Are Australians being too hard on the Optus CEO and Executives? 'It's unfair!': Harvey Norman owner on why he's pro-Optus

Commander Shepard on 14/11/2023 - 10:45
Last edited 14/11/2023 - 11:20

Mr Harvey has come out in defence of Optus.

Are Australians being too hard on the Optus CEO and Execs?

“You get a situation where you’re the CEO of a public company, and it could happen to any public company, the CEO doesn’t run the IT department,” he told Gary Adshead.

https://omny.fm/shows/6pr-mornings/its-unfair-harvey-norman-…

https://www.6pr.com.au/its-unfair-harvey-norman-owner-on-why….

Telecommunications is an essential service. Its not a retail business like Harvey Norman.
If HN store goes down for 12 hours. Lives, jobs and businesses aren't at risk.
The CEO is the face of the business. Not the Technician at the arse end of the organisation.

Edit: Thanks to @Protractor for providing another great link:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12724441/Optus-CEO-…

Poll Options expired

  • 46
    Yes
  • 137
    No
  • 23
    Somewhat
  • 855
    Just another reason to not shop at Harvey Norman
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Comments

    • try2bhelpful on 14/11/2023 - 17:59
      +2

      Yeah because it never happens with Telstra does it?

      https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/telstra-mob…

      Frankly, If you don’t think all the communications companies are running close to the wind you are deluding yourself. They all follow the same models of cutting back on IT services and outsourcing. That said they do actually have a pretty good “up time”. If not this wouldn’t have been such big news.

      • Ghost47 on 14/11/2023 - 18:24
        +4

        I don’t think it’s just telcos, we’ve seen data breaches (for example) in multiple industries. There’s probably a lot of shit out there that’s held together by sticky tape and glue just waiting to break because of poor processes and governance.

        • try2bhelpful on 14/11/2023 - 18:44
          +5

          I think you are right on the money. So many businesses looking to save money cut their IT budgets and outsource to third parties. When it all goes tits up they get snarky at each other and the customer is the shmuck in the middle.

          • Ghost47 on 14/11/2023 - 19:21
            +3

            @try2bhelpful: Exactly. And this kind of thing has been going on for years, the data breaches we saw with Optus and Medibank were just the end result of it all. Those were wake up calls that it’s gone too far.

    • Camry no headlights on 15/11/2023 - 00:03
      -1

      How is this negged? Optus don’t give a (profanity) about you, they took a gamble to save on costs at the expense of your personal information.

      • gromit on 15/11/2023 - 16:33
        +2

        probably because it is needlessly insulting people and completely fails to acknowledge in Australia you have no choice, you are either screwed over by Telstra or by Optus or put up with no reception with Vodafone. None of the options are good when it comes to being treated well.

  • SuperGreen on 14/11/2023 - 17:56
    +3

    How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?!

  • mrdevil on 14/11/2023 - 19:43
    +8

    The stupid old geriatric is even funding a radio advertising campaign all about how poor done by Optus are and woe is them… and if you feel the same way, to buy an Optus phone from HN. This is the same out of touch tosser who fought to make us pay GST on everything purchased from overseas under $1000, made millions from Job Keeper despite record sales and profits. Just another reason to hate the (profanity). The sooner he carks it, or is wheeled off to a retirement village never to be heard from again, the better!

  • zerog101 on 14/11/2023 - 20:05
    +1

    It’s not what happened … it’s how the ceo deals with things once the sh*t happens.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 14/11/2023 - 22:04

    like others have said he has a 'business' relationship with Optus - the more/less popular optus is affects his own bottom line so you can't really take what he said with an cander he clearly has his own agenda

    i wouldnt expect him to say anything else Gerry has ALWAYS acted within self interest, and has never cared if he is unpopular

  • ankti231 on 14/11/2023 - 22:04
    +2

    the CEO doesn’t run the IT department

    Uhhh yes they do, they run every department, that's the whole point of a CEO

  • ribze1 on 14/11/2023 - 22:07
    +4

    Liberal party member and donor stands up for other Liberal party member and donor - no surprises.

  • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 22:37
    +1

    The cover up continues>

    "Optus has been contacted about the claims but has declined to comment."

    https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/third-party-respon…

    It's all coming home to roost

  • burns13 on 14/11/2023 - 22:49
    +2

    Out of touch Harvey, batting for the big guy as usual. Sly old dog ruining HN pr even further.

    Hard to imagine why he couldn't just keep his trap shut on this one, strange move to be taking shots for Optus….

  • fredk1000 on 15/11/2023 - 00:39
    +6

    If you work as a network engineer, you know networks are extremely fragile, it only takes one wrong bit can bring down the network.
    Telco's can only guarantee 99.99% up time. It's going to down some time. Natural disasters, power outages, war, someone digging up cables, fire, floods, hackers. 0.01% is almost an hour a year.

    I love this picture in this article, says it all.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-08/optus-deep-network-ou…
    What can the guy at the optus shop do for you the service goes down, lets go hassle the optus shop guy. So sad our world has become.
    Tech makes people stupid.

    Description of the pic from left to right
    Lady 1 with smug face thinking "I have nothing better to do, let's see how you get out of this one"
    Lady 2 with the constipated face, "I need to google where to find the closest toilet"
    Man 1 with the hat, "what's that poo smell."
    Man 2 with hands in pocket "how am I going to access my prn"
    Man 3 in the middle, "Hey Buddy, I need access my Maccas app to get my 30 days code, who's going to compensate me"
    Lady 3 hiding, "I can't see what's going on, I am too short"
    Lady 4 mother of Man 3, "He's going to lose his sh    t if he does not get his code soon"
    Man 4 with had looking down looking at his phone on Telstra, "this tic tok video is cool"
    Man 5 looking serious, "I cannot access my stocks app to sell my Optus shares as they are plummeting fast…"

    Man at the centre of attention with Optus polo, "(profanity)! They are not paying me enough for this sh*t"

    Seriously, these people need to get a life…

    • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 10:36
      +3

      Optus shop would be the first place to go if all you have is 7 hours of deathly silence form the CEO manikin. This was not just a 'telco' lite issue. Hospitals and triple zero were dead. Also the people in the photo are not the ones needing to get a life.
      ;)

      Man with the Optus polo was thrown under a bus, AGAIN, by his CEO. I hope the senate committee flail her

    • Speckled Jim on 15/11/2023 - 11:15
      +1

      That felt like Peep Show with many new characters!

    • jv on 15/11/2023 - 20:51
      -1

      it only takes one wrong bit can bring down the network.

      Maybe if you are a cowboy and don't design the network properly…

      • fredk1000 on 16/11/2023 - 22:58

        Yeah, there is a cowboy in the picture it seems, the one with the hat.
        There is a guy that looks like an Indian too.
        Hey there is a guy in the picture that looks like a famous author that I recall a OzB member used to have as their profile picture.

      • try2bhelpful on 17/11/2023 - 15:46

        I suspect you have never done a network installation in your life. Unless it is connecting your router in at home.

    • sakurashu on 17/11/2023 - 10:36

      It was none of these things: "Natural disasters, power outages, war, someone digging up cables, fire, floods, hackers"

      Why make excuses for them?

      • fredk1000 on 17/11/2023 - 15:39

        I don't care about Optus and not making excuses for anyone.
        I am sure Telstra and Vodafone has a similar service agreement.
        Networks will fail, it's just when.

  • payless69 on 15/11/2023 - 08:11
    -2

    Gerry Harvey for PM!!!!!!!!!!

    • jv on 15/11/2023 - 20:53
      -2

      Now that you mention it, I've never seen Gerry Harvey and Anthony Albanese at the same time… 😲

      • payless69 on 15/11/2023 - 22:20

        Not sure if Tony has a dog but Gerry has spare dog food!

