Power cut off, woman dies

[terbang]

Shareholders profits must come before customers needs...! Right...? Umm hang on a lady is dead..?

[SPman]

On the story as told...
Fuckups are a way of life for power companies
The power company has an out - it was the contractors fault! - unless the argument goes the contractors job was to cut of the power, it was Mercuries responsibility to ensure power was supplied in these situations.
All round, regardless, an almighty disaster and PR nightmare, at the least, for Mercury!

But - there's always 2 sides to the story and the media are renowned for their own take on it!

[Lias]

If they'd paid the fucking bill they wouldnt have been cut off.

Even if the power company knew about it, they arnt a charity. Blame lies squarely with the account holder who didnt pay the bill, end of story. But our pinko journos will put a spin on it that its the evil corporations fault for disconnecting poor starving immigrants..

Call me harsh but seems like a good end to me.. Company cuts off a deadbeat customer (helps keep our power prices down), and another immigrant stops bludging off our health system.

Wins all around really, one can only hope the rest of the family will pack up and piss off back overseas in a huff.

[Winston001]

Wouldn't it have been easier all round to just pay the power bill? Like the rest of us?

The family relative on Morning Report sounded pretty switched on. Why didn't he help out before this ever happened, if these were immigrants with poor understanding?

[magicfairy]

Pretty odd story...


If the power went off - why didn't the son go next door ffs?

Odd - very bloody odd...

They are immigrants, English is probably poor, and they may not have been very sure if they had any recourse, or reluctant to call attention to the fact they hadn't paid their bills.
I am sure most of us would have had the media down there, contacted the local MP or rung an ambulance straight away. But there are a lot of folk out there who don't think they have rights and have no idea how to ask for help.

[MD]

As always the headline shouts between the lines ..bastard heartless corporate company strikes again.
There is more on Xtra News about this now. Keys points;

1.From the surname sounds like Zimbabwe immigrants or thereabouts at a guess. But Xtra says they had full grasp of English.
2. Mercury spokeman provided a run down on the numerous warnings issued over 6-8 weeks that the power would be cut
3. The family were home and the workman was taken inside, shown the oyxgen machine but HE still disconnected. Apparently he is meant to phone HQ for advice when a medical risk is involved. Don't like his chances of a bonus this year.
Sad as it is, it still begs the question, why did the family not pay the bill knowing how important it was- they knew because they told the workman.

[terbang]

Financial hardship, poor communication or whatever, they didn't or couldn't pay the bill. That happens for many reasons..:

A relative who married into Mrs Muliaga's family, Brenden Sheehan, said she had been off work since February with an illness.

Mrs Muliaga's husband Lopa, a chef's assistant, had been forced to reduce his work hours in order to care for her

Looks like they were going through tough times and yet they were working people (not dole people) and didn't get any relief or help from anyone.

Call me harsh but seems like a good end to me.. Company cuts off a deadbeat customer (helps keep our power prices down), and another immigrant stops bludging off our health system.

When you are lying in a bed paralysed after someone has kicked your head in for shooting off your loud, redneck mouth. Lets hope your power bill is up to date.

[Hitcher]

I am waiting for the facts. I wonder if we'll ever get to hear them.

And could somebody please give Sue Bradford a slap.

[Paul in NZ]

They are immigrants, English is probably poor, and they may not have been very sure if they had any recourse, or reluctant to call attention to the fact they hadn't paid their bills.
I am sure most of us would have had the media down there, contacted the local MP or rung an ambulance straight away. But there are a lot of folk out there who don't think they have rights and have no idea how to ask for help.

Well they said they had a good command of english and had been here several years. I've lived here all my life and I still would not trust the 230V from a socket IF my life depended on it. I'd have a plan B, it's just common sense despite all the other things they could have done!

Put it this way.... Lets assume these folks cane from Africa... If I went to africa and went for a stroll across in the country one night wearing a 'Robert Mugabe is a Homo' tee shirt and carrying a raw meat sandwich during the tse tse fly feeding hour and was either beaten to death, eaten by a Lion or got a horrible tropical disease we would all think what a dumb bastard for not doing the spade work to figure that out!

If a threat exisits you must think about the possibilities...

Another point to consider. I wonder what would have happened had she developed this condition in her country of origin? Long dead I'd suspect. (not that this is particularly relevant).... BUT she sounded pretty damned ill and that usually means multiple factors.

Cheers

[Paul in NZ]

When you are lying in a bed paralysed after someone has kicked your head in for shooting off your loud, redneck mouth. Lets hope your power bill is up to date.

Fark - coffee came out my nose

[KATWYN]

You would think such an important piece of equipment would be fitted with aback up battery and a notifcation alarm as well.

.

Thats what I thought when I read it. What about an uncontrollable circumstance like a power outage in general....? Thats putting a lot of trust
in a service with absolutely no room for error

[magicfairy]

Perhaps it was because it was oxygen to supplement breathing as opposed to something like a ventilator. My grandmother had oxygen at home in her last few months of life in case she had a shortness of breath, to use when needed. That didn't have a battery back up that I can remember.

[Beemer]

1.From the surname sounds like Zimbabwe immigrants or thereabouts at a guess. But Xtra says they had full grasp of English.

"Mangere woman Folole Muliaga, 44, was an early childhood teacher and mother of four children aged from five to 18."

The name is definitely not African! I Googled it and it seems to come from American Samoa so they were your usual run of the mill Islanders.

"A relative who married into Mrs Muliaga's family, Brenden Sheehan, said she had been off work since February with an illness.

Mrs Muliaga's husband Lopa, a chef's assistant, had been forced to reduce his work hours in order to care for her."

She had lived here for six years and the updated story on Stuff says she was an early childhood teacher so I would imagine she spoke some English, as would her children, especially the younger ones. And if there was a problem with English, why didn't Brenden ring the power company?

What's the bet the true story was the guy arrived to cut the power off, cut it off and had left by the time they realised what had happened. They have no obligation to knock on the door and let them know they are cutting off the power; the people would have received a registered letter or similar the day before advising them it would be happening. They had plenty of chances to organise payment or at least let the power company know what was going on. Kinda hard to raise much sympathy when the family obviously didn't care enough for this woman to ensure her life was not put at risk.

[MisterD]

3. The family were home and the workman was taken inside, shown the oyxgen machine but HE still disconnected. Apparently he is meant to phone HQ for advice when a medical risk is involved. Don't like his chances of a bonus this year.

On the other hand, how many times do these power co. drones hear put-on sob-stories when they turn up to disconnect?

[Paul in NZ]

Whats an oxygen machine anyway? I though it came in a black / white cylinder?? Any why can't we have more of these machines - you know - global warmin and all?