Pricecomparison.je was launched in October 2020 by the Jersey Consumer Council and lists the costs of dozens of household goods, indicating the cheapest, in each of the Island’s major food retailers. The figures and details were included in the organisation’s annual report.
Carl Walker, JCC chairman, said the launch of the site was one of its major achievements last year, in spite of its workload ‘doubling’ due to the coronavirus outbreak.
‘We remained committed to the promises we made in our 2020 business plan, most significantly the launch of our price comparison app and website.
‘Originally formed to monitor supermarket pricing in the wake of Brexit, but also now allowing government and other organisations to examine the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and prices, the service has become a key part of consumers’ lives, with more than 3,000 downloads and 8,500 website users to date. I look forward to this service continuing to grow, with the appropriate resources, so that it can expand well beyond food prices.’
The report said that a third of last year’s queries related to the coronavirus outbreak.
It added that much of the extra work during the early stages of the pandemic involved working with the Island’s supermarkets to ‘appeal for calm’ to prevent panic buying, helping ensure food reached isolating households and helping consumers with holiday cancellations.
‘We became the catalyst for the establishment of the “Bag of Basics” shopping scheme, which used taxi drivers to deliver an agreed bag of basic food goods from Alliance supermarket, for a set price to Islanders’ doorsteps. Several hundred were delivered in total.
‘The JCC helped many in our community receive the cash refunds they were entitled to [from cancelled holidays], as opposed to complex credit notes or vouchers,’ it says.
Another key issue highlighted in the report was the decision of Jersey Gas to increase its prices by 6.5% in May 2020 ‘with no customer notification’.
‘Throughout the year, many Jersey Gas customers contacted us voicing their concerns and detailing their experiences, some unable to afford to turn on their heating.
‘We unsuccessfully attempted to set up a meeting between Jersey Gas and the government, with the council acting as an intermediary to progress the stalemate. However, there was little appetite for such a meeting by either party.
‘We continued to collate Islanders’ experiences with the intention of sharing them with Jersey Gas in the first part of 2021,’ it says.
The report also criticises the decision of the Treasury Department last year to lower the de minimis limit [the threshold below which goods imported to the Island are not taxed] for GST from £240 to £135.
