Customer Service Review: Plus Expressways Berhad

The Situation / Happening:

I've noticed lately that Plus Expressways Berhad goes above and beyond the call of duty, and I think they need to know that the efforts are appreciated. I've come across a few of their added services in my daily life, which probably aren't even all of it, but they're pretty great.

1. PLUS Ronda - PLUS Ronda cruises the PLUS highways in search of cars that have engine problems or have broken down by the side of the road. If the issue is minor and they are able to, they will help to fix it free of charge. If not, they also offer towing services, so that the cars and its occupants are able to get to safety. This service is 24/7, and I think must have prevent many more accidents from happening.
2. @plustrafik - Like many corporations, PLUS has taken to Twitter. The difference is that PLUS doesn't have to do it to get customers. They do it because they want their road users to be informed about the traffic on their highways, and to plan accordingly. As a road user, I've found this to be incredibly helpful.

The Verdict:

As a road user, I appreciate and love PLUS' efforts. As a Malaysian, I'm impressed with their innovation and dedication to safety and smooth traffic. See, guys? It's not always about the money; Malaysians do care; Malaysians can provide world class services.

Malaysian Mobile Telcos: The Real Situation

A question that's been plaguing me is why aren't Malaysian telco providers providing better service than this? Think about it. How many conversations have you actually had lately that didn't involve the following phrases:

• "Hello? Hello? Helloooooooooo... Hello?"
• "Sorry, what? I can't hear you. Wait ah, let me find better service"
• "You go straight, and then -Do-re-mi tone- hello? hello?"

I've always stood up for Malaysia when people said Malaysians are driving the country into the ground, and I was always adamant that Malaysia isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I'm on the verge of changing my mind.

During my 4 years in Australia, I barely had any problems with my mobile telco service provider. I barely even had to call them. Can't even think of any times I couldn't get through to someone, or had a dropped call.

When I bring that up, most say, "You can't compare us to Australia". I ask, "Why not? Many companies say their lack of infrastructure is due to low transaction volumes in Malaysia, but that doesn't apply to Australia. They have less people!"

Facts:

1. Malaysia has a larger population than Australia.
2. Australia is physically more than 25x the size of Malaysia.

Still, Australia is able to put up the infrastructure to cater to its widely-spread population, but Malaysians have trouble reaching the interiors of Sabah. Granted, their GDP is higher and that would affect how much they would have to invest in infra, but Malaysia has lower labour costs and is much closer to suppliers in China, reducing significant transportation and logistics costs, on top of being much, much smaller. In other words, logically, it should be cheaper to set up a network of cell towers in Malaysia.

With some research, I've found that I'm not the only person complaining about it.

Source: Industry Performance Report 2009, Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC)

NB: CAGR means Compounded Average Growth Rate, i.e. the effective growth rate each year for the time period in question

• In 2009, 6,178 people filed complaints for fixed line and mobile phone services, up from 178 in 2002. This is an increase of over 64% annually.
• Of the 6,178, 2,846 (46%) were complaints pertaining to poor service.
• In 2009, there were 30.4 million mobile subscribers, up from 9.1 million in 2002. This is an increase of just 19% annually.
  

I'm pretty sure that if the number of subscribers is only growing at 19% YoY and the number of complaints are going up 64% YoY, something is wrong somewhere. I'm pretty sure the number is also not reflective of the true situation as most wouldn't bother to report a dropped call.

So what's going on? Haven't the telcos been investing in maintaining and adding on to their infrastructure to cater to increasing demand? Apparently they have.

Sources: Annual reports

*CAGR for Axiata is for 2005 to 2010 only

The table above shows the Net Book Value for Telecommunications Network Equipment for Malaysia's 3 largest mobile telco service providers. According to this, they have been continuously investing in infrastructure since 2002. In RM values, their investments have outstripped the growth of mobile subscribers to 2009.

Again, the question remains: What is going on? Telcos have apparently been investing in infrastructure, but the sheer volume of complaints coming in pertaining to poor service and public debates on the issue of poor network service indicate that it isn't enough.

So, what is the role of MCMC in the whole issue? Their mission includes:

• Ensuring consumers enjoy choice and a satisfactory level of services at affordable prices;
• Providing transparent regulatory processes to facilitate fair competition and efficiency in the industry;
• Ensuring best use of spectrum and number resources

I'm not sure they are doing so, given the state of our telco mobile networks, but that is just my opinion.

I'll stop short of accusing people of things because, let's face it, I'm Malaysian and subject to tyrannical laws on freedom of speech, but take the time to educate yourselves. Don't accept sub-standard services.

• You can find the General Consumer Code of Practice outlining our telco's responsibilities to its users here.
• They've also released the Mandatory Standards for Quality of Services (MSQoS), which came into effect in 2003. The standards can be found here.

You'll note that the MSQoS rates each telco based on reports and complaints filed. Not to whinge, but there is a benefit to complaining.

Customer Service Review: DivX

The Situation:

I installed DivX Pro, including DivX Plus Web Player on my desktop to watch videos in the comfort of my room. I soon discovered that it would stop working everytime my computer woke up from hibernation. Basically, the plug-in would fail and it would freeze my browser.

After some testing, much re-installing and a lot of Googling, it became apparent that it wasn't the fault of my computer, and the paging size is not the issue. Kind of weird, because my laptop has the same platform and has DivX Plus too, and it works fine.

The Happening:

I went on to try and navigate the giant maze of preventing-actual-help-ness that is the Customer Support service of software giants.

My submission:

My browser crashes everytime I try to play something on Web Player after the computer recovers from hibernate mode. Ive tested this on both Google Chrome v11.0 and Internet Explorer v9.0, and it happened to both.

Ive tried reinstalling it, and also increasing the paging file size (which is now set to 6GB - more than sufficient).

Please advise. Thank you.

Their answer:

We are aware of this issue, and we apologize that we are not able to offer you an immediate solution for you case.

If this is a critical issue for you, at this point I recommend you to stay with a solution that will be able to meet your needs in regards to watching or converting videos..

We apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you.

The Verdict:

So basically, they've made a player that can't cope with the simple everyday task of hibernation. Which is borderline ridiculous. The only reason I don't actually call it ridiculous is because of my encounter with Celcom, which will be written up soon.

I'm Tired

What happens when people get tired of fighting for something better; of fighting for principles, for rights, for chivalry? What happens when a society languishes and lets people take advantage of its apathy by feeding off its loopholes? Because that's what I'm dangerously close to.

I know what I sound like: a diva, one of those people who complain about everyone and expect people to jump when I complain. I'm fine with people thinking of me that way, because to me, I'm trying to create a world that I want to live in and be in.

Is it right for telcos to provide sub-par service? No. Is it right for office buildings to provide insufficient parking lots and close it all day to non-season parkers? No. Is it right for our Ministry of Tourism and whoever is in charge of our environment to sit quietly while our coral gardens are being irrepairably damaged? No.

But goddammit, I'm tired of being one of the few who are willing to do anything. Everyone else sits there and complains but is too lazy or can't be bothered to do anything. I want to make my little corner of the world a little bit better, but it's not easy doing it alone.

It's even worse when there's resistance and people look at you like you're crazy because you're asking for a safer parking location, or for pamphlets educating visitors and locals on how to care for corals, or for a telco that won't have dropped calls for every 2 out of 3 calls made. It's the worst when people won't even try to help you. They won't even try.

I'm tired. That's the gist of it. I'm tired. I want to be a better person in a better place, but I'm too goddamn tired.

I feel like your tweets are mocking me

If only I thought you had the balls or the brains to do this.