Overbilled by $488+..from Singtel.

Its a very important habit to check monthly bills thats stacking up, looking messy on the table or somewhere in the room.

I have sent the complaint to the feedback section of Singtel. Required an explaination and follow up. 

How long do I need to wait for a reply?

I’m not a difficult person and I hope to see what they are going to do with the error and unhappiness made.

Navigation with rounded rectangles: checked.

Main area with large visuals: checked.

News ticker (the dead giveaway): checked.

Singaporeans and originality huh?

The Asia-Pacific region is getting ever-closer to faster mobile broadband, with network operators in Japan, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia readying their Long Term Evolution networks. Today NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile operator, affirmed its plans to deploy LTE in 2010; it also said it would shut off its 2G network in March 2011 since most subscribers now have 3G phones. NTT DoCoMo had previously said it would keep the 2G network running until December 2012. Speaking at the GSM Association’s Mobile Asia Congress 2009, Ryuji Yamada, president and CEO of NTT DoCoMo, said LTE data cards will be ready in 2010 and handsets will be ready in 2011.

Singapore Telecommunications, the largest carrier in Singapore with operations in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, also disclosed plans for LTE trials. SingTel has chosen Alcatel-Lucent (s alu) as its equipment vendor for the trials, which will begin in the first half of 2010 and take anywhere from six to nine months. The network operator hopes the trial will help it and its regional associates and joint ventures better understand LTE and determine the best approach and strategy for its adoption in their respective local markets. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., we await Verizon’s (s vz) and MetroPCS’ (s pcs) 2010 deployments, with netbooks and smartphones in hand.

After a meet-up with B & R on Japan, I met my mother and had my worst customer service experience ever. Even though I may, yes, whiny in front of certain people and thus may appear to be a complain queen, I had never made any official complaints against anyone.

As I have worked in the customer service line before, I do understand the frustrations faced by customer service officers after a long day and that they are also humans and thus may be experiencing a bad day (even though it is unprofessional to show it at work). Moreover, I believe in the saying, “Do not break other people’s rice bowl.”

Nevertheless, the behaviour of the particular customer service officer at the hello! store (ComCentre) is unfathomably unacceptable. I was so pissed that I rather walked over to Takashimaya rather than buying the phone from him as I believed that he may earn commission (and the last thing I want to do is put money into his pocket). It would save me a lot more trouble if I were to ask to speak to another officer, but I really do not want to kick up a fuss plus words tend to be overly hurtful at the moment.

Luckily, the officer at Takashimaya was totally at the other end of the spectrum. Not only did he deliver basic customer service, he also provided value-added services, like taking the initiative to provide me with helpful explicit information. Hence, I noted a little compliment of him at the end of my complaint for the previous officer.

My complaint (details of the CS officer was provided in the other boxes of the complaint form):

It is unfortunate that I have to bring to your awareness of a CS officer who is clearly unable to deliver the necessities of his job, including product knowledge, a positive attitude and credibility. Firstly, he was unable to answer my questions regarding the basis on which the phone price will be based on in the future after signing up for the rebates for recontract (on my mum’s behalf) and broadband mobile. When I asked the same question again, he showed displeasure, and either gave me the same statement that did not answer my question; (2) vague answer and did not clarify despite being probed; (3) a different answer (e.g. “The system does not allow me to check stock availability in other outlets -> Some branches have stocks but I don’t know if they are faulty/reserved.”). Hope to see better service, like salesman code 8210 taka branch.

Yes, I am the one who complained against you, because not only did you show a lack of capability to deliver your job’s duties but is also clearly not interested in your job. I can cite a lot of examples to demonstrate your unacceptable lack of product knowledge and bad customer service, however, (lucky you!) there is a character limit to the complaint box.

Maybe my expectations have gotten higher over the years. However, I get way better customer service (yes, the basic + value-added services) at fashion boutiques (and I am not even talking about the high-end ones). If the salesgirl can take the initiative to help me call other outlets for stock availability of a skirt that costs less than $100 and offer to have the skirt sent to a outlet that is more convenient for me, I would at least expect the service of checking stock availability at other outlets and inform me of the outlets that have stocks when I have made an explicit request pertaining to a phone that costs more than $600 and also a 2-year contract.

I still love Singtel! Because all my other experiences with Singtel are very positive. Plus I am a loyal brand user. So please, don’t ever make me decide to switch operator. As much as I hate hassle, there is a bottom line to my acceptance of unacceptable customer service.

P.S. I am so addicted to Wheel of Fortune on my iPhone! And I have not studied even a single page the entire day. Faints.

It is the 5th week of school.  Today is already the 4th day that I am deprived of internet usage at home! Has been cursing and swearing the wireless.

Thank god! After 30 minutes of assistance from Singnet Customer Service, my problems are finally solved! I am certainly grateful, however, what awes me most is the technology used by the Singnet to assist me in solving my wireless problem.

Previously one of the #nct class was talking about skype having the technology to share screen with your friends and watch movies together at different ends of the world.

I experienced the greatness of it today! I was facing problems with my internet. Thus, I called Singnet. After a few instructions, the problem was not solved. So I was asked to connect to the cable to get connected to the Internet. Guess what’s Next?

She was controlling my desktop!

I do not need to waste much efforts on following instructions or bring my laptop down for them to fix it now. It was so efficient. She changed all the settings from her location and all i need to do was to assist by entering the password. She totally can see whats on my desktop and control it as if it was with her!

HOW COOL CAN TECHNOLOGY GET! In this situation, it is really effective and efficient! I think technology advances should be used for a good purpose. For instance, improve service and efficiency of a company. In this way, achieve customer satisfaction and save more resources. What it means is that we need more Technology Savvy people around! In a couple of years time, if you are not up to date on the technology advances, your job might be at stake!

