Wednesday, April 22. 2009Pensioner Discounts?John Linton Has Whine Managed To Get "The Inflation Genie Back In The Bottle" yet? I suppose there have been less competent federal treasurers than Whine Swan (though it's hard to imagine there has ever been a less educationally and experientially qualified one) but his ridiculously stupid and profoundly wrong "inflation genie" statement in his first budget will define how totally inadequate he is to hold any job in finance at all - let alone his current position. I was reminded of how totally stupid Whine actually is when I read this earlier this morning: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6138997.ece which underlines just how far the major world's economies are, and were, from needing to "get the inflation genie back in the bottle" less than twelve months ago and how hopelessly inept and totally out of their depth the Labor party is to 'manage the economy'. My comments yesterday were very much along the same lines as I pointed out that virtually every 'component' of providing end user communications services in Australia had fallen over the past twelve months (except for pricing from Telstra Wholesale) and that it is a common trend in hard financial times for this to happen. The coming budget will have to deal with the Whitlamesque/Weimar Republicesque/Krudd borrowing splurges that shower hundred dollar notes to anyone who can spend them and by now treasury would have told him (assuming they didn't in the first place) that not only did his childish grandstanding splurges not create a single job but that the majority of the money disappeared overseas (and I'm not counting the money he actually sent directly overseas to all those Kiwis and Brits etc who received it courtesy of once having a backpacking holiday here 30 years ago). Apart from the fact that Krudd has as much understanding of economics as Whitlam did (and has produced the same result as Whitlam in half the time) he has already run out of money to spend and will now begin to have to deal with his grotesque addiction to his personal cargo cult attitude to federal financing. For those people with even less knowledge of economics and finance than me (if there are such people - other than Krudd and Whine) let me give you the benefit of my experience of recessions (ones that we didn't have to have). Firstly there's the denial (we've passed that phase as of Monday after 7 months of continual ridiculously bare faced lying by Krudd and Whine), then the denial is immediately replaced, as if someone turned a switch, with the wild exaggerations of how bad everything is going to be (we are now in that phase) then there's the reality that for 1 - 3 years everything gets very tough for all the people who have the least abilities (financial mainly but societally too) to deal with the problems. In simple terms this means that having pissed all of the country's readily available resources away in mindless and totally useless 'panem et circenses' handouts to try and ensure re-election the (Labor) government of the day will borrow money at very high interest rates to pay for essential services needed to actually 'run the country'. There won't be enough money to do this so they will cut the services and raise taxes. Anyone want to bet against that?...anyone?....anyone? Exetel, a tiny, vaguely commercial enterprise (whose directors and owners would commit suicide before they would vote for people like Krudd and Whine and the screech owl) can obviously do nothing to assist the mess created by the muppets currently posing as a Federal Government.....though I suppose we could send Whine a toothbrush, some tooth whitener and the name of a good orthodontist as his parents obviously had no regard for dentistry during his childhood phases and perhaps some Ashley and Martin vouchers for Krudd - even some further elocution lessons for the screech owl to attempt to find those missing syllables and reduce her upper register shrieking delivery down to a more comprehensible level? On second thoughts that might help those three individuals (who are already full time helping themselves) but it wouldn't do much for the people who really need some consideration. What we, possibly, could do as our totally irrelevantly tiny contribution to the likely difficult times ahead is to, as several of our customers have suggested lately, offer some broadband plans for 'pensioners'. Now, its clearly my fault but I'm not sure I know what people define as 'pensioner' these days. I know the 'old definition' was people who had reached retirement age and received a government pension in gratitude for their contributions to the country's economy by working the whole of their lives to make it possible for wastes of space like Krudd to throw all their tax money away so he can go on living overseas making a goose of himself. But a cursory 'straw poll' seems to indicate that you can receive a 'pension' at the age of 14 now (unmarried mother support) and the scope widens from there. Nonetheless - and without knowing how we might 'qualify' the offer, it seems that Exetel should make its contribution to assisting those people less able to assist themselves by providing broadband plans at our cost rather than try and make even the minimal profit we currently attempt. I would have thought our "PAYU" plans pretty much fitted that category but apparently not. So by the end of this coming weekend we will put in place some cost price plans for pensioners. We will try our best to make them truly affordable but Telstra's ADSL1 wholesale pricing makes that extremely difficult and ADSL2 is not available in almost all regional and rural areas so it's a challenge. Any ideas will be very welcome. (I got up even earlier than usual this morning to watch the Liverpool v Arsenal game - great game - strange result - I wonder if anyone has ever scored four goals in a game their team didn't win? Oh well.) Trackbacks
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Bad move. I semi-regularly catch the bus/train to work with some people who have "Pensioner cards" and it appears they are sometimes too drugged/doped up to their eyeballs to even use them some mornings - squeezing between the barriers instead of purchasing their $2.50 go everywhere for the day ticket.
Comments (2)
Hi John
What kind of pensioner? There are obviously different classes of these, some very close to "unemployment benefit" Comment (1)
As TH pointed out - "pensioner" is not a very narrow definition these days.
