Being Pro-active

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We all are accustomed to being told as such, but does that mean we should accept t?

They don't like it when they get the same attitude back from us, they try sleazy tricks like rewards points to try and encourage our loyalty but do little to actually earn it.

 

[Judge]

They don't like it when they get the same attitude back from us, they try sleazy tricks like rewards points to try and encourage our loyalty but do little to actually earn it.

Rewards points= more purchases
More purchases=more debt
More debt=more lucrative interest payments

Especially when the rules of finance dictate that such uncollected debt can be considered an asset on paper. Plus when they use their own capital to buy back their own stock to make it appear like paid-in capital entries to lure in even more shareholders on a less-than-honest premise. Whatever it takes to bolster a balance sheet.

 

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Rewards points= more purchases
More purchases=more debt
More debt=more lucrative interest payments

I'm one of the few people in this country not signed up for any of those rewards schemes, what they really offer in percentage terms for a discount is so pitiful that it's not worth it, especially when the whole point of getting you to sign up is so that your name, email address and phone number can be shared with marketing companies. What they offer the customer as a return is a pittance compared to what they get paid by marketing companies.

I've also only ever taken out finance once in my life, and that wasn't because I didn't have the money but because I was young enough to still dream of owning my own home and for that I needed a credit rating.

 

[Mary Terry]

We were headed down that same path for a long while but things have been reversing in the last decade or so. But we have a very different political climate here compared to the US.


This was specifically one of the things that upset me about the responses I received from Coles, the contempt shines out above everything else. I think the fact that I noticed that they hadn't refunded my money upset them. They are not in any way apologetic or remorseful, instead it seems like they're upset that someone noticed.

I'm sure Coles would have immediately noticed if your check bounced, your credit card was denied, or you had insufficient funds in your account to pay for the groceries.

 

[Judge]

I'm one of the few people in this country not signed up for any of those rewards schemes, what they really offer in percentage terms for a discount is so pitiful that it's not worth it, especially when the whole point of getting you to sign up is so that your name, email address and phone number can be shared with marketing companies. What they offer the customer as a return is a pittance compared to what they get paid by marketing companies.

I've also only ever taken out finance once in my life, and that wasn't because I didn't have the money but because I was young enough to still dream of owning my own home and for that I needed a credit rating.

Reminds me of an incident I ran into recently. Yet another third party entity solicited me through email (if not a spoofed email addy and outright scam) suggested my landlord enrolled me in a third-party service that forwards all rent payments paid on time to the credit reporting agencies, to bolster renters credit ratings. All at a price added to our rental statement at $8.99 a month.

Fine and dandy if you're struggling to raise your credit rating. Which profoundly doesn't include me at all.

Worse still to inform my landlord to "opt me out" of such a program. Only to find out what I suspected. That they knew nothing of this, and treat it as a scam. For me to do nothing. Seems everyone is trying to make consumers "bleed" whether on a legitimate basis or not.

The interesting thing is that technically this business *appears* to be legitimate operating in another state. And of course I reminded them that apart from notifying our State Attorney General's constituent services representative, to also consider notifying the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a potential matter of interstate fraud.

 

[Outdated]

I'm sure Coles would have immediately noticed if your check bounced, your credit card was denied, or you had insufficient funds in your account to pay for the groceries.

Yep, and this is a company that posted a $1.2 billion profit last year. Might not sound like a lot compared to the US but we only have a population of 26 million.

Yes, Texas has a bigger population than Australia.

 

[Judge]

Yep, and this is a company that posted a $1.2 billion profit last year. Might not sound like a lot compared to the US but we only have a population of 26 million.

Yes, Texas has a bigger population than Australia.

I was just looking at a map of Australia recently, thinking about how the Northern Territory is so sparse in population that it can be administrated from Canberra. But then to consider perhaps for other states as well, such as Western Australia. Enormous distances and areas with little towns let alone people.

Fascinating....kind of like Canada as well.

 

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thinking about how the Northern Territory is so sparse

Population for that entire territory is 250,000.

that it can be administrated from Canberra.

It does have it's own parliament because it really is too far away from Canberra and trying to administer it from there really wasn't working. Decisions made for tropical and desert climates made by people that have only ever known a temperate climate are always going to be problematic. Most Australians have only ever seen the Northern Territory from 35,000 feet on their way to Bali, including most of our politicians and bureaucrats.

 

[Judge]

Population for that entire territory is 250,000.


It does have it's own parliament because it really is too far away from Canberra and trying to administer it from there really wasn't working. Decisions made for tropical and desert climates made by people that have only ever known a temperate climate are always going to be problematic. Most Australians have only ever seen the Northern Territory from 35,000 feet on their way to Bali, including most of our politicians and bureaucrats.