However I wouldn’t rule out the fact that it can be very dangerous. That goes to show that privacy issues are at stake in years to come. Where people get the permission to control or access to others’ computer. Alter, put or take documents in your computer without your knowledge. What this means is that everyone will have to be extra cautious and sensitive when serving the net. Everyone has to be a public relations practitioner. While more people get online, what you do online and say online matters! You need to maintain an image. With more bloggers relying on blogs for revenue. It is no longer what it was meant to be ( online diary). That is because it is no longer safe! (Even if its a private account)

Previously I has doubts of augmented reality and those technology that will be available in future. But now, i”m stumped. Experiencing all these have convinced me that what we discussed in #Nct class will come alive one day!

The holograms, moving and popping screens.

I just experienced the worst customer service experience in Singapore yet, which put my previous articles “Conversations with Singaporeans” and “Conversations … Part 2″ to shame …

Below is our five-week saga to get a new mobile phone subscription. Where I put quotation marks, the text are exactly as written in the original e-mail, or exactly as the way they said it on the phone.

12-13 October: My husband filled up an order for an iPhone with a two-year subscription plan, and submitted it via e-mail to the customer service (let’s call her Katie) that handled all accounts from his company.

16 October: Katie gave us five numbers to choose from, and on October 19 we confirmed the number that we wanted (let’s call this number 9833 xxxx).

There was no further communication from Katie since then, despite follow-up e-mails on October 23 and November 3.

4 November (more than three weeks after the initial e-mail): A different customer service (let’s call him Mo) e-mailed us, asking “What is the number you choose? I shall give you some new numbers for choosing and if you are getting an iphone, can you send me a form as well?”

[We were starting to wonder ... "Don't these people have one common database and talk to each other?"]

On that same day, my husband re-sent the order form, confirmed that we had asked for 9833 xxxx, but would go for 9644 xxx if the original number was no longer available.

November 5: By this date, we have started to lose our patience because the printing of my business cards, which had to be done by end of November, had to wait for the final mobile number.

So I called Mo to inquire the status of my husband’s application. His answer, “Oh, I’m not the contact person for your husband’s company. You should go to this other girl (let’s call her Jane)…. Her number is xxxx and e-mail xxx.”

[And we wondered even further ... "If he's not the contact person for us, then what was he doing sending us e-mails, and then throwing our case to a girl that had never made an attempt at contacting us????"]

Well, anyhow, so I rang Jane, inquired about the case, to hear, “Oh, this case ahh? I haven’t got to it…”

[WHAAATTT??? Don't these people learn telephone manners????]

A few minutes after the call, Jane sent us an e-mail saying, “Apologise for the delay. The number 9833 xxxx which you had chosen earlier is not available anymore. I have 3 numbers on hand to offer you: A, B, C. Do advise asap.”

To which my husband and I replied to both Mo and Jane, “Hi Mo, thanks for your help. Jane just wrote to us offering yet different set of numbers to choose while yesterday we have confirmed to you that we wanted 9644 xxxx in the event the original request was no longer available. So could you please liaise with her to let her know that we wanted 9644 xxxx?”

So at 5:34 pm, Mo called my husband to FINALLY confirmed the order, then wrote a follow up e-mail (to my husband) saying, “As per our conversation, the delivery of your iPhone will be 6 Nov between 2:30 and 6pm. The sim card 52xxxxxx for number 9644 xxxx will be send in morning 10am-1pm. Thank you …”

And he also cared to write me a separate e-mail on 5:39 (I don’t know why he felt obliged to write two different e-mails instead of just cc-ing me on all e-mails …), saying, “I had follow up with her (Jane) and the iphone delivery was set for tomorrow afternoon 2:30-6pm. In fact, the follow up was plan to be around this time as there was 5 order in processing before you. Thank you for your understanding and miscommunication due to the processing team in your delivery. We also apologize that iphone was out of stock for a period of time and we were clearing the order according to the queue and it have reach your turn today even if you did not follow up with us. Cheer.”

[Yeah right]

You would think that after such agony, my husband and I would FINALLY get our 32Gb iPhone 3Gs with the number that we wanted, right?

WRONG.

On November 14, I arrived back in Singapore, excited about my new iPhone that had been loaded with my favorite apps and movis. I tested the SIM card, asked my husband and son to call 9644 xxxx only to find out that the number had not been activated!

I then called them from my new phone and SIM card. The caller ID which appeared on their screen is 9833 xxxx, the number that we dropped because Jane mentioned in Nov 4 that it was no longer available.

By this time, I had ordered 10 boxes of business cards and 5 rims of letterheads using the the 9644 xxxx number. Plus announced to some friends and families that my number would change to 9644 xxxx by Nov 15.

This time, furious that Singtel had yet again messed up, both my husband and I wrote Mo and Jane another e-mail asking the SIM card to be exchanged with the correct one ASAP.

The e-mail mentioned my home address, home phone number, and my Starhub mobile number. I also mentioned that I would only be in Singapore until Tuesday November 17 and expect this to be sorted out before I go.

November 16 - I called Mo and Jane several times only to get an answering machine that hung up the call after 30 seconds if the phone wasn’t picked up by a customer service. Great!

So at 11am I made my way to the Singtel headquarters to get this sorted out. A nice young lady listened to my case, checked my database, and then said, quite naively, “Oh, but this 9833 xxxx number is already activated and used.”

In my best attempt not to snap, I said, “Do I have any choice in this matter? I got a new SIM card, of course I wanted to test it out by making some calls.”

She then asked me to wait while she talked to some supervisor….. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes …. and finally, after half an hour of waiting, this young lady showed up … not with solutions. She said that Jane is taking an “urgent leave” and they needed to get her to clarify the matter with her boss, and then her boss would give me a call to sort things out later on today.

