An update from the ABC News website regarding panic buying.
And on the subject of whitegoods rip-offs, what a shame that Choice did not check out the Choice Community website.
Kogan’s fridge/freezer rip-off makes the 3 rouges in the Choice article look like mere amateurs.
And as for that grub in SA with the 1,500 rolls of toilet paper and the 150 bottles of hand sanitizer, what a crying shame that the SA/Vic border is closed.
We expect more from our Banking Institutions but are people able to really do much with many institutions owned by the big 4 so would a move be enough to get out from under them?
Then there is the lack of movement of many away from poor behaving Banks because of the way their finances are structured eg paying off loans, or even just a lack of momentum to make a change.
It is great to call them out, and I certainly retweeted the CHOICE info, but I think we need greater impetus from our pollies particularly the Federal side to actually & really change the legislation to bring behaviour into line with community expectations. But I feel the Big Finance are just too big too powerful too involved for our legislators to actually do anything really meaningful in this area. Tinkering at the edges or makeup applied to make it look better is just failure and this is what we mostly see even after the rorts etc have been exposed, time after time.
If they went further with the banks, they may be afraid we would expect them to address their own behaviours. Oh wait, sorry. Probably a lost cause 
I still think the idea of ranking the big 4 banks can be counter productive. It suggests to consumers that they’re the best/only options that offer a full range of banking services. Many independent banks exist that offer comparable options.
Providing an average ‘independent bank’ score could be a way to remedy this without blowing out the table to a full size.
I do expect them to address their own failures but my expectations vs reality are vastly different as is my hope for really meaningful change in the Banking Industry…I just keep hoping and trying to carefully choose who gets my votes and support but to date I’m just mostly disappointed. I’m also very disappointed in the Banking Industry and wish we could still be paid in cash but everything needs a Bank Account these days, so they know they really have us over a barrel and they really don’t need to change much eg CC interest rates, fees and charges etc etc etc.
To date I have never heard/read any positive comments about Kogan. Comments I have read include Kogan overcharges and they have a very poor reputation for service.
In the modern economy all the Banks need to be compared and rated. There are big international Banks in Australia now and there are smaller independent Banks. To give consumers the best information all the Banks need to be compared. Not only during Covid-19 but every time Banks are compared.
Companies like Livingstone should be boycotted by consumers, medical practioners, Hospitals and Aged Care Facilities etc.
It is only by voting with your feet that these unscrupulous businesses will learn.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Isnt this just a case of big retailers trying to create panic by keeping their shelves empty even though they claim they have plenty of stock. Retailers know that consumers will keep returning to check if there is toilet paper and be tempted to buy something else each time.
Is it? How would you distinguish this motive from their stated one of trying to moderate the excessive and silly behaviour of a few so that the rest will still have some?
There is always the claim that ‘they’ (supermarkets in this case) stand to make a profit so obviously they would do it. This assumes two things; firstly that they do make a profit in the long run out of panic buying, which includes the assumption that there is little cost to them of empty shelves and secondly that ‘they’ have no principles at all, feel no risk of public exposure and will always find the most devious plot to fleece the buyer. Neither of these conditions have been demonstrated.
Before the mob is after my blood for defending ‘them’ let me say that supermarkets do go in for all kinds of tricks to make you buy more and I would believe that they are doing this one - if only there was some evidence.
Welcome to the forum!
To add to what @syncretic said above I know there are logistical limits on supply.
Even presuming there is ample supply to account for panic buying, supermarket warehouses physically don’t have the capacity to deal with much extra demand. If supply totally stopped they’d be empty in a week because you just can’t centrally stockpile that quantity of items.
For this reason I suspect it’s not as simple as just ordering extra to their warehouse as their isn’t the space to put it. That leaves the only option as increasing delivery frequency, and I know my workplace experienced big shipping delays recently as the supermarkets were literally overwhelming our logistics provider.
Of course they could just have more trucks and warehouses, but consumers are highly sensitive to supermarket prices so that wont happen.
I think it is well past time that Coles and Woolworths took control of panic buying during essential items shortages. They could start by taking a look at Costco’s strategy. Costco currently have a one item limit per membership card per day on toilet paper and paper towels, which I think should be extended to every two days.
Both Coles and Woolworths have loyalty cards where they already track card members purchases. They just need to link the members card to the member address and a personal ID number or drivers licence number. They could issue new temporary cards in store and post out the official card. If a member says they have lost their card they can apply for a new card to replace the lost loyalty card.
A side benefit is Coles and Woolworths would increase their loyalty card membership.
This should stop people who que up daily and greedy families who all live at the same address all queuing up to purchase the same essential items. It would also reduce the number of people in store (improved social distancing)
While Costco can do this as a shopper needs to be a member to make purchases, the Coles and Woolworths scheme are voluntary and not all shoppers will be members. One could easy bypass any Coles/Woollies membership limits by saying they aren’t a member.
Personally, I would not want Coles/Woollies to make membership mandatory as (this would set a precedence for all retailers and) I would not want to join every program available in any shops I visit, just to allow me to make a purchase.
This is not in their interest. These stores make money selling products and not withholding them from their customers. A manufacturer could reduce supply to create an increased demand which would allow them to push up prices.
A supermarket also doesn’t make money from panic buying of non-perishable items or those with very long shelf lives as all it does is bring forward future sales to today. In another words, they sell more today at the expense of sales in a month or few months. In the long run, the peaks balance out the troughs and the net total long term sales are similar.