Exactly. Distances and also topographical considerations...bringing new meaning to the term "remote".

Even in the 21st century. Reinforcing that Oz is truly the world's last frontier other than perhaps our deepest oceans.

Ironic to think that our metropolitan area alone has nearly twice that population.

 

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Fascinating....kind of like Canada as well.

 

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Exactly. Distances and also topographical considerations...bringing new meaning to the term "remote".

Even such a seemingly simple thing as speed limits. Most states here have a state speed limit of 100 or 110 kph but the NT never used to have a state limit. They always argued that they couldn't introduce a state limit as they're not a state. Eventually the feds threatened to cut all road funding unless they introduced a state limit.

The trouble is the size of the territory. With no speed limit you could drive from Darwin to Alice Springs in one day. So they introduced a speed limit of 130. You can still get down to Alice Springs in a single day but now it's a very long day. 1600 Km.

 

[Judge]

Even such a seemingly simple thing as speed limits. Most states here have a state speed limit of 100 or 110 kph but the NT never used to have a state limit. They always argued that they couldn't introduce a state limit as they're not a state. Eventually the feds threatened to cut all road funding unless they introduced a state limit.

The trouble is the size of the territory. With no speed limit you could drive from Darwin to Alice Springs in one day. So they introduced a speed limit of 130. You can still get down to Alice Springs in a single day but now it's a very long day. 1600 Km.

Sounds like how Nevada used to be before the mid 70s.

 

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Sounds like how Nevada used to be before the mid 70s.

Except for size. 1000 miles and there's only 4 towns worthy of the name. Alice Springs, Tenant Creek, Katherine and Darwin. Darwin's the capital of that whole region and it only has a population of 120,000.

 

[Judge]

Except for size. 1000 miles and there's only 4 towns worthy of the name. Alice Springs, Tenant Creek, Katherine and Darwin. Darwin's the capital of that whole region and it only has a population of 120,000.

Yep. You could lose a place the size of Nevada within the boundaries of any state in Australia in comparison.

Alice Springs...."A Town Like Alice" starring Brian Brown, Helen Morse and Gordon Jackson. First time I ever heard of this such remote spot in the middle of Australia.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081949/

 

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I just went looking for a statistic that would give people a better idea than numbers. We have a cattle station, Anna Creek Station, that is bigger than New Hampshire. It's bigger than 5 of your smallest states. And it employs 8 people.

 

[Judge]

I just went looking for a statistic that would give people a better idea than numbers. We have a cattle station, Anna Creek Station, that is bigger than New Hampshire. It's bigger than 5 of your smallest states. And it employs 8 people.

Most people here would probably regard domestic populations with only three figures as being "quaint".

A single digit? Unimaginable...perhaps even impractical if not simply unsupportable.

Then again I suppose one could look up the population of "Scotty's Castle" in Death Valley.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Montana didn't have a speed limit until the federal government required it. Wyoming is apparently our least populated state with under 600,000 as of 2023.

Yes, Australia looks better and better. Probably somewhere in the north where I can grow mangos. And where there is water.

I recently joined a "club" for purchases from a company which claimed I could get free shipping if I joined. Turns out the "free shipping" is really on a credit redeemable only at this company and I have to submit a copy of my sales receipt (really? this is all on line) and then WAIT for up to two weeks and then remember to go into my "points" section to redeem it. All the ads said "free shipping" and none of the bs involved to get something that was only a credit.

Another company boasted "hassle-free returns" but before I could get a return authorization, I had to take a video of my complaints and upload to a certain site and then they said it didn't upload so I had to do it again, etc. etc. I finally got my money back but it was nasty.

 

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Then again I suppose one could look up the population of "Scotty's Castle" in Death Valley.

Scotty's Castle - area 1778 acres.
Anna Creek Station - area 5.8 million acres.

 

[Judge]

Scotty's Castle - area 1778 acres.
Anna Creek Station - area 5.8 million acres.

But how many people actually reside there (Scotty's Castle) year round?

It's a furnace in the summer. Quite literally. Even a handful of people to remain there all the time strikes me as a form of insanity. Then again, what's a consistent high in degrees for all the huge deserts of Australia?

 

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I recently joined a "club" for purchases from a company which claimed I could get free shipping if I joined. Turns out the "free shipping" is really on a credit redeemable only at this company and I have to submit a copy of my sales receipt (really? this is all on line) and then WAIT for up to two weeks and then remember to go into my "points" section to redeem it. All the ads said "free shipping" and none of the bs involved to get something that was only a credit.

This is a common trick here as well, they make you jump through so many hoops that most people will just give up but they're legally advertising a discount.

And mangoes are a huge industry here, they grow in a large area of the country. Here's a map that shows our highest producing areas. Water can be a bit problematic here though.