  • afah0447 on 15/11/2023 - 08:20
    +2

    The buck stops with the CEO.

    If she hasn't structured her organisation properly and has the right people, skills and processes in place it is definitely her fault.

    What else can justify getting paid millions per year. I wouldn't worry too much, there is no way her contract is getting renewed after two major stuff-ups in one year.

  • Rob-4x4 on 15/11/2023 - 08:42
    +3

    Unfortunately boards and senior leadership of so many either technology companies or companies that have morphed into technology companies delivering specific services such as banking or insurance are full of sales, marketing, finance or lawyers. A significant number of these people are technically literate, and worse some wear there technology illiteracy as a badge of honor (Sadly I have had to deal with a significant numbers of people in senior leadership like this).

    They see technology expenses as something that must be minimized at all cost because they do not understand their business is dependent on it and technology has become a core part of their business.

    In Australia Banking is a good case study of this. Banks are now primarily technology companies using technology to deliver specific services. The leader ship of these organizations should reflect this in the mix of skills and experience in boards. But how often do you see a person with a technology background as a member of a board in Australia to ensure the board can make decisions around technology ? They are around but it is uncommon.

    If there is a issue caused by technology issues such as security breaches or outages like optus their reaction is so often to spend money on marketing campaigns rather that properly fund the technology that caused the issue.

    One way to prevent this is to introduce appropriate penalties for board members or senior leadership such as jail time if they cannot show they had put best practice processes in place. So for example leadership of companies that have large SPI data leaks due to inadequate funding of technology should face jail time. It sound draconian but it will ensure boards and senior leadership have correct focus on technology in their business.

    Also there is the damage to the value of technology companies when the leadership is ignorant of the technology at the core of the business. Boeing is a recent case study of this after its management moved from a engineering based leadership in Seattle to a MBA, legal and account based leadership based in Chicago resulting in disastrous leadership on project like 737-Max etc etc . Now it is moving to Arlington so it will be interesting to see what the result it.

    • CommuterPolluter on 15/11/2023 - 22:44
      +2

      You see this in so many industrial companies. Management historically ran by engineers but industry is slowly and surely taken over by financial guys who gut safety measures and lo-and-behold something major goes wrong.

  • George Washington on 15/11/2023 - 09:01
    +1

    lets be real nobody is going to move from optus to telstra or to vodaphone

  • miguelsanchez on 15/11/2023 - 09:19
    +1

    I'm stunned that Gerry Harvey would think that way. Bloke is a scumbag.

  • surg3on on 15/11/2023 - 09:37
    -3

    Ok i'll probably get smashed here but we should not expect 99.9% for any service. Theres a reason banks, hospitals and the like have backup systems. A morning of inconvenience is barely worth registering on the list of 1st world problems.

    • newjerseydamo on 15/11/2023 - 10:08
      +2

      You realise a lot more than just individuals with their mobile phones were impacted, right?

    • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 10:58
      +3

      Username adds up.

      Do you care that 000 landlines were dead and hospitals and health systems were chaos and small businesses and some essential services were down while Rosmarin twiddled her thumbs for 7 hours, working on the smokescreen speech

      • surg3on on 15/11/2023 - 11:22

        Rosmarin doesnt hold a network cable mate

        • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 11:31
          +1

          She is the buck stopper and gets to sign off on who holds the network cable, and who is holding their d*ck.
          HER company failed. Epically twice.She signs off on how good or bad her security is, or isn't.
          On Friday (deer in headlight day) we'll see whether she fronts up physically and ethically and morally. If she plays the 'I don't recall card' , as they normally do, then she clearly has a memory deficit which makes her unfit to be a senior manager,let alone a CEO.Just prior to hack number one she (optus) appointed a new IT security leader. How did that go?
          Next question. Where's Gladys?

