Tuesday, December 22. 2009The Nine Most Frightening Words In The English Language.....John Linton ....according to Ronald Reagan are: "We're from the government and we're here to help". It is sad but true that democracy as a system of government has proven to be as useless a form of government as every other oppressive process that proceeded it and, as now defined in the countries that practice it, is simply a method of ensuring that the citizens of any country inflicted with this process are systematically raped and looted by a venal 'elite' called "major political parties" whose single objective is to 'obtain power' (they are so blatant they actually continually use those words) for the sole purpose of personally obtaining wealth and privilege paid for by the citizens of the country they 'govern' - "govern" in their terms being a synonym for extracting the most personal monetary gain from their 'term in power' in the shortest possible time. In Australia it is very hard to find, since Federation, any person elected to Federal parliament who became a 'minister' who didn't leave politics incredibly more wealthy than he/she entered it. Given the quantum of the total remuneration paid to any individual during their 'parliamentary career' it is fortunate that the ATO is a 'government department' (controlled by a 'minister') because in what other way than bribery and its equivalents could any of these very average people, whose employment record before being given access to the 'trough' demonstrate a bare ability to make ends meet, have become 'millionaires' when they left? ......and then there are the even larger numbers of democracy's gift to increasing any country's levels of indolence, sub-mediocrity and sloth - "public servants" - one of democracy's quainter examples of twisted humour using the word "servant" to describe an uneducated and ill mannered pos whose only concept of 'public' is to attend a work place to use the computer and telephone facilities paid for by the Australian citizenry to deal with aspects of their personal life and whose concept of "service" is the frequent use of the 'hold' button on their telephone so they can reduce to an absolute minimum the interruptions from the "public" in doing that. For all of my life I have accepted that "government" was an untouchable monolith that ruined various people's lives because it had the means to do so and possessed a universal attitude of uncaring and incompetence that made every Australian's life more miserable than it would be if none of them existed.....and that there was nothing any citizen could do about it. Doubtless that is still almost certainly true but I intend to at least try and do something about it because it has simply gone much too far and it makes me really angry that government drones can be allowed to carry out what I see as deliberate and systemic fraud. Exetel is now going to take a court action to have the TIO closed as being a 'criminal' organisation based on a level of incompetence, lack of knowledge and unconstitutional actions that even Australian's, who are mostly as apathetic as the governments they tolerate, shouldn't have imposed on them. I recently wrote to the TIO (on behalf of Exetel) giving them examples of how they routinely broke the rules of their constitution and requesting a commitment from them that they would cease acting unconstitutionally. I eventually received a reply (at the very end of the deadline) saying that in the five instances cited in my complaint that they had acted "incorrectly" in four instances and that they would "credit the charges" and in the 5th instance they believed the issue was correct (although the circumstances were identical to the other four - presumably they weren't prepared to admit 100% culpability). It wasn't the point of my letter at all....though their admission that a minimum of 80% of the cases cited were in fact wrong actions is an indication that they didn't have a metaphorical 'leg to stand on'. I had asked, using the five examples (and they were simply that - examples of what constantly happens NOT the only instances of this gross constitutional breach) for the TIO to give an assurance that it would thenceforth not continue to act as if it was a law unto itself with no obligation to instruct its employees to comply with the legislation under which it was set up. My concern was that the TIO (its personnel) continually acted in only one interest, irrespective of the facts, and that was to 'earn' as much revenue for itself and to maximise that revenue the TIO personnel were instructed to break the 'rules' under which their constitution required them to operate as a matter of course. So we will now start proceedings against the TIO. The fact that the TIO could so casually dismiss the clear incidents of unconstitutional behaviour with a "so we screwed you over but, hey, now you are getting so uptight - here - we'll credit you for our wrong actions" response is quite breath taking. However they managed to screw themselves by admitting that in each of the incidents they had breached their own constitution and there are dozens more examples of that particular breach affecting Exetel and doubtless tens of thousands affecting other companies (although getting higher, I wonder why, the number of TIO complaints against Exetel is a tiny fraction of all TIO complaints). Based on information I have been provided it will be interesting to see what a discovery process about the directions made to the personnel who are breaching the constitution turns up. Enough to have the TIO closed down? No-one will ever know until someone finally says: "...but this is just plain wrong and a government simply can't do this."
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I wish you well with this action John, after reading your blog I now have a fuller understanding of how the TIO functions, or not.
In regards the response from them "in my complaint that they had acted "incorrectly" and that they would "credit the charges" and in the 5th instance they believed the issue was correct." Clearly they thought it was just about the money. I recommend a press release, so as to have the first bight of the spin cherry. Are you aware of any other company or entity taking action against the TIO? Comments (2)
I don't "communicate" with other companies who are subject to TIO interference but I doubt that other companies experiences are any different to Exetel's.
We really aren't interested in "publicity" - we simply want adherence to the promulgated processes and standards. Comments (3)
I never considered that the purpose of the action was for any "promotional" reason. The fact is the office of Ombudsman is there as a buffer and referee to protect the interests of all parties, if that authority is being abused, that is news worthy, and lets face it "writs" don't always speak for themselves.
Just an opportunity to put your side before others put a different slant on your motivations. Comments (2)
I understand.
