CategoryConsumer

Working for or telephoning a customer service helpline is a thankless task. Last week my mobile phone plan ended, and with it the discounts I had enjoyed over that time. I needed to call my provider to determine if I should remain loyal or take my business elsewhere. The call surprised me, not by the relatively short time spent on hold but by the process I encountered once I spoke to a customer service rep. I called the number provided and explained that I had been receiving a discounted price with additional benefits for the duration of my phone plan. Now that I was free to sign with any...

Several years ago when I was a student at a university overseas, I returned home for a few months to complete an internship requirement. I needed a local credit card, but instead of opening my own account, I arranged with my dad to become an additional cardholder on his account instead. This meant I could avoid the hassle of applying at a local bank, especially since I didn’t have an income at the time and that I would only need it for a short time. The application to become an additional cardholder was quite straightforward. The hard part came when I received the card and had to activate it...

Parents know which are the worst teachers at their kids’ schools. Even the kids know. No matter what the Principal might tell you, they know too. They just don’t seem to do much about it. My ten-year-old daughter will finish Year 5 this term. Year 5 is an important year that establishes a lot of groundwork for future learning. The Education Department even has a strategy that recognises the importance of these ‘middle years’, but that didn’t stop them sticking my daughter in a classroom with an incompetent teacher for almost an entire year – a year that my daughter and her classmates will...

I’ve not long arrived home from a visit to a flat-pack store. I don’t know about anyone reading this, but I’m certainly no fan of these places. Getting in and out as quickly as possible is always my aim, but it’s not easily achieved. During today’s visit the shop floor was typically overrun by customers, but that wasn’t what prevented a swift in-and-out visit. Today, it was the store’s checkout configuration that stood between me and my goal. After collecting the handful of items that I needed, I headed to the self-serve checkouts to make my purchases. This seems like it should be the fastest...

Being an ambitious person, I’ve just started juggling full-time work with night classes at university. It’s not easy, but I’m grateful to even have the chance to do it; the university faculty schedules classes specifically at night so that people like me can study without sacrificing our ability to earn a crust. Unfortunately, it seems consideration for students like me doesn’t extend to university administrative services. Despite my efforts, something as simple as getting my student ID card has been very problematic, and of course not having the card affects my ability to study effectively...

Have you ever wondered: “what is the point of a scanned certified copy?” It is, as I learned many years ago while delivering frontline administrative services as a baby bureaucrat, to stand in place of originals when the originals are unavailable. Many organisations, quite sensibly, demand certified copies when they need to keep a physical record of something that their clients need back, like passports or birth certificates. Certified copies also have a place when sending physical applications or documents through the mail, because you can’t reasonably expect someone to put their passport in...

There’s an online store that I buy jewellery and cosmetics from, and I’m very loyal to them, despite them being based interstate. Not long ago they changed the courier they use for breakable products, which has caused a real headache for me.  When the package from my most recent order was late, I called the online store for an update on the status of the delivery. They told me that my order had shipped out, and was now with the courier.  So I called the courier for the whereabouts of my order. This is where the “fun” began.  The courier company gave no explanation for the delay, other than to...

I’ve just started booking a long overdue holiday to Europe with my boyfriend, where we’re planning to take our sweet time venturing through every country, exploring every inch to our hearts’ content. We agreed spending anything less than six months over there should be considered a failure. I fully expect to encounter my share of headaches when booking a huge trip like this, navigating bureaucratic messes both here and abroad. Between sorting out working permits (for if/when we decide to do some bar work along the way), background checks, and the myriad other documentation needed to travel...