It's not about wait times, but yesterday I went to the motor registry to transfer a vehicle into my own name. I forgot to bring the registration renewal paperwork, so I was unable to supply a VIN on the transfer form. I assumed that the person dealing with my case would simply print another form, but nope, we can't do that. She even conferred with a colleague who told her the same. I said, surely the information is somewhere in your computer? Nope, can't do. However, she was able to tell me where to find the VIN (her computer told her). Fortunately, it was inside the passenger door, not on the firewall, and I had brought the car with me. It caused me a lot of stress, in any case.
It seems to me that someone, perhaps an ombudsman, should go through all levels of government and apply a common-sense test to all the bureaucracies. Play the devil's advocate, simulate situations that clients are likely to face, and then see how the system responds.
-- Edited by dorian on Saturday 18th of July 2026 03:05:51 AM
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I had an issue yesterday with a payment that may have gone wrong.
I rang the supplier and got an answer about forty minutes later only to find I got the ordinary line and not the online orders line.
They had to ring me back and at least they did this about an hour later and I got the rudest most unhelpful person who gave me no opportunity to explain my concern just talked right over me.
I had put all my details in including debit card details delivery address name etc. There was no acknowledgement of the order. Everything had just gone off into the ether to unknown parts. My account had been changed to an address in another suburb and was a little stressed. They just said if I can't find it then it had been deleted. Full Stop, They just kept repeating this.
In the meantime, I was waiting on the bank online chat to find out how I could lock my account until I sorted this out. I said I wanted to do this because I thought I may have been scammed. No reaction. You have to wait until someone is free.
It took over three hours waiting online and I still have no idea what happened. I still can't lock my account. I hate trying to do anything online.
I was part of a team that installed one of these auto answering systems 10 to 15yrs ago and it was terrible then and they haven't improved them since. Business just use them as a means to brush customers off I'm sure. They think If you leave it long enough to answer then they will just go away and not hassle you. Works too.
Get used to it.
All systems are going to be hellish under A.I.
There is a possibility in the not too distant future we will never speak to a human again on the phone.
You are all correct, dealing with public servants and large corporations has bones in it.
Sometimes one can strike a helpful person, it is enlightening when you do - rare though.
As I keep saying to friends and associates - "you are on your own".
Has anyone tried to take advantage of the 3 hours of free electricity between 11AM and 2PM? This was due to start on July 1 this year, but Energy Australia are saying that they won't be ready to roll it out until September at the earliest. Why? Is it not a legal requirement? Surely, they had plenty of advance notice.
A customer is eligible if they have a smart meter, which means that rolling out the service can be done remotely by automated software. Where's the problem? I don't see any excuse for a delayed implementation.
Moreover, this is an opt-in deal. That is, you have to ring up and ask for it. Why? If someone is offering you free money, is there anyone who would say no?
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
A few years ago had a problem with a WIFI dongle, supplied the you know who, the issue took just on 3 months to resolve and I kept track of the wait times on the phone to this telco.
Over 8 hours of wait time, the issue could have been resolved in 5 minutes in the store however as I had raised a "postcode" enquiry the store would not do anything about it, even threatened to get security as it was perceived by them them that I was a menace.
Customer service absolutely disgusting and no apology for there poor performance. They need me to conduct staff training.
There will be swings & roundabouts with free electricity.
How much will electricity cost outside those hour?
How much will the daily network fee be?
I'm still on a "dumb" meter, actually 2 of them. So I pay 2 lots of network fees. Last quarter I used a total of 293.6kWh with the 2 meters. No gas or solar. Now each of the metres has a daily network fee of $1.66, so >$1200pa.
I'm in a block of units so have to work everything out with everyone else.
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