Thank you. It seems that an expat can’t make any sort of negative comment about New Zealand without someone saying “go back home then”…. yep, well done.
That’s not what we have found overall. The cost of food, clothing, building materials… and most other stuff is actually much cheaper in the UK (and rest of Europe).
I’m really not having a go at NZ, but it is a fact… and it is a little infuriating at times, especially when trying to download stuff and keep seeing the “you have come to the end of your 1gb packet…. You will be billed for another $$$” and the download speed, well..
joker97: everything here is a rip off. the market is small, the service providers are few, there's not enough competition.
It's obvious you've never spent any time in the UK if you think everything here is a ripoff.
NZ$40 for a 15 minute train journey from Heathrow into London? NZ$12 per hour to park a car in Central London?
Yes there are some silly prices like that…. But also, you can fly to France/Spain/Amsterdam etc for next to nothing… doesn’t make sense when you think about it. My wife and I flew from the Midlands to France, and believe it or not, the coffee we had when we got there cost more than the flight. The flight was £1.99 (about $5)… we then flew on to Barcelona, which cost about £20 if I remember correctly.
You can't compare the train ride from LHR to central london. Auckland does not have an equivalent. Although , it is tricky to make comparisons when salaries are much higher in the UK and tax structures differ too.
But, basically the high cost of broadband is due to our remote location in the se corner of asia. And, the population density in the UK is large reason. Shorter cables service larger populations.
joker97: everything here is a rip off. the market is small, the service providers are few, there's not enough competition.
It's obvious you've never spent any time in the UK if you think everything here is a ripoff.
NZ$40 for a 15 minute train journey from Heathrow into London? NZ$12 per hour to park a car in Central London?
hmm good point. i was thinking of the car seat belt locking clip ( a metal thing) for car seat - $20. *any decent but simple toy - $50 *was getting a quote for greenacres how much to tidy my okay 'low maintainence' garden "$75/hr- your yard will be a full day's work) - needless to say i'd decided i'd do it 'one day' (yes i mow the lawn every week and weed every month but the neighbour's bushes are growing over the fence and flaks are big arrgh)
*flights from chc to auk - $500 if you book too late *calls from mobile $1/min (i can call singapore for 4c/min) - unless you're with 2d of course *decent mobile phone $1000
etc etc
but yeah ... pros and cons eh. car and house prices are not bad compared to overseas
Thank you. It seems that an expat can’t make any sort of negative comment about New Zealand without someone saying “go back home then”…. yep, well done.
You're welcome. I didnt say go home, you did. Comment still stands. Price is high for many things here. Grass is greener, air is cleaner, food tastes better and there are less people than most western countries. I came back from Hong Kong and realised that with all their advances in technology and access to high speed internet, you cannot find a clean public toilet.
Try finding a clean public toilet in wellington at 10pm on a friday night. The city council locks them all. The BP (opposite tepapa) shop assistant had an out of order sign on the door and didnt know where another one was within walking distance - other than "try a bar" which makes me feel bad because i find it easier to purchase a box of gum and use the toilets at a service station rather than going to a bar and purchasing something - otherwise i feel guilty.
Population density, economies of scale & purchasing power, geographical location...
A small ISP in NZ might have something like 20k subscribers, a small ISP in AU might have something like 200k subscribers, a small ISP in the UK might have 2 million subscribers.
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