What happens when you get a refund from the restaurant to your EatClub card?

Many people have embraced a new form of dining out with a discount with Marco Pierre White's app called EatClub. It's an innovative concept which has been helped along by the emergence of UberEats and the subsequent rebound back for restaurants that have remonstrated the hefty margins that such delivery apps take from their business. EatClub only charges a small amount for restaurants to be listed on their app and only take a small processing fee when you pay for your meail. For customers, discounts of up to 50% off makes it worthwhile to scroll through EatClub before eating out. 

However there are some situations you need to be prepared for, such as when a restaurant issues a partial refund to you. This refund goes to your Eatclub card but unbeknownst to me, that refund was not forwarded back to my credit card unless I raised a support ticket with Eatclub. This happened six weeks ago and upon remembering, I emailed EatClub about what happened to my refund. They were quick and helpful to pass the refund to me. 

However, I did ask whether I would have received the refund if I didn't ask. This was their (standard?) reply - 

For refunds of this nature, we do rely on customers to notify us when a venue has processed a refund directly through the payment terminal. 

The reason for this is that the refund is typically visible first through your bank, Apple Wallet, or Google Wallet transaction history. While the venue can initiate the refund on their end, we don't receive an automatic notification that a refund has been processed.

That's why we usually ask customers to provide a screenshot showing the refunded transaction — often identifiable by a "+" sign in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, or by the corresponding refund entry in their banking app. This gives us the confirmation we need to verify the refund and ensure it's correctly matched to the original EatClub transaction before we process any adjustments on our side.

I appreciate that this isn't the most seamless process and can feel like an extra step when you've already worked with the venue to arrange the refund. However, the verification helps us ensure refunds are processed accurately and prevents any discrepancies between venue records, payment records, and customer accounts. 

The good news is that once we receive the screenshot and verify the refund, we're usually able to move things along fairly quickly.

 Thank you again for your patience throughout the process and for taking the time to ask. Feedback like this is valuable because it helps highlight areas where the experience could be improved in the future.

 We appreciate having you as part of the EatClub community and hope your future dining experiences are all about great food, smooth transactions, and great savings.

So if you got a refund to your EatClub card, remember to email hello@eatclub.com(.au for Australian users) with a screenshot of your refund and your booking details to get the refund forwarded back to you - because it won't happen automatically. 

How can Bankwest customers withdraw or deposit cash now?

 Many Bankwest customers are still confused about the branch closures mean for them. The elderly are particularly panicky about this and the question on many peoples lips are what can they do if they want to deposit or withdraw cash? 

Bankwest just recently sent out an email which shows the limits and the fees involved for various deposits and withdrawals. 

Depositing cash via Commonwealth Bank ATMS

First of all, many don't realise that Bankwest is actually owned by Commonwealth Bank, so their ATMs are basically Bankwest ATMS. You can use a Commonwealth Bank ATM to deposit up to $8,000 cash into your account straight away. The machine will open up and allow you to insert a stack of notes and it will then close and count the cash. Then it will tell you how much it counted compared to how much you said there was and then you can press proceed to have it banked. The amount will show in your account straight away. 

Depositing cash via Australia Post Bank@Post outlets

You can also deposit up to $8,000 via Australia Post Bank@Post outlets. Not sure if this is in addition to your $8,000 limit on the ATMs. 

Withdrawing cash via Bank@Post or any "major bank" 

You can also withdraw up to $2,000 from Australia Poast Bank@Post or any "major bank" ATM. This only includes ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and NAB. Some EFTPOS outlets like Coles and Woolworths will also allow you to withdraw cash but the limits will vary from $50-$600 and this may change depending on the availability of cash to the operator at the time. 

I know this seems like a strange post but I am sure I am not the only person who ends up googling this instead of trawling through past emails to find out these things. 

Google maps timeline - don't accept the terms yet!

 Google maps has been disabling the feature that allows you to view your timeline on the desktop version of Google maps. For people in Australia we are now seeing the prompter asking us to accept the terms. However once you do, you will lose the timeline on your desktop and there is no going back.

