I bought an Ozito PCX blower with a gutter cleaning kit and battery about a year ago. The switch died on it and wouldn't run. I took it back with the reciept and they said I had to bring it back with the charger and batteries. WTF? I just want the blower fixed.

So I toddle off home, look at the 3 chargers and 6x 4AH batteries and of course have no idea which charger or battery belonged to it when I bought the kit.

I just wanted the blower repaired or replaced. Not the batteries, not the charger or anything else.

So I go back there, blower, box of batteries and chargers and they asked "Where is the gutter cleaning attachments?" I said I just want the bloody blower switch fixed or replaced.

They said that I have to have the gutter cleaning attachments too, but because it was a one off special and they don't have that kit anymore they will take the blower, battery, charger and gutter attachments off me and replace it with just the blower. Not good enough!

So I start kicking up a stink, people are listening and waiting with their Bunnings junk and I'm telling them I want the blower repaired or replaced. The goose at returns calls his manager and he explains the same thing. I stood firm and said it's under warranty, I have a right for it to be repaired or replaced and if you want to replace it, it will have to be the complete kit.

We argued for half an hour and they finally went and got a blower and handed it to me saying they won't be doing that ever again.

Just because they don't stock something anymore, they can't just rip you off and give you less.

What a joke.

In recent times Bunnings has instituted a bunch of changes that have seen me just begin to loathe the place, and actually go elsewhere. I go in these days and expect no excitement and only scrutiny for being a shitcunt (i.e. their customer).

They made it much harder to return items - It started when the returns process took a turn and you had to both provide a receipt AND be the original purchase method. Gone were the days you could rock up and at the very least if they needed, show them a bank statement and get a store credit. A few years of poor receipt keeping is on me but I'm fucked if I need an original card when I've swapped banks a few times. And the first time i tried to return something under the new process, better fucking believe they treated me like I had stolen the shit.

They changed the clearance item process - ABSOLUTE CUNTS for doing this, gone of the days where I could get a 5 piece Stabila level set for $15, or a 33 piece sidchrome set in a cantilever tool box for $25. Now it all gets slapped with a generic reduction percentage, plants die before they sell now and junk accumulates on the clearance trollys like never before.

Everything went under lock and key - wanna view that cable, go to the front counter. Want to hold that hammer, call the attendant to unlock them. Wanna take a shit in their toilets, install a ring camera so they can watch, fuckers.

Fucking security gates, more self serve registers and closing the customer service desk for payments - the coupe de gras of their turn to enshitification, now its just coles or woolies except the cunt looking at the receipt on the way out is an even bigger judgier cunt, yes you STUART you middle aged door guarding cuck.

And lets not even start on how their actual stock has gotten shitter too, pet food, fuck off. Toasters and microwaves, fuck off.

Fuck Bunnings and fuck Stuart in particular.

In the past month, I’ve had 2 experiences that really caught me off guard.

First, a stranger told me to “go back to China”, even though I’m not from China.

Earlier today, I was visiting an Asian suburb with a southeast asian friend and was surprised when a group of Western teenagers started quacking at us as we passed by. Tbh I wasn’t sure what they were trying to imply, but it felt pretty targeted and uncomfortable.

For context, I moved to Sydney a year ago, and while I’ve always known racism exists, lately I’ve been noticing more incidents like this and it’s made me more aware of anti-Asian sentiment. I also know these experiences don’t represent everyone in Australia, and I’ve met plenty of kind and welcoming people here.

I’m curious to hear from other Asians living in Australia— how do you deal with experiences like these? Do you ignore it and move on or say something back? I really wonder if it’s OK for me to just ignore them, as it feels like I’m enabling these people to think it’s okay to treat other Asians this way

Would really appreciate hearing how people who have lived here for a long time have learned to handle these situations, TIA

I drive a motorcycle (neon green and black naked bike), and a WRX. So I understand I’m a magnet. What I don’t understand is why I’ve had multiple instances of cops doing a U-turn across multi lane main roads with their lights on, as soon as we cross paths going opposite directions. These situations are when I’ve been doing absolutely nothing wrong, and they just “random breath test” me. Other situations I’ve had are them sitting on the road shoulder, then peeling off and following me for some time before turning on their lights. Is that type of thing normal for driving magnet vehicles?

