Why I Don't Like Soul Mobile!

Before I joined Soul Mobile I was an Optus pre-paid customer. I was an Optus customer for about six years and never ever had any trouble with the service. Last year I was convinced to give Soul Mobile ago. So i signed up for the $49 cap plan and got a free phone (LG Shine).

The phone is great, the phone company is crap and quite honestly hopeless. I opted to transfer my number along to them because I didn't want to change numbers. I had quite a problem with this and it involved alot of mucking around. Soul Mobile have the worst customer service I have ever encountered. I have literally been on hold on the phone for over an hour waiting for someone to help me.

So today, I currently have a working mobile phone that can make and receive calls and sms. That's all! Trying to set up GPRS and MMS is a complete joke. I have emailed Soul Mobile countless times explaining that I need them to send me the details so that I can manually put the settings into my phone. I get the same response everytime, that is, go to the LG website and you are able to download the settings there. This is not true. At least not for this phone.

Another thing I hate with Soul Mobile is that you can not easily check how much of your cap you have spent. With Optus you simply called 555, pressed 1 or something and it would give a read out of your actual remaining balance. Soul can not manage to do this. There is no actual dedicated balance line. Nooo, instead you have to call up customer service, wait for two and half minutes while it goes through the prompts (which you can't skip) and then finally you get a read out of your balance which actually isn't your actual balance as apparently it doesn't include calls and sms's from the last 48 hours! What a joke!

So to anyone reading this considering signing up to Soul Mobile, DON'T! They will waste your time and money. Instead opt for a service that is more reputable and has been along for a while, like Vodafone and Optus Mobile. Soul are the pits! Their customer service is dreadfull! Would love to hear your Soul horror stories.

Luxury Car Tax Increased

Any car priced over $57,123 here in Australia is considered by the Government to be a luxury vehicle. This is correct in most cases. However in certain cases it is not correct, such as people movers and vehicles that are needed to transfer the diabled and wheelchaired. The previous Government slugged luxury car buyers by putting tax of 25% of the RRP on top of that price.

The Rudd Government has recently announced that they will be increasing this tax from 25% to 33% for vehicles delievered after July 1. So if you want a luxury car, buy it now!

This tax has been described as unfair and unjust by car buyers and the car industry alike. The fact is consumers are already paying GST on cars, so why should they be taxed again? The coalition has threatened to block this legislation in the Senate. It will be very interesting to see what the outcome is from this.

Cigarettes, Ban Them From Being Sold in Supermarkets?

We all are aware that smoking is extremely bad for our well being and health. Let me first start by stating that this post is not an attack at the individual smokers themselves but rather the major chains who are selling them.

There are two initiatives that I would like to see the major supermarkets implement. The first initiative is the most desired. These initiatives will greatly encourage people, particularly young people to not smoke. These initiatives will also greatly improve the health of not only smokers, but people who are around smokers (chain smokers).

Firstly, although unlikely, I would like to see cigarettes being completely removed and not sold at the major supermarkets at all. This would cause great opposition from the major supermarkets as a big chunk of their profits actually come from the sale of cigarettes. However, the benefit of this action would be invaluable to the health and well being of our society. It won't stop smoking. It will restrict it however at those locations where they are not being sold.

The second option would be for supermarkets to be allowed to continue to sell cigarettes but all profits or a percentage of the profits from the cigarettes should be donated to a charity etc such as a cancer research foundation. To be quite honest, I'm surprised a initiative like this has not already been implemented by the Government. Here in Australia, the Government has recently put a 70% tax on alcoholic type 'soft' drinks. I think they need to address smoking as well. It is killing more people than alcohol.

We all know smoking is unhealthy and there are no benefits gained from doing it. So lets do something about it. The major supermarkets are profiting from your addiction. I don't believe it is right.

Let me know what you think of these ideas and if you have any suggestions of your own.

Woolworths Are Evil!

Selfish, Greedy, Evil. These are a few words I use to describe Woolworths. This posting is more personal rather than informative than my usual postings. I have something to admit, I have worked for the company for the last three and half years. After this period of slaving away for this company, I have lost all respect I have for Woolworths.

Woolworths only care about two things: making a profit and keeping the shareholders happy. They will try and get money any possible way they can. They couldn't give a damn about their employees. What they should realise is that we are the ones at the bottom of the chain who are bring in their record billion dollar profits year after year and what do we get in return, nothing! The company has no staff focus at all.

On top of their lack of appreciation for their staff, they are continually trying to over dominate the market by purposely squeezing out small businesses. They do this by putting their prices as low as possible. On occasion some items are Woolworths are priced so low that not even they are making a profit on those items, in fact they are incurring a loss. This is a tactic the company uses to squeeze out small businesses.

I encourage everyone to stop shopping at Woolworths and Coles and to support smaller businesses who are hurting the most. By continuing to shop at Woolworths and Coles, you are supporting them and encouraging these companies to continue what they are doing. Personally, I couldn't care less if people don't shop there. I'm still going to get paid at the end of the day. I certainly have no incentive to encourage people to shop at Woolworths. If I was earning a commission on every sale on the other hand than my story would be different.

Would love to hear what you guys think of Woolworths and even Coles too!

Costco, Coming Soon to Australia!

Finally the news we have been waiting for, another competitor entering the Australia retail market. Watch out Coles and Woolies. Costco is likely to open their first store early next year in Melbourne with further plans to build another two in Sydney and on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

This news couldn't have come at a better time with the continuing rise of grocery prices and the unfair monopolization that Woolworths and Coles have had over the the market these last few decades. Costco is more than likely to intensify competition here in Australia. Costco is the worlds 12th largest retailer so there is no doubt over its incrediable buying power and ability to provide consumers with cheaper goods. It will be big stab for Woolies and Coles but will cause even bigger hardship for smaller retailers who are unable to compete with these mega companies.

One interesting thing with Costco, at least in the US and Canada is that in order to be able to shop at their stores, you must pay for a membership. In the US this is about US$50.00. However this membership fee is defiantly worth it as consumers are likely to make back that amount and more in savings on their first shopping experience at a Costco store.

It will be very interesting indeed to see what affect this has on Woolworths and Coles. One thing however is for sure, it is certain win for consumers.

For more detailed information,check out this article.

Free Money! *Highly Recommended*

There are times when i'm completly amazed by how readily available money is in this world. All though this is a hard concept to grasp, unlike oil, money is readily available to those you seek to find it.

I recently signed up to a rewards program, Pureprofile. I generally log on everyday (that's how addictive it has become). Everytime you log on, a page will come up asking you to click the 'Next' button. Everytime you click that button you earn money. Usually there will be a small advertisment above the button. You will also get offers to complete surveys where you will get money for your time. Once you have reached the minimum amount of money, you can select the redemption section where they will transfer your earnings straight into your bank account! Believe me, the money you make accumulates quite fast as I found.

It doesn't cost a cent to join. It is actually free money, for taking a minute out of your day to click a few links! I've encouraged all my friends to join. It's nice to get a little bit of extra cash put into your bank account. Check out the site for more information and to join up.

Pureprofile.

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