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.

Customer Service Review: Domino's Pizza

The Situation:
I had ordered Domino's Pizza for dinner, and when I sat down to eat, I discovered that it was the wrong pizza.

The Happening:
I called them. They apologised profusely and immediately sent me the correct pizza. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get a free pizza voucher, but I was so impressed that they called me twice to find out what went wrong that I didn't care.

The Verdict:
Five star customer service. Other companies could learn from the way Domino's treats its customers. Kudos and thanks, Domino's, for making the effort.

Customer Service Review: The Maybank Malfunction

What Happened: On Monday (25th October 2010), Maybank experienced a nationwide system failure. All ATMs and Maybank2U ceased to function, and Maybank2e payroll functions were affected. Some got paid 2 months' salary (only for the extra 1 month to be taken away again, sadly), and some didn't get paid.

The Situation:

• Mistake #1 - I went to the ATM to withdraw money, which I needed seeing as how I only had RM10 in my wallet. The ATMs were not working. I asked the concierge what other options I had to withdraw money. She sent me back to the ATMs to try again.
• Mistake #2 - After I had tried 3 more times at the ATMs, I called the call centre and found out that I can withdraw money over-the-counter (which the concierge failed to mention to me), I waited in a growing line of people. Only 2 out of 6 counters were open. 1 person was served in 15 minutes.
• Mistake #3 - After scanning headlines on Tuesday, I found no mention of the Maybank nationwide system failure. As if it were some kind of dirty secret and ignoring it will make it seem like it never happened.

The Result: I have no idea what happened on Monday. I don't know whose fault it was and what steps Maybank is going to take to stop it from happening again. I no longer have confidence in Maybank to safeguard my money and will have to place my money elsewhere. I can only imagine that other people feel the same way. I mean, we're trusting this system that failed epically to safeguard our money.

The Aftermath:

Number of complaints made - 3.

Follow ups - 2.

Maybank has promised to get their IT people to call me and explain. I think they've missed the point that I tried to make repeatedly, which was that they need to inform their customers or they're going to lose them. Nevertheless, I will be one of a small % of people who will have an explanation about what happened to their system, which I will post here in case people go online to look for it.

Customer Service Review: GMG Airlines

Business: Budget airline
Location: Bangladesh
Website: Don't really care

The Situation:

2 weeks before Chinese New Year, my family decides to go to Bangkok for a quick holiday. Of course, because it's already so near to the holiday and it's peak season, flights were expensive. However, my dad excitedly told us one day that he'd found a cheap option: GMG Airlines, which offered return flights on our chosen days at just about RM800 per person all in.

To start with, we're not that fussy. I've been flying Air Asia since it started and had just a small fleet of propellor planes. We're no strangers to budget airlines, and I'm grateful for their existence since they mean I can fly to a whole lot of places for cheap. So we were equally happy that we'd got a good deal on flights.

KL to Bangkok

Our flight was supposed to be at 8am, meaning checking in at 6am, meaning leaving at 5am to get to the airport on time. You can imagine how unimpressed we were when we got there bleary-eyed and sleepless and discovered that the flight was delayed from 8am to 3pm. So we went home, got some more sleep and came back for the flight.

This time, there were no issues and the food was actually pretty good.

Bangkok to KL

So our flight back was supposed to be at 8.40pm. If all went according to plan, we figured I could get home by 12am and get a good night's rest for my first day on the new job the next day.

• 8.00pm - No gate had yet been assigned to the flight. Boarding was supposed to be at 8.10pm.
• 8.15pm - Notice comes up: Delayed until 9.30pm
• 9.30pm - No gate assigned to the flight yet. Dad calls GMG's airport manager in Malaysia (we got his number so that we could call ahead and make sure the flight was on schedule to leave).
• 9.45pm - Notice comes up: Delayed to 11pm. Airport staff have no idea what's going on. GMG's Thai airport manager calls my dad to explain that he has no idea what's going on. The plane left Dhaka for Bangkok but turns back. He's frustrated - wants to quit.
• 11.30pm - Against all odds, the plane actually leaves.