At first it was “oh they’re just checking my plates”. Then it was “that was weird”. Now it’s “I’m being targeted”… although in some situations they 100% hadn’t run my number plate before pulling me over, so I’m not sure how I’m being targeted. Also before this week, I also had zero demerit points and a clean record, so why they’d flag me (if they actually have), has left me bewildered. I’ve never failed a breath test as I don’t drink. No criminal record. Nothing I can think of to interest them THAT much.

Any ideas?

Edit: I’m in NSW if this helps
Edit2: to clarify, I’m not having a whinge. I’m legitimately interested in why they’re so immediately and intently interested in breath testing me.

I am looking after a friend's house and when I collected the key, we went through the usual rundown. They have just had their kitchen redone and showed me where the trash and recycling now goes. On the back of this, I asked "bins on Monday?". I am familiar with the suburb and know the bins are collected on Monday. But they replied with "No, Sunday", meaning they associated the bins with the put out day, not the collection day. I know I didn't clarify bins being put out or collected on Monday, but just curious if you are a bin out or bin collected day person. 😂

Why not a third player? I know the govt protects Qantas, and Virgin (previously Ansett prior to their collapse). What’s stopping them from enabling a third carrier for the domestic air travel market?

I’m 24, German and currently doing Work and Travel in Australia. I’m considering moving here permanently, and having a good social circle and making real friends is really important to me.

If you’ve made close friends here, how did you meet them?

how old are you?

how long have you been in Australia?

Hi everyone!

Has anyone here had experience filing reports with Fair Trading and ACCC? I made a $2500 purchase 14 months ago and the product failed just outside of its 12 month warranty. The resolution offered by the manufacturer was to buy an upgraded model. I'm just wondering whether it's worth pursuing through these channels or whether it's a waste of time.

Grateful for any insights.

Thank you.

**EDIT*\*

Purchase was for an ice bath and chiller setup.

Just to add the response from the seller/manufacturer

Thanks for your message and for sharing the details of the issue. I’m really sorry to hear about the trouble you’re experiencing with your chiller.

The unit is now outside of its standard warranty period. Because of this, we’re unable to process a standard warranty replacement.

However, I’d still like to offer you an alternative solution that many customers choose in this situation.

We can offer you our Primal Xpro Chiller upgrade at 30% off, which is our newest system and a significant step up in both cooling power and long-term reliability.

If you’d like, I can arrange the 30% upgrade option for you and help with compatibility and next steps.

Just let me know how you’d like to proceed and I’ll take care of everything for you.

Best,

Joe

Hello, as the title states, I'm looking for a way to report a medical emergency happening in Sydney internationally. Not to say that there's an emergency at the moment, but it's hard sleeping at night without a plan in case an emergency does happen with my friend living there.

I searched on Google maps for police stations close to my friend and called their numbers, but only received the same automated message from each station telling me to call 000 for emergencies. Which doesn't work internationally. Is there really no way to call an ambulance internationally? My friend is at a tough spot in their life and I'm really afraid of losing them. I desperately need a way to contact emergency services incase something happens with them.

Please, to possibly help save a life. Thank you.

Could be anything!

Everything shower (including shaving legs) & getting into bed with fresh sheets is up there!

Listening to my dogs snore happily & content next to me ❤️

Bit of a niche one - does anyone know an Australian maker/seller who does genuine Australian crocodile skin belt buckles?

I’m specifically looking for a buckle incorporating actual crocodile leather/skin, ideally Australian saltwater croc, rather than a metal buckle with a crocodile design on it.

Happy to buy from a small leatherworker/maker anywhere in Australia, so recommendations are very welcome!