    • sakurashu on 17/11/2023 - 10:41
      -1

      Complete disagree - we should expect 100% with safeguards/backups in place for all core infrastructure.

      Telecommunications should just be added to the list of core infrastructure given how important it now is in our lives

      • surg3on on 17/11/2023 - 14:16

        spoken like a child. Nothing has 100% uptime. Nothing at all. Heck, my sewer went down this year. Street blockage.

  • PleasureMe on 15/11/2023 - 09:51
    +3

    The ads by Gerry Harvey sticking up for Optus right at the time when Optus pi$$ed off so many people just go to show how out of touch Harvey is with Australians. I'm not even with Optus and his pro-Optus ad annoyed me. If you haven't already, everyone should boycott both Optus and Harvey Norman to send a clear message to these companies.

  • oliman on 15/11/2023 - 09:57
    -1

    A lot of aussies are 'Karens' and are way too complaining, sarcastic and mostly show the 'critic' tone nwhen they speak.

    Neg me all you guys want but it is a fact!

    • try2bhelpful on 15/11/2023 - 10:00
      +2

      Yeah because you know a “lot of”Aussies. Maybe you need to look up what a “fact” is. Then you can look up what a logical fallacy is.

  • supanaut on 15/11/2023 - 10:09
    +3

    Yes, the same Gerry Harvey who is responsible for why we now have to pay GST on Ebay purchases… (profanity) that guy

  • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 10:32
    +1

    Harvey Optus

    Let that sink in

  • johnfuller on 15/11/2023 - 11:14
    +1

    agree it can happen to any company,

  • cmyk on 15/11/2023 - 11:56
    +2

    The result of the poll made my day. So good to see common sense rules with the majority of OzBargainers. Love you all!

  • Food on 15/11/2023 - 13:16
    +1

    Just heard the radio ad. Gerry having a sook saying Australians are kicking Optus when they are down.
    Get the f*** off my radio you geriatric idiot.

    • Willy Beamish on 15/11/2023 - 18:01

      If he's on your radio than its your choice to play that station.

      You can always change the radio station instead of hate listening to it…

  • coffeeinmyveins on 15/11/2023 - 14:15
    +2

    Was driving home earlier and guess who came on the radio?! good ol gerry supporting optus and doing an 'optus deal' at his stores.

    100% he has a vested interest in Optus or has some skeletons in his closet, why else would he be going all in on this lol

    • sardines on 15/11/2023 - 15:19

      yes, at the end BUY OUR OPTUS PHONE!!!! was like a parody

      • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 15:36

        The whole ad sounds so convincing.s/
        It sounds like he's reciting a pre written note as a hostage

  • sardines on 15/11/2023 - 15:15
    +2

    I just started to hear these — that he thought kicking someone when down was UnAustralian and thought we were better than that.. height of hypocrisy as There was the time he described homeless people as “not putting anything back into the community" and said giving to charity was like "helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason".
    Defend an international company but (profanity) struggling Australians.

  • Look Up on 15/11/2023 - 17:57
    +8

    Coming soon to 4 Corners:

    1. Routing table F-up by SingTel during an update to the core STiX network kills the Optus network
    2. SingTel executives are visiting in Australia
    3. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is informed the network outage is because SingTel F'ed-up
    4. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin eats a shi# sandwich and advises Optus Corporate to only blame an “international peering network” because blaming SingTel whilst SingTel executives are visiting would be a disaster
    5. F-up is fixed
    6. Gerry Harvey publicly announces supports for Optus with typical cringey comments and radio ad
    7. Internet explains this is because of Hardly Normal's commercial relationship with Optus
    8. Internet misses the point that Gerry needs to back the Singapore Government - majority shareholder of SingTel - because Hardly Normal has 12 stores in Singapore
    9. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin appears before a Federal Senate inquiry this Friday to confirm whether she tells the truth or continues to protect her overseas masters

    • Devastator0 on 16/11/2023 - 08:34

      You continue to be bang on with your posts. 100% correct here.