So what happened was - by the time I got home and got into bed, it was 5am. I had to go into my first day of work on 1 hour of sleep. Thanks a lot, GMG!

The verdict:

It doesn't matter how cheap a GMG flight is - they're not worth the money!

Customer Service Review: Flickr

Business: Photo website

Location: n/a

Website: http://www.flickr.com

The Situation:

I signed up with Flickr forever ago, back when I had 6 email addresses and was still in a different country. And then it lay dormant for a couple of years while I whittled my email addresses down to just 3 or so.

Come 2009, and for some inexplicable reason, I find the need to reclaim my Flickr account, but *gasp* it's linked to one of my dormant email addresses that no longer exists! Shock! Horror! You'd think that, that's it, my Flickr account is gone and unreclaimable, but you'd be wrong.

I emailed Flickr's Helpdesk, and in less than 2 days, someone had emailed me with a solution. It didn't work, but they tried. When it didn't work, it was escalated to someone with more power, and BAM! in less than 5 days, I have my Flickr account up and running again. How awesome is that?

The Verdict:

If only Malaysians were this efficient. You'd never think that a website with so many users could be so efficient, but they are. The CFA people could learn a thing or two from them.

5 Stars, Flickr! Also, tried to reply to the email to say muchos gracias, but it was a donotreply, so THANKS FLICKR. Hearts.

Customer Service Review: Borders Bookstore

Business: Bookstore
Location: Berjaya Times Square; The Curve
Website: http://www.berjaya.com/berjayabooks.htm

The Situation:

I'm looking for The Biggest Loser Cookbook, because I'm going to be on study leave for 1.5 weeks and I thought I'd cook at home. I'd heard that the book has simple recipes with simple ingredients as opposed to those ingredients where most people go "... what?"

So of course I go to the website of my favorite bookstores, in order of preference: MPH, Times and Borders. MPH and Times are pretty easy, with simple and user friendly websites that allow searches of the stores' inventories online by Title, Author, etc. Now comes Borders.

Borders doesn't really have a website. Not only that, the crap website that it does have doesn't give you the phone numbers of all the two stores that they have, which as I understand is way too difficult to put down two phone numbers. So nevermind, I call the number that they do have and ask for the number of their other branch which isn't situated in such a ridiculously inconvenient spot, and I get it easy enough.

So get this: not only do they have a crap website and only 1 phone number, they also have a phone system that doesn't put you on hold when the customer service officers are busy. If you happen to call and the lines are engaged, you just have to call back and try your luck!

That's ridiculous!

Verdict:

I know that Berjaya Group has a history of low levels of customer service, but just once I'd like to be surprised. The verdict is a 1 star customer service level for a purportedly 5 star brand name and outlet.

Customer Service Review: Red FM

Business: Radio Station
Location: 16th Floor, Bangunan AmAssurance, 1 Jalan Lumut, Kuala Lumpur
Website: http://www.red.fm

The Situation:

I'd won RM250 on the FourPlay contest on Red FM during Nisha's Late Night Love Songs. Since I wasn't told otherwise, I thought collection of the gift was as per usual practice, which is to go pick it up at the Red FM headquarters on Jalan Lumut during office hours (9am - 1pm, 2pm - 5pm).

I'd also previously won a sword letter opener worth (supposedly) RM120 or something on the Underworld 3 contest.

To collect my sword letter opener, I enlisted the help of my parents' driver because, obviously, I work full-time and my lunchtime coincides with theirs. I provided him with a photocopy of my IC and instructions as to where to go. What did he come back with? 2 tickets to go watch Underworld 3, with no sword letter opener in sight.

I actually gave up after that because I didn't really care that much about the letter opener (even though it could've been really cool).

Then I won RM250, and obviously I'm going to pick that up. I left for lunch slightly early, drove all the way to Jalan Lumut (which, incidently, is ridiculously hard to find due to a lot of one-way-ness and traffic), got to the Red FM marketing department and subsequently found out that apparently, somebody was supposed to have called me to inform me that the cash prize has not been delivered, and once delivered, I will be contacted to come and collect.

