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.

Earn Money with your Website

Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

If you own your own website that brings in traffic wether it is your own businesses website, a personal website, a website about your hobbies or even your own blog, then it is possible to make money from your site using Bidvertiser.

It's quite simple to get started, just click the link in blue above to take you directly to their site. Sign up and start copying the html or javascript code to your site. The code will put a small text based ad on your page. Everytime someone clicks on that advertisment, you get paid! The good thing too is that the ads are matched with your page content so that they won't look out of place.

Once you've earned a minimum of $10, Bidvertiser transfer the money you've made into your Paypal account, banking account or send you a cheque. I personally have done it on a few of my websites and it's worked quite well. It's nice to get some extra cash to help pay the bills.

Give it a go and let me know how it goes

Monetize your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Chaos.com Review

I recently purchased season two of Alias (Yes i know lol) on DVD from self described 'leading online entertainment store' Chaos.com. I should probably use another phrase rather than 'recently' as this was 34 days ago!

Okay I have to admit, I was pretty happy with the price ($16.99). Compared with other major retailers like JB HI FI where i've seen the product for just under $30. So in terms of price, i thought i couldn't go wrong. The site claims that it will take 3-4 days to deliever or if it is an ordered item (item they don't have in stock) which was true in this case then it would take up to 10 days.

34 days later, I am still waiting. 34 days i think is abit ridiculous. However i am certain it will take longer which means I will be even more pissed then i am now! I do have to give them some credit though as well as the good price, Chaos have been decent enough to email me to inform me that my product will be delayed as they are still waiting for it to come to their warehouse and that they will notify me once it has arrived. This was three weeks ago, still waiting.... The suspense is killing me.

Not that i am in desperate need of this DVD or anything. This could be just a one off bad experience. They may be great in regard to service and delivery times in majority of cases. Chances are I just got a bad apple. But then again I could be wrong. This could be more wide spread. Would love to hear other peoples experiences with their dealings with Chaos.

On a final note, I shall let everyone know once I finally receive this bloody dvd! Hopefully it won't be too much longer. *Fingers Crossed*

Corporation Greed

This is an older post that I did a while ago which still holds great relevance today.

I recently purchased a brand new 40gb Playstation 3 for $677 (Australian Dollars) from Myers, one of Australias largest department stores. Meanwhile you can get the exact same product in the US for $399 in US Dollars. Now what i quite don't understand is why there is a price different of $277 between the same product when the Australian dollar is almost equivalent to the US dollar. In fact the Australian dollar has never been stronger. Not to mention the economy in Australia has never been stronger and is still showing rapid growth.

Now i know that the retail market in Australia isn't as big nor competitive as it is in the US. But this still shouldn't matter. What i want to know is why Sony are inflating their prices on this specific product by over 50% on the exact same product in Australia when the dollar is almost matching the US dollar? It's not just Sony who does this. The same goes for many other transnational corporations.The obvious solution would be to simply have bought my new PS3 direct from the US from an online retailer such as Amazon.com.

Believe me, i tried doing this only to find that if i did i would be slumped with excessive import and customs taxes. Which i suppose is fair enough as this deters consumers from purchasing outside their own country therefore enabling the retail markets in Australia to remain as competitive as they can without this businesses going completely broke.

But still, this is a question i put to Sony. Why are the prices of your products excessively inflated here while in the US they are significantly lower when the Australian dollar is almost matching the US dollar?

Channel 9's A Current Affair - Regarding Lack of Fresh Fruit & Vegies at the Supermarkets

If anyone watched A Current Affair this week you may have seen a story about how the big supermarkets freeze and keep in store their fruit and vegies for months at a time.

I recently wrote a post about this. I found it quite interesting. Obviously people had complained to the current affairs show about this issue. It's no secret really about what the supermarkets are doing. Just to save some money. How can food be fresh if it is frozen and kept in storage for up to a year?

Here is the link to the video of this story:

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=562689

More Changes to eBay

So, I was just going through eBay when I noticed another significant recent change. Not only am I a buyer on eBay but also a seller. The feedback system that eBay uses is suppose to indicate for buyers and sellers alike the reputation of the other party they are doing the transaction with.

It gives information on how smooth the transaction went, delievery time, delivery costs etc. You can either give neutral, positive or negative feedback to the other party you have trasacted with. BUT, eBay have recently changed this system slightly where if you are seller, you can no longer give the buyer negative or neutral feedback.

Honestly, I think eBay are idiots and have completly lost it. First paypal now this! Firstly I should mention that I don't believe the feedback system is that great. Reputation is everything on eBay. Most sellers now don't leave positive feedback for their buyers until the buyer leaves positive feedback. If the buyer leaves negative feedback, look out! cause the seller will do the same!

I don't quite understand why eBay has changed this so the seller can only leave positive feedback now. What happens if the buyer is abusive, rude, slow to pay or just doesn't pay at all! The only thing the seller can do is just not leave feedback at all. It's win win for the buyer. The buyer can now do what they like. It's sending the wrong message. Buyers can be asses and get away with it and not have to worry about receiving negative feedback yet they can leave negative feedback on the seller and ruin their good reputation when they have done nothing wrong.

SDA

The SDA is the union that represents retail employers in Australia. I myself am a member. Being a member has many benefits including receiving a discount booklet for all types of shops. I myself am a member. Check out the video.