The advice is if you want to keep this feature until you really must move, don't accept the terms until December 2024. 

How to go everywhere in Perth for $10 (for up to seven people) on Weekends and School Holidays

If there is one tip visitors should take, it is this - get on public transport after 9am (on weekdays) and buy a DayRider. If there are two of you, it will also only cost $10 for both of you - buy a FamilyRider which only costs $10 for two standard fare passengers (and includes up to 5 more children if they have an Australian concession card). However, the DayRider is not always available. It can be purchased on weekends and from 9am on a weekday if it is school holidays or Friday after 3pm during school days. It's one of those passes, that have so many conditions you need to read it carefully many times to see if you qualify. Does the FamilyRider or DayRider include the Airport? Yes it does! Here are the usual fares for Perth as of March 2023. 

Also, if you are using the Smartrider, note that you will never be charged more than $10 per day if you use public transport multiple times. 

So the Family Rider is available for these times - 

• Weekends and public holidays – any time.
• Monday to Thursday outside school holidays – after 6.00 pm.
• Fridays outside school holidays – after 3.00 pm.
• Monday to Friday during school holidays in Zones 1 to 4 – after 9.00 am.
• Monday to Friday during school holidays in Zones 5 to 9 – after 8.30 am.

Perth in Times Square for NYE 2022

 It seems like tonight the spotlight in Times Square New York City will be on Western Australia. Who would have thought that our little abode would get such a high level campaign. For those whose interest in Western Australia has been piqued by the campaign, do leave a comment. Perth, the capital city of Western Australia has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Those that have been back have remarked at the transformation, from the moment that their cab took them from the airport, it seemed like everything had changed. The Tonkin Highway drive into the city is now lined with overpasses and a streetscape that reflects a city growing up. The South Perth foreshore has been revamped, with the Perth Zoo creatures welcoming the ferry from the Perth City and children playing on the small beaches along the river. Then you have the Elizabeth Quay development which is still developing with the Ritz Carlton presence a world class endorsement. There is the Como The Treasury hotel which has been voted as the world's best hotel by Conde Nast a few years ago which sits next to the Perth City library which is an architectural wonder. For those considering the 15 hour flight to Perth, you won't regret making the journey.

Elizbeth Quay

City scape from the City of Perth library

Optus Hack - How much do they have on you?

Some helpful forum posts have indicated that there is a way that you can see the data that was stolen from Optus about you. You can check the Optus customer API yourself by first logging into your Optus account at https://www.optus.com.au. You can only access data for the logged in user, and can't view the data of other customers.

Then follow this link to see what data would have looked like. Take note of the 'contactID' from here - https://www.optus.com.au/mcssapi/rp-webapp-9-common/user/inf...

Then replace {contactId} with your customer ID you found in the first link into this web address, replacing of course the {contactId} with your ID.

https://www.optus.com.au/mcssapi/rp-webapp-9-common/customer-management/contact-person/{contactId}?lo=en_US&sc=SS

If you see "Driving Licence","indentValue":"XXXXXXXX" then XXXXXXX is your driver licence number. 

Optus Hack - are you a Category 1 or a Category 2 victim?

There are two groups of people affected by the Optus security breach - which one are you? 

CATEGORY 1

If you got an email from Optus with the following 2nd paragraph, then you are one of the more affected customers from this recent hack - 

Importantly, no financial information or passwords have been accessed. The information which has been exposed is your name, date of birth, email, phone number, address associated with your account, and the numbers of the ID documents you provided such as drivers licence number or passport number. No copies of photo IDs have been affected.

If you had the above paragraph you should put a ban on credit checks and also apply for an extension of that ban with a second form. You may also want to join the class action updates from Slater & Gordon and if they do proceed with a lawsuit, you may be compensated if you register with them.

