Things to love and hate about Aldi

Probably like a lot of other people, I have mixed feelings about Aldi.

Firstly, things I don't like:

(a) the credit card surcharge (in general I regard these as being a tax-deductible cost of doing business which should not be passed on to consumers); and

(b) the checkout system. This requires you first to empty your entire trolley onto the conveyor belt. The cashier then passes the goods over a scanner at lightning speed onto a small area (the size of a postage stamp (well actually around the size of an A4 sheet of paper) on the other side of the scanner. There is not enough room to pack the goods into bags, and instead you are required to put the goods back in the trolley in a haphazard fashion as fast as you can in order to avoid the postage stamp becoming overwhelmed. You then need to wheel your trolley over to a packing shelf, take all the goods out of the trolley again and re-pack them into bags to take home. This is exhausting just thinking about it, let alone doing it!

The check-out system might work wiith minimum inconvenience for a few things, but it definitely does not work for a full-sized 'shop', where a full trolley can take up the whole conveyor belt and take a lot of time to re-pack. I tried this once, but never again!!

Moral of the story: if you want to do all your shopping at once and have it neatly packed in bags when you exit the cash register, do not go to Aldi. Go to one of the other supermarkets, which still have people who will help you pack as well as self-service checkout machines (which I also hate, but for different reasons, as their programming is inflexible and they 'chuck a hissy fit' if you put your own bags in the packing area if you have not pre-selected this option, and expect you to pack at superhuman speed, saying repetitively "please take your goods" when you are nowhere near ready to do so!).

Anway, the good things about Aldi are its goods and prices (and the weekly specials wilth all sorts of cool things).

I have previously sung the praises of the Aldi Expressi coffee range, but today I will just mention a couple of other things which are well priced and good quality.

The first is the Bakehouse premium bread range. It comes in a similar range and presentation to the much more expensive Helga's range, but tastes just as good.

The other is the Brooklea Joi creamy light probiotic yoghurt range (Strawberry, Mixed Berry and Peach Mango). For me the pick of the range is the Mixed Berry. It is flavoursome, creamy without being too sweet, and has that lovely slightly 'bitey' tartness familiar to berry lovers. It actually has stawberries, raspberries, bluberries and blackcurrant juice in it. At $3.59 for one litre, this sure beats the competition.

Bouquets and Brickbats: When is "travel insurance" not travel insurance?

Caveat emptor - beware of travel insurance which is underwritten by Allianz. This includes CHI and Aussietravelcover.

My iPod Touch was stolen during a trip on 'The Ghan'. Not only did Allianz first try to deny liability (alleging that the iPod had been "left behind" (no cover if you leave anything behind anywhere during your travels) but then after getting a supporting letter from the Terminal Manager they agreed to pay, but only wanted to pay a pittance for an iPod that was in 'as new' condition (applying a savage level of depreciation). As this would not come anywhere near the replacement cost for the iPod I argued with them, and they increased it a bit, but still nowhere near enough to buy a new one. At this point I was exhausted and gave up and had to settle for a second-hand one with a tiny bit of marginal screen damage (sourced through EB Games https://ebgames.com.au/).

As a result I would never ever insure anything with Allianz. Never, ever!

This is also a lesson for people purchasing travel insurance to read the terms and conditions carefully to make sure you are covered for accidental loss. To my mind, so-called travel insurance that does not cover you for accidental loss or leaving things behind is not travel insurance at all and does not deserve your business. Also, if you have an expensive piece of technology in good condition, you will want replacement value, not just their arbitrary depreciated value.

For terrific value and more generous terms and conditions try this one instead provided by ACE Insurance (and available in three levels of cover):
https://fairfax.aceinsurance.com.au/FairfaxAU/TA
(The medium level of cover is also available through www.seniors.com.au/age with a 10% discount for an online quote, but it is cheaper through the Fairfax website.)

Getting a quote from an arborist – Simpson’s Tree Service, Melbourne

The rather large tree overhanging the back of several body corporate units needs a trim in order to preserve neighbourhood equanimity so it was time to get some quotes from qualified arborists. Three is always a good number, and the final quote was obtained from Simpson’s Tree Service as it had contributed to a feature article in the local newspaper not long ago and came off sounding as if it is an experienced and reputable company.