Our view is that the TIO is out of control and not going close to addressing the purpose for which it was set up. If a court sees it that way then it will generate a significant change which is what we believe is required. Comments (3)
The TIO has never been there to protect the interest of all parties, it is a revenue generating machine only, if it was there for best interest of all parties, why are ISP's charged per complaint, why are the customer not charged the same fee when its proven the ISP was right? Which in most cases it is and the TIO don't care because more complaints = more revenue.
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When you said you "intend to do something about [government incompetence/corruption]" I hoped you were going to finally say "...and today I launch my own political party".
Whilst your "anti" rants are fun, it would be interesting to read what you are "for" sometimes. Your environmental stance is interesting and I'm sure you could come up with some constructive policies for all the world's social and economic ills, too. Comment (1)
I've fortunately never had any adverse relationship with the TIO, but it's not hard to spot incompetence. Back on 26/11 they sent an email to, presumably, all members. (The list fills the entire message pane in Thunderbird, and that's just up to the letter C.) They didn't use BCC.
If they'd been a medical service where privacy was really important, I'm sure there would have been more consequences. Admittedly, 30 hours later the General Manager - Business apologised; with BCC. Comment (1)
A lot of the TIO's policies seem to be "shut them up with money", where it comes to customer complaints. I guess they figured it would be the same with SP's.
I hope that your suit brings public attention to the TIO practises - most people don't know that the TIO charges SP's, and a lot of people don't try to resolve their complaints with the SP before contacting the TIO. And from what I can tell, in the cases where the customer contacts the TIO before calling the SP, the TIO refers them back to the SP, takes no further action and still charges for an "enquiry". It's a severely unbalanced system as it stands, and I fully support your case. Comment (1)
If you were to provide some form of balanced perspective on the role of the TIO, you should, at the very least, do a summation of the wrongdoings of the TIO in comparison to ISP and telecommmunication service providers in general.
Those results would show that your concerns as business owner dealing with the TIO pale in comparison to the issues that everyday Australians would not be able resolve without their assistance. Perhaps it would be best not to complain at all about a government department that only exists because of the illegal, predatory, cursory and non- performance based mantra of (some) telecommunication providers. Further - My concern is that Telecommunication providers (their personnel) continually act in only one interest, irrespective of the facts, and that is to 'earn' as much revenue for themselves and to maximise that revenue the service providers personnel were instructed to break the 'rules' under which Australian laws required them to operate as a matter of course. Depends which side of the fence you're on as to whether this rings true or not. Pity that you're prepared to hand so much money over to lawyers to prove an academic point, rather than spend that money on better customer service. I had read that you were a man of actions, not words....perhaps the author was mistaken. Comments (2)
"I had read that you were a man of actions, not words....perhaps the author was mistaken. "
And what he is doing is action. More action that any other ISP is apparently willing to do to stand up for the rights (and responsibilities) of everyone involved. I personally fully support JL in this. The TIO is a crock of s*&t created with lofty ideals but no real direction on how to attain and maintain them. Atleast from my perspective. Now all it is, is a club that is so biased against ISPs that idiot users run to rather than try and fix issues themselves or admit they were wrong AND stupid. Comment (1)
"More action that any other ISP is apparently willing to do to stand up for the rights (and responsibilities) of everyone involved."
No - he's attacking an ideology - that a department should be beyond reproach in it's dealings, that it should be even handed, competent, independant of bias and that it's individual employees should be knowledgeable and able to judge an instance correctly each and every time.......the very things that (most) telecommunication providers cannot do - which caused the creation of the TIO in the first place. John would be best to continue to have the respect of the telecommunications industry because of what he does on a daily basis for his customers, and grow large enough that issues of this type become distractions, rather than gravitations. Success is the best revenge, not paying a bunch of guys wearing wigs to stand in a room burning hundred dollar notes to define the subtle nuances of a broad document - which has nothing to do with the issue at all. The issue is the competence of individuals in organisations - and that has nothing to do with constitution rights. Instead of targeting the TIO for legal action - he could actually remove them from governance in their entireiry, by ensuring his peers meet voluntary standards - that would be a good outcome for everyone......and there wouldn't be a TIO to complain about at all....because we wouldn't need them. Comments (2)
Your comments on my/Exetel's rationale are complete BS.
The TIO is knowingly breaking the fundamental principles and operational processes which are set out in the enabling legislation. This is not in dispute. The TIO has refused to remedy its fraudulent actions - in writing. No other course of action is available in dealing with such arrogant intransigence. If you wish to comment on my musings then DO NOT ascribe reasons that you cannot possibly know nor mis-quote what I actually write. Better still - don't waste your time reading what I write. Comments (3)
Remember, the TIO are not "government" or a "government department". They are a private company.
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Ltd Comment (1)
A private company set up by an act of parliament as a matter of government policy and indeed it is made compulsory by government to participate in the TIO in order to keep a carrier license. From memory the government sees it as a "co-regulator" in the sense that while it is nominally independent it has responsibilities to government in terms of its activities.
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It has nothing to do with a carriers license, any communications provider that provides services (most of which do not have a carriers license) are members of this scheme.
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John,
I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour I work in the telco industry, and, although I don't work in the team that deals with the TIO complaints, I am privy to some of them. My impression of the TIO is that they will pass on anything to the telco in question (and of course, charge them for the privilege!) It seems that any complaint, no matter how frivolous, petty, or just wrong the complaints are, the TIO will pass these along anyhow. I just wish I could help Comment (1)
Why are most of the comments here supporting JL's stance, it seems a bit odd that there are no posts that support the ombudsman?
Comment (1)
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