Sir, – Dynamic pricing seems to be the fashionable new idea. Supermarkets are considering charging more when demand is high, and I’ve even heard whispers of hairdressers charging premium rates at weekends while offering bargain trims on dreary Tuesdays.
But why stop there?
Pubs could charge more for a pint the moment a man with a guitar starts singing Sweet Caroline. Football clubs could charge extra whenever the home team is unexpectedly winning. Airlines already seem to practise “emotional pricing”, where fares double the instant you tell someone you actually need to be somewhere.
And perhaps employers could join in too. Men cutting grass could be paid handsomely in sunny weather but only minimum wage when it rains. Golfers could be charged according to how often they say, “I usually play better than this.”
RM Block
Restaurants might introduce “family tariffs” where dessert prices rise with the temperature at the table. Meanwhile, gyms could offer dynamic membership fees – cheap in January when everyone joins, but ruinously expensive by February when only the committed souls remain.
At this rate, one fears marriages may soon adopt surge pricing: husbands charged extra for asking, “What’s for dinner?” between 5pm and 7pm.
Perhaps the only thing that shouldn’t be dynamically priced is common sense. – Yours, etc,
ENDA CULLEN.
Armagh.