And obviously, I went:

So someone was supposed to call me?

Her: Yes, someone was supposed to call you to inform you that the prize will be delivered and then we will inform you to come collect.

But nobody called me. And you don't say anything on your website about it. It's really confusing.

Her: Oh, really?

(No, I just said that to confuse you and I came all the way here just for shits and giggles. Wtf do you think, really?) Yes. Really.

[Silence]

So, somebody will call to tell me when to pick up?

Her: Yes.

Somebody will call me, right? I don't have to call anyone?

Her: Yes.

At this point I put her out of her misery and told her I also wanted to collect a sword letter opener, and after she presented it to me, we had a nice conversation about how the Red FM website is absolute crap.

Plus points:

• They're giving me free stuff.
• They're giving me free cash.

Minus points:

• Their website is crap.
• Their website provided no useful information in regard to when I should collect my prize.

Verdict:

I'm inclined to say kudos to Red FM for giving away free stuff (to me), but minus points for their lack of organisation and a useful and user-friendly website which, I feel, is essential to any company that depends on exposure to do well.

Red FM, if you need a new website designed, let me know. I'll hook you up.

Customer Service Review: Sonic Kleen Services

Business: Cleaning services

Location: Klang Valley

Website: http://www.sonickleen.com.my

The situation:

Following is a letter that I wrote to Sonic Kleen Services. I don't think anything further needs to be said.

Dear Sir,

Re: Notice of Termination of Cleaning Services

In response to your letter dated 5 February 2009 (Your Ref: 300109/NL/AD) regarding late payments and suspension of service, I would like to refer you to previous payments made for the following:

[Table detailing my cheque payments]

Please note the following:

1. In view of the cheque date and the cheque clearing date for payment for the month of December 2008, it is obvious that the payment was not late. As such, I will not be paying the overdue payment charges for the month of December 2008.
2. In view of the cheque date and cheque clearing date for payment for the month of January 2009, it is contestable that the payment was made late. However, in the interest of terminating contact with Sonic Kleen Services as soon as possible in a co-operative manner, I will accept and pay the overdue payment charges for the month of January 2009.
3. In view of the fact that payment for services has been up to date so far, your letter (ref. 300109/NL/AD) stating suspension of service due to late payments was sent in error and your suspension of services was not warranted.
4. Payments made by myself since commencement of services with Sonic Kleen Services by mode of leaving the cheque was made based on advice of Sonic Kleen Services employee Shawn who advised that the method was sufficient and acceptable.
5. Payments made via online transfer or cash deposit is not suitable for me because based on previous experience where I did so once, the fax number provided did not work. Following a day of attempting to fax the receipt, I then tried to email to a provided email address. Sonic Kleen Services employees still were not able to verify that I had paid despite me providing them with the receipt twice. In view of this experience, I am not willing to pay as advised because it is not an efficient way, and the employees of Sonic Kleen Services clearly cannot deal with emails/faxes.

Based on the above evidence that the customer service of Sonic Kleen Services is not of sufficient standard, and also due to the fact that the Sonic Kleen Services employee En Shawn with whom I have been dealing has not seen my needs sufficient to answer my phone calls, I conclude that there is enough reason for me to terminate services with Sonic Kleen Services effective immediately.

Please find attached the relevant bank statements, photocopies from my checkbook, a copy of the invoice and letter dated 5 February 2009, and a receipt providing payment for the following:

[Table detailing my payments]

Please accept this letter as notification of immediate termination of services and the payment of all outstanding payments to Sonic Kleen Services. I will expect the return of the following within 2 weeks from the date of this letter:

1. The keys to [my apartment] that have been provided to you and your staff for the sole purpose of cleaning; and

2. The 1 month cleaning services deposit of [amount] that was paid upon commencement of services to be banked into my account [account number]. I will also accept a crossed cheque made out to “[my name]”.

