Category: Rants

About the fuel prices

The fuel prices in the latest weeks are going up, and up, and by now at the pump we are paying around 1.50 euros for 1 liter/gas and 1.30 for diesel and everybody complains because they are too high. Well, i think that the prices should be much higher (50% or more), and that the price difference between gas,diesel and LPG is pathetic (this can be a complete new subject for a complete new post one of these days).

So, why? The last time i checked i’m not masochist, and my daily commute of 50 kilometers would indeed become more expensive. But there is rationale to tax more and get the prices higher, for starter to maintain a stable price for a period of years. Let’s say the price is set a 2 euro/liter, this would be the price for 10 years or a legislature or a relevant time frame. The extra tax collected when the oil prices are runing low, would be used to mantain the price when the oil price goes skyrocket. This would take the fuel prices uncertainty out of equation, for entrepreneurs doing business plans, for big companies, for small companies, for families budgets, for individuals. This would push the adoption of new oil free technologies. This would punish much more consumers who make non-eco choices. This would also reduce unnecessary trips (aka Passeio dos Tristes), and reduce overall average driving speeds and style to more normal values (yes, going 140km/h+ at 50cm of the front vehicle bumper and flashing ligths is only considered normal here and in Morocco…), hence reducing accidents and road mortality.

About the adoption of new technologies, remember that the true kick-start of the industrial revolution, was not the steam engine invention, but the end of the slavery, that dried up a tremendous free work force source and pushed the adoption of the new technology. This is the human way of doing things, when pushed we tend to find a way (a better way) and move forward.

As JFK challenged a country to put some guys in the moon, back in the 60’s, and this is the inspiration for it:

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

I believe this generation should accept the challenge of shift from oil to clean energy resources, by the end of this decade, not because its easy, but because its hard. Is the right thing to do, for us, for the environment, for our long term wealth, health and safety.

Ensitel – What the fuck?

Quick digest:

  1. Customer gets a phone from Ensitel.
  2. Phone is faulty and client goes to Ensitel to exchange phone.
  3. Customer is sent to Nokia to make exchange because at Ensitel there is no available phone.
  4. At Nokia customer can get a repair but not a new phone.
  5. Back to Ensitel, a new phone comes up, but the exchange is denied because the faulty phone is scratched on the phone (Ensitel can see the scratch, customer can’t).
  6. Customer wants to return the phone and get the money back.
  7. Customer is again denied to a scratch in the battery cover.
  8. Customer goes into legal action against Ensitel.
  9. The case customer Vs Ensitel goes to trial after several months and expenses.
  10. At trial at a Consumer Center, the judge/referee orders the customer to deliver the phone to Ensitel to repair.
  11. Customer ignores trial delivers phone directly at Nokia to repair.
  12. Customer writes about this situation at own blog.
  13. Ensitel starts legal action, against customer to remove blog posts about Ensitel.
  14. Customer writes yet another post about the legal action.
  15. A big reaction starts in the social networks, condemning Ensitel behavior.
  16. Eventually it breaks out to mainstream mass media, tv, radio, newspapers.
  17. Ensitel makes heavy threats to sue customer.
  18. Customer starts a donation campaign to pay legal expenses.

So, as by now, this novel is not yet closed… and further developments are to be expected.

Who are the parties involved?

Ensitel: a company member of Avenir Telecom, a French based multinational, a corporation quoted in the stock market. So, this is what i call a company without a face. A bunch of guys in suits, members of a board of directors, CEO, CFO, etc… all focus in pushing the delivery of results to the stockholders and themselves.

Maria João Nogueira: an individual person, that works on the SAPO Blogs team. She has a wide audience blog and is wife of E. Pinto (SAPO CTO or senior tech something). So definitely not some lame blogger.

The Good

The customer resistance, against the big corporation, the juridic system. Never broked her spirit. How many of us, have been abused by big corporations, that can get away just because they can, and it takes too much time or effort to fight.

The Bad

Of course the juridic system and consumer protection system. Its simply unreasonable. The customer must must fight with the same weapons than a big corporation that is in a very upper hand. Its expected that the consumer, rules out first all the extra judicial mechanisms, then you should hire a lawyer and sue the corporation in a consumer center. Then if the corporation doesn’t accept you should go to common court….The corporation “burns” some hours of some legal services contract, and the consumer a large amount of time and money.

In the end, after months (sometimes years) it doesn’t solves anything,

The Ugly

Ensitel behavior. First its quite obvious that there are superior orders to deny or delay a phone exchange. Then it shields behind the inefficient portuguese consumer protection. Afterwards, when the customer tells the world about it in a blog (ok, one with a large audience), it “burns” some more legal contract hours in a legal action to force the customer to remove the blog posts. If, there is no limits to plain stupidity when the bomb blows up and the hype in the social networks build ups and crosses to above the line, they don’t do any kind of damage control, some rather lame announces on their own Facebook page. Hello!! Is there anybody with a brain in the house?

The cherry on top of the cake is the very strong menaces to the customer.


© Expresso

I already have made a symbolic donation, because i identify myself in this fight against big corporations and know in first hand how hard it is to play in a field that is so much leaned to one side. The Ensitel reputation is down the mud, specially online (see here too).

Anyway, the key point will be at the end the court decision, that should answer both of these questions. Is there any special limitation in the personal online publication of facts and opinions? If one publishes negative content about some corporation, can one be liable of brand depreciation? If yes, to what extension?

So let us just wait and see.

Update
as this post was still a draft, Ensitel as dropped the legal action against Maria João Nogueira, so we will not have a legal decision. For sure, this or other evil corporation will mess up bad again, and an angry customer will publish the story online. In other situation, with much less hype probably the final outcome wouldn’t be the same…

Lean is good, lean works

For me simply one of the worst inventions of the last years,  a 2ton+ pseudo-tank, pseudo-all terrain vehicle , pseudo-roomy/family vehicle, the SUV.

I usually don’t mind a shit to the vehicle one drives, neither alone value/rate a person for his/hers wheels, but for SUV drivers i open an exception, in my opinion all those guys/gals moving around in BMW X*, Audi Q’s, Volvo XC*, Touaregs, Cayennes and the likes are just plain retarded assholes, who should pay 10x times more road tax than the other drivers.

Why? Well, there are two main reasons, the first is that from the technical point of view they just suck, SUVs suck at off road, the ratio from total space/inner cabin space sucks, awful aerodynamics, prone to rollover due to high center of gravity, high fuel consumption, and the list goes on. So, all this sets up the other reason why i hate SUVs, because many (if not most) of SUV drivers know all these reasons but yet they choose them over better, more sensible options, because they are a status symbol. So these narrow minded people spent some tens of thousands just to show-off a status symbol… so for me is like “Hey, look at me! I drive a 40.000 euro SUV, here i am at the top of the world! Im successful!”, yet stupid enough to make a idiot choice.

Even in a collision, either with other vehicles or pedestrians, they are plain dangerous due to the oversize mass. So, this brings me closer to the post title, these vehicles should be heavily taxed (i mean really heavily), and the lighter more fuel efficient vehicles on the the other hand should be promoted with tax isentions. Also there should be a law limit to vehicle weight.

We really must be a dumb society to embrace SUVs, that are a ménace to the environment, the economy and other road users. Can really someone explain to me?

India’s environment Minister Jairam Ramesh even goes a little further and calls it (SUV driving) criminal. As the days go by i am more and more biased into his opinion.

Updates:

30-12-2010: SUVs and other gas guzzlers will be forbidden in Paris – http://www.leparisien.fr/avon-77210/les-voitures-polluantes-bientot-indesirables-21-12-2010-1199315.php

  1. roomy