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Over the past year we’ve had a string of overseas visitors who shake their head at our slow out-dated IT technology. High speed broadband is either unavailable or unreliable. Our internet in Ewingsdale went down and the entire community had to wait almost a week for it to be fixed. Drive from Byron to the Gold Coast or Lismore and mobile reception is patchy with lots of black spots. I’ve tried (and failed) to get my 18 month old frig fixed for the past 7 months. Half a dozen parts have been installed, many replaced as being faulty. We had a new security sound video system installed and it worked for a week. Two lots of cameras and a monitor were replaced because they were “faulty.” A friend thinks the rest of the world dumps their defective goods into Australia because no-one ever checks they work but rely on the US and Japan to inspect them.
My son went to get an Aussie driving licence with a faultless US licence he’s had for 16 years. Ballina RTA wouldn’t give him one as his licence had been renewed in California two years ago and you have to prove you’ve been a licenced driver for three years. He opened a bank account in Byron Bay and it took three goes for them to get the postal address correct, his name spelled correctly on the card (didn’t count as ID with it spelled wrong) and the paperwork in order. Nick then made a flying visit to Sydney for some interviews and with no E tags got “zapped” every time he went through a tunnel, on the distributor or over the bridge. When he went to pay on line (it’s the only way you can) within the required 48 hours it couldn’t be accessed and has to be the most convoluted web design ever. After phoning he discovered you need an account (takes 3 weeks) and as all the tollways are privately owned you have to pay every fine separately to the private owners and there is 75cent transaction fee for every payment on your credit card (only way to pay)plus $1.50 for the privilege of using a card. His two days running around Sydney has cost him almost sixty dollars in Etag costs. When we planned to go to Sydney Boris went to the RTA and opened an account. Five dollars a week was deducted from his credit card plus all the toll charges (plus fees) and you have no idea what you’re up for till you trudge back to the RTA and return the paperwork and an account or refund will be posted in maybe a month. And this is for a short term visit.
There has to be a better way of doing things. We love the technology when it works, when it doesn’t it’s a nightmare.
Cheers
Di’s latest book The Islands, published by Pan Macmillan, is now on sale.
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