Just as you have highlighted in your letter, timely payment is important. For further clarification, please feel free to contact me at [my number]. However, please note that as En Shawn has declined to speak to me over the phone, I will appreciate if any further contact with me is made by a different employee of Sonic Kleen Services.

Thank you.

I am so pissed at them it's not funny. Not only was there no actual way to contact them unless you had the guy's handphone number, he actually refused to pick up my calls and answer my SMSes. It's ridiculous. And it's such a waste, because his cleaners are really good, too.

Customer Service Review: MPH

Business: Bookshop
Location: Nationwide
Website: http://www.mph.com.my

The Situation:

I am looking for my CFA-certified calculator. After asking around, I found out that they had it in Border's. Went to Border's today with no such luck. Of course, because as it turns out, 2009 is just as much of a bitch as 2008 was. Then I found out that they had it in MPH, and instead of making the same mistake as I did with Border's, which was to go all the way to the store and get annoyed at salespeople, I decided to call them.

Him: Hello, MPH.

Me: Hi, I'm looking for a calculator, the Texas Instruments BA II Plus.

Him: That's B for Bangkok?

Me: Yes.

Him: The 'plus' is it the symbol or the word 'plus', ma'am?

Me: It's the word.

Him: Ok, ma'am, is it a financial calculator or a graphical calculator?

Me: I'm not sure, but it's CFA-certified.

Him: Ok, ma'am, I'll check with our department here and see if we have this calculator on stock and call you back.

Me: Great, thank you!

The Verdict:

This, my friends, is what good customer service is. I told him the name of the calculator and he immediately wrote it down without asking me to repeat. He checked when he wasn't sure, and he was damn fast at it.

The verdict? I'm super happy with MPH's customer service.

Customer Service Review: Wok Hei Cafe

Business: Food & beverage services
Location: Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas
Website: N/A

The Situation:

As per the usual modus operandi, I went off for lunch with a couple of people from work to our usual haunt: Plaza Damas. I thought we'd go to Wok Hei Cafe, the one outside (not inside) so that I could have my favorite yee mee.

Round 1: I ordered the sizzling chicken and mushroom yee mee. (Sorry, ma'am, we don't have mushrooms today).

Round 2: I ordered the sizzling roast chicken yee mee. (Sorry, ma'am, we don't have roast chicken today).

Round 3: I ordered the usual sizzling prawns with yee mee. (Ok!) . Success.

So off I go to wonder around in a nearby shop and then come back and sit down and chit chat. Suddenly I realised that everybody had their food and were halfway through while the space in front of me was woefully empty.

Excuse me, can you check on my order please? (Sure ma'am).

15 minutes later: Excuse me, can you check on my order please? (Sure ma'am).

10 minutes later: Lemon chicken with yee mee? Er, no, I ordered the prawn.

5 minutes later: Sorry ma'am, we mixed up your order with the other table. That's not my problem. Bring my food in 5 minutes or I'm not paying for my drink.

10 minutes later: We decide to pay the bill. Sorry about that ma'am, we got the order mixed up with the other table.

Apparently they decided that since they were too late in bringing the food, that there wouldn't be much point bringing the food now. Apparently they decided that they were going to get it anyway so why bother?

The Verdict:

I've never seen such incompetence in customer service. What the hell was that? You mixed up my order so just don't bring it? I had to go pack a mee rebus (which, incidently, took all of 3 minutes) for lunch instead. It's ridiculous.

That being said, this is just 1 out of like 5 times I've been to Wok Hei and other times the service has been credible and not out of the ordinary. This, however, takes the cake.

Customer Service Review: Room Service Deliveries

Business: Delivering food from restaurants
Location: No. A-3-1, Jalan Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Website: http://www.roomservicedeliveries.com

The Situation:

On May 1, 2008, Room Service Deliveries released a new menu with updated menus from existing and new restaurants. I began to ask them for menus before May 1, when they promised they would send me the new menu the second it came out.

Come May, nothing was in my mailbox. I called them to ask them for it when I ordered food. They told me the butler would bring it. Did he? Nope.

