Tak Habis- Habis Drama

I got a "Sorry Note" from Poslaju on the 5th of January 2010 with a blue stamping that said; Sila buat tuntutan pada keesokan hari. Please collect on the next working day. Being true to my Miss Procrastinator title, naturally, I finally went to Poslaju's collection house at Jalan 227 Petaling Jaya just yesterday. Right, about 24 days after I got the note. :)

So, when I finally got there, I was told that my credit card had been returned to the Maybank Card Centre and I had to contact them for collection. My credit card? Oh, terlupa pula my Maybank Mastercard would expire at the end of January 2010. Patutlah dapat credit card ganti.

This sudden realization had also flooded my medula oblongata with the following facts:

1. I have a work trip to Kuching, Sarawak on Tuesday, the 2nd of February 2010.
2. I would be needing my credit card to check-into the hotel.
3. I only have ONE credit card. (Usaha debt sifar in action)
   
4. My flight is at 11:40am, and I need to be in KL Sentral 2 hours prior. (i.e.9:40am)
   
5. Saturday is Thaipusam - a public holiday for KL and Selangor.
6. Monday is Federal Territory Day - another public holiday for KL.
7. If I don't get my new credit card, then I am toast! :(

So I called Maybank's 24-hour customer Service at 1-300-88-6688. After a few rounds of listening through their reminder that RM50 government tax on every credit card will be billed in your statement and the IVR to guide me to "Credit Card" enquiries, I was directed to Mr. Zamri (betul ke nama dia ni, adnil9?) whose voice reminded me of a DJ radio melayu. :)

(Picture from: here)

He told me that Yes, my card had already been delivered to the Card Centre on 25th January 2010. If I could advice where to redirect the delivery or would I rather self-collect somewhere. I told him about my predicament that I was in that is, all listed items 1 through 7 above. For immediate pick-up, he suggested that I make my way to the Card Centre at Menara Maybank in Jalan Raja Chulan. They close at about 4:30pm.

Ah, great!!! Just that it was already 4:15pm on a Friday evening, it was raining and we were in Petaling Jaya. There is no way thet we were gonna make it in time. So, he said, "It's OK, I can make a personal arrangement for you to pick it later at the same place" and that he would call me in 5-10 minutes time to confirm.

A few minutes lapsed when he apologised that they centre could not wait too long for me to arrive (we estimated 5:30pm), but suggested that I pick up my card at Maybank's One-Utama card centre, on Saturday. The centre is open 7 days a week.

Yeay!!

Problem solved.

It's not everyday that a call centre agent goes out of his way, but this time he did and solved my problems for me. Thanks so much En. Zamri. (at least I think that's what his name is)

There is hope for Customer Service in Malaysia, after all..

-dillz blogging out-

Travelog Jakarta 2: Business Class All The Way

Travelog Jakarta Series | 1:A Quickie | 2:Business Class All The Way | 3:She came, she saw, she bought most everything.. | 4:What about FUN things to do? |5:Ada Apa Dengan Makan(an)?|

We had a nice surprise in store for us when we checked in at KLIA on Saturday. We were already running late and they could not even get us to sit side-by-side on the flight. At the same time, a small group of 3-family members were also getting checked-in at the counter next to us. The nice lady supervisor then called us to retrieve our green boarding passes and did something at her terminal. *kecik kecik. F1. Esc.kecik kecik.Enter. Esc.kecik kecik.Enter - keyboard berbunyi* No words, just the sound of the keyboard being pressed while she was focusing on what she was doing.

Then suddenly she said with a smile, "The flight is full and we have upgraded you both to Business Class. Have a nice flight!"

Big eyed, even bigger smile. We said, "Thank You" in unison and went our merry way. There was only one thing on MY mind - Have to get to the Golden Lounge, QUICK! hihihihihihi

As expected, the hospitality was superb. Food was great. Free wi-fi some more.. We were just being jakun in that lounge. There was even a chef on standby to prepare a hot meal! It's one one those occasions when you have soo much food, yet, soo little time.. :)

In the air, we were living THE life, enjoying the extra body space and leg room with extra delicious meals and the steward/stewardess attending to our every needs and wants. I was even feeling motivated enough to slip in a little revison for my CIA examinations. It was THAAT comfortable!

So sweetlah Malaysia Airlines Systems.. You know, I have never been upgraded before in my life. Heard of people getting upgraded, but me myself? Never had that experience before. Inilah yang dikatakan customer service yang excellent! Just imagine, to be paying super low price with the MHlow fare, but to be experiencing the travels of those rich and famous. Only possible with Malaysia Hospitality, I tell you! :)

p/s: MAS ada tak nak kasik saya travel Business Class lagi ke mana-mana? I promote cukup-cukup.. *Serious* hihihihihihi

-dillz blogging out-

Inikah Dinamakan Perkhidmatan Yang Cekap?