    • try2bhelpful on 16/11/2023 - 11:08
      +1

      The only addition I would add here is the OPTUS network should’ve been better protected by their BGP configuration and they should’ve been better setup to isolate their backend support network from their front end.

      The Senate Inquiry will be very interesting. Big box of popcorn for that one.

  • Willy Beamish on 15/11/2023 - 18:00

    People are dumb and will take any chance to blame someone for shit they don't understand.

    • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 18:35
      +4

      Who should those needing an organised functioning health system blame?
      What about the ppl in peril who could not use 000, for 7 whole hours.
      Who should' those dumb' ppl who need working public transport blame?

      You're right, ppl are dumb. They say dumb things online to protect dumb incompetent impostors in designer suits

      Ppl are dumb. > Gerry Harvey> Case rested

  • CommuterPolluter on 15/11/2023 - 22:41
    +3

    What a moronic comment. Optus IS an IT department. The CEO absolutely is responsible for keeping the network operating. They failed to deliver their core product.

  • Jamie007 on 16/11/2023 - 00:32
    +4

    No. No we are not. If Optus was in any way a decent company that had earned customers giving it a break when something went wrong, different story. But it isnt.

    I made the (stupid) decision to switch to Optus after years with Telstra to get a better S23 Ultra deal. I wasnt worried since their website boldly claims that we can simply cancel the contract if we dont have mobile coverage where they claim we will. Well, I had no coverage either at home or my workplace (full bars on Telstra). So I decided to cancel the contract. Except their customer "service" essentially makes this impossible to do. They will just talk in circles ignoring what you're saying and making excuses "Mr Jamie I see your area is due for an upgrade next week, can you wait until then?" "Have you spoken to a technician yet? We need to do that first" etc and on it goes until you just give up and accept you are paying $115 a month for a phone and plan you can barely ever use. (profanity) Optus.

    • Devastator0 on 16/11/2023 - 08:35
      +1

      Go into an Optus shop and have them cancel it for you there. I've done this myself a while ago and they did it for me when I explained my reasoning for wanting it gone.

    • Baysew on 21/11/2023 - 07:20
      +1

      Except their customer "service" essentially makes this impossible to do.

      The Betoota Advocate seems to agree -

      Optus CEO Easier To Get Rid Of Then One Of Their Phone Contracts

  • PicardySt on 16/11/2023 - 10:28
    +1

    They (CEO of Optus and HN) are a/w Scomo. Is there any surprise ?

  • Protractor on 16/11/2023 - 11:30
    +4

    Holgate was crucified in parliament by Scomo, her career left in tatters, bagged by the media and she resigned for a few watches.
    Rosmarin cost Australia how much on 2 occasions?

    • Look Up on 16/11/2023 - 13:27

      Christine Holgate's boss was the Australian Minister for Communications
      Kelly Bayer Rosmarin's boss is the Government of Singapore via Temasek via SingTel

      Rosmarin cost Australia how much on 2 occasions?

      Singapore prides itself on being a meritocracy

      Whether that pride extends to foreigners running critical businesses located in strategically important partners is the key question

      If Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is not sacked, it says more about Singapore than it does Optus

  • wsthong on 16/11/2023 - 14:38

    Good relationship with SingTel

  • Joyoz on 16/11/2023 - 17:31

    I raised security concerns for my account as my reset password links received but never worked. I was unable to recharge at times due to this when I needed data to reach people and travel (remote so needed recharge via optus)
    When the complaint didn't resolve the issue, i was told to change providers if i wasnt happy with security via email. This was before breach and by someone senior in resolutions. Changed from Optus in may with a great deal from here.

  • Protractor on 16/11/2023 - 17:59
    +2

    Govts (every political party backed it) supporting offshore "support" staff with no provable Australian or AFP police clearance ,accessing Australians ID,data,emails and bank details, backed by all sides of govt. What could possibly go wrong. Ever wonder why the spam calls, texts and emails explode every time to talk to offshore support?