A while later, I tried to order from them but their website was outdated, so I got frustrated and just asked for a menu. Did it come? Nope.

On Monday, May 16, 2008, I received an SMS from Room Service Deliveries telling me that I had received a new menu with coupons. Was there anything in my mailbox? Nope. So I called them again, and a nice lady named Ati told me I'd receive it at the latest by Wednesday.

Today, Thursday, I came home thinking I could chill and order room service. Could I? Nope. Because there was no goddamn menu in my mailbox. I thusly proceeded to call Room Service Deliveries and tell the manager in no uncertain terms that I, a customer, had repeatedly asked for a menu, which their business depended on, and I had not received it.

He sent me a menu within half an hour while I was in the shower. Just one. Apparently when I said, "Send me five so that if I lose one, I'll never have to ask for one again", he thought I was kidding. I wasn't.

I forayed down to the mailroom and pilfered the two copies that my neighbor got. Two. My neighbor. Right next door. Got two. I got none after asking for like 5x.

Plus points:

• Them peeps are always polite.

Minus points:

• Them peeps are also always stupid, and 1 unit of stupid = 100 units of polite, so they lose.

The Verdict:

I wouldn't depend on Room Service Deliveries as your only source of food. You'd probably starve before they got it to you, while your neighbor gets 4 free meals.

Customer Service Review: Scuba Junkie, Sipadan

Business: Dive operator
Location: Block B Lot 36, Semporna, Semporna Seafront, Sabah
Website: http://www.scuba-junkie.com

The situation:

Whoren, Anini and I decided at the absolute last minute that we had to get out of Kay Ell for NYE. 2 days later, we'd booked our flights, with Anini having found Scuba Junkie somewhere on the interweb.

The happening:

By the time we arrived in Tawau Airport, we weren't too hopeful, because they'd called that day and tried to confirm that we were arriving 29th January instead of 29th December, and then tried to tell us that Sipadan was fully booked for our dates.

Plus points:

• Airport pickup arrived on time, with a suitably smiley and courteous local man at the wheel.
• We arrived at the Scuba Junkie dive shop and accomodations faster than expected (a plus in my book).
• The guy at the front desk was actually quite helpful, if sometimes on another planet, and actually pointed us to a really good restaurant.
• The staff are always very smiley and helpful.
• The dive masters and instructors are actually awesomely nice and friendly. Plus not too bad looking.
• As divers, you don't have to set up your own tanks and BCDs. Just relax.
• The dive masters pay attention to what you want to see down there and try to accomodate you. Or maybe it was just me.
• If you're there over a festive holiday, they will probably hold a fancy dress party at the bar (only one in town), where everyone actually comes in fancy dress.
• If you bring your own alcohol, they allow you to store it in the fridge and drink it at the bar.

Minus points:

• I can't think of any.

The Verdict: I love Scuba Junkie.

Customer Service Review: Malaysian Paintball Academy

Business: Paintball training and services
Location: Kompleks Sukan Astaka, Petaling Jaya
Website: N/A

The situation:

My uncle wanted to try out his new paintball gun on live, moving targets that weren't squirrels, so we all piled into his 4x4 and drove up to Kompleks Sukan Astaka for a morning's session. He'd booked some playing time the day before.

The happening:

One of the staff members greeted us quite warmly for 10am on a Sunday morning (only crazies are friendly at that time, if you ask me), and promptly asked as what we needed in terms of equipment and what package we were looking for. He provided us a quick rundown of the packages and recommended one for us, which we took.

A trainer then popped up out of nowhere, all decked out in full paintball gear, meaning the padded shirts and pants complete with rambo-style bandannas with Gucci logos all over it. He explained the safety precautions, and then gave us an extensive run-through of how to play paintball, complete with tips on how to hide and shoot for best effect.

After some testing of the guns, we discovered that crazy old man's (i.e. my uncle) personal paintball gun wasn't working properly, and after some time a cousin decided to wake up and show up, meaning we tested the staff's ability to respond to surprises quite a bit. They responded well, promptly bringing up guns and pellets from nowhere. I swear, it's like a magic show.

