Disability water bottle makers people slam UK shop selling it for £136 as ‘outrageous pricing’
US makers of water bottle for people with disabilities criticize UK retailer selling it for £136 as ‘excessive pricing’ after MoS investigation
- Giraffe Bottle makers slam British retailer NineLife for ‘exorbitant markup’
- MoS research revealed an excessive price that people with disabilities have to pay
A US company selling a hands-free bottle to wheelchair users in the US for £50 has attacked a UK retailer for raising the price to an exorbitant £136.
Chicago-based Oak Hill Brands, which created the Giraffe Bottle, accused NineLife of Harrow, north-west London, of “excessive pricing” following an investigation by the Mail on Sunday into the rip-off prices people with disabilities are being charged for mobility aids.
The plastic water bottle features a wheelchair attachment and an extendable straw – an essential tool for many severely disabled people who struggle to move their necks to reach shorter straws.
Oak Hill reached out after the MoS’s investigation was published last week, shaming companies for driving up prices on mobility accessories that make the lives of disabled people easier.
Before publication, we contacted NineLife, who claimed that the Giraffe Bottle had actually been reduced from its usual price of £224. We asked how it could justify such a price, but received no reply.
US-based Oak Hill Brands, which made the hands-free Giraffe bottle (pictured attached to a wheelchair) and sells it for £50, accused British company NineLife of ‘outrageous pricing’ for raising the price to an exorbitant £ 136
Giraffe bottle (pictured) it has a long, flexible straw and can be clipped to a wheelchair, allowing disabled people to drink water without assistance
Oak Hill condemned the £136 price tag as ‘exorbitantly high’. Spokesperson Alex Zebutis claimed there was no justification for charging that much, and that would likely make “a very high profit for almost no work.”
He added, “We can’t stop them from doing this as they sell outside of the US on their own site.”
We reached out again to NineLife, which also sells high-protein sports supplements, vitamins and healthy foods, and offered it the chance to respond to Oak Hill. Again, it did not comment.
Mr Zebutis suggests potential customers use an alternative UK supplier, The Active Hands Company (activehands.com), based in Solihull in the West Midlands, which sells Giraffe bottles from £54.95 excluding VAT, which many people with a disability do not have to pay.
Disability prevents around two million people in Britain from drinking water easily, according to research by the charity Hydrate for Health.
‘Dehydration is a leading cause of falls and infections and contributes to tens of thousands of hospital admissions each year,’ says Mark Moran, the charity’s CEO.
“These problems are completely preventable and the NHS should prescribe drinking aids.”