station sold 1100l of fuel?

 

[Shebeen]

7 minutes ago, dave303e said:

Between vacuum pump, lawn mower, generator, motorbike and chainsaw have been filling the same 3 petrol cans up at multiple petrol stations for years and it is usually an immeasurable difference in volume. Massive price difference but if they fill it to the line it is always the same volume, or so close I can't tell the difference. I wouldn't be surprised if a no name petrol station might be fiddling the numbers.

Surely any franchise petrol station would risk losing franchise rights and no doubt risk license to sell petrol. This is not a relative sizing exercise like a burger or fries where shrinkflation is easy to hide. It is exact. Flip we have our milk tanks inspected and check for level so that dipsticks are accurate regularly. Surely the franchise would question it if they delivered 1000l of fuel and the station sold 1100l of fuel?

 

agreed. next thing he's going to say fill it in the morning when the petrol is colder and contracts more! 

[dave303e]

22 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

agreed. next thing he's going to say fill it in the morning when the petrol is colder and contracts more! 

There is literally an article on a top SA news site telling motorists not to bother putting toothpaste or tomato sauce in their petrol to improve fuel economy. So lets not test the extent of human stupidity...

[Dicky DQ]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:24 PM, DieselnDust said:

A few years ago I tested a alloy giant Anthem 3. It had SLX parts. A few weeks later I tried the advanced version which had an alloy rear triangle and carbon front end and had XT components. Both had fox  performance level suspension. I couldn’t tell the difference and the alloy bike was only half a kilo heavier mostly die to the wheels and a bit in the frame. There was R25k differing price. I remember stating in a review that id take the alloy bike and upgrade it as parts wore out. I’d still spend less than the advanced version whichever way the diced landed . I then asked the distributor about a more highly specced alloy bike and they said “nope can’t do that.” The alloy frame isn’t available on its own either. Many people could use a well made alloy frame and better parts spec. Carbon frames don’t add value, just cost. But like good little golfers we’re all looking for that extra 0.01% and bike manufacturers like drug dealers are only too happy to comply

Often times Ally frames are lighter than Carbon. But they would never spec an alloy frame with lighter parts as that would blow the market.

 

[Eddy Gordo]

2 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Can't speak to that, but I saw a clip posted last night of a chap going around to petrol stations with a measured 20lt can to buy diesel. He asks for 20lt, the pump jockey enters 20lt on the pump, then the can receives what amounts to about 17lt.

Then as I thought this can't be true, a neighbour on the street chat group posts that this precise thing happened to him at the local Total by me, and when he complained, they took the fuel back and refused for him to pay. . . telling him to go elsewhere ! ! ! 

WHAT!?!

We're being scammed at the pumps and it seems the fuel retailers know this . . .

Yep, it is very true. Shaving a 0.01ml per liter probably. I have noticed this at some petrol stations, but it so easy to program those pumps to display what is needed. It is petrol and diesel, but I am not sure if it is as much as you say. The pumps display literage with about 4 decimal numbers, so instead of getting say 2 liters for your R48 you get 1.9457.

I have asked for 40 liters of fuel already, the attendants get very confused when you do this.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Eddy Gordo

[Eddy Gordo]

1 hour ago, DJuice said:

Few days late..convession, I am a emotional eater! 
Was shocked when a chocolate slab at my Spar across the office charged R21.90 vs our local Village shop near the home R17.90 for the same chocolate.

We have a shop on the corner a few houses away. They are way more expensive than most garage shops including other shops. Most people in our area go to spar down the road instead.

[ChrisF]

4 hours ago, Shebeen said:

Spar is hit and miss, because it is owner run. I think the ones that do crap should go travel more and raise their game.

 

Around 2003 the local 7/11 lease was not renewed .... 

 

Few days later a big SPAR opened.  The new owner was probably in his 50's, and ran a GOOD store !!

 

He later bought a 2nd, 3rd and 4th SPAR in the Northern Suberbs .... From about 2010 his sons, and later managers, started running "our" SPAR .... the owner was there once a week, then once a month, cant remember when last I saw him.

