Beauty products and books are big rip offs here. www.lookfantastic.com and amazon.co.uk are the way to go.

Well yes Mark! It was THE Florian Café on St Mark's Square, but even so.
Coffee here? Can't remember off hand- will check next week.

As someone who is wont to hurl herself onto the train at the last minute thinking I can buy a ticket from the conductor, I am steaming about the new SBB surcharges for tickets bought on the train. Currently Sfr. 10.- and set to rise to either Sfr 70.-, 80.-, or even 90.- from December.

If I am not mistaken, from the change of the coming December timetables, one can no longer buy tickets from the conductor.

DE link

It was only a few PLN or CZ Kr to pay the conductor to buy a ticket onboard in Central Europe, I note.

Don't forget about thebookdepository.com

Yes, that's exactly it--thanks for the link. Semantics eg you can still buy, but at a hefty mark-up. And basically you're being criminalized if you get in a train with the intention of buying a ticket on board.

I'm just upset because I headed for Flumserberg last weekend and there were long lines at most of the ticket machines. By the time it was my turn, I realized the keyboard on the ticket machine I had queued for was broken eg I couldn't buy a ticket. Now running perilously close to when the train was leaving and not wanting to wait another hour for the next, I headed for the train and bought from the conductor. He was much aggrieved at having to sell me one, and gave me the spiel about from December it would be Sfr. 90.

__________________
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Sometimes, it is worth it to get a GA, although a GA owner still does not escape the pesky Nachtzuschlag ( one might have to pay more than once per late night depending on the route ), thankfully this rip-off will go away ( I think so ) from this December.

The changes at SBB are also related to some court decisions, such as when they lost on appeal to a Sri Lankan Ranil Jayanetti about the excessive charges / fines.

DE link 1

DE link 2

This has been the case for a while in the UK (£20 or single fare to the next station, whichever is more expensive) and it took me ages to get used to it. I'm from the Isle of Wight where you can still buy tickets from the conductor at no extra charge. On the mainland (laugh if you must at this term), you not only have to buy your ticket before boarding, but also hold onto it until you're out of the station. I remember the day I moved to Spain. I bought my train ticket (Lymington Pier to Bournemouth) and chucked it in the bin as I got off the train. A woman at the ticket office insisted I produce it (bear in mind it was a new rule anyway and it absolutely isn't the case where I'm from). When I couldn't, she proceeded to treat me like a criminal and I had to pay a £20 charge. She was a complete bitch about it, but unfortunately ignorance is no excuse.

The last time I went to Geneva airport, I bought my ticket from the machine and it only gave me a receipt, no ticket! I had to board the train, otherwise I would've missed my train, so my strategy was to find the conductor as soon as I boarded, explain the situation to him and show him the time on the receipt. I was expecting the worst, but he was extremely nice and told me not to worry.

This isn't really about rip-offs, but yeah. Erm... so how about the price of fish?

Within sell-by dates, or over?

Don't you know cyber-bullying is mean? It wasn't over when I bought it... (and it was cheap...).

I swear I'll never mention it again, lol. It is just that I met the bus driver yesterday

Well, I feel a bit vindicated about the whole SBB ticket vs fine hoopla: there's a prominent editorial written by consumer advocacy group Konsumentenschutz in today's Neue Zuercher Zeitung that says passengers shouldn't be criminalized for buying on board (infuriatingly, no weblink though). I'm sure it's not going to change the SBB's opinion, but I feel better.

As you wont get a criminal record unless you get a fine of 5000 chf, I don't think you have much to worry about.

At a guess..... probably 3 - 4 times what it is outside CH?
Coffee in the Jura, that is

Is this really true? I'd have expected they'd still be making more than their variable costs per unit?

Sure in Africa the very latest AIDS drugs are available, a weeks supply would cost more than a years earnings. There is no way they can pay anything near the cost.

not so much worried about a criminal record as I am steamed about the idea of paying an exorbitant fee simply for the privilege of purchasing a ticket--something I see as a key part of their service proposition.

Forgot my ticket yesterday on my way from Swiss Romande to Rappi and asked to buy a new one from the ticket controller. Struck up a conversation with him and 2 other travellers precisely regarding this upcoming change.

Today it is a SFR 10.-- legitimate and common supplement.
Tomorrow (December) it will be considered a SFR 90.-- fine.

A difference to be noted.

Grindelwald bus.

Bussalp to Grindelwald, 25 min drive, 22 CHF ONE WAY!!!

Turned a 3h hike into a 5h one as we refused to pay this exorbitant amount.

My old doc charged 15 fracs when i called to ask a question..