Wow, that’s a cheap deal @Bruce, more than double that here!
I have received a response from one of the CEO’s underlings making the expecte apologies and assuring me that the staff who lied to me will be given ‘retraining’ (presumably with a whip!). I have also been offered the standard £5 pay-off which, of course, I shall refuse.
It would appear that a lot of people use Amazon for films etc, but I think in my case I haven’t watched a film all the way through since my last visit to the cinema in 2019 before covid.
Although there aren’t many films that I haven’t seen in my 71 years, I’m having trouble hearing them now on the telly and it somewhat spoils my enjoyment. I was fancying getting a ‘sound bar’ can anyone recommend them?
I don’t think Amazon has been the runaway success here that it has in foreign parts. I could be wrong but that is my impression.
I could certainly recomment my ‘soundbar’ but I’m afraid it is no longer available. What I would say, though, is to listen to some first.
Mine has a separate subwoofer which, with the volume turned up, can shake the whole room. Without the subwoofer it is far less effective.
Some of these things don’t include a subwoofer but claim to produce a deep bass sound, but I’m not convinced as they only seem to comprise small speakers in the ‘bar’.
Try listening to some, with and without a subwoofer, and see for yourself.
I have my TV sound going through my Yamaha sound system. I think one advantage is that it makes use of the full surround sound (5.1?). The smart TVs are designed to allow this I think sound bars are only stereo (could be wrong).
The whole thing can be used for all your sound/video like radio, music and/or video server, Spotify etc and, even if a bit deaf like me, still hear it down the bottom of the garden 
Thank goodness we pay everybody a decent living wage whether they are in a union or not. Employers can pay more than the award rate but not less. Casual workers get a 25% loading on the hourly rate.
Thanks JB and Bruce, I think its worth giving it a go. I also am a bit deaf Bruce and have trouble hearing certain frequencies. I’ve tried a cheapo hearing aid but it amplifies the frequencies I can still hear and it just drown out the ones I can’t.
ha ha, my hearing is the same, my son was playing a recording he made of the sonar he uses on his ship and what it sounds like in the ship, To me it was just a blank recording of nothing, I thought he was taking the piss.
I too have hearing aids supplied by the government scheme which compensate for the frequency loss and they do work well but frankly I rarely wear them except when I visit my daughter, she won’t talk to me unless I wear them because she gets fed up with repeating herself - I presume it is because women have a higher pitched voice that I have more trouble hearing them.
On the bright side I can no longer tell the difference between an original CD and its MP3 version recorded at the lowest quality. So it is MP3s all the way for me.
Same here Bruce, some women’s voices are particularly hard to hear, especially lady news readers and actresses, Mrs Fox gets annoyed when I keep asking…“What did she say?”…
I’m glad you pointed out that you don’t use your hearing aid much, because the digital ones I had recommended were eyewateringly expensive.
In 2018, Amazon pledged to increase its minimum wage to $15/hr for US workers based on political pressure and a lot of bad press. I think it probably thought that its competitors would do the same. They didn’t.
The wages in Australia, I think are in line with that minimum wage figure, given the exchange rate.
From my casual reading, the unions are pushing for better working conditions. The warehouses are large and not temperature controlled, so there are a lot of temperature issues working there, along with electronic monitoring of employees’ acitivities that cause poor working conditions. Creating better working conditions would cost a lot of money.
I should add that awards don’t just deal with wages they also cover annual leave (minimum 4 weeks + extra for shift work), long service leave, working hours (max 38 per week), penalty rates (overtime, unsocial hours, weekend work) etc, Shift work penalties and other conditions of employment.
I have had Prime a few years now and am happy to keep up the subscription.* Not watched much on the Videos yet, but take advantage of next day delivery on most of my orders. And the free books.
*When I took out a new BT package when I moved here to Lowestoft, they gave me a year’s free subscription to Prime, by giving a code. I was well pleased with that, as mine was due for renewal. How timely was that?
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Ah, then that might partially explain why Amazon Australia hasn’t turned a profit. Amazon’s model is based on undercutting prices by streamlining costs.
But the pandemic might be changing things, considering its revenue has doubled. Once Amazon starts taking market share, then they can start to raise prices.
It will depend on whether the revenue falls again once restrictions are lifted or whether the revenue remains more permanent.
I just received my notice that my Prime membership, which I do enjoy, is going up to $139, just as butterscotch reported.
My solution is to let my membership lapse for a couple of months and rejoin when I need it. That will offset that outrageous increase.
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You wouldn’t have thought that Bezos needed any more cash…
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They create a monopoly Barry, and when they’ve driven the small family run establishments out of town they have us by the short and curlies…
Globalism is not our friend…
That’s nothing to do with globalism, capitalism naturally strives for monopoly that is why you have governments, ACCC and corporation law.
ACCC = Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (every country has one I am sure)
Don’t like the music they keep taking tracks of my play list
I love it for it next day delivery.
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