GPSA Weekly Views

Once again our local ANC led municipality lives up to it's promises of sucking the people dry.

Not that long ago our refuse removal got an upgrade from the standard rubbish bags on the sidewalks to a compulsary bin system which was long overdue. At first the homeowner had to fork out an additional monthly amount of money to pay for these bins - which is fair. That is until the cost of the bin has been recovered. Makes sense? Additional bins could be purchased anywhere and used.

These guys realised after a while that they can milk this system seeing that the constituant really have no say in how this place is run. Bins will now display "Mogale City" and these are the only bins accepted by the refuse removal trucks. Your bin will now cost you a total of R648.00 per annum which means in ten years you'll be paying (yes, that's right) exactly R6 480.00 for a R380.00 240 liter piece of plastic on wheels. Of course the local municipality is never available for comment on issues such as these.

Then our honorable mayor decided that the grand piano (some R400 000's worth) must be relocated to his home in Magalies. Seems some ANC hotshots are a bit confused about what constitutes ANC property and what belongs to the municipality. Does this mean that I can go and fetch the R800 000 grand piano still at the municipality to "display" in my house? Of course the mayors office is never available for comment on issues such as these. (Did I hear an echo?)

Of course there's the question of one athletics stadium (Bob van Renen) in Krugersdorp which the mayor in his wisdom decided to "sell" to Kaizer Chiefs Football Club. First he has no authority to make decisions like this, second the stadium is totally unsuited for football and third it's been prooven that Kaizer Chiefs have the most unruly and violent fans in the history of football in this country.

The Metro Police have come up with a new idea to collect outstanding fines at roadblocks. Now they'll have a system on which they can display (and in the near future print) an outstanding warrant of arrest but they won't schlepp you off to jail that quickly anymore. They'll have the convenience of a credit card machine handy so you can pay your fine with your plastic. Vooma, you're on your way again. Jo'burg Metro has some R700 million in outstanding fines. According to one report some 750 000 motorists never received their fines. Now image that when getting stopped at a roadblock!

A report in the Sunday Times (2 October 2005) indicated that Gautengers (in general) found that it's no use complaining about bad service. React Surveys interviewed some 1 371 shoppers concentrating specifically on the food and retail sector. According to them shoppers in Gauteng has a lot more disposable income and can't be bothered with rude behaviour from shop assistants.

Quick story here - we bought an XCube computer from our suppliers whom in turn sourced it from the sole distributor Rectron. The machine was problematic and returned to Rectron after a couple of days from purchase. They tested it and (some guy) found that there was indeed a problem. A promise of a swap-out was made. A week later (when the new shipment arrived - eventually) they backtracked and found nothing wrong with the system. Our supplier collected and installed it only to find the same problem occuring again. Rectron refuse to replace the faulty unit claiming there's nothing wrong with it. Where to now? What does one do? What does the customer do? Cancel the order. Where does this leave the supplier? Sort the whole story and take it to the press - that seems to be the only resource we have these days. And hopefully others will sit up and take notice. Hurt the bastard where it counts most, his turnover.

Nedbank is another one who needs to learn some lessons. The most expensive South African bank (by quite a margin) with the worst customer care. Maybe one day Nedcor will wake up and smell the roses after they've lost most of their customers. Look after your pennies but their attitude seems to be that the big corporate accounts will carry them forever. The smaller accounts don't count, inspite of their advertising campaigns to attract the man in the street.

Vodacom has become so automated that it seems they don't employ humans anymore. Their accounts department is the worst (maybe not as bad as the local municipality except for those horrible repititous advertising playing while you're holding on forever). And respond to a complaint? You can tell them anything from their "contact us" link on their website, which I'm sure no-one ever looks at.

There is a way out (sometimes, if you're lucky) by joining and reporting issues like these on a site called HelloPeter. Some businesses have actually made it their business to respond to customer complaints posted on this site. I actually make a point of it to go and check a service provider at HelloPeter before doing business with them.