CATEGORY 2

Those that were not so affected are those that did not have their drivers licence number or passport number breached and the second paragraph from Optus will say this - 

No financial information or passwords have been accessed. The information which has been exposed is a combination of your name, date of birth, email, phone number and/or address associated with your account. No ID document numbers or details have been affected.

Optus is still working out how to respond to this hack and whether to compensate customers. 

Optus hack - How to ban credit checks

If you had an email from Optus in the last few days mentioning that your driver's license or passport number was included in the breach, it is a good idea to stop people from applying for a loan or credit using your ID. You can apply for bans with all of the Australian CRAs by engaging just one credit reporting agency and requesting that they place bans with all CRAs if you agree to their terms and conditions. You can choose one of the following and tick the box where it says that you would like them to notify other CRAs. It takes literally 5 minutes to save you a potential headache of some hacker using your ID to borrow hundreds of thousands. 

• https://experian-apac.force.com/banrequest/s/ban-request-for...

• https://www.equifax.com.au/eform/submit/credit-ban

• https://www.illion.com.au/illion-au-ban-request-application-...

How to get more than 4c off Ampol, Shell or Caltex Woolworths?

There are so many changes recently with petrol stations that it is confusing where you can use different fuel offers. Everyone knows about the 4c off you can get at Caltex Woolworths petrol stations when you spend $30 at Woolworths and the 4c off Coles Express when you spend $30 at Coles. Some may not know about the other extra offers you can get on top of these. 

For Shell - If you don't mind adding the CarSales App to your phone, you can get 8c off petrol on top of your Coles Express offer. There is also the offer from MyCar car servicing (not sure I would recommend them though) who offer you a "Shell Secret Saver" app for two months during which you can use up to 20 times their 10c off Shell petrol. However, you can't stack this offer with the CarSales Shell offer because both offers are via a company called Viva Energy and can't be stacked. 

For Ampol - Ampol has a 6c off offer for those who own a Toyota and download the MyToyota App every 24 hours with the barcode updating every day. You can also buy digital gift cards via Shopback for 3% off which at today's petrol prices, is another 5c off. Some Ampol petrol stations also allow you to get 4c off if you have a Woolworths petrol offer on your Woolworths rewards card. However, some Ampol stores only show an Woolworths Rewards card banner but not 4c off. This means that you can earn Woolworths Rewards points, but you can't redeem your 4c off. 

For Caltex Woolworths - You can buy WISH giftcards from places like RAC or the Entertainment Book for 3% off which can be used at Caltex Woolworths petrol stations.  Note that you can't use Woolworths gift cards at Caltex Woolworths petrol stations, only WISH giftcards or WISH egiftcards. If a Caltex Woolworths petrol station becomes an Ampol, I don't think you can use a WISH card there either. Confused? So are we. If you notice any other offers or exceptions floating around, please leave a comment below

How to Remember Where You've Been with Google Maps

If you are in a jurisdiction where COVID hasn't yet ravaged, such as Western Australia, you may be wondering whether there is a way that you can keep track of where you've been when exposure sites are listed. One way is to let technology do it for you. It is possible that Google Maps has already been doing it on your phone. Go to your Google Maps app on your phone and tap the top right corner then tap "Your Timeline". If you have location tracking enabled, you will see where you've been today and with one tap to the left arrow, where you were yesterday and at what time. 

If location tracking is not enabled, you should go to https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy and sign in to Google if you haven't already. Then under Data and Privacy, tick the box next to Location History. Whether you have Google Maps open or not on your phone, your phone will now remember where you've been. Very helpful when you can't work out what you did last Tuesday when Omicron was walking the supermarket or pharmacy.

Expired gift cards can be reactivated

Recent surveys have found that gift cards have become the most popular gift option, particularly the e-giftcards which sometimes provides instant access to the gift card that you have bought without waiting for the mail to arrive. However, unlike cash, gift cards do expire. While many operators now have no expiry date, some of your existing gift cards may have expired. Many don't realise that you can ask for the gift cards to be reactivated after they have expired. 