Boleh tak sekejap saya luahkan perasaan tak puas hati di sini? 

Bukan la apa sangat.. Ni ha, si TNB ni.. Diorang hantar kontraktor pemotongan to my house around 12:30pm yesterday. Served the red letter and wanted to cut off our electricity supply. Bibik Parmi tried to stall the man and wanted to call me but he had already cut it off by then and she couldn't get hold of me since our land line uses one of those wireless thingy-ma-bobs that needs electricity to work! Nasib baik my mom in law was at home and she called hubby to tell us about it. 

We apparently owe them RM164.92 (sudah dibetulin bukan seribu lebih, ya.. seratus lebih sahaja) since our last payment dated 1 April 2009. The new bill amounts to 256.82 as at 7 May 2009. So, by now it was mighty obvious that I have been slacking in melangsaikan my electricity bills last month. I can go on and on about why I slacked but that is immaterial at this point. Dutifully so, I have made payments of RM421.75 last Saturday, 30th May 2009. 

My fault entirely for skipping a month's worth of dues. But, maafkan kami, Encik TNB, by the time you came to my house, we have already paid the full amount plus some. Adakah you all tak check whether the bil tertunggak has been paid or not before causing unpleasantries to the whole household as well as the bother to sort this mess out? Point saya yang pertama, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. 

Okay, okay. Nak buat macam mana, that kontraktor person was just doing his job. Tak potong karang, tak dapat pulak payment. Tapi, kan senang kalau introduce that one simple internal control that has customer-centricity in mind? Customer pun tak marah dan angin tak tentu pasal.. Silalah align your contractor's KPI and payments with that very important element, i.e. customer satisfaction, ya? 

 

Anyhoots, the thing that really irked me was how the case was handled that point on. Chronology follows:

Around 1:20pm till 1:45pm

I tried calling the number listed on the serve notice, a 03-788XXXXX number and was greeted with an IVR and was put on hold time and time again by this irritating message:

"Sorry, this extension is busy now. Please press the STAR(*) sign to hold OR dial another extension number. "

*Pause, waiting for your response* 

"Wait a moment. Ting ting ting ti ti ting ting ting...*  

on a, what.. i don't know, maybe 20 second interval. Imagine the whole script repeating every 20 damn seconds. (Yes, it was repeated sooooo many times, I had time to copy down what was EXACTLY said by the IVR)

As soon as you neglect to press that darn STAR(*) sign, you'd be booted off the system. Need to call that number again, darling and the 20 second game cycle begins yet again. After several tries and holding onto the line for a good 25 minutes, I decided that the exercise was futile as the officers or whoever was in charge may well be on their lunch break. So, the mis-adventure restarted after my own lunch.

Around 2:20pm till 2:45pm

Aahh.. the waiting and pressing game begins yet again. What joy! To cut the story short, I got through to a person and clarified the situation. After giving my account number, that person confirmed that they have received payments with the said amount , tanpa perlu any Maybank2u transaction code or the need for me to fax the receipt over. (What does it mean? I reckon the implied meaning would be that the payment is already captured in the system!) So, apakah motif memotong api rumahku kalau system dah capture payment tersebut? Adakah saja nak naikkan darahku and menyusahkan anak2 dan mertuaku yang ada kat rumah tu? Adusss... Sakitnya jiwa kalau fikir... 

Sabar.. Sabar.. kata hati.. 

That particular person promised that the supply will be on again that evening. (without specifying the time. Saya pun tak tanya sebab sakit hati)

Around 4pm 

Hubster called up said number 03-788XXXXX to check up on the status. I was made to understand that the situation got out of control with voice raised coupled with nonchalant attitude and cynical remarks segala. 

Saya malas nak speculate sebab I wasn't there. 

Main point from this whole drama: They promised that the supply will be on by this evening. And the technician will call us once it is done. 

Around 6pm

Still no call from no TNB technician. Still no electricity supply.

Usaha nak upkan supply diteruskan.

1.Minta tolong my nenek saudara to contact orang berkenaan at the said area to look into the matter. 

2. Called said 03-788XXXXX but to no avail. No answer after sooooooo many tries.  

3.Called 15454 to lodge a formal complaint and enquiry. Add to that my sister's insistance and plead to the call agent to speed up the process since there were only little kids at home and my mom in law. We went with the please, please help us approach. The call agent however did say that their policy for penyambungan is between 5:30 and 10:30pm. That's the policy. 

