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  • Is Pogoplug ripping off UK consumers?

    Are we paying more than we should (image courtesy of Sam Savine

    I’ve reviewed both Pogoplug hardware and software over the last year and have found both products to be excellent.

    However, after recently buying their Pogoplug Pro hardware myself, I am perturbed by their “rip off” pricing for the UK.

    Their Pogoplug Pro costs $99.99, with cheapest postage at $12.95. For some reason, when buying from the US they automatically add to your shopping cart (even though you didn’t ask for it) a copy of their premium software ($29) and their “Extended Download Service” (essentially they will backup the software you download for easy access in future) at $5.99. Thankfully, both can be removed. Take into account US taxes and that $99.99 is probably more around $110. Convert that to sterling and you get approx. £68.

    However, buy for the UK and it’s… £99.99. The cheapest delivery is £10. That’s £109.99 compared to the US equivalent of £68 – a £42 increase. Take UK VAT into account and that decreases the difference to £20.

    The Euro Zone doesn’t get off any lighter, however, as the Euro Pogoplug costs, yes you guessed it, €99.99. That converts to about $70.

    Pogoplug isn’t the only company to do this kind of thing – Adobe and Apple spring to mind – but it’s still disappointing.

    The usual excuse given by businesses is the cost to convert the product to each country. However, there is no software included, the box is a universal design and the included leaflets are multi-lingual. Interestingly still, where a lot of localisation would be required – software – they charge the same. Their premium software is $29 and they simply convert this price to your own currency “on the fly” (and accurately too). So a conversion to UK rates, will get you the software at £18.16 today. So, they don’t charge any more for the software – something for which (particularly in non-English speaking countries) language conversion is going to be costly, but do for hardware which needs no change.

    So, I contacted Pogoplug and spoke to Jeff Fochtman, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cloud Engines, Inc (who make Pogoplug). His answer was to the point…

    We are in business to make some profit and at this point in time it simply costs us more to deliver and support products in the UK and EMEA and to run our business there so we have to charge a bit more

    He added 3 points that he believes explains the differences further (this is an exact cut and paste quote from Mr Fochtman)…

    • We have a cost of doing business in the UK and EU that is much higher than our cost of doing business in UK/EMEA
    • Many smaller companies simply do not go through logistics, packaging, certification and manpower that goes into setting up business overseas.  Our ‘profit’ per unit is the similar across all regions because of the cost of doing business at a much smaller volume…we feel we are doing the right thing by adding server support, customer service, operations support in your region but it comes at a higher cost per unit.
    • Indeed the shift in rates affects differential in pricing between geographies using different currencies.  It has shifted balance to be a higher delta from when we set the price, however we cannot be constantly changing price with retail partners having a set MSRP.

    He concluded our conversation but pointing out that a number of retailers are selling Pogoplug for as little as £49. However, this is the original bright pink Pogoplug (non “pro” version) which is unavailable to buy from their website.

    So his answer is that it’s more costly to sell it outside of the US so they charge more. And we should maybe be thankful that we pay as little as we do as the exchange rates has changed since. Maybe it’s just me that thinks that maybe the way to sell more outside the US, however, is to charge fair prices – I’m sure they’d sell a lot more if the unit cost £80 which would be the true equivalent to the US price.

    But he says we’re paying extra because, for instance, we get local servers and support. Interestingly their site only makes mention of their US office , their site isn’t country specific and their is no telephone support – just anonymous email support. Does that require localised support? When I recently ordered my Pogoplug it was sent from Germany, so at least that was within Europe. Now, I’m not saying they don’t provide local support – there’s just no evidence of it from their site and, from what I can tell, no reason for it. You can’t even view their site in any language other than English (until you sign into MyPogoplug to view your shared files).

    Indeed, the only time you specify your country is when purchasing hardware from them. How do they offer local support? The ticket system that customers can use to request support makes no mention of the country of origin and my user profile doesn’t specify this either.

    Whether they’re using localised servers for Pogoplug I can’t tell.

    So, is that a good excuse or are we being ripped off once again?

    I didn’t respond back with any further questions to Mr Fochtman but if I do hear anything I’ll update this post.