For Coles and related gift cards (eg Coles, Bunnings, Officeworks) you can just call 1300304990 or email them at support@giftcards.coles.com.au with your gift card number (don't provide the PIN). Some have said that their reactivation was within a few minutes of the email being sent. If it is a different brand such as WISH or Woolworths, you can do the same by calling 1300 10 1234 or email giftcard@woolworths.com.au. If you have experience with another brand, leave a comment for the benefit of others.  

Fuelwatch launches new website as two week Fuel Cycle begins in Perth

 Fuelwatch has launched a new website which places all the petrol stations on a map with their prices displayed in a location context that makes it much easier to use. You can now see the cheapest fuel within a particular area and zoom out to include more petrol stations, with the list down the left updating with the cheapest locations on your screen. You can also click on the filter at the top to select a particular brand if you have a 4c off voucher or some other discount that you usually use so that you only see that particular brand on the map. It doesn't appear that there is an app but if you go to www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au on your phone, this map shows up nicely. Click on the bottom right corner on the target circle and you will see the petrol stations around your current area.

This comes as petrol stations started to run on a two week fuel cycle meaning that they don't seem to be dropping to the lowest price until after two weeks have passed. It seems that every two Tuesdays, the price drops to the lowest level before springing back up the next day. 

Turning off Voicemail and turning on Call Waiting for Kogan

 This is just a small post for those that are with Kogan Mobile. By default, they have Call Catcher enabled which is a voicemail system when people can't reach you on the phone. Some prefer not to have this turned on. You can turn it off by dialing 1214 and call on your Kogan mobile. If you want call waiting turned on, dial *43# and call waiting will be switched on.

Google Play gift cards CAN pay for your Google One subscription

 If you are like me, I've always wondered whether the Google Play gift cards that you see in the shops can be used for Google subscriptions such as Google One. Coles is currently giving 2000 points to any purchase of $50 Google Play gift cards. This means that you can save up to 20% on all your Google play purchases including your Google One subscriptions. If you bought the $50 gift card, the 100GB annual subscription with Google one goes from $25/year to $20/year for two years. Here's a screenshot of the Google play credit being applied to my google one account. 

Things You Should Know about Google Meet

Google Meet went live in Australia yesterday without much fanfare as Google's answer to Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex with a free chat that emulates the best features of these other video conferencing platforms. Until the end of September, you can use Google Meet for video conferences of

• Up to 100 people 
• Time is not limited 
• As many meetings as you like 

To initiate a Google Meet meeting, you will need to 

• Download the Google Meet app from the Google Play store 
• Accept the permissions that Google Meet will need to run video conferencing 
• Click on +New Meeting in the Google Meet app OR 
• Create a new Google Calendar entry, click on Add Videoconferencing, Add another participant that you want to meet, choose the time and date for the meeting and when you close the entry, choose to Send the invite to the other participant. If they do not have Google meet installed, when they click on the Join Meeting link, it will prompt them to install Google Meet in Google Play. Interestingly, if you send someone a calendar invitation, it appears in their Google Calendar without them realising it. Could this be used to spam people's calendar? 

Google Meet has a few features that makes it a worthwhile replacement for other video conferencing tools on the market

• Subtitles for the meeting can be turned on and appear in a visually appealing format on the computer, showing the person's Google ID face and then the words being said 
• Participants can be arranged in the Zoom tile format or the MS Teams spotlight format where people appear when they speak. You can also pin people to the screen so that you always see them, even when they don't speak. 
• When people are participating using their phone, their video will cut off when they switch their screen to another app, so other participants know that they are no longer seeing them, but they will still be able to hear and speak in the meeting. 
• Even when you are using Google Meet on your phone, you can present your mobile phone screen to talk participants through what is on your screen and they can zoom in on your phone's screen while you are presenting if the screen is too small. 
• Also it is apparently more secure than Zoom and less to set up and install for MS Teams which requires quite a few steps to add people to a team, then to a channel etc. 