My own take on that: Apa punya policy yang nak suruh orang tunggu berjam-jam utk sambung semula when we have already paid the amount in full plus some? Arrrgggghhhh!!! 

Another waiting game. 

But, alhamdulillah, when we got home by 7.10pm; the electricity supply was back up again.  At last..  Sooo kesian tengok Khaleeda drenched in her sweat - her hair was like dripping wet. So unnecessary.. :(

Malas nak elaborate and think lagi. Need to get this off my system. 

OK. Done. Let's move on!

-dillz blogging out-

A'ah, Annoying.. Annoying!!

Kisah Benar.

It was about 3pm on a Monday afternoon when hubster and me went to sign some documents at the lawyer's office. We both hadn't had our lunch yet but decided that we should get this over and done with first. We were already waiting in the discussion room for about 5 minutes when a young lady entered with a stack of papers and a file. She rattled on and on at the speed of light in a high-pitched voice which was kinda trying at my patience. (Need I remind you that I haven't had my lunch just yet)

She asked if we have brought all the documents she has asked for. Loan statement? Loan documents with the lawyer? Cukai Tanah? Cukai Pintu? This, that and the other.

OK. We have the loan statement.

"Loan document tu apa?" , he asked.

"Loan document should reside with the purchaser. The duplicate, that is. The original will be with the bank. It would take longer if I ask from the bank. That's why I asked it from you. OK. Nevermind, I can ask from the bank. Tapi, lambatlah." she replied, complete with her rolling eyes *maybe I hallucinated this* and not to forget the fast-paced, high-pitched annoying voice.

Ruffles of paper. Ruffle.Ruffle.Ruffle.

OK. Next.

"Cukai tanah tu apa? Cukai pintu tu apa?", she asked.

"Cukai tanah tu, cukai tanah lah. Cukai pintu tu, cukai pintu lah.", came the reply. And I believe that the tone was also increasing.

Boleh jawab macam tu? That's it, man.

"You ni, annoying lah." said he.

The lady looked up. Stuttered a little. "Huh? A.. a.. annoying?"

"A'ah, Annoying.. Annoying!!" bersungguh-sungguh si perempuan mengiakan suaminya..

Siap kena lecture satu das.. Baru dia tone down sikit.. Angin satu badan... Eeeee... Marahnya!!!

OK, side track kejap. Mari belajar Bahasa Inggeris. From dictionary.com

an·noy (ə-noi') tr.v. an·noyed, an·noy·ing, an·noys
To cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, often repeated acts.
Archaic To harass or disturb by repeated attacks.
These verbs mean to disturb or trouble a person, evoking moderate anger.

Right. At that point in time, the young lady has successfully irritated me slightly by her troublesome and repeated acts. The case in hand refers to her pitchy, fast-paced, mumbling yaks. To top it off she was also condescending and disrespectful. Equals to PLAIN ANNOYING. And, boleh tak jawab elok-elok sikit? Aku bukannya kerja buat loan document; menghadap cukai tanah, cukai pintu tah hapa-hapa ni, tiap-tiap hari..

The degree of IRK-ness can be further explored by the synonyms of annoy, also from dictionary.com as follows:

Annoy refers to mild disturbance caused by an act that tries one's patience: The sound of the printer annoyed me.

Irritate is somewhat stronger: I was irritated by their constant interruptions.

Bother implies imposition: In the end, his complaining just bothered the supervisor.

Irk connotes a wearisome quality: The city council's inactivity irked the community.

Vex applies to an act capable of arousing anger or perplexity: Hecklers in the crowd vexed the speaker.

Provoke implies strong and often deliberate incitement to anger: His behavior provoked me to reprimand the whole team.

Aggravate is a less formal equivalent: "Threats only served to aggravate people in such cases" (William Makepeace Thackeray).

Peeve, also somewhat informal, suggests a querulous, resentful response to a mild disturbance: Your flippant answers peeved me.

To rile is to upset and to stir up: It riled me to have to listen to such lies.

So, in retrospect, I think I should have said,

"No, Not Annoying.. Actually, Irritating. "

Mintak maaf, ya dik.. We didn't mean to be mean but you needed that lesson in life. If it didn't come from us, it may have come from somebody else. We did feel bad about it after. But, after a thorough discussion with hubster on our way to lunch.... You kinda deserved it, lah. Live and let live, yeah?

Here's to better customer service!

-dillz blogging out-