Parking at Dublin Horse Show

Two friends of mine have a stand at the Dublin Horse Show. They only run the business part time and they mainly just take part in big shows like the Dublin Horse Show. Last year when they got their exhibitors pack they also got a form to fill out for parking at a local cricket club, price €40 for the 5 days of the show. Fair enough, they used the park for the whole week. This year when their pack arrived there was no form so they rang the club and were told that parking was now €60 for the 5 days and that they would just pay €12 each day since they refused to take an advance payment for the full 5 days.

Everything was fine Wednesday morning, the first day of the show, €12 one days parking. Then Thursday they show up again and this time the parking had gone up to €15. When they quizzed the staff they were told that the management had just told them to charge the €15. I wont find out the price today since they are moving to another car park that is a little further away but cheaper.

Now I don't own a car and I just use public transport like the bus and the LUAS so I don't know if €15 is a fair price for a days parking, I think for parking in what amounts to a field it's pretty steep but supply and demand has kicked in. However I have to wonder at the rip off republic attitude that is so ingrained in people these days that they can inflate prices by 50% a year and then throw another 25% on top of the new price when people pay the first day. They have driven away customers by doing that but they will probably still get others who show up for the day and do not realize that they are being price gouged. They will still have a full car park and a fuller bank account but it does leave something of a bad taste. If you want to charge €15 charge €15 from the start, don't keep increasing the prices and see how far you can push the customers.

Update: Today they parked in Wanderers FC Rugby grounds just down the road and there is a free shuttle bus to the RDS. That cost €5 for a days parking. BIG difference.