So I got home, trying to think positive that the manager would give me a call.

At around 3:00pm, my husband (who is in London) sent me a 10am e-mail from Mo, saying, “I would like to first apologize sincerely that the number 98644 xxxx was taken when we try to process it as another user had process that same number just before we could get it for you and thus had emailed you that we would revert to the older number which we had kept for you which is 9833 4022 on that same evening on 5/11/09, I had process for you for the delivery. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you . Sorry about the incidence and thank you for your understanding.”

Mo, of course, did not cc me the e-mail. Instead he wrote to me separately (I simply don’t understand this redundant habit of his), saying, “We apologize that the number 9644 xxxx is not available at the time we try to process you application and that same day 5/11/09, we revert back the previous choice number  9833 xxxx which you had chosen instead. I had informed him on the same evening. Sorry for the inconvenience cause and some printing company should be able to make the amendment for you.“

Great. Blame my husband for it, and speak on behalf of the printing company as if the company is his.

To which I replied, “Then please show me the November 5 e-mail which you said you had sent, and my husband’s approval to go ahead with the number 9833 xxxx.”

He almost immediately sent me the e-mail which did say that the number was no longer available when he processed the order. But my husband had never given him a go ahead to deliver a SIM card with a different number. Mo had made an independent decision, without the customer’s approval or a read-receipt, to change our mobile number order!

What kind of company would teach their customer services to confirm the goods and delivery time BEFORE processing the order and ensuring that the goods are still in place???

In fact, going back to November 5, then we had made up our mind that should there be another mess-up, we would cancel the order. My husband missed Mo’s last e-mail on November 5, which was why we were rather overjoyed to see a new iPhone and a SIM card arriving, to then be disappointed yet again.

All this could have been prevented had Mo cc-ed me on every e-mail, because my husband is away a lot on business and don’t have all the time in his life to check petty e-mails like this.

All this could have been prevented had Mo checked the availability of our preferred number before actually confirming it to us, only to have it changed some 15 minutes later, when my husband’s computer had been turned off and he’d gone home.

At around 4:30pm today, I made my way back to the Singtel headquarters, this time not to demand our preferred number, but to cancel the order altogether! Such a GREAT beginning for a new customer, there’s no way I would chain myself to another two years to some lousy service providers. Definitely not after I found out that Starhub will start offering iPhone at the end of this year!

Despite tough economic environment, the two operators recorded strong Q3 earnings growth in Q3.  SingTel boosted its net profit 19% to SGD 952 million  while StarHub’s net profit grew 7.1% to SGD 85.2  million.

SingTel’s mobile revenue in Singapore grew 7.9% to SGD 384 million.  30,000 new postpaid subscribers added in Q3, bringing its regional mobile subscriber base to 273 million.

StarHub increased its mobile subscriber base 8.1% to 1.85 million, its mobile revenue grew 4.7% to SGD 276.8 million.

Read full report here.

StarHub will finally start selling the famed iPhone later this year. SingTel and MobileOne have already enjoyed the Apple device for a while now. Welcome to the party. Pricing information has not been released but expect to see similar numbers across the board. One must wonder whether the iPhone has already reached market saturation and if there are still any mobile customers to be had?

Also just in time to catch the latest iPhone virus that has been going around. Just be sure that when you jailbreak your phone you change the default password to something other than “alpine”.

As well for those of you having Windows 7, 64 bit installations, sync problems with your iPhone have no fear. Gigabyte has released a BIOS update to fix the problem. The problem is specific to Intel chipsets which is commonplace among many motherboard manufacturers. Intel and Microsoft are investigating the problem.

The 43 nominees for the Asia Mobile Awards 2009 have been shortlisted, including the 5 nominees contending for the Best Mobile Music Service category. Winners for the Asia Mobile Awards will be presented at the upcoming GSMA Mobile Asia Congress to be held in Hong Kong on 18 November.

Music Rewind takes a closer look at the 5 nominees in the Best Mobile Music Service category:

Best Mobile Music Service

• Aircel, India for  ‘Aircel Dialer Tunes Eat-All-You-Can service’
• Bharti Airtel and Onmobile Global, India for  ‘Gaana Bolo Hello Tunes Pao’
• China Mobile, China for  ‘New Albums Digital Release’
• Green Tomato and CSL, Hong Kong for  ‘Musicholic’
• Singapore Telecom Mobile, Singapore for  ‘SingTel AMPed’

Telco: Aircel
Nominated: Dialer Tunes Eat-All-You-Can Service
A top-up card for ring-back tones for all Aircel subscribers, the Dialer Tunes cards come in 3 types: 7, 31 or 360 days. All offer subscribers the freedom to change their Dialer Tunes for an unlimited number of times for as long as their card’s validity, at no extra cost for each song change.

Telco: Airtel
Nominated: Gaana Bolo Hello Tunes Pao
A voice-search service that allows you to find your choice of ring-back tones simply by speaking into the phone, the Gaana bolo Hello Tune Pao promises to be state-of-the-art search service that will satisfy that sudden craving to change your existing ring-back tone to the one you’re singing the lyrics to at the moment. A novel service – but subscribers are charged for both the call and the download of the tones.

Telco: China Mobile
Nominated: New Albums Digital Release
I couldn’t find any information regarding the term “New Albums Digital Release”, but there does exist the Wireless Music Club (无线音乐) announced by China Mobile, that allows subscribers and Music Club VIP members to stream and download the latest ring-back tones available on both mobile and PC, get discounts on downloads, and get ahead in entertainment news sent directly to their mobiles. The service promises to be well-rounded, and to provide “something for everyone”, as the press release promised.