The first two gentlemen who came to quote (from other companies) had been personable and engaged in social niceties such as introducing themselves and shaking hands. In contrast, the representative from Simpson’s Tree Service (whom I will call "Mr STS") was taciturn and world-weary and did not offer his hand. However, he was thorough in assessing the tree and cited his lengthy experience and provided a well-considered quotation. I bade him farewell with a non-committal remark about being in touch later and some time went by without further contact.

Late last week I happened to be working at home and had the doorbell turned off as is customary unless someone is expected. There was a knock on the front window and as I approached the front door there was a strong stench of cigarette smoke. I opened the door and went outside and was surprised to see several men in work clothes standing around. The apparent leader made a scarcastic remark about the bees flying in and out of a gap in the masonry between units: "just admiring your bees' nest" and then said "can we get this car out of the way", referring to my car which was parked in the carport. I appeared puzzled and this man (wearing sunglasses and ear muffs) said "we're here to do the tree". I then realised that this was Mr STS. I indicated that I had not made a booking and I did not believe that any other owners had done so either. He seemed unconvinced and appeared annoyed, so I indicated that I would make a telephone call to check this. He also remarked "aren't we getting the job?", to which I indicated that it was my belief that a decision had not yet been made. I made the 'phone call and confirmed that no booking had been made and that confirmation of the chosen arborist was subject to Body Corporate ratification. I conveyed this information to Mr STS, who once again seemed unconvinced and attempted to persuade me to go ahead on the spot. I politely declined and reiterated that I was sorry, but no booking had been made. Mr STS appeared aggrieved but retreated. At no time did Mr STS remove his sunglasses whilst talking to me. As I turned to return inside I noticed that the offending cigarette butt had been thrown onto the front lawn just next to my car.

As there is no rear exit, the tree branches would have to be brought through one of the units and considerable preparation would be involved in rearranging furniture to provide clear access so it was simply not practicable to accede to his request to allow them to commence work "on the spot".

However, as a result of this episode, they will not be getting the job. I was not impressed with the attitude and behaviour of Mr STS and his crew, which I felt was unprofessional. I felt that I was not treated with respect and common niceties were dispensed with. I came away feeling that this had been an unsavoury experience and had the perception of having being stood-over by an unpleasant man in sunglasses who seemed unwilling to acknowledge that the problem had originated at their end.

WARNING - Do not buy from Megabuy.com.au!

This is a bit of a belated review, but I had such a bad experience with megabuy.com.au I would like to warn others about this. In my experience this company engages in bait advertising and snowballing tactics and then fails to provide any customer service and delays providing a refund, using your money for working capital. This is the worst online ordering scam that I have encountered.

On Wednesday 8 May I received an email from Megabuy advertising the latest Apple iPod Touch 5th Generation 64Gb in yellow for $299.00 ($323.03 incuding courier and credit card charges). Since my iPod had been stolen at New Year and I had limited insurance money to replace it, this was the best price I had seen so I ordered one late in the evening. The next day I received another email advertising the same model in pink for the same price, so I rang up to change my order. I was assured that stock was available and that one would be put aside for me.

My credit card was debited on 8 May and I expected to receive my new iPod within a couple of days as per the delivery advice. I waited and waited and nothing arrived. A few days later I received an email saying that, as a new customer, I had to verify my identity in order to avoid fraud. I had to provide an alternative email address and/or a work telephone number and someone who could vouch for me being who I said I was. This appeared to be a scam to obtain personal information, and as the credit card payment had already been processed, it was a suspicious and inexplicable breach of privacy for a minor purchase.

After complaining about this and referring Megabuy to my public web presences that verified my identity, I received another email advising me that stock had run out and that my order could not be satisfied.

I complained about this and Megabuy claimed that, despite a unit having been put aside for me, they had "completely run out of stock" and offered me either a refund or a 32Gb model for the same price (half the capacity of the one that I ordered). Despite threats to report them to Fair Trading and the ACCC (which unfortunately I have not had time to do), there was no response to my complaints and insistence that the item be supplied as ordered and paid for, and I simply received an email on 31 May saying that my order status had been changed to "refund" and a refund would be provided within 24-48 hours. A refund was not received until 6 June 2013. Megabuy had my money for nearly a month.

In summary, Megabuy:

• engaged in bait advertising;
• confirmed that stock was available and set aside for me but later failed to honour this;
• debited my credit card at the time of placing the order (rather than after confirming stock availability);
• 'snowballed' on delivery through making a very suspicious demand for further personal employment and contact details;
• subsequently claimed that all stock had run out;
• offered an item of lesser value and capacity for the same price;
• did not respond to my consumer complaints and threats to report them to consumer affairs authorities; and
• took a month to refund my money utilising it for working capital in the meanwhile.

