More Smartrider issues

Ok, since the introduction of Smartrider I can only imagine the problems other people have had but here’s one little example.

I have been hit with multiple dodgy default fares in my time using the system.

One appears to have legitimately been my fault – more on that in a second – but the others not. Apparently they are produced by a double tag (I think that’s what they told me) so that when you think you’re tagging off, you actually tag off then immediately back on… the result, boom – default fare.

As for the legit one – it seems I may have failed to tag onto the system (probably distracted) so when I got off the train I thought I was tagging off, but because I hadn’t tagged on – it registered as a tag on. Then, boom – the next morning, default fare. Now, I accept that if the above facts are correct its my fault, but its a problem that didn’t have to happen. Under the old system there were a few occasions when I had to run for the train. If I didn’t have time to validate my multirider when I got on – I did it when I got off. Now, technically that’s illegal but Transperth still got their fare and I got to keep my integrity. Fair compromise in my books.

However, there is no way to do this under Smartrider. And, what’s worse, the default fare does not represent fair payment in 99% of cases. Most people (IMHO) using the system would be commuters making pretty much the same trip every day. Almost none of them would be coming from the last zone on the system. So, a default fare does not simply recoup the lost revenue – it actually acts as a penalty by charging more than the cost. Again, IMHO, most of the people I know getting hit with default fares (including myself) did it out of inadvertence. The fare dodgers aren’t going to tag on or off the system at all!

Now, onto my actual point. I think I’ve gotten hit with a default fare approx. every six months. I ALWAYS complain about it and, to be fair, Transperth have always been good about fixing the problem. But how many other people haven’t bothered? Two guys I know of in my office for sure. So, not only is the default fare set so high it isn’t about cost recovery anyway, it is also an additional revenue stream because it can be relied upon to produce multiple incorrect default fares of which only a portion will ever be refunded!

Plus, if you include my previous complaints about the dodgy way that they get the money in advance but don’t pass on the discounts unless you hand over your bank account details and the authority to take… it seems pretty clear that the Smartrider system isn’t about convenience or efficiency…

Australian Politics

So, with a Federal election looming and all signs pointing to a Labor landslide what, my friends, does J S Mill make of it all?

Firstly, we have seen in just the last couple years three Labor State Premiers resign while essentially at the top of their game for personal reasons. Gallop in WA – depression, Bracks and Beattie in Vic and QLD respectively – each for family reasons.

A few things come immediately to mind out of this:

1. Apparently, all appearances to the contrary, life as a politician is not all fun and games. Apparently it can be somewhat stressful. Who would have guessed?
2. I wonder if these gentlemen, looking back, wonder if the personal sacrifice involved in their choice of careers was worth it. Was it worth the strain on the family?
3. Is there a lesson in any of the above for our Prime Minister re: quitting while you’re on top?

This brings me to the crux of this post… should Howard go?

Ok, all the polls and commentary seem to suggest that there will be a massive swing to Labor at the next election, possibly wiping out the Libs and all of their stongest leadership candidates if the swing stays on and uniform. This might well mean a decade or so or Labor government.

I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing – but I do have reservations:

• It will mean a ALP clean sweep across all governments in the country – State and Federal. I’m not sure this is a positive thing.
• It would also render the Opposition largely ineffectual one would think – with most of its strongest leaders gone and numerically insignificant. I also don’t think this is a good thing for our democracy.

And the truly amazing thing is – Rudd has managed to achieve all of this by trying to be as close to Howard as possible except on basically two issues – Workchoices and Iraq. Now, these aren’t small issues – but they are easy ones. I don’t think huge numbers of people will change their vote based on our fairly limited role in the Iraq war, so presumably all the other millions of Aussies are switching to the ALP because of Workchoices…??? Or do I give them too much credit?

For me personally, I am aware of some people that have faired poorly out of Workchoices – but only through the avenue of news/”current affairs” type shows.  I don’t personally know anyone who is worse off. In fact, in my experience most people are pretty happy with their contracts and their work conditions seem to be improving. In fact, around here (Perth) one can’t leave the house without seeing employee wanted signs in almost every window. If people can’t find a good job now with reasonable conditions they probably never will.

So, back to the original question – should Howard go? My view is that he’s the best leader the Libs have – so they need to stick with him. I can’t see people responding any more positively to any of other other aspiring leaders…

Tell me if you disagree.

