Archive for the 'Consumer Fraud' Category

Why can I still not get ADSL2+ via Internode / Agile in Northcote exchange?

Published April 6, 2009 Consumer Fraud , stupid greedy white men Leave a Comment
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Look at this sorry history for Agile (aka Internode’s infrastructure parent company), who’ve clearly been trying to get their ADSL2+ infrastructure into my Northcote exchange for more than 18 months:

http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/viewexchange.php?Exchange=NCOE

Internode, like all ISPs, must first decide if they have a ‘business case’ for installing their own ADSL infrastructure into an exchange.  Only then can they begin what is clearly an arduous process.  Internode decided on 5 September 2007 that they DID have a business case, and from that point on, have every incentive to do so promptly.

TWO DAYS LATER they changed status to ‘Removed’, and based on what I’ve read for years on this issue, were presumably denied ’space’ in the exchange by Telstra.

15th April 2008, more than 7 MONTH later, they had another crack at it – based on what change in circumstances I don’t know, but I’m guessing at some stage Telstra said “OK, try again, sucker”.

Then, not until 12th January 2009, ANOTHER NINE MONTHS LATER, did it move from In Build-Waiting (for other competitors to gain glacial sequential access to the exchange), to In Build.  Hoo-fucking-ray.

If you’re wondering why, have a read of Simon Hacket’s (Internode’s MD) answers to many common questions about this shambolic state of affairs caused largely by Telstra (but only for competitors, Bigpond seem to get clear fast access to exchanges when they need):

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=631758

Who knows how much longer I’ll have to wait for it to become active, before having to run the gauntlet of the DSLAM running out of ports due to the sudden exodus of Internode customers from the Telstra DSLAM to the Internode DSLAM.  Or perhaps it’ll transpire like it did when I lived in Windsor/Prahran until late 2005, only to see the Agile DSLAM there come online within a few month after I’d moved elsewhere.

I’m simply astonished that this crap has been allowed to happen for so many years.  Where’s the ACCC in all this?  Still asleep?  They’re clearly not looking after my interests on this issue.

Telstra obtained the vast majority of its copper network, and the exchange buildings they all connect to, on MY DIME, and those of my parents & grand-parents (and you & yours) BEFORE they were progressively privatised.  It is PUBLIC property (that should have access granted by an independent body) – or at least should have been deemed so, and that is where this whole farce had its genesis.  ‘Cuz a privatised Telstra with its network owned intact was supposed to be good for competition, right?  Wrong again…  Fucked over by powerful vested interests, again…

Apple Software Updater (for Windows) is still a deceptive turd.

Published March 27, 2009 Consumer Fraud , stupid greedy white men Leave a Comment
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‘Bout a year ago there was a hullabaloo when Apple decided to force their Safari web-browser onto anyone who had other Apple software (for Windows) installed – like Quicktime & iTunes (which bazillions of Windows users have because they own iPods), by automatically pre-selecting it for installation amongst updates to the already-installed software.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realise what they were aiming for – ordinary computer users (especially Windows users) don’t usually pay much attention to the details of such prompts, they’ve been dumbed down (by necessity) to just click yes to software update offers.  Next thing you know, you’re using Safari instead of whatever browser was the default before.  Nice one Apple.  As a sysadmin for several client’s networks, this is a friggen PITA at best – very few ordinary Windows users *ACTUALLY* invited you in.

In response to the justified outcry, they added a facility to exclude any offered item from current & future update offers.  Seems fair, right?  But to use said feature, you first have to UNtick the ones you DO want, TICK the ones you DON’T want, then drill into a menu to say “don’t offer me these updates again”, then then REtick the updates you need.  Are you fucken kidding me, Apple?!?

But wait, it gets worse – there’s yet another major disingenuous aspect to this new ‘feature’:

Apple Software Updater remembers your selections only on a per-user basis, not – as it should be – a system-wide basis.  So if a different user is in control when the scheduled check for updates next runs, all the unwanted software is offered again, ticked on for installation, by default.  Great… :(

I also suspect that when any product moves up a full 1.0 version increment, it’s again offered, despite previous instruction not to.  We’ll see very soon when Safari 4 comes out of beta…

You don’t fool me, Apple.  FUCK OFF with your insidious worming your way into my client’s systems.  It’s hard enough to administer flocks of “dumb users” without their default browser being switched out from under them (which can have major consequences for some sites – particularly intranet sites in business that require specific browser brands/versions), or MobileMe Control Panel or Bonjour being needlessly installed.

The deliberate cunning behind how Apple Software Updater for Windows works in its fine detail is a clear display of Apple’s uglier side.  Shame on you Apple, it’s just plain deceptive & dishonest, and very Microsoftish.  Mozilla worked their butt off to get Firefox to where it is in market share, and they earned every % of it honestly.

Optus – Credit where credit is due!

Published November 29, 2008 Consumer Fraud , stupid greedy white men Leave a Comment
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In response to my tiraed to Optus, I received an SMS:

“Hi, received your letter.for coverage issues on iphone plz contact iphone tech support on 133713.have credited $59 as g/will.-Optus, Chintu”

Well, short but sweet.  Thankyou Optus, the credit is appreciated.  I’ll call that number next week and see what news I can get on my speed & coverage issues.

techydude

Optus 3G sucks

Published November 20, 2008 Consumer Fraud , stupid greedy white men Leave a Comment
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My complaint emailed to Optus 13/11/08.  They manually acknowledged receipt and advised they were forwarding it to the Small & Medium Business department responsible for my account.  No further reply as yet…

———-

” I wish to register my complaint about the 3G data performance I am experiencing on my iPhone 3G since I commenced using it on the Optus 3G network a few months ago.

