HCF’s closure will hurt locals

News, , ,

HCF’s decision to close the Deniliquin branch from August 11 has not been a popular decision to many locals and those who travel into town for the customer service the branch provides.

It is said that the closure is because people around Australia are apparently putting in claims online or via post and have no need to go into the HCF branch and when people don’t go to the branches then the branches are considered unsustainable and must close and unfortunately Deniliquin’s branch is considered unsustainable.

This closure will be a major disadvantage for some as they may have trouble with filling in claim forms and/or are not computer savvy to do it online and need expert help and the personal touch to ensure that their forms are done correctly.

The staff at HCF in Deniliquin are considered by many to be top class and many are feeling sad that they also lose out despite HCF offering alternatives for the staff (whatever that means, it’s probably not a good alternative).

Supporters of keeping HCF in Deniliquin are being urged to use the contact form online and write down their concerns, so far the replies have been the stock standard business reply but it is hoped that if HCF get messages of the same kind it would force a different kind of response.

An alternative to writing in is by calling them on 13 13 34 between 8am and 8pm (AEST) Monday to Friday and between 9am and 5pm (AEST) on the weekends, please make all calls civil and feel free to share the results of the call with other supporters.

Another option is that Eric Sim Pharmacy has a petition that residents can sign in support of lobbying to keep HCF in Deniliquin.

It is ironic that HCF has the slogan ‘Get More With HCF’ for the closure of the branch means that locals will be getting less than what they had before with HCF.

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Rovers Talk (21/7/16)

Rovers Talk

The Rovers have their second bye of the season this weekend and so everyone will be looking online for the results of the Round 16 matches will shape the competition.

Netball

All but one of the Rovers Netball sides are assured of making the Finals this year, The Under 15 Netball side are still on the outside looking in but the door is not shut on the team making it to the Finals.

The situation for the Under 15’s is as follows;

– The Rovers are two points out of the five.
– The Rovers have two games left this season and Blighty have three games left.
– As the Rovers have the bye this week, They will pick up 4 competition points.
– If Blighty does not win this weekend, The Rovers are in the Five.
– Blighty face Picola United this weekend, Blighty won 26-14 in Round 7.
– Blighty lost in Round 8 and Round 9 against Jerilderie and Strathmerton.
– The Rovers lost in Round 8 against Tocumwal but won in Round 9 against Berrigan 10-9.
– If the results from Round 7 to 9 are replicated exactly, The Rovers will make it.
– If the Rovers win their two remaining games and Blighty lose one, The Rovers will be finalists.
– If Blighty and The Rovers get the exact amount of points in the next three weeks then Blighty will hold position.

There is one other scenario and that is that Strathmerton loses two out of their three games and the Rovers win one of theirs plus picking up the bye points ensuring Strathmerton falls from fourth position to sixth.

Strathmerton defeated Berrigan in Round 7, lost to Yarroweyah in Round 8 and defeated Blighty in Round 9, if these results hold the side will be safe as they have a higher percentage than The Rovers.

At the end of the season, The Rovers must pick up no less than 4 points more than Blighty and/or Strathmerton

Football

All Rovers sides will be making the finals this year as all teams have more than a 12 competition points buffer on sixth position.

Ladder positions are not locked in so the foot cannot be taken off the accelerator in Round 17 and 18 as all sides will strive to improve their position on the ladder.

Thoughts

There is still so much for all Rovers sides to play for in the coming weeks despite the fact the finals are a sure thing for so many teams.

The main thing to remember is that ladder positions can change hands right up to the last second so effort and intensity must be the same as the past 15 rounds of the season.

The results from Farrer

News

With all the dust finally settled on the 2016 Federal Election, We can now have a look at where all the candidates ended up in the finishing order.

111,466 people were enrolled for the seat of Farrer with 91.97% of voters voting and of
those voters 6.36% casted an informal vote (Donkey Vote) which would of put the Donkey high up the finishing order.

Below are the first preference totals of each candidate in Farrer,

Sussan Ley – 55,959 votes (57.92%)
Christian Kunde – 17,326 votes (18.05%)
Amanda Cohn – 7,871 votes (8.20%)
Ron Pike – 5,849 votes (6.09%)
Brian Mills – 4,105 votes (4.28%)
Paul Rossetto – 3,461 votes (3.61%)
Trevor O’Brien – 1,780 votes (1.85%)

Deniliquin had three polling places open on the day and the following is how Deniliquin voted and it may surprise some people;

Sussan Ley – 2,566 votes
Christian Kunde – 664 votes
Ron Pike – 347 votes
Amanda Cohn – 194 votes
Brian Mills – 193 votes
Paul Rossetto – 111 votes
Trevor O’Brien – 82 votes

Deniliquin’s tastes were slightly different to the seat wide result with the ALA’s Ron Pike finishing comfortably in third compared to finishing fourth seat wide.