Global Warming? Why am I so dang cold?

Ok – I’ll admit right up front that:

1. I am not a climatologist, and
2. I am a sceptic – about global warming and many other things.

Some people say that unles I am 1 above and not 2 above I have no right to have an opinion on global warming (hereafter GW). I do not subscribe to that view. I actually criticised  the police for shooting someone shooting up the East Perth Station with a shotgun in front of a cop. He said that until I was in those cops’ position I had no right to criticise. While I am not entirely unsympathetic to that view – by this standard only  ops could judge other cops, only politicians could judge other politicians, only judges could judge other judges (oh, hang on a sec’).

Ok – back to GW. Is the world getting hotter? I am reliably told that it is and I can accept that. Has the earth been both hotter and colder than it is today? Again, I am reliably told yes – and I accept that. Is the current temperature outside the normal range of temperatures over a reasonable period (I would have liked a long term, say the habitable lifespan of the earth)? I don’t know this one – I have heard both yes and no. If the increase in temperature is out of the ordinary, is it caused by humans? Again, this one could go either way. It is only really on the last two questions that I am sceptical. And much of this scepticism comes from my innate distrust of doomsayers and my contrarian nature.

So, about the big GW. What’s my position, I hear you all asking… I don’t really think it matters whether you believe in anthropogenic GW – we all have an obligation to look after our home. I am of the view that we don’t have the right to mess up our planet simply because we can. I believe our planet has been given to us in a sacred trust and we have an obligation to use it with care and not abuse it. I think our occupation of the earth is a form of stewardship where we have it for a short period, then pass it to the next generation in a state hopefully not significantly worse than how we found it and hopefully better.

Of course, we all need to live and that involves consumption etc. But we should be careful to ensure our footprints are smaller rather than bigger and we use resources with care.

Now, I ain’t no greenie, tree-hugger, touchy-feely type – but I try to do my bit. I recycle, I compost food and garden waste, I have a bore and am on septic. I have a dual flush toilet and a low-flow shower head. I use instant gas for my water heating. Ok – sure I could be better, but who couldn’t?

Real estate blues

Ok, I bought my house a few years ago. It is located in an ok suburb not too far from the city. It has glimpses of the river from the front yard and is a stone’s throw from Curtin University here in Perth. It is also on a reasonable sized block.

It quite a nice little house and has been our home for some important years in my young family’s life. Unfortunately, it is only a three bedroom one bathroom and is now clearly too small for my expanding family.

I (like I suppose several other families) thought when I bought my little house that in a few years’ time I would keep that house, use the equity I had built up in it, rent it out, and buy a bigger house slightly further out from the city. I was reasonably confident that, in my chosen suburb, I would see moderate capital growth and would never struggle for renters.

What I experienced instead was massive capital growth – but this growth has been spread across the entire Perth metro area. So, while my house has increased in value by approx 400% so has every other bleeding house in Perth.

This means there is no way I can possibly keep my existing house – no-one I know could afford the repayments on the type of mortgage I would need to take out if I tried. I have to sell my house and use the equity to buy back into the market. Now, I have a good job and my pay certainly isn’t bad – my wife is a stay-at-home mum to our four children (ages 18 months to 7 1/2), but our income would only pay for less than half the borrowings we’d need.

Now I am thinking about moving and have been looking around. For the price I could get for selling my house I simply can’t find anything that I could live in.

I am perfectly prepared to move slightly further out but not to the boondocks and not to a hovel. Why can’t I trade in my small-ish but well situated home for a slightly bigger house further out??? Maybe I’m too fussy. Maybe I need to lower my expectations or move further out or maybe just push the finances and borrow more, or maybe send my wife back to work and let strangers raise my children… Is that what I need to do?

At least we’re in the real estate roundabout. I worry what my children will do – will incomes have caught up (or prices fallen) by the time they’re old enough to worry about it?

Top 5 things I hate about the train

Ok – as previously mentioned I’m a daily commuter here in Perth.

I catch the train to and from work every day – same station to same station.

In the course of my travels over the past few years I have developed some major issues with my chief irritants. Here they are:

5. Parking – when I first started catching the train if I got to my station around 8am I could get a parking spot on the street directly opposite the station. Over the years the parking spot I get has steadily gotten further away. Then it went into the station car-park, nowadays I’m lucky if I can snag a spot on the verge! Where are all these extra people coming from? Also, people never park in the bays properly! On the street I often see people parked straddling bays. In the station carpark there are no lines marked but how hard is it to park parallel to the person next to you and not too far away? I often see cars parked almost a car-width apart. For bad parkers my penalty is – their cars should be crushed into a cube!

4. Inconsiderate sitters – some people, once they’ve got a seat, won’t stand for anyone. Now this is only mildly annoying most times (I always stand unless the train is half empty – I can do with the exercise! but when there are little old ducks swaying in the corridors what sort of deadbeat refuses to stand. Or worse, pretends they can’t see. And when they’re in the priority seating its even worse. For those people I prescribe a heavy-duty enema – that’ll get them off their bums!

3. Bikes on trains – I dislike bikes on trains at any time of day by please don’t bring your bikes on peak hour trains! Its against the rules and its is obviously inconsiderate. I have seen people jamming bikes into 5:15pm pea hour trains that are already jam-packed! How retarded must these morons be? The only light in this bleak category is I have witnesses the odd train-driver announce over the p.a. that the train won’t leave the station until the bike gets off! My modified penalty for bike interlopers - manacled and forced to run behind the Australind.

2. Smoking on the platform – again, another mindless and egregious breach of the rules.There are signs all over pointing out that you can’t smoke on the platform. And yet these in-bred half-wits still insist on inflicting their noxious fumes on the rest of us. I can’t even begin to tell you my hatred of this. For these people my punishment is summary crucifixion and even that is too good for them.

And my number 1 pet peeve on the train – people who refuse to move out of the doorway! What the hell is wrong with these people? Are they really so insecure that they can’t bear the thought of being more than three feet from the doors. How many times have I seen a train pull up to the station, the doorway so packed you can’t force your way inside, but the corridors just outside the doorways completely empty! Do these people enjoy being squished together like sardines? Are they hoping to cop (or receive) a grope? What is going through their pathetic tiny minds? I don’t get it and it drives me bonkers. I’d understand if they were getting off at the next stop but the same people I have to push past to get into the train I have to push past to get off. I’ve been catching the train for years – I have always moved right away from the doors – and I have NEVER missed my stop because I couldn’t get to the doors. My penalty for these security-blanket clutching Linuses – I curse them to endless train rides with their noses pressed into the armpits of unwashed homeless people.

Ok – that’s my top 5. I haven’t bothered to include the obvious bo/bad breath or the like. Any pet peeves to add?

Pay peanuts – get monkeys?

Ok, just a brief one this time I hope.

The news lately has been full of commentary about politicians’ travel entitlements and now the pay increase they’re getting.

I should reveal I worked in the office of a State Government Minister for a period – this gave me a slightly different perspective on this issue.

Sure, its easy to bash politicans and all their perks. No one likes a politician – they, like lawyers (which very many of them are), are so very easy to hate – until you really need one’s help.

As for travel – let’s face facts, Perth is an extremely isolated city. Some travel is inevitable. Now – I’m not saying that all pollies’ travel is justified. I am, however, saying that some travel is necessary and inevitable. In some circumstances face-to-face contact is crucial. There are some things that need to be seen, experienced or felt to be properly understood. If the travel IS justified then whinging about the cost is idiotic. Don’t whine about the costs of travel – the only thing you can complain about is whether or not you believe the trip and its purposes are justifiable. If the trip is legit – the reasonable costs must be paid.

Now, politician’s pay. Many (not all) accept a pay cut when moving into politics. This does not deter them. This fact alone would tend to suggest that the pay peanuts = monkeys equation has some holes in it. It also ignores the many additional entitlements received by politicians – and I am referring to both the monetary and non-monetary aspects. For some, the additional motivation is about community service. For some its about profile, and I dare say for some it is about power. All of these things weigh in the balance. But fundamentally I don’t think politicians are underpaid or over-paid. I believe that whatever they are paid they have little right to complain. Accepting a career in politics should not be a purely mercenary transaction. I believe that politicians should be paid fairly and I acknowledge that it can be a very difficult and demanding choice of occupation. But I’m not sure that it should be viewed as a career – politicians serve at the will of the people, not the politicians choosing.