Telco: CSL
Nominated: Musicholic^TM
Musicholic^TM is a one-stop music download service for the PC and the mobile. At launch, it promised 700,000 songs and music videos in their music bank, as well as a space for social interactivity that includes freeBlogs, playlist creations, fan groups or artists, and more. With monthly subscriptions starting at HKD$48, subscribers can raid Musicholic^TM’s entire music bank for unlimited access.

Note: I like that Musicholic’s logo looks like a cute little gambling dice, which reminds me fondly of the Hongkongers’ love for the gambling art.

Telco: Singtel
Nominated: AMPed^TM

AMPed^TM is also a one-stop music download service for PC and mobile, and is offered FREE, as a value-added service, to subscribers who  subscribe to selected mobile plans. Once ‘AMPed’, subscribers get unlimited downloads of audio tracks and pre-album releases, access to music videos and the latest entertainment news, create playlists, and more. Data charges are completely waived for all AMPed downloads on the mobile.

The other nominees for all other Asia Mobile Awards 2009 categories are:

Best Mobile Game

• Bharti Airtel, India for  ‘Airtel GamesClub’
• Electronic Arts, China for  ‘The SIMS 3′
• Gameloft, Taiwan for  ‘Hero of Sparta’
• Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, Turkey for  ‘Mobiwar’

Best Mobile TV or Video Service

• Hong Kong Telecommunications, Hong Kong for  ‘PCCW Mobile Infotainment Platform’
• Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, India for  ‘Tata Sky Active Mall’
• Mobixell Networks, Israel for  ‘Mobixell Videon and InfoGin IMP’
• Motorola, Hong Kong for  ‘Motorola TuVista’
• Telegent Systems, Singapore for  ‘Telegent Free-to-Air Mobile TV – TLG1120 Mobile TV Receiver’

Best Mobile Advertising or Marketing

• Bharti Airtel, India for ‘Friends Under Attack’
• InMobi, India for  ‘Reebok Indian Premier League Campaign’
• Madhouse, China for  ‘HP’
• Smart Communications, Philippines and Unilever – AXE for  ‘AXE on Phone’
• Zad Mobile, US and Indosat for ‘SC i-klan’

Best Mobile Enterprise Application Product or Service

• Aircel Cellular, US and uReach Technologies for  ‘Aircel mConference Plus’
• Aircel Cellular, US and uReach Technologies for  ‘Aircel mReceptionist’
• Cylande, China and Terranova for  ‘Cylande’s StoreAssistant Corner Manager’
• Orascom Telecom Bangladesh, Bangladesh for  ‘Banglalink Jigyasha’
• tenCube, Singapore and SingTel for  ‘PHONESafe’

Best Mobile Internet Service

• Aircel, India ‘Aircel’s Pocket Internet’
• Eterno Infotech, India for  ‘NewsHunt’
• Geodesic, US for  ‘Mundu IM’
• GyPSii, Netherlands and China Unicom for  ‘UniSpace’
• KT Corporation, Korea for  ‘SHOW HYUNDAI/ KIA-MOTOR’

Best Mobile Money Service

• Bharti Airtel, India for  ‘mChek on Airtel’
• Globe Telecom, Philippines for  ‘GCASH CLICK’
• SK Telecom, Korea for ‘T Cash’
• Smart Communications, Philippines for  ‘Smart Money’s expanded mobile-based security feature for online purchases’
• Sybase 365, Singapore and Celcom for  ‘Celcom AirCash’

Mobile Money for the Unbanked Award

• Bharti Airtel, India and EKO for  ‘EKO’
• MPAY Solutions, Philippines for  ‘m-bux’
• Smart Communications, Philippines for  ‘Smart Islands Activation Program (IAP)’
• WING Cambodia, Cambodia, for  ‘WING’

The Green Mobile Award

• Grameenphone, Bangladesh and Huawei Technologies for  ‘Building a Greener Mobile Network’
• Nokia, India for  ‘Take-back & recycling of unwanted devices and accessories in Asian markets’
• Smart Communications, Philippines for  ‘SMART Post-Marketing Waste Management  Initiative (tarpaulirecycling)’
• StarHub Mobile, Singapore for  ‘Green Network – Singapore’s first Solar-Powered

Mobile Base Station
ZTE Corporation, China, for  ‘ZTE’s GSM ZXG10 uBSS system

GSMA Mobile Innovation Grand Prix – Asia Pacific Tournament Nominees

• Altobridge, Ireland
• Impetus Infotech, USA
• Locatrix Communications, Australia
• Sentry Wireless, Ireland
• Xtract, Finland

Best Mobile Broadband Handset/ Device - Judging of the Best Mobile broadband Handset/Device’ category will take place in November, nominees will be announced soon.

In fact, I do love Singtel for several reasons. The love affair was so quick that I dumped Starhub internet for Singtel MIO. I dumped M1 for Singtel Mobile. However, as with all love affairs, either is a long term affair or a quick swing with frustrations. Sometimes it becomes a long term and added frustrations.
Usually for Telcos, it is usually long term. That’s where the pleasure and horrors starts. Let’s start with the pleasure as all love starts sweet.

Better coverage.
I believe this is true. Singtel has the best phone coverage area in Singapore. I mean c’mon, Singapore is so small. Makes me wonder why the telcos cannot cover the entire island, and maybe the smaller Islands such as Sentosa, Kusu, Sister Island etc.

Ring time
Tested on Starhub, and M1, 30sec ring tone. Damn short if u ask me.
Let’s have a typical scenario. Usually the ring on our phone for an incoming call, it starts ringing around the 5th second ringing from the caller. So I’m deprived of 5 seconds. By the time I hear it and confirm is my phone ringing, 15th second. By the time I reach to my pocket, pull out, answer? BOOM. Missed call. Then usually an sms will come along, “call me pls”. Wtf! I have free incoming calls!! Sorry. U wanna reach me? Call me. So seriously, this ringing duration is crucial usually. Unless it is coming from someone undesirable such as your dept collector or telemarketeers.

