11 March 2008

BigPond, dodo and Optus DSL Ripoff

ADSL services in Austrlia, are amongst the slowest and dearest in the world. This can mainly be attributed to the stranglehold that monopolies have.

Though the three companies do not offer the exact same service, an approximate comparison is made within what each advertises.

Compnay - Data - Speed - Cost

Bigpond - 25 GB - 1500/265 - $109.95

dodo - 30 GB - up to 2000 - $69.95

Optus - 30 GB - up to 20M - $109.99

There are other companies that offer similar services, eg.

40 GB - 1500 - $80
30 GB - 512 - $49.95

24 GB - 1500 - $59.95

Large companies prey on the vulnerability of the user, and over inflate the cost of their services.
When questioned they justify this by saying that they are the biggest and best in the business.
Other companies can offer a similar service that is of cost benefit to the user.

Source : allphones mar 2008, Whirlpool forum: broadband Choice.

10 March 2008

Government Social Security Fraud

Corporate and white collar crime is generally viewed as a lesser crime than one of a physical nature, although the consequences could be greater. This can be supported by the lenient sentences handed out to the perpetrators. Corporations or individuals used as scapegoats are generally the perpetrators.

It is naive to believe that any government is immune from corruption. It’s quite often the contrary. History has proven this time and again, and it is more evident in certain governments / cultures, whilst in others it is kept secret.

A document titles ‘Secret Monies’ outlines the methods used by the government to obtain monies fraudulently. For example if the government has an approximate 10 million people on social security benefits, the payments issued are stagnated throughout the working week. This equates to approximately 2 million people per day. If the average weekly payment is $200, then the daily rate is approximately $40. Therefore an approximate amount of $80 million, per day can be issued out.

Normally if Monday is a Public Holiday, then any Social Security forms to be handed in are usually done on the Friday before, eventuating in payments made the following business day, that being Tuesday. In this case, Labour Day Holiday (Monday), forms were not requested to be handed in on Friday, so the next working day being Tuesday is when they must be presented. eventuating in payment made on Wednesday.

The government has kept your money for an extra day, and in the example made above, can hold interest made on $80,000,000 for its own purposes. This is one example the contents of the document mentioned previously. This is more than enough grounds for a class action law suite.

If an individual has committed an offence against the government, they will be convicted, and therefore excluded from certain functions / roles in society.

There are no repercussions for fraud committed by the government against its people, only excuses.

09 March 2008

Foxtel Call Centre Work Ethics

The rate to the worker is in the magnitude of $17 and $19 /hr for full-time and casual, respectively. In addition to this, a commission of approx. amount of $2 /hr is rewarded if certain KPI’s are met.

The company, naturally requires its workers to perform, i.e. punctuality, code of conduct, etc. If a worker for, example is a minute or two late, they will be issued with a notice. If a worker is late back from lunch, then their commission is forfeited. The commission is not lost from that hour, as one would expect logically, it is not lost from the whole day, which would be harsher, but rather it is lost for the whole week. Therefore if you are late from lunch a couple of minutes you are penalised approx $100.

This is corporate bullying at its finest. Whilst questioning a recruiter about this policy, their response was that it was fare. Since they recruit for the company, their judgment cannot be viewed as impartial. The classic response is that if you don’t like it someone else will.

A Call Centre position at Foxtel, is not rocket science, nor hardly a career move, but rather a means to an end.

Foxtel hire over 20 candidates every fortnight. If Foxtel has 2500 seats occupied, then an approx. turnover of staff is 25%.