Tuesday, February 3. 2009Exetel Is Going To Be Wound Up Today......John Linton .....and hasn't paid its staff for three months. I wish someone had let me know that as I've been working as usual for the past three months and as I never check my bank statements I don't know that I haven't been paid. Typical that I'm always the last to know what goes on around me and I'm surprised that Annette or Steve hasn't raised the issue before I have to hear it from a total stranger! In fact the first I heard of this depressing change in Exetel's fortunes was from a very small, relatively new, supplier to Exetel who wanted immediate payment for services he had not yet billed to Exetel and he was going to hand carry the invoice round to our office and wanted my personal cheque as payment. Now I'm not known for my ability to tolerate fools (or foolishness) with any sort of tolerance and never have been for as long as I can remember but I was so taken aback at his claim and even more so by his aggression and his 'phrasing' that I was, momentarily lost for words which he apparently took as confirmation of the situation as he launched into one of the most vitriolic steams of personal abuse that I have ever heard. When a suitable pause occurred, and really resenting the words he had used and their total inapplicability, I told him to STFU and get himself under control. This served no purpose except to 'set off 'another vitriolic tirade which although repeating much of the previous one was mercifully shorter. When he seemed to have, at least momentarily, run out of breath, I asked him how he had come to this belief as there was absolutely no truth that Exetel's business was in any shape other than better than it had ever been and that, as far as I could see, business in December and January showed no signs of anything other than continued profitable growth. His response was breathtakingly inane and was - "XXXX (a much larger ISP than Exetel to whom he also supplies) had told him that they had been approached by Ferrier Hodgson to bid for the Exetel customer base as they were being appointed as administrators by Telstra to whom Exetel owed millions tomorrow (today as I write this) and they needed a very quick sale before the business totally collapsed. After a stunned silence (while I tried to understand how anyone with more neurons than there are spots on a king domino could possibly believe such an unsubstantiated statement to the the point they would then act in the way he had just done) I told him to bring his invoice around whenever it suited him and I would give him cash as payment but before he did that perhaps he would like to consider: 1) His previous bills (including the ones in the period where Exetel was apparently not paying their staff) had all been paid on time and in full as usual. 2) Apparently his Exetel competitor contact had information that was totally unknown to every other supplier to Exetel, any sort of media and to every Exetel employee. 3) Perhaps the fact that this "fact" appeared to be also unknown to all the usual 'scandal mongers/ill wishers' was some sort of indication that it may have no truthful basis. and that before he made any further decisions, and especially shared his current views wth anyone of any relevance, he should check the FH web site for a notice that they had been appointed in the way the Exetel competitor had stated or if that was beyond his capabilities then perhaps he could wait until tomorrow to see if what he was told was true. To which his reply was that it must be true because the XXXX account manager had provided so much detail and he had known him for years and he was always totally honest. From the slight slurring of his words and the emotional language he used plus the time of day (4.30 pm) I reached the obvious conclusion and told him to stop being a total idiot and go and sleep off his liquor induced hallucinations. I actually used rather different phrasing and vocabulary to convey that 'advice'. What is it in the stupider element of human society that makes them so prone to believe the very worst they hear irrespective of how likely it is? I suppose the real question about the stupider elements of the species is what makes them attempt to spread such stupid lies that, in this case, will be shown to be lies within the 24 hour time frame the liar included in his "so much detail". PS: 3.00 pm Tuesday 3rd February. I got a call a short while ago offering "sincere apologies for my unforgivable abuse to you yesterday..... it was caused by too much too drink". He was right about one thing - it was/is "unforgivable" - and having too much to drink (is there such an amount?) doesn't change a thing. I told him I was relieved to hear that Exetel hadn't gone broke while I dreamed away the past 3 months but we would not be doing any further business with his company as his words were so offensive that they could never be 'un-said' and neither could their affect on my view of a person who could say such things.
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
I assume you will have one less supplier on tbe books next month
Comment (1)
Nothing on the ASIC website;
http://www.search.asic.gov.au/cgi-bin/gns030c?acn=097_986_546&juris=9&hdtext=ACN&srchsrc=1 Comments (2)
HAHA.
I've been quelling rumours about Exetel's demise and pointing people to your blog for several years now. I've even had calls from family members asking me should they churn away as Exetel is going down etc. Normally a few questions like. Who told you this? What ISP are they with? Internode? TPG? Do they visit the Whirlpool forums? etc etc soon gets to the bottom of the rumour-mongering. /sigh. Comments (2)
It really makes you wonder why so many stuid people continue to make these "Exetel is going broke" comments after so many years?
Thank you for your assistance in de-bunking them. Comments (7)
John your post title made me spill my coffee.
The callers fears are self fulfilling it seems. 'Commercial edge' is taking on the subtlety of an axe, and I would look carefully at whoever is his obvious replacement. Or am I being paranoid? Comment (1)
Sorry about that.
As Thomas says - there is a lot of it going round - which I clearly don't get to hear. This is the first time I've heard such calumnies first hand for a long while. Comments (7)
Take heart... Apple have been "going out of business" since the 80s, but look how successful they are!
Comment (1)
Crap. Can I still keep my E169 modem that I'm paying $5/mth for?
Comment (1)
It must be true because I read it on Whirlpool.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1136222 Comment (1)
"Lunix" seems to conform to the standard for Internode Whirlpool posters - a total sociopath aged about 15 who is semi-illiterate and whose IQ is lower than his shoe size.
Mis-quoting P T Barnham: "It's impossible to underestimate the intelligence of the average Whirlpool poster." Comments (7)
Did the supplier get confused with another company with E, and TEL in its name?
Maybe this supplier was thinking of Eftel? http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20080829/pdf/31c18s0rnh3622.pdf Page 6-7 indicates their current liabilities out weight their current assets by $6,587,000.00 It will be interesting to see their half yearly results. Comments (2)
Has the gentleman, and I use the term loosely, had the guts to apologize yet.
Comment (1)
So now's your chance to turn him into an "advocate"?
Comment (1)
I wonder if he read about himself on this blog
Comments (2)
I'm sure it will be most satisfying to discontinue doing business with this individual I'll bet he'll be kicking himself when a competitor gets the business that they may not have otherwise had an opportunity to get
Comment (1)
Totally unforgivable behaviour by that suppler but in the situation we are in now where banks will not lend money to other banks it should not be a surprise.
Everyone is very very risk averse now. Comment (1)
|
Calendar
QuicksearchArchivesCategoriesBlog AdministrationExternal PHP Application |