All that can go wrong in Customer Care

For some reasons, I've had more than enough encounters with customer service support of different companies and brands lately.  Following up on a previous rambling about Customer Service - HERE where I've written about some of my good and bitter experiences lately.

One of my superior once told us - "..when you receive an email, ensure that you acknowledge regardless of whether you have a solution or answer to the subject matter but make sure you acknowledge the email.."

That was like more than 10 years ago where email was still THE main communication touch point.

Nowadays, with the internet and social media ruling the world, companies and brands should find it ten times easier to be closer to the customers, to acknowledge and to appreciate customers. No?

I wrote an enquiry to the Skechers UK site, I got an auto-generated-reply almost immediately.  It's automated but it's good enough for me to know that the enquiry was received.  An email  follow up came y within the next 24 hours.  The reply was general..but good enough since I wasn't even a customer.

And my recent experience with Go Sport ID (HERE) was more than pleasant for such a small purchase.

Now, back to the International Skincare Company.  Pardon me, I've been using this brand for years and I am was happy with it.

Quick re-cap. They introduced a new range of day cream, my face developed irritation.  How serious can that be?  If you're a woman and a regular user of day cream, you'll know how serious that is.


I think this International Skincare brand had done all that a brand should not do in terms of customer care.

Fault no.1: 
I couldn't get through the general line - the only contact no. available on the local website


I mentioned to a friend who is a staff, she offered to pass my contact to the respective dept.  I waited.

Fault no.2:
Nobody called


I called again after waiting for 1-2 weeks and managed to get through.  I was passed on to the respective dept. and was told that my problem 'was being looked into" and "the person in charge will call me back in a day or two"


Fault no.3:
Nobody called


I wrote to the International website to highlight the issue.


Fault no.4:
No acknowledgement of email.  A follow up call came from local office after only 1-2 weeks.


I told the rep. nicely that I've already managed to speak someone in the office and am waiting for a call soon.  I gave her the name of the person who was suppose to call me.  The rep "promised' that she will follow up on my behalf.

Fault no.5:
Nobody called.  No follow up


A few days ago, I called the direct line that was given to me.  There was no answer, so I was directed back to the operator who gave me a hotline number for the particular brand that I was referring to, oh..why wasn't this given earlier (I wonder) , then I had to repeat my story all over again.  The person "promised" to call me back.

Fault no.6:
This time they did call back!
But unfortunately, one of the first things said was .."MS W, we've checked and from our records you have not called us before"

Wtf.


Anyway,.it went on and on..me repeating the same story once or two more times.

And I just received a call today to say ... (you wanna make a guess)?


Sit. Tight.


Apparently, the person who was handling my case had left the company.

:D

What a joke....

So..there I was ..repeating my story again to some one who obviously doesn't understand the product..as I had to repeat the brand and range many times ...many times...and it was also very obvious that with her limited product knowledge she had no solution nor advice to my problem.

Well, at least one message came out good - I was told that "out of goodwill, I can exchange the the product with another item, and what would like I that to be"




Well, yeah..hooray..but my main question remained unanswered.... now that the new product is no longer suitable for me.. do you have any advice on which other variant that I can use?

May be..I was asking too much huh?  Since they are willing to exchange..I should just accept the offer and move on to another brand!

End of story.

Go Sport ID via Earndit

I'm getting one of this :)

https://www.facebook.com/GoSportID

It's called a Go Sport ID - a sports wrist band (made of silicone) that comes with a titanium plate for us to engrave key vital information e,g, name & emergency contact, health condition or personal motto.

Why the fuss?  Well, imagine me running in a marathon or in a park on my own and I collapsed - the ID will communicate for me.  Whoever "the first responder" who came to help will be able to know who to call.

In other words, it's like engraving our contact details to our dog tag, in case the dog gets lost. :D

Read more about it from a blog post HERE

No......It's not something that I thought I need to have. I don't run that often anyway..and if I do run in marathons, our bib will always have our emergency contact information.

This particular model - the Glide costs USD16.95 but..since I have more than enough Earndit points to redeem a $10 gift card for it..Why Not!  They offer worldwide Free Delivery, one of the reason why I took the trouble to order.

After all.I'm a sucker for cute and cool stuff :P

The points are a given.  

All I did was linked my Earndit account to Foursquare and make sure I check in to the gym via Foursquare whenever I'm at the gym. 

Or.. make sure my Runkeeper app is linked to Earndit, and switch on my Runkeeper whenever I run.  

Each check in to the gym earns 15pts.  A 2.2 km run earns about 14 pts.   

I have thousand over points now :)

Can one cheat by checking in to the gym everyday or a few times a day?
I've no idea. Never tried and don't intend to try.
I'm a Buddhist, I believe in living with clear conscience...so I don't cheat.

So..yea..I'm looking forward to getting my Go Sport ID..I just got some problems sorted out, should be receiving in 2-3 weeks time :)

Speaking of customer service..I gotta give thumbs up to these guys.  I sent a message to it's FB page asking for some advice on which model I should opt for and which size is good for me, etc.  I got a reply within hours due to time zone difference.

Today, I had problems with the site while ordering online, I dropped another FB message at around 6pm our time and got a reply after 2 hours.  I was adviced to go on Live Chat with the Customer Service rep.  So I did.  The rep was polite and responsive.  They didn't maange to solve the problem on the spot, suggested that I provide them my details inclusive of payment details..which I wasn't comfortable with.
So, I declined and said I could wait, while I dropped another message to their FB page on the status.

To my surprise, they replied in less than 30 mins with a solution. And it worked :)

I'm a happy customer.

It was only a purchase worth USD6.95 (with the Earndit gift card) but the support service provided was simply excellent.

Hmm..this reminds me of that "International Skincare Brand" that I'm still waiting for them to return my call, it's been almost a month!

Not sure how big a brand or business is Go Sport ID .. but..WELL DONE!

Customer Service

Brand owners, product owners, service providers, etc invest a good amount of budget in creating awareness to your brand or service and hopefully awareness translates to consumers trying out and eventually become loyal users.

But what about taking care of current customers? Are current customers important to the business?

Of course..at least I strongly believe so.  That's why most organisations has this thing called Customer Service in place.

I've had interesting experience in the last few weeks with Customers Service of different levels.

I owe it to Maxis, so I've got to highlight this.
I know I've complained about Maxis' coverage a lot, I eventually realised that instead of complaining out loud, I should play my role as responsible customer by giving constructive feedback via proper channels. That is if there are convenient and accessible channels available.

I must say Maxis has done a very good job in striving to encourage, accept and act on customers feedback and complaints.

I've tweeted to MaxisListens several times on coverage issues with different locations.  Each time, I received almost immediate replies in the form of direct messages or tweet replies and there will be a follow up call  on the same day to get more detailed information pertaining to my complain.

They will then follow up with a case reference number via Twitter.  I'd normally get another call within 1-2 weeks to update me on the outcome of their investigations and actions taken.

At such instances, even if the problems were not 100% solved but the efforts put in to acknowledge the problems is highly commendable.


My other experience was with T, a local auto care company that I had brake pad issues with.  I filed an official complaint via their official website's feedback link.  If I'm not mistaken, it was a Saturday night.  I got a reply within 24 hours.  There were a couple of email correspondence.  The source of the problem remained unknown to me, I was offered "some compensation", I'm not sure if I will continue using their other services...but I know or at least they appear to have tried their very best to handle the complaint as sincerely as they could.  Thumbs Up!

And most recently, I had some problems with a day cream that I've been using for a long time.  They recently 'expanded' their product range to include a Whitening and another another improved Non Whitening  variant,..that's the way I understand it.  I bought the Whitening version not knowing that my face will be have sensitive reaction to it.  Actually I didn't realise its different from what I 've been using. You know..what's like when they suddenly make changes and we don't actually see the differences.


Anyway..I scanned through their website..but couldn't find anything that explained the change.  My questions were simple..WHAT SHALL I DO? CAN I HAVE THE OLD PRODUCT BACK?   I tried calling the only phone number that I could find in the website for days but I couldn't get through. My friend who is working in the company offered to pass my contact to the PR dept.

I waited.

And waited.

I couldn't wait..I bought the other Non Whitening variant.  Reaction was slightly better..but it's still not as good as before. I had to apply water to dilute effect.  wtf..

Sorry for the lingo..but I'm really quite mad.  It's an established and international brand, by the way.

So..no calls.  I tried writing in via the International website since the local website doesn't welcome write ins.

No replies.  International brand my foot.


Alas, I managed to get through to the local office today. and actually managed to speak to someone.  Hurray~

And oh...they remembered my name.  They are aware that I'm expecting some response...and someone is actually checking with 'so and so' about my problem...and will be calling me in the next two days.


ahem...what went wrong here?
May be..they don't have a Customer Service setup? PR should not handle customer complaints..



But hello..international brand, what could be worse than desperate customer in need of advice not being able to reach you ?

I'm still waiting...

Why bother calling

Hello ms w , I'm calling from the service centre. So, how's ur car after the service ?

Car is ok but I am still puzzled by the brake pad issue.(note: brake pad exhausted after only 7000km)

Oh.. Ok .. just calling to check on how is your car after the recent service.. Bye.


A typical example of calling for the sake of calling... No sincerity detected. It's jus part of the SOP.

Maxis Listens

Somewhere around the Q2/Q3 this year I encountered major difficulties with Maxis data services  both 2G/3G) inside Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. Thinking that it was only in the LG, I accepted the 'flaw' since it's quite common to have weak mobile / data coverage in more 'secluded' areas.  

Towards end September, I discovered that even the upper floors did not have coverage.  The internet were totally inaccessible when I was on the 1st floor, 3rd floor, everywhere.  That was totally unacceptable.  I decided to place a tweet at the Maxis Listens tweet wall. I was told that they react faster when a feedback or complain is formally logged.

True enough, they were responsive. My tweet was acknowledged in less than 2-3 hours.  I received a call shortly.  The caller was good at asking all the relevant questions..from which shop I was in to what app I was trying to access.

In a day a two I received another call to inform me that there was indeed a technical fault in the area..and the repair is estimated to take a few weeks (if I remember correctly).  

I was happy with the response team.  

Unfortunately..come mid October..about 2 weeks later, I tried to access again on the 3rd floor..it wasn't working still.  I tweeted them again..providing the previous reference number.

This time the follow through wasn't that good.  The person who called this time didn't seem to have check the records before calling me.  I can't remember what transpired in the conversations.. I think the last call I received was to tell me that they have revisited the site and solved the problem.  They've asked me to inform them immediately if I have problems again.

Well, my occupation is not to go roaming around the mall to test data coverage but the few times I tried over the last two months has been...satisfactory.

The 2G seems to be working fine...albeit slow.

But whenever I switched to 3G..this happens:

I'm not gonna complain anymore..I'm tired.  I know..we pay so much a month for faulty services..?

I'll bear with 2G for now...still bearable.

I've a typical Malaysian attitude.

More Crap

I ranted about how frustrating it is to be using Maxis for data access (here) ..ok..to be fair..I'm not sure if it's the same for other providers.  I heard it is much better with Digi - not sure though.  

Received a call last week from a third party conducting a survey on usage experience with both voice and data coverage.  I gave them my feedback..no good both at home and in office..regardless of voice or data.  

Every now and then I see this screen.  In a building, in the house, on the road..  And it is damn frustrating.

I was having lunch at the LG of a mall in PJ just now.  It's PJ..part of Klang Valley the main market centre of   the country.  And yet..I still get this.  Well, one can argue that it can happen in close up area..for instance in a cave, basement, LG ...fine.

But the the phone detected this...Maxis WIFI hotspot.

Yay..is this a way of compensating the weak mobile data coverage?

NOT.

It's chargeable!



I know..it's a common thing.  I see this all over HK..wifi hotspots are chargeable at public area.  Very few free hotspots.

But hello...you can only do this when the core infrastructure is functioning properly.   Don't you see it?

We are already paying for mobile data...but it doesn't function properly... .half the time is spent on waiting  for page loading..or switching between 3G and Edge hoping to get faster speed.  The rest of the time we rely on wifi when ever it is available.  In other words..we are paying for a service that we can't use!

Now..they wanna charge for hotspots access..
What about giving existing paying customers free access, say for 30 mins to an hour per location per day?

We get free wifi as customers in a eatery or cafe..why can't we get the same as Maxis customers, a very  unhappy lot if you don't already sense...

Crap

Does the above look familiar to you?  I get it very very often, to be fair, I'm not sure if it's due to problems with the application or our dear mobile network data provider.  

Regardless, I've not been happy with the speed and quality of data service, Edge or 3G same.  The irony is, 3G which is supposedly more advanced is much much slower most of the time.

We pay RM100 to 375  a month (depending on packages) for calls, messages AND data access from 1GB to unlimited (depending on packages).  

I'm on the RM100 plan which comes with 333 mins calls, 200 sms and 1GB data per month.

Here's the thing, I will never reach 333 mins in calls as I'm never a phone yakker.  200sms is only applicable to Maxis numbers, in case you don't know.  They charge you separately if you happen to sms to other numbers.  Now with WhatsApp, who needs to SMS?? 

IGB Data?  I only hit 1GB in my 6th month.  The speed is so bloody slow that I 'd opt for wifi whenever one is available.  Seriously, the damn thing doesn't load properly most of the time.  At home, when I'm driving, in a mall..practically everywhere.  It's like there are random 'coldspots' all over town.  Note : Coldspots is the opposite of Hotspots - in my dictionary. 

Sometimes I wonder why I'm paying 100 bucks a month when I only utilise 5% of the services.  No wonder Mr A is the 2nd wealthiest man in SEA :/

And yesterday, this happened...

The entire network was totally down for about 2 hours since 5,30pm.  Totally frustrating.

Well, to give them some credit, they managed to recover pretty quickly by Msian standards.

Crap...

Impressed with Streamy

"Followers" of this page will know that I've been having 'long term' problems with my connection at home..I used to have to have to make 2 calls a month to the call centre since May, June, July..I don't know.

If you are familiar with call centres of any sort..you would be able to imagine the 'pain' of answering the same same questions on each call.  I learnt to be very patient ..as they  have SOPs to adhere to. On not so good days I'd make a fuss by  insisting that I had gone through the standard trouble shooting steps million times..and I refused to go through all over again....sometimes with more experience agents..I get to skip some steps.

Anyway.. in all fairness, I'd like to give credit to Streamy this time.....I see improvement!
They must have put in effort stay on their toes....trying to stay ahead of the competitions and with the launch of Unifi..there's an image to upkeep?

Connection had been stable since my last complaint in early November until Christmas Day.  That night, I spent almost 30 mins on the line with a very patient and diligent agent who was trying very hard to diagnose and most importantly solve the problem for me.  Alas...he apologised profusely for not being able to help.  The problem was indeed peculiar.."connection detected at their end but I couldn't browse at my end".  In this current world, being disconnected from the world wide web is like not having half of a brain.

A report was created in order for the technical team to be despatched to site, it was Christmas night and the next day was a Sunday.  The standard turn around time allocated was 72 hours.  I didn't expect any solutions till Monday.  To my surprise..there was a missed call from an unknown number on Sunday morning itself.  When I got home around 4pm..there was a slip to inform that the team was at site earlier and found no fault at their end and efforts to contact me was unsuccessful.  I decided to try my luck logging on again.


Guess what?
It worked!  I'm not sure how and what happened...but was glad everything was back to normal. Received another call from one of the technician this morning  to check on status.  I'm impressed with the initiatives and responsiveness.  Well DONE!!  Please keep it up.


FYI, tried to re-installed Chrome again but failed. Not sure why. Had been getting warning from AVG stating that there was a Trojan threat before it crashed entirely.  Using Opera now...no fuss..it's good to start anew sometimes :)  After all a brand new year is approaching.

I'm not getting an Iphone

I think ...getting an Iphone is M'sia is a total rip off.

I. Won't. Get an Iphone (in M'sia) unless someone tells me I interpreted the numbers wrongly.

Let's just assume we are only interested in the 16GB model and we do not mind signing up a 2 years contract with a different telco.

Note:

• The above are sourced from the respective websites i.e. DiGi, Maxis and Singtel sites (dated 1st week June 2010).
• Exchange rates : 1USD equivalent to RM3.27554 and SG1.4092 respectively 
• Latest Iphone 3GS 16GB price released on last week of May by Walmart in US is USD97 slashed by about USD100 in anticipation of the fourth generation to be revelaed soon..like now.

Since our beloved telcos have not showing any signs of cutting price...let's just talk about the old pricing.  Assuming an Iphone costs about USD200 in the US, that works out to RM655 and SG282 respectively.

Now..you tell me if we are being ripped-off?

Ok..since I'm already an existing Maxis user..the above doesn't really apply to me.  Do I get preferential price as a "Loyal Customer"?

http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/iphone3gs/rateplan2.asp

NOPE!

If I opt for iData3 for example :

• RM99 Monthly 3GB data access fee (2 yrs contract)
• Cost of Iphone RM1,490 !

Nissan Latio I-key Battery Replacement (Update)

This is an update about a month after I wrote about replacing my Latio's I-key remote battery.  Read about previous experience HERE . To cut the long story short, the remote didn't work well at all after the replacement.  In fact after about 2 weeks, it became so bad that at times I couldn't even start the car without giving it a knock or a shake.

I called the HQ to lodge an official complaint.  The gal ..as expected,.by their standards..wasn't friendly at all but efficient.  Made me wonder..customer service..no service with a smile? Well..it was over the phone..but I read that telephone operators were trained to smile when they speak because the customers may not see your smile but they can definitely feel and hear your smile at the other end of the line.

Anyway..the customer service personnel was prompt and efficient in noting down my particulars e.g. where do I go to for servicing and trouble shooting so that she can refer and direct service advisors from that particular branch to attend to me ..more diligently I guess.

Made me wonder for a second time..is this what customer service is all about? 

When a customer takes the trouble to call the HQ, it indicates that the problem has reached a different level and needs a higher level of attention.  In my case, since we were made to pay so much more for this intelligent function and yet it failed again and again in less than a year, the company had better look into the matter seriuously to calm my nerves man. Unfortunately..I don't feel any of such effort.

Well, someone did call me personally to ask me to bring my car and key over for them to have another check.  And yes, they fixed it and it's working very well now.  The source of the problem ..haha...it's pretty hilarious - I was told that the pevious battery given to me was an expired battery.  *moments of silence* Din't know what to say right.? Yeah..I didn't respond too.

A few days later..there was a follow up call from the same lady at the HQ.  The same cold voice...I can feel that..she's merely...mechanically doing the necessary.  Following up on cases..making sure those other fellas at the branch do their job. No apology.  No signs of empathy.  Unfortunately.

On the other hand, I feel really bad that I'm ranting about it here.  Some of you may think it's unethical of me.  Well, I don't know.  I've gone to the appropriate channels but no one seems to care.  So I rant here.

I still love the car.  It's great. But..how I wish there are greater sense of empathy and appreciation shown to existing customers..who are inevitably the default Brand Ambassadors. And we do not charge!

Car Wash

When was the last time you washed your own car?

With the current fast paced lifestyle of many, it's not surprising that less people have time (and or energy) to wash the car themselves.  Time especially during weekends is scarce and precious.  Washing a standard size car will take at least half to an hour, vacuum not included.

It makes so much more sense to simply drive over to a car wash in the neighbourhood.  They are equipped, quick and efficient.

You don't even need to get out of the car.

La di da...enjoy the air condition and music while the car is being pampered.

Vacuum service inclusive.

At least two persons working on each car  at one time, hence, waiting time is fairly short.

My white babe is sparkling clean in no time.

Charge = RM8 only.

But...........

PIC SOURCE : http://www.seeyouspeak.com/

As always..it RAINS cats and dogs....almost every single time I wash the car -.-
And it's still raining...for the second time within the last 5 hours.

P/S  : All pics taken with Motorola's MOTOZINE ZN5 (equipped with a 5 megapixel cam)

Celcom Sale - Free USB Modem

Shall I?

Free Modem! They used to charge RM200 for modem alone!
But..a RM100 registration is applicable..don't remember seeing that in the old package?

Shall I??


Click HERE for more information.

Which should I have?

Everyone had been going frenzy cancelling credit cards, ever since the M'sian government annouced the RM50 charge on each card, me inclusive :D

But I need to redeem some 34,000 reward points  before doing so.

To my disappointment, the items available for redemption is so limited now. May be because everyone is doing so..and everything went out of stock! Damn.

I've shortlisted these:

Some gadget that Catch & Kills mosquitoes.  I was very intrested in the beginning since my Ridsect thingy had stopped working recently.  But then..this thing KILLS and not repell...poor mosquitoes ...and I don't like the idea of cleaning up dead mosquitoes.

So..it's OUT!

This is some sort of cooker..sorry..too lazy to cut and paste the description.  It does say that..I can use it to cook instant noodles, warm up soup, make eggs...still not too sure how useful it will be. 

KIV.

Was very inetrested initially..DKNY's Delicious EDP.  But..I've been having allergy rashes these days..each time I put on a fragrance.  Moreover..this is EDP..I prefer EDT.

May be I will drop by the counter to check out the scent first.

Lastly..this seem most practical.  I combine two items la. Kingston 8Gb thumb drive..since I lost my previous one IN MY OWN CAR..still nowhere to be seen.

And..the other item is a cutlery set...choppping board inclusive.

Cool?

Bythe way..I need to go personally to the Branch to fill up a FORM to cancel this stupid card. 

Guess ....which bank it's from?!

I'm a Plat Card Holder :D

Was suppose to post this last night..home streamyx was down Again! #$@..
This was written yesterday evening..hence doesn't reflect my current state of mind..whta's my current state of mind?..somewhat fustrated and totally disatisfied...at Nissan hoping to get some solution or rather explantion..oh..just something anything intelligent to soothe my ego.  Of course..I didn't get any.  Will write abou tthat when I get my thoughts in order -.-


Back in June this year I declined a Nissan Advantage Visa ....blogged about it too (co-branded credit cards)..this is parts of what I said:

Personally, as a consumer, I am against co-branded card ...I mean..come on..put yourself in our shoes..how many cards do they want us to carry in our wallet?


...after repeatedly spending loads on servicing and stuff...I finally gave in.  I agreed to apply for a Nissan Advantage Visa.  After all...it's not smart to reject money. 

Key attraction of the card:

10% off Nissan car service

15% off Nissan genuine car parts at Nissan Authorised Service Centres


And ..to counter the recent RM50 per card per annum additional charge..this card latest promise is a RM50 advance upon first swipe.  Ok what..why not?

I get discounts on my car parts and services.
I get RM50 advance to compensate on the possible new government rule.
And..most importantly it's FREE!


Guess what, the card arrived today with another surprise in the bundle.

http://www.standardchartered.com.my/personal-banking/cards/business-visa/en/

I'm a platinum card holder :-D
Relatively low credit limit lar..but who cares..it feels good to have a platinum card in the pocket..haha.

What's the catch?

No catch as far as I know..

..It's free for two (or three) years at least
..It's already pre-loaded with RM100 advance for me to spend
(to compensate for the RM50 thingy I thk)

I'm a sucker..I know.

I think I will cancel the card from that Largest Bank since it seems so Reluctant of them to send over my replacement cards...it's been ..a month!

First they say..it will be sent to my home.
Then..I received a letter that says it is ready for collection at the Branch.

When I called to ask for them to re-send to my Home..they say..they can't do so if I'm not at home..as I have to receive it personally.  Then I asked if they can send it to my office?  Answer was No..but I forgot what was the reason.

Finally..they agreed to send it another branch nearer to me..so that it is easier for me to collect.

It's been a month!  No sign of card.

Tq very much..you can keep the card.

I'm all for SCB now.  The cards didn't reach me via Poslaju...I called to re-direct the card to my office.  Cards arrived to the office within a few days..at most 5 working days.

End.

I've got Mail

Remember I wrote about having isses with my 7 month old tyres?  I mentioned that I wrote an official complaint via the Nissan site..rite?

It's been so long right?  So long that I can't remember what date was it.
Guess what? I didn't receive any acknowledgement call nor email till today.

I decided to call on Monday Morning.

As usual. ..Malaysian company..what you expect.
First person who took my call..could barely speak English.
Then I was transferred to a person supposedly covering my area...some lady.

She didn't sound happy.  I can FEEL that she was having a bad day..and didn't welcome my call.
I might have heard a few big Sighs.

She asked some questions..quite as a matter of factly:

..what's your car no.?
..what's your contact no.?
..when did you wirte in?
..what was your complain about?
..where did you send you car for service?

Obviously..no one has read my complain ...Yet.

She promised to check on it..and will get back to me soonest possible.

Ok..soon enough..I'VE GOT MAIL!



Good day from Tan Chong – Nissan!



Thank you for taking the time to raise your feedback with us as dated 7th December 2009.


Firstly, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience we may have caused. We are now in the midst of coordinating with the relevant service centre for further investigation.


You will hear from us shortly. We thank you for your patience and have a great day.
 

Standard mail.
I've written quite a few of those too :P

Almost at the same time..a Chinese speaking man from the PJ service centre called me.  Asked me about my issues..bla bla bla..but said that he can't give me any solutions until he sees my car (Again).
 
Apparently I can drive in any mornig..and he will attend to me.
 
Let's see.  Stay Tuned.
By the way..I dislike complaining and complaining in this space...I prefer writing and recommending good stuff....but I have to be fair..when it's not up to standard..I have to highlight the issue as a matter of factly.
 
Damn..I think I've forgotten his name...was it Timmy or Jimmy?
 

Tyres Worn out after only Seven Months

Is it possible for a 7 month old tyre to wear out?
These are pics of my tyres after only 7 months.

Sent the car 10,000 km service during the same month.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring up the issue when I checked in the car.

Wheel balancing and tyre rotation are part of the 10,000km service. 

Yup..all were done accordingly when I collected the car.  The invoice stated that balancing and rotation had been done.  True enough the bad tyres aere now at the rear.

BUT.

Aren't they suppose to find out or at the very least alert me about the tyres.

I checked with TCEAS (Tan Chong Service Centre) again when I was there recently after a month.

To cut the story short....answers were nothing unexpected.

"Did you check your pressure regualrly" "This is normal wear and tear..there is no warranty for wear and tear"

For a while I accepted..that it's just..I just have to accept it.

But more and more people are telling me that IT IS NOT POSSIBLE for a new car to have such a bad wear out.

Hmm..my BIL think they are discriminating women drivers!

My bro thinks..there must be soem defect in the assembly!

I just submitted an official complaint to the Nissan Customer Service site.

Stay tune for updates.

sigh.

Nissan I-key Owners ~ please Hold on dear to your I-key

Officially drove home my Latio babe on 19 April this year (2009).
I wrote..
Still have yet to work out a 'idiot' proof system. I bet you....the day will come where I will be writing here on least one clumsy incident about yours truly here..locking myself out of the house without the I-key or leaving the I-key in some other place or bag..whatever...(MORE)


Seven months later...I lost one of the I-key! Arggh.

A complete I-key looks like this.
(explanation about I-key from Nissan is available HERE)

I almost dropped dead when the service centre told me that a new I-key would cost a whopping RM900!!!!

Seriously, if my heart was a little weaker...it would have stopped.

The sales advisor whom I was dealing with wasn't very helpful nor sympathetic.  You know..typical Malaysian standard of customer service where they just as a matter of factly tell you..the standard procedure i.e. I will have to come back in the morning cos they will need :

..a whole day to re-programme the entire system,

..cos they need to send the existing key back to the plant too

..at the same time order a new one

..blah blah blah

..and yes lor.."it is that expensive ..with that "WHO ASKED YOU TO BUY SUCH A INTELLIGENT CAR" look on her face

@#@!^&*#

I was so angry~

Angry at myself for being such an idiot.

Angry at the the stupid woman for being no help.

Angry at the salesman who sold me the car.

So angry ..that I called up the salesman to complain.  My exact words.."you told me the key costs a few hundred..but you didn't say it's gonna be $900!!"

Obviously..he didn't and doesn't know the actual cost but he promised to help me check for alternatives.  ..that's what service is all about.  We don't expect miracles..a little bit of compassion and human touch are all we are asking for.

To my relieve....there is really an alternative to cut down the cost.

He found out from another service centre that..I can actually ask for only the remote for the time being..since I still have another I-key and a Master mechanical key with me now.

How would that work?

The remote only functions to arm/unarm the central locking system...i.e. if *touch wood* I were to lose my other I-key again..I still have a remote to unlock the car and use a mechanical key to start the car (the unintelligent way)

The remote (without) the i-key costs RM405 (after RM50 discount).  There's another RM50 charge to reprogramme the new remote.

This is how it looks like (with a missing i-key)

Yupe..the i-key itself is 50% of the cost. All because it's INTELLIGENT.  Without the i-key , the car doesn't 'work intelligently'.  Meaning..

..we have to press remote normally to unlock car instead of just pressing the button at the door (without taking out the key)

..we have to insert the mechanical key to start teh engine instead of just turning the knob (with the key still in the bag)

So...is it worthwhile..to own an Intelligent Car?

Almost all done but one

Mykad done...luckily was not fined as much as I expected :-)
Drivers licence done ..queue was long but they worked through lunch! And ..I didn't have to pay anything ^.^

I'm very very impress with the efficiency the two departments.  They were very friendly too..except for this nicely dressed man at JPJ whose job was to hand out queue numbers and answer queries .

Unfortunately..I'm extremely disappointed by the Nissan Service Centre. Too tired to write now.  I have to be there early tomorrow morning.  I'd better go to bed now.  Will write about them SOON!

Streamyx vs. P1

Streamyx and P1 WIMAX are recently 'at war' coming up with very creative and interesting adverts
 and I must admit..very entertaining too.  I see it as healthy competition. Only competitiveness will bring imrpovement.

Here's the latest TVC from P1..it's quite hilarious.  I was quite impress with all aspects of it..from creativity to the talents involved. 

However..Malaysian women 'leaders' ..didn't seen to think so. unfortunately.  Sunday's Star reported:

Wanita MCA chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said she would write to the company and demand that the advertisement be pulled out.


“The company should apologise because the advertisement is insulting and it discriminates against women,” she said...MORE


HUH? 

Sigh..insulting meh?  Even if we think senget (i.e. slant) abit....what's wrong with statements like...'fast and smooth'.  Discriminating against women??? I don't understand where did that came from lor.

*SHAKE HEAD*


How are we gonna progress you tell me??



Anyways..I still hope to see more fun ads like these coming our way:

PIC TAKEN FROM : http://www.p1.com.my/

We can even play the P1 Potong Now game in Facebook! LOL!

Then..I saw this print ad from Streamyx!!

PIC TAKEN FROM : http://www.streamyx.com.my/

Outright funny right!  :D  Some unfortunate P1 users will understand how this poor man feels.

Apparently..the talent here looks like the P1 CEO...hahhaaha.

Great job guys...keep it up.

Buns for sale @ Shell

PIC SOURCE : wikipedia

I used to boycott fuelling up at Shell. No valid reason...was just being unreasonable and stubborn. Now..years later..I must admit..Shell is still the best place to fuel up for very basic obvious reasons - clean, spacious, friendly staff to greet you, windscreen cleaner always available (& they are clean), water for windscreen cleaner always clean & available.

Simple offerings. Don't need a genius to provide these basic necessities. They use to have friendly staff offering to clean your windscreen too. Not anymore now..I wonder why. Instead now they are kept busy asking if you are interested to fill in a form to participate in the contest.

Today at a station in Taman Buki Maluri, Kepong - there was something new. They have staff walking around selling buns. Ermm..or were they free?

PIC SOURCE : www.artisanbread.net

Strange hor? Well..it's kind of a good idea cos everyone is hungry in the evening. But...selling buns in a petrol station?

P/S: Btw..do you prefer this bigger font?