Thanks, I feel much better now! Maybe this is what is needed! (RAR - 2MB)

Weekly View
	6 October 2005
Once again our local ANC led municipality lives up to it's promises of sucking the people dry. Not that long ago our refuse removal got an upgrade from the standard rubbish bags on the sidewalks to a compulsary bin system which was long overdue. At first the homeowner had to fork out an additional monthly amount of money to pay for these bins - which is fair. That is until the cost of the bin has been recovered. Makes sense? Additional bins could be purchased anywhere and used. These guys realised after a while that they can milk this system seeing that the constituant really have no say in how this place is run. Bins will now display "Mogale City" and these are the only bins accepted by the refuse removal trucks. Your bin will now cost you a total of R648.00 per annum which means in ten years you'll be paying (yes, that's right) exactly R6 480.00 for a R380.00 240 liter piece of plastic on wheels. Of course the local municipality is never available for comment on issues such as these. Then our honorable mayor decided that the grand piano (some R400 000's worth) must be relocated to his home in Magalies. Seems some ANC hotshots are a bit confused about what constitutes ANC property and what belongs to the municipality. Does this mean that I can go and fetch the R800 000 grand piano still at the municipality to "display" in my house? Of course the mayors office is never available for comment on issues such as these. (Did I hear an echo?) Of course there's the question of one athletics stadium (Bob van Renen) in Krugersdorp which the mayor in his wisdom decided to "sell" to Kaizer Chiefs Football Club. First he has no authority to make decisions like this, second the stadium is totally unsuited for football and third it's been prooven that Kaizer Chiefs have the most unruly and violent fans in the history of football in this country. The Metro Police have come up with a new idea to collect outstanding fines at roadblocks. Now they'll have a system on which they can display (and in the near future print) an outstanding warrant of arrest but they won't schlepp you off to jail that quickly anymore. They'll have the convenience of a credit card machine handy so you can pay your fine with your plastic. Vooma, you're on your way again. Jo'burg Metro has some R700 million in outstanding fines. According to one report some 750 000 motorists never received their fines. Now image that when getting stopped at a roadblock! A report in the Sunday Times (2 October 2005) indicated that Gautengers (in general) found that it's no use complaining about bad service. React Surveys interviewed some 1 371 shoppers concentrating specifically on the food and retail sector. According to them shoppers in Gauteng has a lot more disposable income and can't be bothered with rude behaviour from shop assistants. Quick story here - we bought an XCube computer from our suppliers whom in turn sourced it from the sole distributor Rectron. The machine was problematic and returned to Rectron after a couple of days from purchase. They tested it and (some guy) found that there was indeed a problem. A promise of a swap-out was made. A week later (when the new shipment arrived - eventually) they backtracked and found nothing wrong with the system. Our supplier collected and installed it only to find the same problem occuring again. Rectron refuse to replace the faulty unit claiming there's nothing wrong with it. Where to now? What does one do? What does the customer do? Cancel the order. Where does this leave the supplier? Sort the whole story and take it to the press - that seems to be the only resource we have these days. And hopefully others will sit up and take notice. Hurt the bastard where it counts most, his turnover. Nedbank is another one who needs to learn some lessons. The most expensive South African bank (by quite a margin) with the worst customer care. Maybe one day Nedcor will wake up and smell the roses after they've lost most of their customers. Look after your pennies but their attitude seems to be that the big corporate accounts will carry them forever. The smaller accounts don't count, inspite of their advertising campaigns to attract the man in the street. Vodacom has become so automated that it seems they don't employ humans anymore. Their accounts department is the worst (maybe not as bad as the local municipality except for those horrible repititous advertising playing while you're holding on forever). And respond to a complaint? You can tell them anything from their "contact us" link on their website, which I'm sure no-one ever looks at. There is a way out (sometimes, if you're lucky) by joining and reporting issues like these on a site called HelloPeter. Some businesses have actually made it their business to respond to customer complaints posted on this site. I actually make a point of it to go and check a service provider at HelloPeter before doing business with them. Thanks, I feel much better now! Maybe this is what is needed! (RAR - 2MB)	Past Views Current Joke Past jokes Gallery Links Current Exchange Rate Daily News Headlines Articles
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