As a result, I strongly recommend against dealing with them no matter how good their prices sound - if it is too good to be true, it probably is, and no-one should have to go through this sort of experience if you are dealing with a reputable company.

Bouquets and Brickbats - A Tale of Two Breakdowns

Over the past couple of months I have had the second of my significant bad experiences with K-Mart Tyre and Auto (KTAS) at Northcote Plaza. 

The initial unhappy experience ...

A couple of years ago when I was working in Shepparton I brought the car in for a service when I was down in Melbourne. One of the mechanics left a wire off somewhere in he engine that resulted in the car burning fuel twice as fast as usual, and cost me a lot of money in extra fuel before I could bring it back to Melbourne.

KTAS did not even offer an apology, nor any compensation for the additional fuel costs.

The even more unhappy recent experience ...

Recently my car broke down on a Sunday afternoon (and had stalled unexpectedly several times over previous weeks). The RACV came and said it was a faulty fuel pump causing the problem. The car had to be towed to KTAS.

When I came to pick up the car, KTAS informed me that the car had started for them, and despite the history they did not think the fuel pump needed to be replaced. I had timed picking up the car for just before I needed to catch a train to go to work, but when I arrived I was told that a headlight and wipers needed to be replaced (not having been informed of this in the 'phone call the previous day and no apology was offered for this either). I was told that this wouldn't take long so I reluctantly waited as I didn't want to have to come back again, and then as I was about to leave it transpired that the wiper on the rear window hadn't been replaced, so I had to wait longer again and then only had then minutes to get home and get to the train station.

I made three short trips with the car after picking it up and then the following Saturday the car wouldn't start again. The RACV came again and said it was definitely the fuel pump and it was unsafe to drive. In short, this was a complete disaster as I needed to use the car to go various places on the weekend and suffered financial loss as a result. I then had to take more time off work during an extremely busy period to bring the car back on the Monday. 

There was no apology or acknowledgment of the inconvenience etc and one of the mechanics said it was good that it happened again and there was almost an argument between myself and the manager as to whether the fuel pump needed to be replaced - "we don't like to replace things until they need to be replaced" and no consideration that I actually needed a reliable car and this is what I brought it in for the previous week.

The manager also tried to use my own profession to suggest that people (i.e. doctors and the RACV man) do not always give the correct advice. The RACV man was very senior and a former Nissan mechanic, so I believe that he knew what he was talking about, and the explanation about the carbon brushes being responsible for the fault made perfect sense in the context of the intermittent failure.

Once again, no apology was offered and no concession made financially. I expected to pay for the pump, but it would have been nice to offer a concession re the labour cost to acknowledge the problems that had resulted from not repairing the car properly the previous week. KTAS did fix the car on the day when I brought it back, which was appreciated.

In all three examples customer relations have been handled poorly and as a result I will be taking my business elsewhere in future.

Bouquets and Brickbats - Credit Card Surcharges

(Updated 9 November 2012 - Item 4 added. Updated 24 December 2012 - Items 5 and 6 added. Updated 10 January 2014 - Item 8 added.)
(Updated 9 January 2014 - link to article from "The Age" added and the only 'bouquet' so far!)

09 January 2014 - for further information on the current situation in Australia (and how there is still a long way to go) see the following feature article from "The Age" (Melbourne):
http://www.theage.com.au/national/rba-reforms-fail-to-curb-inflated-credit-card-surcharges-on-airline-bookings-20140108-30hm5.html

A Bouquet at last!
By happy coincidence I was reading through the accumulated 'dogalogues' at home and came across a flier for OzCruising, which claims to be "Australia's Largest Online Cruise Specialist" (www.ozcruising.com.au). On the bottom of the flier it specifically states: "No credit card surcharge for Amex, MasterCard or Visa". Good on them for their consumer-friendly attitude!