  • Picasa increases storage – but only to Google+ users

    Hidden away in the Google help screens is something that gives Google+ users an extra reason to be happy!

    The amount of free storage for Picasa Web Albums is 1GB. However, this doesn’t include certain photo sizes. For non-Google+ users this is anything up to 800 x 800 pixels. For Google+ users this is a much better 2048 x 2048.

    For videos there are no changes for Google+ users – any videos less than 15 minutes long don’t count towards your limit.

    If you get to your 1GB limit then anything you upload will automatically be resized to fit within the limitations of the free storage.

  • I think I've worked out why car insurance is so expensive

    Image courtesy of ZoofyTheJi

    Car insurance is pretty expensive. And getting more so year-on-year.

    I’ve just renewed mine and although I’ve gone another without any claims or indeed anything happening that could affect my insurance, it’s gone up. In an ideal world you’d expect the opposite.

    So, let’s just see how I got that insurance.

    I went via Quidco, as I could get cashback from MoneySupermarket.com. MoneySupermarket.com put me onto Hastings Essentials. Hastings Essentials are a broker and, on the paperwork they’ve provided, state that my insurance is with “Advantage Ins”. If that’s the Advantage Insurance I think it is, they’re described as “an independent marketing organization that delivers products and services from insurance companies to its member firms in the Independent Brokerage Distribution Channel.” In other words, another broker. At some point at the end I suspect is an insurer. Somewhere.

    So, here’s the chain…

    • Cashback website – Quidco
    • Cashback comparison site – MoneySupermarket.com
    • Broker – Hastings Essentials
    • Broker – Advantage Insurance
    • Insurer (we assume)

    With each takings they own cut, is it any wonder how much we’re paying? Sadly, I don’t save any by going any more directly – the Hastings Essentials quote is no different if I go to their website or via MoneySupermarket, so I may as well make use of the £20 cashback I’d get from Quidco.

    Of course, there are some who shun cashback and comparison sites – Aviva and Directline for example. However (and try and work this one out) their quotes were astronomical compared to what I got elsewhere.

     

     

  • Powermat – great idea, shame about the range

    Powermat is a company, and range of products, that allow you to charge your electrical gadgets via conductive charging – that’s the same technology that most electric toothbrushes use, where charge is sent to the device without having to physical plug it in.

    Instead you buy a “mat” which does the charging and each device has a special case or replacement battery compartment which accepts the charge.

    It’s a US company but UK versions of their products are available. Indeed, their prices are quite competitive right now with massive price drops on many of their products.

    But.. and there’s a but… their range is rubbish. If you don’t own an Apple or Blackberry you’re likely to be out of luck. They also support the Nintendo DS and DSi and 2 Android phones. The Apple iPod Touch is supported but not the latest generation and in the case of the Android phones, both are US models and don’t appear to be supported in the UK at all.

    I contacted them via Twitter to ask if they had plans for a receiver for the incredibly popular Samsung Galaxy S 2… they didn’t.

    So, it begs the question – “what’s the point?”. Well, unless you have a phone named after a fruit.

  • Amazing deal on Samsung Galaxy S II

    My mobile phone contract is expiring soon and, in the middle of a house move, I’m trying to find ways to reduce outgoings. At first I was looking at getting the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, as I knew that was reasonable affordable. However, for the same money I’ve now, amazingly, found the Galaxy S II.

    The details are as follows…

    [box]Network: O2

    Contract: 24 months
    Phone cost: £29

    Minutes: 100
    Texts: 500
    Mobile internet: 500MB[/box]

    If all of that seems acceptable to you then it’s available from Dial-a-phone for just £21.50 a month.

    And here’s how to make it even more affordable.

    1. O2 provide superb home broadband – I use them myself. They’re already competitively priced but if you have a phone with them you get a further £5 off per month. And they do home phone as well for just £7.50pm (inc. line rental). Combine all 3 and it will really save you some money.
    2. Use Quidco. Dial-a-phone are currently giving £50 cash back. If you also decide to switch broadband as well you can get up to £110 cashback from them.

    So, in my case I’d get the Galaxy S II and home phone and broadband (on their all rounder package) for £44 p/m. It would cost me £29 up front for the phone but I’d also get £140 cash back from Quidco.

     UPDATE: The handset price is now £69