Posts Tagged ‘Things I Don’t Like’

Posted on October 21, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

SAA - extortion at its best

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It’s Luke’s birthday in November and as a special birthday gift Colette and I have decided to fly his grandfather and my sister (his aunt) down from Jo’burg to spend some time with him over this time. We figured that he could use a little familiarity what with us relocating to Cape Town so today I set off to book two plane tickets online.

My first choice would have been British Airways (R4,000) but they seemed way too expensive and I couldn’t see much difference between Mango (R3,100), Kulula (R3,200) or SAA (R3,477) so I decided to opt for an airline that was trusted to arrive on time and booked my two tickets with SAA.

When I received the confirmation of the booking via email I noticed that my father-in-law’s surname was not correct and had been replaced with my full name. So, it looked a little like this ROBERT JUSTINHARTMAN on the confirmation slip. I immediately called the SAA call center to have this surname changed.

To cut a very long story short SAA do not change surnames on tickets that have been paid for. Had I not paid my ticket straight way I would have been able to edit these details but being a good customer is actually a negative thing in SAA’s opinion.

The error allegedly occurred as a result of me adding in my own frequent flyer number in the booking form at the time of booking. By doing so the SAA booking system automatically updated the surname in my father-in-law’s text box with my full name and as a result I now had a ticket that was totally and utterly useless.

The result: I have to cancel the old ticket and rebook a new ticket under his real name.

The caveat: I have to pay again and I’ll only be refunded the airport tax from the original ticket - SAA keep the airline fee.

I fought with two different consultants and their supervisor for a little over two hours. The bottom line. I’m screwed. SAA refuse to back down even though their system is flawed.

I gave up at the time and just booked a new ticket. This means that instead of R3,477 I have now paid R5,352 less my airport tax refund of R895.00 for this system error and I’ve lost just short of R1,000 in the process.

I feel robbed by these twits and totally helpless but the more I’ve thought about the events that transpired the more I realise that I need to stand up for my rights. I personally wouldn’t do business like this so why should I stand for it? This is simply consumer extortion.

As of this morning a letter of complaint, demanding a full refund of my original ticket purchase price, has been sent to Dr. Khaya Ngqula - CEO of SAA and the customer service department. I’ve only ever written one other complaint before which was to BMW and I had success with it so I’m hoping for much of the same.

Having said that though I’m not optimistic for a positive outcome. Unlike BMW I have come to realise that SAA couldn’t give a flying **** about their customers and I can’t see them doing a turn-around now.

Posted on October 16, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

This kind of thing makes me sick

Picked this up on Muti only moments ago. Read the tag highlighted in blue.

To be honest I just have no time for people like this. It’s disgraceful, inhumane and shows a total disrespect for human life. I know we live in a culture that still breeds this type of racism but really… doing this in a public forum is just not on.

Sick…

Posted on September 22, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Zuma has the last laugh

The big news of the weekend is the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and I can’t help but feel that Zuma is sitting with a God-forsaken smile on his face right now at the irony of how he’s finally got his revenge.

I don’t think even Zapiro realised just how pertinent his cartoon of Zuma raping the justice system (below) would be in the days leading after its publication in the Sunday Times.

Our acquitted rapist, fraudster and down right dimwit has successfully managed to escape any prosecution and in turn flip the whole political situation on its head by having the ANC recall Mbeki. I guess it’s a case of he who laughs last?

I’ll state this outright - I hate Zuma and I despise anyone who supports him however, I do think this new political turmoil is very much needed in a country that has lived far too long under Mbeki’s denialist regime.

Mbeki is a clown. HIV/Aids never existed, Mugabe was never the problem in Zimbabwe and crime in our country was never an issue. These are just some of his insane beliefs we’ve been subjected to over the last few years and I’m happy we’ve seen the end of it.

While I really think Mbeki being ousted is a positive thing I’m deeply concerned about where we go to from here. I have no faith in Zuma or his political allies and I can’t see how the new regime is going to be any better - in fact, I think it’s going to get worse.

Overall I have to say these are troubled and uncertain times and I’m watching the political space in trepidation of what will happen next.

Posted on July 4, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Regator.com steals our brand - coincidence?

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

Regator.com went into private beta today and I picked it up via this Techcrunch article. They’ve also got great exposure on ReadWriteWeb and even Mashable.

These guys are a blog aggregator that not only use the Afrigator crocodile, similar domain name and colour scheme and I have to feel this is a little more than a coincidence.

There is little doubt that Mike, Stii, Mark and myself will need to speak to our legal team to find out what action we can take on this.

What do you guys think?

UPDATE: I’ve had a long chat with Scott from Regator and I’m now convinced it was a coincidence. Please see my updated post here.

Posted on July 2, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Kentucky Fried Cruelty

Over the weekend I learned about how KFC suppliers overpopulate birds in their factories, drug them and boil them alive to remove their feathers. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing so I did some further investigation.

It turns out that PETA, an animal rights organisation, along with PETA activist Pamela Anderson have formed the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign to help spread the word.

