Originally Posted by
cordelli
It's usually referred to as the "downtown price guaranty" which isn't usually a real bargain either.
I couldn't believe in whatever airport I was in last (think San Francisco) that the vending machines for 20 ounce diet cokes was $3, each.
Obviously, they don't have such a guaranty there.
Even with the guarantee, you can still be ripped off. At EWR a couple of months ago, my wife purchased a one litre bottle of water for $3.79. It was displayed for sale right under a sign from Westfield (a company that manages the concessions at EWR) guaranteeing fair prices. I called Westfield and eventually exchanged telephone calls and email with one of their managers. Their written response (in part) was this:
Comparatively speaking, the price of the liter bottle of water ($3.79) is consistent with the price of water in the terminal on a “per ounce” basis ($.114 ). That price is also consistent with our annual pricing survey that we conduct with area malls and Manhattan. The price is actually closer to Manhattan pricing; it is higher than area malls.
We look to make sure that our Food and Beverage Tenants are pricing consistently among each other and charge what the rest of the marketplace charges. I agree with you that the price is high and I personally don’t see it as “fair”. I also agree that saying “fair” pricing is probably not the best message we can convey to our customers as we monitor the pricing in the terminal.
That led to the next question. Where did they find the outrageous prices that they claimed to be "fair" at the airport. They told me this:
For our price comparisons we used Food and Beverage establishments at The Empire State Building, and shops in the vicinity of 8th Ave. between 42nd and 43rd. We also used 5 malls in NJ, SI mall, and local Newark Merchants. The shopping service we used did find water priced at $3.79 in Manhattan.
In other words, they surveyed the area, found the highest prices they could, allowed the merchants to charge those prices, and called them, "fair." Calculating prices of large containers on a per-ounce basis is also rather deceptive IMHO.