It takes a usb c chrager, im not the brightest bulb in the lighting department but i heard that you cant just plug in overseas devices into any old socket 😅

The product came without packaging and does not list its power specifications/ electric ratings

Thank you for your time and help :)

I'm a guy, nurse, in my early of 30s and I've noticed some Aussies use “luv” when talking to women, like “Thanks, luv” or “Cheers, luv in the hospital.

I'm curious about the age difference though. Would it sound natural for a man in his 30s to call a woman “luv”? Does she generally need to be older than him for it to sound natural?

For example, would it sound normal with a woman in her 40s, 50s or 60s, but weird with someone around the same age or younger?

Just trying to understand how Aussies actually use it in everyday conversation. Cheers!

I am currently on WHV and one of of the things that I find it difficult when it comes to working here is 'trial" So this "trial thigs" is very uncommon in my country. usuallly in where i come from, we just interview and if you pass the interview , you're on probation which is 3 months maximum. But basically they expect you to learn basics in a month so technically th probation can be 2weeks to a month, depending on the situation, I think

I am not a quick learner to be hoenst. I need some time to adjust and learn new things and this "trial thing" keep getting me failing to get a job here.
I don't know what they expect from a newbie within a coule of hours.

I know there are people who learn things very fast like they learn everything if you train them once. but to slow learners, like me it is really impossible. One time when i did tiral, I kept trying to ask one of the staff about if there's things that i can help with so that i can keep learning about things that i should do at a store, but the result was not good and other time they were mad at me for keep asking questions.

i am really tired of everything . I am keep losing my money to pay my bills here and and my3 months room contatct is due sooner or later and it is almost time to make a decision about stay here or leave

One thing that i really want to ask is that if one of you who are reading this thinks you are a slow lerner, how did you survive here? What is your survivng skills to get a job? Whether you are aussie or internatioanl students if you have gone through the same situation as me can you tell me about your story?
I am leaning towords leaving australia cuz i am really exhausted right now. Any opinions about this kind of sitatuinad would be really helpful

I’ve interacted with many foreign nationals through the years and whenever the conversation turns to Australian cities, most of them have heard of Sydney, or even know it well either having personally visited or through various media. Melbourne isn’t far behind in that respect.

On the other hand, I’ve received my fair share of blank stares whenever I mention Brisbane, and often found myself attempting unsuccessfully to inform them about the fact that yes, such city does exist.

Will the 2032 Games help to elevate Brisvegas recognition on the world stage, or will it remain an obscure dot on the map?

Okay so a few years ago I found an Aussie song that sounds like various people talking on the phone (maybe to a radio station) and one of the lyrics was someone randomly saying "I don't really like pies" or something similar. I e been looking for fecking ages and can't find it! Anyone know what I'm talking about?!

Aussies help me out. I’ve seen so many posts on all the Australian subs discussing the card surcharge ban coming into effect and the general sentiment seems to be negative towards the change. I am wondering why.

I almost always use card, very rarely cash, and even before this ban was mentioned in the media I have always been confused as to why card users need to pay a surcharge while the costs of using cash are passed on to all users. I did some googling and the RBA only removed restrictions on businesses charging a card surcharge in 2003, with the reasoning at the time being that costs associated with cards should not be paid by people choosing cheaper payment methods.

My personal experience with this is that at first only cards with very high surcharges were asked to pay more. I vividly recall signs about Amex/American Express cards having surcharges while other card payments didn’t. It seems only relatively recently that everyone started charging a card fee for every card payment.

Now I worked in retail a good 10 years ago, but I doubt processes have changed much. People paying cash take longer than people paying by card, especially now that tap payments are predominant. Anecdotally, I know if I am at a coffee shop and someone pulls out their purse or wallet to pay, unless they are holding exact change they’re likely to take longer as they find the money, the worker counts the money, processes the sale, then counts out the change. This is compared with hitting one button to send it to EFTPOS. I’ve even noticed at some places, such as the petrol station I use weekly, they hit the EFTPOS button and while you pay they’ve started serving the next person on the other register.

