Paying the price

In spring 1993 MORI was commissioned to find out whether people think the prices they pay for water, gas, electricity and telephones are reasonable or not. The findings were compared with similar surveys in 1987 and 1990. Overall, more consumers now think prices for these household services are unreasonable compared to three years ago. The biggest shift in opinion is about water bills. One in four customers now feel that water charges are very unreasonable - a rise of nearly nine per cent since 1990. A similar proportion are unhappy with telephone charges, a negative view that has been fairly consistent over six years. There has been little change in people's views about gas and electricity prices since 1990 although satisfaction since 1987 has dropped slightly. (author)