  • Protractor on 16/11/2023 - 19:33
    +1

    So this is how to avoid blame.
    https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/optus-parent-compa…

    Optus here, and Singtel tell 2 different versions. (Both probably heavy on BS) Rosmarin faces senate committee gets to weasel out of accountability for the melt down. A case of "dumb cop" "dumber cop" modus operandi.

    Unless Singtel bin her in the next 24 hours, or she snatches it, she will live to rake it in, again. The Teflon Princess rides again

  • Cletus vandamme on 16/11/2023 - 20:06
    +3

    Of course it's the CEOs fault. If you dont like it dont take the position. Do you think bob in IT is being thanked for record profits no they're not. The CEO is the one who gets the praise or hate if things go good or bad, and with that comes the high salary and bonuses.

  • Ulysses31 on 16/11/2023 - 20:15
    +1

    Gerry's a flog. The ads are cringeworthy.

  • jackthefrost on 17/11/2023 - 08:05
    +2

    Gerry is the reason we have to pay import tax.

    If you are a giant Telco like Optus, you'd better be at the top of your game. If the CEO is incompetent then maybe someone else should take over.

  • Protractor on 17/11/2023 - 10:12

    The senate committee is already asking easy questions. CEO rocks up with an excuse diatribe drafted by people smarter than the senate committee, so Rosmarin should not only keep her job, but get a bonus for deflecting it all away from Singtel. Not one single committee member will ask how safe customers data is in offshore centres and whether this is a conduit for cybercrime.
    Wasted opportunity to expose the risks consumers are in via these "opportunistic" telcos.

  • yokel on 17/11/2023 - 12:00
    +1

    Gerry Harvey if you’re listening… we are still waiting on you to pay back job keeper in full mate. Fair go

  • Look Up on 17/11/2023 - 15:25
    +1

    Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and Lambo Kanagaratnam at the Senate

    https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Read_Listen/Par…

    • Protractor on 17/11/2023 - 15:55

      and escorted out by the subservient AFP who acted as her personal body guards .There was NO PUBLIC there. Just the media. Gutless Optus CEO and a rogue AFP. Nothing to see here.

    • USER DC on 17/11/2023 - 19:04
      +1

      even better than news thanks ChatGPT

      look at the trying to defend Singtel eveypoint of the way LoL 😂 , (they even themselves cannot say fully they or singtel was responsible, they keep changing their communication soo much)

  • USER DC on 17/11/2023 - 19:03

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN9ACReeKzM

    there you go update on senate enquiry

    • Protractor on 17/11/2023 - 19:33
      +1

      Faced a grilling? Choke/cough
      LOL. They flailed her with a feather duster. She probably handed them the script and she shouted the bar afterwards. She's safe to go on impersonating a CEO, with even more $M bonuses ahead.

      Would love to know just how they knew only 228 x 000 callers were involved.And ironically every claim Optus made about 'they did a welfare check' on all of them, will most likely NEVER be verified by the senate committee or any of the govt depts investigating Optus. This is as 'going through the motions' as it gets.

  • Look Up on 20/11/2023 - 13:27
    +3

    If Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is not sacked, it says more about Singapore than it does Optus

    Singapore finally cut her loose

    "Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns 'in the best interest of Optus' following nationwide outage"

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-20/optus-ceo-kelly-bayer…

    • try2bhelpful on 20/11/2023 - 15:04
      +1

      “'To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

      She probably could’ve survived one disaster but two was a bridge too far.

    • USER DC on 21/11/2023 - 02:11

      So glads on hacktus now ?? Oh no

  • payless69 on 26/11/2023 - 10:12

    Gerry Harvey for PM !!

    • try2bhelpful on 26/11/2023 - 14:29
      +2

      Only if it stands for Post Mortum.

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