This Week at Funnytel, with Chad Blake

Chad Blake - Manager (Legal Affairs & Hospitality) at Funnytel

Welcome to my new weekly post on life at Funnytel.  It’s great to be part of the CSP Central team, even if the other folks here are a bit OTT when it comes to legalities.

If you don’t know much about Funnytel, check out the cool intro piece the guys did.

I’ve already had some reader questions about Funnytel, which is great.  Tang from Singapore asks why Funnytel surrendered its carrier licence this week.

Funny story, that.

Monday

Never like Mondays.  Same thing every week – voicemail from CEO Steve moaning about the sponsorship headbands for his wife’s frizzing netball team on Saturday.

So I stuffed up some proof reading.  So they’re really called the Funnytel Skystars and not the Funnytel Shysters.  Big deal.  If Steve didn’t insist that we only buy from outfits that take BarterCard we could afford a print house that didn’t make us order a minimum five years of stock.

Tuesday

Do Not Call Register people called again, chasing up the list wash account.  Steve reckons if we hold out long enough they’ll back down and take BarterCard.  I keep reminding him how (not) successful that tactic was with the ACCC fines, but he still reckons we’ll get there.

Meantime they won’t wash any lists for us so we’ve got the back up plan working.  Sandeep has added a new opening line to every sales script ‘Good morning, sir.  I hope you are having a good day.  I seem to have dialled a mistaken number and I have a very good mobile phone plan I am sure you will want to hear about.’

Complete defence to Do Not Call moans, pretty smooth, eh ?  Called by mistake.  Love it.

Wednesday

ACCC called again, asking about the ‘We built our own network’ billboard.  Some smartie wants to know where our network is.  Told ‘em it’s right beside Crazy John’s.  Seemed to satisfy her.  Said something about a 155 letter.  Suppose it’s an award or something.

Thursday

Carrier licence cancellation confirmed by ACMA, which was great because our USO contribution cheque is due to bounce tomorrow. 

Steve reckons he doesn’t need carrier powers now that the new tennis court and drainage system is finished at his place.  No better way to get trenching done across a neighbour’s lawn than turn up with a back hoe and a carrier licence. 

Dumbsters next door couldn’t tell agri-pipe from fibre conduit and never asked why four fibre runs would be heading from the side of a court anyway.  Steve reckons his court drains perfectly and trenches through the neighbour’s garden won’t look too bad in a year or two.

Great fun, being a carrier.

Friday

Look out for our promo blitz at the one dayer in Sydney today.  We copied the idea from an Optus SMS competition a couple of years ago.  Steve was brilliant cos when I said we should get a raffle permit he’d saved the number that Optus used.  Same promo, same permit number.  It’s what lawyers call a precedent.

Off to Portsea for the weekend and back to the usual ‘Why are we handing out those bloody Funnytel Shysters headbands it’s an embarrassment’ message on Monday.

Cheers.