Pay them a reasonable amount for the work they do – then let them decide what is really motivating them to serve. I would hazard a guess that so long as their pay remains at a level that allows for a comfortable standard of living the same people will continue to seek re-election and the same types of people continue to seek election.

Anyone else have a view?

Spare the rod?

I think that becoming a parent changes you in more ways than just the obvious.

I used to be a hard-hearted bastard. I still am – but some things really get to me that never used to. For example, I hate reading about abused children. I used to be able to read that stuff but now it really gets to me. The hard thing is that I still have to read it. I can’t just ignore the stories but I know that I’m going to hate it while I’m reading it.

Now, a few days ago there was a story in the newspaper about a guy pleading guilty to the assault of his step-son. He beat this child so hard this kid had bruising all over his back. Did this guy go too far – absolutely. Was this an example of smacking gone wrong? Absolutely not!

This was never about smacking – this was about an adult who could not control themselves taking out their frustrations on a helpless child. What always makes me angry is when abusive parents say they inflicted the beating because the child wouldn’t settle down and/or be quiet! Do they seriously think that inflicting a beating on a child is going to settle them???

Now today I read about another step-father who literally beat his 5 year old step-son to death. The comments out of that man’s mouth made me furious.

A few things spring immediately to mind

1. where were these children’s mothers and why weren’t they protecting their children,
2. why expose these children to abuse males and not leave when they show signs of abuse
3. why are men taking on children that they obviously don’t want
4. why are men committing these horrific crimes on the most innocent members of our community, and
5. what can be done?

To do nothing is unacceptable. What type of society are we living in where this can happen?

Then, two days ago we read of a baby abondoned in a garbage bin and found at a waste recycling facility in Perth. Is this what we’ve come to where a baby can be discarded like trash.

I am almost moved to tears to read these stories. I read the words and cannot understand how this could happen. I look at my children and wonder how anyone could do such things. I listen to the stories and can only think that those adults could have never loved those children.

I think of my own upbringing. I don’t consider that I was smacked – I was beaten.

As a result, I always swore I would never smack my children. Yet here we are, I’m the father of four children and I do smack. I will give my children a count to three to stop their behaviour – then I will give them a smack on the hand or the bum with an open hand. I’m never happy that I have to smack and I often regret it afterwards – but I don’t consider my smacking to be beating… but perhaps my children see it differently?

About « A Piece of My Mind

About « A Piece of My Mind

Ok, so I’ve got opinions, strong, crazy mixed-up opinions. And I don’t mind sharing them. So sue me – no, actually I’d prefer it if you didn’t.

Just another rip-off

Ok, maybe I’m the only person in the world who feels like this but does it seem to be getting harder and harder to get any sort of service out of anyone – particularly large utility companies – without feeling like you’ve just spent the night incarcerated with an enormous guy named ‘Bubba’?

Let me explain further.

A few years ago I went around to each of the major banks to enquire about their transaction accounts. I finally agreed to open an account with a particular institution that offered the following:

1. Unlimited transactions, for
2. A monthly fee of $5.

Now, this wasn’t the cheapest package but I liked the freedom of the unlimited transactions and the certainty of the one fixed monthly fee.

Just a few short months after I opened that account I received a letter in the mail from my new bank. ‘Dear Mr Mill’ it began – turns out my bank had decided to take advantage of the unilateral variation clause in its standard terms and conditions to completely vary my account features. Now I had a limit on the number of my transactions, my fixed monthly fee was to be increased by 60% and additional transactions would incur further charges.

Recently the telecommunications company that I had been with for about 8 years sent me a bill with a whole new fee – a ‘non-direct debit fee’. Turns out that I was to be charged an additional $2 per month (plus GST) for the inconvenience of me not wishing to hand over my bank account details and authorise them to take whatever they wished! Apparently they had sent me a letter about it – they had also decided to use the unilateral variation clause in their contract to substantially alter the terms of our contract (I was, at that time, locked into a contract with them).

What is the deal with these unilateral variation clauses? Why can’t I all of a sudden say to my phone company – ‘oh, I know we have a contract but I’m going to pay you half as much for twice as many calls’. How far do you think I would get with that? And is there any limit to the extent of the variation? Let’s say you enter a 1 year contract with a mobile phone company – the deal is you get 100 calls for $1 per month. Can they then unilaterally change it to be 1 call for $100 per month? At what point is it such a fundamental change that the contract is over?