Will Google extend this beyond September? If not, it will only remain free for those that are Google Suite subscribers but this will prove to be increasingly used over the coming weeks and may make a compelling means to bring more people into the Google ecosystem and remain free for that reason.

4 Tips When Claiming on Car Insurance

Recently, we had to make a claim with RAC for damage to a vehicle. It was an interesting experience and one which we learnt a few lessons..

1. Do your homework. Don't assume insurer will put you through to the best repairer
2. Some insurance companies no longer automatically process claims immediately (call back later)
3. Personal items in a car can hardly be considered "covered" when the limits and excess are almost the same.
4. Windscreen excess is probably worth paying for ($100 with RAC) as opposed to windscreen cover

When we called up, it was late at night and they said you need to call back in the morning to put in the claim. The alternative was to get the window fixed, pay for the repair and get it reimbursed from RAC. We chose the latter but leaving the window like that was probably not a good option as the crack worsened overnight.

When we called RAC in the morning, they said that company X would be in contact within two hours to repair the window. I did some quick googling and got worried, because the reviews were not good at all, with some waiting a few days for the repair and some having issues with the rubber seals falling out etc. Last time we had to make a similar claim, they immediately put O'Briens on to the job, but not this time. I suspected RAC was using this company because it was cheaper and it seemed to go with my other suspicions that RAC was on a big costcutting exercise in every area. I already decided that I would probably go to another insurer when my renewal is up. Nevertheless, I gave them a call and asked if they can put me on to Obriens and they said they will switch it for me. No credit to them because clearly most people would not question it, RAC would save a few bucks going with the cheaper option. Later, speaking to someone that is familiar with the industry, they said that RAC has switched because it was cheaper to go with X. Something to keep in mind the next time you make a claim.

Also regarding personal items in the car, they only cover up to $500 worth of personal items in the car. If your excess is $500 for example, and you can only claim up to $500 worth.. it is probably not worth claiming and having your insurance premium increase the next time you renew.

Windscreen excess - One thing that RAC has is a different excess for window claims. This is $100 on our policy which you only pay when you claim for damage to a window. When the cost is about $500 to repair a car window, plus the tinting, it's probably worth going for an insurer that provides windscreen excess.

Windscreen cover - The alternative is paying for windscreen cover. Another insurance provider charges about $75 extra for windscreen cover. This means that if your window is damaged during the period of cover, then you don't pay excess. But like all insurance, if your window doesn't break during your cover, you paid $75 for nothing.

Porting to Kogan Mobile

If you are moving your number to Kogan Mobile, you may find the following tips useful. Some of these may also be relevant to porting to other providers.

When you port from a post-paid service, you will need to know your current provider's customer account number. You will have issues if the existing provider's customer number has letters in it because Kogan does not allow you to enter letters into the customer account number and it will not be a match. If you run into this issue, you will receive an email from Kogan that the port was unsuccessful, so you will need to call up their call centre to tell them to add the letters into the port request.

The other issue you should know is that when you port to Kogan, they will send you a sms which asks you to reply with a number in order to confirm that you want to transfer to Kogan. This will be a problem if you have already run out of credit on your existing provider. So the advice is to initiate a port before you run out of credit.

Another important consideration is that porting only occurs during eastern standard office hours on weekdays and on Saturday. Porting does not occur on Sundays.

Tips and Tricks - Kogan Egift cards

If you are a skeptic when it comes to gift cards, I don't blame you. Retailers have found gift cards to be a great way of selling something in advance and even better if people never use it. Now, most gift cards are not allowed to have a one year expiry but you also need to know how to use them properly.

For Kogan Gift cards sent electronically you need to note the following things

• Searching your email for egift, gift card or egiftcard will not turn a result. The email that your Kogan egiftcard came in is actually with the subject "You have received a gift" so you should search for that instead. 
• When you go to Kogan.com to redeem your gift card, note that the website asks you for the Gift card "pin" not the Gift card Number.  