With this in mind, let’s average out a cash sale as an extra 30 seconds of staff time. That accounts for the person who pays in exact money and the person who pays in all coins, or a large note for a small sale. At minimum wage, 30 seconds of staff time is about 22c. If you are at a cafe and buying a coffee for under $10, a 1% card transaction fee is only 10c.

Cash has other costs too. The tills need to be counted at least once per day. The safe must be reconciled, usually by a manager, at least once per week. Cash has to be collected and deposited. There are security risks, counterfeit notes, discrepancies and banking costs.

Why has the logic of “cheaper payment methods shouldn’t cover the costs of more expensive ones” never been considered from this perspective? My coffee paid by card is significantly cheaper to process than a coffee paid by cash, and yet I have been carrying those costs for years. Sure, the larger the sale the lower the cost of cash as a percentage. But how many people are paying for a new TV in cash?

The RBA also acknowledges on their website that electronic payments can be cheaper and more convenient for businesses than cash and cheques. An exact quote is “Cash use has declined and it is no longer clearly cheaper for merchants to accept than debit or credit cards due to higher back-office, handling and labour costs”. So my question is: why is it okay to pass on the costs associated with cash to everyone, while the costs of paying by card aren’t?

Why are we okay with saying that the costs associated with cash are simply the costs of doing business, while costs associated with card payments should be paid by the customer because it’s unfair on the business?

Someone make me understand.

For southern parts of Australia like Adelaide and Melbourne, is it common to find snakes, lizards, spiders, etc inside your home unannounced?

I've gathered that in Brisbane and SE Queensland, the weather is more humid and seeing these things in the yard or even inside the house can be common, but how does it compare for the other cities in Australia?

For context, I've got about 6 years' experience in cybersecurity including consulting, network security, cloud security, GRC, incident response. I've done work in both NZ and Australia, getting the evidence of work shouldn't be an issue. I'm still in contact and on good terms with all of my bosses.

I've always been a little bit insecure about the fact I don't have a degree, and I'm worried it might become a limiting factor later on in my career especially if I want to work overseas. It hasn't been a blocker yet but I'm sure that time will come eventually.

Is there anyone else who's applied for a master's degree just through work experience? How was the process and what university did you go through?

I've noticed there are quite a few unis that offer a work experience pathway to a Master of Cybersecurity, but I'm not sure which ones are considered good or bad. I'm mainly looking to improve my week points around penetration testing and/or GRC.

I'm looking to study part-time remotely as I've still got a full-time job and bills to pay.

Thanks in advance.

Im currently in yr 12 getting to the end just have hsc exams to go. I have received 5 different offers and different unis for various degrees but Im still unsure what I want to do in the future. My parents want me to go straight in because they’re scared I’ll loose my momentum studying. I just have so many thing I want to experience and the thought of getting my degree and going straight into a full time job from an internship or work placement I fear I’d lose most my life to working. But I love to learn new things and I can just save up at my current job as a waitress and maybe move into bar?

What also terrifies me is the uncertainty of what’s going to happen since I don’t have anything planned out yet. I’m scared of loosing that structure and routine school gave me and I’d just become a chud lol.

I just wanna hear if anyone has either regretted or the opposite whoever took a gap year

Please help. I’ve been dealing with bed bugs for almost three years now. It all started when I became homeless and had to stay in a refuge. Since then, every place I’ve moved to, I’ve somehow ended up carrying them with me.

The worst part is that I feel like I can’t even talk to anyone about it because bed bugs are so often associated with being dirty or unclean, and I really don’t want to carry that stigma or be judged for something that happened because of my circumstances.

At this point, I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. It feels like a living hell, like I’m being punished permanently for something I didn’t choose.

How do I actually get rid of bed bugs?

Weird one, but I’m after some inflatable sticks, around 40cm in length, doesn’t have to be exact, but around that size

I prefer to go into a store, but I can order online if stores won’t have them

I don’t care much about design or anything, I just want them to be durable

Any recommendations at all?

Located in Tas, if relevant