Change Of Topic?

As you may have noticed, I have began to severly get off topic about what this blog is about. This blog is suppose to link the readers to high quality cheaper than retail products and yes it does occasionally try to accomplish this objective. Glad to see though that I haven't gone completly off topic. This blog is still very much about the retail industry, shopping and consuming.

Lately though, I have found myself to be more so of an advocate for consumers. I am highly critical of the big players out there who think they can just rip off small time folk such as ourselves. I just don't think it's right and fair.

Anyways, I promise to have more posts soon. Meanwhile will be interesting to finally see the budget tonight once it is released which I expect will be very shortly within the next couple of hours.

Stay tuned.

Coles Express a Rip Off!

The newly appointed petrol commission agency called today for consumers to boycott Coles Express when buying petrol. They claim that Coles Express are leading the pack when it comes to higher petrol prices.

The fact is, consumers shouldn't be spending this amount of money on petrol while the petrol companies heap a large profit. I paid $1.45 for petrol today, the highest I have ever paid for petrol before in my life time! Yes it was from Coles Express too. This was before I saw the news today though.

It is quite fair to say that the main driver of high petrol prices has been due to the rising cost of oil as a result of the ever increasing lack of supply. The monopolisation of the petrol market by Woolworths and Coles defiantly is another major contributing factor. They are stamping out the competion. I believe that Coles and Woolworths should have never been allowed to enter the petroleum business in the first place. They already rip us off at the checkout.

Eventually, there will come a day, perhaps 20 years or so now when the world runs out of oil. Yes, this means that we will continue to see the rapid rise in petrol prices. What are we going to do when we run out of oil? Will all the cars in the world be useless? I think it's time that the Government pushes and starts promoting alternatives to petrol such as gas powered and electric cars. Even hydrogen, although hydrogen powered cars are quite pricey ($1 million for BMW's 7 Series hydrogen vehicle). These are pressing questions and issues which need to be addressed if we are to adequetly prepare ourselves for the future.

Woolworths, They Really ARN'T The 'Fresh Food People'

Woolworths claim to be the fresh food people? Well I can tell you for a fact, they arn't! We all have seen those ads on TV (If you live in Australia) about how much effort they go into picking their apples and oranges and getting them into the stores fresh within 24 hours so they can sell them to us freash...

..Well there is something they've forgot to mention. Their 'fresh food' is in fact stored in freezers for up to four months at a time! So just think about that next time you go down to your local Woolworths and decide to pick up a few 'fresh' apples. I should mention, Woolworths are not the only company that does this. Coles does this too. As does Aldi, although i've been told that Aldi don't keep their fruit and vegies out in the freezer for as long as Woolworths and Coles do.

I prefer to buy all my fruit and vegies from a local fruit and vege shop where you are guranteed that they haven't been near a freezer and you can be sure that they are actually fresh!

A Woolworths & Coles Dominated Market?

Recently the Federal Government announced that it was considering plans relaxing regulations in Australia to allow internation players enter the Australia supermarket market. Currently the market is dominated by two main players who im sure we all know are. Yes, Woolworths and Coles.

The monopolization of this market by these two players is being blamed for record high grocery prices. Quite frankly, I believe these companies are evil and only care about their shareholders and making a profit. But I guess most companies are like that? These two mega corporations are pushing small businesses out of the market therefore there is minimal competition so they can then rise their prices as much as they like. It's highway robbery.

But then, I think, does this country really want to be ruled by Walmart? An American mega corporation who is possibly even more evil than Woolworths and Coles. The newest player to hit the scene is the German company Aldi who seem to offer significantly cheaper and fresher products than both Woolworths and Coles. I would love to hear what you guys think about this? Do you think the Government should be easing regulations to allow bigger players into the Australian market? This would hopefully eventually provide more competition in this market, therefore hopefully resulting in cheaper products for the consumer.

GTA4 Released! Get it Cheap!

Well, as you're all probably aware. Grand Theft Auto IV has finally been released after much anticipation! I bought my copy the other day on PS3 for $85.00 Australian dollars which is about $78 Amerian dollars. I wonder when Rockstar will release it on PC? Anyways, I noticed that in the States you can get the game for as little as $59.99.

PS3 Version



Xbox Version

Amazon Kindle. Join The Reading Revoloution!

Amazon Kindle is a revolutionary portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines and blogs to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

Some of the features include:

Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.

Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.

For more information on it's features and pricing, click the link below:

Download Quality MP3 Music!

So i've finally started getting into this whole downloading music phase that everyone seems to be doing these days rather than going out and purchasing a CD. It actually has many benefits. It's alot quicker and cheaper than buying a CD. I prefer to use Amazon over iTunes though. Mainly because I don't have to download Apple's software and the music is a little bit cheaper than iTunes. Check it out. Click the link below to take you directly to Amazons MP3 page.

Download MP3's

Wikipedia, a Good Source of Information but Not All is What it Seems

Personally, I love Wikipedi. It is a great source of information and contains articles on practically everything and anything. One thing that internet surfers need to be aware of though as that this information is not always correct. This is because simply anyone can write up their own article on something and post it on Wikipedia. All though Wikipedia does check these articles, they are still online and live beforehand for everyone to see.

WIKIPEDIA - Check It Out