I wonder whether anyone will search Google about this and find these tips about how to redeem a Kogan gift voucher, as my suspicion is that the design of this redemption is to make people think that their gift card has expired. If it has you fooled, you have three years to wise up before the gift voucher expires. Click thanks below if you found this useful or leave a comment.

Where are the New Years Eve Fireworks in Perth and WA?

Here's the official list of fireworks events that are happening tonight from the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

31/12/2019 8:45 PM BEST WESTERN HOTEL  CAR PARK BROCKMAN ST PEMBERTON WA 6260 BEST WESTERN HOTEL PEMBERTON NEW YEAR EVE

31/12/2019 8:00 PM PULU MARIAH  WEST ISLAND  COCOS ISLAND WA 6799 NEW YEARS EVE CELEBRATIONS

31/12/2019 11:59 PM SWAN RIVER  EAST PERTH WA 6004 CROWN NYE  FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 11:59 PM SWAN RIVER  APPLECROSS WA 6153 RAFFLES HOTEL NYE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 9:00 PM VAL STREET JETTY  VAL ST  ROCKINGHAM WA 6168 ROCKINGHAM NYE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 11:59 PM GLOUCESTER PARK  NELSON CRES  EAST PERTH WA 6004 NYE FIREWORKS  WA

31/12/2019 8:00 PM WACA  NELSON CRES  EAST PERTH WA 6004 SEASONS MUSIC EVENT

31/12/2019 10:00 PM CITY BEACH SHORELINE CHALLENGER PDE  CITY BEACH WA 6015 CITY BEACH NYE  FIREWORKS

31/12/2019 9:00 PM JETTY LOCATION –  HANOVER BAY  PRINCESS ROYAL DR ALBANY WA 6330 ALBANY NYE CELEBRATIONS

31/12/2019 9:00 PM RUSSELL SQUARE  JAMES ST  NORTHBRIDGE WA 6003 COP NORTHBRIDGE NYE CELEBRATIONS

31/12/2019 8:00 PM THOMSON BAY  ROTTNEST ISLAND WA 6161 ROTTNEST ISLAND NYE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 8:00 PM MINDARIE MARINA GROYNE ALEXANDRIA VW  MINDARIE WA 6030 NEW YEARS EVE –  MINDARIE MARINA

31/12/2019 8:30 PM
11:59 PM MANDURAH  EASTERN FORESHORE  LEIGHTON PL  MANDURAH WA 6210 MANDURAH NEW YEARS EVE

31/12/2019 9:00 PM TANKER JETTY  THE ESPLANADE ESPERANCE WA 6450 ESPERANCE FORESHORE FESTIVAL AND FIREWORKS

31/12/2019 10:30 PM BUNBURY TROTTING CLUB HANDS AVE  BUNBURY WA 6230 BUNBURY TROTTS NYE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 11:59 PM CANNINGTON GREYHOUNDS STATION ST  CANNINGTON WA 6987 CANNINGTON  GREYHOUNDS NYE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

31/12/2019 9:30 PM NICKOLBAY SPEEDWAY CINDERS RD  KARRATHA WA 6714 NICKOLBAY SPEEDWAY  NEW YEARS EVE

Free Parking in Perth City only on one street

As many retail tenants move out of the city, they cite low patronage and high rents as the reasons. If you ask most residents in Perth, the issue is parking fees in the city. Why would you buy something from JB Hifi in the city when you can go to your local shopping centre's JB Hifi which doesn't charge parking fees? Well the City of Perth has started a trial of free parking in the city but it is only on Hay Street between Hill and Bennett Street. A quick Google search only shows one newspaper article alluding to this trial. No official CPP websites seem to mention it which makes us wonder whether they are looking to prove that this trial was unsuccessful. So if you are looking for free parking in the Perth City centre, check this street out and remember to swim between the flags (Hill St and Bennett St).

Free Parking in West Perth 
If you are visiting West Perth, they are also running a free parking trial for Hay Street between Outram and Havelock Streets.

Free Parking in East Perth
The free parking trial is running for Royal Street from Trafalgar Road to Fielder Street.