Commentary thread started on 09 November 2012:
I am not exactly sure when credit card surcharges were permitted by the Reserve Bank and started to come into vogue as a manner in which firms could pass on the cost of doing business to consumers rather than absorbing it, but from my perspective as a consumer it causes nothing but grief. If you do not wish to pay what is in essence a penalty for using your credit card, you are compelled to pay by EFT from a bank account. This involves more time, trouble and uncertainty for the consumer (as the transaction cannot be confirmed until receipt of funds is confirmed) and presumably it results in additional time and costs for the supplier, as these transactions have to be processed on a case-by-case basis. However, if consumers pay by credit card, the merchant is guaranteed of receiving the payment in a very timely fashion with no further complications. It is also somewhat puzzling as to why businesses do not wish to take advantage of tax deductibility for such fees and charges!

In order to raise awareness (and perhaps even garner a groundswell of opposition) I will mention three recent cases which I have become aware of.

1. Iceberg Events Pty Ltd

This company recently organised the International Conference of Aerospace Medicine in Melbourne. There were hundreds of delegates from Australia and overseas. It seemed to me to be a very unfriendly welcome to Australia to say to the international delegates that yes, you can have the most convenient option of payment by credit card without having to worry about exchange rates and international transfers, but by the way, we will be charging you a fee over and above the (not inexpensive) conference registration fee to do this. Do you have any other choice? No, not really if you are from overseas. Domestic registrants had the cumbersome option of EFT payment. The 2% surcharge was not mentioned on the registration form and only became apparent when working your way through the payment procedure online.

2. Jetstar Airways

One would think that payment by credit card is the perfect medium for travel bookings and that any other option would be a lot more time-consuming and cumbersome. However, many airlines (and travel agents) inflict levy credit card surcharges on their 'captive audience'. Jetstar charges the outrageous amount of $30 per booking to use your credit card, except if you have a Jetstar branded credit card, in which case you pay nothing extra. The only way of avoiding this is to pay by EFT within strict time limits, and then the booking is held in abeyance until payment is confirmed, so in the meanwhile travel plans are effectively in limbo. So, you are forced either to have a Jetstar card or to pay by EFT unless you want to pay a fee for the privilege of using your own credit card. Most people already pay an annual fee for having a credit card, and paying surcharges can add considerably to the cost of using one. Having to revert to EFT payments instead of using your card also means that people miss out on the Frequent Flyer etc points they would otherwise have accrued.

3. Great Southern Rail

This company runs The Ghan, The Indian Pacific, The Overland and The Southern Spirit train services. The 1.2% credit card surcharge (which would add a not insignificant amount to the booking cost) is not mentioned in their print advertising or when initially enquiring about booking availability and does not appear in the printed Terms and Conditions. Once again, you would think that it is advantageous to the merchant in every way to receive payment by credit card and would involve extra staff and administration costs to process EFT payments, but this is exactly what you are required to do if you want to avoid paying the surcharge.

4. Karworx Vehicle Service Centre

I took my car here for a service as part of a voucher offer through Yellow Pages. A 2% credit card surcharge was not mentioned at the time of booking and I only found out about it once I arrived and was asked to fill in some information on a sheet. This was going to cause me a lot of additional trouble and inconvenience to arrange payment as I did not actually have an EFTPOS card with me as I did not know it would be needed, but in the end the manager kindly offered to waive the credit card surcharge on this occasion in order to facilitate payment at the time of collection. They also gave me a mini-flashlight for my keychain and said that all people with Yellow Pages vouchers were being offered "free labour" for their next car service as well, so full marks for trying with regard to good customer relations!

5. Aldi Grocery Stores

Aldi levies a credit card surcharge on all purchases which requires you to pay by cash or eftpos if you wish to avoid it. The other annoying thing about Aldi is that you unpack your trolley to put the goods through the register, then the cashier puts them back into the trolley and then you take the trolley elsewhere and then unpack them another time and re-pack them into bags ... At least the other supermarkets have not yet resorted to this multiple-handling and time-intensive (for the consumer) "solution"!

6. Toyota Cairns

Credit card fees: 1% on Visa/Mastercard, 2% on corporate cards and 3% on American Express. Fees are charged on the portion of any invoice exceeding $200. The justification is that "the bank charges us these fees so we have to charge you these fees".

7. Megabuy.com.au

Amongst other dubious practices (see separate blog posting), this online store slugs consumers with a hefty credit card handling fee ($8.08 on a $299 purchase) in addition to delivery costs. Dealing with this outfit is not recommended.

8. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Along with other online ticket providers like Ticketek, a somewhat puzzling "service/delivery fee" of $6.00 is levied for tickets to print at home. Yes, that's right! For their largesse in sending you a PDF of the tickets you have already paid handsomely for and which you will print at home using your own paper, toner and electricity, an automatic extra charge is levied. If you want your tickets posted using standard mail, it is $7.00 and Registered Post is $10.00. Quite mysterious how it only costs $1.00 more when they have to print the tickets, supply an envelope and pay postage! This brings me to another bugbear - most of the ticketing agencies will not send tickets to a PO Box!!! How can this make sense? I have a nice secure PO Box which is much safer than my letterbox at home which is open to the street and anyone can help themselves to the mail, and it simply infuriates me that ticket providers and various online retailers will not deliver to a PO Box. Shame on you all!

Oh yes, the credit card surcharge - 1.75% for Mastercard and Visa and 2.75% for Diners or Amex. Is there any other way to pay and avoid the surcharge? NO!!

As a result my ticket purchase was inflated from $180 to $189.15 - a tidy little extra earner of 5% on top of the purchase price.

Commentary ...

Credit card surcharges are not consumer-friendly and paying by EFT in order to avoid them disadvantages and inconveniences the consumer. Requiring consumers to pay by EFT must necessarily involve additional time, costs and administrative procedures for the merchant, so one really needs to ask whether it is cost effective from the merchant's perspective and they would be better off absorbing the credit card processing costs (as used to be the case) as a 'cost of doing business' and receiving safe and secure payment. These card processing costs are also tax-deductible to the merchant as a 'cost of doing business'. Many of the merchants levying surcharges are in a monopoly position, so the consumer does not have the choice of going elsewhere and perhaps finding a merchant who does not levy a credit card surcharge. There is an imbalance of power in favour of the merchant and the consumer is powerless to change the situation if they cannot take their business elsewhere.

Consumers have the power to militate for change and to indicate to merchants that they are not doing themselves any favours in terms of initial or repeat business or recommendations if they do levy a credit card surcharge. Change will only occur if we make it happen - if credit card surcharges and their implications offend you, speak out!

WARNING - Do not buy from DinoDirect!

This is a warning not to buy goods online from DinoDirect (who are based offshore) and also to be very cautious about buying any electronic devices via a deals voucher unless the supplier of the goods is based in your home country.

Late last year I bought a NextBook Premium7 Android tablet via a Spreets voucher for a friend. This is a 7 inch Android tablet, which is supposed to be able to do all the normal things that a tablet can do. However, from the time it was purchased there were problems with it. The battery only retained its charge for a very short time, regardless of whether it was being used or not, and using a finger for screen scrolling only worked erratically and generally not at all if the screen image was enlarged, such as if you were trying to read emails through a browser. However, the most significant problem is that it has never been possible to get the inbuilt email program working. At first I thought that perhaps this was due to an inadequate WiFi connection when I tried it at both the local library and at work. I carefully researched the correct connection parameters from Google for Gmail in case that was the problem. Eventually I was able to try setting it up with a direct ADSL connection, and it still would not work. I then emailed NextBook customer service, and they first suggested resetting the email program (which did not work) and then resetting the tablet to return it to its default settings (which also did not work). NextBook told me that it was covered by a one year manufacturer's warranty, but that if I wanted to return it to them I would have to obtain a US shipping address and return the tablet to them in the US, which would be prohibitively expensive. 

By this stage (early April 2012) I had "had enough" and contacted Spreets to ask for a return and refund in accordance with Australian consumer law (http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1023610). They cheerily referred me on to DinoDirect. I provided DinoDirect with a copy of the purchase documentation, the full background story, photographs to show that the emails were not loading and that the battery was running out quickly and a statement that the goods were faulty and did not do what they were represented to do and were not fit for purpose and that I was asking for a return (at no cost to me as the tablet was under warranty) and refund as provided for in the consumer law. DinoDirect eventually replied offering me a US$50 credit voucher that I could spend in their online store towards another tablet.

As the tablet is so faulty as to be of no use to me or anyone else, I wrote back restating my rights and their obligations under Australian law, and their reply basically said if you want a refund you will have to send the tablet back to us at your own cost, but since that will be expensive perhaps you just want to take the $50! I then contacted Spreets to say that since they were the Australian-based seller that I initially contracted with, they also had responsibilities to comply with Australian consumer law. They just referred my complaint on to DinoDirect again and said to expect a further reply. I am still waiting nearly two weeks later!