Not the ring tone. I hate their “Bye Bye” default Ringtone!! I wish we could be friends??? Look, friends do not have contracture nor monthly payments. It’s strictly business for most of us. When u start reducing your costs and stop selling me crab, and start giving…. Yes we can be friends. Till then, we usually have contracture agreement.

Singtel for IPhone.
My wife ditched Starhub to join Singtel for the iPhone. We were told more plans with Singtel, we get more discounts. Such as MIO Home and my ditching of M1 to go into Singtel Corp Plan. In fact all these empty promises starts to break apart.

MIO Home
We got MIO home for several reasons. It is a wild creature that needs detail understanding to handle her. Do not think MIO is like Starhub home broadband via cable. Singtel ADSL broadbane is complicated!! C’mon, the acronym of an ADSL is already more than a mouthfull when expanded. However ADSL speed is more consistent as compared to Starhub. Starhub I experience extreme slow down whenever I am home from work. A call to their Cust Service and I was told it is to be expected. Expect what? The slowdown as this is the peak, where everybody are home surfing and watching cable TV. So what??? You want me to apply leave so that I can use the internet offpeak for better experience? You need to upgrade ur plan for better speed. – already did!! From Basic to Premium. Then you need to get Ultimate. Nuff said. Bye Hub. Btw, they charge me 70+ just for Premium Cable per mth for pathetic speed as opposed to MIO HOME 40+ for TV, Internet and Digital Phone. Slow is defined as web surfing experience, YOUTUBE!! Omg. Dead slow. As in like crawling at single digit kbps. My BBOM thethering via my e71 BLUETOOTH(slow) is even faster than Starhub when watching youtube.

Digital Phone Line
As per my family, the phone line is clearer and louder. Ok. Sounds good.

So that’s a fair bit of love of Singtel there. But wait, with all good things and roses, there’s always the thorns. Some thorns were there naturally, many were IMHO due to incompetency and lack of forecast, planning, and priority to the customers.

So where do I start?

MIO BOX.
Seriously, it is just a White Box but far from the Apple Zen like performance. The same box is used for MIO TV, ADSL Internet, Digital Phone Line, WIFI, and Hard Router.
Kind of overkill if u ask me. Whenever I use everything together? MIO BOX Hangs or crashes. Box is called 2wire brand, and is no where close to 2 wires. Tons of wires. Each reboot takes like forever? Just google and u’ll find all the frustrated reviews. Every other day it is either the phone is dead, or the internet is dead. These are all crucial for my work at home support. So much for all the promises of quality services. Starhub speed was slow, at least uptime is stable.
Singtel speed is fast and consistent, sometimes stable.

Dead Internet, we know as it is easily detectable. It’s amazing how much time people make use of Internet these days. For work, social, shopping, official biz.

Dead Phone! Unless someone calls or u use, is as good as un-noticed. Bad.

Bad Timing on Purchase of iPhone.
Just after a week of signup with MIO Home, iphone launch announced. Exactly the same phone my wife wanted. They offered huge discounts on iphone if signup for MIO Home package. Like $200 off iPhone? Wtf. Pissed. Happens. Wrong time.

IPhone crazy queue
Ok. Singtel pulling a publicity stun?
I think whole of SG knows about this. Long queue etc. Did some google, happens worldwide too. Fine.

Empty Promises on Discounts.
I signed up Corp Rate. However it is not the corp rate that Singtel was referring to. Discount only exists for their corp rate which my singtel corp rate is not their corp rate. Confusing? Hell yes. Apparently my corp rate is under my company. Also called corp rate. Trying to be funny? I ain’t laughing.

Corp Rate Plan
COOL!!! It’s so much cheaper to talk on HP now! I used to blow my M1 airtime badly. But remember, I’m no longer a Consumer Client now. I’m branded Corp Client. 2nd class in service if u asked me. Let me explain how I felt as a corp client. Neglected and dejected to say the least. I was informed my Iphone is out of stock, need to place order. Fine. I waited for like 3 months? Then I found out there are stocks!! So I asked why am I put on wait list? “Those stocks are for consumers.” So you wun sell those for corp clients and made us wait for months? Fine. I’m a cool guy. Hate quarrels.

Overcharged
This is ridiculous. I received an email that my iPhone cost $x, which has already been taken into consideration with my port in discount. Great! Smile. Finally. But wait, I just felt something was wrong. A hunch feeling. A few days later I double check the cost stated in the email. I was over charged by $100. Sleazy. An honest mistake? What if I did not check? U earn $100 bonus by honest ignorance? 100 client honest mistake becomes a $10K bonus? Oh well, happens. So my phone today delivery was cancelled. Rescheduled. Sigh.

Blackberry
Singtel has the cheapest BB plan in town. $10.70 for all your messaging needs! EXCEPT it does not come with BIS, internet services. Big chunk of usefulness gone. Want BIS? Pay $24. Double the price. Btw, BIS does not include APN usage which M1 does allow, so in otherwords, u cannot use other programs that uses dataplan such as Opera mini.

Check Data Usage
Cannot check in Singtel. Still figuring out. Can check easily in M1.

Bill Payment
I asked for automated credit card payment. First Bill arrived. I have to pay myself. Fine.

Manual Payment
I went down to comcenter thinking is their HQ helloshop, must have everything. EXCEPT bill payment. Please pay at SAM counter outside the hot sun outside. So this is how u treat your customers?

Seperate Call Line
Oh yes. Consumer and corporate have different support.
Consumer Mon-Sun
Corp Mon-Fri.
Dig?

Turn Around Time
Google for this. Not uncommon.
M1 activate my blackberry everything on the spot.
Singtel 3 working days.
Sat Sun not working days, note.

