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Woolworths rips off customers again

Topless pineapples on offer at Woolworths Redbank Plains store today.


Woolworths have embarked on a new and sneaky campaign to rip off customers.

In Queensland's Sunshine State where pineapples thrive, Woolies has got its knives sharpened to cut the tops of every pineapple they sell.

This prevents home gardeners from using the tops to grow their own fresh pineapples.

Very clever. Very sneaky.

It stops the average member of the public from utilising sound environmental practices in growing their own fruit.

They are forced back to Woolworths to buy more pineapples without tops.

If convenience is the issue, why doesn't Woolworths offer customers a choice - pineapples with or without tops?

Another Woolies ripoff where prices might be down but corporate trickery is up, up, up!

QLD Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Damaging Winds


QLD Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Damaging Winds
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

For people in parts of the
Wide Bay and Burnett,
Darling Downs and Granite Belt and
Southeast Coast Forecast Districts.

Issued at 11:21 am Friday, 9 September 2011.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Ipswich, Kingaroy, Boonah, Crows Nest and Yarraman.

Short lived periods of heavy rainfall are also possible in the warning area over the next few hours.

Damaging winds with some heavy rainfall have been reported between Inglewood and Warwick between 9am and 10am.

Emergency Management Queensland advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
BoM Radar | Early Warning Network | Unsubscribe

SCAMwatch email alert: Beware of scam websites making fake claims of government affiliation [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Beware of scam websites making fake claims of government affiliation

View radar online.

Added: September 2011

SCAMwatch is warning small businesses and consumers to be on the look out for scam websites that either falsely claim to be affiliated with government or boast bogus government endorsements.

How the scam works

  • These scams operate through websites which charge a fee for services offered freely or at a lower cost by government or charge for services they never end up delivering.
  • This scam commonly targets registrations and renewals, for services such as:
    • business registrations
    • grants
    • tax file numbers
    • travel documents
    • online business directories.
    • Sites often use prominently-placed official logos, links to genuine government websites and photos of well-known Australians or landmarks to give the websites the appearance of authenticity and authority.

Protect yourself

  • Most Australian government websites use the '.gov.au' extension – never .org, .net or .com.
  • Government services are never paid via wire transfer. 
  • The Australian Government website www.australia.gov.au is a safe portal for finding government services, including travel, tax and grants, and will help to avoid unauthorised third party providers.
  • If you want to use a third party service check out who you are dealing with and what the industry requires in the first instance from an independent source and read all the terms and conditions.
  • Be wary of misused trust marks, logos, seals of approval – they may just be copies and not the real thing.
  • Never enter your personal, credit card or banking details on a website unless you have checked it is authentic—scammers can use your details to commit identity fraud or steal your money. 
  • If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.

Report
You can report scams to the ACCC via the report a scam page on SCAMwatch or by calling 1300 795 995.

More information
SCAMwatch has issued previous radars and a media release on scams which impersonate government:

Stay one step ahead of scammers, follow @SCAMwatch_gov on Twitter or visit http://twitter.com/SCAMwatch_gov.

______________

If you no longer want to receive SCAMwatch email alerts, please unsubscribe on the SCAMwatch website.

Australian-first action taken against dodgy Gold Coast employer, Australian Shooting Academy

 
In the first action of its kind in Australia, a Gold Coast indoor shooting range has been fined $30,000 for trying to force workers to sign away their penalty rights for overtime, and work on weekends and public holidays.
 
The Australian Shooting Academy, at Centro Surfers Paradise shopping centre, has been fined $25,000 and company director and part owner Michael Joseph Murphy has been ordered to pay a further $5000.
 
The business was also ordered to pay compensation of more than $7000 to one worker.
 
The penalties, imposed in the Federal Court in Brisbane, are the result of a prosecution by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
 
They were imposed by Justice John Logan after Mr Murphy admitted he was involved in ASA breaching workplace laws in 2010 when six employees were asked to sign Individual Flexibility Arrangements which removed their entitlement to penalty rates for overtime, weekend and public holiday work.
 
Five of the six employees ultimately signed the IFA but the judge ruled the adverse action, coercion, undue pressure and duress provisions of workplace laws were breached when one of the employees signed only after he was threatened that there would be no work for him if he did not.
 
The sixth employee who refused to sign the IFA and was given no further work was awarded $7146 compensation.
 
The office of the Fair Work Ombudsman said it is the first time in Australia it had taken legal action over alleged contraventions relating to IFAs.
 
It is unlawful for employers to force employees to agree to an IFA and it is unlawful to make an IFA a condition of employment.
 
 
COMMENT: Employers like this should be banned from operating businesses for a fixed time,
just like company directors who are banned for dodgy practices. Ignorance of the law is not
a valid legal excuse in Australia.  Michael Joseph Murphy should publicly apologise for his
actions.  The fair Work ombudsman should be congratulated for this legal action. 
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