 

The fresh food section is anything but fresh .... Over a three year period I spoken to the sons a couple of times about the poor quality  .... no improvement ....

 

Now only the essentials are bought here, and the rest goes on the list for the weeks shopping at the supermarket.

 

 

 

Real pity, as I would like to support local .... but these sons clearly are not serious about this business.

 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, dave303e said:

Between vacuum pump, lawn mower, generator, motorbike and chainsaw have been filling the same 3 petrol cans up at multiple petrol stations for years and it is usually an immeasurable difference in volume. Massive price difference but if they fill it to the line it is always the same volume, or so close I can't tell the difference. I wouldn't be surprised if a no name petrol station might be fiddling the numbers.

Surely any franchise petrol station would risk losing franchise rights and no doubt risk license to sell petrol. This is not a relative sizing exercise like a burger or fries where shrinkflation is easy to hide. It is exact. Flip we have our milk tanks inspected and check for level so that dipsticks are accurate regularly. Surely the franchise would question it if they delivered 1000l of fuel and the station sold 1100l of fuel?

 

 

HEY .... dont bring FACTS into this discussion ....

 

 

 

 

 

Strange that my vehicle always use the same volume of fuel just after the reserve light came on .... at fuel stations over various provinces.

[stephenplumb]

Returning briefly to bicycles. Fully imported bikes attract 15% advalorum. Add 14% vat to that and you are at 30%. 

Now factor in that demand has been outstripping supply and that means there has never been a better time for Oems to increase pricing. Added to that their raw material costs are increasing at a rapid pace, and then shipping containers are also much more dear. I have head up to 10X what they were prior to government lockdown stupidity. I know a local motorsport guy that was paying 7pounds/kg for some exotic axle metal and now is being quoted 18pounds/kg for the same item. Bear in mind bicycles are typically not made from pig iron, so these exotic metals may also be costing considerably more. One of my local customers is paying R15000 ronts for an FPGA that was costing them R500 a 18 months back!

Then our trusty ront has gone from around 14-14.50 to 17-17.50 and add all that together and you are looking at very big increases. 

We import other equipment, unrelated to cycling,  mostly from the US and we are facing USD increases at an unprecedented rate and the local pricing is easily double what it was 18 months back.

None of this is nice, but it is reality. 

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, dave303e said:

Between vacuum pump, lawn mower, generator, motorbike and chainsaw have been filling the same 3 petrol cans up at multiple petrol stations for years and it is usually an immeasurable difference in volume. Massive price difference but if they fill it to the line it is always the same volume, or so close I can't tell the difference. I wouldn't be surprised if a no name petrol station might be fiddling the numbers.

Surely any franchise petrol station would risk losing franchise rights and no doubt risk license to sell petrol. This is not a relative sizing exercise like a burger or fries where shrinkflation is easy to hide. It is exact. Flip we have our milk tanks inspected and check for level so that dipsticks are accurate regularly. Surely the franchise would question it if they delivered 1000l of fuel and the station sold 1100l of fuel?

 

Sales reconciliation will reveal fraudulent activity. This most likely will happen the night of a price change and for a short period of time. But franchise owners do check and if they find wrong doing it goes to legal and van ve  poppe dans

[MTBRIDER1234]

7 hours ago, JA-Q001 said:

You will be surprised to know that Carbon frames take longer and more people to build than Alu, they are by far more "Hand-Built" than most Alu frames on the market. Most Alu frames are machine extrusions that are CNC cut and CNC welded. 

Haha yeah I knew that, but each PYGA frame is handbuilt by Pat himself, so the welds on each one vary slightly. Each frame is slightly individual and you just don't get that with mass produced alu and carbon. 

By hand built, I meant done by a human and not robots - both the aluminium bike and steel bike I have are fully handmade and tell their own 'story' which I think is rad. Because try as you might, you can never exactly replicate the welds on the alu bike, or the brazing on the steel one. I love that about them.