Is a pity they offer one of the best “corp rate” for my company, and till now the sole distributer for iPhone, and the cheapest, fastest internet speed for the lower runk plans. These are all the good stuffs, pity the bad stuffs.

I’ll add on as I recall them.

Sent from Blackberry Singtel.

I wrote about Ping! here. Basically, I had a gripe that it became a paid app so soon, especially when it still lacked certain key features like: ability to send pictures and a buddy list so that I would not have to recall every one of my friends’ Ping IDs.

Since then, developer, Gary Fung has promised that these are in the works. Version 2 will include the function of sending pictures. Not as crucial to some as a buddy list, but hey, this is an indication of how hard Gary is working on Ping!. I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks and already there’s been one update.

I still think its a little premature to call it a rival to Blackberry Messenger. But for now, it serves a very important function of letting iPhone users connect with each other without draining our bundled SMS plans. Yes, it would be great to be able to link up with BBM users, but RIM uses their own servers to power BBM and, I say, no way in heck will they ever let a third-party app developer near them. So stop asking for it, Ping users. And stop using it as a strike against Ping. How come nobody complains that RIM isn’t including other brands into their messenger service?

One more thing, I’ve since learnt that another similar app (“Whatsapp”) has a limit on the number of messages it can send per minute. Maybe you don’t think it matters, but you’ll be surprised how fast you can send/receive messages when you’re knee-deep in an emotionally charged text conversation.

So, does Ping! help me save on my monthly SMS plans? Yes. The hubby and I exclusively communicate via Ping!. And just that alone, saves me tens of texts. I can now freely gush of my love for him in unlimited number of Ping!s and in all variations, including, “Don’t forget to feed the cat and remember to buy the tampons ok!”

So my verdict? When you lower your expectations (and come on, its 99cents! You pay more than that for a Teh Peng at some coffeeshops), and consider that it’s not a replacement for traditional SMS, but more of a add-on to it, helping you extend the number of texts you can spam your friends with each month, then yes, worth getting it.

Ping!’s Website: http://www.pingmessaging.com/

TUAW.com’s review of Ping: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/17/cheap-alternatives-to-sms-for-the-iphone-theres-an-app-for-that/?icid=px-iphone

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Wow. The same guys who “regulate” at SGX must the same guys who worked all of 5 minutes on this press release to BT, in response to SGX’s Relax One Corner attitude towards regulation.

Here’s what SGX has to say:

WE refer to the Hock Lock Siew column, ‘When in doubt, regulators should query?’ by Jamie Lee (BT, Oct 13).

More queries do not necessarily equate to better regulation. A query by the exchange should aim to clarify trading activities that are unexplainable based on public information, and where appropriate, provoke disclosure.

The mechanical issuance of queries does not necessarily enhance disclosure or add value to the market. SGX considers various factors, including company or industry specific news and trends, economic factors and prevailing market sentiment, before issuing a query.

It is important to note that each regulator queries based on the trading activity of its own market, and a comparison of regulatory actions across markets is not always meaningful.

In the case of SingTel quoted in the BT article, SingTel’s share price in Singapore dropped 1.6 per cent on Oct 6, 2009, mainly in the afternoon trading session.

We note that the fall in SingTel’s share price in Singapore took place after public trading in Bharti Airtel shares commenced in India at 12.25 pm Singapore time. SingTel’s share price in Singapore fell a further 1.9 per cent the next day.

The fall in SingTel’s share price was consistent with public developments regarding the Indian telecommunications market and the share price movement in Bharti Airtel. This was concurrently reported publicly in the news. The circumstances of this case therefore did not merit a query.

In the case of Medtecs International Corporation, the price chart for 2009 shows that the rise of Medtecs’ share price in Singapore coincided with the outbreak of H1N1, principally in April-May 2009.

Several other healthcare stocks also performed well during this period. The circumstances of this case did not merit a query as the price rise was explained by market conditions.

Glenn Seah
Vice-president and head of market surveillance
The Singapore Exchange

Wow. Where to begin, where to begin….?

Let’s start with the more obvious one first:

“In the case of Medtecs International Corporation, the price chart for 2009 shows that the rise of Medtecs’ share price in Singapore coincided with the outbreak of H1N1, principally in April-May 2009.”

• Translated: We, in the SGX, who have spent quite a bit of time observing people coughing at Ya Kun outlets, are therefore just as qualified as the average CEO in organisations supplying medical consumables to draw the conclusion that a 5x rise in share prices is completely and directly due to H1N1.  It’s obvious! Don’t you read the goddam newspaper? And because it’s so obvious to us, it’s gotta be obvious to the average punter… (What’s that? You’re not paid $750,000 a year?)

Unfriggingbelievable. Admit it SGX, you missed this one. And you were made to look really bad by the Taiwanese stock regulators. Now that it’s AFTER the fact, you’re covering it up with what is possibly the lamest spin in the world. And frankly, this spin is DANGEROUS. It’s an outright declaration that SGX doesn’t really need to do any ‘regulating‘ at all, because the average investor can always google the facts, read the papers, download investment reports, do their own research on the medical consumables industry and its dynamics, and put two and two together.Yes, the latter part of the statement is true. Every investor should know what they’re getting into. But to make the jump from caveat emptor to disowning regulatory responsibilities is an utter outrage. Why does SGX the regulator even exist in the first place?

Back to SingTel. Let’s take a look at the weasel-like statement (I’ve underlined the legal statements inserted by SGX lawyers) posted by the SGX PR professionals:

“The fall in SingTel’s share price was consistent with public developments regarding the Indian telecommunications market and the share price movement in Bharti Airtel. This was concurrently reported publicly in the news. The circumstances of this case therefore did not merit a query.”

