ajkbites-blog - Tumblr blog

[ajkbites-blog]

The response to the marriage attack by Bob Katter from Carl Katter, worked in conjunction with GetUp! Australia.

[ajkbites-blog]

UVent: The End to Poor Customer Service?

The newest customer service feedback portal is about to go live on the internet.  Uvent promises to "help companies retain customers by facilitating a differential level of customer service".

Uvent allows customers to post their gripes to the website with a 24 hour turn around time for all complaints (well under the standard accepted response time).  The time frame for the agreement set by Uvent themselves.

What Uvent seems to be is the overblown baby of a scorned customer with a little bit too much knowledge in web design.  Do we really need another web forum on poor customer service?

Anthony Mittlemark, the brainchild of this endeavour has stated that the website makes no money from the complainant, rather "You (the company) can either pay to receive complaints for your company only or you can pay to receive complaints within your industry."

One has to ask the question, where does this leave the role of industry ombudsmen in the complaints process.  Industries have formal departments to deal with customer complaints and liaising between the complainant and the customer.  Mr Mittlemark claims that only a small percentage of people are able to complain to the ombudsman.

The ombudsman exists for the protection of both the consumer and the company, by taking out the ombudsman the onus goes on the company to provide an acceptable resolution.  Acceptable being defined in this instance as "enough money to keep the customer quiet".

By taking out the gatekeeper, what is to stop the reputable name of companies from being slandered because customers continue to complain regardless of whether their complaints are valid.

The Uvent website claims that "venters can then decide whether to switch their service provider based on competitor's advantage."  Again, the ombudsman can set these terms.  At the end of the day complaining to an independent website will not get you out of your contractual agreement and it certainly won't help increase transparency in company complaints.

[ajkbites-blog]

Katter's Gay Marriage Attack

Bob Katter has started a media frenzy with his latest television campaign against Liberal National Party (LNP) Leader, Campbell Newman.  Whilst the advert claims to be challenging the views of the leadership of the party, the message is clear and it is one of gay hate.

The validity and effect of the message within this advertisement, is one that major party politicians agree on, the message is damaging and homophobic.  LNP Leader Campbell Newman, whilst being unwilling to discuss his personal views on gay marriage, has made it very clear that the view the advert spreads is one of fear and hatred.

The video which went to air on Sunday evening can be found on YouTube and clearly sends a message of negativity and homophobia.   One of the strangest elements of the video itself is that part of the imagery of the gay couple appears pixelated.  Implying that the image needed to be censored for television.  An article run in the Brisbane Times shows this to be completely to the contrary. 

The full image was one that was traced back to a photo blog website.  Queensland Australia Party Leader, Aidan McLindon told ABC News 24 that "the image that is on television the gay community have been quite openly using on all their ads in school bus stops", referring to the controversial Rip'N'Roll campaign of 2011.  However these comments have been rebutted by those responsible for the campaign, claiming that the imagery used by Katter has never been used in their advertising.

The subject of the pixelated image was brought up by Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Health of Monday's screening of Q & A.

I think there's a few things that you always see in commercials or commercial TV to show that someone’s guilty of something. You know, they do the slow motion, they bring in the dun, dun, dun music and they pixelate. They’ve pixilated a picture of two men hugging as though it is a criminal or offensive thing and so I think that that ad is the subconscious message, even the quite overt message is that there’s something very wrong with same-sex relationships. It is a particularly offensive ad.

Carl Katter has publically denounced his brother and the advert repeatedly on Twitter and is set to star in a television advertisement to go to air tomorrow which promotes and supports gay marriage in conjunction with activist group GetUp.  "It was sad, sick and I knew someone had to respond", Carl said in a statement.

This latest controversy will likely give rise to discussions in the near future surrounding the possiblity of legal unions v marriage, censorship and free speech and further discussions on dealing with homophobia and hate speech in society.  Overnight the office of Queensland Health and Indigenous Issues Minister, Curtis Pitt was vandalised; the attack likely stemming from the uprising commentary on gay relationships in the media.

AJK - 13/03/12