At best I achieve an average 470kbps down / 270kbps up, often with latencies in the several THOUSAND ms – that’s several SECONDS, which is utter ridiculousness.  Often, like right now, i get ~120kbps/80kbps.

And too often I have no 3G connection at all.

My data speeds did not change at all with two firmware updates, whereas 3G phone call reliability did improve markedly, and other networks are achieving ’somewhat’ better results, which suggests this is not an iPhone issue, but a carrier capacity issue.

This is not “3G”, it is not the product’s implied performance (yes, I noticed your sales documentation furiously avoided mentioning anything remotely resembling an assurance of any particular bandwidth performance), it’s barely better than GPRS.

Clearly your 3G network is at a similar level of maturity as your GSM network was until the late 1990s, but little do your customers or prospective customers know they’ll be stepping a decade into the past when they “upgrade” to Optus 3G until they’re locked in for a year or two – something you neglect to mention in your sales material.

Because of this my iPhone 3G is rendered much less useful than it needs to be, and I’m also paying for a lot more bandwidth than I could ever hope to use in a month at these appalling speeds.

When I read in the IT press that Optus had achieved the global distinction of having the poorest 3G performance, I knew my patience for the normal early adopter teething issues had gone on long enough.  Even then it took me at least another month to draft this complaint and still no improvement or communication.

You’ve been naively optimistic either that your 3G network would cope with the iPhone 3G (and its emerging ilk) era, or that there won’t be a major customer backlash.  When did Optus become a classic Corporate Psychopath?

I’d estimate you’re verging on being in breach of the Trade Practices Act as regards “fitness for purpose” and all the ‘class action’ fun that suggests; and as an Optus customer of over 13 years whose been pushed too far this time, that’s a bandwaggon I’d be only too happy to jump upon.

However I’d rather hear some good news, that you’re on top of the problem, a bucket load of new capacity is on the way and we should be through this within the next few months, oh, and sorry for the disappointment, here’s some of your wasted money back.

But so far you’ve been silent.  Were you hoping I just wouldn’t notice?  Time to ‘fess up, Optus, or that $40M you’ve supposedly lost because of the iPhone 3G will only be the start. “

techydude

Ribena – 4 times as deceitful

Published May 7, 2007 Consumer Fraud , stupid greedy white men Leave a Comment

Ribena’s damage-managementPR department have taken to the TV to try & salvage any semblance of respect they might once have had (albeit undeservedly). In an evening 30s ad-spot, GlaxoSmithKline Australia’s casually dressed MD, John Sayers, strolls through healthy-looking rural scenery to apologise for screwing their customers.

Their own product’s labeled nutritional advice didn’t stand up to the rigours of two New Zealand high school students’ science class experiment performed in 2004 to confirm the veracity of the product’s labeled nutritional advice, and thus drew their attention to other aspects of the product’s label – a long-standing claim of “4 times the vitamin C of oranges”.

These two high-school girls in fact found, using standard high school science lab equipment, that these Ribena Ready-To-Drink products had very little vitamin C, with the competitor products they expected to fare poorly actually containing 4 times that of Ribena (which doesn’t sound too hot either).

The girls approached Ribena directly by mail, but were ignored, then after a follow-up phone call were brushed aside with the glib response that the ‘4 times’ claim referred to blackcurrants vs oranges, not Ribena vs other juice products. So they look it to the media, and NZ’s TV ONE consumer affairs show “Fair Go” put it to air in late-2004, thus bringing it to the attention of NZ’s Commerce Commission (not to mention GSK themselves for the second time). Despite this, in 2005 Ribena proceeded with high profile advertising, including television, perpetuating its “4 times”claim.

Over two years later, the NZ regulator announced its findings a few months ago. GSK pleaded guilty to 15 representative charges (80 actual) of misleading consumers in both the nutritional information, as well as the claims of “4 times the vitamin C content of oranges”, ordered to pay $217 500, amend its nutritional advice to reflect reality & stop claiming the “4 times” bullshit.

GSK’s TV ad, and the accompanying www.ribenathefacts.com.au, has Mr Sayers claiming that “(our) testing method used to determine the level of vitamin C was unreliable” (how can one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world be less reliable than a high school science lab?), “and we were unaware of this at the time” (except for the 2005 ad campaign following the bad rap you got from ‘Fair Go’?), and that ‘vitamin C levels had deteriorated over time and didn’t meet that claimed on the label’. Who knows for how long Ribena’s Ready-To-Drink product quality has been “deteriorating”. Apparently they’ve now removed all references to vitamin C & amended their nutritional advice, and made amends in the NZ popular press.

Does anyone really buy the “we didn’t notice there was almost no vitamin C in the product we heavily advertise as having so much vitamin C” bullshit? GlaxoSmithKline’s Ribena fraud is a textbook example of Stupid Greedy White Men hard at work with their heads up their arses trying to make that extra buck. When any company (or individual) seeks to defraud its own customers, they create a climate of mistrust amongst consumers in general – one in which 14-year-olds, inculcated with such scepticism, seek to verify the labeled nutritional advice of innocuous fruit juice drinks, but find the truth lies elsewhere, thus reinforcing the climate of mistrust.

The end result? A company essentially drags itself through the mud & damages its own genuine good potential as a supplier of nutritional products, and takes us all a step closer to life as a consumer being such a risk/rip-off that we must test products ourselves – what a fracking drag! :-(

p.s. when i first saw the TV ad, hearing Sayer’s statements escalate, i was actually waiting for a punch-line like “but no!  our products in fact have FIVE times as much vitamin C!”.  but no such punch-line was to be heard.  see!  i can be an optimist, it’s just that i’m perpetually prepared to be disappointed by large corporations.  i wonder how that came to be…

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