The staff also facilitated the big playing field quite smoothly, allowing us to play, and then allowing other teams to play while we rested. It was pretty good. All in all, their customer service was off the charts. Friendly, prompt and uncomplaining. What more could you ask for?

The verdict: Awesome.

Customer Service Review: Apple Hotline

Business: Call centre
Location: India?
Website: www.applemalaysia.com

The situation:

I'd gone to an Authorised Apple Reseller (Smack) to try and fix my iPod. Smack said that my warranty was void and that they couldn't help me. Smack staffers gave me absolutely no information until their boss walked in and promptly gave me the number of the Apple hotline.

The happening:

I called Apple hotline over lunch. No waiting, no being put on hold. Plus points right there. I explained my situation, and the man (with an American accent, no less) promptly explained to me that I should go to an Authorised Service Centre with my iPod and my receipt and I should have absolutely no problem fixing it.

Even though he attempted to find but couldn't tell me my nearest Authorised Service Centre, I was quite impressed. No being put on hold, and clearly this guy knows what he's talking about.

Verdict: Awesome.

Customer Service Review: Oriental Pearl Restaurant

Business: Restaurant
Location: Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort
Website: http://www.berjayaclubs.com/kiara/food/orientalpearl.cfm

So I went there twice last week, first to order the dim sum for my party, and second to pick up the dim sum for my party.

My first experience was quick, painless and easy, just as it should be. I walked in, told her the situation, and even though the manager that I spoke to was busy, the waitress handled me all by herself. Later on, I realised this was quite a feat, because she didn't speak English very well, and yet still managed to understand me. We reverted to Malay later, but still. The number of times people have pissed me off because they refused to do anything the second I speak English... Anyway, she took my order with a smile and a hot cup of chinese tea for me.

The second experience was even quicker and painlesser. The waitress even called me about 20 minutes before the scheduled pick-up to remind me. Impressive! When I got there, my humongous order was packed and ready to go. I was out of there in five minutes flat, with a waiter out to help me.

Verdict: I was so happy with the service that I gave them a RM20 tip, even though it was take away. People loved the dim sum too, so that didn't hurt.

Customer Service Review: Smack

I've decided to include a new type of entry to this little piece of internet real estate that I call my own: Customer service reviews. As many know, once I get started on bad customer service, I don't stop. On the other hand, I'm more than willing to acknowledge good customer service, so I feel that I won't be too bad a reviewer.

Review #1: Smack

Business: Authorised Apple Reseller

Location: L2-23 & 25, Level 2, Bangsar Village 2

Website: www.smack.com.my

I was having problems with my iPod (Surprised? You shouldn't be), and went to Smack to try and get it fixed because it's in a convenient location to my office. I figured there shouldn't be a problem, because it was still under warranty. Little did I know.

I waited for over a week, and when they didn't call me, I dropped by when I was in Bangsar to check up on it. Lo and behold, there it was! Right on the table! Was it fixed? No. It wasn't really their fault, though. Apple said that it wasn't under warranty (even though I'd only bought it in January).

The following was a conversation that I had with a storeperson:

Me: Do you have the number for the Apple hotline?

Him: The what ah?

Me: You know the number you call? For Apple?

Him: Ya.

Me: What's the number ah?

Him: What ah?

Genius. So I moved on.

When I gave them my iPod, I presented them with my purchase receipt from the store in Dubai, which the female storeperson took. I asked her for it. This is what happened:

She: [Looked around]. Don't have la... I don't think you gave it to us.

Me: Yes, I did give it to you. I gave it to you, yourself. Remember?

She: [Looked around a bit more]. I think you took it back.

Me: No, I didn't. I gave it to you.

That was when the boss whom they'd been dialling a couple of times since my arrival walked back in the store, found my receipt in my iPod pouch thing, and wrote down the Apple hotline, all without me asking. All in all, we know who really runs Smack.

Verdict: Useless.