• Translated: Look, do we have to spell this out for you? Ok – I’ll say this slowly: there was a tariff war in India. T-A-R-I-F-F-W-A-R. With Bharti’s obvious reluctance to downgrade its ARPUs, its market share has been hit for a six – falling by about 20%. Falling, comprende? Not go up. As a result, every analyst in India has downgraded Bharti and Reliance, and are recommending selling on recoveries. Our conclusion from ASX’s query is that Singaporean investors – including the uncles and aunties who are vested via the SingTel IPO – are a lot smarter than the dumb Aussies, who need everything spelt out for them. Geez. (Are you sure you don’t make $750,000 a month?)

It beggars belief. Given the regulatory ‘teeth’ here, it’s no wonder Chinese white-collar criminals entrepreneurs are flocking to Singapore’s shores.

]]> http://singaporeuncletrader.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/sgx-thinks-asx-needs-to-relax-just-a-little-bit-sees-nothing-wrong-with-violent-price-swings/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:23:27 +0000 uncletrader http://singaporeuncletrader.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/sgx-thinks-asx-needs-to-relax-just-a-little-bit-sees-nothing-wrong-with-violent-price-swings/

“Relax One Corner.” That – in a nutshell – seems to be the local kopi drinking mentality that has rubbed off on the regulators at SGX, who really need to spend a little less time at Ya Kun, and a bit more time “regulating”.

This from BT:

FEW would bat an eyelid to see two Singapore-listed companies queried for unusual movements in their share prices. But what may raise the eyebrows is that they were queried – not by their home regulator, Singapore Exchange (SGX), but by regulators in the foreign jurisdictions in which their securities are also traded.

And this raises interesting questions over the different approaches taken by SGX and its peers overseas.

Shares of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) in Australia lost 12 Australian cents, or 4.59 per cent, between Oct 5 and 7 this year, prompting the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to send a ‘price query’.

Comparatively, shares of SingTel in Singapore shed 11 cents, or 3.47 per cent. SGX, however, did not query SingTel on the share movement.

One can argue that in this case, the share price movement was not significant enough to prompt a query and might have been an overreaction by ASX. The drop in SingTel shares in Australia was also more drastic on a percentage basis than in Singapore.

But here’s a second case. At the end of September, Medtecs International Corporation – which is also listed in Taiwan – was asked by the regulators there to explain the reason behind the 364 per cent jump in the stock’s average closing price over a six-month period.

The Financial Supervisory Commission of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan deemed these to be ‘unusual fluctuations’ of the stock and asked Medtecs to clarify after the company applied to convert ordinary shares into Taiwan Depository Receipts.

Shares of Medtecs here took a similar joy ride, surging 600 per cent since the start of the year. The jump in the share price of the surgical mask maker, however, was not queried by SGX.

So how can one view the different approaches of the regulators?

SGX can argue that it makes its own conclusions on whether to query companies. It does not need to mirror the actions of the other regulators and perhaps saw rational reasons for the share price movements.

But SingTel’s response to ASX shows that investors may benefit when companies are queried.

The telco told ASX that the stock movements may be linked to the fall in the share price of Bharti Airtel – its subsidiary in India – given the increased competition in the Indian mobile telecommunications market. Entirely plausible, since this has been the talking point for SingTel. And as obvious as the explanation may seem, it is still useful to investors because it is put on record by the firm instead of being left to second-guessing by the market, as would be in the case otherwise. Investors are free to decide if the threat faced by Bharti is as serious as the share movement suggests, or if it’s something to be ignored.

But at least they are appropriately alerted. And they are also told there was no other reason driving the stock down.

What these two cases have done is create perceptions that SGX’s peers are more proactive when it comes to queries, even if it might be an overreaction. Their position seems to be – when in doubt, query.

With “regulating” like this, and the ease in which S-crap chips running simple accounting scams could get past the SGX “screening” process, no doubt have inspired millions of Chinese entrepreneurs with basic accounting degrees to flock to our shores. We need the IRs up and running QUICK, if we want to recoup some of our plundered retirement funds from China.

For almost a decade, I’ve been a strong supporter of M1, simply because the mobile plans offered were for better. With the iPhone coming to Singapore a couple of years back, I was very tempted to switch to Singtel, however I wasn’t going to give up my Suntalk 500 (500min talktime, 1000sms, 50 bucks) for whatever Singtel had. With the destruction of my phone, I have a reason to get a new one and with the contract expiring in May 2010, I should start thinking about what to get and from whom!

So with the announcement of M1 securing a deal with Apple, the iPhone is set to arrive on M1 shelves end this year. Based on what’s currently available, let’s take a look at what M1 (David) could possibly deliver in comparison to Singtel (Goliath).

On a side note, Singtel’s website providing info on their mobile plans suck. An extremely low resolution image to summarise their offerings.Based on just mobile mobile plans with no data, Singtel offers a variation of 5 choices, while M1 offers 5.

Singtel Pricing Plan

A simple glimpse over the prices would show that:

M1’s pricing ranges from $19.26 to $195.82. 16.05¢ flat per min. 5.35¢ per SMS/MMS.

Singtel however ranges from $15.00 to $192.60. 21.40¢/min and 10.70¢/min during peak and off-peak timings respectively. 5.35¢/SMS. MMS unknown.

So, let’s begin the comparison… Starting with the cheapest.

Singtel: iOne Supervalue
Monthly: $15.00
Talktime: 80min
SMS: 50
RedPAC supplementary plan cannot be verified due to low resolution…

M1: SunLite
Monthly: $19.26
Talktime and SMS: $16.05 worth on any combination. This also includes data, global SMS, MMS, IDD.

Seriously, if you’re just getting a phone for the sake of getting one, either one works. Just try not to make too many calls and SMS. However, Sunlite does include some data benefits and that could be pretty useful. However, SunLite is too flexible to manage.

