Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

But they do pay up if you drive out through your garage door before opening it

AAMI and car parks: http://www.aami.com.au/company-infor...ase.aspx?id=92

Originally Posted by mic n mat

I've being saying it for far too long. There should be a sign at every point of entry

Welcome to Australia*


* Conditions apply

Originally Posted by mic n mat

The only lesson he taught me was the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (once a convict always a convict)

Originally Posted by mic n mat

Wait till you renew your policy and we'll see who has really gotten their moneys worth. I bet it wont be you.

Originally Posted by patdbuck

Well I am strong believer in the thing that I teach that writing it down can get things out of your system, so I decided before I go mad I need to have a venting session.

Recently made the move to Oz and consider myself to have fresh eyes to this could be world leading country, but when I look closely I see the darker side of the magic that companies are allowed to use when it comes to...(I sit for a couple of minutes, thinking of the words to use but sorry can only use) CONNING customers into parting with more cash than needed and for poor quality products and service.

Newcomers beware all that glitters is not gold, plus the Australian culture is generating a country of Gollum’s where the ring is my hard earned cash.

Sharing some experiences for two reasons as a heads up so you can be on your guard but mainly to just get it out of my system:

The Shipment:

Transporting my goods........after my goods eventually arrived in the country but that's a different rant about Anglo Pacific I get hit by charges from the local transport company not least an added $165 charge because my house is 0.8 miles outside the 30mile radius in my shipping contract.....given that between the two companies I suspect that they have added at least 2 weeks delay to the delivery of the items perhaps they would of waived this....you'd think.

The Claim:

Unfortunately a few weeks ago a young top gun in his luminescent coloured Ute decide that watching his fellow hoon on the other carriageway being booked by a patrol officer was far more important than the stationary traffic in front of him, resulting in my car being several inches shorter than 1 second earlier and my neck and back taking a pounding...again that’s another thread for another time about the mad drivers in Australia (watch these laid back people change when they get behind the wheel makes the inner city and M25 drivers look like Mary Poppins) anyway back to my experience so I have an accident and start learning about the crazy multi part insurance system (see my thread on this). So given the major damage I expect a write off but no my car rebuild cost is 73% of the total value then the decision is made to rebuild (Note: Unlike the UK the insurance company does not require genuine parts to be fitted as it keeps the costs down). To start by getting a local smash repairer...so far all good and I get some great customer service....infact it was Monday morning and all hell broke loose by the customer services lady at the repairs calls to insurance company, calls to hire car company all done without any indication to me what was going on, but I felt that I was getting good hands and within a couple of hours I have a hire car and they had my car.....when my brain eventually caught up they explained that they will need the car for a few days to arrange the quote so far still all good, the day after I speak to them and ask some questions about getting a my car back for a second quote if the insurance company request it to be told my car is in pieces in the workshop and it will cost me $$$ to rebuild plus the load car $$$. The penny dropped they have the business and it is going to cost me big if I want to change that!!!
Anyway , after 3 weeks of silence I decide to chase progress on the car on the Monday to be told they will try and finish it by the end of the week, at 16:00 on Friday I notice a message left by the repairer at 11:30am advising that they car is ready as must be picked up at 16:30, so I make a friendly call to advise that I am 120kms away at work and will not be able to pick up the car before Monday unless they are open at the weekend. Then customers service turns cold and I am told...well the car is ready so your loan car is only covered until then, they have had to rearrange the workshop to get the car out and now they will need to do it again to get it back in and they need to get the paperwork into the insurer so they can get payment. When I asked the obvious question when did you know this was going to be ready they said it’s been ready since last night....starting to learn that Australia is full of conmen I must admit I was sort of expecting this type of thing and had read my very small print and new the agreement for the loan car covered me until I accepted my car...so I simply told the lady blowing a gasket at me over the phone that I would not be in until a suitable time for myself and from the paperwork that the loan car is covered....then silence!!! Somebody had out smarted the con person!!! Then a change in tact a friendly....well we can open up specially for you on Saturday if you are free.....so I arrive to pick up the car to find that they are waiting on two parts due the following week and some of the paintwork could of been painted better in a Kindergarten with poster paint......the saga continues.
Note: Beware, if you’re getting good customer service in Oz, it’s only in the seller interest and you are probably being conned!!, oh, yes read the small print!!!

No Authority to decide:

Now as newbie’s we have sustain the country’s economy using my poorly doing GBP for the over inflated AUD and as you will find when you buy things stated as Australian Made you realise you are getting nothing better than the cheap shabby crap that's made in any country but marketed with patriotism, however what I think is crazy is why of why do you have a customer service desk in a large department store and put people on it that do not have the authority to issues exchanges or refunds? We have needed to take many many many failing or failed items back to all the big players and on every single occasion the customer service staff has indicated that they do not have the authority to provide the required refund or exchange and would need to seek their supervisors approval, then they keep you waiting for 20 minutes......I suspect (and feel free to call me cynical) for the supervisor to arrive have get their daily power infusion and then grant the refund without even looking at the item or actually listening to the explanation of the fault.....I suspect the department store think, f they run you around and make you wait long enough maybe next time you'll think twice about taking things back and they can keep your hard earned cash and take a little more when you eventually replace it out of your own pocket.

It’s the Oz way.....even the locals are saps!:

Another one, I was recently talking to a local and he was telling me how great his local mechanic is, he went on to tell me that recently his car had broken down and his mechanic and got everything sorted for $300 unfortunately 2 days later the car broke down again with the same fault and this time the mechanic only yes ONLY charged him a further $100 to fix it and it is running like a dream. When I asked why you needed to pay anything if the mechanic had not diagnosed the problem correctly in the first place he just looked at me as if I had just rocked up from Mars!

Sadly, I have many many many stories and I will add them one at a time... the next one is about how they tell you the tenant as rights until you ask the landlord to do anything....watch this space!

Anyway, if nothing else I now feel better.......if you have experiences good or bad I would love to read them, perhaps it will open my eyes and I will know what to look out for.

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

How do you know they were from British convict stock heritage ?

Too many 'unknowns' to really draw any real sensible conclusions here.

This quote, from a site discussing UK driving, also applies here:

Originally Posted by mic n mat

I've being saying it for far too long. There should be a sign at every point of entry

Welcome to Australia*


* Conditions apply