25 MAY 1956, Page 7

A FRIEND OF MINE recently went into an electrician's to

buy a bayonet plug so that he could connect his electric razor with the light socket. He found, however, that with the bayonet plug he was compelled to buy an ordinary two-prong plug as well, which was fastened to it by a piece of thin cord. When he complained about this he was told that up to some six months ago bayonet plugs could be bought separately, but now the manufacturer would only supply them together with the two- prong ones. I wonder how general this type of restrictive prac- tice is. It seems to me a flagrant example of the consumer's interests being totally ignored by the producer. This is certainly a type of case that the Monopolies Commission should take into consideration.