Next, let’s go with the 500 SMS group…

iOne Plus vs. SunSaver
Monthly is the same for both: $25.68

They offer 100min talktime and and 500SMS. What sets them aside is the additional plans for separate groups of subscribers.

iTwo Value vs. SunSaver Plus
Monthly: $48.15
300min talktime and 500 SMS

iTwo Plus vs. SunMax
Monthly: $82.93
700min talktime and 500 SMS
$100 handset recontract

M1 offers unlimited SMS/MM for Students/NSF, free Campus/Camp calls and data. M1 also offers unlimited free calls to 3 M1 Numbers.

Singtel does offer a Student/NSF package as well, with unlimited SMS to ANY subscriber. Free campus/camp calls. However, in Singtel’s terms, there seems to be a strange clause that states that if Singtel deems the SMS usage to be “excessive”, they are at liberty to charge the “excessive” portion to the bill… Question, what is excessive???

In this particular range, the basic packages offer the same deals, what should be taken into consideration is the rates for exceeding the free talktime. M1 offers a flat rate of 16.05¢ whereas Singtel does have a peak/off-peak rate that might work to an advantage when used during off-peak. Another consideration is the realise that Singtel does offer Unlimited SMS to any subscriber (if not excessive). However, M1 does have unlimited calls to 3 M1 numbers regardless if you are student or not.

Finally, the heavy duty plans…

iThree Plus vs. SunMax Plus
Monthly: $195.81 vs. 192.60
Both offer 2000 min talktime and 2000 SMS

Singtel perks:
Caller-ID
AutoRoam
VoiceMail
Multi-Party Conference
Overseas missed call
Free $500 handset upgrade every 12 months
SMS plus (can’t find the conditions)

M1 Perks:
$500 handset re–contract
Free caller ID
AutoRoam
$100 handset re-contract. (I assume that adds up to $600 re-contract)
Unlimited calls to 3 M1 numbers

It seems that M1 is offering their plan at a slightly cheaper rate and with the additional $100 re-contract voucher. M1 also has the unlimited calls to 3 M1 customers! For this range of plans, M1 does seem to have the upper hand.

In all accounts, M1 offers Sun Perks. To my knowledge, Singtel does not have. If you are a heavy-duty user, M1 is clearly the way to go. Otherwise, the lower-end plans all seem equally matched. As I deal with Singtel phones often enough, I noticed that Singtel does install a large amount of rubbish on your phone, including a direct link to the Singtel mobile site, a start-up animation and shutdown one as well. M1 does not offer a comprehensive data plan as of now except for the Blackberry data plans, noting that the Blackberry plans are a good estimation of what the iPhone plans would look like.

Just based on what can be compared between the 2 service providers, they are offering deals at highly competitive in pricing and services. The Straits Times reported that M1’s move to bring in the iPhone could be a defensive move, rather than a competition to Singtel, to hold on to their customers.

Hence, lame as it is, no conclusion can be drawn yet… However, it looks like M1 might offer something tempting enough for me to stay with M1 and get an iPhone 3GS… =D What I would like though would be for M1 to maintain their current voice plans and add on some data to it. I’d rather pay a few dollars more for data than to be stuck with making that tough decision on which plan to take up.

Told you this day would come.

EAT THIS SINGTEL. EAT THIS HARD.

Because of you assholes, ESPN subscription went up 100%! Now, again because of you, I am not going to get Formula 1 next year! Because of you, our local sports news is so fucking boring with nothing but soccer news… Our local radio is boring with petty arguments between the men supporting Man U and the women supporting Liverpool… How are we to ever succeed in sports when our own countrymen don’t know anything about our local sportsmen!? What a load of crap!

Singtel is another shit deal… I pity all the family members who have to deal with this..

Entertainment: Sony Entertainment TV, Granada TV – Not too bad… They have Sony

Kids and Family: Babyfirst TV, ETTV Yoyo, Luli, Kids Co – Not too bad, at least it’s bilingual…

Infotainment: NDTV Good Times – Something like Discovery Travel and Living

Asian channels: – I don’t care…

Music: Zing, Trace – Zing is bollywood and trace is like urban beats… I don’t intend to to swing that way fully…

News: Al Jazeera,Euronews,, ETTV Asia News, CCTV-9, NDTV 24×7: Not too bad… Less redneck based news for once.

This is the best… Movies: Mei Ah Movies Channel (Asia) – First and only Canto movie channel in Singapore!!! Also, the only movie channel on Singtel Mio TV!

Sports (As of now): Football Frenzy 1,2,3 – SEE WHAT I MEAN?! YOU FOOTBALL LOVING FAGS!

With all that said, I pity non-football loving family members…

Kids: Disney, Nickalodeon and Cartoon Network

Teens: MTV, Animax, Star World, AXN, Fox

Everyone else: Discovery Channel, History Channel, Nat Geo, HBO, Cinemax, Star Movies, Celestial Movies… So many things to lose… Just too many… All for the sake of Soccer…

Good Job Singtel, for spoiling everything for everyone… forcing families to fall apart. Losing the teenage market as you don’t offer anything!

If it were up to me, I’d boycott Singtel Mio TV, so should everyone else… At least until a generic Set up box is implemented.

Soccer fans in Singapore must have breathed a collective sigh of relief that they need not fork out an exorbitant amount to have their soccer fix.

At just $23 for Singtel sports channels next year, soccer fans certainly have an excuse to down more bottles of Tiger beer this weekend.

Unlike Starhub which demands a subscription to a basic group mio TV doesn’t.

Such an unreasonable demand will end next year, thanks goodness.

So all the hullabaloo over Singtel’s wresting of the sports channels have been premature if not silly.