In summary:

• DO NOT buy from DinoDirect as they have just thumbed their noses at Australian consumer law and ignored the warranty attached to the tablet. 
• DO NOT buy any electronic gadgets via a deals voucher unless you can be sure that the supplier of the goods is based in your home country and you will be able to exercise your rights under the warranty and local consumer law.

Update as at 6 July 2012:

After more correspondence with Spreets after not hearing anything back and then being referred to DinoDirect again and not hearing anything back, I decided to write to Spreets one final time saying that I held them responsible for ensuring that a solution was reached and that if this did not happen I would be reporting the matter to Fair Trading Victoria and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for breaches of the Australian consumer law. Fortunately Spreets took this seriously and undertook to contact DinoDirect again and then got back to me to say that if I did not hear anything within a few days to contact them again.

Within a few days I received a telephone call from DinoDirect (in China) offering to accept a return of the unit and to pay for the postage. This was followed up by an email confirming the offer and providing instructions for returning the unit. I have packaged it up and posted it today (the cheapest cost including a tracking number was A$31.50) and will hope that they are true to their word and provide a refund of all costs once they receive the package. It will be interesting to see how they arrange this as it was originally paid for by credit card through Spreets. I will post a final update once the outcome is clear, but I think for any consumer of electronic goods the summary advice above still stands - it is just too problematic buying from an overseas supplier without local agents if you run into problems.

Update as at 10 August 2012:
I had to follow up with DinoDirect to see if they had received the package and they are now refusing to provide a refund, just a replacement, citing an expired warranty period (patently incorrect) and the :group purchase arrangements". They have gone back on their previous verbal and written agreement to refund the purchase price plus shipping and seem not to care in the slightest about being in breach of Australian consumer law. So, I have gone back to Spreets again asking them to sort it out and get DinoDirect to pay them money to them so that I can get a refund from Spreets. We will see what happens, but this only reinforces the advice in the summary above - give DinoDirect a wide berth!!

Update as at 30 August 2012:
After further pressure from Spreets and prevarication on the part of DinoDirect (claiming to have been in contact with me, claiming to have paid the money, etc.) a refund payment was finally made yesterday through PayPal. However, I was dismayed to discover that the payment had been made in such a way that I was being treated as if I was a seller and fees had been deducted by PayPal, leaving me around A$7 out-of-pocket! After contacting Spreets again they kindly offered to sort things out by providing me with a Spreets voucher for the $7 which I could use at a future time. Given the long and tortuous nature of this matter, it seemed the best solution rather than trying to chase DinoDirect for the extra money. As a result I cannot say anything good about dealing with DinoDirect and the reservations above remain - caveat emptor! ('buyer beware!') in any dealings with them.

Apple refuses to bite ...

Late last year I decided to buy an Apple iPad "Smart Cover" as a Christmas gift, and as it was a little difficult to find time to shop in person, I looked online. I found an Australian company specialising in computer cases and accessories which was offering what appeared to be a genuine Smart Cover at a good price, so I ordered one. Once it arrived I became suspicious that it was in fact a counterfeit product, especially when I compared it with a friend's genuine Smart Cover.

Having been a lawyer in a previous life, I did not wish to support products which were an example of "passing off" and exploiting Apple's industrial and intellectual property, and contacted the retailer via email to ask for either an exchange for a genuine cover or a refund. After several emails there was no reply, so I thought that I had given them a fair chance to avoid reporting of the matter and then approached Apple offering to provide it with details of the seller and send them the actual counterfeit product and packaging. I made two different submissions through the Apple website, and after I did not hear anything back I also went to some trouble to get the email contact details of a person within Apple Australia. I wrote to this person twice, also with no response. I was then forced to come to the conclusion that I cared more about protecting Apple's intellectual property than it does and that I was "on my own" in terms of seeking resolution of the matter.

I then renewed my pressure on the retailer, and eventually (after a delay of several months) received a full refund after returning the goods after threatening to report them to the authorities. Since life is too short to follow up every injustice that you come up against, and especially as Apple seemed disinterested in doing anything about the counterfeit accessories, I made a decision not to report the matter to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, so in this instance the forgers have "got away with it".

The moral of the story is that if you are concerned about buying a genuine product, be very careful about buying online, and check with the retailer in advance whether the item is in fact genuine or a copy. If you want to be sure, buy from an authorised retailer. Some stores like JB HiFi will offer a small discount on the RRP if you ask for a deal (but Apple does not give them much room to move).

As the old legal saying goes, "caveat emptor" (buyer beware)!