While this is not a new campaign I found the following statement on the Kentucky Fried Cruelty website truly shocking:

KFC’s own animal welfare advisors have asked the company to take steps to eliminate these abuses, but KFC refuses to do so.

I watched the video below and I’m not sure how I, or anyone who watches this, can ever eat KFC again.

Help spread the word guys!!!

Posted on June 23, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Snow in the City, what a joke!

Mary Fitzgerald Square will be turned into a white winter wonderland …… all in the name of fun in the inner city.

Yeah right!

Yesterday we shipped off to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg where we’d hoped to share some moments like the one below.

To our dismay though the Snow in the City event, sponsored by Nando’s, The Star and JDA, turned out to be a miserable disaster.

When we heard on Radio 702 that the Johannesburg CBD was to be turned into a massive snow day we couldn’t resist taking Luke to play in some real snow.

We arrived shortly after 11:00 only to discover there was a massive queue for tickets. We stood in the line for nearly an hour and a half because Computicket only had two people issuing tickets at the event.

Entrance fee was R15 and for this cover price you were entitled to:

• 1 x 20 minute ice rink session
• 1 x bucket of snow
• 1 x snow drink
• 1 x free Nando’s crisps
• 5 x slides on the snow slope.

Luke is now super excited and is eager to hit the snow slope so I take him to wait in another long queue. Unfortunately for us the queue for the snow slope is about 900m long and there is no way either of us are prepared to stand for another hour just to go down the slope.

We decide that we’ll go ice skating. The queue for the ice rink is much shorter however as each skate is 20 minutes long the queue simply doesn’t move. To make matters worse I notice that the ice rink is not an ice rink at all, it’s a plastic mat that obviously simulates an ice rink.

No point in staying. We leave.

I’m utterly disgusted with the organisation of this event. The only real snow was on the snow slope and in the bucket you could get if you managed to brave the long queue. The ice rink was minute and was an insult to everyone.

There were far too many people to make this event viable and while I realise they were trying to raise money they should have limited numbers so that everyone could have a chance.

We were all expecting to see a massive ice rink (made from real ice) with a play area covered in snow but clearly the organisers of this event thought that a plastic mat and a bucket of ice would do the trick.

However, the biggest upset of this all was the very disappointed 4 year-old that never got to experience what we went there to do. Luke was so looking forward to playing in the snow and all he ended up with was the chance to throw some pieces of paper that somewhat resembled snow.

Posted on May 22, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Afrigator’s dedicated Xenophobia page

Last night we published a brand new Xenophobia topic page on Afrigator which highlights everything that is being covered throughout Africa about the recent xenophobic attacks in our country.

Stii and Mark worked like mad on this yesterday and I’m super impressed with the way in which the page has turned out. I urge you to read the blog post on the Afrigator blog as it breaks down this page into much greater detail.

One thing I found particularly interesting to see is how many blog posts have been written about the xenophobic attacks. As of last night a total of 217 blog posts have been published compared to only 33 news articles on the same topic.

I really believe that this just highlights how everyone in South Africa is condemning these attacks and the fact that so many blog posts have been written is just awesome for awareness.

At this stage though I’m not sure what value 217 blog posts have on actually making a difference but the more we expose this issue the more I would hope it applies pressure on the powers that be to resolve this issue once and for all.

Help spread the word guys… let’s stop this senseless killing.

Posted on May 19, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

State of the nation: Fucked

I’ve just watched a disturbing Photo Story on the Times Multimedia titled Flames of Hate. As violence in Gauteng spreads so does the nature of beast and now these savages have resorted to burning people alive.

I remarked earlier in the week that these xenophobic-related attacks reminded me of the township violence in the 80’s and after seeing this photo story there is no doubt in my mind that we have a civil war on our hands.

One of the most moving books I’ve ever read was about four South African photographers, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva called the Bang-Bang Club.

Their story documents their experiences within the townships of South Africa during the Apartheid era and their photographs illustrate the murderous struggle between ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party in what was the hostel wars.

Not only did it paint a gruesome picture into what photographers and journalists had to go through during this troubled time but it gave me a very harrowing and disturbing insight into the township violence that was taking place while I was playing blissfully in suburbia.

For the first time in my life really, I became aware of how brutal and savage we as a nation are and I hoped we’d never have to see the same thing happening ever again.

Cue 1994, democratic society and finally this country is given hope. Under Mandela we live the dream and never before has the world seen a country transform as quickly as it did in all aspects of life. Or did it?…

What has become clear in my mind the last two years is just how oppressed our nation feels. We lived in this cloud of euphoria during the Mandela years but under Thabo Mbeki’s reign we’ve seen very real issues come to the fore which are less than pretty.

Two core issues come to mind. First is that South Africa has the highest HIV/Aids infection rate in the world and second is that South Africa has one of the worst (if not the worst) murder rate. These two issues have existed even during the honeymoon period but it’s taken us 14-odd years to finally realise that we have some serious underlying issues that not even Mandela himself can resolve.

Cue Zimbabwe and South Africa’s lack of addressing the dictator called Mugabe and we’re now faced with 4-million exiled Zimbabweans living in South Africa fighting for their livelihood.

