BristolUK

A few months ago I ordered one of those Radon tester thingies.

The cost included a return envelope to send it off for the analysis and being from the UK I interpret that as a postage-paid envelope. A similar previous experience here confirmed that belief, as did the statement in the literature - "All you have to do is put the test device in the package and drop it in a postbox" - I mean if one needed to put stamps on, a trip to the PO would be needed or, I suppose, you could weigh it and put the correct postage on yourself, if you know that it doesn't count as a letter, neither of which options are as easy as putting in a packet and then into a postbox.

I checked the actual lab website in the USA and while it looks 'paid' there's a different page for Canada where you are encouraged to pay extra for a paid label. It says it will cost $8.61 - it weighs all of 20g - about the size of a checker piece.

But this is ordered directly from the Lung Association.

Ideally you are supposed to have it tested about a week after the test but if you believe that postage is paid for and Canada Post returns it to be paid for, you're not likely to meet the deadline.
Or maybe you pay it unnecessarily to avoid a delay.

I emailed the lung assoc suggesting they need to make it more clear and they said that in 8 years nobody else had made a comment. Is this the difference between Canadians and us, that they'll just do it without question instead of query it? Anyway, they said they'd mention it to the US lab.

Trying to keep things friendly and polite I said something self deprecating about me being wrong while everyone else understood but that their website was the one that said simply put the test device in the package and drop it in the mailbox.

To which they said "I don’t think you are wrong. It should be more clear" and that they had since contacted the lab to get them to make it more clear.

But the lab site was clear, it's the Lung Assoc that's not.

It's the way it is - if no one has questioned it then it must be okay. Or they've paid twice or got the device to the lab late.

At least I got a response to an email.

dave_j

[QUOTE=BristolUK;12369160]At least I got a response to an email.[QUOTE]

So.. where's the whinge?

magnumpi

People who walk deliberately slowly across a cross walk, yeh, you know who you are !! "Oh I have the right of way so when it goes to red I will continue to sloth across the road as I have the right to" grr

BristolUK

Not reading or not paying attention to the actual email which points out it's their website that omits the rather important part and they want to complain to the lab.

BristolUK

dave_j

My whinge was better than your whinge...

not2old

All level of federal, provincial, municipal politicians, departments & agencies as well as all government workers.

Total waste & corruption

Our very own Ontario government at Queens Park, Premier Wynne, the opposition and the hangers on.

How do the voters in Canada keep on getting it wrong?

Former Lancastrian

Errr they keep voting for them and believe the hype they are promised when totally pissed off with the previous Govt only for the new Govt they voted for to be worse than the Govt they were pissed about before

Sure contract out all Federal, Provincial and Municipal work out to the private sector and see how that works out for you. Im sure they will put you first before their shareholders

not2old

good point about 'shareholder' comes first versus the current 'stakeholder'. I wouldn't know which would be worse.

Maybe a lot of the government BS could go out to Canadian owned private sector companies that in turn are owned by ex politicians/senate or government workers it may work

You'd probably never see in the current system politicians or ex politicians or ex government employees getting government contracts eh!...it's just not the Canadian thing.

MarkG

Yes. They 'vote the bastards out!' without realizing that the only way to do that is to vote some other bastards in.

dave_j

Absolutely. The issue is that he rest of us are just too honest to want to be politicians, not that we could because we simply don't think that way. It shouldn't surprise anyone that when you left a political stone you find all sorts of creeepy crawlies underneath all feeding on one another and us.

MarkG

Yep. Modern TV-based democracy actively selects for charismatic psychopaths. Others need not apply, or will have a hard time getting elected if they can't lie convincingly on TV.

scrubbedexpat091

Can't say I feel that govt workers care much about the public really. Can't say I have ever had what I call good service from a govt agency and it's workers.

By the way I have seen govt workers treat people, I would welcome a trial of private sector taking over some govt services to see if service could improve.

MillieF

The problem is that there isn't any sort of incentive for Government workers to do well...if they work hard and do a stonkingly good job, it nets them exactly the same as doing a piss poor job - it's just harder, so why bother? Certainly this attitude of let's do the utter minimum seems, in my part of Canada, to be prevalent...they all talk about how hard they are working and how utterly Awsome they are being, but it's aspiration not perspiration...why do something well if just about OK is acceptable.

Oink

So I ordered a pair of very stylish Nike running trousers from The Bay as they were on sale. Get an email today saying they cancelled the order because of lack of inventory but when I checked they were still being sold on the website but for a higher price. The cheap bastards. So after some less than cordial phone calls from me, they replaced the order at the sale price.

Shopping online in Canada is complete rubbish. Now I'll have to deal with the pantomime of shipping. They'll probably arrive in two months time by yak post. I didn't need this on a Monday morning, I got better things to wasting my time on.