Finally, I have two credit cards – both of them have limits. If my credit card provider decides to let transactions occur on my account (admittedly by me) in excess of my agreement with them that their is a certain spending limit – why do I have to pay a fee? They were the ones who allowed it to go over the limit! They could have saved both of us the hassle by simply declining the transaction. It seems to me that setting a limit involves keeping to the limit or having transactions declined. In any event – I cannot see how the bank actually incurred $30 of costs as a result of them allowing me to spend more than we’d agreed. And, if it is not a fair estimate of costs – its a penalty and not enforceable!

This actually happened to me a month ago. Turns out I had overspent on my credit card and I was hit with an over-limit fee of $30! (Actually they hit me with two overlimit fees of $30 but I only found out about the second one when I called). So I called them up and told them I wasn’t going to pay it. They seemed a bit non-plussed by that. They explained what it was and why it had been charged – and I stated again very clearly that I didn’t care what it was, I wasn’t going to pay it! At that point they agreed to credit my account for the two fees, but I still had to pay the full amount (I wanted to pay the figure minus the fee) and then I would receive the credits. Now, good that it worked out ok. Good on the bank for seeing reason – but again, how many people are hit with these fees and just pay them? Why are the banks even trying to impose fees that can’t be justified and aren’t enforceable.

Now, where does this story end? As for my phone provider – I left them as soon as my contract ended, I left my bank just after they changed the fees, and I got my refund on my credit card – but I may yet get my revenge. My former phone company sent me a small final bill – I’ll happily pay it once they refund my non-direct debit fees!

Does this drive anyone else crazy?

***UPDATE: I’ve just remembered another one – when I joined my video library I used to have to return the video before midnight the next day. Then it became 10pm, now its 6pm. They didn’t send me anything out letting me know of this change, they didn’t refer to any part of my membership agreement that allowed this – they just changed the ‘please return by’ bit on the videos!***

Dumb-rider

Ok, I’m a commuter in Perth, Western Australia.

Everyday I catch the train to and from work – 1 zone - one stop if I catch the express, 4 stops if I don’t.

I have been catching this same train for about three years now. 

Everything was working pretty smoothly – until one day they announce a wonderful new system that would revolutionise the way we travel on public transport… Smartrider! A new smart-card system where you load credit onto your card, tag onto the system when you travel, tag off the system when you arrive and it automatically calculates your fare and deducts it from your balance.

The old Multi-riders were to be done away with – Smartrider was the way of the future. It would make all our lives sooo much better and easier. So, like a chump, I thought I’d change over (wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t – they eventually forced you to by getting rid of the whole multirider system).

Smartrider is marketed to the public as “new, fast and efficient. So, why wait when you can get on board today?”

Let me tell you – it may be new but it is neither fast nor efficient and waiting is what you will constantly do.

Under the old multirider system I never had to queue at a validating machine, I got my bulk purchase discount for a 40 ride card and could pay for it with a credit card, I never got charged for rides I didn’t take and I never got hit with default fares for failing to tag off the system (more on this later).

Now, with Smartrider, I have to queue every day at a validating machine when I get off my train. The machine is sometimes temperamental so some people have to swipe multiple times. And the system requires double handling – one swipe on the system – one swipe off the system. This must be half as efficient as the old system that just required one swipe.

Now the only way I can get my full discount is to hand over my bank account details to Transperth (and not a credit card either – must be a savings account) and allow them to debit my account whenever my balance falls below a certain point. You used to get a discount for bulk puchasing in advance – now it doesn’t matter if you load $10 or $10 million in advance onto your card – no full discount without handing over your bank account details.

I have been hit twice for default fares – and both times it was an error. When I queried the charge both times I was told it was a mistake caused by a double scan – I got my refund but how many people have been stung and didn’t bother complaining or simply weren’t sure?

I have a friend who tagged onto the system one day – waited 30 mins for a train then caught a ride home with a friend in his car. Tried to tag off the system at the same station – hit with a default fare! How is that right?

The new system is a big step backwards.

Anyone else have any similar problems?