There are businesses that are asking for donations to frontliners while marketing their business. It seems effective and they appear really helpful while in fact the motivation is for their own cause and not solely for the frontliners.
StaticICE is very useful for IT hardware price comparisons.
I have actually done pretty well with Kogan. I did have a problem earlier this year when I ordered a monitor and they never bothered to tell me it was out of stock until I chased the order, but overall they have been decent.
We rented a camper van from Maui operated by the THL company in Belmont Western Australia for five days. They refused to allow us to inspect vans to decide on the most suitable because of Covid risks. When we picked up the van they refused to come outside to brief us on the operation of the van which was quite complex because of COVID risks. Because of this we ended up with the wrong van and had no idea to operate it. How ever when we dropped it back they scurried outside to check the van without concern for COVID. It should be noted that at the time that WA had no recorded community transmission.
A bigger problem, is that they demanded that the van be returned at 2.30 pm some 19 hours early because of their reduced operating hours because of COVID. Usually a hire vehicle is rented on a 24 hour clock so the van was picked up at 9.30 am on Monday and we should have been able to return it on Saturday at 9.30 am. Not possible because of COVID. I tried to reason with staff and asked to speak to the manager who refused to come out of the office.
The van was not clean. They did not supply toilet deodoriser. The bed was too hard and too short for an average person. They insisted that the gas bottle be refilled which was impossible. It could have been swapped at any service station rather than replaced.
Hi @Dueller2007, welcome to the community and your first post.
This could be correct as businesses in most states are required to have a COVID Safety Plan in place. This plan is to protect both customers and workers within the company. We have one in place for our business and in Tassie, it is mandiatory if a company wishes to open again for business.
It is possible that they sterilise the vans between customers and allowing a customer access to any vans would mean the vans would need to be resterilised. I am sure that most customers would not want to inconvenience a business or impose additional costs (or time) on a business which may be struggling financially at the moment due to COVID.
Many businesses operate under reduced hours due to COVID. I assume you accepted the earlier rerurn time due to COVID before signing the rental contract. If you disagreed, shy did you sign and commit to renting the van as it is your decision to enter the rental contract and special conditions it curtails? Returning early due to COVID business hours would be considered a reasonable contract condition. The company may also need earlier return to ensure the vehicle is sterilised before the next customer. This wouls also be seen ss being reasonable as kne woukd expect their own rented van was also sterilised.
Just in relation to this, if one is emotional when dealing with counter staff then a less favourable response from the business is likely.
If one is calm, unemotional and rational, one could have tried to negotiate say a lower daily rate/half day refunded or other compensation at the time and before the rental contract was signed.
These are issues to take up objectively with the renting company.
Also before taking it further, was your experience tainted by your contact when collecting the van thinking you had certain rights which was not possible or practicable?
Things like toilet deodorants are very minor issue and beds are design limitations within the van and personal choices (some like hard beds, some like soft beds).
If the van was not clean, why did you accept its condition on its collection. If I was in receipt a filthy van in COVID environment, I would refuse it until it was cleaned.
Gas and fuel use replacement are also usually standard conditions when renting vans/cars. One may have to pay $20-30 for a swsp and go cylinder if this is the only option to replace used gaa. One also then has proof the gas bottle was full should a rental company try and charge for gas not replaced.
I agree with @phb’s comments. I would write to Maui head office with your complaints written out politely and objectively.
If you do write, you need to consider the following points too:
I agree that someone could have come out and maintained physical distancing to explain the various vehicles.
How do you know you ended up with the wrong van if you didn’t know the vehicles? Perhaps it was the right van but because they did not explain operation, you did not get the best experience from it you could have?
I think that this is more bad business practice, as the manager should have come out to talk to you whilst they maintained the physical distancing. No reasonable business would have a COVID safety plan which confines the manager to their office.
@Dueller2007 Welcome to the Community, I hope you find some help with your current issue and that you benefit as a member here into the future.
I have moved your post to this existing topic that covers poor business behaviour where the businesses are using COVID as an excuse for bad or poor behaviour.
As you read through the posts here you may find some useful hints in dealing with this sort of issue and I’m sure your experience will help others to avoid similar pitfalls. Thank you for posting.
Certainly writing a formal complaint to the Head Office of the business detailing the issues would be worth considering. Remember to avoid abusive comments as this can taint the response or lack of response you get and be factual not emotional. As it was a service as well that was provided you could also seek some compensation for the problems you experienced.The Australian Consumer Law allows this seeking of compensation.
" If you have a minor problem with a product or service, the business can choose to give you a free repair instead of a replacement or refund. When you have a major problem with a product, you have the right to ask for your choice of a replacement or refund. For a major problem with a service , you can choose to receive compensation for the drop in value below the price paid, or a refund."
"A service has a major problem when:
"Cancelling your service
If you have a problem with a service, take the following steps:
You can also lodge a complaint with your Office of Fair Trading, you can lodge a complaint with the ACCC. This ACCC complaint process often will not result in any action being taken by the ACCC unless a threshold of a number of complaints have been reached or the ACCC deem it important enough. You can also seek compensation through the Civil & Administrative Tribunal in the State/Territory where the problem occurred. There are steps you need to take before taking formal action via Fair Trading or Tribunals and CHOICE Help service may be able to give you advice about how to do this if you are a member of CHOICE (https://www.choice.com.au/topics/choice-help-service & https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/consumer-rights-and-advice/choice-help).
Before going down the path of seeking compensation I would advise getting some legal advice, there are many community free legal advice centres around and we do list some in the following topic that may be useful as starting points:
