Astro Collection Agent

Saja la kan luahan hati di petang Jumaat.  One fine day (not), I received a call from someone who claimed they are Astro's agent.  Nombor yang timbul when they called was almost like a private number - it was +01300.  Called twice, I didn't hear the first time because I was at the hospital for the twins' follow up.  I picked up the second time, curious siapa yang call.

 

Astro boy: (dengan nada kerek) Hello, boleh cakap dengan Puan Diana?

Me: Ye bercakap.

Astro boy: ye ha ni Puan ada tertunggak astro RM300+ ni (lupa berapa), tolong ye jelaskan hari ni jugak kalau tak kita potong.

Me: (Sentap sebab setahu I, takde plak tertunggak).  EH, bila pulak saya ada tertunggak ni ye?  Setahu saya tiap-2 bulan saya bayar (suara dah mula tinggi meminta penjelasan.  Of course, actually I yg salah sebab tunggakan tu berlaku masa I tukar to Astro Beyond and they sort of skipped one bill.)

Can't really remember what was said in between but I was demanding explanation for the bill and the boy was really rude.

Astro boy: Heyyyy puan. Heyyy puan.  Dengar sini.  Dengar saya cakap dulu, jangan menyampuk.

 

So when the boy started hey hey kan I, I mula la menggigil marah. I hung up, called Astro and demanded the agent number to complaint.  Harus lah komplen, I kan kaki komplen. 

 

I then called Astro customer service.  Turns out these are agents, and the answer given by Astro was, we do not have their contact number because they are not us (kes outsource la ni).

 

How can they not know who are the collection agent?  They were hired by Astro, right????

 

I demanded to speak to the supervisor or manager in charge, they won't let me.  I waited so long sampai putus line.  Tapi few minutes after that, the customer service agent called me back, and said that they will raise a complaint on my behalf, that they can't disclose the agent's contact.  Disappointing.  I know they won't log a complaint.  But the girl did explain how I had RM300+ outstanding and I was satisfied.

 

Thing is with Astro, they can never satisfy you.  Their service sucks.  Where I live, setiap kali hujan siaran akan hilang, kadang- kadang sampai sejam lebih.  I pernah call, demanded explanation and assurance from them.  Tapi of course, diorang monopoly the market, manakan mau diorang improve service.  I don't think they can't improve.  They just won't.  Masa dulu, bila diorang promo Astro Beyond pada I, one of their selling point was that it was going to get better when it rains.  Means kurang la takde siaran bila hujan.  But they lied.  Its all the same.  Yet ada hati tiap-2 bulan nak call I tanya nak extra decoder tak, sampai I tanya, if I add another decoder in the house, adakah signal akan bertambah baik? 

 

No.  The answer is no.  Beyond or not, it is the same.

 

And yet they have the guts to hire thugs to do collection for them.  Kalau kurang ajar tu, bukan thugs nama nye?  Come on, malu lah sikit.  Makan duit orang, and your service sucks.  Your customer service is bad.  Makan lah duit haram.  I berhutang, its my fault.  Tapi you don't have the right to speak to me like that.

 

 

 

Mothercare membership not active

Dah banyak kali dah menghadapi bad experience di Mothercare The Curve.  Maybe I should stop shopping there, kan?  I think it is obvious signs.  Masalahnya terpegi juga tu sebab nak beli botol and teat Tommee Tippee.  Kalau lah ada jual di Jusco.  Uh uh.  Dan juga kadang- kadang baju mereka yang comel- comel dan on sale.   

 

This time around, sekali lagi tak dapat nak collect point pada members card.  Reason?  Card was inactive.  Can you believe that the card was not yet activated after several complaints.  Yang buat jadi hangin sangat- sangat masa tu adalah attitude budak cashier tu.

 

Twice aku hulurkan members card aku untuk dia swipe.  Know what she did?  Dia tolak, she said it's ok.  Then when I was about to pay, she asked, 'akak ada members card nak collect point ke?'.  I replied, 'iye, habis dari tadi I bagi kad ni dekat u nak buat apa... saja- saja?'.  She did not apologise, malahan membuat kerja dengan lembab sekali dan muka tiada senyuman.  That was OK lagi,

 

Then she said, 'kad tak boleh pakai. Expired kot???'.  I told her, 'no, check behind the card it is not expired until 2015'.  Then she went, 'ohhhh.'  Bila check, memang la confirm kad tak active.  I asked them if they can activate it now, or put in the points later.  The girl said no, they need to go into the system and blah blah blahh, which I think was actually because they didn't know what to do.  I blurted out, 'stupid, you guys are really stupid do you know that???'. 

 

Bila bagitau Hubby he said if it was him, he wouldn't have paid, and would've told them I want to cancel my purchase instead.  Good idea darling, I will do that next time.

RM12.. Hemmmm?

Teringat kejadian baru- baru ni, where I woke up to find my Astro service disconnected.  Perasaan pertama bila dapat tau?  Rasa macam nak makan orang sebab aku tau bil aku dibayar...

 

So I picked up the phone, and spoke to the customer service (took me about 20 minutes to get through).  Here's how the conversation went, well.. sort of.  Setengah perkataan telah dicensored dan di ubah suai untuk blog ni hehehe. 

 

Me:  Hello.  Saya nak check status account saya...

 

Astro Girl: Ok, cik sila bagi no. akaun atau no. IC untuk semakan.

 

Me: Ok, 0- XXXXXX. 

 

Astro Girl:  Disini saya dapat lihat akaun Cik telah disekat kerana tunggakan RM12.  Cik kena jelaskan bayaran RM12 tu baru boleh connect kan. 

 

Me:  Whad the fudge???? Are u being ridiculous?  Disconnected because of RM12?  I didn't even know I had RM12 outstanding in the first place.  Since your online billing pon nampaknya doesn't really indicate this clearly.  You people are really stupidddd.  You know?  Stupidddddd.  I want my Astro to be connected right here right now.  I akan bayar the RM12 sekali dengan next bill.

 

Astro Girl:  Ok Cik... Sila bayar RM108.35 untuk bil akan datang.  Service astro Cik akan disambung kan semula dalam masa 3 jam.  Sila letakkan decoder dalam mode standby. 

 

Wanted to slap the girl left and right even though I know it wasn't her fault. 

 

Erghhhh.  You know what I should've told them instead????  That the RM12 was for all the times my connection was lost due to rain.  That was for my episodes of Julia I missed, 2 episodes of The Voice I missed, and half an hour of Desperate Housewives re-run.  That would make up the RM12, eh?  In fact if I take into account all the time I missed my favourite shows, I should've charged them RM12. 

 

Ridiculous.  Ini lah akibat monopoly.  Sesuatu yang di monopoly, pasti tidak akan ada perubahan.  Service kau dari dulu sampai sekarang bermasalah bila hujan.  Duhai Astro, sedarlah bahawa aku pada ketika ini sangat marah.  Sangat- sangat marah....

Asyik service lembab la KR!

Geram masih ada kat tekak, kat hati kat jiwa eventho benda dah seminggu lebih berlaku.  Menggerutu I tauuu dengan satu restaurant kat Jusco Cheras Selatan ni.  Dah berapa kali terkena kat sana, dan juga di rangkaian lain restaurant yang sama!  Aku agak muka aku ni memang bad luck when it comes to food... Hehehe.  Apa- apa pun aku try la not to be rude to the waiter or waitress just because they are who they are.  Kang orang kata kita ni tak berhemah yer tak.  

Malam tu, buat kesekian kalinya la bukan sahaja service lembab merangkak tahap kura- kura.  Tapi siap salah bagi makanan.  Yang aku paling menyampah, bila aku cakap makanan aku salah, dia boleh jawab balik 'akak cek dulu ek makanan tu betul ke salah.  If dah confirm salah baru panggil saya...' erkkk adik pernah rasa tak tapak kasut akak yang baru beli ni?  

Dah tu panggil nak bayar pun sama jugak.  Korang ni agaknya dah kaya sangat susah nak bawak datang bil.  Memang lerrr lebih afdal kalo bangun sendiri gi bayo kat kaunter.  Tapi agak- agakla kita dengan anak lagi... Datang je la bawak bil ambik duit.  

Dah bayar, tunggu 15 minit tak sampai- sampai duit balance.  Paling pening anak mengamuk dah.  SO tanya la dengan adik yang tengah duduk memprint bil kat situ.  'Dik, saya punya balance mana?', kata kakak yang comel itu.  'Kak kaunter cashier kat sana ye...' dalam hati dia mesti menggerutu menambah 'akak ni nampak muka saya macam cashier ke? puhhhleeezeeeeee'.  

Tunggu pulak kat tempat yang dikatakan cashier yang takdek orang pun tunggu.  Ade la dalam 5 minit lebih.  Bila tanya, datang dengan muka yang tak friendly dan tanya, 'duit akak?', dan bagi balik change.  Bluwekkk aku sepak muka kau baru tau.

Kesimpulannye lepas ni jangan I makan kat tempat ni dah.  Tak kesah cawangan mana, I boikot... Ni dah restoran ke-2 I boikot hehehe.  Tapi yang satu tu I boikot mengikut lokasi jer.  Yang ni dah banyak tempat kena.  Nasi mentah dah 3-4 kali kena.  Bila tanya dia bole jawab, nasi tu memang macam tu.  Erkkk?  Service cam hampeh toksah citer la.  Babaiiii ko memang tak merasa la duit aku yang ciput ni lepas ni.  Harap maklum.

Celcom charged ridiculous data charges!

Isu ni dah lama I biarkan meleret sampai one day Celcom sent their collection agent, Kudrat Partners & Co untuk collect outstanding aku dalam RM300+.  Ini bukan soal 300+, its such a small amount for me to run away from.  What you should understand is the dispute.

Around April 2011 I decided to give Digi a try.  Yes the connection sucks (up until now if its raining it ain't working).  Tapi yang menarik hati is the price - Digi offers a much better Blackberry (BB) BIS Internet package.  At RM78 per month I am able to enjoy unlimited surfing on my BB, and unlimited BBM message too!  So after maintaining my Celcom account for a while (concurrent) I decided to cut off the data plan on Celcom. 

The problem was for my Celcom Biz plan (RM50 + RM68 data plan), apparently they were not able to terminate the plan!  That was what they told me.  And that I will be converted to 'pay per use' i.e. prepaid plan.  I immediately agreed as I foresee that I will not be using a 3G phone anymore and since I have my new BB, what the heck.  I will only maintain the Celcom number for calls until I slowly phase it out.  Good ideas, right?

Wrong.  A month after, came a big fat bill of data charges.  The question is, how did this charges came about?  Called their Customer Service several times and those stupid people obviously were giving so much nonsense.  You know how telco's Customer Service are like.  Celcom is no exception.  They were telling me stuff like I couldn't lodge my complaint here, must go to the centre.  Not the Blue Cube which open until night, only big ones like the one in Taman Tun, which let me remind you only open during office hours, and half a day on Saturday.

Tried emailing them instead, demanding Celcom to show me where the traffics are from.  The email address on their website didn't work either.  I kept on getting bounced email. 

Too frustrating.  So I am expected to go and scream at them, at their counter.  I know what's up their sleeve!!! That I will finally keep quiet and just pay the sum.  Bollocks.  Will not happen.  Show me prove and I will pay those outstanding!

This is not about RM300+.  This is principal.  Pay for only what you use.  If you don't use, you don't pay.  If you're demanding me to pay for what I don't use, I am demanding you to show what I've been using.  If its is true, I will pay.  It is as simple as that!  I do not want to waste my energy, but if that is how Celcom wants to play it let it be.

Buat kesekian kalinya, dealing at RHB counter...

Aku ni boleh kata serik dah nak deal dengan RHB kat kaunter.  The service, kalau online is superb tapi bila melibatkan nak kena pergi kaunter ada beberapa proses yang aku cukup tak berkenan (tak sure kalau bank- bank lain macam ni jugak), dan diharapkan diorang boleh improve service diorang tu.  Sekarang ni dunia internet serba canggih dengan internet security options yang pelbagai.  Patutkah service diorang ni macam ni lagi...

Aku terkena macam ni bila nak withdraw big accounts, update contact information, tukar ATM card,  so korang boleh imagine la berapa kali dah aku punya lah bengang menunggu.  Diorang pulak memang jenis take their own sweet time to contact the other party.  

Apa verification yang dimaksudkan? 

Aku punya account dibuka di OSK Plaza.  So any transactions di kaunter aku kena di 'refer' kan kembali ke OSK.  I'm fine with that, except....

1.  Bila nak buat any transaction you are asked for your IC, to tell them you are who you say you are.  Yes?  Kot- kot la isi borang untuk akaun Diana tapi yang datang jap lagi Cik Bedah.  '

2.  Apa- apa pun memang kena bagi thumb print, both sides, ok.  Not just left or right, both left AND right.

3.  Kemudian akan keluarlah ayat "oh, akaun cik ni dekat OSK.  So kita kena tunggu diorang verify signature ni dulu."  Ko akan tertanya- tanya how are they going to verify, so naturally you would ask how.  Jawapannya adalah, "kita kena tunggu diorang fax kan semula ke kita signature cik", or something like that.  So you would be wondering, which part of the country they're from?  There's such thing called online verification, why do we still complicate ourselves with fax machine?  Believe me kalau macam ni tak kemana lah bank- bank kat Malaysia ni.

Series of unfortunate events?

Antaranya yang aku ingat...

To change ATM card to Debit Card.

Aku buat kat branch RHB Bangsar South.  Pun sama, kena tunggu dalam 40 minutes.  Sebab RHB Bangsar South tak boleh dapatkan verification, person in charge keluar.  What the fuck?

Withdrawal of more than 5K.

Pernah satu kali ni, aku nak keluar duit dari akaun aku dan masukkan ke akaun orang lain, big akaun juga so memang takleh buat kat ATM dan deposit machine.  I waited and waited, for over half an hour.  You know what the problem was?  The branch that I went to opened till 6:00 pm, but OSK Plaza closed at 4:45pm.  I was there at 5:45pm,  so you can imagine why it took so long.  It was because OSK was already closed and they were unable to get the verification.  To my disappointment, I learnt that they did not work on it seriously and left it there until I got up and asked.   I had to tell them that this is my money I am trying to withdraw, and not yours, why are you making it hard on me.  It was urgent and had to be done the same bloody day.

To change phone number and address.

Kalau ko call customer service RHB, diorang akan bagitau engkau, TAK BOLEH update details di mana- mana branch, mesti pergi ke home branch.  Satu masalah besar sebab aku dengan hubby dah tak ingat OSK Plaza tu kat belah mana.  Heheh, sucks right?  So yesterday I tried my luck anyway.  Turns out, untuk tukar phone number for internet banking, you can do it at any branch, BUT NOT your personal details.  Itu kena buat kat home branch.  (With CIMB it was so easy because I could just update my phone number from the ATM, of course there's risk exposure there but well, I ain't got the time to visit branches at any time of the day.  I am a working woman.)  Anyway so I went to The Mines.  Luckily akak tu sangat murah dengan senyuman dan melayan saya dengan baik, so even though I was asked to wait for this verification (after going through no. 1 and 2 above), buat la dengan paksa rela.  Tapi berjaya lah update details tu walaupon kena tunggu.

Moving forward

Kita hidup dalam dunia serba modern dan serba IT, takkan lah verification sedemikian masih diperlukan?  Apa yang berlaku kat sini, kalau aku ada pilihan memang aku tak buat any transaction dah dengan RHB.  Aku ada je akaun lain, CIMB, HSBC.  Tapi disebabkan 'the other party' yang aku transact with menggunakan RHB, maka aku tak ada pilihan.  Kena cepat, yes?  Aku harap RHB boleh improve this part of the process untuk memberi service yang lebih convenient untuk customers dia... Mungkin verification secara online?  Mungkin database selamat yang boleh di access oleh semua branch tapi cuma access oleh superior mereka saje?  Kalau kita tak cuba catch up, kita akan ketinggalan.  Tu je yang aku boleh cakap.

Agak- agak macamana dengan bank lain ye?  Pernah tak korang mengalami pengalaman buruk dengan bank- bank lain kat Malaysia ni, cuba share sikit.

Cashier... muka macam $%$@&*

Disclaimer: Post ini bukan bermaksud menjatuhkan air muka sesiapa.  Tapi saya sedang menghidapi amarah yang amat.  

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Petanda amarah ada sedikit naik.  Tadi berjalan- jalan menghabiskan lemak di IKEA dan The Curve.  Macam biasa la, tempat I jalan- jalan bakar lemak tu, sebab senang nak bawak anak.  Kalau Ikano tu, every floor dia ada nursing and changing room.  Kat Curve, walaupun cuma ada 2 nursing room, tapi sangat convenient sebab kat situ jugak ada play area dan kedai- kedai baby semua ada situ.  

Anyway bukan nak cerita tentang kehebatan shopping malls tersebut.  Tapi tentang 'ketidakhebatan' nya.  Dah puas jalan- jalan singgah di Mothercare The Curve sebab nampak cam banyak gila babas sale.  40%, 20%, and I saw some cute dresses for my darling Ayesha Amani from the windows.  So sementara hubby pergi menambah lubang di tali handbag, I went into the shop, to at first window shop but ended up buying some tops and dresses.  

On one of the dresses, takde tertulis discount or anything like that.  So I thought this one was a normal price item.  Mind you, tak sure lah kalau semua Mothercare pun sama, tapi ko memang tak sure kalau the whole rack is on sale or only items with labels are.  

So I went ahead in the queue to pay, with the intention to of course, pay and if the doubtful item IS NOT on sale, I was going to buy it anyway.  It was too cute to let go yeah.  So beratur lah sampai turn... Tanya minah cashier kat situ, sambil membuat muka paling manis,

"Yang ni ada sale ke, dik?"- saya bertanya. Patut panggil akak sebab dia nampak lagi tua bluewekkk.

"40%" - jawab kakak Cashier yang bertugas pada malam tadi, (13 November, around 8 pm kot???)

Sambil menjawab, sambil muka nye taik.  *&%&^%.  Serious wa bengang, tapi bersangka baik lah.  Maybe dia tak sihat.

I proceed with the payment.  Dan sambil minah cashier tersebut dengan kasar nya memasukkan barang- barang kedalam beg, tanpa greetings, tanpa terima kasih.  Tapi yang aku heran, dia bole menyembang dengan colleague dia yang tembam tu?  Siap gelak- gelak lagi you... Muka I tak cukup cantik ke untuk you gelak ketawa.  

Hati memang menggelegak.  Kalau ikutkan hati memang nak je bagi balik barang tu dan cakap saya takde mood nak beli sebab muka awak macam B A B I.  Ooopsss.  Kalau tulis jarak- jarak tak bunyi mencarutkan?  

What I can say here is that, this isn't my first bad experience with the cashiers in Mothercare The Curve.  Ramai gak yang dah kena dengan ketidaksopanan mereka.  Apa muka gua macam takde duit ke Bedah oi? Cadangan saya ialah, kalau anda bosan melihat wajah customer, sila bekerja di belakang tabir.  Maka tak perlu ngadap muka dan pelbagai kerenah manusia.  Jika anda moody, jika anda tidak friendly, the job is not for you!  Sayang sekali... 

P/S: Tapi ada jugak cashier yang best- best kat outlet lain.  Try masuh Gap Kids, Miss Selfridges.  Best youuuu layanan dia macam queen!  

The Chicken Rice Shop... Memang bukan sekadar nasi ayam...

Cuma sekadar lembab. Hahaha. Harap maklum.  Hari ni hari emosi akakkk dik non. 

Saja nak melepaskan geram terhadap restaurant tersebut TCRS.  Maklumla dah 2 kali terkena okey.  Bukan main- main.  Terkena servis lembab yang tahap kalau kau datang dekat aku mengaumm.  Auuummmmm.

Aku selalu cari breaksfast bila berada dekat Bangsar South, tempat kami mengaudit untuk ketika ini bersama teman setia anda... Bersama teman 'se-breakfast, se-lunch, se-mengudap' saya Cik Timmy.  Kami ni kalo dah duduk Bangsar South tu, kira aci apa yang ada je la.  Yang dekat je.  Kang jauh- jauh karang kurus plak aku berjalan.  Dalam Bangsar South (The Sphere) tu ada TCRS.  Memang la dah sedia maklum dengan kelembapan servis diorang ni kalau untuk breakfast.  Tapi nak try juga la set breakfast dia sebab ala- ala murah juga.  Berbaloi- baloi kau kalau makan kat situ katanya. 

Pertama kali ku, menatap wajah si dia (Yer laa tuh)

Kali pertama pergi dan terkena, kami punya air sampai dulu.  Masa tu before 8 am.  Kami tunggu punya tunggu punya tunggu breakfast curry laksa TCRS kami tak sampai.  Kami tunggu lagi.  Alamak dik, nak tunggu kena laser ke dengan mulut aku yang tak boleh blah ni?  Disebabkan kehangatan hati aku yang mebara seperti dicurah minyak petrol, aku pun bersuara (lebih kurang la.  Script asal tak ingat...)

"Dik, breakfast saya ni buat ke tak ni?  Kalau belum saya nak blah",

tu diaa suara merdu orang Lipis dah keluar dah.  Ingatkan habis kat situ je, tapi disebabkan aku memang berbakat dalam membebel aku pun sambung,

"Dah lebih 8.30 dah ni.  Ingat orang tak keje ke. Lembab."

Ewah dengan penuh confident aku sound dia.  Sebentar kemudian makanan pun sampai... Ahemmm kena ludah ke tak tu blakang cerita. Hahaha hanya Allah SWT yang tahu.

Disebabkan pe'el aku yang memang suka complaint, selepas kenyang, erkk Alhamdulillah, aku pergi website diorang untuk memberikan feedback.  Feedback kaw- kaw ni, servis lembab, if you're not ready to serve breakfast then don't, it seems that you don't have enough staff. Iye, mana tak menyirap nyahhh, kalau manager dia merangkap si lembab tak apologise pun.  Senyum pun tak.  Duit aku kau nak.  Sekejap pastu, ada la TCRS nye orang call and respon nye cuma 'we will investigate.  Yeah yeah we are short of staff'.  None of my business kot, staff ko short ke, tall ke, datang keje lewat ke tu masalah ko.  Yang aku tau, aku order, sampai.  Sebab ko charge service charge juga.  Service cam haram, kena bayar gak???

Pastu ok ler, aku lay low, ban diri sendiri dari TCRS disebabkan keceluparan mulut.  Hehehe.  Sampai lunchh pun tak mau pergi sana sebab takut kena santau. 

Kali ke dua akak cuba nasib, service dah improve.

Pertemuan Ke Tiga

Kali ke tiga. Ahaaa ni menyirap tahap dewa- dewa ni.  Kami dengan seronoknya sampai, order coffee and tea (Siapa lagi, kami tu aku dengan Cik Timmy la).  Pastu tanya nasi lemak dah ada ke.  Si montel yang bekerja (alahaii tembam pipi dia lebih tembam dari aku.. geram tawww), bagitau ada.  Dah siap.  Yeay yeay.  So kami order 2 nasi lemak.  Suka tau menggemukkan badan.  Cik Timmy takpe la dia slim.

Tunggu lagi, dan tunggu.  Si montel lalu lalang menghantar order. 

Tanya kali pertama,

"Dik mana order saya," kata akak montel (aku la).

"Tak tau la kak," jawab adik montel.

Tanya kali kedua,

"Dik, order saya dah siap", akak montel dan Cik Timmy bertanya.

"Tak sure la kak", jawab adik montel lagi sekali.

Kali ketiga, suara aku dah naik la kan (bersama- sama Cik Timmy), tanya soalan yang sama.  Anehnya, jawapan nya masih saya tidak tahu.  Tidak tahu??? Sila ambil tahu.  Bangang ke apa.  Kalau aku yang kena bangun tanya kitchen, baik aku je keje kat situ.  Akai ada ka adik montel... Ohh...

Cik Timmy sama panas, bangun juga dari situ meninggalkan tempat itu bersama saya.  Secara lurus bendulnya kami meembayar harga minuman yang cuma murah seringgit je dari harga set.  Cam celaka, kan?

No apology offered, malahan kami mendapati makanan kami tu tak di order pun.  Hebat tak staff TCRS kat The Sphere?

Silap la kan, akak ada channel complaint ok.  Email lagi dan cakap something along the line, "Your Manager is a snob, your Waitress is stupid... You're incapable... I'm disappointed... and bla bla bla".

Seperti biasa, efficient nye mereka menelefon semula dan meminta maaf.  Oh, siap offer breakfast free lagi kat KL Sentral.  Taknak aku, kang kena santau hahahaha. 

Tapi itulah, lesson yang aku dapat kat sini.  Restoran yang dah terkenal macam ni, ramai peminat, tapi tak boleh jaga service level.  Lepas tu, layanan yang kami dapat, ermm sangat tak berbaloi dengan jumlah service charge yang kami kena.  Yang kami dapat, kena bayo rege kopi RM5 (Set coffee + nasi lemak tu dalam RM5++), dan of course la kan aku dapat sakit perut la sebab minum coffee with an empty stomach.  Sigh.  Frustration.  Tulah yang aku dapat. 

Halal, tetapi...

Semalam sempena weekend yang indah dan setelah berhari-hari perut dah gastric sebab tak lalu makan mengenang anakanda Ayesha Amani yang tengah sakit (high fever, diarhea and vomiting), aku mention kat hubby nak minum ABC. Lapo nasi juga setelah ber'diet' sejak Khamis malam.

Hubby pun bawak la pergi satu restoran dekat dengan Tesco Kepong. Untuk pengetahuan korang, area rumah kami ni payah nak cari makan. Sebab sini area Chinese, so memang kena keluar sikit dari taman lah kalau mode malas memasak datang. Kat simpang tu ada Sekinchan Ikan Bakar, tapi takde ABC pulok.

Anyway, sampai ke restoran tu, syak wasangka mula tiba. Ada tulis Janva Thai Restaurant in English, diikuti tulisan Cina. Dipintu, ada sticker 'welcome' oleh Singha Beer (betoi ke tak eja aku tak tau). Aku cakap ngan hubby, 'Halal ke ni???'. Hubby cakap halal sebab selalu nampak wanita bertudung makan kat sini. Aku tak percaya, aku suruh dia tanya kat dalam.

Dengan penuh gaya cik abe Bob masuk ke dalam dan tanya 'Halal ke?'. Aku jeling ke dalam dan tengok, i) pekerjanya sorang pun tak nampak Muslim, ii) ada la display gambo Agong dan Permaisuri tapi itu tak indicate apa- apa ye, iii) sorang pekerja dia tengah baring melintang kat kerusi. 'Halal, takde serve babi punye', aku rasa pekerja restoran tu jawab.

Aku ikut juga hubby masuk last- last. Perut dah berlobang ni, jam dah pukul 4 tapi baru nak lunch. Duduk, and tengok kat dinding ada logo Halal, tapi pada kalendar ke ape tah. Datang la si waiter bagi menu. Akakkk pun terus order ABC, air kosong. Husband tolong orderkan ikan sweet sour, dan ape tah lagi satu lauk semalam. Aku tanya hubby tu je ke. Perut lapo ni. Belek la menu lagi sekali dua...

Kali ke tiga belek menu Halal tu, jeng jeng jeng. 'Deep Fried Frog Meat' katanya. Rasanya English akak ni cukup power untuk memahami itu. Wahhhh apa lagi baran pun naik, terus ternaik suara kat hubby. 'All these while you makan sini??? Ada daging katak???', volume akakk dah takleh control la kan. 'Pergi cancel order jom balik', kata akak lagi. Hubby pun bergegas bangun and tanya dah buat ke belum, and sempat tanya ada jual katak ke tak? Of course they denied kan???

Soalnya sekarang, ada ke takda ke, since it is in the menu tekak ni dah loya nak makan. Besides, if they call daging katak Halal, I wonder what else they put in their ingredients that they call Halal. Tak sempat ambil gambar menu tu sebab baran nye pasal. This restaurant did not bear any Halal certificate from JAKIM, cuma display the logo Halal entah dari mana.

Pengalaman ini sangat meloyakan. Hingga ke pagi ini terasa dan masih terbayang wajah cik katak melompat- lompat. Hubby saya tidak pernah membaca menu bila datang kesitu. Main order je. Dia juga based on ada Muslim datang makan kat situ. Ermmm entahlah, maybe aku yang cepat sangat melompat tapi hati ni was-was sungguh. Apa pun Allah dah selamatkan aku dari menelan sesuatu yang tidak terjamin Halal nye...

Rude cleaning lady @ hentian Sungai Buloh.

Semalam balik dari Sungkai, singgah buang air di Hentian Sg Buloh (the one right before the Sg Buloh exit, not the Restoran Jejantas one). Hujan dahla lebat, nak terkucil, anakanda pulak perangai sikit punya baik taknak duduk car seat. Redha jelah hehehe, sampai ke hentian ni, nekad turun jelah.

Dah selamat tu, aku keluar dan tiba- tiba makcik cleaner yang berbaju seragam putih bertulis 'Kontraktor Propel' masuk sambil menghentakkan mop nye kelantai, dengan nada yang kurang ajar dan tinggi berkata, "Haiii lain kali nak masuk tandas basuh la dulu kaki tu kalau dah tau selipar tu kotor". Sambil tu dia terus menghenyak- henyakkan mop nye dalam keadaan marah.

Aku pulak boleh tergamam, mula- mula rasa nak minta maaf kat kontraktor Propel tu, tapi bila tengok cara dia yang seolah- olah melepaskan rasa penat dia kat aku, tak jadi nak kesian. Aku pun dengan selamba dek nye jawab sambil membasuh tangan dan blah, "Kau ni bodoh ke apa nak suruh aku basuh kaki sebelum masuk tandas awam. Dah keje kau kan, lap jelah".

Yes, I called this kontraktor Propel rude and you should call me rude for answering back this way. Tapi takkan nak expect aku senyum dan sembah kaki dia sambil berkata, "Oh makcik, maafkan lah saya. Lain kali saya basuh kaki dan lap sendiri ye kalau lantai tandas ni kotor. Makcik sila lah makan gaji buta duduk kat luar tu mengumpat sesama cleaner lady yang lain," setelah dia mengasari aku dengan mop tersebut hehehe. Terguris perasaan I, nyah...

Anyway in my defense,

1) Aku tak perasan selipar aku kotor. Yelah, aku dari kampung, hujan lebat kat luar, aku pergi tandas pun tergesa- gesa.
2) PLUS Expressways selaku pihak yang manage hentian ni tak pula menyediakan paip air atau tempayan macam kat rumah kampung tu untuk aku membasuh kaki dulu.
3) Takda pulak signage "Sila basuh kaki sebelum masuk ke tandas ini." PLUS Expressways atau PROPEL sila ambil perhatian?
4) Takda juga alas kaki untuk aku lap kaki dulu?
5) Tak pernah tahu yang aku perlu basuh kaki sebelum masuk tandas awam.
6) Tak pernah tahu juga yang aku tak boleh masuk tandas kalau kaki aku kotor.
7) Kat luar kering, tandas pula tak dikeringkan dengan betul oleh cleaning lady ni. Haruslah kotoran tanah tu melekat?
8) Kalaupun aku yang salah, tak boleh dia cakap elok- elok. Have some respect, you are doing your job.
9) Aku ni manusia biasa, I made mistake, so did she.
10) Dah kerja dia 'cleaner', aku pulak bukan 'cleaner'. Nampak kotor, ko cuci. Kerja kau lah kot.

Ni memang tahap post melepaskan perasaan amarah yang bergelora di jiwa ni. Apapun pada pendapat aku memang tak patut dia meninggikan suara macam tu dan menunjukkan perasaan dia yangg tergores sedemikian rupa. Oh boy, now I wish I recorded her act and what she had said.

Peeping into my precious' world.

 

My first photo in my little world called mummy's womb :-)

OMG Yesterday I went for a scan to see how my baby is doing.  Hubby came along, of course because he felt missed out when I had my first scan and he wasn't there, and everytime I listened to heartbeat he wasn't there either.  So I suppose yesterday I satisfied his desired for the baby since I had to scan the baby twice!  Best tau, even though ada beberapa perkara yang potong keseronokan kita. 

Here's how it went...

At around 7.40pm I arrived at Pusrawi Kelana Jaya.  Tempat ni dekat dengan Restoran Syed, at Jalan SS5B/4.  Alaaa just after Kastam.  It was easy to find if you know the area.  So I walked in and registered myself.  Masuk- masuk dalam bilik Doc, Doc tanya 'So?  What do you want to do?', she said.  'I want to scan,' I answered. 
Doc: Yelah scan untuk ape?
Me: Ermm scan lah, because I've only scanned masa 3 bulan dulu.  (Mind you this wasn't the most friendliest doctor you find.  She is probably not a people person, so she's forgiven.)
Doc: Ok so you want to see if it is doing OK, or the sex, or what?
Me: Both lah...
Doc: Ok, if the sex you probably won't see properly yet.  After 27th weeks normally baru nampak.  Lie down. 

and so she did her scan... after a while Doc cakap, I got something else in there.  Something else, I thought, what else?  Oh please Ya Allah I hope it is nothing. 
Doc: You have a mucus fibroid there.
Me: Is it harmful?
Doc: It is if it gets in the way.  You must see an O&G specialist as soon as possible.  They'll advise you on what's best. 

She printed out our baby's ultrasound and we left her office.  Hubby didn't look too happy.  Macam sedih pon ada, macam tak berape nak faham pon ade.  Isk isk, so I explained to him, 'Takpelah, I rase benda ni common kot time pregnanancy.  Lagipon U tau kan I jenis period macamana?'.   Hubby then said, 'Ok lah, but U dengar Doc cakap tadi, kena jumpa specialist cepat- cepat.  Jom lah cari kat mana- mana yang buka.  Tanya your friends ke?'

Cerita panjang jadi pendek, we decided to go to the one specialist which I thought I saw everytime I passed by Kota Damansara.  It is called Hopkins Women's Specialist Clinic.  Located at Pelangi Square Kota Damansara.  Easy to spot from the main road.  I had a feeling it was going to be expensive. 

But it wasn't so.  They were going to be closed by the time we reached the place, however accepted our presence anyway.  How nice!  The lady was superb friendly (Also according to hubby who kept comparing this clinic to the one we just went). 

The doctor?  Double, triple friendlier than the one we went to!  He was very welcoming and is like the nicest creature on earth throughout the whole visit.  At the beginning of our appointment he was finding out all about my pregnancy.  After that bila aku kata, I wanted a second opinion, he said yes he'll examine my tummy and that we'll do a thorough scan.

He found the fibroid too after a while.  It measured 2 cm, and located quite a distant from my precious.  Therefore he said not too worry for now, but we must do a follow up in 2 weeks to see how it goes.  I asked him if this could harm my precious, and he said there will be risk if it grows too big.  However according to him fibroid is a very common pregnancy problem, just like my anemia and calcium deficiency situation.

Basically he was telling me that there is nothing we can do about it now because I am already in my 21st weeks.  It must be monitored regularly, and precaution must be taken to ensure that baby is well.  He also said I shouldn't worry and should enjoy the pregnancy for now.  His words were so comforting I thought I see hubby agreeing.

Once we were over the fibroid subject, Doc asked if the previous Doc explained to us about our baby.
Me: Wasn't a very friendly doctor, she just showed us the head and the heart, and finally the fibroid which none of us can see.
Doc: It's OK.  We will perform a detailed scan.

And there we were visiting the baby again, caught her in action sucking her thumb, moving her legs and hands.  We saw her backbone and it was fine, the pair of eyes she has, and they tiny toes.  Oh my can you imagine our feeling at the time.  After that we heard the heartbeat, it was fast, so unbelieveably fast!  It was the prettiest thing I had ever imagined.  The most beautiful and wonderful thing I had ever experienced.  Here I am with this little one inside of me, how very amazing!

The time we waited for had come, it was time to see the sex.  Once the word is mentioned, our precious was actually covering hers with her two hands!  Refusing for us to see, perhaps.  She was playing peek a boo with mummy and daddy knowing that we both love her dearly.  After a while she lifted her hands slowly, and the doctor was able to see, a veyr blurry vision.  We both saw too.  Doctor was unable to make up the sex, since it was too early, but he said he could be wrong, though she looks like a girl!  Why a girl, it was because of the three lines that the doctor see that makes up her vagina.   

To tell the truth, both of us had wanted a girl.  Though there is no reason to be disappointed if it isn't so.  The baby will be loved as much.  Know what I care about at this moment?  Not whether it is a boy or a girl, but knowing that my baby is healthy and faces no complication in the womb.  That it gets all the love, and nutrients, and that I will be able to provide him or her only the best!

Do pray that I and my baby will be well, and that all the tiny weeny problems during the pregnancy will just be a challenge and not something that will complicate matters. 

Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS
 

Anti-mentol klinik??? katanye...

Tadi aku call satu klinik ni nak tanya tentang Antenatal Clinic dia. In fact dah beberapa clinic aku call untuk tanya tentang perkhidmatan antenatal diorang, dan berapa charges, salau satunya Pusrawi Kelana Jaya, TMC Fertility Center Kepong, dan macam- macam clinic dah.

Aku punya criteria senang je, doctor yang menjaga kehendak dan keperluan aku sebagai seorang ibu yang tengah carrying, especially the one carrying her first child. Not many people get it kot, how important it is for me to be comfortable with the doctor, and check up, and the routine performed. Kalau takat bayar dekat RM100, ko cuma cek darah aku, sekian terima kasih la kan.

Anyway yang aku nak cerita kan ni cerita pendek je. Di antara clinic yang aku call tadi pagi tu, aku start semua conversation dengan "Hello, saya nak inquire tentang your Antenatal Clinic..." and lepas tu diorang akan berikan masa, harga, dan nama doctor yang akan buat check up. Tapi ada satu tempat ni, yang tukang jawab phone tu tanya aku banyak kali..

Aku: "Hai selamat pagi! I nak tanya tentang perkhidmatan antenatal clinic." Receptionist: "Apa kak, anti-mentol? anti- gatal? takde la kak?" Aku: "You ni tau ke tak tau??? Saya nak tanya tentang check- up yang orang buat masa pregnant." Receptionist: "OOOO akak nak scan baby yek?" Aku: "Aduhhh you ni. I nak scan, dan segala- gala macam check up lah. You all ada buat ke tak ni?" (Tak tau kenapa aku masih bazir masa cakap dengan dia.) Receptionist: "OK akak datang jelah- Selasa, Rabu, Khamis: 7 pagi sampai 10 malam. Takyah buat appointment, datang je. RM20-30 macam tu lah harga scan."

Aku dah nak makin tergelak besar, terus cakap thanks and hang up. Maybe silap aku lah. Ape agaknya nama yang lebih common untuk antenatal clinic? Bantulah aku supaya aku tak dapat dosa kering ketawakan orang dan menyangkakan seseorang itu limited knowledge nya sednagkan sebenarnya aku yang ignorant.

Apa- apa pon great laugh for the morning la kan. Buat mengubat perut yang tengah cramp.

Citibank's response to my complaint email

Ahaaa.... Refer my post "Menggelegaknye hati dengan bank!!!!!" where I expressed my dissatisfaction in Citibank Malaysia.  Aku mention yang aku ada email kan complaint kan?  Diorang ada respond siang tadi...

Just to share la, yang ni diorang respond pulak.  Surat yang aku fax tu, haram takde sape pon nak respond.  Maybe aku patut email jugak, ape kata survey?

Email From Citibank:

Their email response: Dear Ms Diana Abdul Molok, Thank you for your e-mail to Citibank dated 5/20/10 regarding term loan department. With regards to your e-mail, we sincerely apologize on the inconvenience that has occurred. Thus, we would like to inform you that we have made an arrangement for the term loan department in charged to contact you and the report reference number raised to them is 210520101229344211 for their further necessary actions. One of their officers in charged will call you back at your number: 017-XXXXXXX during normal working hours within 3 working days maximum to advise/assist you further on this matter. Any inconvenience occurred is deeply regretted. Thank you for using Citibank Online. Regards, Jasmine Johan (Miss) Internet Service Support Citibank Berhad

My email to them: Hi, I've been trying to be in touch with your term loan department but none of my attempts succeeded today.  I am inquiring for the account number 7016200050921. As far as I am concerned as per my last payment made to Citibank, I have already made full settlement of my term loan.  Your officer which had accepted my receipt of payment via phone had agreed and promised to send me a letter of settlement then. But then today I am shocked with a letter of revised interest rate sent to my address.  Therefore I demand to know what is the status of my account, and how come my account is not closed as promised? Appreciate if someone can call me on 017-XXXXXXX.  Clearly the attempt to call you on 03-2383 4500 is a waste of my bill at the moment because I keep getting answering machine! Diana

Menggelegaknye hati dengan bank!!!!!

Argghh argggh dan arghhhh hanya tu je yang aku mampu jeritkan semalam bila satu surat sampai ke rumah. A letter from Citibank, saying that my interest rate for term loan has been revised to 8.30%. A term loan account which I had known to be closed, and fully settled. So kalau dapat surat maknanya ada 2 kemungkinan: i) My account is still active with balance or ii) They are just simply slow in updating their customer database. Let's find out shall we???

But but but... tak semudah itu. Semalam dari pagi aku call diorang punye line - the Term Loan Department line 03-2382 4500. Punye lah bersusah payah, Citibank kan bukan local bank, patutnye customer service dia lebih hebat dari local bank yang wujud kat Malaysia ni. Bank local kita dah tau, dah tentunye service diorang sucks.

Dah bengang try, aku email pulak untuk dapatkan someone to call me segera. Finally around 2 something pm, I tried again and this time somebody picked up. Of course, you guessed it right. I was not handled immediately because 'the person in charge is engaged on the phone or busy', which is the normal excuse you will hear from Citibank or any other bank. And of course, you guessed again, they promised to call back, even though after I yelled "I have had it with your promises that someone will call me back, because trust me, you won't." Trust me, they didn't, so aku lah kena susah payah kan diri habiskan bil telefon call Citibank. Lepas tu baru dapat cakap, dengan, luckily a very nice officer.

Nak dijadikan cerita, bila aku tanya status aku, rupanya ada some RM33.00 odd outstanding dari account aku. Korang bayangkan ek, aku buat full settlement of RM2090 bulan February lepas. Konon nye, akaun akau Citibank dah tutup. Janji nak hantar surat, tapi sampai ni tak dapat surat. Aku busy okeh, mana la nak ingat nak follow up, sampai surat tu datang kat rumah???? Negotiation tak berjaya untuk aku taknak bayar, so the guy said OK you bayar RM29 dan kita akan close your account.

What the fuck Citibank Malaysia???? So now aku kena bayar RM29 untuk kesalahan staff korang? Yang cuai? Yang salah bagi aku information masa nak tutup akaun aku? Tu salah korang dan aku bayar? I don't get it???? Now mind you, this is not about RM29 ok! Jadi aku bagitau pegawai Citibank yang cuba bersabar dengan tone aku yang dah mula kasar tu, OK I will try to arrange for payment, tapi... selepas aku hantar letter of complaint kepada Citibank.

Kat bawah ni ada surat yang aku hantar. Tapi nak tengok tak, Citibank akan reply ke tak, kepada 'small customer' macam aku ni? Like I matter? Baik diorang handle big shots dari melayan kerenah aku yang kecoh sebab RM29?

Yeaaa kita tunggu dan lihat. Nanti kalau Citibank ever reply, aku akan post kan update ke blog aku ni.

Surat yang aku fax kan semalam:

Client Care Unit Citibank Berhad Level 18, Menara Citibank 165, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur For Attention: Hazlinda Hashim/ Lin Safira Samah 20th May, 2010 Complaint: Handling of Term Loan Account I, the above named is the account holder for Citibank Term Loan account no: 70162000509291. I would like to express my disappointment on the mishandling of my term loan account and had caused me to pay for your staff mistake. I had made full settlement of my account on the 4th of February, 2010 amounting to RM2090 at the ATM machine in Damansara Perdana. Before making this ATM deposit, I had called your Term Loan Department several times and was told that my outstanding amount does not exceed RM2086.28 as at the date. I have also called your Customer Service Centre immediately after making this payment to ensure the money is received and updated into my account, and demanded my account is closed immediately. The response at the time was that I will receive a release letter from Citibank Berhad. Alas the letter was never received and I hadn’t done any follow up since, due to my busy schedule. However I was shocked as I received a letter today saying that my loan interest has been revised to 8.30%. The letter was no other than to indicate that I still have amount owing at Citibank. After several attempt since morning to call your Term Loan Department, I had only managed to speak to the person in charge at around 3.24pm. I was then informed that I had still amount owing of RM33.18. After negotiation with your officer, I was then asked to make a fix payment of RM29.13 and any interest to be charged until I made the payment will be waived. My disappointment here, as you can see is for several reasons: • That my account was mishandled in the first place, and your officer had obviously misinformed me when I asked for the amount owing before making the fully settlement. • You are forcing me to pay the amount of RM29.00 to close my account, when this mistake was clearly made by your staff. I ended up paying for what, their unreliable and irresponsible attitude? • That if I hadn’t gotten the letter today, I will end up paying a fat amount of interest. I hope this doesn’t happen to other customer, and that Citibank takes necessary action to resolve this matter. I hope to be treated fairly and not end up paying the RM29 requested. You must understand that this is not about some RM29, but about standing up for my rights. I did not make the mistake, why do I pay for your staff mistake? Regards Nor Diana Abdul Molok CC: (i) Customer Service Center, Citibank (ii) Term Loan Department, Citibank

Malaysia Telco Comparison (Sort Of)

Disclaimer: This post does not intend to influence in anyone's decision making, nor to provide misleading information about the Telco companies to be highlighted below.  This post is strictly writer's own personal view and does not involve monetary transaction from any party.   

I recently made the decision to switch from a long term Maxis customer (I was thinking 5 to 6 years) to Celcom.  My decision was purely made based on the cheap unlimited data package offered by Celcom as opposed to the other Telco.  At the point of time I made this decision I was also just thinking of getting a new 3G phone which will serve my need: 1) Voice call and text messaging 2) Email 3) Facebook 4) Chat application wherever I go.  Due to those needs, I needed something that will cater for my needs, both voice and data.  I used to do it with Maxis on pay per use basis, but always ended up having my line blocked, that's why I was determined!

After almost a month or so switching, I was satisfied with the mobility both the phone and my new line had provided me.  However it wasn't until moments ago, I started looking back and comparing between Maxis and Celcom.  Refer Table 1 below:

Item	Maxis	Celcom
Customer service (Friendliness, product knowledge, helpfulness)	Y
Wide coverage area		Y
Service availability (In terms of the service being available most of the time for both incoming and outgoing)	Y
Service reliability	Y
Accurate customer information	Y
Good online account management		Y
Cost effective		Y

Table 1: Comparison between both Telco, based on personal experience. 

Now, the reason.  After several consequences which I never had experienced with the other telco:
1) The constant calling to try and get me to move to Celcom, even though I have already switched to Celcom.
2) I called the customer service today to inquire about the bill which I never got. (I mean, how do I pay without knowing the amount, and I can assure you my line will be cut soon if I don't do so).  But the customer service rep speaks owh so slowly with the line breaking on the other end.  And I got passed to another department who also failed to speak with clarity!

Then it triggered Table 1 above!  I was tired from writing up my audit findings and trying to put them together, and I thought I needed a break.  Now here we go...

On the customer service, I felt as if Maxis knows what their customer is asking better.  Knows the product better.  Is able to speak with clarity and knowledge, and at the same time be courteous.  Celcom?  From today's experience?  I will try to avoid speaking to them again unless really required.

Celcom has wider coverage.  Yes.  Even in hubby's hometown in Sungkai, Perak, I was able to browse my facebook.  Kajang, also where my brother stays and where Maxis wasn't the best service provider.

But... being able to provide a wide coverage doesn't mean it's service is always available!  You see, I've been having the 'situation' where my connection is intermittent.  I sometimes appear out of coverage area, or wasn't able to make a quick phone call with more than one try.  Never had this problem with Maxis before.

Do you also notice that Maxis is more reliable when it comes to its service?  Based on the availability above, you know you can rely on the Maxis line to make phone calls.  Well, provided you are in town area of course.

Speaking of accuracy, today I had two incidences of inaccurate customer data.  1) My address was wrongly registered in the system - found this on the online customer service (explains why I never got the bill). 2) They wrongly read my secondary phone number.  Either the guy was number dyslexia, or they totally had the number wrong and I corrected him, thrice!

If you had used both Maxis and Celcom online account management service like me, you will notice that Celcom offers a better and more services in its online account management.  But don't rely on some of the button, some doesn't actually works.

Cost... definitely Celcom better.  Do you know how much I am paying for my supplementary line?  RM5!  With Maxis I had to pay RM30, use or no use.

Let's give my new telco provider a bonus point shall we... I paid my bill online for the first time today and bling.... My account is immediately updated!  I even received a text notification saying hey, thank you for paying!  We love your money.  Kidding.  But the text part was true.  Whisper ~~ It always take me 3 days or more for the payment to reflect with Maxis.  You want it fast, you call them and let them know.

I guess each has its pros and cons.  And if I found that this one doesn't work out for me, I might just switch to something else later!

Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS

Satu lagi pengalaman menyampah dengan customer service

Haiihhhh I guess I am just that kind of person yang selalu bad luck, kan?  Hari ni, pergi beli barang dengan hubby kat The Curve.  Dah elok budak promoter kat kaunter tu, 3 kali budak tu mention harga barang.  "Gucci ENVY 30ml ni RM169"... So ami pun bila dah agree, bawak ke kaunter.

Sampai turn aku bayar, tiba- tiba "RM177 kak".  Aku pelik, aikk takkan sebab dia bagi aku Escada tester dia caj aku extra RM8.  Aku tanya balik budak cashier Metrojaya tu, "What, bukan RM169 ke?" and I pointed to the ta which the promoter stuck to her cash receipt.  Budak cashier yang tak sempat aku tengok nama dia, terus panggil si promoter, tanya, barang ni dah naik harga ke, bla bla bla.  It turns out, harga dalam system dah naik RM8.

Peringatan, this is not about the RM8.  The cashier then said to me, "Akak, harga barang ni memang RM177, so akak nak ke tak.  Kami tersalah, lupa nak tukar tag, so camana cik nak ke barang ni"... Lebih kurang gitu le.  Dia ingat aku bodoh kot, so aku jawab, "lupa naikkan harga kat tag, that's ur problem, not mine.... i demand to pay the price your sales assistant offered me... i want to see your manager"...

Diorang boleh buat ngok- ngek dulu kat situ bising macam- macam 'eh camane ni' lah ape lah, cashier kat sebelah dia dah sound "kena bagi customer harga lebih rendah..." Sambil tu diorang panggil la si manager ke, supervisor ke, aku tak sure.

Datang lah sorang minah ni, pegi kat cash machine, and said "Ok kak, RM169", sambil senyum manis.  Lepas bagi aku change, dia cakap "sebentar ye, saya bagi voucher".  So aku pun dapat la voucher RM10.

Chet, itu macam ka.  Simple jer nak settle kan.  Customer is always right, right?  If there is any discrepancy, honour the lower price item (provided that it is verified correct).  Takyah la nak suruh aku berdiri lama- lama nak tanya macam- macam when it is clearly their fault.  Not mine as a customer of course!

Apa- apa pun aku syukur lah bila benda ni settle dengan baik.  Small matter, kan, so bila diaorang apologise I smiled back and said it's ok.

Bad Customer Service?

As a Malaysian, I have had bad experiences in Customer Service.  I am not sure if it is the culture, or something yet to be improved in Malaysia, but it is so very difficult to get the treatment you deserve, the answer to your questions.  As far as I am concerned, I haven't experienced anything worth mentioning here!  But I did experience the worst, and yes I will share some of them here.    

My bad customer service experience came mostly from banks.  Yes because I have dealt with many banks before.  One of my recent bad experience is with CIMB Bank through its CIMBCLICK - the online facility.  It was a small amount of money transacted, yes, but that's besides the point.  I reloaded one of my prepaid line using this facility, and the amount transacted had failed.  Being myself who is always cautious with my transaction, I looked back into my CIMBCLIK transaction statement, and the amount had been succesfully deducted from my account.  Yes, a RM10 transaction not worth bragging about but I did anyway. Two emails, several phone calls, and several follow up phone calls.  None worked, I never got my RM10 from CIMB or DIGI.  No one has called me back.  And when I did my follow up call, my previous call record was not found!  Now you do realise that all these activities have definitely cost me more than RM10, right?  But too bad I can't make CIMB realise that.  I am just their small customer as compared to those corporate or multi- millionaire customer they have with them.

My most recent deal with Hong Leong Bank, was when I was trying to make full settlement of my personal loan.  Like CIMB, Hong Leong has the same record of bad customer service and based on my own experience also has the tendency to disseminate wrong information.  CIMB did this to me about a month back when I requested for my bank statement.  Anyway, when I called the customer service centre which has a long IVR, my call was picked up by a new customer service representative (She mentioned it herself).  With no phone etchics, she took down my details and asked me to hold the line.  I believe this girl was not suppose to be answering the phone without much skills in the first place.  After the long awaited moment I was transferred to another officer the line got cut off.  Great!  I called again, and this time I think some senior officer picked up the phone and told me that I should be calling the branch which I had signed the agreement with.  Great, once again I was unable to resolve the issue at first call.  This is a normal thing with banks, I suppose.  I will not even start telling you the story of how I was trying to obtain my statement from CIMB about a month ago, and another incident when I was updating them with my final payment.  A very long story...

I then called the Hartamas branch and spoke to one of the officer who was, very loud, doesn't give out the correct information, and refusing to accept my full settlement.  She kept on mentioning that I am suppose to do it at the branch and that I will be fined a certain amount for making an early settlement.  This lady hadn't given me any other option until I kept repeating "I don't care, as long as I can make full settlemet.  What are my options".  Then she assisted by sending me a service request form which I had to fill in and fax back.  How very complicated.  Other banks had let me do it without much questions asked.  You can see where they're coming from, they don't wanna lose out on their side.  They'll lose on all that interest from my early settlement, you see.  So there you can see that these banks are very selfish.

And finally today, after form faxed back, and double checking on everything (based on previous experience, their facts aren't exactly facts), my husband took the money and went to Hong Leong branch in Taman KIP.  Yes, because the officer from Hartamas mentioned that I can send anyone over.  Can you guess what happened next?  Hubby called saying that he is unable to make the payment, they won't let him, and that he must do it at the 'home branch'.  Bullshit.  They were gonna get it from me, so I asked him to pass the phone.  After explaining the situation to the officer, one again, a very long explanation otherwise these people won't understand you... The girl asked for the Hartamas officer and my phone number, and said she will call me back once she found out the status.  Of course she didn't because 15 minutes after that I called my husband, everything was already sorted out.  Thankfully.  What I will never understand is what kind of bank policy restrict you from accepting customer's money?  The Hong Leong policy is the correct answer.  

There were many others but I am already very exhausted from all the bullshit customer service are giving me.  This morning alone, I faced two shits.  One with Hong Leong Bank above, and another one with TM.  However TM had a much more polite customer service so I managed to cool it off before I started yelling again.  I'd just like to mention my disappointment here and know that many years will come before any improvement is made to their system, or the customer service in general.  Let's just sit, and watch, and bear the frustration, shall we.  I do apologise for mentioning names here which I didn't mean to, but am sure that some would like to know what or who exactly am I talking about.

Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS

Penggunaan pengangkutan awam negara bawah paras peratus dunia

An old article I found at Malaysia-Today.net.  Hai... masalahnya, selain dari cakap- cakap untuk improvise sistem jalan raya dan meningkatkan penggunaan kenderaan awam, apa usaha yang dilakukan untuk menaikkan lagi taraf perkhidmatan kenderaan awam.  Dahla delay tahap tak ingat, berasak- asak pulak.  Bukan mereka yang duduk kat atas ni yang merasa kesusahan nya.  Kami ni yang sengsara.  Kereta ada, tapi parking tak SESUAI.. So, next option is public transport.  Tapi menunggu je kadang- kadang dah 45 minit.  Akhirnya lewat sampai office.  Prestasi pun terancam.

Kalau ada sesiapa lagi yang jumpa artikel berkenaan kenderaan awam ni, digalakkan berkongsi.  Penat gak buat research sebab teringin nak tengok what actions are being taken by the responsible parties in order to improve public transportation issues.  I seriously do not care if their intention is to lessen traffic congestion whatsoever.  Whatever it is, do something about the public transport overall system, then maybe your rakyat will consider taking public transport as their first option on the road. 

Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS

Tuesday, 15 January 2008 00:13
KUALA LUMPUR 14 Jan. – Satu pelan pengurusan yang mengambil kira unjuran keadaan lalu lintas sekurang-kurangnya 30 tahun akan datang perlu diwujudkan bagi menyelesaikan masalah kesesakan di Lembah Klang sekarang, kata Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata, ini kerana kebanyakan kaedah penyelesaian masalah lalu lintas sedia ada hanya mengambil kira unjuran kesesakan untuk tempoh setahun atau dua tahun dan ia langsung tidak dapat menyelesaikan masalah.

Beliau berkata, apa yang lebih penting, pelan pengurusan tersebut perlu menjadi rujukan tunggal kepada semua pihak yang terlibat dengan perancangan dan pembangunan infrastruktur dalam melaksanakan setiap projek berkaitan pengurusan lalu lintas.

Katanya, ia sekali gus membolehkan koordinasi antara agensi-agensi kerajaan dan pemberi perkhidmatan pengangkutan dapat dijalin sekali gus dapat mengelakkan kekeliruan perancangan yang akhirnya menimbulkan masalah besar kepada warga kota.

``Masalah kesesakan ini sudah menjadi perkara serius dan setiap penyelesaian yang dicari haruslah bukan sekadar bertujuan melegakan kesesakan untuk tempoh setahun dua sahaja.

``Ini bermakna ia perlu mengambil kira unjuran keadaan lalu lintas lebih 20 atau 30 tahun yang akan datang dan inilah perkara paling asas sekali yang perlu diselesaikan,’’ katanya.

Beliau berucap merasmikan ``Retreat Memperkasakan Sistem Pengangkutan Awam - Sistem Lalu Lintas Di Kuala Lumpur - Hot Spots ‘’ di Hotel Palace of The Golden Horses, Seri Kembangan dekat sini hari ini.

Najib yang juga Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kabinet Mengenai Pengangkutan Awam menggariskan beberapa faktor lain menyebabkan masalah kesesakan lalu lintas di Lembah Klang tidak dapat diselesaikan sampai sekarang.

Beliau berkata, peningkatan jumlah kenderaan persendirian yang begitu ketara merupakan faktor utama kesesakan menjadi semakin buruk kebelakangan ini.

``Penurunan harga kereta di pasaran dan juga kewujudan kereta berharga murah untuk rakyat berpendapatan rendah didapati mengeruhkan lagi keadaan kesesakan sedia ada,’’ katanya.

Beliau menambah, kelemahan sistem pengangkutan awam menyebabkan jumlah warga kota yang menggunakan kenderaan awam berbanding kenderaan persendirian, didapati menurun kepada 20 peratus berbanding 34 peratus sebelum ini.

``Orang ramai memilih untuk menggunakan kenderaan sendiri kerana perkhidmatan pengangkutan awam kurang memuaskan dan belum memenuhi kehendak pengguna terutamanya dalam aspek kemudahsampaian, sambungan berterusan dan ketepatan masa,’’ katanya.

Sehubungan itu bagi mengurangkan sedikit masalah kesesakan, Najib mencadangkan penggunaan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT) yang lebih menyeluruh bagi membantu memantapkan lagi aliran maklumat lalu lintas dan pengangkutan sedia ada.

Katanya, penggunaan ICT termasuk Sistem Maklumat Pengangkutan Bersepadu (ITIS) diperlukan bagi mengumpul semua maklumat yang relevan berkaitan tren dan corak pengangkutan di sesuatu tempat dalam bandar raya secara masa sebenar.

Pada sidang akhbar selepas itu, Najib berkata, kerajaan belum membuat sebarang keputusan berhubung cadangan supaya caj dikenakan kepada kenderaan persendirian yang memasuki ibu negara pada depan.

``Kita serahkan pada retreat ini untuk membahaskan, membincangkan serta menyerahkan cadangan kepada kerajaan mengenai perkara tersebut,’’ katanya.

Dalam hubungan ini katanya, negara perlu meningkatkan lagi mutu pengangkutan awam sedia ada bagi menarik minat orang ramai menggunakan pengangkutan tersebut.

``Di kebanyakan bandar di negara maju, 60 peratus penduduk menggunakan pengangkutan awam namun di negara kita hanya 20 peratus sahaja menggunakan pengangkutan awam, kita di bawah paras peratus dunia,’’ jelasnya.- Utusan

Bulu ayam dalam nugget?

Nak cerita sikit, hal yang berlaku pada aku during snacking malam ni.  Tadi aku dengan hubby pergi beli Nugget, konon- konon buat snack sambil tengok TV.  So, aku yang amat malas ni, balik dan goreng la nugget tersebut.  Beli pack besar ni, walaupun peti ais rosak kitorang nak goreng je sebungkus tu.  Boleh makan ulang- ulang.

Makan punye makan, sampai ketul yang ketiga, aku terasa benda keras kat dalam nugget tu. Tarik keluar dari mulut, jeng jeng jeng.  Suspens gile.  Bulu ayam, siot.  Tu part urat dia tu, masih lagi dengan bulu ada dalam nugget tu.  Geli gilerrrr uwek.  Terus potong selera aku.

Dah menjadi pe'el aku, bila tak puas hati, aku akan hantar email complaint.  Tunggu je response dari company nugget ni nanti.  Bukan la niat nak menjatuhkan sesiapa.  Tapi dalam kepala ni ada beberapa persoalan.  Adakah bulu ayam ni sebahagian dari ingredient nugget tersebut?  Atau sememang nya kebersihan nya memang tak terjaga hinggakan bulu boleh termasuk dalam daging ayam?  Tak ada sebarang quality check ke?  Rasa taklah sehebat mana, malah bila tekak aku dah geli geleman, aku mula rasa macam hanyir semacam.  Tapi itu biasa la, tekak Diana... Siapa tak kenal.

Aku taknak lah mention nama company berkenaan, tapi company tu memang pengeluar product ayam ni.  Malahan ada fast food restaurant di bawah naungan company yang sama.  Harga nugget tu boleh tahan gak.  Pek yang aku beli tu harganya RM10.50.

Hai... entahlah.  Agaknya makan di mana- mana pun dah tak meyakinkan.  Sakit la orang macam aku ni yang perlukan makanan segera.  Nak masak ni kan liat sikit.  Kesian hubby, selera dia pon potong gak bila aku loya dengan nugget bulu ayam tadi.   Nasihat aku, korang jaga- jaga la yerk bila makan benda- benda macam ni.  Kalau terkena, segera lah hubungi pihak berkenaan.

Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS

Travelling on a public transport

I believe everyone is already aware of the poor public transport services in Malaysia. I had sworn years ago never to take public transport again due to several unforgettable incidents. However now I am left with no choice other than to commute because of a change in job. Well actually yes I do have the choice to drive, but imagine walking from the carpark to my office. trust me it is quite a distance. So I thought OK let's commute. I'll save money when I have to be at the office.

Anyway, my reason for writing... I take the commuter from Kepong Sentral to KL Sentral. It is about 5 stations away and cost me only RM2.80 return ticket, plus RM3 parking at the Kepong KTM. See I told ya it's cheap. It is only 5 minutes drive from home. Now that I am one of those taking public transport to work, may I take this opportunity for some community message :

1. Wear deodorant on both arm pit. Both of them. Just put on something to stop the stinky armpit.
2. Once you get inside, move further inside. Don't stand at the entrance causing everyone elses difficulty to enter. If you don't want to move inside, give way to those who want. Don't just stand there hugging your '*tudunged' girlfriend whispering in her ears when I've said excuse me 3 bloody times.
3. If you're not rushing, stay on the left side of everything. The escalator, staircase, exit. I am in a rush so please don't waste my time.
4. Don't take anything out of my handbag. No maybe I don't mind the money so much, but it would cause me so much trouble applying for new IC, cancelling my atm, credit card and so many more. And I don't care about the handphone too, but the numbers in there are valuable. A long lost friend just contacted me after 10 years on that same number, OK? WHY don't you just beg on the street? Maybe someone will give you money whic will be enough for a new handphoned?
5. No I am not interested in you, so please stop looking everywhere, make an attempt to smile or anything. Do you realise that some of us women are way out of your league?
6. And no this skirt is not the reason you're looking. You'd still be staring as if I am your meal of the day if I wear my baju kurung. Proven.

*Tudunged - Girls wearing Hijab

Now I've only got six for today. Care to add more?

-Diana Abdul Molok @ TRS -