Amanda Cohn barely held third place for The Greens in town with Independent Brian Mills finishing just a vote behind her locally and Paul Rossetto and Trevor O’Brien finished in the same spots as they did seat wide.

Overall when it came to two party preferred votes, The ALP managed a small swing of just over 1% but they needed way more votes and a endorsed candidate to take the seat that has been National or Liberal since inception.

What can be done about bad service?

News

There were heated scenes online yesterday as arguments broke out over the poor quality of a Pizza that a customer received and shared the results of the Pizza online.

Businesses do make mistakes time to time, most mistakes are rectified by the staff after a quiet word or two with them but sometimes staff or the customer can get defensive or angry, tempers rise and things happen that people will regret later on.

So what happens if there is a bad experience? Do people keep the experience to themselves and shop elsewhere? Do they privately tell friends or do they go on the thumbs up/thumbs down groups and show the world what they experienced?

There may not be a right answer, keeping it to yourself means you know what to and what not to buy but it keeps everyone else out of your observations, privately telling friends about your experience keeps them informed but you got to hope a friend doesn’t have a friend at the business for they may tell the person and upset them and the last one can inform the masses yet upset many even if it is the truth.

A further complication is that some FB groups do have fake accounts and people with personal agendas and they could push things wildly out of control which leads to fights and the deletion of a topic that at first was totally legitimate.

The best thing to do is to talk directly to the manager of the business, they usually get things sorted out and they never seem to forget to make you happy the next time you shop.

The worst thing to do is to post in the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down group about a bad experience, a golden rule there is not to criticize local businesses and if you take your chances, it is almost certain that you will be ‘slammed’ and then a lot of pro-business posts will be made to counter your post.

Knowledge is power but always remember a line from a Cher song ‘Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes’ when it comes to speaking out verbally or in text.

Rovers Talk (16/7/16)

Rovers Talk

Round 15 of the Football and Netball competition got underway today with the Rovers taking on Mathoura at Memorial Park.

Netball

A Grade comfortably won their game today with the final scores reading 35 to 15.

B Grade have returned to the winners list with a strong 37 to 28 win.

C Grade are back on the winners list with a solid 48 to 31 win.

C Reserve have notched up another win with an impressive 46 to 31 victory.

The Junior sides played well against their opponents today and below are the results of their games.

The Under 17’s recorded a solid win in their match, the final scores in their game read 43 to 25.

The Under 15’s played out a 17 all draw in their match today, the result does keep them in contention for a finals spot.

The Under 13’s have recorded another win this season with a 35 to 15 victory.

Football

Rovers Football sides were in action against their opponents with success finding most of the Rovers teams.

The Seniors are back on the winners list after recording a massive 146 point win today.

The Rovers kicked 23.15 – 153 13.10 – 88 to Mathoura’s 1.1 – 7 in the game that keeps the Seniors in the top 4 sides on the ladder.

D. Kirby kicked 5, D. May and N. Braybon both kicked 3, D. Hope, T. Lumbar and R. McCulloch kicked 2 goals apiece whilst B. McCalman, M. Robinson, A. Hogan, M. Horne, J. Flight and B. Loudon all kicked one goal apiece in the win.

The Reserves have made it three wins in a row with a massive 140 point win.

The Rovers kicked 23.16 – 154 to Mathoura’s 2.2 – 14 in a game where the Rovers won every quarter to accomplish their win.

M. Atley and C. Weir kicked 4 goals apiece, A. Goodear, J. Mercer and K. Shephard booted 3 apiece, L. Fleming and B. Todd kicked 2 each and G. Trewhitt and J. Glowrey kicked 1 goal apiece.

The Thirds recorded a solid 138 point win today with the final scores reading Rovers 21.12 – 138 to Mathoura’s 1.0 – 6.

J. Allitt starred with 7 goals, R. Gazzara kicked 3, R. Murray, R. Norris, J. Caniglia and D. Kirby kicked 2 goals apiece whilst B. Marchant, T. Thorpe and J. Higgins all kicked one goal apiece in the win.

The Fourths are back on the winners list today with a comfortable 7.15 – 57 to 2.2 – 14 win.

B. Redden kicked 2 goals whilst J. Woodcock, R. Murphy, T. Chandler, B. East and B. Caruso all kicked a goal each in the win.

Thoughts

It was a winning day for the Rovers with ten wins and a draw from all of todays matches.

DNS wishes all Adults participating in tonight’s ‘Minute To Win It Challenge Night’ a wonderful time as few events can beat $5 entry, Tacos for Dinner and eight a side games and it all starts at 7pm for those readers who read this before then and decide to dash down and participate in the last social event of the year.

Rovers Talk will be back next week as we explore all the wonders of everyone having a bye.