The events of the Xenophobic attacks the last week or so are a culmination of years of suppressed anger and frustration towards Government’s lack of providing and delivery of promises made. For 14-odd years the poor have been told that they would now finally be able to survive and provide for their families yet somehow this hasn’t changed much for them. Couple this with Government’s stance on Zimbabwe and you wonder why people have had enough?

While I can clearly see the issues I have to say none of this warrants the hatred and blood-shed we’ve seen take place since 1994 and in greater intensity over the last 7 days.

Last week my domestic worker fell victim to these attackers as she and her two daughters, all South African, were kicked out of their house, electricity cut and left in the streets until 2am in the morning. She said that two blocks up from her two people had allegedly been killed for being suspected foreigners living in the area. She also made it very clear that the attackers don’t care what nationality you are, all they care about is creating anarchy.

It is clear that what has started as an attack on foreigners is now just an attack on our freedom because these savages just want to inflict pain and fear into the hearts of all the residents of this country.

I have a very real problem with victims standing up for their rights and in turn becoming the oppressor, all the while doing as much damage as your oppressor has inflicted on you. What good is it setting a man on fire, raping women, or beating someone within an inch of his/her life? Does this actually solve anything, are you really addressing the problem?

I’m about fed up with the state of this nation as are a lot of other people. White, Black, Indian, Coloured, whatever - we all want to see a change and feel safe and secure in our country.

I’ve also had enough of this disrespect for the value of life. Senseless killing is an everyday occurrence in this country and it has to stop. As a parent I am responsible for safe-guarding my wife and two children yet how is this possible when a large chunk of our nation lacks the basic moral fibre for life?

To the ANC, Mr. Mbeki and Mr. Zuma, what are you, as leaders of this country, going to do to save this country from the turmoil we are faced with? I’m feeling hopeless at the moment and I want to feel hope once again…

Posted on April 9, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

I must pay Netcare so my son can visit his brother!

With only days to go to the birth of my new son I find myself waiting in anticipation for that call from Colette to tell me it’s time to go.

Being a father for the second time round is even more daunting for me than the first but I’m nervously excited nonetheless.

It’s been more than four years since Luke was born and we made a decision to utilise the services of the Netcare Park Lane Clinic once again for our newest arrival.

We didn’t actually have a very good experience with Park Lane when Luke was born, as the staff where really quite useless, however most people have great things to say about the hospital which is why we’ve decided to give them a second chance.

That said I am completely freaked out with Park Lane’s (and Netcare in general) newest policy forcing us to pay R3,400 for the privilege to have Luke visit his mom and new brother.

While one of the two wards is allocated to medical aid clients the other is for semi- and fully-private rooms which come at a premium. The catch here is that if Colette stays in the medical aid ward then no children are allowed at all while the private one allows siblings to visit in the room during visiting hours.

The cost for the semi-private room, which has 4 beds, is R800 per night and you have to pay for four nights upfront when checking in. If you wanted to go fully-private then that cost shoots up to R1,400 per night.

Now I understand that these private rooms are a luxury and come at a price and I’m not ignorant to this but what I fail to understand is why a sibling isn’t allowed into the medical aid ward?

Seriously, what difference does is make to anyone if a sibling under 12 visits his mom and new brother in a ward with 12 beds? To me this is just a manipulative policy by Netcare to make more money out of us and it stinks if you ask me.

How am I supposed to tell Luke that he’s not allowed to see his mom or brother for four days? It’s already going to be such a stressful time for him and I simply can’t do this to him so now I’m forced to fork out the money which I really can’t afford.

Had we not already paid the R350 registration fee I would have sought an alternative hospital - not this casino that claims I’m in safe hands.

Posted on March 14, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

Storm in a Hoek

Last night I had a great evening with both Stii and Simone at Doppio Zero in Greenside. Lots of fun was had by all but more importantly we discussed some very serious issues ranging from work, life, parenting, blogging and the Stormhoek saga.

Erik has a great post about the pothole theory and part of this theory is how we find it easier to care about those matters closest to us and why fixing a pothole in your road is seemingly more important that addressing some of the larger issues we are faced with today.

This kind of sums up why I haven’t written about Stormhoek before because I’ve been unsure of how I could contribute. Also, I wasn’t sure if blogging about this would actually make a difference but that’s a naive take to things.

I’ve learned in the last few days just how powerful blogging can be and hey, let’s face it, Stormhoek grew into the powerful brand that it is through the use of blogging and social media.

Many people feel very passionate about this issue as real jobs are at stake here and the future of Stormhoek is in jeopardy. In particular I’ve been impressed with people like Stii and Eve, read this great article on Bizcommunity, who’ve really tried to make a difference.

I think that as an online community, who’ve all benefited from Stormhoek sponsorships, we should try our level best to help Graham, Chris and the rest of the team by helping them recover some of the R6 million that is owed to them. Unfortunately I can’t afford to Own a Vine but I hope that others who can will help fight the cause and help save the company.

At the very least, let’s get the message out there!