I have set up this website to expose the rip-offs or, to use our Australian vernacular, cons, that exploit Australian consumers by predominantly foreign mult-national companies. Dick Smith
See the photograph for Vegemite that was produced for Australia Day – can you imagine this? They renamed it “Australia” with a map of Australia to fool unsuspecting people into believing that it’s actually an Australian product.
Of course, it’s fully American-owned by the Kraft company – the same company that pays their CEO more than $25 million a year. Imagine the amount of profits that have to be taken out of Australia to fund a salary like that!
If you take an Australian mobile phone to Russia you are charged $12 per minute. If a Russian comes to Australia with their mobile they are charged a fraction of the price.
With the opening of another store recently, Ikea seem to be staking their claim on our lifestyles and our landscape - if not our lives - and so it amazes me to see that Ikea are yet another perpetrator of what appears to be unreasonably high prices. Yet Aussies still gullibly go there for a Sunday shopping day out, walking kilometres and wielding credit cards at the checkout only to end up being ripped off.
Hilton Hotel Sydney WiFi $29 per day / Hilton Hotel Wichita WiFi FREE per day
Let’s look at the cost of wireless internet services (“Wi-Fi”).
Go to any McDonalds or a Starbucks and Wi-Fi is free – this shows that the cost of providing Wi-Fi is incredibly low. But stay at the enormously wealthy US-owned Marriott Hotel chain at both their Harbour and City hotels in Sydney and they will both cost you $19.95 per day – in my belief, a totally dishonest rip-off and a con!
One of the best examples of a big American multi-national conning Australians, is the computer and software company Apple.
At the present time, Apple charge Australians more than double the price for iTunes downloads, than it does for consumers in Britain and 80% more than it charges its European customers.
For a single track download from iTunes in Australia we pay AU$2.19 and Americans pay AU$1.29.
You have to understand that the foreign companies like Costco and Aldi have no loyalty to Australia. They have one objective only and that is to increase profits and dividends for their foreign shareholders.
We knew it would have to happen – our own company would end up on Whatacon!
Recently a major retailer did a testing of our Peanut Butter compared with others. Of course, we knew we would be in the top percentile as this is exactly what happened with our Smooth Peanut Butter. However, our Crunchy Peanut Butter was down near the bottom. On checking we found that there was a faulty batch – well, that means we have to go on Whatacon! But we can assure you we have fixed it and we are improving our taste all the time.
Everyone in the media, even the ABC news, is raving on about Costco. The general view, is how fantastic it is that this fully American owned company, has come to Australia to show our Aussie owned retailers how products should be sold.