My personal view is that age would be the only category but then I am not conversant with the current situation. Comments (6)
Perhaps what you are after is the Seniors Card holders
http://www.seniorscard.com.au/ But as tasbagpiper #5.1.1 has pointed out, pensioners are already covered by Centerlink, whereas Seniors Card holders may not necessary be covered by Centerlink. Comment (1)
I understand the motive but opening that can of worms? - you're a braver man than I Gunga Din
Comment (1)
John. Your intensions are noble but I think (as you already know) that trying to identify and qualify a particular person will be a real challange. Perhaps an alternative that would mean less coding changes is to:
1. Customer must be on PAYU plan. 2. Customer applies for 'hardship' via members site that if approved gives them say a 12 months discount, either reduced base cost or reduced cost per GB (free even up to a certain GB cut-off). Comment (1)
good morning John, nice idea but not necessary. As a pensioner, we already get a internet allowance from Centrelink every 3 months,so we already get our discount. Thanks anyway but I would rather you continue to offer the current great value plans and continue to make the small profits you do , and with some of those profits, be able to help save Australia's most endangered flora and fauna, much more important IMHO.
Comments (2)
Thank you for that information.
What is the amount of the allowance? Comments (6)
my apologies for not linking. The basic telephone allowance is $23 paid every 3 months to qualified income support recipients or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders. A higher rate of $34.60 per quarter is paid if one has internet connected as well as telephone. The type or cost of internet connection is not relevant to the amount paid.
Comments (2)
John, I think #4 kudabirds suggestions are worth considering. I personally am a disabled pensioner who does not hold a Seniors Card so an age restriction would cut me out.
Your PAYU plans are already very attractive to pensioners. IMO the equipment/connections/technology is what keeps them using traditional services. Comment (1)
As stated in the forum, I would prefer a 5Gb no peak/offpeak, for say $32.50 (ADSL1/512) or $40 (ADSL1/1500) or $50 (ADSL2 incl line rental). Linked to the seniors card instead of pension for all the reasons outlined above. Or simply available to everyone (saves on compliance costs!). Keep the free VoIP/SMS service. Maybe allow a 2yr contract to pay-off the connection/modem cost (possibly even allow agents to setup onsite for a slightly higher connection cost paid monthly over 2yrs) - avoids the high sart-up cost ($130 + $170 voip modem + onsite if necessary = $8.50/month + $3.50 optional onsite setup, all over a 2yr period).
Comment (1)
I can't say I'm fond of the idea... at my place of work I have the same demand for pension discounts.
Past experience tells me there is a generational barrier with the elderly, it can often be difficult for the elderly to adopt technology or absorb information I provide. So, simple matters take more time than normal. Its also very clear that most pensioners have a great deal of time - and that often translates to annoying the c*** out of me. ie. "my work isn't important, so I'll come back in 15 min, yes?" (standard lead time is 3 days) Might just be my place of work, but I decided pensioners should be the same rate as everyone else - because they often cost more to serve. Maybe I'll think differently when I'm older Comment (1)
It seems to me that the only sensible 'pensioner' plan would have to be a wireless one.
Pensioners would like to pay $5-$10 per month for about 1GB traffic max, with throttling rather than excess usage fees. Comment (1)
I don't think it's safe to assume that just being a pensioner means a user fits into any type of plan over another so don't know that a specific plan would do, obviously it would be an opt in anyway but everyone needs are different
My parents, both pensioners, entirely different needs, my Mum would be the bare bones, no frills, email etc plan (stereotype I guess), my Dad on the the other hand, 79 years old, hosts his own website www.artistric.com on his Exetel service (never mind the compliance, it's the way he likes it and he did it all himself), uses the net at all sorts of odd hours, I've had to discipline him a few times for using P2P (doesn't understand it's wrong as the people he swaps music with allow him trade music), so both pensioners but wildly different when it comes to being customers Comment (1)
After scanning the comments it seems to me you could offer a 'Parent Plan'. A light duty plan attached to and billed to an existing account for the account holders parents, with all tech support managed by the account holder so Exetel doesn't waste time on the technically limited !
Regards C Bumkin Comment (1)
Oooh, I like it!
Comments (2)
couple that with a "magic hspa box and yagi" deal and i'm in, well once we get DSL back in TAS.
Comment (1)
My siblings and I are all now over 60 and are mostly "retirees" - none of us are pensioners, as such. (which by definition means that we have saved and take care of ourselves and ask the government to p*** off and go annoy other people).
After I came to Exetel a few years ago I have encouraged them to do so as well - and they have. Obviously I am the first port of call for all technical problems. They all use voip... and sms They all use around 1 GB per month. Some are on ADSL2 and others (like me) can only get ADSL1. You might like to know that I also have a 87-year old father in law who I got an ADSL1 account for .... and recently upgraded him to ADSL2. He doesn't hear that well nowadays, but he sure likes "looking at things" on his internet connection. His modem failed last week-end, and his is a bit lost atm. My 86-year old mother also has an ADSL2 service and uses 0.5GB per month for email, web searching and voip. I hope to move her over to Exetel soon too. Neither of them get any government subsidies for telephone or ADSL..... if they ever did receive any, they'd probably mail it to the Treasurer with instructions on how and where to use it. (Both strong personalities - must be a generational thing!) I have encouraged all my extended family (and a lot of friends) to get involved with voip. Those with Exetel are using it more and more every month. I think the PAYG plans are attractive, but I cannot get onto one... because I already have an Exetel service and there is no way I can transfer over to it (yet!).......... maybe thats something you could do soon John? ... and I am sure many "pensioners" would take advantage of the move!. H. Comments (2)
...I didn't know that....I'll get it fixed (the switch to PAYU).
You family is very impressive. Comments (6)
G'pa now up and running with his new voip modem.
I note PAYU is now linked into ADSL change service menu - thanks! ...... but not functioning correctly for me when I tried it today. My family, .... yes, they are impressive the way they have embraced technology. Regards Harry. Comments (2)
Good to hear.
Would you please email: raymondl@exetel.com.au with a more detailed description of what you are having trouble with on the PAYU change? Comments (6)
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